,evolution1 ,old  ,new       ,the want  
of a practical acquaintance with        
,natural ,history leads the     author  
to take an erroneous view of the bearing
 of his own theories     on those of    
,mr4 ,darwin4--,review of ',life and    
,habit1' by ,mr4 ,a4 ,r4     ,wallace1  
in ',nature1' ,march #bg1 #ahgi4        
,neither lastly would our observer be   
driven out of his conclusion1     or    
from his confidence in its truth1 by    
being told that he knows     nothing at 
all about the matter4 ,he knows enough  
for his argument2     he knows the      
utility of the end2 he knows the        
subserviency and     adaptation of the  
means to the end4 ,these points being   
known1 his     ignorance concerning     
other points1 his doubts concerning     
other     points1 affect not the        
certainty of his reasoning4 ,the        
consciousness     of knowing little need
 not beget a distrust of that which he  
does     know4      ,paley's ',natural  
,theology1' chap4 i4     ,evolution1    

,old  ,new  ,or the ,theories of        
,buffon1 ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin and      
,lamarck1 as compared with that of      
,charles ,darwin  by  ,samuel ,butler   
,new ,york   ,e4 ,p4 ,dutton  ,company  
#fha ,fifth ,avenue     ,made and       
printed in ,great ,britain     ,,note   
,the demand for a new edition of        
,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 gives me     
an opportunity of publishing ,butler's  
latest revision of his work4     ,the   
second edition of ,evolution1 ,old and  
,new1 which was published     in #ahhb  
and re-issued with a new title-page in  
#ahij1 was merely a     re-issue of the 
first edition with a new preface1 an    
appendix1 and     an index4 ,at a later 
date1 though ,i cannot say precisely    
when1     ,butler revised the text of   
the book in view of a future edition4   
,the     corrections that he made are   
mainly verbal and do not1 ,i think1     
affect the argument to any considerable 
extent4 ,butler1 however1     attached  
sufficient importance to them to incur  

the expense of     having the stereos of
 more than fifty pages cancelled and new
     stereos substituted4 ,i have also  
added a few entries to the index1       
which are taken from a copy of the book1
 now in my possession1 in     which     
,butler made a few manuscript notes4    
,r4 ,a4 ,,streatfeild4      ,october1   
#aiaa4     ,,author',s ,,preface  ,,to  
,,the ,,second ,,edition   ,since the   
proof-sheets of the ,appendix to this   
book left my hands1 finally corrected1  
and too late for me to be able to recast
 the first of the two chapters that     
compose it1 ,i hear1 with the most      
profound regret1 of the death of ,mr4   
,charles ,darwin4  ,it being still      
possible for me to refer to this event  
in a preface1 ,i hasten to say how much 
it grates upon me to appear to renew my 
attack upon ,mr4 ,darwin under the      
present circumstances4  ,i have insisted
 in each of my three books on ,evolution
 upon the immensity of the service which
 ,mr4 ,darwin rendered to that          

transcendently important theory4 ,in    
,life and ,habit1 ,i said3 ,to the end  
of time1 if the question be asked1 ',who
 taught people to believe in            
,evolution8' the answer must be that it 
was ,mr4 ,darwin4 ,this is true2 and it 
is hard to see what palm of higher      
praise can be awarded to any            
philosopher4  ,i have always admitted   
myself to be under the deepest          
obligations to ,mr4 ,darwin's works2 and
 it was with the greatest reluctance1   
not to say repugnance1 that ,i became   
one of his opponents4 ,i have partaken  
of his hospitality1 and have had too    
much experience of the charming         
simplicity of his manner not to be among
 the readiest to at once admire and envy
 it4 ,it is unfortunately true that ,i  
believe ,mr4 ,darwin to have behaved    
badly to me2 this is too notorious to be
 denied2 but at the same time ,i cannot 
be blind to the fact that no man can be 
judge in his own case1 and that after   
all ,mr4 ,darwin may have been right1   

and ,i wrong4  ,at the present moment1  
let me impress this latter alternative  
upon my mind as far as possible1 and    
dwell only upon that side of ,mr4       
,darwin's work and character1 about     
which there is no difference of opinion 
among either his admirers or his        
opponents4  ,april #ba1 #ahhb4          
,,preface4   ,contrary to the advice of 
my friends1 who caution me to avoid all 
appearance of singularity1 ,i venture   
upon introducing a practice1 the        
expediency of which ,i will submit to   
the judgment of the reader4 ,it is one  
which has been adopted by musicians for 
more than a century--to the great       
convenience of all who are fond of      
music--and ,i observe that within the   
last few years two such distinguished   
painters as ,mr4 ,alma-,tadema and ,mr4 
,hubert ,herkomer have taken to it4 ,it 
is a matter for regret that the practice
 should not have been general at an     
earlier date1 not only among painters   
and musicians1 but also among the people

 who write books4 ,it consists in       
signifying the number of a piece of     
music1 picture1 or book by the          
abbreviation ,op4 and the number        
whatever it may happen to be4  ,no work 
can be judged intelligently unless not  
only the author's relations to his      
surroundings1 but also the relation in  
which the work stands to the life and   
other works of the author1 is understood
 and borne in mind2 nor do ,i know any  
way of conveying this information at a  
glance1 comparable to that which ,i now 
borrow from musicians4 ,when we see the 
number against a work of ,beethoven1 we 
need ask no further to be informed      
concerning the general character of the 
music4 ,the same holds good more or less
 with all composers4 ,handel's works    
were not numbered--not at least his     
operas and oratorios4 ,had they been so1
 the significance of the numbers on     
,susanna and ,theodora would have been  
at once apparent1 connected as they     
would have been with the number on      

,jephthah1 ,handel's next and last work1
 in which he emphatically repudiates the
 influence which1 perhaps in a time of  
self-distrust1 he had allowed           
contemporary ,german music to exert over
 him4 ,many painters have dated their   
works1 but still more have neglected    
doing so1 and some of these have been   
not a little misconceived in            
consequence4 ,as for authors1 it is     
unnecessary to go farther back than     
,lord ,beaconsfield1 ,thackeray1        
,dickens1 and ,scott1 to feel how much  
obliged we should have been to any      
custom that should have compelled them  
to number their works in the order in   
which they were written4 ,when we think 
of ,shakespeare1 any doubt which might  
remain as to the advantage of the       
proposed innovation is felt to          
disappear4  ,my friends1 to whom ,i     
urged all the above1 and more1 met me by
 saying that the practice was doubtless 
a very good one in the abstract1 but    
that no one was particularly likely to  

want to know in what order my books had 
been written4 ,to which ,i answered that
 even a bad book which introduced so    
good a custom would not be without      
value1 though the value might lie in the
 custom1 and not in the book itself2    
whereon1 seeing that ,i was obstinate1  
they left me1 and interpreting their    
doing so into at any rate a modified    
approbation of my design1 ,i have       
carried it into practice4  ,the edition 
of the ',philosophie ,zoologique'       
referred to in the following volume1 is 
that edited by ,m4 ,chas4 ,martins1     
,paris1 ,librairie ,f4 ,savy1 #bd1 ,rue 
de ,hautefeuille1 #ahgc4  ,the edition  
of the ',origin of ,species' is that of 
#ahgf1 unless another edition be        
especially named4  ,the italics         
throughout the book are generally mine1 
except in the quotations from ,miss     
,seward1 where they are all her own4  ,i
 am anxious also to take the present    
opportunity of acknowledging the        
obligations ,i am under to my friend    

,mr4 ,h4 ,f4 ,jones1 and to other       
friends 7who will not allow me to       
mention their names1 lest more errors   
should be discovered than they or ,i yet
 know of71 for the invaluable assistance
 they have given me while this work was 
going through the press4 ,if ,i am able 
to let it go before the public with any 
comfort or peace of mind1 ,i owe it     
entirely to the carefulness of their    
supervision4  ,i am also greatly        
indebted to ,mr4 ,garnett1 of the       
,british ,museum1 for having called my  
attention to many works and passages of 
which otherwise ,i should have known    
nothing4  ,march #ca1 #ahgi4            
,,contents4   ,,chapter ,i4             
,statement of the ,question--,current   
,opinion adverse to   ,teleology        
#a  ,,chapter ,,ii4    ,the ,teleology  
of ,paley and the ,theologians          
#ab  ,,chapter ,,iii4    ,impotence of  
,paley's ,conclusion--,the ,teleology of
 the   ,evolutionist                    
#bd  ,,chapter ,,iv4    ,failure of the 

,first ,evolutionists to see their      
,position   as ,teleological            
#cd  ,,chapter ,v4    ,the ,teleological
 ,evolution of ,organism--,the          
,philosophy   of the ,unconscious       
#dc  ,,chapter ,,vi4    ,scheme of the  
,remainder of the ,work--,historical    
,sketch   of the ,theory of ,evolution  
#fj  ,,chapter ,,vii4    ,pre-,buffonian
 ,evolution1 and some ,german ,writers  
#fh  ,,chapter ,,viii4                  
,buffon--,memoir                        
#gd  ,,chapter ,,ix4    ,buffon's       
,method--,the ,ironical ,character of   
his ,work               #gh  ,,chapter  
,x4    ,supposed ,fluctuations of       
,opinion--,causes or ,means of   the    
,transformation of ,species             
#ig  ,,chapter ,,xi4    ,buffon--,puller
 ,quotations                            
#ajg  ,,chapter ,,xii4    ,sketch of    
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin's ,life           
#agc  ,,chapter ,,xiii4    ,philosophy  
of ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin                
#aie  ,,chapter ,,xiv4    ,fuller       

,quotations from the ',zoonomia'        
#bad  ,,chapter ,,xv4    ,memoir of     
,lamarck                                
#bce  ,,chapter ,,xvi4    ,general      
,misconception concerning ,lamarck--,his
   ,philosophical ,position             
#bdd  ,,chapter ,,xvii4    ,summary of  
the ',philosophie ,zoologique'          
#bfa  ,,chapter ,,xviii4    ,mr4        
,patrick ,matthew1 ,,mm4 ,etienne and   
,isidore ,geoffroy   ,st4 ,hilaire1 and 
,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer                  
#cae  ,,chapter ,,xix4    ,main ,points 
of ,agreement and of ,difference between
 the   ,old and ,new ,theories of       
,evolution                              
#cce  ,,chapter ,,xx4    ,natural       
,selection considered as a ,means of    
,modification--,the   ,confusion which  
this ,expression occasions              
#cde  ,,chapter ,,xxi4    ,mr4 ,darwin's
 ,defence of the ,expression1 ,natural  
,selection--,professor ,mivart and      
,natural ,selection                #cfb 
,,chapter ,,xxii4    ,the ,case of the  

,madeira ,beetles as illustrating the   
,difference between the ,evolution of   
,lamarck and   of ,mr4 ,charles         
,darwin--,conclusion                    
#cgc  ,,appendix                        
#che  ,,index                           
#dji     ,,evolution1 ,,old ,,and ,,new 
,,chapter ,i4  ,,statement ,,of ,,the   
,,question4 ,,current ,,opinion         
,,adverse ,,to ,,teleology4   ,of all   
the questions now engaging the attention
 of those whose destiny has commanded   
them to take more or less exercise of   
mind1 ,i know of none more interesting  
than that which deals with what is      
called teleology--that is to say1 with  
design or purpose1 as evidenced by the  
different parts of animals and plants4  
,the question may be briefly stated     
thus3--  ,can we or can we not see signs
 in the structure of animals and plants1
 of something which carries with it the 
idea of contrivance so strongly that it 
is impossible for us to think of the    
structure1 without at the same time     

thinking of contrivance1 or design1 in  
connection with it8  ,it is my object in
 the present work to answer this        
question in the affirmative1 and to lead
 my reader to agree with me1 perhaps    
mainly1 by following the history of that
 opinion which is now supposed to be    
fatal to a purposive view of animal and 
vegetable organs4 ,i refer to the theory
 of evolution or descent with           
modification4  ,let me state the        
question more at large4  ,when we see   
organs1 or living tools--for there is no
 well-developed organ of any living     
being which is not used by its possessor
 as an instrument or tool for the       
effecting of some purpose which he      
considers or has considered for his     
advantage--when we see living tools     
which are as admirably fitted for the   
work required of them1 as is the        
carpenter's plane for planing1 or the   
blacksmith's hammer and anvil for the   
hammering of iron1 or the tailor's      
needle for sewing1 what conclusion shall

 we adopt concerning them8  ,shall we   
hold that they must have been designed  
or contrived1 not perhaps by mental     
processes indistinguishable from those  
by which the carpenter's saw or the     
watch has been designed1 but still by   
processes so closely resembling these   
that no word can be found to express the
 facts of the case so nearly as the word
 design8 ,that is to say1 shall we      
imagine that they were arrived at by a  
living mind as the result of scheming   
and contriving1 and thinking 7not       
without occasional mistakes7 which of   
the courses open to it seemed best      
fitted for the occasion1 or are we to   
regard the apparent connection between  
such an organ1 we will say1 as the eye1 
and the sight which is affected by it1  
as in no way due to the design or plan  
of a living intelligent being1 but as   
caused simply by the accumulation1 one  
upon another1 of an almost infinite     
series of small pieces of good fortune8 
,in other words1 shall we see something 

for which1 as ,professor ,mivart has    
well said1 to us the word 'mind' is the 
least inadequate and misleading symbol1 
as having given to the eagle an eyesight
 which can pierce the sun1 but which1 in
 the night is powerless2 while to the   
owl it has given eyes which shun even   
the full moon1 but find a soft          
brilliancy in darkness8 ,or shall we    
deny that there has been any purpose or 
design in the fashioning of these       
different kinds of eyes1 and see nothing
 to make us believe that any living     
being made the eagle's eye out of       
something which was not an eye nor      
anything like one1 or that this living  
being implanted this particular eye of  
all others in the eagle's head1 as being
 most in accordance with the habits of  
the creature1 and as therefore most     
likely to enable it to live contentedly 
and leave plenitude of offspring8 ,and  
shall we then go on to maintain that the
 eagle's eye was formed little by little
 by a series of accidental variations1  

each one of which was thrown for1 as it 
were1 with dice8  ,we shall most of us  
feel that there must have been a little 
cheating somewhere with these accidental
 variations before the eagle could have 
become so great a winner4  ,i believe ,i
 have now stated the question at issue  
so plainly that there can be no mistake 
about its nature1 ,i will therefore     
proceed to show as briefly as possible  
what have been the positions taken in   
regard to it by our forefathers1 by the 
leaders of opinion now living1 and what 
,i believe will be the next conclusion  
that will be adopted for any length of  
time by any considerable number of      
people4  ,in the times of the ancients  
the preponderance of opinion was in     
favour of teleology1 though impugners   
were not wanting4 ,aristotle#a leant    
towards a denial of purpose1 while      
,plato#b was a firm believer in design4 
,from the days of ,plato to our own     
times1 there have been but few objectors
 to the teleological or purposive view  

of nature4 ,if an animal had an eye1    
that eye was regarded as something which
 had been designed in order to enable   
its owner to see after such fashion as  
should be most to its advantage4  ,this1
 however1 is now no longer the          
prevailing opinion either in this       
country or in ,germany4  ,professor     
,haeckel holds a high place among the   
leaders of ,german philosophy at the    
present day4 ,he declares a belief in   
evolution and in purposiveness to be    
incompatible1 and denies purpose in     
language which holds out little prospect
 of a compromise4  ,as soon1 in fact1 he
 writes1 as we acknowledge the exclusive
 activity of the physico-chemical causes
 in living 7organic7 bodies as well as  
in so-called inanimate 7inorganic7      
nature1--and this is what ,professor    
,haeckel holds we are bound to do if we 
accept the theory of descent with       
modification--we concede exclusive      
dominion to that view of the universe1  
which we may designate as mechanical1   

and which is opposed to the teleological
 conception4 ,if we compare all the     
ideas of the universe prevalent among   
different nations at different times1 we
 can divide them all into two sharply   
contrasted groups--a causal or          
mechanical1 and a teleological or       
vitalistic4 ,the latter has prevailed   
generally in biology until now1 and     
accordingly the animal and vegetable    
kingdoms have been considered as the    
products of a creative power1 acting for
 a definite purpose4 ,in the            
contemplation of every organism1 the    
unavoidable conviction seemed to press  
itself upon us1 that such a wonderful   
machine1 so complicated an apparatus for
 motion as exists in the organism1 could
 only be produced by a power analogous  
to1 but infinitely more powerful than   
the power of man in the construction of 
his machines4#c  ,a little lower down he
 continues3--  ,i maintain with regard  
to this much talked of 'purpose in      
nature' that it has no existence but for

 those persons who observe phenomena in 
plants and animals in the most          
superficial manner4 ,without going more 
deeply into the matter1 we can see at   
once that the rudimentary organs are a  
formidable obstacle to this theory4     
,and1 indeed1 anyone who makes a really 
close study of the organization and mode
 of life of the various animals and     
plants1 444 must necessarily come to the
 conclusion1 that this 'purposiveness'  
no more exists than the much talked of  
'beneficence' of the ,creator4#d        
,professor ,haeckel justly sees no      
alternative between1 upon the one hand1 
the creation of independent species by a
 ,personal ,god--by a ,creator1 in fact1
 who becomes an organism1 who designs a 
plan1 reflects upon and varies this     
plan1 and finally forms creatures       
according to it1 as a human architect   
would construct his building1#e--;and   
the denial of all plan or purpose       
whatever4 ,there can be no question but 
that he is right here4 ,to talk of a    

designer who has no tangible existence1 
no organism with which to think1 no     
bodily mechanism with which to carry his
 purposes into effect2 whose design is  
not design inasmuch as it has to contend
 with no impediments from ignorance or  
impotence1 and who thus contrives but by
 a sort of make-believe in which there  
is no contrivance2 who has a familiar   
name1 but nothing beyond a name which   
any human sense has ever been able to   
perceive--this is an abuse of words--an 
attempt to palm off a shadow upon our   
understandings as though it were a      
substance4 ,it is plain therefore that  
there must either be a designer who     
becomes an organism1 designs a plan1 c41
 or that there can be no designer at all
 and hence no design4  ,we have seen    
which of these alternatives ,professor  
,haeckel has adopted4 ,he holds that    
those who accept evolution are bound to 
reject all purposiveness4 ,and here1 as 
,i have intimated1 ,i differ from him1  
for reasons which will appear presently4

 ,i believe in an organic and tangible  
designer of every complex structure1 for
 so long a time past1 as that reasonable
 people will be incurious about all that
 occurred at any earlier time4          
,professor ,clifford1 again1 is a fair  
representative of opinions which are    
finding favour with the majority of our 
own thinkers4 ,he writes3--  ,there are 
here some words1 however1 which require 
careful definition4 ,and first the word 
purpose4 ,a thing serves a purpose when 
it is adapted for some end2 thus a      
corkscrew is adapted to the end of      
extracting corks from bottles1 and our  
lungs are adapted to the end of         
respiration4 ,we may say that the       
extraction of corks is the purpose of   
the corkscrew1 and that respiration is  
the purpose of the lungs1 but here we   
shall have used the word in two         
different senses4 ,a man made the       
corkscrew with a purpose in his mind1   
and he knew and intended that it should 
be used for pulling out corks4 ,but     

nobody made our lungs with a purpose in 
his mind and intended that they should  
be used for breathing4 ,the respiratory 
apparatus was adapted to its purpose by 
natural selection1 namely1 by the       
gradual preservation of better and      
better adaptations1 and by the          
killing-off of the worse and imperfect  
adaptations4#f  ,no denial of anything  
like design could be more explicit4 ,for
 ,professor ,clifford is well aware that
 the very essence of the ,natural       
,selection theory1 is that the          
variations shall have been mainly       
accidental and without design of any    
sort1 but that the adaptations of       
structure to need shall have come about 
by the accumulation1 through natural    
selection1 of any variation that        
happened to be favourable4  ,it will be 
my business on a later page not only to 
show that the lungs are as purposive as 
the corkscrew1 but furthermore that if  
drawing corks had been a matter of as   
much importance to us as breathing is1  

the list of our organs would have been  
found to comprise one corkscrew at the  
least1 and possibly two1 twenty1 or ten 
thousand2 even as we see that the trowel
 without which the beaver cannot plaster
 its habitation in such fashion as alone
 satisfies it1 is incorporate into the  
beaver's own body by way of a tail1 the 
like of which is to be found in no other
 animal4  ,to take a name which carries 
with it a far greater authority1 that of
 ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin4 ,he writes3--   
,it is scarcely possible to avoid       
comparing the eye with a telescope4 ,we 
know that this instrument has been      
perfected by the long-continued efforts 
of the highest human intellects2 and we 
naturally infer that the eye has been   
formed by a somewhat analogous process4 
,but may not this inference be          
presumptuous8 ,have we any right to     
declare that the ,creator works by      
intellectual powers like those of man8#g
  ,here purposiveness is not indeed     
denied point-blank1 but the intention of

 the author is unmistakable1 it is to   
refer the wonderful result to the       
gradual accumulation of small accidental
 improvements which were not due as a   
rule1 if at all1 to anything analogous  
to design4  ,variation1 he says1 will   
cause the slight alterations2 that is to
 say1 the slight successive variations  
whose accumulation results in such a    
marvellous structure as the eye1 are    
caused by--variation2 or in other words1
 they are indefinite1 due to nothing    
that we can lay our hands upon1 and     
therefore certainly not due to design4  
,generation1 continues ,mr4 ,darwin1    
will multiply them almost infinitely1   
and natural selection will pick out with
 unerring skill each improvement4 ,let  
this process go on for millions of      
years1 and during each year on millions 
of individuals of many kinds2 and may we
 not believe that a living optical      
instrument might be thus formed as      
superior to one of glass1 as the works  
of the ,creator are to those of man8#h  

,the reader will observe that the only  
skill--and this involves                
design--supposed by ,mr4 ,darwin to be  
exercised in the foregoing process1 is  
the unerring skill of natural selection4
 ,natural selection1 however1 is1 as he 
himself tells us1 a synonym for the     
survival of the fittest1 which last he  
declares to be the more accurate        
expression1 and to be sometimes equally 
convenient4#i ,it is clear then that he 
only speaks metaphorically when he here 
assigns unerring skill to the fact that 
the fittest individuals commonly live   
longest and transmit most offspring1 and
 that he sees no evidence of design in  
the numerous slight successive          
alterations--or variations--which are   
caused by variation4  ,it were easy to  
multiply quotations which should prove  
that the denial of purposiveness is     
commonly conceived to be the inevitable 
accompaniment of a belief in evolution4 
,i will1 however1 content myself with   
but one more--from ,isidore ,geoffroy   

,st4 ,hilaire4  ,whoever1 says this     
author1 holds the doctrine of final     
causes1 will1 if he is consistent1 hold 
also that of the immutability of        
species2 and again1 the opponent of the 
one doctrine will oppose the other      
also4#aj  ,nothing can be plainer2 ,i   
believe1 however1 that even without     
quotation the reader would have         
recognized the accuracy of my contention
 that a belief in the purposiveness or  
design of animal and vegetable organs is
 commonly held to be incompatible with  
the belief that they have all been      
evolved from one1 or at any rate1 from  
not many original1 and low1 forms of    
life4 ,generally1 however1 as this      
incompatibility is accepted1 it is not  
unchallenged4 ,from time to time a voice
 is uplifted in protest1 whose tones    
cannot be disregarded4  ,i have always  
felt1 says ,sir ,william ,thomson1 in   
his address to the ,british             
,association1 #ahga1 that this          
hypothesis 7natural selection7 does not 

contain the true theory of evolution1 if
 indeed evolution there has been1 in    
biology4 ,sir ,john ,herschel1 in       
expressing a favourable judgment on the 
hypothesis of zoological evolution 7with
 however some reservation in respect to 
the origin of man71 objected to the     
doctrine of natural selection on the    
ground that it was too like the ,laputan
 method of making books1 and that it did
 not sufficiently take into account a   
continually guiding and controlling     
intelligence4 ,this seems to me a most  
valuable and instructive criticism4 ,i  
feel profoundly convinced that the      
argument of design has been greatly too 
much lost sight of in recent zoological 
speculations4 ,reaction against the     
frivolities of teleology such as are to 
be found in the notes of the learned    
commentators on ,paley's ',natural      
,theology1' has1 ,i believe1 had a      
temporary effect in turning attention   
from the solid and irrefragable argument
 so well put forward in that excellent  

old book4 ,but overpoweringly strong    
proofs of intelligent and benevolent    
design lie all around us1#aa c4 ,sir    
,william ,thomson goes on to infer that 
all living beings depend on an          
ever-acting ,creator and                
,ruler--meaning1 ,i am afraid1 a        
,creator who is not an organism4 ,here  
,i cannot follow him1 but while gladly  
accepting his testimony to the          
omnipresence of intelligent design in   
almost every structure1 whether of      
animal or plant1 ,i shall content myself
 with observing the manner in which     
plants and animals act and with the     
consequences that are legitimately      
deducible from their action4            
,,footnotes3  #a ,see note to ,mr4      
,darwin1 ,historical ,sketch1 c41       
',origin of ,species1 p4 xiii4 ed4      
#ahgf1 and ,arist4 ',physicae           
,auscultationes1' lib4 ii4 cap4 viii4 s4
 #b4  #b ,see ,phaedo and ,timaeus4  #c 
',history of ,creation1' vol4 i4 p4 #ah 
7,h4 ,s4 ,king and ,co41 #ahgf74  #d    

,ibid4 p4 #ai4  #e ',history of         
,creation1' vol4 i4 p4 #gc 7,h4 ,s4     
,king and ,co41 #ahgf74  #f             
',fortnightly ,review1' new series1 vol4
 xviii4 p4 #gie4  #g ',origin of        
,species1' p4 #adf1 ed4 #ahgf4  #h      
',origin of ,species1' p4 #adf1 ed4     
#ahgf4  #i ,page #di4  #aj ',vie et     
,doctrine scientifique d',etienne       
,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire1' by ,isidore   
,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire4 ,paris1 #ahdg1 
p4 #cdd4  #aa ,address to the ,british  
,association1 #ahga4     ,,chapter ,,ii 
,,the ,,teleology ,,of ,,paley ,,and    
,,the ,,theologians4   ,let us turn for 
a while to ,paley1 to whom ,sir ,w4     
,thomson has referred us4 ,his work     
should be so well known that an apology 
is almost due for quoting it1 yet ,i    
think it likely that at least nine out  
of ten of my readers will 7like myself  
till reminded of it by ,sir ,w4         
,thomson's address7 have forgotten its  
existence4  ,in crossing a heath1 says  
,paley1 suppose ,i pitched my foot      

against a stone1 and were asked how the 
stone came to be there2 ,i might        
possibly answer that for anything ,i    
knew to the contrary1 it had lain there 
for ever2 nor would it perhaps be very  
easy to show the absurdity of this      
answer4 ,but suppose ,i had found a     
watch upon the ground1 and it should be 
inquired how the watch happened to be in
 that place2 ,i should hardly think of  
the answer ,i had before given--that for
 anything ,i knew the watch might have  
been always there4 ,yet1 why should not 
this answer serve for the watch as well 
as for the stone8 ,why is it not as     
admissible in the second case as in the 
first8 ,for this reason1 and for no     
other1 viz4 that when we come to inspect
 the watch1 we perceive 7what we could  
not discover in the stone7 that its     
several parts are framed and put        
together for a purpose1 e4 g4 that they 
are so formed and adjusted as to produce
 motion1 and that motion so regulated as
 to point out the hour of the day3 that 

if the different parts had been         
differently shaped from what they are1  
of a different size from what they are1 
or placed after any other manner1 or in 
any other order1 than that in which they
 are placed1 either no motion at all    
would have been carried on in the       
machine1 or none that would have        
answered the use which is now served by 
it4 ,to reckon up a few of the plainest 
of these parts1 and of their offices all
 tending to one result3 we see a        
cylindrical box containing a coiled     
elastic spring1 which1 by its endeavours
 to relax itself1 turns round the box4  
,we next observe a flexible chain       
7artificially wrought for the sake of   
flexure7 communicating the action of the
 spring from the box to the fusee4 ,we  
then find a series of wheels the teeth  
of which catch in1 and apply to each    
other1 conducting the motion from the   
fusee to the balance1 and from the      
balance to the pointer2 and at the same 
time by the size and shape of those     

wheels so regulating the motion as to   
terminate in causing an index1 by an    
equable and measured progression1 to    
pass over a given space in a given time4
 ,we take notice that the wheels are    
made of brass in order to keep them from
 rust2 the springs of steel1 no other   
metal being so elastic2 that over the   
face of the watch there is placed a     
glass1 a material employed on no other  
part of the work1 but in the room of    
which if there had been any other than a
 transparent substance1 the hour could  
not have been observed without opening  
the case4 ,this mechanism being         
observed1 444 the inference1 we think1  
is inevitable that the watch must have  
had a maker2 that there must have       
existed1 at some time1 and at some place
 or other1 an artificer or artificers   
who formed it for the purpose which we  
find it actually to answer2 who         
comprehended its construction and       
designed its use4#ab       4 4 4 4 4 4  
,that an animal is a machine1 is a      

proposition neither correctly true nor  
wholly false4444 ,i contend that there  
is a mechanism in animals2 that this    
mechanism is as properly such1 as it is 
in machines made by art2 that this      
mechanism is intelligible and certain2  
that it is not the less so because it   
often begins and terminates with        
something which is not mechanical2 that 
wherever it is intelligible and certain1
 it demonstrates intention and          
contrivance1 as well in the works of    
nature as in those of art2 and that it  
is the best demonstration which either  
can afford4#ac  ,there is only one      
legitimate inference deducible from     
these premises if they are admitted as  
sound1 namely1 that there must have     
existed at some time1 and in some place1
 an artificer who formed the animal     
mechanism after much the same mental    
processes of observation1 endeavour1    
successful contrivance1 and after a not 
wholly unlike succession of bodily      
actions1 as those with which a          

watchmaker has made a watch4 ,otherwise 
the conclusion is impotent1 and the     
whole argument becomes a mere juggle of 
words4  ,now1 supposing or admitting1   
continues ,paley1 that we know nothing  
of the proper internal constitution of a
 gland1 or of the mode of its acting    
upon the blood2 then our situation is   
precisely like that of an unmechanical  
looker-on who stands by a stocking loom1
 a corn mill1 a carding machine1 or a   
threshing machine1 at work1 the fabric  
and mechanism of which1 as well as all  
that passes within1 is hidden from his  
sight by the outside case2 or if seen1  
would be too complicated for his        
uninformed1 uninstructed understanding  
to comprehend4 ,and what is that        
situation8 ,this spectator1 ignorant as 
he is1 sees at one end a material enter 
the machine1 as unground grain the mill1
 raw cotton the carding machine1 sheaves
 of unthreshed corn the threshing       
machine1 and when he casts his eye to   
the other end of the apparatus1 he sees 

the material issuing from it in a new   
state and what is more1 a state         
manifestly adapted for its future uses3 
the grain in meal fit for the making of 
bread1 the wool in rovings fit for the  
spinning into threads1 the sheaf in corn
 fit for the mill4 ,is it necessary that
 this man1 in order to be convinced that
 design1 that intention1 that           
contrivance has been employed about the 
machine1 should be allowed to pull it to
 pieces1 should be enabled to examine   
the parts separately1 explore their     
action upon one another1 or their       
operation1 whether simultaneous or      
successive1 upon the material which is  
presented to them8 ,he may long to do   
this to satisfy his curiosity2 he may   
desire to do it to improve his theoretic
 knowledge2 444 but for the purpose of  
ascertaining the existence of counsel   
and design in the formation of the      
machine1 he wants no such intromission  
or privity4 ,the effect upon the        
material1 the change produced in it1 the

 utility of the change for future       
applications1 abundantly testify1 be the
 concealed part of the machine1 or of   
its construction1 what it will1 the hand
 and agency of a contriver4#ad  ,this is
 admirably put1 but it will apply to the
 mechanism of animal and vegetable      
bodies only1 if it is used to show that 
they too must have had a contriver who  
has a hand1 or something tantamount to  
one2 who does act2 who1 being a         
contriver1 has what all other contrivers
 must have1 if they are to be called    
contrivers--a body which can suffer more
 or less pain or chagrin if the         
contrivance is unsuccessful4 ,if this is
 what ,paley means1 his argument is     
indeed irrefragable2 but if he does not 
intend this1 his words are frivolous1 as
 so clear and acute a reasoner must have
 perfectly well known4  ,whether        
,paley's argument will prove a source of
 lasting strength to himself or no1 is a
 point which my readers will decide     
presently2 but ,i am very clear about   

its usefulness to my own position4 ,i   
know few writers whom ,i would willingly
 quote more largely1 or from whom ,i    
find it harder to leave off quoting when
 ,i have once begun4 ,a few more        
passages1 however1 must suffice4  ,i    
challenge any man to produce in the     
joints and pivots of the most           
complicated or the most flexible machine
 that ever was contrived1 a construction
 more artificial 7here we have it       
again71 or more evidently artificial    
than the human neck4 ,two things were to
 be done4 ,the head was to have the     
power of bending forward and backward as
 in the act of nodding1 stooping1       
looking upwards or downwards2 and at the
 same time of turning itself round upon 
the body to a certain extent1 the       
quadrant1 we will say1 or rather perhaps
 a hundred and twenty degrees of a      
circle4 ,for these two purposes two     
distinct contrivances are employed4     
,first the head rests immediately upon  
the uppermost part of the vertebra1 and 

is united to it by a hinge-joint2 upon  
this joint the head plays freely        
backward and forward as far either way  
as is necessary or as the ligaments     
allow1 which was the first thing        
required4  ,but then the rotatory motion
 is thus unprovided for2 therefore1     
secondly1 to make the head capable of   
this a further mechanism is introduced1 
not between the head and the uppermost  
bone of the neck1 where the hinge is1   
but between that bone and the next      
underneath it4 ,it is a mechanism       
resembling a tenon and mortise4 ,this   
second or uppermost bone but one has    
what the anatomists call a process1 viz4
 a projection somewhat similar in size  
and shape to a tooth1 which tooth1      
entering a corresponding hollow socket  
in the bone above it1 forms a pivot or  
axle1 upon which that upper bone1       
together with the head which it         
supports1 turns freely in a circle1 and 
as far in the circle as the attached    
muscles permit the head to turn4 ,thus  

are both motions perfect without        
interfering with each other4 ,when we   
nod the head we use the hinge-joint1    
which lies between the head and the     
first bone of the neck4 ,when we turn   
the head round1 we use the tenon and    
mortise1 which runs between the first   
bone of the neck and the second4 ,we see
 the same contrivance and the same      
principle employed in the frame or      
mounting of a telescope4 ,it is         
occasionally requisite that the object  
end of the instrument be moved up and   
down as well as horizontally or         
equatorially4 ,for the vertical motion  
there is a hinge upon which the         
telescope plays1 for the horizontal or  
equatorial motion1 an axis upon which   
the telescope and the hinge turn round  
together4 ,and this is exactly the      
mechanism which is applied to the action
 of the head1 nor will anyone here doubt
 of the existence of counsel and design1
 except it be by that debility of mind  
which can trust to its own reasonings in

 nothing4#ae       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the    
patella1 or knee-pan1 is a curious      
little bone2 in its form and office     
unlike any other bone in the body4 ,it  
is circular1 the size of a crown-piece1 
pretty thick1 a little convex on both   
sides1 and covered with a smooth        
cartilage4 ,it lies upon the front of   
the knee1 and the powerful tendons by   
which the leg is brought forward pass   
through it 7or rather make it a part of 
their continuation7 from their origin in
 the thigh to their insertion in the    
tibia4 ,it protects both the tendon and 
the joint from any injury which either  
might suffer by the rubbing of one      
against the other1 or by the pressure of
 unequal surfaces4 ,it also gives to the
 tendons a very considerable mechanical 
advantage by altering the line of their 
direction1 and by advancing it farther  
out of the centre of motion2 and this   
upon the principles of the resolution of
 force1 upon which all machinery is     
founded4 ,these are its uses4 ,but what 

is most observable in it is that it     
appears to be supplemental1 as it were1 
to the frame2 added1 as it should almost
 seem1 afterwards2 not quite necessary1 
but very convenient4 ,it is separate    
from the other bones2 that is1 it is not
 connected with any other bones by the  
common mode of union4 ,it is soft1 or   
hardly formed in infancy2 and is        
produced by an ossification1 of the     
inception or progress of which no       
account can be given from the structure 
or exercise of the part4#af  ,it is     
positively painful to me to pass over   
,paley's description of the joints1 but 
,i must content myself with a single    
passage from this admirable chapter4    
,the joints1 or rather the ends of the  
bones which form them1 display also in  
their configuration another use4 ,the   
nerves1 blood-vessels1 and tendons which
 are necessary to the life1 or for the  
motion of the limbs1 must1 it is evident
 in their way from the trunk of the body
 to the place of their destination1     

travel over the moveable joints2 and it 
is no less evident that in this part of 
their course they will have from sudden 
motions1 and from abrupt changes of     
curvature1 to encounter the danger of   
compression1 attrition1 or laceration4  
,to guard fibres so tender against      
consequences so injurious1 their path is
 in those parts protected with peculiar 
care2 and that by a provision in the    
figure of the bones themselves4 ,the    
nerves which supply the fore arm1       
especially the inferior cubital nerves1 
are at the elbow conducted by a kind of 
covered way1 between the condyle1 or    
rather under the inner extuberances1 of 
the bone which composes the upper part  
of the arm4 ,at the knee the extremity  
of the thigh-bone is divided by a sinus 
or cliff into two heads or              
protuberances2 and these heads on the   
back part stand out beyond the cylinder 
of the bone4 ,through the hollow which  
lies between the hind parts of these two
 heads1 that is to say1 under the ham1  

between the ham strings1 and within the 
concave recess of the bone formed by the
 extuberances on either side2 in a word1
 along a defile between rocks pass the  
great vessels and nerves which go to the
 leg4 ,who led these vessels by a road  
so defended and secured8 ,in the joint  
at the shoulder1 in the edge of the cup 
which receives the head of the bone1 is 
a notch which is covered at the top with
 a ligament4 ,through this hole thus    
guarded the blood-vessels steal to their
 destination in the arm instead of      
mounting over the edge of the           
concavity4#ag       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,what  
contrivance can be more mechanical than 
the following1 viz43 a slit in one      
tendon to let another tendon pass       
through it8 ,this structure is found in 
the tendons which move the toes and     
fingers4 ,the long tendon1 as it is     
called in the foot1 which bends the     
first joint of the toe1 passes through  
the short tendon which bends the second 
joint2 which course allows to the sinews

 more liberty and a more commodious     
action than it would otherwise have been
 capable of exerting4 ,there is nothing1
 ,i believe1 in a silk or cotton mill1  
in the belts or straps or ropes by which
 the motion is communicated from one    
part of the machine to another that is  
more artificial1 or more evidently so1  
than this perforation4  ,the next       
circumstance which ,i shall mention     
under this head of muscular arrangement1
 is so decidedly a mark of intention1   
that it always appeared to me to        
supersede in some measure the necessity 
of seeking for any other observation    
upon the subject2 and that circumstance 
is the tendons which pass from the leg  
to the foot being bound down by a       
ligament at the ankle1 the foot is      
placed at a considerable angle with the 
leg4 ,it is manifest1 therefore1 that   
flexible strings passing along the      
interior of the angle1 if left to       
themselves1 would1 when stretched1 start
 from it4 ,the obvious 7and it must not 

be forgotten that the preventive was    
obvious7 preventive is to tie them down4
 ,and this is done in fact4 ,across the 
instep1 or rather just above it1 the    
anatomist finds a strong ligament1 under
 which the tendons pass to the foot4    
,the effect of the ligament as a bandage
 can be made evident to the senses1 for 
if it be cut the tendons start up4 ,the 
simplicity1 yet the clearness of this   
contrivance1 its exact resemblance to   
established resources of art1 place it  
amongst the most indubitable            
manifestations of design with which we  
are acquainted4  ,then follows a passage
 which is interesting1 as being the     
earliest attempt ,i know of to bring    
forward an argument against evolution1  
which was1 even in ,paley's day1 called 
,darwinism1 after ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin 
its propounder4#ah ,the argument1 ,i    
mean1 which is drawn from the difficulty
 of accounting for the incipiency of    
complex structures4 ,this has been used 
with greater force by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,j4 

,murphy1 ,professor ,mivart1 and others1
 against that 7as ,i believe7 erroneous 
view of evolution which is now generally
 received as ,darwinism4  ,there is also
 a further use1 says ,paley1 to be made 
of this present example1 and that is as 
it precisely contradicts the opinion1   
that the parts of animals may have been 
all formed by what is called appetency1 
i4 e4 endeavour1 perpetuated and        
imperceptibly working its effect through
 an incalculable series of generations4 
,we have here no endeavour1 but the     
reverse of it2 a constant resistency and
 reluctance4 ,the endeavour is all the  
other way4 ,the pressure of the ligament
 constrains the tendons2 the tendons    
react upon the pressure of the ligament4
 ,it is impossible that the ligament    
should ever have been generated by the  
exercise of the tendons1 or in the      
course of that exercise1 forasmuch as   
the force of the tendon perpendicularly 
resists the fibre which confines it1 and
 is constantly endeavouring not to form 

but to rupture and displace the threads 
of which the ligament is composed4#ai   
,this must suffice4  ,true theories1    
says ,m4 ,flourens1 inspired by a       
passage from ,fontenelle1 which he      
proceeds to quote1 true theories make   
themselves1 they are not made1 but are  
born and grow2 they cannot be stopped   
from insisting upon their vitality by   
anything short of intellectual violence1
 nor will a little violence only suffice
 to kill them4 ,true theories1 he       
continues1 are but the spontaneous      
mental coming together of facts1 which  
have combined with one another by virtue
 only of their own natural affinity4#bj 
,when a number of isolated facts1 says  
,fontenelle1 take form1 group themselves
 together coherently1 and present the   
mind so vividly with an idea of their   
interdependence and mutual bearing upon 
each other1 that no matter how violently
 we tear them asunder they insist on    
coming together again2 then1 and not    
till then1 have we a theory4  ,now ,i   

submit that there is hardly one of my   
readers who can be considered as free   
from bias or prejudice1 who will not    
feel that the idea of design--or        
perception by an intelligent living     
being1 of ends to be obtained and of the
 means of obtaining them--and the idea  
of the tendons of the foot and of the   
ligament which binds them down1 come    
together so forcibly1 that no matter how
 strongly ,professors ,haeckel and      
,clifford and ,mr4 ,darwin may try to   
separate them1 they are no sooner pulled
 asunder than they straightway fly      
together again of themselves4  ,i shall 
argue1 therefore1 no further upon this  
head1 but shall assume it as settled1   
and shall proceed at once to the        
consideration that next suggests itself4
  ,,footnotes3  #ab ',natural           
,theology1' ch4 i4 ,sec4 #a4  #ac ,ch4  
vii4  #ad ,ch4 vii4  #ae ',natural      
,theology4' ch4 viii4  #af ',natural    
,theology1' ch4 viii4  #ag ',natural    
,theology1' ch4 viii4  #ah ,what6 says  

,coleridge1 in a note on ,stillingfleet1
 to which ,mr4 ,garnett1 of the ,british
 ,museum1 has kindly called my          
attention1 ,did ,sir ,walter ,raleigh   
believe that a male and female ounce    
7and if so why not two tigers and lions1
 c487 would have produced in course of  
generations a cat1 or a cat a lion8     
,this is ,darwinising with a            
vengeance4--,see ',athenaeum1' ,march   
#bg1 #ahge1 p4 #dbc4  #ai ',natural     
,theology1' ch4 ix4  #bj ,la vraie      
theorie n'est que l'enchainement naturel
 des faits1 qui des qu'ils sont assez   
nombreux1 se touchent1 et se lient1 les 
uns aux autres par leur seule vertu     
propre4--,flourens1 ',buffon1 ,hist4 de 
ses ,travaux4' ,paris1 #ahdd1 p4 #hb4   
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,impotence ,,of      
,,paley',s ,,conclusion4 ,,the          
,,teleology ,,of ,,the ,,evolutionist4  
,though the ideas of design1 and of the 
foot1 have come together in our minds   
with sufficient spontaneity1 we yet feel
 that there is a difference--and a wide 

difference if we could only lay our     
hands upon it--between the design and   
manufacture of the ligament and tendons 
of the foot on the one hand1 and on the 
other the design1 manufacture1 and      
combination of artificial strings1      
pieces of wood1 and bandages1 whereby a 
model of the foot might be constructed4 
,if we conceive of ourselves as looking 
simultaneously upon a real foot1 and    
upon an admirably constructed artificial
 one1 placed by the side of it1 the idea
 of design1 and design by an intelligent
 living being with a body and soul      
7without which1 as has been already     
insisted on1 the use of the word design 
is delusive71 will present itself       
strongly to our minds in connection both
 with the true foot1 and with the model2
 but we find another idea asserting     
itself with even greater strength1      
namely1 that the design of the true foot
 is far more intricate1 and yet is      
carried into execution in far more      
masterly manner than that of the model4 

,we not only feel that there is a wider 
difference between the ability1 time1   
and care which have been lavished on the
 real foot and upon the model1 than     
there is between the skill and the time 
taken to produce ,westminster ,abbey1   
and that bestowed upon a gingerbread    
cake stuck with sugar plums so as to    
represent it1 but also that these two   
objects must have been manufactured on  
different principles4 ,we do not for a  
moment doubt that the real foot was     
designed1 but we are so astonished at   
the dexterity of the designer that we   
are at a loss for some time to think who
 could have designed it1 where he can   
live1 in what manner he studied1 for how
 long1 and by what processes he carried 
out his design1 when matured1 into      
actual practice4 ,until recently it was 
thought that there was no answer to many
 of these questions1 more especially to 
those which bear upon the mode of       
manufacture4 ,for the last hundred      
years1 however1 the importance of a     

study has been recognized which does    
actually reveal to us in no small degree
 the processes by which the human foot  
is manufactured1 so that in the         
endeavour to lay our hands upon the     
points of difference between the kind of
 design with which the foot itself is   
designed1 and the design of the model1  
we turn naturally to the guidance of    
those who have made this study their    
specialty2 and a very wide difference   
does this study1 embryology1 at once    
reveal to us4  ,writing of the          
successive changes through which each   
embryo is forced to pass1 the late ,mr4 
,g4 ,h4 ,lewes says that none of these  
phases have any adaptation to the future
 state of the animal1 but are in        
positive contradiction to it or are     
simply purposeless2 whereas all show    
stamped on them the unmistakable        
characters of ancestral adaptation1 and 
the progressions of organic evolution4  
,what does the fact imply8 ,there is not
 a single known example of a complex    

organism which is not developed out of  
simpler forms4 ,before it can attain the
 complex structure which distinguishes  
it1 there must be an evolution of forms 
similar to those which distinguish the  
structure of organisms lower in the     
series4 ,on the hypothesis of a plan    
which prearranged the organic world1    
nothing could be more unworthy of a     
supreme intelligence than this inability
 to construct an organism at once1      
without making several previous         
tentative efforts1 undoing to-day what  
was so carefully done yesterday1 and    
repeating for centuries the same        
tentatives in the same succession4 ,do  
not let us blink this consideration4    
,there is a traditional phrase much in  
vogue among the anthropomorphists1 which
 arose naturally enough from a tendency 
to take human methods as an explanation 
of the ,divine--a phrase which becomes a
 sort of argument--',the ,great         
,architect4' ,but if we are to admit the
 human point of view1 a glance at the   

facts of embryology must produce very   
uncomfortable reflections4 ,for what    
should we say to an architect who was   
unable1 or being able was obstinately   
unwilling1 to erect a palace except by  
first using his materials in the shape  
of a hut1 then pulling them down and    
rebuilding them as a cottage1 then      
adding story to story and room to room1 
not with any reference to the ultimate  
purposes of the palace1 but wholly with 
reference to the way in which houses    
were constructed in ancient times8 ,what
 should we say to the architect who     
could not form a museum out of bricks   
and mortar1 but was forced to begin as  
if going to construct a mansion1 and    
after proceeding some way in this       
direction1 altered his plan into a      
palace1 and that again into a museum8   
,yet this is the sort of succession on  
which organisms are constructed4 ,the   
fact has long been familiar2 how has it 
been reconciled with infinite wisdom8   
,let the following passage answer for a 

thousand3--',the embryo is nothing like 
the miniature of the adult4 ,for a long 
while the body in its entirety and in   
its details1 presents the strangest of  
spectacles4 ,day by day and hour by     
hour1 the aspect of the scene changes1  
and this instability is exhibited by the
 most essential parts no less than by   
the accessory parts4 ,one would say that
 nature feels her way1 and only reaches 
the goal after many times missing the   
path' 7on dirait que la nature tatonne  
et ne conduit son oeuvre a bon fin1     
qu'apres s'etre souvent trompee74#ba    
,the above passage does not1 ,i think1  
affect the evidence for design which we 
adduced in the preceding chapter4       
,however strange the process of         
manufacture may appear1 when the work   
comes to be turned out the design is too
 manifest to be doubted4  ,if the reader
 were to come upon some lawyer's deed   
which dealt with matters of such        
unspeakable intricacy1 that it baffled  
his imagination to conceive how it could

 ever have been drafted1 and if in spite
 of this he were to find the intricacy  
of the provisions to be made1 exceeded  
only by the ease and simplicity with    
which the deed providing for them was   
found to work in practice2 and after    
this1 if he were to discover that the   
deed1 by whomsoever drawn1 had          
nevertheless been drafted upon          
principles which at first seemed very   
foreign to any according to which he was
 in the habit of drafting deeds himself1
 as for example1 that the draftsman had 
begun to draft a will as a marriage     
settlement1 and so forth--yet an        
observer would not1 ,i take it1 do      
either of two things4 ,he would not in  
the face of the result deny the design1 
making himself judge rather of the      
method of procedure than of the         
achievement4 ,nor yet after insisting in
 the manner of ,paley1 on the wonderful 
proofs of intention and on the exquisite
 provisions which were to be found in   
every syllable--thus leading us up to   

the highest pitch of expectation--would 
he present us with such an impotent     
conclusion as that the designer1 though 
a living person and a true designer1 was
 yet immaterial and intangible1 a       
something1 in fact1 which proves to be a
 nothing3 an omniscient and omnipotent  
vacuum4  ,our observer would feel he    
need not have been at such pains to     
establish his design if this was to be  
the upshot of his reasoning4 ,he would  
therefore admit the design1 and by      
consequence the designer1 but would     
probably ask a little time for          
reflection before he ventured to say    
who1 or what1 or where the designer was4
 ,then gaining some insight into the    
manner in which the deed had been drawn1
 he would conclude that the draftsman   
was a specialist who had had long       
practice in this particular kind of     
work1 but who now worked almost as it   
might be said automatically and without 
consciousness1 and found it difficult to
 depart from a habitual method of       

procedure4  ,we turn1 then1 on ,paley1  
and say to him3 ,we have admitted your  
design and your designer4 ,where is he8 
,show him to us4 ,if you cannot show him
 to us as flesh and blood1 show him as  
flesh and sap2 show him as a living     
cell2 show him as protoplasm4 ,lower    
than this we should not fairly go2 it is
 not in the bond or nexus of our ideas  
that something utterly inanimate and    
inorganic should scheme1 design1        
contrive1 and elaborate structures which
 can make mistakes3 it may elaborate low
 unerring things1 like crystals1 but it 
cannot elaborate those which have the   
power to err4 ,nevertheless1 we will    
commit such abuse with our              
understandings as to waive this point1  
and we will ask you to show him to us as
 air which1 if it cannot be seen1 yet   
can be felt1 weighed1 handled1          
transferred from place to place1 be     
judged by its effects1 and so forth2 or 
if this may not be1 give us half a grain
 of hydrogen1 diffused through all space

 and invested with some of the minor    
attributes of matter2 or if you cannot  
do this1 give us an imponderable like   
electricity1 or even the higher         
mathematics1 but give us something or   
throw off the mask and tell us fairly   
out that it is your paid profession to  
hoodwink us on this matter if you can1  
and that you are but doing your best to 
earn an honest living4  ,we may fancy   
,paley as turning the tables upon us and
 as saying3 ,but you too have admitted a
 designer--you too then must mean a     
designer with a body and soul1 who must 
be somewhere to be found in space1 and  
who must live in time4 ,where is this   
your designer8 ,can you show him more   
than ,i can8 ,can you lay your finger on
 him and demonstrate him so that a child
 shall see him and know him1 and find   
what was heretofore an isolated idea    
concerning him1 combine itself          
instantaneously with the idea of the    
designer1 we will say1 of the human     
foot1 so that no power on earth shall   

henceforth tear those two ideas asunder8
 ,surely if you cannot do this1 you too 
are trifling with words1 and abusing    
your own mind and that of your reader4  
,where1 then1 is your designer of man8  
,who made him8 ,and where1 again1 is    
your designer of beasts and birds1 of   
fishes1 and of plants8  ,our answer is  
simple enough2 it is that we can and do 
point to a living tangible person with  
flesh1 blood1 eyes1 nose1 ears1 organs1 
senses1 dimensions1 who did of his own  
cunning after infinite proof of every   
kind of hazard and experiment scheme    
out1 and fashion each organ of the human
 body4 ,this is the person whom we claim
 as the designer and artificer of that  
body1 and he is the one of all others   
the best fitted for the task by his     
antecedents1 and his practical knowledge
 of the requirements of the case--for he
 is man himself4  ,not man1 the         
individual of any given generation1 but 
man in the entirety of his existence    
from the dawn of life onwards to the    

present moment4 ,in like manner we say  
that the designer of all organisms is so
 incorporate with the organisms         
themselves--so lives1 moves1 and has its
 being in those organisms1 and is so one
 with them--they in it1 and it in       
them--that it is more consistent with   
reason and the common use of words to   
see the designer of each living form in 
the living form itself1 than to look for
 its designer in some other place or    
person4  ,thus we have a third          
alternative presented to us4  ,mr4      
,charles ,darwin and his followers deny 
design1 as having any appreciable share 
in the formation of organism at all4    
,paley and the theologians insist on    
design1 but upon a designer outside the 
universe and the organism4  ,the third  
opinion is that suggested in the first  
instance1 and carried out to a very high
 degree of development by ,buffon4 ,it  
was improved1 and1 indeed1 made almost  
perfect by ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 but   
too much neglected by him after he had  

put it forward4 ,it was borrowed1 as ,i 
think we may say with some confidence1  
from ,dr4 ,darwin by ,lamarck1 and was  
followed up by him ardently thenceforth1
 during the remainder of his life1      
though somewhat less perfectly          
comprehended by him than it had been by 
,dr4 ,darwin4 ,it is that the design    
which has designed organisms1 has       
resided within1 and been embodied in1   
the organisms themselves4  ,with but a  
very little change in the present       
signification of words1 the question    
resolves itself into this4  ,shall we   
see ,god henceforth as embodied in all  
living forms2 as dwelling in them2 as   
being that power in them whereby they   
have learnt to fashion themselves1 each 
one according to its ideas of its own   
convenience1 and to make itself not only
 a microcosm1 or little world1 but a    
little unwritten history of the universe
 from its own point of view into the    
bargain8 ,from everlasting1 in time     
past1 only in so far as life has lasted2

 invisible1 only in so far as the       
ultimate connection between the will to 
do and the thing which does is          
invisible2 imperishable1 only in so far 
as life as a whole is imperishable2     
omniscient and omnipotent1 within the   
limits only of a very long and large    
experience1 but ignorant and impotent in
 respect of all else--limited in all the
 above respects1 yet even so            
incalculably vaster than anything that  
we can conceive8  ,or shall we see ,god 
as we were taught to say we saw him when
 we were children--as an artificial and 
violent attempt to combine ideas which  
fly asunder and asunder1 no matter how  
often we try to force them into         
combination8  ,the true mainspring of   
our existence1 says ,buffon1 lies not in
 those muscles1 veins1 arteries1 and    
nerves1 which have been described with  
so much minuteness1 it is to be found in
 the more hidden forces which are not   
bounden by the gross mechanical laws    
which we would fain set over them4      

,instead of trying to know these forces 
by their effects1 we have endeavoured to
 uproot even their very idea1 so as to  
banish them utterly from philosophy4    
,but they return to us and with renewed 
vigour2 they return to us in            
gravitation1 in chemical affinity1 in   
the phenomena of electricity1 c4 ,their 
existence rests upon the clearest       
evidence2 the omnipresence of their     
action is indisputable1 but that action 
is hidden away from our eyes1 and is a  
matter of inference only2 we cannot     
actually see them1 therefore we find    
difficulty in admitting that they exist2
 we wish to judge of everything by its  
exterior2 we imagine that the exterior  
is the whole1 and deeming that it is not
 permitted us to go beyond it1 we       
neglect all that may enable us to do    
so4#bb  ,or may we not say that the     
unseen parts of ,god are those deep     
buried histories1 the antiquity and the 
repeatedness of which go as far beyond  
that of any habit handed down to us from

 our earliest protoplasmic ancestor1 as 
the distance of the remotest star in    
space transcends our distance from the  
sun8  ,by vivisection and painful       
introspection we can rediscover many a  
long buried history--rekindling that    
sense of novelty in respect of its      
action1 whereby we can alone become     
aware of it4 ,but there are other       
remoter histories1 and more repeated    
thoughts and actions1 before which we   
feel so powerless to reawaken fresh     
interest concerning them1 that we give  
up the attempt in despair1 and bow our  
heads1 overpowered by the sense of their
 immensity4 ,thus our inability to      
comprehend ,god is coextensive with our 
difficulty in going back upon the       
past--and our sense of him is a dim     
perception of our own vast and now      
inconceivably remote history4           
,,footnotes3  #ba ,quatrefages1         
',metamorphoses de l',homme et des      
,animaux1' #ahfb1 p4 #db2 ,g4 ,h4       
,lewes1 ',physical ,basis of ,mind1'    

#ahgg1 p4 #hc4  #bb ,tom4 ii4 p4 #dhf1  
#agid4     ,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,failure   
,,of ,,the ,,first ,,evolutionists ,,to 
,,see ,,their ,,position ,,as           
,,teleological4   ,it follows           
necessarily from the doctrine of ,dr4   
,erasmus ,darwin and ,lamarck1 if not   
from that of ,buffon himself1 that the  
greater number of organs are as         
purposive to the evolutionist as to the 
theologian1 and far more intelligibly   
so4 ,circumstances1 however1 prevented  
these writers from acknowledging this   
fact to the world1 and perhaps even to  
themselves4 ,their crux was1 as it still
 is to so many evolutionists1 the       
presence of rudimentary organs1 and the 
processes of embryological development4 
,they would not admit that rudimentary  
and therefore useless organs were       
designed by a ,creator to take their    
place once and for ever as part of a    
scheme whose main idea was1 that every  
animal structure was to serve some      
useful end in connection with its       

possessor4  ,this was the doctrine of   
final causes as then commonly held2 in  
the face of rudimentary organs it was   
absurd4 ,buffon was above all things    
else a plain matter of fact thinker1 who
 refused to go far beyond the obvious4  
,like all other profound writers1 he    
was1 if ,i may say so1 profoundly       
superficial4 ,he felt that the aim of   
research does not consist in the knowing
 this or that1 but in the easing of the 
desire to know or understand more       
completely--in the peace of mind which  
passeth all understanding4 ,his was the 
perfection of a healthy mental organism 
by which over effort is felt            
instinctively to be as vicious and      
contemptible as indolence4 ,he knew this
 too well to know the grounds of his    
knowledge1 but we smaller people who    
know it less completely1 can see that   
such felicitous instinctive tempering   
together of the two great contradictory 
principles1 love of effort and love of  
ease1 has underlain every step of all   

healthy growth through all conceivable  
time4 ,nothing is worth looking at which
 is seen either too obviously or with   
too much difficulty4 ,nothing is worth  
doing or well done which is not done    
fairly easily1 and some little          
deficiency of effort is more pardonable 
than any very perceptible excess2 for   
virtue has ever erred rather on the side
 of self-indulgence than of asceticism1 
and well-being has ever advanced through
 the pleasures rather than through      
austerity4  ,according to ,buffon1      
then--as also according to ,dr4 ,darwin1
 who was just such another practical and
 genial thinker1 and who was distinctly 
a pupil of ,buffon1 though a most       
intelligent and original one--if an     
organ after a reasonable amount of      
inspection appeared to be useless1 it   
was to be called useless without more   
ado1 and theories were to be ordered out
 of court if they were troublesome4 ,in 
like manner1 if animals bred freely     
inter se before our eyes1 as for example

 the horse and ass1 the fact was to be  
noted1 but no animals were to be classed
 as capable of interbreeding until they 
had asserted their right to such        
classification by breeding with         
tolerable certainty4 ,if1 again1 an     
animal looked as if it felt1 that is to 
say1 if it moved about pretty quickly or
 made a noise1 it must be held to feel2 
if it did neither of these things1 it   
did not look as if it felt and therefore
 it must be said not to feel4 ,de non   
apparentibus et non existentibus eadem  
est lex was one of the chief axioms of  
their philosophy2 no writers have had a 
greater horror of mystery or of ideas   
that have not become so mastered as to  
be1 or to have been1 superficial4       
,lamarck was one of those men of whom ,i
 believe it has been said that they have
 brain upon the brain4 ,he had his      
theory that an animal could not feel    
unless it had a nervous system1 and at  
least a spinal marrow--and that it could
 not think at all without a brain--all  

his facts1 therefore1 have to be made to
 square with this4 ,with ,buffon and    
,dr4 ,darwin we feel safe that however  
wrong they may sometimes be1 their      
conclusions have always been arrived at 
on that fairly superficial view of      
things in which1 as ,i have elsewhere   
said1 our nature alone permits us to be 
comforted4  ,to these writers1 then1 the
 doctrine of final causes for           
rudimentary organs was a piece of       
mystification and an absurdity2 no less 
fatal to any such doctrine were the     
processes of embryological development4 
,it was plain that the commonly received
 teleology must be given up2 but the    
idea of design or purpose was so        
associated in their minds with          
theological design that they avoided it 
altogether4 ,they seem to have forgotten
 that an internal teleology is as much  
teleology as an external one2 hence1    
unfortunately1 though their whole theory
 of development is intensely purposive1 
it is the fact rather than the name of  

teleology which has hitherto been       
insisted upon1 even by the greatest     
writers on evolution--the name having   
been denied even by those who were most 
insisting on the thing itself4  ,it is  
easy to understand the difficulty felt  
by the fathers of evolution when we     
remember how much had to be seen before 
the facts could lie well before them4   
,it was necessary to attain1 firstly1 to
 a perception of the unity of person    
between parents and offspring in        
successive generations2 secondly1 it    
must be seen that an organism's memory  
goes back for generations beyond its    
birth1 to the first beginnings in fact1 
of which we know anything whatever2     
thirdly1 the latency of that memory1 as 
of memory generally till the associated 
ideas are reproduced1 must be brought to
 bear upon the facts of heredity2 and   
lastly1 the unconsciousness with which  
habitual actions come to be performed1  
must be assigned as the explanation of  
the unconsciousness with which we grow  

and discharge most of our natural       
functions4  ,buffon was too busy with   
the fact that animals descended with    
modification at all1 to go beyond the   
development and illustration of this    
great truth4 ,i doubt whether he ever   
saw more than the first1 and that dimly1
 of the four considerations above       
stated4  ,dr4 ,darwin was the first to  
point out the first two considerations  
with some clearness1 but he can hardly  
be said to have understood their full   
importance3 the two latter ideas do not 
appear to have occurred to him4         
,lamarck had little if any perception of
 any one of the four4 ,when1 however1   
they are firmly seized and brought into 
their due bearings one upon another1 the
 facts of heredity become as simple as  
those of a man making a tobacco pipe1   
and rudimentary organs are seen to be   
essentially of the same character as the
 little rudimentary protuberance at the 
bottom of the pipe to which ,i referred 
in ',erewhon4'#bc  ,these organs are now

 no longer useful1 but they once were   
so1 and were therefore once purposive1  
though not so now4 ,they are the        
expressions of a bygone usefulness2     
sayings1 as it were1 about which there  
was at one time infinite wrangling1 as  
to what both the meaning and the        
expression should best be1 so that they 
then had living significance in the     
mouths of those who used them1 though   
they have become such mere shibboleths  
and cant formulae to ourselves that we  
think no more of their meaning than we  
do of ,julius ,caesar in the month of   
,july4 ,they continue to be reproduced  
through the force of habit1 and through 
indisposition to get out of any familiar
 groove of action until it becomes too  
unpleasant for us to remain in it any   
longer4 ,it has long been felt that     
embryology and rudimentary structures   
indicated community of descent4 ,dr4    
,darwin and ,lamarck insisted on this1  
as have all subsequent writers on       
evolution2 but the explanation of why   

and how the structures come to be       
repeated--namely1 that they are simply  
examples of the force of habit--can only
 be perceived intelligently by those who
 admit so much unity between parents and
 offspring that the self-development of 
the latter can be properly called       
habitual 7as being a repetition of an   
act by one and the same individual71 and
 can only be fully sympathized with by  
those who recognize that if habit be    
admitted as the key to the fact at all1 
the unconscious manner in which the     
habit comes to be repeated is only of a 
piece with all our other observations   
concerning habit4 ,for the fuller       
development of the foregoing1 ,i must   
refer the reader to my work ',life and  
,habit4'  ,the purposiveness1 which even
 ,dr4 ,darwin1 and ,lamarck still less1 
seem never to have quite recognized in  
spite of their having insisted so much  
on what amounts to the same thing1 now  
comes into full view4 ,it is seen that  
the organs external to the body1 and    

those internal to it are1 the second as 
much as the first1 things which we have 
made for our own convenience1 and with a
 prevision that we shall have need of   
them2 the main difference between the   
manufacture of these two classes of     
organs being1 that we have made the one 
kind so often that we can no longer     
follow the processes whereby we make    
them1 while the others are new things   
which we must make introspectively or   
not at all1 and which are not yet so    
incorporate with our vitality as that we
 should think they grow instead of being
 manufactured4 ,the manufacture of the  
tool1 and the manufacture of the living 
organ prove therefore to be but two     
species of the same genus1 which1 though
 widely differentiated1 have descended  
as it were from one common filament of  
desire and inventive faculty4 ,the      
greater or less complexity of the organs
 goes for very little4 ,it is only a    
question of the amount of intelligence  
and voluntary self-adaptation which we  

must admit1 and this must be settled    
rather by an appeal to what we find in  
organism1 and observe concerning it1    
than by what we may have imagined a     
priori4  ,given a small speck of jelly  
with some kind of circumstance-suiting  
power1 some power of slightly varying   
its actions in accordance with slightly 
varying circumstances and desires--given
 such a jelly-speck with a power of     
assimilating other matter1 and thus1 of 
reproducing itself1 given also that it  
should be possessed of a memory1 and we 
can show how the whole animal world can 
have descended it may be from an amoeba 
without interference from without1 and  
how every organ in every creature is    
designed at first roughly and           
tentatively but finally fashioned with  
the most consummate perfection1 by the  
creature which has had need of that     
organ1 which best knew what it wanted1  
and was never satisfied till it had got 
that which was the best suited to its   
varying circumstances in their entirety4

 ,we can even show how1 if it becomes   
worth the ,ethiopian's while to try and 
change his skin1 or the leopard's to    
change his spots1 they can assuredly    
change them within a not unreasonable   
time and adapt their covering to their  
own will and convenience1 and to that of
 none other2 thus what is commonly      
conceived of as direct creation by ,god 
is moved back to a time and space       
inconceivable in their remoteness1 while
 the aim and design so obvious in nature
 are shown to be still at work around   
us1 growing ever busier and busier1 and 
advancing from day to day both in       
knowledge and power4  ,it was reserved  
for ,mr4 ,darwin and for those who have 
too rashly followed him to deny purpose 
as having had any share in the          
development of animal and vegetable     
organs2 to see no evidence of design in 
those wonderful provisions which have   
been the marvel and delight of observers
 in all ages4 ,the one who has drawn our
 attention more than perhaps any other  

living writer to those very marvels of  
coadaptation1 is the foremost to        
maintain that they are the result not of
 desire and design1 either within the   
creature or without it1 but of blind    
chance1 working no whither1 and due but 
to the accumulation of innumerable lucky
 accidents4  ,there are men1 writes     
,professor ,tyndall in the ',nineteenth 
,century1' for last ,november1 and by no
 means the minority1 who1 however       
wealthy in regard to facts1 can never   
rise into the region of principles2 and 
they are sometimes intolerant of those  
that can4 ,they are formed to plod      
meritoriously on in the lower levels of 
thought2 unpossessed of the pinions     
necessary to reach the heights1 they    
cannot realize the mental act--the act  
of inspiration it might well be         
called--by which a man of genius1 after 
long pondering and proving1 reaches a   
theoretic conception which unravels and 
illuminates the tangle of centuries of  
observation and experiment4 ,there are  

minds1 it may be said in passing1 who1  
at the present moment1 stand in this    
relation to ,mr4 ,darwin4  ,the more    
rhapsodical parts of the above must go  
for what they are worth1 but ,i should  
be sorry to think that what remains     
conveyed a censure which might fall     
justly on myself4 ,as ,i read the       
earlier part of the passage ,i confess  
that ,i imagined the conclusion was     
going to be very different from what it 
proved to be4 ,fresh from the study of  
the older men and also of ,mr4 ,darwin  
himself1 ,i failed to see that ,mr4     
,darwin had unravelled and illuminated a
 tangled skein1 but believed him1 on the
 contrary1 to have tangled and obscured 
what his predecessors had made in great 
part1 if not wholly1 plain4 ,with the   
older writers1 ,i had felt as though in 
the hands of men who wished to          
understand themselves and to make their 
reader understand them with the smallest
 possible exertion4 ,the older men1 if  
not in full daylight1 at any rate saw in

 what quarter of the sky the dawn was   
breaking1 and were looking steadily     
towards it4 ,it is not they who have put
 their hands over their own eyes and    
ours1 and who are crying out that there 
is no light1 but chance and blindness   
everywhere4  ,,footnotes3  #bc ,page    
#baj1 first edition4     ,,chapter ,v4  
,,the ,,teleological ,,evolution ,,of   
,,organism--,,the ,,philosophy ,,of     
,,the ,,unconscious4   ,i have stated   
the foregoing in what ,i take to be an  
extreme logical development1 in order   
that the reader may more easily perceive
 the consequences of those premises     
which ,i am endeavouring to             
re-establish4 ,but it must not be       
supposed that an animal or plant has    
ever conceived the idea of some organ   
widely different from any it was yet    
possessed of1 and has set itself to     
design it in detail and grow towards it4
  ,the small jelly-speck1 which we call 
the amoeba1 has no organs save what it  
can extemporize as occasion arises4 ,if 

it wants to get at anything1 it thrusts 
out part of its jelly1 which thus serves
 it as an arm or hand3 when the arm has 
served its purpose1 it is absorbed into 
the rest of the jelly1 and has now to do
 the duty of a stomach by helping to    
wrap up what it has just purveyed4 ,the 
small round jelly-speck spreads itself  
out and envelops its food1 so that the  
whole creature is now a stomach1 and    
nothing but a stomach4 ,having digested 
its food1 it again becomes a            
jelly-speck1 and is again ready to turn 
part of itself into hand or foot as its 
next convenience may dictate4 ,it is not
 to be believed that such a creature as 
this1 which is probably just sensitive  
to light and nothing more1 should be    
able to form a conception of an eye and 
set itself to work to grow one1 any more
 than it is believable that he who first
 observed the magnifying power of a dew 
drop1 or even he who first constructed a
 rude lens1 should have had any idea in 
his mind of ,lord ,rosse's telescope    

with all its parts and appliances4      
,nothing could be well conceived more   
foreign to experience and common sense4 
,animals and plants have travelled to   
their present forms as man has travelled
 to any one of his own most complicated 
inventions4 ,slowly1 step by step1      
through many blunders and mischances    
which have worked together for good to  
those that have persevered in           
elasticity4 ,they have travelled as man 
has travelled1 with but little          
perception of a want till there was also
 some perception of a power1 and with   
but little perception of a power till   
there was a dim sense of want2 want     
stimulating power1 and power stimulating
 want2 and both so based upon each other
 that no one can say which is the true  
foundation1 but rather that they must be
 both baseless and1 as it were1 meteoric
 in mid air4 ,they have seen very little
 ahead of a present power or need1 and  
have been then most moral1 when most    
inclined to pierce a little into        

futurity1 but also when most obstinately
 declining to pierce too far1 and busy  
mainly with the present4 ,they have been
 so far blindfolded that they could see 
but for a few steps in front of them1   
yet so far free to see that those steps 
were taken with aim and definitely1 and 
not in the dark4  ,plus il a su1 says   
,buffon1 speaking of man1 plus il a pu1 
mais aussi moins il a fait1 moins il a  
su4 ,this holds good wherever life holds
 good4 ,wherever there is life there is 
a moral government of rewards and       
punishments understood by the amoeba    
neither better nor worse than by man4   
,the history of organic development is  
the history of a moral struggle4  ,we   
know nothing as yet about the origin of 
a creature able to feel want and power1 
nor yet what want and power spring from4
 ,it does not seem worth while to go    
into these questions until an           
understanding has been come to as to    
whether the interaction of want and     
power in some low form or forms of life 

which could assimilate matter1 reproduce
 themselves1 vary their actions1 and be 
capable of remembering1 will or will not
 suffice to explain the development of  
the varied organs and desires which we  
see in the higher vertebrates and man4  
,when this question has been settled1   
then it will be time to push our        
inquiries farther back4  ,but given such
 a low form of life as here postulated1 
and there is no force in ,paley's       
pretended objection to the ,darwinism of
 his time4  ,give our philosopher1 he   
says1 appetencies2 give him a portion of
 living irritable matter 7a nerve or the
 clipping of a nerve7 to work upon2 give
 also to his incipient or progressive   
forms the power of propagating their    
like in every stage of their alteration2
 and if he is to be believed1 he could  
replenish the world with all the        
vegetable and animal productions which  
we now see in it4#bd  ,after meeting    
this theory with answers which need not 
detain us1 he continues3--  ,the senses 

of animals appear to me quite incapable 
of receiving the explanation of their   
origin which this theory affords4       
,including under the word 'sense' the   
organ and the perception1 we have no    
account of either4 ,how will our        
philosopher get at vision or make an    
eye8 ,or1 suppose the eye formed1 would 
the perception follow8 ,the same of the 
other senses4 ,and this objection holds 
its force1 ascribe what you will to the 
hand of time1 to the power of habit1 to 
changes too slow to be observed by man1 
or brought within any comparison which  
he is able to make of past things with  
the present4 ,concede what you please to
 these arbitrary and unattested         
superstitions1 how will they help you8  
,here is no inception4 ,no laws1 no     
course1 no powers of nature which       
prevail at present1 nor any analogous to
 these would give commencement to a new 
sense2 and it is in vain to inquire how 
that might proceed which would never    
begin4  ,in answer to this1 let us      

suppose that some inhabitants of another
 world were to see a modern philosopher 
so using a microscope that they should  
believe it to be a part of the          
philosopher's own person1 which he could
 cut off from and join again to himself 
at pleasure1 and suppose there were a   
controversy as to how this microscope   
had originated1 and that one party      
maintained the man had made it little by
 little because he wanted it1 while the 
other declared this to be absurd and    
impossible2 ,i ask1 would this latter   
party be justified in arguing that      
microscopes could never have been       
perfected by degrees through the        
preservation of and accumulation of     
small successive improvements1 inasmuch 
as men could not have begun to want to  
use microscopes until they had had a    
microscope which should show them that  
such an instrument would be useful to   
them1 and that hence there is nothing to
 account for the beginning of           
microscopes1 which might indeed make    

some progress when once originated1 but 
which could never originate8  ,it might 
be pointed out to such a reasoner1      
firstly1 that as regards any acquired   
power the various stages in the         
acquisition of which he might be        
supposed able to remember1 he would find
 that1 logic notwithstanding1 the wish  
did originate the power1 and yet was    
originated by it1 both coming up        
gradually out of something which was not
 recognisable as either power or wish1  
and advancing through vain beating of   
the air1 to a vague effort1 and from    
this to definite effort with failure1   
and from this to definite effort with   
success1 and from this to success with  
little consciousness of effort1 and from
 this to success with such complete     
absence of effort that he now acts      
unconsciously and without power of      
introspection1 and that1 do what he     
will1 he can rarely or never draw a     
sharp dividing line whereat anything    
shall be said to begin1 though none less

 certain that there has been a          
continuity in discontinuity1 and a      
discontinuity in continuity between it  
and certain other past things2 moreover1
 that his opponents postulated so much  
beginning of the microscope as that     
there should be a dew drop1 even as our 
evolutionists start with a sense of     
touch1 of which sense all the others are
 modifications1 so that not one of them 
but is resolvable into touch by more or 
less easy stages2 and secondly1 that the
 question is one of fact and of the more
 evident deductions therefrom1 and      
should not be carried back to those     
remote beginnings where the nature of   
the facts is so purely a matter of      
conjecture and inference4  ,no plant or 
animal1 then1 according to our view1    
would be able to conceive more than a   
very slight improvement on its          
organization at a given time1 so clearly
 as to make the efforts towards it that 
would result in growth of the required  
modification2 nor would these efforts be

 made with any far-sighted perception of
 what next and next and after1 but only 
of what next2 while many of the happiest
 thoughts would come like all other     
happy thoughts--thoughtlessly2 by a     
chain of reasoning too swift and subtle 
for conscious analysis by the           
individual1 as will be more fully       
insisted on hereafter4 ,some of these   
modifications would be noticeable1 but  
the majority would involve no more      
noticeable difference than can be       
detected between the length of the      
shortest day1 and that of the shortest  
but one4  ,thus a bird whose toes were  
not webbed1 but who had under force of  
circumstances little by little in the   
course of many generations learned to   
swim1 either from having lived near a   
lake1 and having learnt the art owing to
 its fishing habits1 or from wading     
about in shallow pools by the sea-side  
at low water1 and finding itself        
sometimes a little out of its depth and 
just managing to scramble over the      

intermediate yard or so between it and  
safety--such a bird did not probably    
conceive the idea of swimming on the    
water and set itself to learn to do so1 
and then conceive the idea of webbed    
feet and set itself to get webbed feet4 
,the bird found itself in some small    
difficulty1 out of which it either saw1 
or at any rate found that it could      
extricate itself by striking out        
vigorously with its feet and extending  
its toes as far as ever it could2 it    
thus began to learn the art of swimming 
and conceived the idea of swimming      
synchronously1 or nearly so2 or perhaps 
wishing to get over a yard or two of    
deep water1 and trying to do so without 
being at the trouble of rising to fly1  
it would splash and struggle its way    
over the water1 and thus practically    
swim1 though without much perception of 
what it had been doing4 ,finding that no
 harm had come to it1 the bird would do 
the same again1 and again2 it would thus
 presently lose fear1 and would be able 

to act more calmly2 then it would begin 
to find out that it could swim a little1
 and if its food lay much in the water  
so that it would be of great advantage  
to it to be able to alight and rest     
without being forced to return to land1 
it would begin to make a practice of    
swimming4 ,it would now discover that it
 could swim the more easily according as
 its feet presented a more extended     
surface to the water2 it would therefore
 keep its toes extended whenever it     
swam1 and as far as in it lay1 would    
make the most of whatever skin was      
already at the base of its toes4 ,after 
very many generations it would become   
web-footed1 if doing as above described 
should have been found continuously     
convenient1 so that the bird should have
 continuously used the skin about its   
toes as much as possible in this        
direction4  ,for there is a margin in   
every organic structure 7and perhaps    
more than we imagine in things inorganic
 also71 which will admit of references1 

as it were1 side notes1 and glosses upon
 the original text4 ,it is on this      
margin that we may err or wander--the   
greatness of a mistake depending rather 
upon the extent of the departure from   
the original text1 than on the direction
 that the departure takes4 ,a little    
error on the bad side is more           
pardonable1 and less likely to hurt the 
organism than a too great departure upon
 the right one4 ,this is a fundamental  
proposition in any true system of       
ethics1 the question what is too much or
 too sudden being decided by much the   
same higgling as settles the price of   
butter in a country market1 and being as
 invisible as the link which connects   
the last moment of desire with the first
 of power and performance1 and with the 
material result achieved4  ,it is on    
this margin that the fulcrum is to be   
found1 whereby we obtain the little     
purchase over our structure1 that       
enables us to achieve great results if  
we use it steadily1 with judgment1 and  

with neither too little effort nor too  
much4 ,it is by employing this that     
those who have a fancy to move their    
ears or toes without moving other organs
 learn to do so4 ,there is a man at the 
,agricultural ,hall now playing the     
violin with his toes1 and playing it1 as
 ,i am told1 sufficiently well4 ,the eye
 of the sailor1 the wrist of the        
conjuror1 the toe of the professional   
medium1 are all found capable of        
development to an astonishing degree1   
even in a single lifetime2 but in every 
case success has been attained by the   
simple process of making the best of    
whatever power a man has had at any     
given time1 and by being on the look out
 to take advantage of accident1 and even
 of misfortune4 ,if a man would learn to
 paint1 he must not theorize concerning 
art1 nor think much what he would do    
beforehand1 but he must do something--it
 does not matter what1 except that it   
should be whatever at the moment will   
come handiest and easiest to him2 and he

 must do that something as well as he   
can4 ,this will presently open the door 
for something else1 and a way will show 
itself which no conceivable amount of   
searching would have discovered1 but    
which yet could never have been         
discovered by sitting still and taking  
no pains at all4 ,dans l'animal1 says   
,buffon1 il y a moins de jugement que de
 sentiment4#be  ,it may appear as though
 this were blowing hot and cold with the
 same breath1 inasmuch as ,i am         
insisting that important modifications  
of structure have been always purposive2
 and at the same time am denying that   
the creature modified has had any       
purpose in the greater part of all those
 actions which have at length modified  
both structure and instinct4 ,thus ,i   
say that a bird learns to swim without  
having any purpose of learning to swim  
before it set itself to make those      
movements which have resulted in its    
being able to do so4 ,at the same time  
,i maintain that it has only learned to 

swim by trying to swim1 and this        
involves the very purpose which ,i have 
just denied4 ,the reconciliation of     
these two apparently irreconcilable     
contentions must be found in the        
consideration that the bird was not the 
less trying to swim1 merely because it  
did not know the name we have chosen to 
give to the art which it was trying to  
master1 nor yet how great were the      
resources of that art4 ,a person1 who   
knew all about swimming1 if from some   
bank he could watch our supposed bird's 
first attempt to scramble over a short  
space of deep water1 would at once      
declare that the bird was trying to     
swim--if not actually swimming4         
,provided then that there is a very     
little perception of1 and prescience    
concerning1 the means whereby the next  
desired end may be attained1 it matters 
not how little in advance that end may  
be of present desires or faculties2 it  
is still reached through purpose1 and   
must be called purposive4 ,again1 no    

matter how many of these small steps be 
taken1 nor how absolute was the want of 
purpose or prescience concerning any but
 the one being actually taken at any    
given moment1 this does not bar the     
result from having been arrived at      
through design and purpose4 ,if each one
 of the small steps is purposive the    
result is purposive1 though there was   
never purpose extended over more than   
one1 two1 or perhaps at most three1     
steps at a time4  ,returning to the art 
of painting for an example1 are we to   
say that the proficiency which such a   
student as was supposed above will      
certainly attain1 is not due to design1 
merely because it was not until he had  
already become three parts excellent    
that he knew the full purport of all    
that he had been doing8 ,when he began  
he had but vague notions of what he     
would do4 ,he had a wish to learn to    
represent nature1 but the line into     
which he has settled down has probably  
proved very different from that which he

 proposed to himself originally4        
,because he has taken advantage of his  
accidents1 is it1 therefore1 one whit   
the less true that his success is the   
result of his desires and his design8   
,the ',times' pointed out not long ago  
that the theory which now associates    
meteors and comets in the most          
unmistakable manner1 was suggested by   
one accident1 and confirmed by another4 
,but the writer added well that such    
accidents happen only to the zealous    
student of nature's secrets4 ,in the    
same way the bird that is taking to the 
habit of swimming1 and of making the    
most of whatever skin it already has    
between its toes1 will have doubtless to
 thank accidents for no small part of   
its progress2 but they will be such     
accidents as could never have happened  
to1 or been taken advantage of by any   
creature which was not zealously trying 
to make the most of itself--and between 
such accidents as this1 and design1 the 
line is hard to draw2 for if we go deep 

enough we shall find that most of our   
design resolves itself into as it were a
 shaking of the bag to see what will    
come out that will suit our purpose1 and
 yet at the same time that most of our  
shaking of the bag resolves itself into 
a design that the bag shall contain only
 such and such things1 or thereabouts4  
,again1 the fact that animals are no    
longer conscious of design and purpose  
in much that they do1 but act           
unreflectingly1 and as we sometimes say 
concerning ourselves automatically or   
mechanically--that they have no idea    
whatever of the steps whereby they have 
travelled to their present state1 and   
show no sign of doubt about what must   
have been at one time the subject of all
 manner of doubts1 difficulties1 and    
discussions--that whatever sign of      
reflection they now exhibit is to be    
found only in case of some novel feature
 or difficulty presenting itself2 these 
facts do not bar that the results       
achieved should be attributed to an     

inception in reason1 design1 and        
purpose1 no matter how rapidly and as we
 call it instinctively1 the creatures   
may now act4  ,for if we look closely at
 such an invention as the steam engine  
in its latest and most complicated      
developments1 about which there can be  
no dispute but that they are            
achievements of reason1 purpose1 and    
design1 we shall find them present us   
with examples of all those features the 
presence of which in the handiwork of   
animals is too often held to bar reason 
and purpose from having had any share   
therein4  ,assuredly such men as the    
,marquis of ,worcester and ,captain     
,savery had very imperfect ideas as to  
the upshot of their own action4 ,the    
simplest steam engine now in use in     
,england is probably a marvel of        
ingenuity as compared with the highest  
development which appeared possible to  
these two great men1 while our newest   
and most highly complicated engines     
would seem to them more like living     

beings than machines4 ,many1 again1 of  
the steps leading to the present        
development have been due to action     
which had but little heed of the steam  
engine1 being the inventions of         
attendants whose desire was to save     
themselves the trouble of turning this  
or that cock1 and who were indifferent  
to any other end than their own         
immediate convenience4 ,no step in fact 
along the whole route was ever taken    
with much perception of what would be   
the next step after the one being taken 
at any given moment4  ,nor do we find   
that an engine made after any old and   
well-known pattern is now made with much
 more consciousness of design than we   
can suppose a bird's nest to be built   
with4 ,the greater number of the parts  
of any such engine1 are made by the     
gross as it were like screws and nuts1  
which are turned out by machinery and in
 respect of which the labour of design  
is now no more felt than is the design  
of him who first invented the wheel4 ,it

 is only when circumstances require any 
modification in the article to be       
manufactured that thought and design    
will come into play again2 but ,i take  
it few will deny that if circumstances  
compel a bird either to give up a nest  
three-parts built altogether1 or to make
 some trifling deviation from its       
ordinary practice1 it will in nine cases
 out of ten make such deviation as shall
 show that it had thought the matter    
over1 and had on the whole concluded to 
take such and such a course1 that is to 
say1 that it had reasoned and had acted 
with such purpose as its reason had     
dictated4  ,and ,i imagine that this is 
the utmost that anyone can claim even   
for man's own boasted powers4 ,set the  
man who has been accustomed to make     
engines of one type1 to make engines of 
another type without any intermediate   
course of training or instruction1 and  
he will make no better figure with his  
engines than a thrush would do if       
commanded by her mate to make a nest    

like a blackbird4 ,it is vain then to   
contend that the ease and certainty with
 which an action is performed1 even     
though it may have now become matter of 
such fixed habit that it cannot be      
suddenly and seriously modified without 
rendering the whole performance         
abortive1 is any argument against that  
action having been an achievement of    
design and reason in respect of each one
 of the steps that have led to it2 and  
if in respect of each one of the steps  
then as regards the entire action2 for  
we see our own most reasoned actions    
become no less easy1 unerring1          
automatic1 and unconscious1 than the    
actions which we call instinctive when  
they have been repeated a sufficient    
number of times4  ,this has been often  
pointed out1 but ,i insisted upon it and
 developed it in ',life and ,habit1'    
more ,i believe than has been done      
hitherto1 at the same time making it the
 key to many phenomena of growth and    
heredity which without such key seem    

explained by words rather than by any   
corresponding peace of mind in our ideas
 concerning them4 ,seeing that ,i dwelt 
much on the importance of bearing in    
mind the vanishing tendency of          
consciousness1 volition1 and memory upon
 their becoming intense1 a tendency     
which no one after five minutes'        
reflection will venture to deny1 some   
reviewers have imagined that ,i am      
advocating the same views as have been  
put forward by ,von ,hartmann under the 
title of 'the ,philosophy of the        
,unconscious4' ,unless1 however1 ,i am  
much mistaken1 their opinion is without 
foundation4 ,for so far as ,i can       
gather1 ,von ,hartmann personifies the  
unconscious and makes it act and        
think--in fact deifies it--whereas ,i   
only infer a certain history for certain
 of our growths and actions in          
consequence of observing that often     
repeated actions come in time to be     
performed unconsciously4 ,i cannot think
 ,i have done more than note a fact     

which all must acknowledge1 and drawn   
from it an inference which may or may   
not be true1 but which is at any rate   
perfectly intelligible1 whereas if ,von 
,hartmann's meaning is anything like    
what ,mr4 ,sully says it is1#bf ,i can  
only say that it has not been given to  
me to form any definite conception      
whatever as to what that meaning may be4
 ,i am encouraged moreover to hope that 
,i am not in the same condemnation with 
,von ,hartmann--if1 indeed1 ,von        
,hartmann is to be condemned1 about     
which ,i know nothing--by the following 
extract from a ,german ,review of ',life
 and ,habit4'       ,der erste dieser   
beiden ,erklaerungsversuche1 ist eine   
wahre      ',philosophie des            
,unbewussten' nicht des ,hartmann'schen 
,unbewussten      welches hellsehend und
 wunderthaetig von aussen in die        
natuerliche      ,entwickelung der      
,organismen eingreift1 sondern eines    
,unbewussten      welches wie der       
,verfasser zeigt1 in allen organischen  

,wesen      anzunehmen unsere eigene    
,erfahrung und die ,stufenfolge der     
,organismen von den ,moneren und        
,amoeben bis zu den hoechsten           
,pflanzen und ,thieren und uns selbst   
aufwaerts--uns gestattet1 wenn          
nicht uns noethigt4 ,der ,gedankengang  
dieser neuen oder wenigstens in         
diesem ,sinne wohl zum ersten ,male     
consequent im ,einzelnen                
durchgefuehrten ,philosophie des        
,unbewussten ist1 seinen ,hauptzuegen   
nach kurz angedeutet1 folgender4#bg     
,even here ,i am made to personify more 
than ,i like2 ,i do not wish to say that
 the unconscious does this or that1 but 
that when we have done this or that     
sufficiently often we do it             
unconsciously4  ,if the foregoing be    
granted1 and it be admitted that the    
unconsciousness and seeming automatism  
with which any action may be performed  
is no bar to its having a foundation in 
memory1 reason1 and at one time         
consciously recognized effort--and this 

,i believe to be the chief addition     
which ,i have ventured to make to the   
theory of ,buffon and ,dr4 ,erasmus     
,darwin--then the wideness of the       
difference between the ,darwinism of    
eighty years ago and the ,darwinism of  
to-day becomes immediately apparent1 and
 it also becomes apparent1 how important
 and interesting is the issue which is  
raised between them4  ,according to the 
older ,darwinism the lungs are just as  
purposive as the corkscrew4 ,they1 no   
less than the corkscrew1 are a piece of 
mechanism designed and gradually        
improved upon and perfected by an       
intelligent creature for the            
gratification of its own needs4 ,true   
there are many important differences    
between mechanism which is part of the  
body1 and mechanism which is no such    
part1 but the differences are such as do
 not affect the fact that in each case  
the result1 whether1 for example1 lungs 
or corkscrew1 is due to desire1         
invention1 and design4  ,and now ,i will

 ask one more question1 which may seem1 
perhaps1 to have but little importance1 
but which ,i find personally            
interesting4 ,i have been told by a     
reviewer1 of whom upon the whole ,i have
 little reason to complain1 that the    
theory ,i put forward in ',life and     
,habit1' and which ,i am now again      
insisting on1 is pessimism--pure and    
simple4 ,i have a very vague idea what  
pessimism means1 but ,i should be sorry 
to believe that ,i am a pessimist4      
,which1 ,i would ask1 is the pessimist8 
,he who sees love of beauty1 design1    
steadfastness of purpose1 intelligence1 
courage1 and every quality to which     
success has assigned the name of worth1 
as having drawn the pattern of every    
leaf and organ now and in all past time1
 or he who sees nothing in the world of 
nature but a chapter of accidents and of
 forces interacting blindly8            
,,footnotes3  #bd ',nat4 ,theol41' ch4  
xxiii4  #be ',oiseaux1' vol4 i4 p4 #e4  
#bf ',westminster ,review1' vol4 xlix4  

p4 #abd4  #bg ,translation3 ,the first  
of these two attempts is a true         
'philosophy of the unconscious1' not    
,hartmann's unconscious1 which          
influences the natural evolution of     
organism from without as though by      
,providence and miracle1 but of an      
unconscious1 which1 as the author shows1
 our own experience and the progressive 
succession of organisms from the monads 
and amoebae up to the highest plants and
 animals1 including ourselves1 allows1  
if it does not compel us to assume as   
obtaining in all organic beings4 ,this  
philosophy of the unconscious is new1 or
 at any rate now for the first time     
carried out consequentially in detail2  
its main features1 briefly stated are as
 follows4     ,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,scheme 
,,of ,,the ,,remainder ,,of ,,the       
,,work4 ,,historical ,,sketch ,,of ,,the
 ,,theory ,,of ,,evolution4   ,i have   
long felt that evolution must stand or  
fall according as it is made to rest or 
not on principles which shall give a    

definite purpose and direction to the   
variations whose accumulation results in
 specific1 and ultimately in generic    
differences4 ,in other words1 according 
as it is made to stand upon the ground  
first clearly marked out for it by ,dr4 
,erasmus ,darwin and afterwards adopted 
by ,lamarck1 or on that taken by ,mr4   
,charles ,darwin4  ,there is some reason
 to fear that in consequence of the     
disfavour into which modern ,darwinism  
is seen to be falling by those who are  
more closely watching the course of     
opinion upon this subject1 evolution    
itself may be for a time discredited as 
something inseparable from the theory   
that it has come about mainly through   
the means of natural selection4 ,if     
people are shown that the arguments by  
which a somewhat startling conclusion   
has been reached will not legitimately  
lead to that conclusion1 they are very  
ready to assume that the conclusion must
 be altogether unfounded1 especially    
when1 as in the present case1 there is a

 vast mass of vested interests opposed  
to the conclusion4 ,few know that there 
are other great works upon descent with 
modification besides ,mr4 ,darwin's4    
,not one person in ten thousand has any 
distinct idea of what ,buffon1 ,dr4     
,darwin1 and ,lamarck propounded4 ,their
 names have been discredited by the very
 authors who have been most indebted to 
them2 there is hardly a writer on       
evolution who does not think it         
incumbent upon him to warn ,lamarck off 
the ground which he at any rate made his
 own1 and to cast a stone at what he    
will call the shallow speculations or   
crude theories or the well-known        
doctrine of the foremost exponent of    
,buffon and ,dr4 ,darwin4 ,buffon is a  
great name1 ,dr4 ,darwin is no longer   
even this1 and ,lamarck has been so     
systematically laughed at that it       
amounts to little less than             
philosophical suicide for anyone to     
stand up in his behalf4 ,not one of our 
scientific elders or chief priests but  

would caution a student rather to avoid 
the three great men whom ,i have named  
than to consult them4 ,it is a perilous 
task therefore to try and take evolution
 from the pedestal on which it now      
appears to stand so securely1 and to put
 it back upon the one raised for it by  
its propounders2 yet this is what ,i    
believe will have to be done sooner or  
later unless the now general acceptance 
of evolution is to be shaken more rudely
 than some of its upholders may         
anticipate4 ,i propose therefore to give
 a short biographical sketch of the     
three writers whose works form new      
departures in the history of evolution1 
with a somewhat full resume of the      
positions they took in regard to it4 ,i 
will also touch briefly upon some other 
writers who have handled the same       
subject4 ,the reader will thus be       
enabled to follow the development of a  
great conception as it has grown up in  
the minds of successive men of genius1  
and by thus growing with it1 as it were1

 through its embryonic stages1 he will  
make himself more thoroughly master of  
it in all its bearings4  ,i will then   
contrast the older with the newer       
,darwinism1 and will show why the       
',origin of ,species1' though an episode
 of incalculable value1 cannot1 any more
 than the ',vestiges of ,creation1' take
 permanent rank in the literature of    
evolution4  ,it will appear that the    
evolution of evolution has gone through 
the following principal stages3--  ,i4  
,a general conception of the fact that  
specific types were not always          
immutable4  ,this was common to many    
writers1 both ancient and modern2 it has
 been occasionally asserted from the    
times of ,anaximander and ,lucretius to 
those of ,bacon and ,sir ,walter        
,raleigh4  ,,ii4 ,a definite conception 
that animal and vegetable forms were so 
extensively mutable that few 7and1 if   
so1 perhaps but one7 could claim to be  
of an original stock2 the direct effect 
of changed conditions being assigned as 

the cause of modification1 and the      
important consequences of the struggle  
for existence being in many respects    
fully recognized4 ,the fact of design or
 purpose in connection with organism1 as
 causing habits and thus as underlying  
all variation1 was also indicated with  
some clearness1 but was not thoroughly  
understood4  ,this phase must be        
identified with the name of ,buffon1    
who1 as ,i will show reason for         
believing1 would have carried his theory
 much further if he had not felt that he
 had gone as far in the right direction 
as was then desirable4 ,buffon put      
forward his opinions1 with great reserve
 and yet with hardly less frankness1 in 
volume after volume from #agdi to #aghh1
 the year of his death1 but they do not 
appear to have taken root at once in    
,france4 ,they took root in ,england1   
and were thence transplanted back to    
,france4  ,,iii4 ,a development in      
,england of the ,buffonian system1      
marked by glimpses of the unity between 

offspring and parents1 and broad        
suggestions to the effect that the      
former must be considered as capable of 
remembering1 under certain              
circumstances1 what had happened to it1 
and what it did1 when it was part of the
 personality of those from whom it had  
descended4  ,a definite belief1 openly  
expressed1 that not only are many       
species mutable1 but that all living    
forms1 whether animal or vegetable1 are 
descended from a single1 or at any rate 
from not many1 original low forms of    
life1 and this as the direct consequence
 of the actions and requirements of the 
living forms themselves1 and as the     
indirect consequence of changed         
conditions4 ,a definite cause is thus   
supposed to underlie variations1 and the
 resulting adaptations become purposive2
 but this was not said1 nor1 ,i am      
afraid1 seen4  ,this is the original    
,darwinism of ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin4 ,it
 was put forward in his ',zoonomia1' in 
#agid1 and was adopted almost in its    

entirety by ,lamarck1 who1 when he had  
caught the leading idea 7probably       
through a ,french translation of the    
',loves of the ,plants1' which appeared 
in #ahjj71 began to expound it in #ahja2
 in #ahjb1 #ahjc1 #ahjf1 and #ahji1 he  
developed it with greater fulness of    
detail than ,dr4 ,darwin had done1 but  
perhaps with a somewhat less nice sense 
of some important points4 ,till his     
death1 in #ahca1 ,lamarck1 as far as age
 and blindness would permit1 continued  
to devote himself to the exposition of  
the theory of descent with modification4
  ,,iv4 ,a more distinct perception of  
the unity of parents and offspring1 with
 a bolder reference of the facts of     
heredity 7whether of structure or       
instinct71 to memory pure and simple2 a 
clearer perception of the consequences  
that follow from the survival of the    
fittest1 and a just view of the relation
 in which those consequences stand to   
the circumstance-suiting power of       
animals and plants2 a reference of the  

variations whose accumulation results in
 species1 to the volition of the animal 
or plant which varies1 and perhaps a    
dawning perception that all adaptations 
of structure to need must therefore be  
considered as purposive4  ,this must be 
connected with ,mr4 ,matthew's work on  
',naval ,timber and ,arboriculture1'    
which appeared in #ahca4 ,the remarks   
which it contains in reference to       
evolution are confined to an appendix1  
but when brought together1 as by ,mr4   
,matthew himself1 in the ',gardeners'   
,chronicle' for ,april #g1 #ahfj1 they  
form one of the most perfect yet        
succinct expositions of the theory of   
evolution that ,i have ever seen4 ,i    
shall therefore give them in full4#bh   
,this book was well received1 and was   
reviewed in the ',quarterly ,review1'#bi
 but seems to have been valued rather   
for its views on naval timber than on   
evolution4 ,mr4 ,matthew's merit lies in
 a just appreciation of the importance  
of each one of the principal ideas which

 must be present in combination before  
we can have a correct conception of     
evolution1 and of their bearings upon   
one another4 ,in his scheme of evolution
 ,i find each part kept in due          
subordination to the others1 so that the
 whole theory becomes more coherent and 
better articulated than ,i have         
elsewhere found it2 but ,i do not detect
 any important addition to the ideas    
which ,dr4 ,darwin and ,lamarck had     
insisted upon4  ,i pass over the        
',vestiges of ,creation1' which should  
be mentioned only as having1 as ,mr4    
,charles ,darwin truly says1 done       
excellent service in this country1 in   
calling attention to this subject1 in   
removing prejudice1 and in thus         
preparing the ground for the reception  
of analogous views4#cj ,the work neither
 made any addition to ideas which had   
been long familiar1 nor arranged old    
ones in a satisfactory manner4 ,such as 
it is1 it is ,dr4 ,darwin and ,lamarck1 
but ,dr4 ,darwin and ,lamarck spoiled4  

,the first edition appeared in #ahdd4   
,i also pass over ,isidore ,geoffroy    
,st4 ,hilaire's ',natural ,history1'    
which appeared #ahed-fb1 and the        
position of which is best described by  
calling it intermediate between the one 
which ,buffon thought fit to pretend to 
take1 and that actually taken by        
,lamarck4 ,the same may be said also of 
,etienne ,geoffroy4 ,i will1 however1   
just touch upon these writers later on4 
,a short notice1 again1 will suffice for
 the opinions of ,goethe1 ,treviranus1  
and ,oken1 none of whom can ,i discover 
as having originated any important new  
idea2 but knowing no ,german1 ,i have   
taken this opinion from the resume of   
each of these writers1 given by         
,professor ,haeckel in his ',history of 
,creation4'  ,v4 ,a time of             
retrogression1 during which we find but 
little apparent appreciation of the     
unity between parents and offspring2 no 
reference to memory in connection with  
heredity1 whether of instinct or        

structure2 an exaggerated view of the   
consequences which may be deduced from  
the fact that the fittest commonly      
survive in the struggle for existence2  
the denial of any known principle as    
underlying variations2 comparatively    
little appreciation of the              
circumstance-suiting power of plants and
 animals1 and a rejection of            
purposiveness4 ,by far the most         
important exponent of this phase of     
opinion concerning evolution is ,mr4    
,charles ,darwin1 to whom1 however1 we  
are more deeply indebted than to any    
other living writer for the general     
acceptance of evolution in one shape or 
another4 ,the ',origin of ,species'     
appeared in #ahei1 the same year1 that  
is to say1 as the second volume of      
,isidore ,geoffroy's ',histoire         
,naturelle ,generale4'  ,,vi4 ,a        
reaction against modern ,darwinism1 with
 a demand for definite purpose and      
design as underlying variations4 ,the   
best known writers who have taken this  

line are the ,rev4 ,j4 ,j4 ,murphy and  
,professor ,mivart1 whose ',habit and   
intelligence' and ',genesis of ,species'
 appeared in #ahfi and #ahga            
respectively4 ,in ,germany ,professor   
,hering has revived the idea of memory  
as explaining the phenomena of heredity 
satisfactorily1 without probably having 
been more aware that it had been        
advanced already than ,i was myself when
 ,i put it forward recently in ',life   
and ,habit4' ,i have never seen the     
lecture in which ,professor ,hering has 
referred the phenomena of heredity to   
memory1 but will give an extract from it
 which appeared in the ',athenaeum1' as 
translated by ,professor ,ray           
,lankester4#ca ,the only new feature    
which ,i believe ,i may claim to have   
added to received ideas concerning      
evolution1 is a perception of the fact  
that the unconsciousness with which we  
go through our embryonic and infantile  
stages1 and with which we discharge the 
greater number and more important of our

 natural functions1 is of a piece with  
what we observe concerning all habitual 
actions1 as well as concerning memory2  
an explanation of the phenomena of old  
age2 and of the main principle which    
underlies longevity4 ,i may1 perhaps1   
claim also to have more fully explained 
the passage of reason into instinct than
 ,i yet know of its having been         
explained elsewhere4#cb  ,,footnotes3   
#bh ,see ch4 xviii4 of this volume4  #bi
 ,vol4 xlix4 p4 #abe4  #cj ',origin of  
,species1' ,hist4 ,sketch1 xvii4  #ca   
,see page #aii of this volume4  #cb     
,apropos of this1 a friend has kindly   
sent me the following extract from      
,balzac3--,historiquement1 les paysans  
sont encore au lendemain de la          
,jacquerie1 leur defaite est restee     
inscrite dans leur cervelle4 ,ils ne se 
souviennent plus du fait1 il est passe a
 l'etat d'idee instinctive4--,balzac1   
',les ,paysans1' v4     ,,chapter ,,vii4
  ,,pre-,,buffonian ,,evolution1 ,,and  
,,some ,,german ,,writers4   ,let us now

 proceed to the fuller development of   
the foregoing sketch4  ,undoubtedly1    
says ,isidore ,geoffroy1 from the most  
ancient times many philosophers have    
imagined vaguely that one species can be
 transformed into another4 ,this        
doctrine seems to have been adopted by  
the ,ionian school from the sixth       
century before our era4444 ,undoubtedly 
also the same opinion reappeared on     
several occasions in the middle ages1   
and in modern times2 it is to be found  
in some of the hermetic books1 where the
 transmutation of animal and vegetable  
species1 and that of metals1 are treated
 as complementary to one another4 ,in   
modern times we again find it alluded to
 by some philosophers1 and especially by
 ,bacon1 whose boldness is on this point
 extreme4 ,admitting it as              
'incontestable that plants sometimes    
degenerate so far as to become plants of
 another species1' ,bacon did not       
hesitate to try and put his theory into 
practice4 ,he tried1 in #afce1 to give  

'the rules' for the art of changing     
'plants of one species into those of    
another4'  ,this must be an error4      
,bacon died in #afbf4 ,the passage of   
,bacon referred to is in ',nat4 ,hist41'
 ,cent4 vi4 7,experiments in consort    
touching the degenerating of plants1 and
 the transmutation of them one into     
another71 and is as follows3--  #eah4   
,this rule is certain1 that plants for  
want of culture degenerate to be baser  
in the same kind2 and sometimes so far  
as to change into another kind4 #a4 ,the
 standing long and not being removed    
maketh them degenerate4 #b4 ,drought    
unless the earth1 of itself1 be moist   
doth the like4 #c4 ,so doth removing    
into worse earth1 or forbearing to      
compost the earth2 as we see that water 
mint turneth into field mint1 and the   
colewort into rape by neglect1 c4  #ebe4
 ,it is certain that in very steril     
years corn sown will grow to another    
kind3--      ',grandia saepe quibus     
mandavimus hordea sulcis1     ,infelix  

lolium1 et steriles dominantur avenae4' 
,and generally it is a rule that plants 
that are brought forth for culture1 as  
corn1 will sooner change into other     
species1 than those that come of        
themselves2 for that culture giveth but 
an adventitious nature1 which is more   
easily put off4  ,changed conditions1   
according to ,bacon 7though he does not 
use these words71 appear to be the first
 rule for the transmutation of plants4  
,but how much value1 continues ,m4      
,geoffroy1 ought to be attached to such 
prophetic glimpses1 when they were      
neither led up to1 nor justified by any 
serious study8 ,they are conjectures    
only1 which1 while bearing evidence to  
the boldness or rashness of those who   
hazarded them1 remain almost without    
effect upon the advance of science4     
,bacon excepted1 they hardly deserve to 
be remembered4 ,as for ,de ,maillet1 who
 makes birds spring from flying fishes1 
reptiles from creeping fishes1 and men  
from tritons1 his dreams1 taken in part 

from ,anaximander1 should have their    
place not in the history of science1 but
 in that of the aberrations of the human
 mind4#cc  ,a far more forcible and     
pregnant passage1 however1 is the       
following1 from ,sir ,walter ,raleigh's 
',history of the ,world1' which ,mr4    
,garnett has been good enough to point  
out to me3--  ,for mine owne opinion ,i 
find no difference but only in magnitude
 between the ,cat of ,europe1 and the   
,ounce of ,india2 and even those dogges 
which are become wild in ,hispagniola1  
with which the ,spaniards used to devour
 the naked ,indians1 are now changed to 
,wolves1 and begin to destroy the breed 
of their ,cattell1 and doe often times  
teare asunder their owne children4 ,the 
common crow and rooke of ,india is full 
of red feathers in the droun'd and low  
islands of ,caribana1 and the blackbird 
and thrush hath his feathers mixt with  
black and carnation in the north parts  
of ,virginia4 ,the ,dog-fish of ,england
 is the ,sharke of the ,south ,ocean4   

,for if colour or magnitude made a      
difference of ,species1 then were the   
,negroes1 which wee call the            
,blacke-,mores1 non animalia rationalia1
 not ,men but some kind of strange      
,beasts1 and so the giants of the ,south
 ,america should be of another kind than
 the people of this part of the ,world4 
,we also see it dayly that the nature of
 fruits are changed by                  
transplantation4#cd  ,for information   
concerning the earliest ,german writers 
on evolution1 ,i turn to ,professor     
,haeckel's ',history of ,creation1' and 
find ,goethe's name to head the list4 ,i
 do not gather1 however1 that ,goethe   
added much to the ideas which ,buffon   
had already made sufficiently familiar4 
,professor ,haeckel does not seem to be 
aware of ,buffon's work1 and quotes     
,goethe as making an original discovery 
when he writes1 in the year             
#agif3--,thus much then we have gained1 
that we may assert without hesitation   
that all the more perfect organic       

natures1 such as fishes1 amphibious     
animals1 birds1 mammals1 and man at the 
head of the last1 were all formed upon  
one original type1 which only varies    
more or less in parts which were none   
the less permanent1 and still daily     
changes and modifies its form by        
propagation4#ce ,but these1 as we shall 
see1 are almost ,buffon's own           
words--words too that ,buffon insisted  
on for many years4 ,again ,professor    
,haeckel quotes ,goethe as writing in   
the year #ahjg3--  ,if we consider      
plants and animals in their most        
imperfect condition1 they can hardly be 
distinguished4 ,this1 however1 had long 
been insisted upon by ,bonnet and ,dr4  
,erasmus ,darwin1 the first of whom was 
a naturalist of world-wide fame1 while  
the ',zoonomia' of ,dr4 ,darwin had been
 translated into ,german between the    
years #agie and #agig1 and could hardly 
have been unknown to ,goethe in #ahjg1  
who continues3 ,but this much we may    
say1 that the creatures which by degrees

 emerge as plants and animals out of a  
common phase where they are barely      
distinguishable1 arrive at perfection in
 two opposite directions1 so that the   
plant in the end reaches its highest    
glory in the tree1 which is immovable   
and stiff1 the animal in man who        
possesses the greatest elasticity and   
freedom4 ,professor ,haeckel considers  
this to be a remarkable passage1 but ,i 
do not think it should cause its author 
to rank among the founders of the       
evolution theory1 though he may justly  
claim to have been one of the first to  
adopt it4 ,goethe's anatomical          
researches appear to have been more     
important1 but ,i cannot find that he   
insisted on any new principle1 or       
grasped any unfamiliar conception1 which
 had not been long since grasped and    
widely promulgated by ,buffon and by    
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin4  ,treviranus     
7#aggf-ahcg71 whom ,professor ,haeckel  
places second to ,goethe1 is clearly a  
disciple of ,buffon1 and uses the word  

degeneration in the same sense as       
,buffon used it many years earlier1 that
 is to say1 as descent with             
modification1 without any reference to  
whether the offspring was1 as ,buffon   
says1 perfectionne ou degrade4 ,he      
cannot claim1 any more than ,goethe1 to 
rank as a principal figure in the       
history of evolution4  ,of ,oken1       
,professor ,haeckel says that his       
',naturphilosophie1' which appeared in  
#ahji--;in the same year1 that is to    
say1 as the ',philosophie ,zoologique'  
of ,lamarck--was the nearest approach to
 the natural theory of descent1 newly   
established by ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin1 of
 any work that appeared in the first    
decade of our century4 ,but ,i do not   
detect any important difference of      
principle between his system and that of
 ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 among whose     
disciples he should be reckoned4  ,we   
now turn1 says ,professor ,haeckel after
 referring to a few more ,german writers
 who adopted a belief in evolution1 from

 the ,german to the ,french             
nature-philosophers who have likewise   
held the theory of descent1 since the   
beginning of this century4 ,at their    
head stands ,jean ,lamarck1 who occupies
 the first place next to ,darwin and    
,goethe in the history of the doctrine  
of ,filiation4#cf ,this is rather a     
surprising assertion1 but ,i will leave 
the reader of the present volume to     
assign the value which should be        
attached to it4  ,professor ,haeckel    
devotes ten lines to ,dr4 ,erasmus      
,darwin1 who he declares expresses views
 very similar to those of ,goethe and   
,lamarck1 without1 however1 then knowing
 anything about these two men2 which is 
all the more strange inasmuch as ,dr4   
,darwin preceded them1 and was a good   
deal better known to them1 probably1    
than they to him2 but it is plain       
,professor ,haeckel has no acquaintance 
with the ',zoonomia' of ,dr4 ,erasmus   
,darwin4 ,from all1 then1 that ,i am    
able to collect1 ,i conclude that ,i    

shall best convey to the reader an idea 
of the different phases which the theory
 of descent with modification has gone  
through1 by confining his attention     
almost entirely to ,buffon1 ,dr4        
,erasmus ,darwin1 ,lamarck1 and ,mr4    
,charles ,darwin4  ,,footnotes3  #cc    
',hist4 ,nat4 ,gen41' vol4 ii4 p4 #che1 
#ahei4  #cd ',history of the ,world1'   
bk4 i4 ch4 vii4 ,sec4 #i 7',athenaeum1' 
,march #bg1 #ahge74  #ce ',history of   
,creation1' vol4 i4 p4 #ia4  #cf        
',history of ,creation1' bk4 i4 ch4 iii4
 7,h4 ,s4 ,king1 #ahgf74     ,,chapter  
,,viii4  ,,buffon--,,memoir4   ,buffon1 
says ,m4 ,flourens1 was born at         
,montbar1 on the #gth of ,september1    
#agjg2 he died in ,paris1 at the ,jardin
 du ,roi1 on the #afth of ,april1 #aghh1
 aged #ha years4 ,more than fifty of    
these years1 as he used himself to say1 
he had passed at his writing-desk4 ,his 
father was a councillor of the          
parliament of ,burgundy4 ,his mother was
 celebrated for her wit1 and ,buffon    

cherished her memory4  ,he studied at   
,dijon with much eclat1 and shortly     
after leaving became accidentally       
acquainted with the ,duke of ,kingston1 
a young ,englishman of his own age1 who 
was travelling abroad with a tutor4 ,the
 three travelled together in ,france and
 ,italy1 and ,buffon then passed some   
months in ,england4  ,returning to      
,france1 he translated ,hales's         
',vegetable ,statics' and ,newton's     
',treatise on ,fluxions4' ,he refers to 
several ,english writers on natural     
history in the course of his work1 but  
,i see he repeatedly spells the ,english
 name ,willoughby1 ,willulghby4 ,he was 
appointed superintendent of the ,jardin 
du ,roi in #agci1 and from thenceforth  
devoted himself to science4  ,in #ageb  
,buffon married ,mdlle4 de ,saint       
,belin1 whose beauty and charm of manner
 were extolled by all her               
contemporaries4 ,one son was born to    
him1 who entered the army1 became a     
colonel1 and ,i grieve to say1 was      

guillotined at the age of twenty-nine1 a
 few days only before the extinction of 
the ,reign of ,terror4  ,of this youth1 
who inherited the personal comeliness   
and ability of his father1 little is    
recorded except the following story4    
,having fallen into the water and been  
nearly drowned when he was about twelve 
years old1 he was afterwards accused of 
having been afraid3 ,i was so little    
afraid1 he answered1 that though ,i had 
been offered the hundred years which my 
grandfather lived1 ,i would have died   
then and there1 if ,i could have added  
one year to the life of my father2 then 
thinking for a minute1 a flush suffused 
his face1 and he added1 but ,i should   
petition for one quarter of an hour in  
which to exult over the thought of what 
,i was about to do4  ,on the scaffold he
 showed much composure1 smiling half    
proudly1 half reproachfully1 yet wholly 
kindly upon the crowd in front of him4  
,citoyens1 he said1 ,je me nomme        
,buffon1 and laid his head upon the     

block4  ,the noblest outcome of the old 
and decaying order1 overwhelmed in the  
most hateful birth frenzy of the new4   
,so in those cataclysms and revolutions 
which take place in our own bodies      
during their development1 when we seem  
studying in order to become fishes and  
suddenly make1 as it were1 different    
arrangements and resolve on becoming    
men--so1 doubtless1 many good cells must
 go1 and their united death cry comes   
up1 it may be1 in the pain which an     
infant feels on teething4  ,but to      
return4 ,the man who could be father of 
such a son1 and who could retain that   
son's affection1 as it is well known    
that ,buffon retained it1 may not       
perhaps always be strictly accurate1 but
 it will be as well to pay attention to 
whatever he may think fit to tell us4   
,these are the only people whom it is   
worth while to look to and study from4  
,glory1 said ,buffon1 after speaking of 
the hours during which he had laboured1 
glory comes always after labour if she  

can--and she generally can4 ,but in his 
case she could not well help herself4   
,he was conspicuous1 says ,m4 ,flourens1
 for elevation and force of character1  
for a love of greatness and true        
magnificence in all he did4 ,his great  
wealth1 his handsome person1 and        
graceful manners seemed in              
correspondence with the splendour of his
 genius1 so that of all the gifts which 
,fortune has it in her power to bestow  
she had denied him nothing4  ,many of   
his epigrammatic sayings have passed    
into proverbs3 for example1 that genius 
is but a supreme capacity for taking    
pains4 ,another and still more          
celebrated passage shall be given in its
 entirety and with its original setting4
  ,style1 says ,buffon1 is the only     
passport to posterity4 ,it is not range 
of information1 nor mastery of some     
little known branch of science1 nor yet 
novelty of matter that will ensure      
immortality4 ,works that can claim all  
this will yet die if they are conversant

 about trivial objects only1 or written 
without taste1 genius and true nobility 
of mind2 for range of information1      
knowledge of details1 novelty of        
discovery are of a volatile essence and 
fly off readily into other hands that   
know better how to treat them4 ,the     
matter is foreign to the man1 and is not
 of him2 the manner is the man          
himself4#cg  ,le style1 c'est l'homme   
meme4 ,elsewhere he tells us what true  
style is1 but ,i quote from memory and  
cannot be sure of the passage4 ,le      
style1 he says1 est comme le bonheur2 il
 vient de la douceur de l'ame4  ,is it  
possible not to think of the            
following8--  ,but whether there be     
prophecies they shall fail2 whether     
there be tongues they shall cease2      
whether there be knowledge it shall     
vanish away 444 and now abideth faith1  
hope and charity1 these three2 but the  
greatest of these is charity4#ch        
,,footnotes3  #cg ',discours de         
,reception a l',academie ,francaise4'   

#ch #a ,cor4 xiii4 #h1 #ac4             
,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,buffon',s            
,,method--,,the ,,ironical ,,character  
,,of ,,his ,,work4   ,buffon's idea of a
 method amounts almost to the denial of 
the possibility of method at all4 ,the  
true method1 he writes1 is the complete 
description and exact history of each   
particular object1#ci and later on he   
asks1 is it not more simple1 more       
natural and more true to call an ass an 
ass1 and a cat a cat1 than to say1      
without knowing why1 that an ass is a   
horse1 and a cat a lynx4#dj  ,he admits 
such divisions as between animals and   
vegetables1 or between vegetables and   
minerals1 but that done1 he rejects all 
others that can be founded on the nature
 of things themselves4 ,he concludes    
that one who could see things in their  
entirety and without preconceived       
opinions1 would classify animals        
according to the relations in which he  
found himself standing towards them3--  
,those which he finds most necessary and

 useful to him will occupy the first    
rank2 thus he will give the precedence  
among the lower animals to the dog and  
the horse2 he will next concern himself 
with those which without being          
domesticated1 nevertheless occupy the   
same country and climate as himself1 as 
for example stags1 hares1 and all wild  
animals2 nor will it be till after he   
has familiarized himself with all these 
that curiosity will lead him to inquire 
what inhabitants there may be in foreign
 climates1 such as elephants1           
dromedaries1 c4 ,the same will hold good
 for fishes1 birds1 insects1 shells1 and
 for all nature's other productions2 he 
will study them in proportion to the    
profit which he can draw from them2 he  
will consider them in that order in     
which they enter into his daily life2 he
 will arrange them in his head according
 to this order1 which is in fact that in
 which he has become acquainted with    
them1 and in which it concerns him to   
think about them4 ,this order--the most 

natural of all--is the one which ,i have
 thought it well to follow in this      
volume4 ,my classification has no more  
mystery in it than the reader has just  
seen 444 it is preferable to the most   
profound and ingenious that can be      
conceived1 for there is none of all the 
classifications which ever have been    
made or ever can be1 which has not more 
of an arbitrary character than this has4
 ,take it for all in all1 he concludes1 
it is more easy1 more agreeable1 and    
more useful1 to consider things in their
 relation to ourselves than from any    
other standpoint4#da  ,has it not a     
better effect not only in a treatise on 
natural history1 but in a picture or any
 work of art to arrange objects in the  
order and place in which they are       
commonly found1 than to force them into 
association in virtue of some theory of 
our own8 ,is it not better to let the   
dog which has toes1 come after the horse
 which has a single hoof1 in the same   
way as we see him follow the horse in   

daily life1 than to follow up the horse 
by the zebra1 an animal which is little 
known to us1 and which has no other     
connection with the horse than the fact 
that it has a single hoof8#db  ,can we  
suppose that ,buffon really saw no more 
connection than this8 ,the writer whom  
we shall presently find#dc declining to 
admit any essential difference between  
the skeletons of man and of the horse1  
can here see no resemblance between the 
zebra and the horse1 except that they   
each have a single hoof4 ,is he to be   
taken at his word8  ,it is perhaps      
necessary to tell the reader that       
,buffon carried the foregoing scheme    
into practice as nearly as he could in  
the first fifteen volumes of his        
',natural ,history4' ,he begins with    
man--and then goes on to the horse1 the 
ass1 the cow1 sheep1 goat1 pig1 dog1 c4 
,one would be glad to know whether he   
found it always more easy to decide in  
what order of familiarity this or that  
animal would stand to the majority of   

his readers than other classifiers have 
found it to know whether an individual  
more resembles one species or another2  
probably he never gave the matter a     
thought after he had gone through the   
first dozen most familiar animals1 but  
settled generally down into a           
classification which becomes more and   
more specific--as when he treats of the 
apes and monkeys--till he reaches the   
birds1 when he openly abandons his      
original idea1 in deference1 as he says1
 to the opinion of le peuple des        
naturalistes4  ,perhaps the key to this 
piece of apparent extravagance is to be 
found in the word mysterieuse4#dd       
,buffon wished to raise a standing      
protest against mystery mongering4 ,or  
perhaps more probably1 he wished at once
 to turn to animals and plants under    
domestication1 so as to insist early on 
the main object of his work--the        
plasticity of animal forms4  ,i am      
inclined to think that a vein of irony  
pervades the whole1 or much the greater 

part of ,buffon's work1 and that he     
intended to convey1 one meaning to one  
set of readers1 and another to another2 
indeed1 it is often impossible to       
believe that he is not writing between  
his lines for the discerning1 what the  
undiscerning were not intended to see4  
,it must be remembered that his         
',natural ,history' has two sides1--a   
scientific and a popular one4 ,may we   
not imagine that ,buffon would be       
unwilling to debar himself from speaking
 to those who could understand him1 and 
yet would wish like ,handel and         
,shakespeare to address the many1 as    
well as the few8 ,but the only manner in
 which these seemingly irreconcilable   
ends could be attained1 would be by the 
use of language which should be         
self-adjusting to the capacity of the   
reader4 ,so keen an observer can hardly 
have been blind to the signs of the     
times which were already close at hand4 
,free-thinker though he was1 he was also
 a powerful member of the aristocracy1  

and little likely to demean himself--for
 so he would doubtless hold it--by      
playing the part of ,voltaire or        
,rousseau4 ,he would help those who     
could see to see still further1 but he  
would not dazzle eyes that were yet     
imperfect with a light brighter than    
they could stand4 ,he would therefore   
impose upon people1 as much as he       
thought was for their good2 but1 on the 
other hand1 he would not allow inferior 
men to mystify them4  ,in the private   
character of ,buffon1 says ,sir ,william
 ,jardine in a characteristic passage1  
we regret there is not much to praise2  
his disposition was kind and benevolent1
 and he was generally beloved by his    
inferiors1 followers1 and dependents1   
which were numerous over his extensive  
property2 he was strictly honourable1   
and was an affectionate parent4 ,in     
early youth he had entered into the     
pleasures and dissipations of life1 and 
licentious habits seem to have been     
retained to the end4 ,but the great     

blemish in such a mind was his declared 
infidelity2 it presents one of those    
exceptions among the persons who have   
been devoted to the study of nature2 and
 it is not easy to imagine a mind       
apparently with such powers1 scarcely   
acknowledging a ,creator1 and when      
noticed1 only by an arraignment for what
 appeared wanting or defective in his   
great works4 ,so openly1 indeed1 was the
 freedom of his religious opinions      
expressed1 that the indignation of the  
,sorbonne was provoked4 ,he had to enter
 into an explanation which he in some   
way rendered satisfactory2 and while he 
afterwards attended to the outward      
ordinances of religion1 he considered   
them as a system of faith for the       
multitude1 and regarded those most      
impolitic who most opposed them4#de     
,this is partly correct and partly not4 
,buffon was a free-thinker1 and as ,i   
have sufficiently explained1 a decided  
opponent of the doctrine that           
rudimentary and therefore useless organs

 were designed by a ,creator in order to
 serve some useful end throughout all   
time to the creature in which they are  
found4  ,he was not1 surely1 to hide the
 magnificent conceptions which he had   
been the first to grasp1 from those who 
were worthy to receive them2 on the     
other hand he would not tell the        
uninstructed what they would interpret  
as a license to do whatever they        
pleased1 inasmuch as there was no ,god4 
,what he did was to point so            
irresistibly in the right direction1    
that a reader of any intelligence should
 be in no doubt as to the road he ought 
to take1 and then to contradict himself 
so flatly as to reassure those who would
 be shocked by a truth for which they   
were not yet ready4 ,if ,i am right in  
the view which ,i have taken of         
,buffon's work1 it is not easy to see   
how he could have formed a finer scheme1
 nor have carried it out more finely4   
,i should1 however1 warn the reader to  
be on his guard against accepting my    

view too hastily4 ,so far as ,i know ,i 
stand alone in taking it4 ,neither ,dr4 
,darwin nor ,flourens1 nor ,isidore     
,geoffroy1 nor ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin see
 any subrisive humour in ,buffon's      
pages2 but it must be remembered that   
,flourens was a strong opponent of      
mutability1 and probably paid but little
 heed to what ,buffon said on this      
question2 ,isidore ,geoffroy is not a   
safe guide1 as will appear presently2   
,mr4 ,charles ,darwin seems to have     
adopted the one half of ,isidore        
,geoffroy's conclusions without         
verifying either2 and ,dr4 ,erasmus     
,darwin1 who has no small share of a    
very pleasant conscious humour1 yet     
sometimes rises to such heights of      
unconscious humour1 that ,buffon's puny 
labour may well have been invisible to  
him4 ,dr4 ,darwin wrote a great deal of 
poetry1 some of which was about the     
common pump4 ,miss ,seward tells us1 as 
we shall see later on1 that he          
illustrated this familiar object with a 

picture of ,maternal ,beauty            
administering sustenance to her infant4 
,buffon could not have done anything    
like this4  ,buffon never1 then1        
arraigned the ,creator for what was     
wanting or defective in ,his works2 on  
the contrary1 whenever he has led up by 
an irresistible chain of reasoning to   
conclusions which should make men recast
 their ideas concerning the ,deity1 he  
invariably retreats under cover of an   
appeal to revelation4 ,naturally enough1
 the ,sorbonne objected to an artifice  
which even ,buffon could not conceal    
completely4 ,they did not like being    
undermined2 like ,buffon himself1 they  
preferred imposing upon the people1 to  
seeing others do so4 ,buffon made his   
peace with the ,sorbonne immediately1   
and1 perhaps1 from that time forward1   
contradicted himself a little more      
impudently than heretofore4  ,it is     
probably for the reasons above suggested
 that ,buffon did not propound a        
connected scheme of evolution or descent

 with modification1 but scattered his   
theory in fragments up and down his work
 in the prefatory remarks with which he 
introduces the more striking animals or 
classes of animals4 ,he never wastes    
evolutionary matter in the preface to an
 uninteresting animal2 and the more     
interesting the animal1 the more        
evolution will there be commonly found4 
,when he comes to describe the animal   
more familiarly--and he generally begins
 a fresh chapter or half chapter when he
 does so--he writes no more about       
evolution1 but gives an admirable       
description1 which no one can fail to   
enjoy1 and which ,i cannot think is     
nearly so inaccurate as is commonly     
supposed4 ,these descriptions are the   
parts which ,buffon intended for the    
general reader1 expecting1 doubtless1   
and desiring that such a reader should  
skip the dry parts he had been          
addressing to the more studious4 ,it is 
true the descriptions are written ad    
captandum1 as are all great works1 but  

they succeed in captivating1 having been
 composed with all the pains a man of   
genius and of great perseverance could  
bestow upon them4 ,if ,i am not         
mistaken1 he looked to these parts of   
his work to keep the whole alive till   
the time should come when the           
philosophical side of his writings      
should be understood and appreciated4   
,thus the goat breeds with the sheep1   
and may therefore serve as the text for 
a dissertation on hybridism1 which is   
accordingly given in the preface to this
 animal4 ,the presence of rudimentary   
organs under a pig's hoof suggests an   
attack upon the doctrine of final causes
 in so far as it is pretended that every
 part of every animal or plant was      
specially designed with a view to the   
wants of the animal or plant itself once
 and for ever throughout all time4 ,the 
dog with his great variety of breeds    
gives an opportunity for an article on  
the formation of breeds and sub-breeds  
by man's artificial selection4 ,the cat 

is not honoured with any philosophical  
reflections1 and comes in for nothing   
but abuse4 ,the hare suggests the       
rabbit1 and the rabbit is a rapid       
breeder1 although the hare is an        
unusually slow one2 but this is near    
enough1 so the hare shall serve us for  
the theme of a discourse on the         
geometrical ratio of increase and the   
balance of power which may be observed  
in nature4 ,when we come to the         
carnivora1 additional reflections follow
 upon the necessity for death1 and even 
for violent death2 this leads to the    
question whether the creatures that are 
killed suffer pain2 here1 then1 will be 
the proper place for considering the    
sensations of animals generally4        
,perhaps the most pregnant passage      
concerning evolution is to be found in  
the preface to the ass1 which is so near
 the beginning of the work as to be only
 the second animal of which ,buffon     
treats after having described man       
himself4 ,it points strongly in the     

direction of his having believed all    
animal forms to have been descended from
 one single common ancestral type4      
,buffon did not probably choose to take 
his very first opportunity in order to  
insist upon matter that should point in 
this direction2 but the considerations  
were too important to be deferred long1 
and are accordingly put forward under   
cover of the ass1 his second animal4    
,when we consider the force with which  
,buffon's conclusion is led up to2 the  
obviousness of the conclusion itself    
when the premises are once admitted2 the
 impossibility that such a conclusion   
should be again lost sight of if the    
reasonableness of its being drawn had   
been once admitted2 the position in his 
scheme which is assigned to it by its   
propounder2 the persistency with which  
he demonstrates during forty years      
thereafter that the premises1 which he  
has declared should establish the       
conclusion in question1 are             
indisputable2--when we consider1 too1   

that we are dealing with a man of       
unquestionable genius1 and that the     
times and circumstances of his life were
 such as would go far to explain reserve
 and irony--is it1 ,i would ask1        
reasonable to suppose that ,buffon did  
not1 in his own mind1 and from the      
first1 draw the inference to which he   
leads his reader1 merely because from   
time to time he tells the reader1 with a
 shrug of the shoulders1 that he draws  
no inferences opposed to the ,book of   
,genesis8 ,is it not more likely that   
,buffon intended his reader to draw his 
inferences for himself1 and perhaps to  
value them all the more highly on that  
account8  ,the passage to which ,i am   
alluding is as follows3--  ,if from the 
boundless variety which animated nature 
presents to us1 we choose the body of   
some animal or even that of man himself 
to serve as a model with which to       
compare the bodies of other organized   
beings1 we shall find that though all   
these beings have an individuality of   

their own1 and are distinguished from   
one another by differences of which the 
gradations are infinitely subtle1 there 
exists at the same time a primitive and 
general design which we can follow for a
 long way1 and the departures from which
 7degenerations7 are far more gentle    
than those from mere outward            
resemblance4 ,for not to mention organs 
of digestion1 circulation1 and          
generation1 which are common to all     
animals1 and without which the animal   
would cease to be an animal1 and could  
neither continue to exist nor reproduce 
itself--there is none the less even in  
those very parts which constitute the   
main difference in outward appearance1 a
 striking resemblance which carries with
 it irresistibly the idea of a single   
pattern after which all would appear to 
have been conceived4 ,the horse1 for    
example--what can at first sight seem   
more unlike mankind8 ,yet when we       
compare man and horse point by point and
 detail by detail1 is not our wonder    

excited rather by the points of         
resemblance than of difference that are 
to be found between them8 ,take the     
skeleton of a man2 bend forward the     
bones in the region of the pelvis1      
shorten the thigh bones1 and those of   
the leg and arm1 lengthen those of the  
feet and hands1 run the joints together1
 lengthen the jaws1 and shorten the     
frontal bone1 finally1 lengthen the     
spine1 and the skeleton will now be that
 of a man no longer1 but will have      
become that of a horse--for it is easy  
to imagine that in lengthening the spine
 and the jaws we shall at the same time 
have increased the number of the        
vertebrae1 ribs1 and teeth4 ,it is but  
in the number of these bones1 which may 
be considered accessory1 and by the     
lengthening1 shortening1 or mode of     
attachment of others1 that the skeleton 
of the horse differs from that of the   
human body4444 ,we find ribs in man1 in 
all the quadrupeds1 in birds1 in fishes1
 and we may find traces of them as far  

down as the turtle1 in which they seem  
still to be sketched out by means of    
furrows that are to be found beneath the
 shell4 ,let it be remembered that the  
foot of the horse1 which seems so       
different from a man's hand1 is1        
nevertheless1 as ,m4 ,daubenton has     
pointed out1 composed of the same bones1
 and that we have at the end of each of 
our fingers a nail corresponding to the 
hoof of a horse's foot4 ,judge1 then1   
whether this hidden resemblance is not  
more marvellous than any outward        
differences--whether this constancy to a
 single plan of structure which we may  
follow from man to the quadrupeds1 from 
the quadrupeds to the cetacea1 from the 
cetacea to birds1 from birds to         
reptiles1 from reptiles to fishes--in   
which all such essential parts as heart1
 intestines1 spine1 are invariably      
found--whether1 ,i say1 this does not   
seem to indicate that the ,creator when 
,he made them would use but a single    
main idea1 though at the same time      

varying it in every conceivable way1 so 
that man might admire equally the       
magnificence of the execution and the   
simplicity of the design4#df  ,if we    
regard the matter thus1 not only the ass
 and the horse1 but even man himself1   
the apes1 the quadrupeds1 and all       
animals might be regarded but as forming
 members of one and the same family4    
,but are we to conclude that within this
 vast family which the ,creator has     
called into existence out of nothing1   
there are other and smaller families1   
projected as it were by ,nature1 and    
brought forth by her in the natural     
course of events and after a long time1 
of which some contain but two members1  
as the ass and the horse1 others many   
members1 as the weasel1 martin1 stoat1  
ferret1 c41 and that on the same        
principle there are families of         
vegetables1 containing ten1 twenty1 or  
thirty plants1 as the case may be8 ,if  
such families had any real existence    
they could have been formed only by     

crossing1 by the accumulation of        
successive variations 7variation        
successive71 and by degeneration from an
 original type2 but if we once admit    
that there are families of plants and   
animals1 so that the ass may be of the  
family of the horse1 and that the one   
may only differ from the other through  
degeneration from a common ancestor1 we 
might be driven to admit that the ape is
 of the family of man1 that he is but a 
degenerate man1 and that he and man have
 had a common ancestor1 even as the ass 
and horse have had4 ,it would follow    
then that every family1 whether animal  
or vegetable1 had sprung from a single  
stock1 which after a succession of      
generations1 had become higher in the   
case of some of its descendants and     
lower in that of others4  ,what         
inference could be more aptly drawn8    
,but it was not one which ,buffon was   
going to put before the general public4 
,he had said enough for the discerning1 
and continues with what is intended to  

make the conclusions they should draw   
even plainer to them1 while it conceals 
them still more carefully from the      
general reader4  ,the naturalists who   
are so ready to establish families among
 animals and vegetables1 do not seem to 
have sufficiently considered the        
consequences which should follow from   
their premises1 for these would limit   
direct creation to as small a number of 
forms as anyone might think fit         
7reduisoient le produit immediat de la  
creation1 a un nombre d'individus aussi 
petit que l'on voudroit74 ,for if it    
were once shown that we had right       
grounds for establishing these families2
 if the point were once gained that     
among animals and vegetables there had  
been1 ,i do not say several species1 but
 even a single one1 which had been      
produced in the course of direct descent
 from another species2 if for example it
 could be once shown that the ass was   
but a degeneration from the horse--then 
there is no further limit to be set to  

the power of nature1 and we should not  
be wrong in supposing that with         
sufficient time she could have evolved  
all other organized forms from one      
primordial type 7et l'on n'auroit pas   
tort de supposer1 que d'un seul etre    
elle a su tirer avec le temps tous les  
autres etres organises74  ,buffon now   
felt that he had sailed as near the wind
 as was desirable4 ,his next sentence is
 as follows3--  ,but no6 ,it is certain 
from revelation that all animals have   
alike been favoured with the grace of an
 act of direct creation1 and that the   
first pair of every species issued full 
formed from the hands of the            
,creator4#dg  ,this might be taken as   
bona fide1 if it had been written by    
,bonnet1 but it is impossible to accept 
it from ,buffon4 ,it is only those who  
judge him at second hand1 or by isolated
 passages1 who can hold that he failed  
to see the consequences of his own      
premises4 ,no one could have seen more  
clearly1 nor have said more lucidly1    

what should suffice to show a           
sympathetic reader the conclusion he    
ought to come to4 ,even when ironical1  
his irony is not the ill-natured irony  
of one who is merely amusing himself at 
other people's expense1 but the serious 
and legitimate irony of one who must    
either limit the circle of those to whom
 he appeals1 or must know how to make   
the same language appeal differently to 
the different capacities of his readers1
 and who trusts to the good sense of the
 discerning to understand the difficulty
 of his position1 and make due allowance
 for it4  ,the compromise which he      
thought fit to put before the public was
 that ,each species has a type of which 
the principal features are engraved in  
indelible and eternally permanent       
characters1 while all accessory touches 
vary4#dh ,it would be satisfactory to   
know where an accessory touch is        
supposed to begin and end4  ,and        
again3--  ,the essential characteristics
 of every animal have been conserved    

without alteration in their most        
important parts4444 ,the individuals of 
each genus still represent the same     
forms as they did in the earliest ages1 
especially in the case of the larger    
animals 7so that the generic forms even 
of the larger animals prove not to be   
the same1 but only 'especially' the same
 as in the earliest ages74#di  ,this    
transparently illogical position is     
maintained ostensibly from first to     
last1 much in the same spirit as in the 
two foregoing passages1 written at      
intervals of thirteen years4 ,but they  
are to be read by the light of the      
earlier one--placed as a lantern to the 
wary upon the threshold of his work in  
#agec--to the effect that a single1 well
 substantiated case of degeneration     
would make it conceivable that all      
living beings were descended from a     
single common ancestor4 ,if after having
 led up to this by a remorseless logic1 
a man is found five-and-twenty years    
later still substantiating cases of     

degeneration1 as he has been            
substantiating them unceasingly in      
thirty quartos during the whole         
interval1 there should be little        
question how seriously we are to take   
him when he wishes us to stop short of  
the conclusions he has told us we ought 
to draw from the premises that he has   
made it the business of his life to     
establish--especially when we know that 
he has a ,sorbonne to keep a sharp eye  
upon him4  ,i believe that if the reader
 will bear in mind the twofold1 serious 
and ironical1 character of ,buffon's    
work he will understand it1 and feel an 
admiration for it which will grow       
continually greater and greater the more
 he studies it1 otherwise he will miss  
the whole point4  ,buffon on one of the 
early pages of his first volume         
protested against the introduction of   
either plaisanterie or equivoque 7p4    
#be7 into a serious work4 ,but ,i have  
observed that there is an unconscious   
irony in most disclaimers of this       

nature4 ,when a writer begins by saying 
that he has an ineradicable tendency to 
make things clear1 we may infer that we 
are going to be puzzled2 so when he     
shows that he is haunted by a sense of  
the impropriety of allowing humour to   
intrude into his work1 we may hope to be
 amused as well as interested4 ,as      
showing how far the objection to humour 
which he expressed upon his twenty-fifth
 page succeeded in carrying him safely  
over his twenty-sixth and               
twenty-seventh1 ,i will quote the       
following1 which begins on page         
twenty-six3--  ,aldrovandus is the most 
learned and laborious of all            
naturalists2 after sixty years of work  
he has left an immense number of volumes
 behind him1 which have been printed at 
various times1 the greater number of    
them after his death4 ,it would be      
possible to reduce them to a tenth part 
if we could rid them of all useless and 
foreign matter1 and of a prolixity which
 ,i find almost overwhelming2 were this 

only done1 his books should be regarded 
as among the best we have on the subject
 of natural history in its entirety4    
,the plan of his work is good1 his      
classification distinguished for its    
good sense1 his dividing lines well     
marked1 his descriptions sufficiently   
accurate--monotonous it is true1 but    
painstaking2 the historical part of his 
work is less good2 it is often confused 
and fabulous1 and the author shows too  
manifestly the credulous tendencies of  
his mind4  ,while going over his work1  
,i have been struck with that defect1 or
 rather excess1 which we find in almost 
all the books of a hundred or a couple  
of hundred years ago1 and which prevails
 still among the ,germans--,i mean with 
that quantity of useless erudition with 
which they intentionally swell out their
 works1 and the result of which is that 
their subject is overlaid with a mass of
 extraneous matter on which they enlarge
 with great complacency1 but with no    
consideration whatever for their        

readers4 ,they seem1 in fact1 to have   
forgotten what they have to say in their
 endeavour to tell us what has been said
 by other people4  ,i picture to myself 
a man like ,aldrovandus1 after he has   
once conceived the design of writing a  
complete natural history4 ,i see him in 
his library reading1 one after the      
other1 ancients1 moderns1 philosophers1 
theologians1 jurisconsults1 historians1 
travellers1 poets1 and reading with no  
other end than with that of catching at 
all words and phrases which can be      
forced from far or near into some kind  
of relation with his subject4 ,i see him
 copying all these passages1 or getting 
them copied for him1 and arranging them 
in alphabetical order4 ,he fills many   
portfolios with all manner of notes1    
often taken without either              
discrimination or research1 and at last 
sets himself to write with a resolve    
that not one of all these notes shall   
remain unused4 ,the result is that when 
he comes to his account of the cow or of

 the hen1 he will tell us all that has  
ever yet been said about cows or hens2  
all that the ancients ever thought about
 them2 all that has ever been imagined  
concerning their virtues1 characters1   
and courage2 every purpose to which they
 have ever yet been put2 every story of 
every old woman that he can lay hold of2
 all the miracles which certain         
religions have ascribed to them2 all the
 superstitions they have given rise to2 
all the metaphors and allegories which  
poets have drawn from them2 the         
attributes that have been assigned to   
them2 the representations that have been
 made of them in hieroglyphics and      
armorial bearings1 in a word all the    
histories and all fables in which there 
was ever yet any mention either of a cow
 or hen4 ,how much natural history is   
likely to be found in such a lumber     
room8 and how is one to lay one's hand  
upon the little that there may actually 
be8#ej  ,it is hoped that the reader    
will see ,buffon1 much us ,buffon saw   

the learned ,aldrovandus4 ,he should see
 him going into his library1 c41 and    
quietly chuckling to himself as he wrote
 such a passage as the one in which we  
lately found him saying that the larger 
animals had especially the same generic 
forms as they had always had4 ,and the  
reader should probably see ,daubenton   
chuckling also4  ,,footnotes3  #ci ,tom4
 i4 p4 #bd1 #agdi4  #dj ,tom4 i4 p4 #dj1
 #agdi4  #da ,vol4 i4 p4 #cd1 #agdi4    
#db ,tom4 i4 p4 #cf4  #dc ,see p4 #hh of
 this volume2 see also p4 #aee1 and     
#afd4  #dd ,tom4 i4 p4 #cc4  #de ',the  
,naturalist's ,library1' vol4 ii4 p4    
#bc1 ,edinburgh1 #ahdc4  #df ,tom4 iv4  
p4 #cha1 #agec4  #dg ,tom4 iv4 p4 #chc1 
#agec 7this was the first volume on the 
lower animals74  #dh ,tom4 xiii4 p4 ix4 
#agfe4  #di ,sup4 tom4 v4 p4 #bg1 #aggh4
  #ej ,tom4 i4 p4 #bh1 #agdi4           
,,chapter ,x4  ,,supposed ,,fluctuations
 ,,of ,,opinion--,,causes ,,or ,,means  
,,of ,,the ,,transformation ,,of        
,,species4   ,enough1 perhaps1 has been 

already said to disabuse the reader's   
mind of the common misconception of     
,buffon1 namely1 that he was more or    
less of an elegant trifler with science1
 who cared rather about the language in 
which his ideas were clothed than about 
the ideas themselves1 and that he did   
not hold the same opinions for long     
together2 but the accusation of         
instability has been made in such high  
quarters that it is necessary to refute 
it still more completely4  ,mr4 ,darwin1
 for example1 in his ,historical ,sketch
 of the ,recent ,progress of ,opinion on
 the ,origin of ,species prefixed to all
 the later editions of his own ',origin 
of ,species1' says of ,buffon that he   
was the first author who1 in modern     
times1 has treated the origin of species
 in a scientific spirit4 ,but1 he       
continues1 as his opinions fluctuated   
greatly at different periods1 and as he 
does not enter on the causes or means of
 the transformation of species1 ,i need 
not here enter on details4#ea  ,mr4     

,darwin seems to have followed the one  
half of ,isidore ,geoffroy ,st4         
,hilaire's full account of ,buffon's    
conclusions upon the subject of descent 
with modification1#eb to which he refers
 with approval on the second page of his
 historical sketch4#ec  ,turning1 then1 
to ,isidore ,geoffroy's work1 ,i find   
that in like manner he too has been     
following the one half of what ,buffon  
actually said4 ,but even so1 he awards  
,buffon very high praise4  ,buffon1 he  
writes1 is to the doctrine of the       
mutability of species what ,linnaeus is 
to that of its fixity4 ,it is only since
 the appearance of ,buffon's ',natural  
,history1' and in consequence thereof1  
that the mutability of species has taken
 rank among scientific questions4#ed    
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,buffon1 who comes next in 
chronological order after ,bacon1       
follows him in no other respect than    
that of time4 ,he is entirely original  
in arriving at the doctrine of the      
variability of organic types1 and in    

enouncing it after long hesitation1     
during which one can watch the labour of
 a great intelligence freeing itself    
little by little from the yoke of       
orthodoxy4  ,but from this source come  
difficulties in the interpretation of   
,buffon's work which have misled many   
writers4 ,buffon expresses absolutely   
different opinions in different parts of
 his natural history--so much so that   
partisans and opponents of the doctrine 
of the fixity of species have alike     
believed and still believe themselves at
 liberty to claim ,buffon as one of the 
great authorities upon their side4      
,then follow the quotations upon which  
,m4 ,geoffroy relies--to which ,i will  
return presently--after which the       
conclusion runs thus3--  ,the dates1    
however1 of the several passages in     
question are sufficient to explain the  
differences in their tenor1 in a manner 
worthy of ,buffon4 ,where are the       
passages in which ,buffon affirms the   
immutability of species8 ,at the        

beginning of his work4 ,his first volume
 on animals#ee is dated #agec4 ,the two 
following are those in which ,buffon    
still shares the views of ,linnaeus2    
they are dated #agee and #agef4 ,of what
 date are those in which ,buffon        
declares for variability8 ,from #agfa to
 #agff4 ,and those in which1 after      
having admitted variability and declared
 in favour of it1 he proceeds to limit  
it8 ,from #agfe to #aggh4  ,the         
inference is sufficiently simple4       
,buffon does but correct himself4 ,he   
does not fluctuate4 ,he goes once for   
all from one opinion to the other1 from 
what he accepted at starting on the     
authority of another to what he         
recognized as true after twenty years of
 research4 ,if while trying to set      
himself free from the prevailing        
notions1 he in the first instance went1 
like all other innovators1 somewhat to  
the opposite extreme1 he essays as soon 
as may be to retrace his steps in some  
measure1 and thenceforward to remain    

unchanged4  ,let the reader cast his eye
 over the general table of contents     
wherein ,buffon1 at the end of his      
',natural ,history1' gives a resume of  
all of it that he is anxious to         
preserve4 ,he passes over alike the     
passages in which he affirms and those  
in which he unreservedly denies the     
immutability of species1 and indicates  
only the doctrine of the permanence of  
essential features and the variability  
of details 7toutes les touches          
accessoires72 he repeats this eleven    
years later in his ',epoques de la      
,nature' 7published #aggh74ef  ,but ,i  
think ,i can show that the passages     
which ,m4 ,geoffroy brings forward1 to  
prove that ,buffon was in the first     
instance a supporter of invariability1  
do not bear him out in the deduction he 
has endeavoured to draw from them4      
,what author1 he asks1 has ever         
pronounced more decidedly than ,buffon  
in favour of the invariability of       
species8 ,where can we find a more      

decided expression of opinion than the  
following8  ',the different species of  
animals are separated from one another  
by a space which ,nature cannot         
overstep4'  ,on turning1 however1 to    
,buffon himself1 ,i find the passage to 
stand as follows3--  ,although the      
different species of animals are        
separated from one another by a space   
which ,nature cannot overstep--yet some 
of them approach so nearly to one       
another in so many respects that there  
is only room enough left for the getting
 in of a line of separation between     
them1#eg and on the following page he   
distinctly encourages the idea of the   
mutability of species in the following  
passage3--  ,in place of regarding the  
ass as a degenerate horse1 there would  
be more reason in calling the horse a   
more perfect kind of ass 7un ane        
perfectionne71 and the sheep a more     
delicate kind of goat1 that we have     
tended1 perfected1 and propagated for   
our use1 and that the more perfect      

animals in general--especially the      
domestic animals--draw their origin from
 some less perfect species of that kind 
of wild animal which they most resemble4
 ,nature alone not being able to do as  
much as ,nature and man can do in       
concert with one another4#eh  ,but      
,buffon had long ago declared that if   
the horse and the ass could be          
considered as being blood relations     
there was no stopping short of the      
admission that all animals might also be
 blood relations--that is to say1       
descended from common ancestors--and now
 he tells us that the ass and horse are 
in all probability descended from common
 ancestors4 ,will a reader of any       
literary experience hold that so        
laborious1 and yet so witty a writer1   
and one so studious of artistic effect1 
could ignore the broad lines he had laid
 down for himself1 or forget how what he
 had said would bear on subsequent      
passages1 and subsequent passages on it8
 ,a less painstaking author than ,buffon

 may yet be trusted to remember his own 
work well enough to avoid such literary 
bad workmanship as this4 ,if ,buffon had
 seen reason to change his mind he would
 have said so1 and would have           
contradicted the inference he had       
originally pronounced to be deducible   
from an admission of kinship between the
 ass and the horse4 ,this1 it is hardly 
necessary to say1 he never does1 though 
he frequently thinks it well to remind  
his reader of the fact that the ass and 
the horse are in all probability closely
 related4 ,this is bringing two and two 
together with sufficient closeness for  
all practical purposes4  ,should not ,m4
 ,geoffroy's question1 then1 have rather
 been ,who has ever pronounced more     
grudgingly1 even in an early volume1 c41
 c41 and who has more completely        
neutralized whatever concession he might
 appear to have been making8  ,nor does 
the only other passage which ,m4        
,geoffroy brings forward to prove that  
,buffon was originally a believer in the

 fixity of species bear him out much    
better4 ,it is to be found on the       
opening page of a brief introduction to 
the wild animals4 ,m4 ,geoffroy quotes  
it thus3 ,we shall see ,nature dictating
 her laws1 so simple yet so             
unchangeable1 and imprinting her own    
immutable characters upon every species4
 ,but ,m4 ,geoffroy does not give the   
passage which1 on the same page1 admits 
mutability among domesticated animals1  
in the case of which he declares we find
 ,nature rarement perfectionnee1 souvent
 alteree1 defiguree2 nor yet does he    
deem it necessary to show that the      
context proves that this                
unchangeableness of wild animals is only
 relative2 and this he should certainly 
have done1 for two pages later on       
,buffon speaks of the ,american tigers1 
lions1 and panthers as being            
degenerated1 if their original nature   
was cruel and ferocious2 or1 rather1    
they have experienced the effect of     
climate1 and under a milder sky have    

assumed a milder nature1 their excesses 
have become moderated1 and by the       
changes which they have undergone they  
have become more in conformity with the 
country they inhabit4#ei  ,and again3-- 
,if we consider each species in the     
different climates which it inhabits1 we
 shall find perceptible varieties as    
regards size and form3 they all derive  
an impress to a greater or less extent  
from the climate in which they live4    
,these changes are only made slowly and 
imperceptibly4 ,nature's great workman  
is ,time4 ,he marches ever with an even 
pace1 and does nothing by leaps and     
bounds1 but by degrees1 gradations1 and 
succession he does all things2 and the  
changes which he works--at first        
imperceptible--become little by little  
perceptible1 and show themselves        
eventually in results about which there 
can be no mistake4  ,nevertheless       
animals in a free1 wild state are       
perhaps less subject than any other     
living beings1 man not excepted1 to     

alterations1 changes1 and variations of 
all kinds4 ,being free to choose their  
own food and climate1 they vary less    
than domestic animals vary4#fj ,the     
conditions of their existence1 in fact1 
remaining practically constant1 the     
animals are no less constant themselves4
  ,the writer of the above could hardly 
be claimed as a very thick and thin     
partisan of immutability1 even though he
 had not shown from the first how       
clearly he saw that there was no middle 
position between the denial of all      
mutability1 and the admission that in   
the course of sufficient time any       
conceivable amount of mutability is     
possible4 ,i will give a considerable   
part of what ,i have found in the first 
six volumes of ,buffon to bear one way  
or the other on his views concerning the
 mutability of species2 and ,i think the
 reader1 so far from agreeing with ,m4  
,isidore ,geoffroy that ,buffon began   
his work with a belief in the fixity of 
species1 will find1 that from the very  

first chapter onward1 he leant strongly 
to mutability1 even if he did not openly
 avow his belief in it4  ,in support of 
this assertion1 one quotation must      
suffice3--  ,nature advances by         
gradations which pass unnoticed4 ,she   
passes from one species1 and often from 
one genus to another by imperceptible   
degrees1 so that we meet with a great   
number of mean species and objects of   
such doubtful characters that we know   
not where to place them4#fa  ,the reader
 who turns to ,buffon himself will find 
the idea that ,buffon took a less       
advanced position in his old age than he
 had taken in middle life is also       
without foundation4  ,mr4 ,darwin has   
said that ,buffon does not enter into   
the causes or means of the              
transformation of species4 ,it is not   
easy to admit the justice of this4      
,independently of his frequently        
insisting on the effect of all kinds of 
changed surroundings1 he has devoted a  
long chapter of over sixty quarto pages 

to this very subject2 it is to be found 
in his fourteenth volume1 and is headed 
,de la ,degeneration des ,animaux1 of   
which words ,on descent with            
modification will be hardly more than a 
literal translation4 ,i shall give a    
fuller but still too brief outline of   
the chapter later on1 and will confine  
myself here to saying that the three    
principal causes of modification which  
,buffon brings forward are changes of   
climate1 of food1 and the effects of    
domestication4 ,he may be said to have  
attributed variation to the direct and  
specific action of changed conditions of
 life1 and to have had but little       
conception of the view which he was     
himself to suggest to ,dr4 ,erasmus     
,darwin1 and through him to ,lamarck4   
,isidore ,geoffroy1 writing of ,lamarck1
 and comparing his position with that   
taken by ,buffon1 says1 on the whole    
truly1 that what ,buffon ascribes to the
 general effects of climate1 ,lamarck   
maintains to be caused1 especially in   

the case of animals1 by the force of    
habits2 so that1 according to him1 they 
are not1 properly speaking1 modified by 
the conditions of their existence1 but  
are only induced by these conditions to 
set about modifying themselves4#fb ,but 
it is very hard to say how much ,buffon 
saw and how much he did not see4 ,he may
 be trusted to have seen that if he once
 allowed the thin end of this wedge into
 his system1 he could no more assign    
limits to the effect which living forms 
might produce upon their own organisms  
by effort and ingenuity in the course of
 long time1 than he could set limits to 
what he had called the power of ,nature 
if he was once to admit that an ass and 
a horse might1 through that power1 have 
been descended from a common ancestor4  
,nevertheless1 he shows no unwillingness
 or recalcitrancy about letting the     
wedge enter1 for he speaks of           
domestication as inducing modifications 
sufficiently profound to become constant
 and hereditary in successive           

generations 444 by its action on bodily 
habits it influences also their natures1
 instincts1 and most inward             
qualities4#fc  ,this is a very thick    
thin end to have been allowed to slip in
 unawares2 but it is astonishing how    
little ,buffon can see when he likes4 ,i
 hardly doubt but he would have been    
well enough pleased to have let the     
wedge enter still farther1 but this     
fluctuating writer had assigned himself 
his limits some years before1 and meant 
adhering to them4 ,again1 in this very  
chapter on ,degeneration1 to which ,m4  
,geoffroy has referred1 there are       
passages on the callosities on a camel's
 knees1 on the llama1 and on the        
haunches of pouched monkeys which might 
have been written by ,dr4 ,darwin       
himself4#fd ,they will appear more fully
 presently4 ,buffon now probably felt   
that he had said enough1 and that others
 might be trusted to carry the principle
 farther when the time was riper for its
 enforcement4  ,,footnotes3  #ea        

',origin of ,species1' p4 xiii4 ed4     
#ahgf4  #eb ',hist4 ,nat4 ,gen41' tom4  
ii4 p4 #dje1 #ahei4  #ec ',origin of    
,species1' p4 xiv4 #ahgf4  #ed ',hist4  
,nat4 ,gen41' tom4 ii4 p4 #chc4  #ee    
,tom4 iv4  #ef ',hist4 ,nat4 ,gen41'    
tom4 ii4 p4 #cia1 #ahei4  #eg ,tom4 v4  
p4 #ei1 #agee4  #eh ,tom4 v4 p4 #fj4    
#ei ,tom4 vi4 p4 #eh1 #agef4  #fj ,tom4 
vi4 pp4 #ei-fj1 #agef4  #fa ,tom4 i4 p4 
#ac1 #agdi4  #fb ',hist4 ,nat4 ,gen41'  
tom4 ii4 p4 #daa1 #ahei4  #fc ,tom4 xi4 
p4 #bij1 #agfd 7misprinted on title-page
 #aged74  #fd ,see tom4 xiv4 p4 #cbf1   
#agff2 and p4 #afb of this volume4      
,,chapter ,,xi4  ,,buffon--,,fuller     
,,quotations4   ,let us now proceed to  
those fuller quotations which may answer
 the double purpose of bearing me out in
 the view of ,buffon's work which ,i    
have taken in the foregoing pages1 and  
of inducing the reader to turn to       
,buffon himself4  ,i have already said  
that from the very commencement of his  
work ,buffon showed a proclivity towards

 considerations which were certain to   
lead him to a theory of evolution1 even 
though he had not1 as ,i believe he had1
 already taken a more comprehensive view
 of the subject than he thought fit to  
proclaim unreservedly4  ,in #agdi1 at   
the beginning of his first volume he    
writes3--  ,the first truth that makes  
itself apparent on serious study of     
,nature1 is one that man may perhaps    
find humiliating2 it is this--that he1  
too1 must take his place in the ranks of
 animals1 being1 as he is1 an animal in 
every material point4 ,it is possible   
also that the instinct of the lower     
animals will strike him as more         
unerring1 and their industry more       
marvellous than his own4 ,then1 running 
his eye over the different objects of   
which the universe is composed1 he will 
observe with astonishment that we can   
descend by almost imperceptible degrees 
from the most perfect creature to the   
most formless matter--from the most     
highly organized animal to the most     

entirely inorganic substance4 ,he will  
recognize this gradation as the great   
work of ,nature2 and he will observe it 
not only as regards size and form1 but  
also in respect of movements1 and in the
 successive generations of every        
species4#fe  ,hence1 he continues1      
arises the difficulty of arriving at any
 perfect system or method in dealing    
either with ,nature as a whole or even  
with any single one of her subdivisions4
 ,the gradations are so subtle that we  
are often obliged to make arbitrary     
divisions4 ,nature knows nothing about  
our classifications1 and does not choose
 to lend herself to them without        
reserve4 ,we therefore see a number of  
intermediate species and objects which  
it is very hard to classify1 and which  
of necessity derange our system whatever
 it may be4#ff  ,the attempt to form    
perfect systems has led to such         
disastrous results that it is now more  
easy to learn botany than the           
terminology which has been adopted as   

its language4#fg  ,after saying that la 
marche de la ,nature has been           
misunderstood1 and that her progress has
 ever been by a succession of slow      
steps1 he maintains that the only proper
 course is to class together whatever   
objects resemble one another1 and to    
separate those which are unlike4 ,if    
individual specimens are absolutely     
alike1 or differ so little that the     
differences can hardly be perceived1    
they must be classed as of the same     
species2 if the differences begin to be 
perceptible1 but if at the same time    
there is more resemblance than          
difference1 the individuals presenting  
these features should be classed as of a
 different species1 but as of the same  
genus2 if the differences are still more
 marked1 but nevertheless do not exceed 
the resemblances1 then they must be     
taken as not only specific but generic1 
though as not sufficient to warrant the 
individuals in which they appear1 being 
placed in different classes4 ,if they   

are still greater1 then the individuals 
are not even of the same class2 but it  
should be always understood that the    
resemblances and differences are to be  
considered in reference to the entirety 
of the plant or animal1 and not in      
reference to any particular part        
only4#fh ,the two rocks which are       
equally to be avoided are1 on the one   
hand1 absence of method1 and1 on the    
other1 a tendency to                    
over-systematize4#fi  ,like ,dr4        
,erasmus ,darwin1 and more recently ,mr4
 ,francis ,darwin1 ,buffon is more      
struck with the resemblances than with  
the differences between animals and     
plants1 but he supposes the vegetable   
kingdom to be a continuation of the     
animal1 extending lower down the scale1 
instead of holding as ,dr4 ,darwin did1 
that animals and vegetables have been   
contemporaneous in their degeneration   
from a common stock4  ,we see1 he       
writes1 that there is no absolute and   
essential difference between animals and

 vegetables1 but that ,nature descends  
by subtle gradations from what we deem  
the most perfect animal to one which is 
less so1 and again from this to the     
vegetable4 ,the fresh-water polypus may 
perhaps be considered as the lowest     
animal1 and as at the same time the     
highest plant4#gj  ,looking to the      
resemblances between animals and plants1
 he declares that their modes of        
reproduction and growth involve such    
close analogy that no difference of an  
essential nature can be admitted between
 them4#ga  ,on the other hand1 ,buffon  
appears1 at first sight1 to be more     
struck with the points of difference    
between the mental powers of the lower  
animals and man than with those which   
they present in common4 ,it is          
impossible1 however1 to accept this as  
,buffon's real opinion1 on the strength 
of isolated passages1 and in face of a  
large number of others which point      
stealthily but irresistibly to an       
exactly opposite conclusion4 ,we find   

passages which show a clear apprehension
 of facts that the world is only now    
beginning to consider established1      
followed by others which no man who has 
kept a dog or cat will be inclined to   
agree with4 ,i think ,i have already    
explained this sufficiently by referring
 it to the impossibility of his taking  
any other course under the circumstances
 of his own position and the times in   
which he lived4 ,buffon does not deal   
with such pregnant facts1 as1 for       
example1 the geometrical ratio of       
increase1 in such manner as to suggest  
that he was only half aware of their    
importance and bearing4 ,on the         
contrary1 in the very middle of those   
passages which1 if taken literally1     
should most shake confidence in his     
judgment1 there comes a sustaining      
sentence1 so quiet that it shall pass   
unnoticed by all who are not attentive  
listeners1 yet so encouraging to those  
who are taking pains to understand their
 author that their interest is revived  

at once4  ,thus1 he has insisted1 and   
means insisting much further1 on the    
many points of resemblance between man  
and the lower animals1 and it has now   
become necessary to neutralize the      
effect of what he has written upon the  
minds of those who are not yet fitted to
 see instinct and reason as             
differentiations of a single faculty4   
,he accordingly does this1 and1 as is   
his wont1 he does it handsomely2 so     
handsomely that even his most admiring  
followers begin to be uncomfortable4    
,whereon he begins his next paragraph   
with ,animals have excellent senses1 but
 not generally1 all of them1 as good as 
man's4#gb ,we have heard of damning with
 faint praise4 ,is not this to praise   
with faint damnation8 ,yet we can lay   
hold of nothing4 ,it was not ,buffon's  
intention that we should4 ,an ironical  
writer1 concerning whom we cannot at    
once say whether he is in earnest or    
not1 is an actor who is continually     
interrupting his performance in order to

 remind the spectator that he is acting4
 ,complaint1 then1 against an ironical  
writer on the score that he puzzles us1 
is a complaint against irony itself2 for
 a writer is not ironical unless he     
puzzles4 ,he should not puzzle unless he
 believes that this is the best manner  
of making his reader understand him in  
the end1 or without having a bonne      
bouche for those who will be at the     
pains to puzzle over him2 and he should 
make it plain that for long parts of his
 work together he is to be taken        
according to the literal interpretation 
of his words2 but if he has observed the
 above duly1 he is a successful or      
unsuccessful writer according as he     
puzzles or fails to do so1 and should be
 praised or blamed accordingly4 ,to     
condemn irony entirely1 is to say that  
there should be no people allowed to go 
about the world but those to whom irony 
would be an impertinence4  ,having      
already in some measure reassured us by 
the faintness with which he disparages  

the senses of the lower animals1 ,buffon
 continues1 that these senses1 whether  
in man or in animals1 may be greatly    
developed by exercise3 which we may     
suppose that a man of even less humour  
than ,buffon must know to be great      
nonsense1 unless it be taken to involve 
that animals as well as man can reflect 
and remember2 it now1 therefore1 becomes
 necessary to reassure the other side1  
and to maintain that animals cannot     
reflect1 and have no memory4 ,je crois1 
he writes1 qu'on peut demontrer que les 
animaux n'ont aucune connaissance du    
passe1 aucune idee du temps1 et que par 
consequent ils n'ont pas la memoire4#gc 
,i am ashamed of even arguing seriously 
against the supposition that this was   
,buffon's real opinion4 ,the very       
sweepingness of the assertion1 the      
baldness1 and ,i might say brutality    
with which it is made1 are convincing in
 their suggestiveness of one who is     
laughing very quietly in his sleeve4    
,society1 he continues1 later on1       

considered even in the case of a single 
human family1 involves the power of     
reason2 it involves feeling in such of  
the lower animals as form themselves    
into societies freely and of their own  
accord1 but it involves nothing whatever
 in the case of bees1 who have found    
themselves thrown together through no   
effort of their own4 ,such societies can
 only be1 and it is plain have only     
been1 the results--neither foreseen1 nor
 ordained1 nor conceived by those who   
achieve them--of the universal mechanism
 and of the laws of movement established
 by the ,creator4#gd ,a hive of bees1 in
 fact1 is to be considered as composed  
of ten thousand animated automata4#ge   
,years later he repeats these views with
 little if any modification4#gf ,a still
 more remarkable passage is to be found 
a little farther on4 ,if1 he asks1      
animals have neither understanding1     
mind1 nor memory1 if they are wholly    
without intelligence1 and if they are   
limited to the exercise and experience  

of feeling only1 and it must be         
remembered that ,buffon has denied all  
these powers to the inferior animals1   
whence comes that remarkable prescient  
instinct which so many of them exhibit8 
,is the mere power of feeling sensations
 sufficient to make them garner up food 
during the summer1 on which food they   
may subsist in winter8 ,does not this   
involve the power of comparing dates1   
and the idea of a coming future1 an     
'inquietude raisonnee'8 ,why do we find 
in the hole of the field-mouse enough   
acorns to keep him until the following  
summer8 ,why do we find such an abundant
 store of honey and wax within the      
bee-hive8 ,why do ants store food8 ,why 
should birds make nests if they do not  
know that they will have need of them8  
,whence arise the stories that we hear  
of the wisdom of foxes1 which hide their
 prey in different spots1 that they may 
find it at their need and live upon it  
for days together8 ,or of the subtilty  
of owls1 which husband their store of   

mice by biting off their feet1 so that  
they cannot run away8 ,or of the        
marvellous penetration of bees1 which   
know beforehand that their queen should 
lay so many eggs in such and such a     
time1 and that so many of these eggs    
should be of a kind which will develop  
into drones1 and so many more of such   
another kind as should become neuters2  
and who in consequence of this their    
foreknowledge build so many larger cells
 for the first1 and so many smaller for 
the second8#gg  ,buffon answers these   
questions thus3--  ,before replying to  
them1 he says1 we should make sure of   
the facts themselves2--are they to be   
depended upon8 ,have they been narrated 
by men of intelligence and philosophers1
 or are they popular fables only8 7,how 
many delightful stories of the same     
character does he not soon proceed to   
tell us himself74 ,i am persuaded that  
all these pretended wonders will        
disappear1 and the cause of each one of 
them be found upon due examination4 ,but

 admitting their truth for a moment1 and
 granting to the narrators of them that 
animals have a presentiment1 a          
forethought1 and even a certainty       
concerning coming events1 does it       
therefore follow that this should spring
 from intelligence8 ,if so1 theirs is   
assuredly much greater than our own4    
,for our foreknowledge amounts to       
conjecture only2 the vaunted light of   
our reason doth but suffice to show us a
 little probability2 whereas the        
forethought of animals is unerring1 and 
must spring from some principle far     
higher than any we know of through our  
own experience4 ,does not such a        
consequence1 ,i ask1 prove repugnant    
alike to religion and common sense8#gh  
,this is ,buffon's way4 ,whenever he has
 shown us clearly what we ought to      
think1 he stops short suddenly on       
religious grounds4 ,it is incredible    
that the writer who at the very         
commencement of his work makes man take 
his place among the animals1 and who    

sees a subtle gradation extending over  
all living beings from the most perfect 
creature--who must be man--to the most  
entirely inorganic substance--,i say it 
is incredible that such a writer should 
not see that he had made out a stronger 
case in favour of the reason of animals 
than against it4  ,according to him1 the
 test whether a thing is to have such   
and such a name is whether it looks     
fairly like other things to which the   
same name is given2 if it does1 it is to
 have the name2 if it does not1 it is   
not4 ,no one accepted this lesson more  
heartily than ,dr4 ,darwin1 whose shrewd
 and homely mind1 if not so great as    
,buffon's1 was still one of no common   
order4 ,let us see the view he took of  
this matter4 ,he writes3--  ,if we were 
better acquainted with the histories of 
those insects which are formed into     
societies1 as the bees1 wasps1 and ants1
 ,i make no doubt but we should find    
that their arts and improvements are not
 so similar and uniform as they now     

appear to us1 but that they arose in the
 same manner from experience and        
tradition1 as the arts of our own       
species2 though their reasoning is from 
fewer ideas1 is busied about fewer      
objects1 and is executed with less      
energy4#gi  ,and again1 a little        
later3--  ,according to the late        
observations of ,mr4 ,hunter1 it appears
 that beeswax is not made from the dust 
of the anthers of flowers1 which they   
bring home on their thighs1 but that    
this makes what is termed bee-bread1 and
 is used for the purpose of feeding the 
bee-maggots2 in the same way butterflies
 live on honey1 but the previous        
caterpillar lives on vegetable leaves1  
while the maggots of large flies require
 flesh for their food4 ,what induces the
 bee1 who lives on honey1 to lay up     
vegetable powder for its young8 ,what   
induces the butterfly to lay its eggs on
 leaves when itself feeds on honey8444  
,if these are not deductions from their 
own previous experience or observation1 

all the actions of mankind must be      
resolved into instincts4#hj  ,or        
again3--  ,common worms stop up their   
holes with leaves or straws to prevent  
the frost from injuring them1 or the    
centipes from devouring them4 ,the      
habits of peace or the stratagems of war
 of these subterranean nations are      
covered from our view2 but a friend of  
mine prevailed on a distressed worm to  
enter the hole of another worm on a     
bowling green1 and he presently returned
 much wounded about the head1 444 which 
evinces they have design in stopping the
 mouths of their habitations4#ha  ,does 
it not look as if ,dr4 ,darwin had in   
his mind the very passage of ,buffon    
which ,i have been last quoting8 and is 
it likely that the facts which were     
accepted by ,dr4 ,darwin without        
question1 or the conclusions which were 
obvious to him1 were any less accepted  
by or obvious to ,buffon8   ,the        
,goat--,hybridism4  ,in his prefatory   
remarks upon the goat1 ,buffon complains

 of the want of systematic and certified
 experiment as to what breeds and       
species will be fertile inter se1 and   
with what results4 ,the passage is too  
long to quote1 but is exceedingly good1 
and throughout involves belief in a very
 considerable amount of modification in 
the course of successive generations4 ,i
 may give the following as an example3--
  ,we do not know whether or no the     
zebra would breed with the horse or     
ass--whether the large-tailed ,barbary  
sheep would be fertile if crossed with  
our own--whether the chamois is not a   
wild goat2 and whether it would not form
 an intermediate breed if crossed with  
our domesticated goats2 we do not know  
whether the differences between apes are
 really specific1 or whether apes are   
not like dogs1 one single species1 of   
which there are many different          
breeds4444 ,our ignorance concerning all
 these facts is almost inevitable1 as   
the experiments which would decide them 
require more time1 pains1 and money than

 can be spared from1 the life and       
fortune of an ordinary man4 ,i have     
spent many years in experiments of this 
kind1 and will give my results when ,i  
come to my chapter on mules2 but ,i may 
as well say at once that they have      
thrown but little light upon the        
subject1 and have been for the most part
 unsuccessful4#hb  ,but these1 he       
continues1 are the very points which    
must determine our whole knowledge      
concerning animals1 their right division
 into species1 and the true             
understanding of their history4 ,he     
proposes therefore1 in the present lack 
of knowledge1 to regard all animals as  
different species which do not breed    
together under our eyes1 and to leave   
time and experiment to correct          
mistakes4#hc   ,the ,pig--,doctrine of  
,final ,causes4  ,we have seen that the 
doctrine of the mutability of species   
has been unfortunately entangled with   
that of final causes1 or the belief that
 every organ and every part of each     

animal or plant has been designed to    
serve some purpose useful to the animal1
 and this not only useful at some past  
time1 but useful now1 and for all time  
to come4 ,he who believes species to be 
mutable will see in many organs signs of
 the history of the individual1 but     
nothing more4 ,buffon1 as ,i have said1 
is explicit in his denial of final      
causes in the sense expressed above4    
,after pointing out that the pig is an  
animal whose relation to other animals  
it is difficult to define1 he says3--   
,in a word1 it is of a nature altogether
 equivocal and ambiguous1 or1 rather1 it
 must appear so to those who believe the
 hypothetical order of their own ideas  
to be the real order of things1 and who 
see nothing in the infinite chain of    
existences but a few apparent points to 
which they will refer everything4  ,but 
we cannot know ,nature by inclosing her 
action within the narrow circle of our  
own thoughts4444 ,instead of limiting   
her action1 we should extend it through 

immensity itself2 we should regard      
nothing as impossible1 but should expect
 to find all things--supposing that all 
things are possible--nay1 are4 ,doubtful
 species1 then1 irregular productions1  
anomalous existences will henceforth no 
longer surprise us1 and will find their 
place in the infinite order of things as
 duly as any others4 ,they fill up the  
links of the chain2 they form knots and 
intermediate points1 and also they mark 
its extremities3 they are of especial   
value to human intelligence1 as         
providing it with cases in which        
,nature1 being less in conformity with  
herself1 is taken more unawares1 so that
 we can recognize singular characters   
and fleeting traits which show us that  
her ends are much more general than are 
our own views of those ends1 and that1  
though she does nothing in vain1 yet she
 does but little with the designs which 
we ascribe to her4#hd  ,the pig1 he     
continues1 is not formed on an original1
 special1 and perfect type2 its type is 

compounded of that of many other        
animals4 ,it has parts which are        
evidently useless1 or which at any rate 
it cannot use--such as toes1 all the    
bones of which are perfectly formed but 
which are yet of no service to it4      
,nature then is far from subjecting     
herself to final causes in the          
composition of her creatures4 ,why      
should she not sometimes add            
superabundant parts1 seeing she so often
 omits essential ones8 ,how many animals
 are there not which lack sense and     
limbs8 ,why is it considered so         
necessary that every part in an         
individual should be useful to the other
 parts and to the whole animal8 ,should 
it not be enough that they do not injure
 each other nor stand in the way of each
 other's fair development8 ,all parts   
coexist which do not injure each other  
enough to destroy each other1 and       
perhaps in the greater number of living 
beings the parts which must be          
considered as relative1 useful1 or      

necessary1 are fewer than those which   
are indifferent1 useless1 and           
superabundant4 ,but we--ever on the look
 out to refer all parts to a certain    
end--when we can see no apparent use for
 them suppose them to have hidden uses1 
and imagine connections which are       
without foundation1 and serve only to   
obscure our perception of ,nature as she
 really is3 we fail to see that we thus 
rob philosophy of her true character1   
which is to inquire into the 'how' of   
things--into the manner in which ,nature
 acts--and that we substitute for this  
true object a vain idea1 seeking to     
divine the 'why'--the ends which she has
 proposed in acting4#he   ,the          
,dog--,varieties in consequence of      
,man's ,selection4  ,of all animals the 
dog is most susceptible of impressions1 
and becomes most easily modified by     
moral causes4 ,he is also the one whose 
nature is most subject to the variations
 and alterations caused by physical     
influences3 he varies to a prodigious   

extent1 in temperament1 mental powers1  
and in habits3 his very form is not     
constant2 444 but presents so many      
differences that dogs have nothing in   
common but conformity of interior       
organization1 and the power of          
interbreeding freely4444  444 ,how then 
can we detect the characters of the     
original race8 ,how recognize the       
effects produced by climate1 food1 c48  
,how1 again1 distinguish these from     
those other effects which come from the 
intermixture of races1 either when wild 
or in a state of domestication8 ,all    
these causes1 in the course of time1    
alter even the most constant forms1 so  
that the imprint of ,nature does not    
preserve its sharpness in races which   
man has dealt with largely4 ,those      
animals which are free to choose climate
 and food for themselves can best       
conserve their original character1 444  
but those which man has subjected to his
 own influence--which he has taken with 
him from clime to clime1 whose food1    

habits1 and manner of life he has       
altered--must also have changed their   
form far more than others2 and as a     
matter of fact we find much greater     
variety in the species of domesticated  
animals than in those of wild ones4 ,of 
all these1 however1 the dog is the one  
most closely attached to man1 living    
like man the least regular manner of    
life2 he is also the one whose feelings 
so master him as to make him docile1    
obedient1 susceptible of every kind of  
impression1 and even of every kind of   
constraint2 it is not surprising1 then1 
that he should of all animals present us
 with the greatest variety in shape1    
stature1 colour1 and all physical and   
mental qualities4  ,here again the      
direct cause of modification is given as
 being the inner feelings of the animal 
modified1 change of conditions being the
 indirect cause as with ,dr4 ,erasmus   
,darwin and ,lamarck4  ,other           
circumstances1 however1 concur to       
produce these results4 ,the dog is      

short-lived3 he breeds often and freely3
 he is perpetually under the eye of man2
 hence when--by some chance common      
enough with ,nature--a variation or     
special feature has made its appearance1
 man has tried to perpetuate it by      
uniting together the individuals in     
which it has appeared1 as people do now 
who wish to form new breeds of dogs and 
other animals4 ,moreover1 though species
 were all formed at the same time1 yet  
the number of generations since the     
creation has been much greater in the   
short-lived than in the long-lived      
species3 hence variations1 alterations1 
and departure from the original type1   
may be expected to have become more     
perceptible in the case of animals which
 are so much farther removed from their 
original stock4  ,man is now eight times
 nearer ,adam than the dog is to the    
first dog--for man lives eighty years1  
while the dog lives but ten4 ,if1 then1 
these species have an equal tendency to 
depart from their original type1 the    

departure should be eight times more    
apparent with the dog than with man4#hf 
,here follow remarks upon the great     
variability of ephemeral insects and of 
animal plants1 on the impossibility of  
discovering the parent-stock of our     
wheat and of others of our domesticated 
plants1#hg and on the tendency of both  
plants and animals to resume feral      
characteristics on becoming wild again  
after domestication4#hh   ,the          
,hare--,geometrical ,ratio of ,increase4
  ,we have already seen that it was     
,buffon's pleasure to consider the hare 
a rabbit for the time being1 and to make
 it the text for a discourse upon       
fecundity4 ,i have no doubt he enjoyed  
doing this1 and would have found        
comparatively little pleasure in        
preaching the same discourse upon the   
rabbit4 ,speaking of the way in which   
even the races of mankind have struggled
 and crowded each other out1 ,buffon    
says3--  ,these great events--these     
well-marked epochs in the history of the

 human race--are yet but ripples1 as it 
were1 on the current of life2 which1 as 
a general rule1 flows onward evenly and 
in equal volume4  ,it may be said that  
the movement of ,nature turns upon two  
immovable pivots--one1 the illimitable  
fecundity which she has given to all    
species2 the other1 the innumerable     
difficulties which reduce the results of
 that fecundity1 and leave throughout   
time nearly the same quantity of        
individuals in every species4#hi444     
,taking the earth as a whole1 and the   
human race in its entirety1 the numbers 
of mankind1 like those of animals1      
should remain nearly constant throughout
 time2 for they depend upon an          
equilibrium of physical causes which has
 long since been reached1 and which     
neither man's moral nor his physical    
efforts can disturb1 inasmuch as these  
moral efforts do but spring from        
physical causes1 of which they are the  
special effects4 ,no matter what care   
man may take of his own species1 he can 

only make it more abundant in one place 
by destroying it or diminishing its     
numbers in another4 ,when one part of   
the globe is overpeopled1 men emigrate1 
spread themselves over other countries1 
destroy one another1 and establish laws 
and customs which sometimes only too    
surely prevent excess of population4 ,in
 those climates where fecundity is      
greatest1 as in ,china1 ,egypt1 and     
,guinea1 they banish1 mutilate1 sell1 or
 drown infants4 ,here1 we condemn them  
to a perpetual celibacy4 ,those who are 
in being find it easy to assert rights  
over the unborn4 ,regarding themselves  
as the necessary1 they annihilate the   
contingent1 and suppress future         
generations for their own pleasure and  
advantage4 ,man does for his own race1  
without perceiving it1 what he does also
 for the inferior animals3 that is to   
say1 he protects it and encourages it to
 increase1 or neglects it according to  
his sense of need--according as         
advantage or inconvenience is expected  

as the consequence of either course4    
,and since all these moral effects      
themselves depend upon physical causes1 
which have been in permanent equilibrium
 ever since the world was formed1 it    
follows that the numbers of mankind1    
like those of animals1 should remain    
constant4  ,nevertheless1 this fixed    
state1 this constant number1 is not     
absolute1 all physical and moral causes1
 and all the results which spring from  
them1 balance themselves1 as though1    
upon a see-saw1 which has a certain     
play1 but never so much as that         
equilibrium should be altogether lost4  
,as everything in the universe is in    
movement1 and as all the forces which   
are contained in matter act one against 
the other and counterbalance one        
another1 all is done by a kind of       
oscillation2 of which the mean points   
are those to which we refer as being the
 ordinary course of nature1 while the   
extremes are the periods which deviate  
from that course most widely4 ,and1 as a

 matter of fact1 with animals as much as
 with plants1 a time of unusual         
fecundity is commonly followed by one of
 sterility2 abundance and dearth come   
alternately1 and often at such short    
intervals that we may foretell the      
production of a coming year by our      
knowledge of the past one4 ,our apples1 
pears1 oaks1 beeches1 and the greater   
number of our fruit and forest trees1   
bear freely but about one year in two4  
,caterpillars1 cockchafers1 woodlice1   
which in one year may multiply with     
great abundance1 will appear but        
sparsely in the next4 ,what indeed would
 become of all the good things of the   
earth1 what would become of the useful  
animals1 and indeed of man himself1 if  
each individual in these years of excess
 was to leave its quotum of offspring8  
,this1 however1 does not happen1 for    
destruction and sterility follow closely
 upon excessive fecundity1 and1         
independently of the contagion which    
follows inevitably upon overcrowding1   

each species has its own special sources
 of death and destruction1 which are of 
themselves sufficient to compensate for 
excess in any past generation4          
,nevertheless the foregoing should not  
be taken in an absolute sense1 nor yet  
too strictly1--especially in the case of
 those races which are not left entirely
 to the care of ,nature4 ,those which   
man takes care of--commencing with his  
own--are more abundant than they would  
be without his care1 yet1 as his power  
of taking this care is limited1 the     
increase which has taken place is also  
fixed1 and has long been restrained     
within impassable boundaries4 ,again1   
though in civilized countries man1 and  
all the animals useful to him1 are more 
numerous than in other places1 yet their
 numbers never become excessive1 for the
 same power which brings them into being
 destroys them as soon as they are found
 inconvenient4#ij   ,the                
,carnivora--,sensation4  ,buffon begins 
his seventh volume with some remarks on 

the carnivora in general1 which ,i would
 gladly quote at fuller length than my  
space will allow4 ,he dwells on the fact
 that the number1 as well as the        
fecundity of the insect races is greater
 than that of the mammalia1 and even    
than of plants2 and he points out that  
violent death is almost as necessary an 
usage as is the law that we must all1 in
 one way or another1 die4 ,this leads   
him to the question whether animals can 
feel4 ,to speak seriously1 7au reel7 he 
says 7and why this1 if he had always    
spoken seriously8#ia71 can we doubt that
 those animals whose organization       
resembles our own1 feel the same        
sensations as we do8 ,they must feel1   
for they have senses1 and they must feel
 more and more in proportion as their   
senses are more active and more perfect4
 ,those whose organ of any sense is     
imperfect1 have but imperfect perception
 in respect of that sense2 and those    
that are entirely without the organ want
 also all corresponding sensation4      

,movement is the necessary consequence  
of acts of perception4 ,i have already  
shown that in whatever manner a living  
being is organized1 if it has           
perceptions at all1 it cannot fail to   
show that it has them by some kind of   
movement of its body4 ,hence plants1    
though highly organized1 have no        
feeling1 any more than have those       
animals which1 like plants1 manifest no 
power of motion4 ,among animals there   
are those which1 like the sensitive     
plant1 have but a certain power of      
movement about their own parts1 and     
which have no power of locomotion2 such 
animals have as yet but little          
perception4 ,those1 again1 which have   
power of locomotion1 but which1 like    
automata1 do but a small number of      
things1 and always after the same       
fashion1 can have only small powers of  
perception1 and these limited to a small
 number of objects4 ,but in the case of 
man1 what automata1 indeed1 have we not 
here6 ,how much do not education and the

 intercommunication of ideas increase   
our powers and vivacity of perception4  
,what difference can we not see in this 
respect between civilized and           
uncivilized races1 between the peasant  
girl1 and the woman of the world8 ,and  
in like manner among animals1 those     
which live with us have their           
perceptions increased in range1 while   
those that are wild have but their      
natural instinct1 which is often more   
certain but always more limited in range
 than is the intelligence of            
domesticated animals4#ib       4 4 4 4 4
 4  ,for perception to exist in its     
fullest development in any animal body1 
that body must form a whole--an         
ensemble1 which shall not only be       
capable of feeling in all its parts1 but
 shall be so arranged that all these    
feeling parts shall have a close        
correspondence with one another1 and    
that no one of them can be disturbed    
without communicating a portion of that 
disturbance to every other part4 ,there 

must also be a single chief centre1 with
 which all these different disturbances 
may be connected1 and from which1 as    
from a common point d'appui1 the        
reactions against them may take their   
rise4 ,hence man1 and those animals     
whose organization most resembles man's1
 will be the most capable of            
perceptions1 while those whose unity is 
less complete1 whose parts have a less  
close correspondence with each          
other--which have several centres of    
sensation1 and which seem1 in           
consequence1 less to envelope a single  
existence in a single body than to      
contain many centres of existence       
separated and different from one        
another--these will have fewer and      
duller perceptions4 ,the polypus1 which 
can be reproduced by fission2 the wasp1 
whose head even after separation from   
the body still moves1 lives1 acts1 and  
even eats as heretofore2 the lizard     
which we deprive neither of sensation   
nor movement by cutting off part of its 

body2 the lobster which can restore its 
amputated limbs2 the turtle whose heart 
beats long after it has been plucked    
out1 in a word all the animals whose    
organization differs from our own1 have 
but small powers of perception1 and the 
smaller the more they differ from us4#ic
  ,this is ,buffon's way of satirizing  
our inability to bear in mind that we   
are compelled to judge all things by our
 own standards4 ,he also wishes to      
reassure those who might be alarmed at  
the tendency of some of his foregoing   
remarks1 and who he knew would find     
comfort in being told that a thing which
 does not express itself as they do does
 not feel at all4  ,the diaphragm       
according to ,buffon appears to be the  
centre of the powers of sensation2 the  
slightest injury even to the attachments
 of the diaphragm is followed by strong 
convulsions1 and even by death4 ,the    
brain which has been called the seat of 
'sensations' is yet not the centre of   
'perception1' since we can wound it1 and

 even take considerable parts of it     
away1 without death's ensuing1 and      
without preventing an animal from       
living1 moving and feeling in all its   
parts4  ,buffon thus distinguishes      
between sensation and perception4       
,sensation1 he says1 is simply the      
activity of a sense1 but perception is  
the pleasantness or unpleasantness of   
this sensation1 perceived by its being  
propagated and becoming active          
throughout the entire system4 ,i have   
therefore several times1 when           
translating from ,buffon1 rendered the  
word sentiment by perception1 and shall 
continue to do so4 ,i say1 writes       
,buffon1 the pleasantness or            
unpleasantness1 because this is the very
 essence of perception2 the one feature 
of perception consists in perceiving    
either pain or pleasure2 and though     
movements which do not affect us in     
either one or the other of these two    
ways may indeed take place within us1   
yet we are indifferent to them1 and do  

not perceive that we are affected by    
them4 ,all external movement1 and all   
exercise of the animal powers1 spring   
from perception2 its action is          
proportionate to the extent of its      
excitation1 to the extent of the feeling
 which is being felt4#id ,and this same 
part1 which we regard as the centre of  
sensation1 will also be that of all the 
animal powers2 or1 if it is preferred to
 call it so1 it will be the common point
 d'appui from which they all take rise4 
,the diaphragm is to the animal what the
 'stock' is to the plant2 both divide an
 organism transversely1 both serve as   
the point d'appui of opposing forces2   
for the forces which push upward those  
parts of a tree which should form its   
trunk and branches1 bear upon and are   
supported by the 'stock1' as do those   
opposing forces1 which drive the roots  
downwards4       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,even on a
 cursory examination we can see that all
 our innermost affections1 our most     
lively emotions1 our most expansive     

moments of delight1 and1 on the other   
hand1 our sudden starts1 pains1         
sicknesses1 and swoons--in fact1 all our
 strong impressions concerning the      
pleasure or pain of any sensation--make 
themselves felt within the body1 and    
about the region of the diaphragm4 ,the 
brain1 on the contrary1 shows no sign of
 being a seat of perception4 ,in the    
head there are pure sensations and      
nothing else1 or rather1 there are but  
the representations of sensations       
stripped of the character of perception2
 that is to say1 we can remember and    
call to mind whether such and such a    
sensation was pleasant to us or         
otherwise1 and if this operation1 which 
goes on in the head1 is followed by a   
vivid perception1 then the impression   
made is perceived in the interior of the
 body1 and always in the region of the  
diaphragm4 ,hence1 in the foetus where  
this membrane is without use1 there is  
no perception1 or so little that nothing
 comes of it1 the movements of the      

foetus1 such as they are1 being rather  
mechanical than dependent on sensation  
and will4  ,whatever the matter may be  
which serves as the vehicle of          
perception1 and produces muscular       
movement1 it is certain that it is      
propagated through the nerves1 and that 
it communicates itself instantaneously  
from one extremity of the system to the 
other4 ,in whatever manner this         
operation is conducted1 whether by the  
vibrations1 as it were1 of elastic cords
 or by a subtle fire1 or by a matter    
resembling electricity1 which not only  
resides in animal as in all other       
bodies1 but is being continually renewed
 in them by the movements of the heart  
and lungs1 by the friction of the blood 
within the arteries1 and also by the    
action of exterior causes upon our      
organs of sense--in whatever manner1 ,i 
say1 the operation is conducted1 it is  
nevertheless certain that the nerves and
 membranes are the only parts in an     
animal body that can feel4 ,the blood1  

lymphs1 and all other fluids1 the fats1 
bone1 flesh1 and all other solids1 are  
of themselves void of sensation4 ,and so
 also is the brain2 it is a soft and    
inelastic substance1 incapable therefore
 of producing or of propagating the     
movement1 vibrations1 or concussions    
which1 result in perception4 ,the       
meninges1 on the other hand1 are        
exceedingly sensitive1 and are the      
envelopes of all the nerves2 like the   
nerves1 they take rise in the head2 and1
 dividing themselves like the branches  
of the nerves1 they extend even to their
 smallest ramifications3 they are1 so to
 speak1 flattened nerves2 they are of   
the same substance as the nerves1 are   
nearly of the same degree of elasticity1
 and form a necessary part of the system
 of sensation4 ,if1 then1 the seat of   
the sensations must be placed in the    
head1 let it be placed in the meninges1 
and not in the medullary part of the    
brain1 which is of an entirely different
 substance4#ie  ,if this is so1 it      

appears from what will follow as though 
the meninges must be the stock rather   
than the diaphragm4  ,what perhaps has  
given rise to the opinion that the seat 
of all sensations and the centre of all 
sensibility is in the brain1 is the fact
 that the nerves1 which are the organs  
of perception1 all attach themselves to 
the brain1 which has hence come to be   
regarded as the one common centre which 
can receive all their vibrations and    
impressions4 ,this fact alone has       
sufficed to indicate the brain as the   
origin of perceptions--as the essential 
organ of sensations2 in a word1 as the  
common sensorium4 ,this supposition has 
appeared so simple and natural that its 
physical impossibility has been         
overlooked1 an impossibility1 however1  
which should be sufficiently apparent4  
,for how can a part which cannot feel--a
 soft inactive substance like the       
brain--be the very organ of perception  
and movement8 ,how can this soft and    
perceptionless part not only receive    

impressions1 but preserve them for a    
length of time1 and transmit their      
undulatory movements 7en propage les    
ebranlements7 throughout all the solid  
and feeling parts of the body8 ,it may  
perhaps be maintained with ,descartes   
and ,m4 de ,peyronie that the principle 
of sensation does not reside in the     
brain1 but in the pineal gland or in the
 corpus callosum2 but a glance at the   
conformation of the brain itself will   
suffice to show that these parts do not 
join on to the nerves1 but that they are
 entirely surrounded by those parts of  
the brain which do not feel1 and are so 
separated from the nerves that they     
cannot receive any movement from them2  
whence it follows that this second      
supposition is as groundless as the     
first4#if  ,what1 then1 asks ,buffon1 is
 the use of the brain8 ,man1 the        
quadrupeds1 and birds all have larger   
brains1 and at the same time more       
extended perceptions1 than fishes1      
insects1 and those other living beings  

whose brains are smaller in proportion4 
,when the brain is compressed1 there is 
suspension of all power of movement4 ,if
 this part is not the source of our     
powers of motion1 why is it so necessary
 and so essential8 ,why1 again1 does it 
seem so proportionate in each animal to 
the amount of perceiving power which    
that animal possesses8  ,i think ,i can 
answer this question in a satisfactory  
manner1 difficult though it seems2 but  
in order that ,i may do so1 ,i would ask
 the reader to lend me his attention for
 a few moments while we regard the brain
 simply as brain1 and have no other idea
 concerning it than we can derive from  
inspection and reflection4 ,the brain1  
as well as the medulla oblongata and the
 spinal marrow1 which are but           
prolongations of the brain itself1 is   
only a kind of hardly organized         
mucilage2 we find in it nothing but the 
extremities of small arteries1 which run
 into it in very great numbers1 but     
which convey a white and nourishing     

lymph instead of blood4 ,when the parts 
of the brain are disunited by           
maceration1 these same small arteries1  
or lymphatic vessels1 appear as very    
delicate threads throughout their whole 
length4 ,the nerves1 on the contrary1 do
 not penetrate the substance of the     
brain2 they abut upon its surface only2 
before reaching it they lose their      
elasticity and solidity1 and the        
extremities of the nerves which are     
nearest to the brain are soft1 and      
nearly mucilaginous4 ,from this         
exposition1 in which there is nothing   
hypothetical1 it appears that the brain1
 which is nourished by the lymphatic    
arteries1 does in its turn provide      
nourishment for the nerves1 and that we 
must regard these as a kind of          
vegetation which rises as trunks and    
branches from the brain1 and become     
subsequently subdivided into an infinite
 number1 as it were1 of twigs4 ,the     
brain is to the nerves what the earth is
 to plants3 the last extremities of the 

nerves are the roots1 which with every  
vegetable are more soft and tender than 
the trunk or branches2 they contain a   
ductile matter fit for the growth and   
nourishment of the nervous tree or      
fibre2 they draw the ductile matter from
 the substance of the brain itself1 to  
which the arteries are continually      
bringing the lymph that is necessary to 
supply it4 ,the brain1 then1 instead of 
being the seat of the sensations1 and   
the originator of perception1 is an     
organ of secretion and nutrition only1  
though a very essential organ1 without  
which the nerves could neither grow nor 
be maintained4  ,this organ is greater  
in man1 in quadrupeds1 and in birds1    
because the number or bulk of the nerves
 is greater in these animals than in    
fishes or insects1 whose power of       
perception is more feeble1 for this very
 reason1 that they have but a small     
brain2 one1 in fact1 that is            
proportioned to the small quantity of   
nerves which that brain must support4   

,nor can ,i omit to state here that man 
has not1 as has been pretended by some1 
a larger brain than has any other       
animal2 for there are apes and cetacea  
which have more brain than man in       
proportion to the volume of their       
bodies--another fact which proves that  
the brain is neither the seat of        
sensations nor the originator of        
perception1 since in that case these    
animals would have more sensations and  
perception than man4  ,if we consider   
the manner in which plants derive their 
nourishment1 we shall find that they do 
not draw up the grosser parts either of 
earth or water2 these parts must be     
reduced by warmth into subtle vapours   
before the roots can suck them up into  
the plant4 ,in like manner the nutrition
 of the nerves is only effected by means
 of the more subtle parts of the        
humidity of the brain1 which are sucked 
up by the roots or extremities of the   
nerves1 and are carried thence through  
all the branches of the sensory system4 

,this system forms1 as we have said1 a  
whole1 all whose parts are              
interconnected by so close a union that 
we cannot wound one without             
communicating a violent shock to all the
 others2 the wounding or simply pulling 
of the smallest nerve is sufficient to  
cause lively irritation to all the      
others1 and to put the body in          
convulsion2 nor can we ease this pain   
and convulsion except by cutting the    
nerve higher up than the injured part2  
but on this all the parts abutting on   
this nerve become thenceforward         
senseless and immovable for ever4 ,the  
brain should not be considered as of the
 same character1 nor as an organic      
portion of the nervous system1 for it   
has not the same properties nor the same
 substance1 being neither solid nor     
elastic1 nor yet capable of feeling4 ,i 
admit that on its compression perception
 ceases1 but this very fact shows it to 
be a body foreign to the nervous system 
itself1 which1 acting by its weight1 or 

pressure1 against the extremities of the
 nerves1 oppresses them and stupefies   
them in the same way as a weight placed 
upon the arm1 leg1 or any other part of 
the body1 stupefies the nerves and      
deadens the perceptions of that part4   
,and it is evident that this cessation  
of sensation on compression is but a    
suspension and temporary stupefaction1  
for the moment the compression of the   
brain ceases1 perception and the power  
of movement returns4 ,again1 ,i admit   
that on tearing the medullary substance1
 and on wounding the brain till the     
corpus callosum is reached1 convulsion1 
loss of sensation1 and death ensue2 but 
this is because the nerves are so       
entirely deranged that they are1 so to  
speak1 torn up by the roots and wounded 
all together1 and at their source4  ,in 
further proof that the brain is neither 
the centre of perception nor the seat of
 the sensations1 ,i may remind the      
reader that animals and even children   
have been born without heads and brains1

 and have yet had feeling1 movement1 and
 life4 ,there are also whole classes of 
animals1 like insects and worms1 with a 
brain that is by no means a distinct    
mass nor of sensible volume1 but with   
only something which corresponds with   
the medulla oblongata and the spinal    
marrow4 ,there would be more reason1    
then1 in placing the seat of the        
feelings and perceptions in the spinal  
marrow1 which no animal is without1 than
 in the brain which is not an organ     
common to all creatures that can feel4  
,if ,buffon's ideas concerning the brain
 are as just as they appear to be1 the  
resemblance between plants and animals  
is more close than is apparent1 even to 
a superficial observer1 on a first      
inspection of the phenomena4 ,such an   
observer1 however1 on looking but a     
little more intently1 will see the      
higher vertebrata as perambulating      
vegetables planted upside down4 ,so the 
man who had been born blind1 on being   
made to see1 and on looking at the      

objects before him with unsophisticated 
eyes1 said without hesitation that he   
saw men as trees walking1 thus seeing   
with more prophetic insight than either 
he or the bystanders could interpret4   
,for our skull is as a kind of          
flower-pot1 and holds the soil from     
which we spring1 that is to say the     
brain2 our mouth and stomach are roots1 
in two stories or stages2 our bones are 
the trellis-work to which we cling while
 going about in search of sustenance for
 our roots2 or they are as the woody    
trunk of a tree2 we are the nerves which
 are rooted in the brain1 and which draw
 thence the sustenance which is supplied
 it by the stomach2 our lungs are leaves
 which are folded up within us1 as the  
blossom of a fig is hidden within the   
fruit itself4  ,this is what should     
follow if ,buffon's theory of the brain 
is allowed to stand1 which ,i hope will 
prove to be the case1 for it is the only
 comfortable thought concerning the     
brain that ,i have met with in any      

writer4 ,i have given it here at some   
length on account of its importance1 and
 for the illustration it affords of     
,buffon's hatred of mystery1 rather than
 for its bearing upon evolution4 ,the   
fact that our leading men of science    
have adopted other theories will weigh  
little with those who have watched      
scientific orthodoxy with any closeness4
 ,what ,buffon thought of that orthodoxy
 may be gathered from the following3--  
,the greatest obstacles to the          
advancement of human knowledge lie less 
in things themselves than in man's      
manner of considering them4 ,however    
complicated a machine the human body may
 be1 it is still less complicated than  
are our own ideas concerning it4 ,it is 
less difficult to see ,nature as she is1
 than as she is presented to us4 ,she   
carries a veil only1 while we would put 
a mask over her face2 we load her with  
our own prejudices1 and suppose her to  
act and to conduct her operations even  
after the same fashion as ourselves4#ig 

4 4 4 4 4 4  ,i am by no means speaking 
of those purely arbitrary systems which 
we are able at a glance to detect as    
chimeras that are being pretended to us 
as realities1 but ,i refer to the       
methods whereby people have set         
themselves seriously to study nature4   
,even the experimental method itself has
 been more fertile of error than of     
truth1 for though it is indeed the      
surest1 yet is it no surer than the hand
 of him who uses it4 ,no matter how     
little we incline out of the straight   
path1 we soon find ourselves wandering  
in a sterile wilderness1 where we can   
see but a few obscure objects scattered 
sparsely2 nevertheless we do violence to
 these facts and to ourselves1 and      
resemble them together on a conceit of  
analogies and common properties amongst 
them4 ,then1 passing and repassing      
complaisantly over the tortuous path    
which we have ourselves beaten1 we deem 
the road a worn one1 and though it leads
 no whither1 the world follows it1      

adopts it1 and accepts its supposed     
consequences as first principles4 ,i    
could show this by laying bare the      
origin of that which goes by the name of
 'principle' in all the sciences1       
whether abstract or natural4 ,in the    
case of the former1 the basis of        
principle is abstraction--that is to    
say1 one or more suppositions3 in that  
of the second1 principles are but the   
consequences1 better or worse1 of the   
methods which may have been followed4   
,and to speak here of anatomy only1 did 
not he who first surmounted his natural 
repugnance and set himself to work to   
open a human body--did he not believe   
that through going all over it1         
dissecting it1 dividing it into all its 
parts1 he would soon learn its          
structure1 mechanism1 and functions8    
,but he found the task greater than he  
had expected1 and renouncing such       
pretensions1 was fain to content himself
 with a method--not for seeing and      
judging1 but for seeing after an orderly

 fashion4 ,this method 444 is still the 
sole business of our ablest anatomists1 
but it is not science4 ,it is the road  
which should lead scienceward1 and might
 perhaps have reached science itself1 if
 instead of walking ever on a single    
narrow path men had set the anatomy of  
man and that of animals face to face    
with one another4 ,for1 what real       
knowledge can be drawn from an isolated 
pursuit8 ,is not the foundation of all  
science seen to consist in the          
comparison which the human mind can draw
 between different objects in the matter
 of their resemblances and              
differences--of their analogous or      
conflicting properties1 and of all the  
relations in which they stand to one    
another8 ,the absolute1 if it exist at  
all1 is but of the concurrence of man's 
own knowledge2 we judge and can judge of
 things only by their bearings one upon 
another2 hence whenever a method limits 
us to only a single subject1 whenever we
 consider it in its solitude and without

 regard to its resemblances or to its   
differences from other objects1 we can  
attain to no real knowledge1 nor yet1   
much less1 reach any general principle4 
,we do but give names1 and make         
descriptions of a thing1 and of all its 
parts4 ,hence comes it that1 after three
 thousand years of dissection1 anatomy  
is still but a nomenclature1 and has    
hardly advanced a step towards its true 
object1 which is the science of animal  
economy4 ,furthermore1 what defects are 
there not in the method itself1 which   
should above all things else be simple  
and easy to be understood1 depending as 
it does upon inspection and having      
denominations only for its end6 ,for    
seeing that nomenclature has been       
mistaken for knowledge1 men have made it
 their chief business to multiply names1
 instead of limiting things2 they have  
crushed themselves under the burden of  
details1 and been on the look out for   
differences where there was no          
distinction4 ,when they had given a new 

name they conceived of it as a new      
thing1 and described the smallest parts 
with the most minutious exactness1 while
 the description of some still smaller  
part1 forgotten or neglected by previous
 anatomists1 has been straightway hailed
 as a discovery4 ,the denominations     
themselves being often taken from things
 which had no relation to the object    
that it was desired to denominate1 have 
served but to confound confusion4 ,the  
part of the brain1 for example1 which is
 called testes and nates1 wherein does  
it so differ from the rest of the brain 
that it should deserve a name8 ,these   
names1 taken at haphazard or springing  
from some preconceived opinion1 have    
themselves become the parents of new    
prejudices and speculations2 other names
 given to parts which have been ill     
observed1 or which are even             
non-existent1 have been sources of new  
errors4 ,what functions and uses has it 
not been attempted to foist upon the    
pineal gland1 and on the alleged empty  

space in the brain which is called the  
arch1 the first of which is but a gland1
 while the very existence of the other  
is doubtful1--the empty space being     
perhaps produced by the hand of the     
anatomist and the method of             
dissection4#ih   ,the ,genus felis4  ,in
 his preliminary remarks upon the lion1 
,buffon while still professing to       
believe in some considerable mutability 
of species1 seems very far from         
admitting that all living forms are     
capable of modification4 ,but he has    
shown us long since how clearly he saw  
the impossibility of limiting           
mutability1 if he once admitted so much 
of the thin end of the wedge as that a  
horse and an ass might be related4 ,it  
is plain1 therefore1 that he is not     
speaking au reel here1 and we           
accordingly find him talking clap-trap  
about the nobleness of the lion in      
having no species immediately allied to 
it4 ,a few lines lower on he reminds us 
in a casual way that the ass and horse  

are related4  ,he writes3--  ,added to  
all these noble individual features the 
lion has also what may be called a      
specific nobility4 ,for ,i call those   
species noble which are constant1       
invariable1 and which are above         
suspicion of having degenerated4 ,these 
species are commonly isolated1 and the  
only ones of their genus4 ,they are     
distinguished by such well-marked       
features that they cannot be mistaken1  
nor confounded with any other species4  
,to begin for example with man1 the     
noblest of created beings2 he is but of 
a single species1 inasmuch as men and   
women will breed freely inter se in     
spite of all existing differences of    
race1 climate and colour2 and also      
inasmuch as there is no other animal    
which can claim either a distant or near
 relationship with him4 ,the horse1 on  
the other hand1 is more noble as an     
individual than as a species1 for he has
 the ass as his near neighbour1 and     
seems himself to be nearly enough       

related to it2 444 the dog is perhaps of
 even less noble species1 approaching as
 he does to the wolf1 fox1 and jackal1  
which we can only consider to be the    
degenerated species of a single         
family#ii--;all which may seem very     
natural opinions for a ,french          
aristocrat in the days before the       
,revolution1 but which cannot for a     
moment be believed to have been         
,buffon's own4 ,i have not ascertained  
the date of ,buffon's little quarrel    
with the ,sorbonne1 but ,i cannot doubt 
that if we knew the inner history of the
 work we are considering1 we should find
 this passage and others like it        
explained by the necessity of quieting  
orthodox adversaries4 ,he concludes the 
paragraph from which ,i have just been  
quoting by saying1 ,to class man and the
 ape together1 or the lion with the cat1
 and to say that the lion is a cat with 
a mane and a long tail--this were to    
degrade and disfigure nature instead of 
describing her and denominating her     

species4 ,buffon very rarely uses       
italics1 but those last given are his1  
not mine2 could words be better chosen  
to make us see the lion and the cat as  
members of the same genus8 ,no wonder   
the ,sorbonne considered him an         
infelicitous writer2 why could he not   
have said cat1 and have done with it1   
instead of giving a couple of sly but   
telling touches1 which make the cat as  
like a lion as possible1 and then       
telling us that we must not call her    
one8 ,sorbonnes never do like people who
 write in this way4  ,the lion1 then1   
belongs to a most noble species1        
standing as he does alone1 and incapable
 of being confounded with the tiger1    
leopard1 ounce1 c41 while1 on the       
contrary1 those species1 which appear to
 be least distant from the lion1 are    
very sufficiently indistinguishable1 so 
that travellers and nomenclators are    
continually confounding them4#ajj  ,if  
this is not pure malice1 never was a    
writer more persistently unfortunate in 

little ways4 ,why remind us here that   
the species which come nearest to the   
lion are so hard to distinguish8 ,why   
not have said nothing about it8 ,as it  
is1 the case stands thus3 we are        
required to admit close resemblance     
between the leopard and the tiger1 while
 we are to deny it between the tiger and
 the lion1 in spite of there being no   
greater outward difference between the  
first than between the second pair1 and 
in spite of the hurried whisper cat with
 a mane and a long tail still haunting  
our ears4 ,isidore ,geoffroy and his    
followers may consent to this           
arrangement1 but ,i hope the majority of
 my readers will not do so4  ,i went on 
to the account of the tiger with some   
interest to see the line which ,buffon  
would take concerning it4 ,i anticipated
 that we should find cats1 pumas1       
lynxes1 c41 to be really very like      
tigers1 and was surprised to learn that 
the true tiger1 though certainly not    
unlike these animals1 was still to be   

distinguished from many others which had
 since been called tigers4 ,he is on no 
account to be confounded with these1 in 
spite of the obvious temptation to      
confound him4 ,he is a rare animal1     
little known to the ancients1 and badly 
described by the moderns4 ,he is a beast
 of great ferocity1 of terrible         
swiftness1 and surpassing even the      
proportions of the lion4 ,the effect of 
the description is that we no longer    
find the lion standing alone1 but with  
the tiger on a par with him if not above
 him2 but at the same time we fall easy 
victims to the temptation to confound   
the tiger with the many other animals   
which are also called tigers4 ,a surface
 stream has swept the members of the cat
 family in different directions1 but a  
stealthy undercurrent has seized them   
from beneath1 and they are now happily  
reunited4   ,animals of the ,old and    
,new ,world--,changed ,geographical     
,distribution4  ,writing upon the       
animals of the old world1#aja and       

referring to the humps of the camel and 
the bison1 ,buffon shows that very      
considerable modification may be        
effected in some animals within even a  
few generations1 but he attributes the  
effect produced to the direct influence 
of climate4 ,buffon concludes his sketch
 of the animals of the new world by     
pointing out that the larger animals of 
the ,african torrid zone have been      
hindered by sea and desert from finding 
their way to ,america1 and by claiming  
to be the first even to have suspected  
that there was not a single denizen of  
the torrid zone of one continent which  
was common also to the other4#ajb  ,the 
animals common to both continents are   
those which can stand the cold and which
 are generally suited for a temperate   
climate4 ,these1 ,buffon believes1 to   
have travelled either over some land    
still unknown1 or more probably1 over   
territory which has long since been     
submerged4 ,the species of the old and  
new world are never without some        

well-marked difference1 which however   
should not be held sufficient for us to 
refuse to admit their practical         
identity4 ,but he maintains1 ,i imagine 
wilfully1 that there is a tendency in   
all the mammalia to become smaller on   
being transported to the new world1 and 
refers the fact to the quality of the   
earth1 the condition of the climate1 the
 degrees of heat and humidity1 to the   
height of mountains1 amounts of running 
or stagnant waters1 extent of forest1   
and above all to the brutal condition of
 nature in a new country1 which he      
evidently regards with true aristocratic
 abhorrence4#ajc  ,then follows a       
passage which ,i had better perhaps give
 in full3--  ,the mammoth was certainly 
the greatest and strongest of all       
quadrupeds2 but it has disappeared2 and 
if so1 how many smaller1 feebler1 and   
less remarkable species must have also  
perished without leaving us any traces  
or even hints of their having existed8  
,how many other species have changed    

their nature1 that is to say1 become    
perfected or degraded1 through great    
changes in the distribution of land and 
ocean1 through the cultivation or       
neglect of the country which they       
inhabit1 through the long-continued     
effects of climatic changes1 so that    
they are no longer the same animals that
 they once were8 ,yet of all living     
beings after man1 the quadrupeds are the
 ones whose nature is most fixed and    
form most constant3 birds and fishes    
vary much more easily2 insects still    
more again than these1 and if we descend
 to plants1 which certainly cannot be   
excluded from animated nature1 we shall 
be surprised at the readiness with which
 species are seen to vary1 and at the   
ease with which they change their forms 
and adopt new natures4  ,it is probable 
then that all the animals of the new    
world are derived from congeners in the 
old1 without any deviation from the     
ordinary course of nature4 ,we may      
believe that having become separated in 

the lapse of ages1 by vast oceans and   
countries which they could not traverse1
 they have gradually been affected by1  
and derived impressions from1 a climate 
which has itself been modified so as to 
become a new one through the operation  
of those same causes which dissociated  
the individuals of the old and new world
 from one another2 thus in the course of
 time they have grown smaller and       
changed their characters4 ,this1        
however1 should not prevent our         
classifying them as different species   
now1 for the difference is no less real 
whether it is caused by time1 climate   
and soil1 or whether it dates from the  
creation4 ,nature ,i maintain is in a   
state of continual flux and movement4   
,it is enough for man if he can grasp   
her as she is in his own time1 and throw
 but a glance or two upon the past and  
future1 so as to try and perceive what  
she may have been in former times and   
what one day she may attain to4#ajd     
,the ,buffalo--,animals under           

,domestication4  ,the bison and the     
aurochs1 says ,buffon1 differ only in   
unessential characteristics1 and are1 by
 consequence1 of the same species as our
 domestic cattle1 so that ,i believe all
 the pretended species of the ox1       
whether ancient or modern1 may be       
reduced to three--the bull1 the buffalo1
 and the bubalus4  ,the case of animals 
under domestication is in many respects 
different from that of wild ones2 they  
vary much more in disposition1 size and 
shape1 especially as regards the        
exterior parts of their bodies3 the     
effects of climate1 so powerful         
throughout nature1 act with far greater 
effect upon captive animals than upon   
wild ones4 ,food prepared by man1 and   
often ill chosen1 combined with the     
inclemency of an uncongenial            
climate--these eventuate in             
modifications sufficiently profound to  
become constant and hereditary in       
successive generations4 ,i do not       
pretend to say that this general cause  

of modification is so powerful as to    
change radically the nature of beings   
which have had their impress stamped    
upon them in that surest of             
moulds--heredity2 but it nevertheless   
changes them in not a few respects2 it  
masks and transforms their outward      
appearance2 it suppresses some of their 
parts1 and gives them new ones2 it      
paints them with various colours1 and by
 its action on bodily habits influences 
also their natures1 instincts1 and most 
inward qualities 7and what is this but  
radically changing their nature874 ,the 
modification of but a single part1      
moreover1 in a whole as perfect as an   
animal body1 will necessitate a         
correlative modification in every other 
part1 and it is from this cause that our
 domestic animals differ almost as much 
in nature and instinct1 as in form1 from
 those from which they originally       
sprung4#aje  ,buffon confirms this last 
assertion by quoting the sheep as an    
example--an animal which can now no     

longer exist in a wild state4 ,then     
returning to cattle1 he repeats that    
many varieties have been formed by the  
effects--diverse in themselves1 and     
diverse in their combinations--of       
climate1 food1 and treatment1 whether   
under domestication or in their wild    
state4 ,these are the main causes of    
variation 7causes generales de          
variete71#ajf among our domesticated    
animals1 but by far the greatest is     
changed climate in consequence of their 
accompanying man in his migrations4 ,the
 effects of the foregoing causes of     
modification1 especially the last of    
them1 are repeatedly insisted on in the 
course of the forty pages which complete
 the preliminary account of the buffalo4
  ,what holds good for the buffalo does 
so also for the mouflon or wild sheep4  
,this1 ,buffon declares to be the source
 of all our domesticated breeds3 of     
these there are in all some four or     
five1 all of them being but             
degenerations from a single stock1      

produced by man's agency1 and propagated
 for his convenience4#ajg ,at the same  
time that man has protected them he has 
hunted out the original race which was  
less useful to him1#ajh so that it is   
now to be found only in a few secluded  
spots1 such as the mountains of ,greece1
 ,cyprus1 and ,sardinia4 ,buffon does   
not consider even the differences       
between sheep and goats to be           
sufficiently characteristic to warrant  
their being classed as different        
species4  ,i shall never tire1 he       
continues1 of repeating--seeing how     
important the matter is--that we must   
not form our opinions concerning nature1
 nor differentiate 7differencier7 her   
species1 by a reference to minor special
 characteristics4 ,and1 again1 that     
systems1 far from having illustrated the
 history of animals1 have1 on the       
contrary1 served rather to obscure it   
444 leading1 as they do1 to the creation
 of arbitrary species which nature knows
 nothing about2 perpetually confounding 

real and hypothetical existences2 giving
 us false ideas as to the very essence  
of species2 uniting them and separating 
them without foundation or knowledge1   
and often without our having seen the   
animal with which we are dealing4#aji   
,first and ,second ,views of ,nature4   
,the twelfth volume begins with a       
preface1 entitled ,a ,first ,view of    
,nature1 from which ,i take the         
following3--  ,what cannot ,nature      
effect with such means at her disposal8 
,she can do all except either create    
matter or destroy it4 ,these two        
extremes of power the deity has reserved
 for himself only2 creation and         
destruction are the attributes of his   
omnipotence4 ,to alter and undo1 to     
develop and to renew--these are powers  
which he has handed over to the charge  
of ,nature4#aaj  ,the thirteenth volume 
opens with a second view of nature4     
,after describing what a man would have 
observed if he could have lived during  
many continuous ages1 ,buffon goes on to

 say3--  ,and as the number1 sustenance1
 and balance of power among species is  
constant1 ,nature would present ever the
 same appearance1 and would be in all   
times and under all climates absolutely 
and relatively the same1 if it were not 
her fashion to vary her individual forms
 as much as possible4 ,the type of each 
species is founded in a mould of which  
the principal features have been cut in 
characters that are ineffaceable and    
eternally permanent1 but all the        
accessory touches vary2 no one          
individual is the exact facsimile of any
 other1 and no species exists without a 
large number of varieties4 ,in the human
 race on which the divine seal has been 
set most firmly1 there are yet varieties
 of black and white1 large and small    
races1 the ,patagonian1 ,hottentot1     
,european1 ,american1 ,negro1 which1    
though all descended from a common      
father1 nevertheless exhibit no very    
brotherly resemblance to one            
another4#aaa  ,on an earlier page there 

is a passage which ,i may quote as      
showing ,buffon to have not been without
 some--though very imperfect--perception
 of the fact which evidently made so    
deep an impression upon his successor1  
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin4 ,i refer to that 
continuity of life in successive        
generations1 and that oneness of        
personality between parents and         
offspring1 which is the only key that   
will make the phenomena of heredity     
intelligible4  ,man1 he says1 and       
especially educated man1 is no longer a 
single individual1 but represents no    
small part of the human race in its     
entirety4 ,he was the first to receive  
from his fathers the knowledge which    
their own ancestors had handed down to  
them4 ,these1 having discovered the     
divine art of fixing their thoughts so  
that they can transmit them to their    
posterity1 become1 as it were1 one and  
the same people with their descendants  
7se sont1 pour ainsi dire1 identifies   
avec leur neveux72 while our descendants

 will in their turn be one and the same 
people with ourselves 7s'identifieront  
avec nous74 ,this reunion in a single   
person of the experience of many ages1  
throws back the boundaries of man's     
existence to the utmost limits of the   
past2 he is no longer a single          
individual1 limited as other beings are 
to the sensations and experiences of    
to-day4 ,in place of the individual we  
have to deal1 as it were1 with the whole
 species4#aab  ,differences in exterior 
are nothing in comparison with those in 
interior parts4 ,these last must be     
regarded as the causes1 while the others
 are but the effects4 ,the interior     
parts of living beings are the          
foundation of the plan of their design2 
this is their essential form1 their real
 shape1 their exterior is only the      
surface1 or rather the drapery in which 
their true figure is enveloped4 ,how    
often does not the study of comparative 
anatomy show us that two exteriors which
 differ widely conceal interiors        

absolutely like each other1 and1 on the 
contrary1 that the smallest internal    
difference is accompanied by the most   
marked differences of outward           
appearance1 changing as it does even the
 natural habits1 faculties and          
attributes of the animal8#aac   ,apes   
and ,monkeys4  ,the fourteenth volume is
 devoted to apes and monkeys1 and to the
 chapter with which the volumes on      
quadrupeds are brought to a             
conclusion--a chapter for which perhaps 
the most important position in the whole
 work is thus assigned4 ,it is very     
long1 and is headed ,on ,descent with   
,modification 7,de la ,degeneration des 
,animaux74 ,this is the chapter in which
 ,buffon enters more fully into the     
causes or means of the transformation of
 species4  ,at the opening of the       
chapter on the nomenclature of monkeys1 
the theory is broached that there is a  
certain fixed amount of life-substance  
as of matter in nature2 and that neither
 can be either augmented or diminished4 

,buffon maintains this organic and      
living substance to be as real and      
durable as inanimate matter2 as         
permanent in its state of life as the   
other in that of death2 it is spread    
over the whole of nature1 and passes    
from vegetables to animals by way of    
nutrition1 and from animals back to     
vegetables through putrefaction1 thus   
circulating incessantly to the animation
 of all that lives4  ,as might be       
expected1 ,buffon is loud in his protest
 against any real similarity between man
 and the apes--man has had the spirit of
 the ,deity breathed into his nostrils1 
and the lowest creature with this is    
higher than the highest without it4     
,having settled this point1 he makes it 
his business to show how little         
difference in other respects there is   
between the apes and man4  ,one who     
could view1 he writes1 ,nature in her   
entirety1 from first to last1 and then  
reflect upon the manner in which these  
two substances--the living and the      

inanimate--act and react upon one       
another1 would see that every living    
being is a mould which casts into its   
own shape those substances upon which it
 feeds2 that it is this assimilation    
which constitutes the growth of the     
body1 whose development is not simply an
 augmentation of volume1 but an         
extension in all its dimensions1 a      
penetration of new matter into all parts
 of its mass3 he would see that these   
parts augment proportionately with the  
whole1 and the whole proportionately    
with these parts1 while general         
configuration remains the same until the
 full development is accomplished4444   
,he would see that man1 the quadruped1  
the cetacean1 the bird1 reptile1 insect1
 tree1 plant1 herb1 all are nourished1  
grow1 and reproduce themselves on this  
same system1 and that though their      
manner of feeding and of reproducing    
themselves may appear so different1 this
 is only because the general and common 
cause upon which these operations depend

 can only operate in the individual     
agreeably with the form of each species4
 ,travelling onward 7for it has taken   
the human mind ages to arrive at these  
great truths1 from which all others are 
derived71 he would compare living forms1
 give them names to distinguish them1   
and other names to connect them with    
each other4 ,taking his own body as the 
model with which all living forms should
 be compared1 and having measured them1 
explained them thoroughly1 and compared 
them in all their parts1 he would see   
that there is but small difference      
between the forms of living beings2 that
 by dissecting the ape he could arrive  
at the anatomy of man1 and that taking  
some other animal we find always the    
same ultimate plan of organization1 the 
same senses1 the same viscera1 the same 
bones1 the same flesh1 the same         
movements of the fluids1 the same play  
and action of the solids2 he would find 
all of them with a heart1 veins1        
arteries1 in all the same organs of     

circulation1 respiration1 digestion1    
nutrition1 secretion2 in all of them a  
solid frame1 composed of pieces put     
together in nearly the same manner2 and 
he would find this system always the    
same1 from man to the ape1 from the ape 
to the quadrupeds1 from the quadrupeds  
to the cetacea1 birds1 fishes1 reptiles2
 this system or plan then1 ,i say1 if   
firmly laid hold of and comprehended by 
the human mind1 is a true copy of       
nature2 it is the simplest and most     
general point of view from which we can 
consider her1 and if we extend our view1
 and go on from what lives to what      
vegetates1 we may see this plan--which  
originally did but vary almost          
imperceptibly--change its scope and     
descend gradually from reptiles to      
insects1 from insects to worms1 from    
worms to zoophytes1 from zoophytes to   
plants1 and yet keeping ever the same   
fundamental unity in spite of           
differences of detail1 insomuch that    
nutrition1 development1 and reproduction

 remain the common traits of all organic
 bodies2 traits eternally essential and 
divinely implanted2 which time1 far from
 effacing or destroying1 does but make  
plainer and plainer continually4  ,this 
is the writer who can see nothing in    
common between the horse and the zebra  
except that each has a solid hoof4#aad  
,he continues3--  ,if from this grand   
tableau of resemblances1 in which the   
living universe presents itself to our  
eyes as though it were a single family1 
we pass to a tableau rather of the      
differences between living forms1 we    
shall see that1 with the exception of   
some of the greater species1 such as the
 elephant1 rhinoceros1 hippopotamus1    
tiger1 lion1 which must each have their 
separate place1 the other races seem all
 to blend with neighbouring forms1 and  
to fall into groups of likenesses1      
greater or lesser1 and of genera which  
our nomenclators represent to us by a   
network of shapes1 of which some are    
held together by the feet1 others by the

 teeth1 horns1 and skin1 and others by  
points of still minor importance4 ,and  
even those whose form strikes us as most
 perfect1 as approaching most nearly to 
our own--even the apes--require some    
attention before they can be            
distinguished from one another1 for the 
privilege of being an isolated species  
has been assigned less to form than to  
size2 and man himself1 though of a      
separate species and differing          
infinitely from all or any others1 has  
but a medium size1 and is less isolated 
and has nearer neighbours than have the 
greater animals4 ,if we study the       
,orang-outang with regard only to his   
configuration1 we might regard him1 with
 equal justice1 as either the highest of
 the apes or as the lowest of mankind1  
because1 with the exception of the soul1
 he wants nothing of what we have       
ourselves1 and because1 as regards his  
body1 he differs less from man than he  
does from other animals which are still 
called apes4#aae  ,the want of a soul   

,buffon maintains to be the only        
essential difference between the        
,orang-outang and man--his body1 limbs1 
senses1 brain and tongue are the same as
 ours4 ,he can execute whatever         
movements man can execute2 yet he can   
neither think nor speak1 nor do any     
action of a distinctly human character4 
,is this merely through want of         
training8 or may it not be through wrong
 comparison on our own parts8 ,we       
compare the wild ape in the woods to the
 civilized citizen of our great towns4  
,no wonder the ape shows to             
disadvantage4 ,he should be compared    
with the hideous ,hottentot rather1 who 
is himself almost as much above the     
lowest man1 as the lowest man is above  
the ,orang-outang4#aaf  ,the passage is 
a much stronger one than ,i have thought
 it fit to quote4 ,the reader can refer 
to it for himself4 ,after reading it ,i 
entertain no further doubt that ,buffon 
intended to convey the impression that  
men and apes are descended from common  

ancestors4 ,he was not1 however1 going  
to avow this conclusion openly4  ,i     
admit1 he continues1 that if we go by   
mere structure the ape might be taken   
for a variety of the human race2 the    
,creator did not choose to model mankind
 upon an entirely distinct system from  
the other animals3 ,he comprised their  
form and man's under a plan which is in 
the main uniform4#aag ,buffon then      
dwells upon the possession of a soul by 
man2 even the lowest creature1 he avers1
 which had this1 would have become man's
 rival4  ,the ape then is purely an     
animal1 far from being a variety of our 
own species1 he does not even come first
 in the order of animals1 since he is   
not the most intelligent3 the high      
opinion which men have of the           
intelligence of apes is a prejudice     
based only upon the resemblance between 
their outward appearance and our        
own4#aah ,but the undiscerning were not 
only to be kept quiet1 they were to be  
made happy4 ,with this end1 if ,i am not

 much mistaken1 ,buffon brings his      
chapter on the nomenclature of apes to  
the following conclusion3--  ,the ape1  
which the philosopher and the uneducated
 have alike regarded as difficult to    
define1 and as being at best equivocal1 
and midway between man and the lower    
animals1 proves in fact to be an animal 
and nothing more2 he is masked          
externally in the shape of man1 but     
internally he is found incapable of     
thought1 and of all that constitutes    
man2 apes are below several of the other
 animals in respect of qualities        
corresponding to their own1 and differ  
essentially from man1 in nature1        
temperament1 the time which must be     
spent upon their gestation and          
education1 in their period of growth1   
duration of life1 and in fact in all    
those profounder habits which constitute
 what is called the 'nature' of any     
individual existence4#aai ,this is      
handsome1 and leaves the more timorous  
reader in full possession of the field4 

,buffon is accordingly at liberty in the
 following chapter to bring together    
every fact he can lay his hands on which
 may point the resemblance between man  
and the ,orang-outang most strongly2 but
 he is careful to use inverted commas   
here much more freely than is his wont4 
,having thus made out a strong case for 
the near affinity between man and the   
,orang-outang1 and having thrown the    
responsibility on the original authors  
of the passages he quotes1 he excuses   
himself for having quoted them on the   
ground that everything may seem         
important in the history of a brute     
which resembles man so nearly1 and then 
insists upon the points of difference   
between the ,orang-outang and ourselves4
 ,they do not1 however1 in ,buffon's    
hands come to much1 until the end of the
 chapter1 when1 after a resume dwelling 
on the points of resemblance1 the       
differences are again emphatically      
declared to have the best of it4  ,i    
need not follow ,buffon through his     

description of the remaining monkeys4   
,it comprises #bej pp41 and is confined 
to details with which we have no        
concern2 but the last chapter--,de la   
,degeneration des ,animaux--deserves    
much fuller quotation than my space will
 allow me to make from it4 ,the chapter 
is very long1 comprising1 as ,i have    
said1 over sixty quarto pages4 ,it is   
impossible1 therefore1 for me to give   
more than an outline of its contents4   
,causes or ,means of the ,transformation
 of ,species4  ,the human race is       
declared to be the one most capable of  
modification1 all its different         
varieties being descended from a common 
stock1 and owing their more superficial 
differences to changes of climate1 while
 their profounder ones1 such as woolly  
hair1 flat noses1 and thick lips1 are   
due to differences of diet1 which again 
will vary with the nature of the country
 inhabited by any race4 ,changes will be
 exceedingly gradual2 it will take      
centuries of unbroken habit to bring    

about modifications which can be        
transmitted with certainty so as to     
eventuate in national                   
characteristics4#abj ,it is a pleasure  
to find that here1 too1 habit is        
assigned as the main cause which        
underlies heredity4  ,modification will 
be much prompter with animals4 ,when    
compelled to abandon their native land1 
they undergo such rapid and profound    
modification1 that at first sight they  
can hardly be recognized as the same    
race1 and cannot be detected in their   
disguise till after the most careful    
inspection1 and on grounds of analogy   
only4 ,domestication will produce still 
more surprising results2 the stigmata of
 their captivity1 the marks of their    
chains1 can be seen upon all those      
animals which man has enslaved2 the     
older and more confirmed the servitude1 
the deeper will be its scars1 until at  
length it will be found impossible to   
rehabilitate the creature and restore to
 it its lost attributes4  ,temperature  

of climate1 quality of food1 and the    
ills of slavery--here are the three main
 causes of the alteration and           
degeneration of animals4 ,the           
consequences of each of these should be 
particularly considered1 so that by     
examining ,nature as she is to-day we   
may thus perceive what she was in her   
original condition4#aba  ,i have more   
than once admitted that there is a wide 
difference between this opinion1 which  
assigns modification to the direct      
influence of climate1 food1 and other   
changed conditions of life1 and that of 
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 which assigns    
only an indirect effect to these1 while 
the direct effect is given to changed   
actions in consequence of changed       
desires2 but it is surprising how nearly
 ,buffon has approached the later and   
truer theory1 which may perhaps have    
been suggested to ,dr4 ,darwin by the   
following pregnant passage--as pregnant1
 probably1 to ,buffon himself as to     
another3--  ,the camel is the animal    

which seems to me to have felt the      
weight of slavery most profoundly4 ,he  
is born with wens upon his back and     
callosities upon his knees and chest2   
these callosities are the unmistakable  
results of rubbing1 for they are full of
 pus and of corrupted blood4 ,the camel 
never walks without carrying a heavy    
burden1 and the pressure of this has    
hindered1 for generations1 the free     
extension and uniform growth of the     
muscular parts of the back2 whenever he 
reposes or sleeps his driver compels him
 to do so upon his folded legs1 so that 
little by little this position becomes  
habitual with him4 ,all the weight of   
his body bears1 during several hours of 
the day continuously1 upon his chest and
 knees1 so that the skin of these parts1
 pressed and rubbed against the earth1  
loses its hair1 becomes bruised1        
hardened1 and disorganized4  ,the llama1
 which like the camel passes its life   
beneath burdens1 and also reposes only  
by resting its weight upon its chest1   

has similar callosities1 which again are
 perpetuated in successive generations4 
,baboons1 and pouched monkeys1 whose    
ordinary position is a sitting one1     
whether waking or sleeping1 have        
callosities under the region of the     
haunches1 and this hard skin has even   
become inseparable from the bone against
 which it is being continually pressed  
by the weight of the body2 in the case1 
however1 of these animals the           
callosities are dry and healthy1 for    
they do not come from the constraint of 
trammels1 nor from the burden of a      
foreign weight1 but are the effects only
 of the natural habits of the animal1   
which cause it to continue longer seated
 than in any other position4 ,there are 
callosities of these pouched monkeys    
which resemble the double sole of skin  
which we have ourselves under our feet2 
this sole is a natural hardness which   
our continued habit of walking or       
standing upright will make thicker or   
thinner according to the greater or less

 degree of friction to which we subject 
our feet4#abb  ,this involves the whole 
theory of ,dr4 ,darwin4  ,wild animals  
would not change either their food or   
climate if left to themselves1 and in   
this case they would not vary1 but      
either man or some other enemies have   
harassed most of them into migrations2  
those whose nature was sufficiently     
flexible to lend itself to the new      
situation spread far and wide1 while    
others have had no resource but the     
deserts in the neighbourhood of their   
own countries4#abc  ,since food and     
climate1 and still less man's empire    
over them1 can have but little effect   
upon wild animals1 ,buffon refers their 
principal varieties in great measure to 
their sexual habits1 variations being   
much less frequent among animals that   
pair and breed slowly1 than among those 
which do not mate and breed more freely4
 ,after running rapidly over several    
animals1 and discussing the flexibility 
or inflexibility of their organizations1

 he declares the elephant to be the only
 one on which a state of domestication  
has produced no effect1 inasmuch as it  
refuses to breed under confinement1 and 
cannot therefore transmit the badges of 
its servitude to its descendants4#abd   
,here is an example of ,buffon's covert 
manner1 in the way he maintains that    
descent with modification may account   
not only for specific but for generic   
differences4  ,but after having taken a 
rapid survey of the varieties which     
indicate to us the alterations that each
 species has undergone1 there arises a  
broader and more important question1 how
 far1 namely1 species themselves can    
change--how far there has been an older 
degeneration1 immemorial from all       
antiquity1 which has taken place in     
every family1 or1 if the term is        
preferred1 in all the genera under which
 those species are comprehended which   
neighbour one another without presenting
 points of any very profound            
dissimilarity8 ,we have only a few      

isolated species1 such as man1 which    
form at once the species and the whole  
genus2 the elephant1 the rhinoceros1 the
 hippopotamus1 and the giraffe form     
genera1 or simple species1 which go down
 in a single line1 with no collateral   
branches4 ,all other races appear to    
form families1 in which we may perceive 
a common source or stock from which the 
different branches seem to have sprung  
in greater or less numbers according as 
the individuals of each species are     
smaller and more fecund4#abe  ,i can see
 no explanation of the introduction of  
this passage unless that it is intended 
to raise the question whether           
modification may be not only specific   
but generic1 the point of the paragraph 
lying in the words dans chaque famille1 
ou si l'on veut1 dans chacun des genres4
 ,we are told in the next paragraph1    
that if we choose to look at the matter 
in this light1 well--in that case--we   
ought to see not only the ass and the   
horse1 but the zebra too1 as members of 

the same family2 the number of their    
points of resemblance being infinitely  
greater than those in respect of which  
they differ4#abf ,thus1 at the close of 
his work on the quadrupeds1 he thinks it
 well1 as at the commencement seventeen 
years earlier1 to emphasize--in his own 
quiet way--his perception that the      
principles on which he has been         
insisting should be carried much farther
 than he has chosen to carry them4  ,his
 conclusion is1 that after comparing all
 the animals and bringing them each     
under their proper genus1 we shall find 
the two hundred species we have already 
described to be reducible into a        
sufficiently small number of families or
 main stocks from which it is not       
impossible that all the others may be   
derived4#abg  ,the chapter closes       
thus3--  ,to account for the origin of  
these animals 7certain of those peculiar
 to ,america71 we must go back to the   
time when the two continents were not   
yet separated1 and call to mind the     

earliest geological changes4 ,at the    
same time1 we must consider the two     
hundred existing species of quadrupeds  
as reduced to thirty-eight families4    
,and though this is not at all the state
 of ,nature as she is in our time1 and  
as she has been represented in this     
volume1 and though1 in fact1 it is a    
condition which we can only arrive at by
 induction1 and by analogies almost as  
difficult to lay hold of as is the time 
which has effaced the greater number of 
their traces1 ,i shall1 nevertheless1   
endeavour to ascend to these first ages 
of ,nature by the aid of facts and      
monuments which yet remain to us1 and to
 represent the epochs which these facts 
seem to indicate4#abh  ,the fifteenth   
volume contains a description of a few  
more monkeys1 as also of some animals   
which ,buffon had never actually seen1 a
 great part being devoted to indices4   
,supplement4  ,the first four volumes of
 the ,supplement to ,buffon's ',natural 
,history1' #aggd-aghi1 contain little   

which throws additional light upon his  
opinions concerning the mutability of   
species4 ,at the beginning1 however1 of 
the fifth volume ,i find the            
following3--  ,on comparing these       
ancient records of the first ages of    
life fossils with the productions of    
to-day1 we see with sufficient clearness
 that the essential form has been       
preserved without alteration in its     
principal parts3 there has been no      
change whatever in the general type of  
each species2 the plan of the inner     
parts has been preserved without        
variation4 ,however long a time we may  
imagine for the succession of ages1     
whatever number of generations we may   
suppose1 the individuals of to-day      
present to us in each genus the same    
forms as they did in the earliest ages2 
and this is more especially true of the 
greater species1 whose characters are   
more invariable and nature more fixed2  
for the inferior species have1 as we    
have said1 experienced in a perceptible 

manner all the effects of different     
causes of degeneration4 ,only it should 
be remarked in regard to these greater  
species1 such as the elephant and       
hippopotamus1 that in comparing their   
fossil remains with the existing forms  
we find the earlier ones to have been   
larger4 ,nature was then in the full    
vigour of her youth1 and the interior   
heat of the earth gave to her           
productions all the force and all the   
extent of which they were capable 444 if
 there have been lost species1 that is  
to say animals which existed once1 but  
no longer do so1 these can only have    
been animals which required a heat      
greater than that of our present torrid 
zone4#abi  ,the context proves ,buffon  
to have been thinking of such huge      
creatures as the megatherium and        
mastodon1 but his words seem to limit   
the extinction of species to the        
denizens of a hot climate which had     
turned colder4 ,it is not at all likely 
that ,buffon meant this1 as the passage 

quoted at p4 #adf of this work will     
suffice to show4 ,the whole paragraph is
 ironical4  ,i can see nothing to       
justify the conclusion drawn from this  
passage by ,isidore ,geoffroy1 that     
,buffon had modified his opinions1 and  
was inclined to believe in a more       
limited mutability than he had done a   
few years earlier4 ,his exoteric        
position is still identical with what it
 was in the outset1 and his esoteric may
 be seen from the spirit which is hardly
 concealed under the following3--  ,i   
shall be told that analogy points       
towards the belief that our own race has
 followed the same path1 and dates from 
the same period as other species2 that  
it has spread itself even more widely   
than they2 and that if man's creation   
has a later date than that of the other 
animals1 nothing shows that he has not  
been subjected to the same laws of      
nature1 the same alterations1 and the   
same changes as they4 ,we will grant    
that the human species does not differ  

essentially from others in the matter of
 bodily organs1 and that1 in respect of 
these1 our lot has been much the same as
 that of other animals4#acj   ,plants   
under ,domestication4  ,if more modern  
and even recent examples are required in
 order to prove man's power over the    
vegetable kingdom1 it is only necessary 
to compare our vegetables1 flowers1 and 
fruits with the same species such as    
they were a hundred and fifty years ago2
 this can be done with much ease and    
certainty by running the eye over the   
great collection of coloured drawings   
begun in the time of ,gaston of         
,orleans1 and continued to the present  
day at the ,jardin du ,roi4 ,we find    
with surprise that the finest flowers of
 that date1 as the ranunculuses1 pinks1 
tulips1 bear's ears1 c41 would be       
rejected now1 ,i do not say by our      
florists1 but by our village gardeners4 
,these flowers1 though then already     
cultivated1 were still not far above    
their wild condition4 ,they had a single

 row of petals only1 long pistils1      
colours hard and false2 they had little 
velvety texture1 variety1 or gradation  
of tints1 and1 in fact1 presented all   
the characteristics of untamed nature4  
,of herbs there was a single kind of    
endive1 and two of lettuce--both        
bad--while we can now reckon more than  
fifty lettuces and endives1 all         
excellent4 ,we can even name the very   
recent dates of our best pippins and    
kernel fruits--all of them differing    
from those of our forefathers1 which    
they resemble in name only4 ,in most    
cases things remain while names change2 
here1 on the contrary1 it is the names  
that have been constant while the things
 have varied4#aca       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,it
 is not that every one of these good    
varieties did not arise from the same   
wild stock2 but how many attempts has   
not man made on ,nature before he       
succeeded in getting them4 ,how many    
millions of germs has he not committed  
to the earth1 before she has rewarded   

him by producing them8 ,it was only by  
sowing1 tending1 and bringing to        
maturity an almost infinite number of   
plants of the same kind that he was able
 to recognize some individuals with     
fruits sweeter and better than others2  
and this first discovery1 which itself  
involves so much care1 would have       
remained for ever fruitless if he had   
not made a second1 which required as    
much genius as the first required       
patience--,i mean the art of grafting   
those precious individuals1 which1      
unfortunately1 cannot continue a line as
 noble as their own1 nor themselves     
propagate their rare and admirable      
qualities8 ,and this alone proves that  
these qualities are purely individual1  
and not specific1 for the pips or stones
 of these excellent fruits bring forth  
the original wild stock1 so that they do
 not form species essentially different 
from this4 ,man1 however1 by means of   
grafting1 produces what may be called   
secondary species1 which he can         

propagate at will2 for the bud or small 
branch which he engrafts upon the stock 
contains within itself the individual   
quality which cannot be transmitted by  
seed1 but which needs only to be        
developed in order to bring forth the   
same fruits as the individual from which
 it was taken in order to be grafted on 
to the wild stock4 ,the wild stock      
imparts none of its bad qualities to the
 bud1 for it did not contribute to the  
forming thereof1 being1 as it were1 a   
wet nurse1 and no true mother4  ,in the 
case of animals1 the greater number of  
those features which appear individual1 
do not fail to be transmitted to        
offspring1 in the same way as specific  
characters4 ,it was easier then for man 
to produce an effect upon the natures of
 animals than of plants4 ,the different 
breeds in each animal species are       
variations that have become constant and
 hereditary1 while vegetable species on 
the other hand present no variations    
that can be depended on to be           

transmitted with certainty4  ,in the    
species of the fowl and the pigeon      
alone1 a large number of breeds have    
been formed quite recently1 which are   
all constant1 and in other species we   
daily improve breeds by crossing them4  
,from time to time we acclimatize and   
domesticate some foreign and wild       
species4 ,all these examples of modern  
times prove that man has but tardily    
discovered the extent of his own power1 
and that he is not even yet sufficiently
 aware of it4 ,it depends entirely upon 
the exercise of his intelligence2 the   
more1 therefore1 he observes and        
cultivates nature the more means he will
 find of making her subservient to him1 
and of drawing new riches from her bosom
 without diminishing the treasures of   
her inexhaustible fecundity4#acb        
,birds4  ,in the preface to his volumes 
upon birds1 ,buffon says that these are 
not only much more numerous than        
quadrupeds1 but that they also exhibit a
 far larger number of varieties1 and    

individual variations4  ,the            
diversities1 he declares1 which arise   
from the effects of climate and food1 of
 domestication1 captivity1              
transportation1 voluntary and compulsory
 migration--all the causes in fact of   
alteration and degeneration--unite to   
throw difficulties in the way of the    
ornithologist4#acc  ,he points out the  
infinitely keener vision of birds than  
that of man and quadrupeds1 and connects
 it with their habits and               
requirements4#acd ,he does not appear to
 consider it as caused by those         
requirements1 though it is quite        
conceivable that he saw this1 but       
thought he had already said enough4 ,he 
repeatedly refers to the effects of     
changed climate and of domestication1   
but ,i find nothing in the first volume 
which modifies the position already     
taken by him in regard to descent with  
modification3 it is needless1 therefore1
 to repeat the few passages which are to
 be found bearing at all upon the       

subject4 ,the chapter on the birds that 
cannot fly1 contains a sentence which   
seems to be the germ that has been      
developed1 in the hands of ,lamarck1    
into the comparison between nature and a
 tree4 ,buffon says that the chain of   
nature is not a single long chain1 but  
is comparable rather to something woven1
 which at certain intervals throws out a
 branch sideways that unites it with the
 strands of some other weft4#ace ,on the
 following page there is a passage which
 has been quoted as an example of       
,buffon's contempt for the men of       
science of his time4 ,the writer        
maintains that the most lucid           
arrangement of birds1 would have been to
 begin with those which most resembled  
quadrupeds4 ,the ostrich1 which         
approaches the camel in the shape of its
 legs1 and the porcupine in the quills  
with which its wings are armed1 should  
have immediately followed the           
quadrupeds1 but philosophy is often     
obliged to make a show of yielding to   

popular opinions1 and the tribe of      
naturalists is both numerous and        
impatient of any disturbance of its     
methods4 ,it would only1 then1 have     
regarded this arrangement as an         
unreasonable innovation caused by a     
desire to contradict and to be          
singular4#acf  ,it is1 ,i believe1 held 
not only by le peuple des naturalistes1 
but by most sensible persons1 that the  
proposed arrangement would not have been
 an improvement4 ,i find1 however1 in   
the preface to the third volume on birds
 that ,m4 ,gueneau de ,montbeillard     
described all the birds from the ostrich
 to the quail1 so the foregoing passage 
is perhaps his and not ,buffon's4 ,if   
so1 the imitation is fair1 but when we  
reflect upon it we feel uncertain       
whether it is or is not beneath         
,buffon's dignity4  ,here1 as often with
 pictures and music1 we cannot criticise
 justly without taking more into        
consideration than is actually before   
us4 ,we feel almost inclined to say that

 if the passage is by ,buffon it is     
probably right1 and if by ,m4 ,gueneau  
de ,montbeillard1 probably wrong4 ,it   
must also be remembered that1 as we     
learn from the preface already referred 
to1 ,buffon was seized at this point in 
his work with a long and painful        
illness1 which continued for two years2 
a single hasty passage in so great a    
writer may well be pardoned under such  
circumstances4  ,looking through the    
third and remaining volumes on birds1   
the greater part of which was by        
,gueneau de ,montbeillard1 and bearing  
in mind that in point of date they are  
synchronous with some of those upon     
quadrupeds from which ,i have already   
extracted as much as my space will      
allow1 and not seeing anything on a     
rapid survey which promises to throw new
 light upon the author's opinions1 ,i   
forbear to quote further4 ,i therefore  
leave ,buffon with the hope that ,i have
 seen him more justly than some others  
have done1 but with the certainty that  

the points ,i have caught and understood
 are few in comparison with those that  
,i have missed4  ,,footnotes3  #fe      
',hist4 ,nat41' tom4 i4 p4 #ac1 #agdi4  
#ff ,ibid4  #fg ,ibid4 p4 #af4  #fh     
,tom4 i4 p4 #ba4  #fi ,ibid4 p4 #bc4    
#gj ,tom4 ii4 p4 #i1 #agdi4  #ga ,ibid4 
p4 #aj4  #gb ,tom4 iv4 p4 #ca1 #agec4   
#gc ,tom4 iv4 p4 #ee4  #gd ,tom4 iv4 p4 
#ih1 #agec4  #ge ,ibid4  #gf ,tom4 viii4
 p4 #bhc1 c41 #agfj4  #gg ,tom4 iv4 p4  
#ajb1 #agfj4  #gh ,tom4 iv4 p4 #ajc1    
#agec4  #gi ,dr4 ,darwin1 ',zoonomia1'  
vol4 i4 p4 #ahc1 #agif4  #hj ,ibid4 p4  
#ahd4  #ha ,dr4 ,darwin1',zoonomia1'    
vol4 i4 p4 #ahf4  #hb ,tom4 v4 p4 #fc1  
#agee4  #hc ,ibid4 p4 #fd4  #hd ,tom4 v4
 p4 #ajc1 #agee4  #he ,tom4 v4 p4 #ajd1 
#agee4  #hf ,tom4 v4 pp4 #aib-aie1      
#agee4  #hg ,tom4 v4 p4 #aie4  #hh ,tom4
 v4 pp4 #aif1 #aig4  #hi ,this passage  
would seem to be the one which has      
suggested the following to the author of
 ',the ,vestiges of ,creation'3--  ,he  
the ,deity has endowed the families     

which enjoy ,his bounty with an almost  
infinite fecundity1 444 but the         
limitation of the results of this       
fecundity 444 is accomplished in a      
befitting manner by ,his ordaining that 
certain other animals shall have        
endowments sure so to act as to bring   
the rest of animated beings to a proper 
balance 7p4 #cag1 ed4 #ahec74  #ij ,tom4
 vi4 p4 #beb1 #agef4  #ia ',discours sur
 la ,nature des ,animaux1' vol4 iv4 and 
p4 #aac of this vol4  #ib ,tom4 vii4 p4 
#i1 #ageh4  #ic ,tom4 vii4 p4 #aj1      
#ageh4  #id ,tom4 vii4 p4 #ab1 #ageh4   
#ie ,tom4 vii4 p4 #ad1 #ageh  #if ,tom4 
vii4 p4 #ae1 #ageh4  #ig ,tom4 vii4 p4  
#ai1 #ageh4  #ih ,tom4 vii4 p4 #bc1     
#ageh4 ,see ,stenon's ,discourse upon   
this subject4  #ii ,tom4 ix4 p4 #aj1    
#agfa4  #ajj ,tom4 ix4 p4 #aa1 #agfa4   
#aja ,tom4 ix4 p4 #fh1 #agfa4  #ajb     
,ibid4 p4 #if1 #agfa4  #ajc ,tom4 ix4 p4
 #ajg and following pages 7during which 
he rails at the new world generally71   
#agfa4  #ajd ,tom4 ix4 p4 #abg1 #agfa4  

#aje ,tom4 xi4 p4 #bij1 #agfd           
7misprinted on title-page #aged74  #ajf 
,ibid4 p4 #bif4  #ajg ,ibid4 p4 #cfc4   
#ajh ,ibid4 p4 #cfc4  #aji ,tom4 xi4 p4 
#cgj1 #agfd4  #aaj ,ibid4 xii41 preface1
 iv4 #agfd4  #aaa ,tom4 xiii41 preface1 
x4 #agfe4  #aab ,tom4 xiii41 preface1   
iv4 #agfe4  #aac ,ibid4 xiii4 p4 #cg4   
#aad ,see p4 #hj of this volume4  #aae  
,tom4 xiv4 p4 #cj1 #agff4  #aaf ,tom4   
xiv4 p4 #ca1 #agff4  #aag ,ibid4 p4 #cb1
 #agff4  #aah ,tom4 xiv4 p4 #ch1 #agff4 
#aai ,ibid4 p4 #db1 #agff4  #abj ,tom4  
xiv4 p4 #caf1 #agff4  #aba ,ibid4 p4    
#cag4  #abb ,tom4 xiv4 p4 #cbf1 #agff4  
#abc ,ibid4 p4 #cbg4  #abd ,tom4 xiv4 p4
 #ccc4  #abe ,ibid4 p4 #cce1 #agff4     
#abf ,see p4 #hj of this volume4  #abg  
,tom4 xiv4 p4 #ceh1 #agff4  #abh ,tom4  
xiv4 p4 #cgd1 #agff4  #abi ',hist4      
,nat41' ,sup4 tom4 v4 p4 #bg1 #aggh4    
#acj ,sup4 tom4 v4 p4 #ahg1 #aggh4  #aca
 ,sup4 tom4 v4 p4 #bej1 #aggh4  #acb    
,sup4 tom4 v4 p4 #bec1 #aggh4  #acc     
',oiseaux1' tom4 i41 preface1 v4 #aggj4 

#acd ,ibid4 pp4 #i-aa4  #ace ',oiseaux1'
 tom4 i4 pp4 #cid1 #cie4  #acf ,ibid4 p4
 #cif1 #agga4     ,,chapter ,,xii4      
,,sketch ,,of ,,dr4 ,,erasmus           
,,darwin',s ,,life4   ,proceeding now to
 the second of the three founders of the
 theory of evolution1 ,i find1 from a   
memoir by ,dr4 ,dowson1 that ,dr4       
,erasmus ,darwin was born at ,elston1   
near ,newark1 in ,nottinghamshire1 on   
the #abth of ,december1 #agca1 being the
 seventh child and fourth son of ,robert
 ,darwin1 a private gentleman1 who had a
 taste for literature and science1 which
 he endeavoured to impart to his sons4  
,erasmus received his early education at
 ,chesterfield ,school1 and later on was
 entered at ,st4 ,john's ,college1      
,cambridge1 where he obtained a         
scholarship of about #afl4 a year1 and  
distinguished himself by his poetical   
exercises1 which he composed with       
uncommon facility4 ,he took the degree  
of ,m4,b4 there in #agee1 and afterwards
 prepared himself for the practice of   

medicine by attendance on the lectures  
of ,dr4 ,hunter in ,london1 and a course
 of studies in ,edinburgh4  ,he first   
settled as a physician at ,nottingham2  
but meeting with no success there1 he   
removed in the autumn of #agef1 his     
twenty-fifth year1 to ,lichfield1 where 
he was more fortunate2 for a few weeks  
after his arrival1 to use the words of  
,miss ,seward1 'he brilliantly opened   
his career of fame4' ,a young gentleman 
of family and fortune lay sick of a     
dangerous fever4 ,a physician who had   
for many years possessed the confidence 
of ,lichfield and the neighbourhood     
attended1 but at length pronounced the  
case hopeless1 and took his leave4 ,dr4 
,darwin was then called in1 and by 'a   
reverse and entirely novel kind of      
treatment' the patient recovered4#acg   
,of ,dr4 ,darwin's personal appearance  
,miss ,seward says3--  ,he was somewhat 
above the middle size2 his form         
athletic1 and inclined to corpulence2   
his limbs were too heavy for exact      

proportion2 the traces of a severe      
smallpox disfigured features and a      
countenance which1 when they were not   
animated by social pleasure1 were rather
 saturnine than sprightly2 a stoop in   
the shoulders1 and the then professional
 appendage--a large full-bottomed       
wig--gave at that early period of life  
an appearance of nearly twice the years 
he bore4 ,florid health and the earnest 
of good humour1 a funny smile on        
entering a room and on first accosting  
his friends1 rendered in his youth that 
exterior agreeable1 to which beauty and 
symmetry had not been propitious4  ,he  
stammered extremely1 but whatever he    
said1 whether gravely or in jest1 was   
always well worth waiting for1 though   
the inevitable impression it made might 
not be always pleasant to individual    
self-love4 ,conscious of great native   
elevation above the general standard of 
intellect1 he became early in life sore 
upon opposition1 whether in argument or 
conduct1 and always resented it by      

sarcasm of very keen edge4 ,nor was he  
less impatient of the sallies of egotism
 and vanity1 even when they were in so  
slight a degree that strict politeness  
would rather tolerate than ridicule     
them4 ,dr4 ,darwin seldom failed to     
present their caricature in jocose but  
wounding irony4 ,if these ingredients of
 colloquial despotism were discernible  
in unworn existence1 they increased as  
it advanced1 fed by an ever growing     
reputation within and without the pale  
of medicine4#ach  ,i imagine that this  
portrait is somewhat too harshly drawn4 
,dr4 ,darwin's taste for ,english wines 
is the worst trait which ,i have been   
able to discover in his character4 ,on  
this head ,miss ,seward tells us that he
 despised the prejudice which deems     
foreign wines more wholesome than the   
wines of the country4 ',if you must     
drink wine1' said he1 'let it be        
home-made4' ,it is well known1 she      
continues1 that ,dr4 ,darwin's influence
 and example have sobered the county of 

,derby2 that intemperance in fermented  
fluid of every species is almost unknown
 among its gentlemen1#aci which1 if he  
limited them to cowslip wine1 is hardly 
to be wondered at4  ,dr4 ,dowson1       
quoting ,miss ,edgeworth1 says that ,dr4
 ,darwin attributed almost all the      
diseases of the upper classes to the too
 great use of fermented liquors4 ,this  
opinion he supported in his writings    
with the force of his eloquence and     
reason2 and still more in conversation  
by all those powers of wit1 satire1 and 
peculiar humour1 which never appeared   
fully to the public in his works1 but   
which gained him strong ascendancy in   
private society4444 ,when he heard that 
my father was bilious1 he suspected that
 this must be the consequence of his    
having1 since his residence in ,ireland1
 and in compliance with the fashion of  
the country1 indulged too freely in     
drinking4 ,his letter1 ,i remember1     
concluded with1 ',farewell1 my dear     
friend2 ,god keep you from whisky--if   

,he can4'#adj  ,on the other hand1 ,dr4 
,darwin seems to have been a very large 
eater4 ,acid fruits with sugar1 and all 
sorts of creams and butter were his     
luxuries2 but he always ate plentifully 
of animal food4 ,this liberal alimentary
 regimen he prescribed to people of     
every age where unvitiated appetite     
rendered them capable of following it2  
even to infants4  ,dr4 ,dowson writes3--
  ,i have mentioned already that he had 
in his carriage a receptacle for paper  
and pencils1 with which he wrote as he  
travelled1 and in one corner a pile of  
books2 but he had also a receptacle for 
a knife1 fork1 and spoon1 and in the    
other corner a hamper1 containing fruit 
and sweetmeats1 cream and sugar4 ,he    
provided also for his horses by having a
 large pail lashed to his carriage for  
watering them1 as well as hay and oats  
to be eaten on the road4 ,mrs4          
,schimmelpenninck says that when he came
 on a professional visit to her father's
 house they had1 as was the custom      

whenever he came1 'a luncheon-table set 
out with hothouse fruits and ,west      
,india sweetmeats1 clotted cream1       
stilton cheese1 c4 ,while the           
conversation went on1 the dishes in his 
vicinity were rapidly emptied1 and      
what1' she adds1 'was my astonishment   
when1 at the end of the three hours     
during which the meal had lasted1 he    
expressed his joy at hearing the        
dressing bell1 and hoped dinner would   
soon be announced4' ,this was not mere  
gluttony2 he thought an abundance1 or   
what most people would consider a       
superabundance of food1 conducive to    
health4 ',eat or be eaten' is said to   
have been often his medical advice4 ,he 
had especially a very high opinion of   
the nutritive value of sugar1 and said  
'that if ever our improved chemistry    
should discover the art of making sugar 
from fossil or aerial matter without the
 assistance of vegetation1 food for     
animals would then become as plentiful  
as water1 and mankind might live upon   

the earth as thick as blades of grass1  
with no restraint to their numbers but  
want of room4'--,botanic ,garden1 vol4  
i4 p4 #dgj4ada  ,professional           
generosity1 says ,miss ,seward1         
distinguished ,dr4 ,darwin's practice4  
,whilst resident in ,lichfield he always
 cheerfully gave to the priest and lay  
vicars of its cathedral and their       
families his advice1 but never took fees
 from any of them4 ,diligently also did 
he attend the health of the poor in that
 city1 and afterwards at ,derby1 and    
supplied their necessities by food1 and 
all sort of charitable assistance4 ,in  
each of those towns his was the cheerful
 board of almost open-housed            
hospitality1 without extravagance or    
parade2 generosity1 wit1 and science    
were his household gods4#adb  ,of his   
first marriage the following account is 
given3--  ,in #ageg he married ,miss    
,howard1 of the ,close of ,lichfield1 a 
blooming and lovely young lady of       
eighteen4444 ,mrs4 ,darwin's own mind1  

by nature so well endowed1 strengthened 
and expanded in the friendship1         
conversation1 and confidence of so      
beloved a preceptor4 ,but alas6 upon her
 too early youth1 and too delicate      
constitution1 the frequency of her      
maternal situation1 during the first    
five years of her marriage1 had probably
 a baneful effect4 ,the potent skill and
 assiduous cares of him before whom     
disease daily vanished from the frame of
 others1 could not expel it radically   
from that of her he loved4 ,it was1     
however1 kept at bay during thirteen    
years4  ,upon the distinguished         
happiness of those years she spoke with 
fervour to two intimate female friends  
in the last week of her existence1 which
 closed at the latter end of the summer 
#aggj4 ',do not weep for my impending   
fate1' said the dying angel with a smile
 of unaffected cheerfulness4 ',in the   
short term of my life a great deal of   
happiness has been comprised4 ,the      
maladies of my frame were peculiar2     

those of my head and stomach which no   
medicine could eradicate1 were spasmodic
 and violent2 and required stronger     
measures to render them supportable     
while they lasted than my constitution  
could sustain without injury4 ,the      
periods of exemption from those pains   
were frequently of several days'        
duration1 and in my intermissions ,i    
felt no indications of malady4 ,pain    
taught me the value of ease1 and ,i     
enjoyed it with a glow of spirit1       
seldom1 perhaps1 felt by the habitually 
healthy4 ,while ,dr4 ,darwin combated   
and assuaged my disease from time to    
time1 his indulgence to all my wishes1  
his active desire to see me amused and  
happy1 proved incessant4 ,his house1 as 
you know1 has ever been the resort of   
people of science and merit4 ,if1 from  
my husband's great and extensive        
practice1 ,i had much less of his       
society than ,i wished1 yet the         
conversation of his friends1 and of my  
own1 was ever ready to enliven the hours

 of his absence4 ,as occasional malady  
made me doubly enjoy health1 so did     
those frequent absences give a zest even
 to delight1 when ,i could be indulged  
with his company4 ,my three boys have   
ever been docile and affectionate4      
,children as they are1 ,i could trust   
them with important secrets1 so sacred  
do they hold every promise they make4   
,they scorn deceit and falsehood of     
every kind1 and have less selfishness   
than generally belongs to childhood4    
,married to any other man1 ,i do not    
suppose ,i could have lived a third part
 of the years which ,i have passed with 
,dr4 ,darwin2 he has prolonged my days1 
and he has blessed them4'  ,thus died   
this superior woman1 in the bloom of    
life1 sincerely regretted by all who    
knew how to value her excellence1 and   
passionately regretted by the selected  
few whom she honoured with her personal 
and confidential friendship4#adc  ,i    
find ,miss ,seward's pages so           
fascinating1 that ,i am in danger of    

following her even in those parts of her
 work which have no bearing on ,dr4     
,darwin4 ,i must1 however1 pass over her
 account of ,mr4 ,edgeworth and of his  
friend ,mr4 ,day1 the author of         
',sandford and ,merton1' which1 by wise 
parents1 is put into every youthful     
hand1 but the description of ,mr4 ,day's
 portrait cannot be omitted4  ,in the   
course of the year #aggj1 ,mr4 ,day     
stood for a full-length picture to ,mr4 
,wright1 of ,derby4 ,a strong likeness  
and a dignified portrait were the       
result4 ,drawn in the open air1 the     
surrounding sky is tempestuous1 lurid1  
dark4 ,he stands leaning his left arm   
against a column inscribed to ,hambden  
7sic74 ,mr4 ,day looks upwards1 as      
enthusiastically meditating on the      
contents of a book held in his dropped  
right hand4 ,the open leaf is the       
oration of that virtuous patriot in the 
senate1 against the grant of ship money1
 demanded by ,king ,charles ,i4 ,a flash
 of lightning plays in ,mr4 ,day's hair1

 and illuminates the contents of the    
volume4 ,the poetic fancy and what were 
then the politics of the original1      
appear in the choice of subject and     
attitude4 ,dr4 ,darwin sat to ,mr4      
,wright about the same period4 ,that was
 a simply contemplative portrait1 of the
 most perfect resemblance4#add       4 4
 4 4 4 4  ,in the year #agfh1 ,dr4      
,darwin met with an accident of         
irretrievable injury to the human frame4
 ,his propensity to mechanics had       
unfortunately led him to construct a    
very singular carriage4 ,it was a       
platform with a seat fixed upon a very  
high pair of wheels1 and supported in   
the front upon the back of the horse1 by
 means of a kind of proboscis which1    
forming an arch1 reached over the       
hind-quarters of the horse1 and passed  
through a ring1 placed on an upright    
piece of iron1 which worked in a socket 
fixed in the saddle4 ,the horse could   
thus move from one side of the road to  
the other1 quartering1 as it is called1 

at the will of the driver1 whose        
constant attention was necessarily      
employed to regulate a piece of         
machinery contrived1 but not well       
contrived1 for that purpose4  ,i cannot 
help the reader to understand the       
foregoing description4 ,from this       
whimsical carriage1 however1 the doctor 
was several times thrown1 and the last  
time he used it had the misfortune1 from
 a similar accident1 to break the       
patella of his right knee1 which caused1
 as it must always cause1 an incurable  
weakness in the fractured part1 and a   
lameness not very discernible1 indeed1  
when walking on even ground4#ade  ,miss 
,seward presently tells a story which   
reads as though it might have been told 
by ,plutarch of some ,greek or ,roman   
sage4 ,much as we must approve of ,dr4  
,darwin's habitual sobriety1 we shall   
most of us be agreed that a few more    
such stories would have been cheaply    
purchased by a corresponding number of  
lapses on the doctor's part4  ,miss     

,seward writes3--  ,since these memoirs 
commenced1 an odd anecdote of ,dr4      
,darwin's early residence at ,lichfield1
 was narrated to a friend of the author 
by a gentleman1 who was of the party in 
which it happened4 ,mr4 ,sneyd1 then of 
,bishton1 and a few more gentlemen of   
,staffordshire1 prevailed upon the      
doctor to join them in an expedition by 
water from ,burton to ,nottingham1 and  
on to ,newark4 ,they had cold provisions
 on board1 and plenty of wine4 ,it was  
midsummer2 the day ardent and sultry4   
,the noon-tide meal had been made1 and  
the glass had gone gaily round4 ,it was 
one of those few instances in which the 
medical votary of the ,naiads           
transgressed his general and strict     
sobriety1 in which1 in fact1 he may be  
said to have--remembered himself4  ,if  
not absolutely intoxicated1 his spirits 
were in a high state of vinous          
exhilaration4 ,on the boat approaching  
,nottingham1 within the distance of a   
few fields1 he surprised his companions 

by stepping1 without any previous       
notice1 from the boat into the middle of
 the river1 and swimming to shore4 ,they
 saw him get upon the bank1 and walk    
coolly over the meadows towards the     
town3 they called to him in vain1 but he
 did not once turn his head4  ,anxious  
lest he should take a dangerous cold by 
remaining in his wet clothes1 and       
uncertain whether or not he intended to 
desert the party1 they rowed instantly  
to the town at which they had not       
designed to have touched1 and went in   
search of their river-god4  ,in passing 
through the market-place they saw him   
standing upon a tub1 encircled by a     
crowd of people1 and resisting the      
entreaties of an apothecary of the      
place1 one of his old acquaintances1 who
 was importuning him to his house1 and  
to accept other raiments till his own   
could be dried4  ,the party on pressing 
through the crowd were surprised to hear
 him speaking without any degree of his 
usual stammer3--',have ,i not told you1 

my friend1 that ,i had drank a          
considerable quantity of wine before ,i 
committed myself to the river4 ,you know
 my general sobriety1 and as a          
professional man you ought to know that 
the unusual existence of internal       
stimulus would1 in its effects upon the 
system1 counteract the external cold and
 moisture4'  ,then perceiving his       
companions near him1 he nodded1 smiled1 
and waived his hand1 as enjoining them  
silence1 thus1 without hesitation1      
addressing the populace3--  ',ye men of 
,nottingham1 listen to me4 ,you are     
ingenious and industrious mechanics4 ,by
 your industry life's comforts are      
procured for yourselves and families4   
,if you lose your health the power of   
being industrious will forsake you4     
,that you know1 but you may not know    
that to breathe fresh and changed air   
constantly1 is not less necessary to    
preserve health than sobriety itself4   
,air becomes unwholesome in a few hours 
if the windows are shut4 ,open those of 

your sleeping rooms whenever you quit   
them to go to your workshops4 ,keep the 
windows of your workshops open whenever 
the weather is not insupportably cold4  
,i have no interest in giving you this  
advice2 remember what ,i1 your          
countryman and a physician1 tell you4   
,if you would not bring infection and   
disease upon yourselves1 and to your    
wives and little ones1 change the air   
you breathe1 change it many times a day1
 by opening your windows4'  ,so saying1 
he stepped down from the tub1 and1      
returning with his party to their boat1 
they pursued their voyage4#adf  ,could  
any missionary be more perfectly sober  
and sensible1 or more alive to the      
immorality of trying to effect too      
sudden a modification in the organisms  
he was endeavouring to influence8 ,if   
the men of ,nottingham want a statue in 
their market-place1 ,i would            
respectfully suggest that a subject is  
here afforded them4       99     99     
99     99     99  ,dr4 ,johnson was     

several times at ,lichfield on visits to
 ,mrs4 ,lucy ,porter1 his               
daughter-in-law1 while ,dr4 ,darwin was 
one of the inhabitants4 ,they had one or
 two interviews1 but never afterwards   
sought each other4 ,mutual and strong   
dislike subsisted between them4 ,it is  
curious that in ,johnson's various      
letters to ,mrs4 ,thrale1 now ,mrs4     
,piozzi1 published by that lady after   
his death1 many of them dated from      
,lichfield1 the name of ,darwin cannot  
be found1 nor1 indeed1 that of any of   
the ingenious and lettered people who   
lived there2 while of its mere          
common-life characters there is frequent
 mention1 with many hints of            
,lichfield's intellectual barrenness1   
while it could boast a ,darwin and other
 men of classical learning1 poetic      
talents1 and liberal information4#adg   
,here there follows a pleasant sketch of
 the principal ,lichfield notabilities1 
which ,i am compelled to omit4  ,these  
were the men1 exclaims ,miss ,seward1   

whose intellectual existence passed     
unnoticed by ,dr4 ,johnson in his       
depreciating estimate of ,lichfield     
talents4 ,but ,johnson liked only       
worshippers4 ,archdeacon ,vyse1 ,mr4    
,seward1 and ,mr4 ,robinson paid all the
 respect and attention to ,dr4 ,johnson1
 on these his visits to their town1 due 
to his great abilities1 his high        
reputation1 and to whatever was         
estimable in his mixed character2 but   
they were not in the herd that 'paged   
his heels1' and sunk in servile silence 
under the force of his dogmas1 when     
their hearts and their judgments bore   
contrary testimony4  ,certainly1        
however1 it was an arduous hazard to the
 feelings of the company to oppose in   
the slightest degree ,dr4 ,johnson's    
opinions4 ,his stentor lungs2 that      
combination of wit1 humour1 and         
eloquence1 which 'could make the worse  
appear the better reason1' that         
sarcastic contempt of his antagonist1   
never suppressed or even softened by the

 due restraints of good breeding1 were  
sufficient to close the lips in his     
presence1 of men who could have met him 
in fair argument1 on any ground1        
literary or political1 moral or         
characteristic4  ,where ,dr4 ,johnson   
was1 ,dr4 ,darwin had no chance of being
 heard1 though at least his equal in    
genius1 his superior in science2 nor1   
indeed1 from his impeded utterance1 in  
the company of any overbearing          
declaimer2 and he was too intellectually
 great to be an humble listener to      
,johnson4 ,therefore he shunned him on  
having experienced what manner of man he
 was4 ,the surly dictator felt the      
mortification1 and revenged it by       
affecting to avow his disdain of powers 
too distinguished to be objects of      
genuine scorn4  ,dr4 ,darwin1 in his    
turn1 was not much more just to ,dr4    
,johnson's genius4 ,he uniformly spoke  
of him in terms which1 had they been    
deserved1 would have justified          
,churchill's 'immane ,pomposo' as an    

appellation of scorn2 since if his      
person was huge1 and his manners pompous
 and violent1 so were his talents vast  
and powerful1 in a degree from which    
only prejudice and resentment could     
withhold respect4  ,though ,dr4         
,darwin's hesitation in speaking        
precluded his flow of colloquial        
eloquence1 it did not impede1 or at all 
lessen1 the force of that conciser      
quality1 wit4 ,of satiric wit he        
possessed a very peculiar species4 ,it  
was neither the dead-doing broadside of 
,dr4 ,johnson's satire1 nor the aurora  
borealis of ,gray 444 whose arch yet coy
 and quiet fastidiousness of taste and  
feeling1 as recorded by ,mason1 glanced 
bright and cold through his             
conversation1 while it seemed difficult 
to define its nature2 and while its     
effects were rather perceived than felt1
 exciting surprise more than mirth1 and 
never awakening the pained sense of     
being the object of its ridicule4 ,that 
unique in humorous verse1 the ,long     

,story1 is a complete and beautiful     
specimen of ,gray's singular vein4      
,darwinian wit is not more easy to be   
defined2 instances will best convey an  
idea of its character to those who never
 conversed with its possessor4  ,dr4    
,darwin was conversing with a brother   
botanist concerning the plant kalmia1   
then a just imported stranger in our    
greenhouses and gardens4 ,a lady who was
 present1 concluding he had seen it1    
which in fact he had not1 asked the     
doctor what were the colours of the     
plant4 ,he replied1 ',madam1 the kalmia 
has precisely the colours of a seraph's 
wing4' ,so fancifully did he express his
 want of consciousness concerning the   
appearance of a flower1 whose name and  
rareness were all he knew of the matter4
  ,dr4 ,darwin had a large company at   
tea4 ,his servant announced a stranger1 
lady and gentleman4 ,the female was a   
conspicuous figure1 ruddy1 corpulent1   
and tall4 ,she held by the arm a little1
 meek-looking1 pale1 effeminate man1    

who1 from his close adherence to the    
side of the lady1 seemed to consider    
himself as under her protection4  ',dr4 
,darwin1 ,i seek you not as a physician1
 but as a ,belle ,esprit4 ,i make this  
husband of mine1' and she looked down   
with a side glance upon the animal1     
'treat me every summer with a tour      
through one of the ,british counties1 to
 explore whatever it contains worth the 
attention of ingenious people4 ,on      
arriving at the several inns in our     
route ,i always search out the man of   
the vicinity most distinguished for his 
genius and taste1 and introduce myself1 
that he may direct as the objects of our
 examination1 whatever is curious in    
nature1 art1 or science4 ,lichfield will
 be our headquarters during several     
days4 ,come1 doctor1 whither must we go2
 what must we investigate to-morrow1 and
 the next day1 and the next8 ,here are  
my tablets and pencil4'  ',you arrive1  
madam1 at a fortunate juncture4         
,to-morrow you will have an opportunity 

of surveying an annual exhibition       
perfectly worthy your attention4        
,to-morrow1 madam1 you will go to       
,tutbury bull-running4'  ,the satiric   
laugh with which he stammered out the   
last word more keenly pointed this sly1 
yet broad rebuke to the vanity and      
arrogance of her speech4 ,she had been  
up amongst the boughs1 and little       
expected they would break under her so  
suddenly1 and with so little mercy4 ,her
 large features swelled1 and her eyes   
flashed with anger--',i was recommended 
to a man of genius1 and ,i find him     
insolent and ill-bred4' ,then1 gathering
 up her meek and alarmed husband1 whom  
she had loosed when she first spoke1    
under the shadow of her broad arm and   
shoulder1 she strutted out of the room4 
,after the departure of this curious    
couple1 his guests told their host he   
had been very unmerciful4 ',i chose1'   
replied he1 'to avenge the cause of the 
little man1 whose nothingness was so    
ostentatiously displayed by his         

lady-wife4 ,her vanity has had a smart  
emetic4 ,if it abates the symptoms1 she 
will have reason to thank her physician 
who administered without hope of a      
fee4'#adh  ,in the spring of #aggh the  
children of ,colonel and ,mrs4 ,pole of 
,radburn1 in ,derbyshire1 had been      
injured by a dangerous quantity of the  
cicuta1 injudiciously administered to   
them in the hooping-cough by a physician
 of the neighbourhood4 ,mrs4 ,pole      
brought them to the house of ,dr4       
,darwin in ,lichfield1 remaining with   
them there a few weeks1 till by his art 
the poison was expelled from their      
constitutions and their health restored4
  ,mrs4 ,pole was then in the full bloom
 of her youth and beauty4 ,agreeable    
features2 the glow of health2 a fine    
form1 tall and graceful2 playful        
sprightliness of manner2 a benevolent   
heart1 and maternal affection1 in all   
its unwearied cares and touching        
tenderness1 contributed to inspire ,dr4 
,darwin's admiration1 and to secure his 

esteem4#adi  ,in the autumn of this year
 7#aggh7 ,mrs4 ,pole of ,radburn was    
taken ill2 her disorder a violent fever4
 ,dr4 ,darwin was called in1 and never  
perhaps since the death of ,mrs4        
,darwin1 prescribed with such deep      
anxiety4 ,not being requested to        
continue in the house during the ensuing
 night1 which he apprehended might prove
 critical1 he passed the remaining hours
 till day-dawn beneath a tree opposite  
her apartment1 watching the passing and 
repassing lights in the chamber4 ,during
 the period in which a life so          
passionately valued was in danger1 he   
paraphrased ,petrarch's celebrated      
sonnet1 narrating a dream whose prophecy
 was accomplished by the death of       
,laura4 ,it took place the night on     
which the vision arose amid his slumber4
 ,dr4 ,darwin extended the thought of   
that sonnet into the following elegy3-- 
,dread dream1 that1 hovering in the     
midnight air1       ,clasp'd with thy   
dusky wing my aching head1     ,while to

 imagination's startled ear             
,toll'd the slow bell1 for bright ,eliza
 dead4      ,stretched on her sable     
bier1 the grave beside1       ,a        
snow-white shroud her breathless bosom  
bound1     ,o'er her wan brow the mimic 
lace was tied1       ,and loves and     
virtues hung their garlands round4      
,from those cold lips did softest       
accents flow8       ,round that pale    
mouth did sweetest dimples play8     ,on
 this dull cheek the rose of beauty     
blow1       ,and those dim eyes diffuse 
celestial day8      ,did this cold hand1
 unasking ,want relieve1       ,or wake 
the lyre to every rapturous sound8      
,how sad for other's woe this breast    
would heave6       ,how light this heart
 for other's transport bound6           
,beats not the bell again8--,heavens1 do
 ,i wake8       ,why heave my sighs1 why
 gush my tears anew8     ,unreal forms  
my trembling doubts mistake1       ,and 
frantic sorrow fears the vision true4   
,dreams to ,eliza bend thy airy flight1 

,go1 tell my charmer all my tender      
fears1     ,how love's fond woes alarm  
the silent night1       ,and steep my   
pillow in unpitied tears4  ,unwilling as
 ,i am to extend this memoir1 ,i must   
give ,miss ,seward's criticism on the   
foregoing4  ,the second verse of this   
charming elegy affords an instance of   
,dr4 ,darwin's too exclusive devotion to
 distinct picture in poetry2 that it    
sometimes betrayed him into bringing    
objects so precisely to the eye as to   
lose in such precision their power of   
striking forcibly on the heart4 ,the    
pathos in the second verse is much      
injured by the words 'mimic lace1' which
 allude to the perforated borders on the
 shroud4 ,the expression is too minute  
for the solemnity of the subject4       
,certainly it cannot be natural for a   
shocked and agitated mind to observe1 or
 to describe with such petty accuracy4  
,besides1 the allusion is not           
sufficiently obvious4 ,the reader pauses
 to consider what the poet means by     

'mimic lace4' ,such pauses deaden       
sensation and break the course of       
attention4 ,a friend of the doctor's    
pleaded greatly that the line might run 
thus3--      ,on her wan brow the       
shadowy crape was tied2  but the        
alteration was rejected4 ,inattention to
 the rules of grammar in the first verse
 was also pointed out to him at the same
 time4 ,the dream is addressed3         
,dread dream1 that clasped my aching    
head1  but nothing is said to it1 and   
therefore the sense is left unfinished1 
while the elegy proceeds to give a      
picture of the lifeless beauty4 ,the    
same friend suggested a change which    
would have remedied the defect4 ,thus3--
      ,dread was the dream that in the  
midnight air       ,clasped with its    
dusky wing my aching head1     ,while to
 c41 c4  ,hence not only the grammatic  
error would have been done away1 but the
 grating sound produced by the near     
alliteration of the harsh dr in 'dread  
dream' removed1 by placing those words  

at a greater distance from each other4  
,this alteration was1 for the same      
reason1 rejected4 ,the doctor would not 
spare the word hovering1 which he said  
strengthened the picture2 but surely the
 image ought not to be elaborately      
precise1 by which a dream is transformed
 into an animal with black wings4#aej   
,then ,mrs4 ,pole got well1 and the     
doctor wrote more verses and ,miss      
,seward more criticism4 ,it was not for 
nothing that ,dr4 ,johnson came down to 
,lichfield4       99     99     99      
99     99  ,in #aghj ,colonel ,pole     
died1 and his widow1 still young1       
handsome1 witty1 and--for those         
days--rich1 was in no want of suitors4  
,colonel ,pole1 says ,miss ,seward1 had 
numbered twice the years of his fair    
wife4 ,his temper was said to have been 
peevish and suspicious2 yet not beneath 
those circumstances had her kind and    
cheerful attentions to him grown cold or
 remiss4 ,he left her a jointure of     
#fjjl4 per annum1 a son to inherit his  

estate1 and two female children amply   
portioned4  ,mrs4 ,pole1 it has already 
been remarked1 had much vivacity and    
sportive humour1 with very engaging     
frankness of temper and manners4 ,early 
in her widowhood she was rallied in a   
large company upon ,dr4 ,darwin's       
passion for her1 and was asked what she 
would do with her captive philosopher4  
',he is not very fond of churches1 ,i   
believe1' said she1 'and even if he     
would go there for my sake1 ,i shall    
scarcely follow him4 ,he is too old for 
me4' ',nay1 ,madam1' was the answer1    
'what are fifteen years on the right    
side8' ,she replied1 with an arch smile1
 ',i have had so much of that right     
side4'  ,this confession was thought    
inauspicious for the doctor's hopes1 but
 it did not prove so4 ,the triumph of   
intellect was complete4#aea  ,mrs4 ,pole
 had taken a strong dislike to          
,lichfield1 and had made it a condition 
of her marriage that ,dr4 ,darwin should
 not reside there after he had married  

her4 ,in #agha1 therefore1 immediately  
after his marriage1 he removed to       
,derby1 and continued to live there till
 a fortnight before his death4  ,here he
 wrote ',the ,botanic ,garden' and a    
great part of the ',zoonomia4' ,those   
who wish for a detailed analysis of     
',the ,botanic ,garden' can hardly do   
better than turn to ,miss ,seward's     
pages4 ,opening them at random1 ,i find 
the following3--  ,the mention of       
,brindley1 the father of commercial     
canals1 has propriety as well as        
happiness4 ,similitude for their course 
to the sinuous track of a serpent1      
produces a fine picture of a gliding    
animal of that species1 and it is       
succeeded by these supremely happy      
lines3--      ',so with strong arms     
immortal ,brindley leads     ,his long  
canals1 and parts the velvet meads2     
,winding in lucid lines1 the watery mass
     ,mines the firm rock1 or loads the 
deep morass2'#aeb       c4 c4 c4       4
 4 4 4 4 4  ,the mechanism of the pump  

is next described with curious          
ingenuity4 ,common as is the machine1 it
 is not unworthy a place in this        
splendid composition1 as being1 after   
the sinking of wells1 the earliest of   
those inventions1 which in situations of
 exterior aridness gave ready accession 
to water4 ,this familiar object is      
illustrated by a picture of ,maternal   
,beauty administering sustenance to her 
infant4#aec  ,here we will leave the    
poetical part of the ',botanic ,garden4'
 ,the notes1 however1 to which are      
still1 as ,dr4 ,dowson says1 instructive
 and amusing1 and contain matter which1 
at the time they were written1 was for  
the most part new4  ,of the ',zoonomia' 
there is no occasion to speak here1 as a
 sufficient number of extracts from     
those parts that concern us as bearing  
upon evolution will be given presently4 
,on the #ahth of ,april1 #ahjb1 ,dr4    
,darwin had written one page of a very  
sprightly letter to ,mr4 ,edgeworth1    
describing the ,priory and his purposed 

alterations there1 when the fatal signal
 was given4 ,he rang the bell and       
ordered the servant to send ,mrs4       
,darwin to him4 ,she came immediately1  
with his daughter1 ,miss ,emma ,darwin4 
,they saw him shivering and pale4 ,he   
desired them to send to ,derby for his  
surgeon1 ,mr4 ,hadley4 ,they did so1 but
 all was over before he could arrive4   
,it was reported at ,lichfield that1    
perceiving himself growing rapidly      
worse1 he said to ,mrs4 ,darwin1 ',my   
dear1 you must bleed me instantly4'     
',alas6 ,i dare not1 lest--' ',emma1    
will you8 ,there is no time to be lost4'
 ',yes1 my dear father1 if you will     
direct me4' ,at that moment he sank into
 his chair and expired4#aed  ,dr4       
,dowson gives the letter to ,mr4        
,edgeworth1 which is as follows3--      
,dear ,edgeworth1       ,i am glad to   
find that you still amuse yourself with 
mechanism1 in      spite of the troubles
 of ,ireland4       ,the use of turning 
aside or downwards the claw of a table1 

,i      don't see2 as it must then be   
reared against a wall1 for it will      
not stand alone4 ,if the use be for     
carriage1 the feet may shut up1         
like the usual brass feet of a          
reflecting telescope4       ,we have all
 been now removed from ,derby about a   
fortnight1 to the      ,priory1 and all 
of us like our change of situation4 ,we 
have a      pleasant house1 a good      
garden1 ponds full of fish1 and a       
pleasing      valley1 somewhat like     
,shenstone's--deep1 umbrageous1 and with
 a      talkative stream running down   
it4 ,our house is near the top of the   
valley1 well screened by hills from the 
east and north1 and open to      the    
south1 where at four miles distance we  
see ,derby tower4       ,four or more   
strong springs rise near the house1 and 
have formed      the valley which1 like 
that of ,petrarch1 may be called ,val   
,chiusa1      as it begins1 or is shut  
at the situation of the house4 ,i hope  
you      like the description1 and hope 

farther that yourself and any part      
of your family will sometimes do us the 
pleasure of a visit4       ,pray tell   
the authoress 7,miss ,maria ,edgeworth7 
that the      water-nymphs of our valley
 will be happy to assist her next novel4
       ,my bookseller1 ,mr4 ,johnson1   
will not begin to print the ',temple of 
,nature' till the price of paper is     
fixed by ,parliament4 ,i suppose        
the present duty is paid4444  ,at these 
words ,dr4 ,darwin's pen stopped4 ,what 
followed was written on the opposite    
side of the paper by another hand4      
,,footnotes3  #acg ',sketch1 c41 of     
,erasmus ,darwin1' pp4 #c1 #d4  #ach    
,miss ,seward's ',memoirs of ,dr4       
,darwin1' p4 #c4  #aci ,ibid4  #adj ,dr4
 ,dowson's ',sketch of ,dr4 ,erasmus    
,darwin1' p4 #ej4  #ada ,dr4 ,dowson's  
',sketch of ,dr4 ,darwin1' p4 #ec4  #adb
 ,miss ,seward's ',memoirs1' c41 p4 #f4 
#adc ',memoirs1' c41 p4 #ad4  #add      
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #ba4  #ade           
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #fb4  #adf           

',memoirs1' c41 p4 #fh4  #adg ,miss     
,seward's ',memoirs1' p4 #fi4  #adh     
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #hd4  #adi ,ibid41 p4
 #aje4  #aej ',memoirs1' c41 p4 #abj4   
#aea ',memoirs1' c41 p4 #adi4  #aeb     
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #bdi4  #aec          
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #bej4  #aed          
',memoirs1' c41 p4 #dbf4     ,,chapter  
,,xiii4  ,,philosophy ,,of ,,dr4        
,,erasmus ,,darwin4   ,considering the  
wide reputation enjoyed by ,dr4 ,darwin 
at the beginning of this century1 it is 
surprising how completely he has been   
lost sight of4 ,the ',botanic ,garden'  
was translated into ,portuguese in      
#ahjc2 the ',loves of the ,plants' into 
,french and ,italian in #ahjj and #ahje2
 while1 as ,i have already said1 the    
',zoonomia' had appeared some years     
earlier in ,germany4 ,paley's ',natural 
,theology' is written throughout at the 
',zoonomia1' though he is careful1 more 
suo1 never to mention this work by name4
 ,paley's success was probably one of   
the chief causes of the neglect into    

which the ,buffonian and ,darwinian     
systems fell in this country4 ,dr4      
,darwin is as reticent about teleology  
as ,buffon1 and presumably for the same 
reason1 but the evidence in favour of   
design was too obvious2 ,paley1         
therefore1 with his usual               
keen-sightedness seized upon this weak  
point1 and had the battle all his own   
way1 for ,dr4 ,darwin died the same year
 as that in which the ',natural         
,theology' appeared4 ,the unfortunate   
failure to see that evolution involves  
design and purpose as necessarily and   
far more intelligibly than the          
theological view of creation1 has       
retarded our perception of many         
important facts for three-quarters of a 
century4  ,however this may be1 ,dr4    
,darwin's name has been but little      
before the public during the            
controversies of the last thirty years4 
,mr4 ,charles ,darwin1 indeed1 in the   
historical sketch which he has prefixed 
to the later editions of his ',origin of

 ,species1' says1 ,it is curious how    
largely my grandfather1 ,dr4 ,erasmus   
,darwin1 anticipated the views and      
erroneous grounds of opinion of ,lamarck
 in his ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 pp4        
#ejj-eaj1 published in #agid4aee ,and a 
few lines lower ,mr4 ,darwin adds1 ,it  
is rather a singular instance of the    
manner in which similar views arise at  
about the same time1 that ,goethe in    
,germany1 and ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire   
7as we shall immediately see7 in        
,france1 came to the same conclusion on 
the ',origin of ,species' in the years  
#agid-agif4 ,acquaintance with ,buffon's
 work will explain much of the          
singularity1 while those who have any   
knowledge of the writings of ,dr4       
,darwin and ,etienne ,geoffroy ,st4     
,hilaire will be aware that neither     
would admit the other as coming to the  
same conclusion1 or even nearly so1 as  
himself4 ,dr4 ,darwin goes beyond his   
successor1 ,lamarck1 while ,etienne     
,geoffroy does not even go so far as    

,dr4 ,darwin's predecessor1 ,buffon1 had
 thought fit to let himself be known as 
going4 ,i have found no other reference 
to ,dr4 ,darwin in the ',origin of      
,species1' except the two just given    
from the same note4 ,in the first       
edition ,i find no mention of him4  ,the
 chief fault to be found with ,dr4      
,darwin's treatise on evolution is that 
there is not enough of it2 what there   
is1 so far from being erroneous1 is     
admirable4 ,but so great a subject      
should have had a book to itself1 and   
not a mere fraction of a book4 ,if his  
opponents1 not venturing to dispute with
 him1 passed over one book in silence1  
he should have followed it up with      
another1 and another1 and another1 year 
by year1 as ,buffon and ,lamarck did2 it
 is only thus that men can expect to    
succeed against vested interests4 ,dr4  
,darwin could speak with a freedom that 
was denied to ,buffon4 ,he took ,buffon 
at his word as well as he could1 and    
carried out his principles to what he   

conceived to be their logical           
conclusion4 ,this was doubtless what    
,buffon had desired and reckoned on1    
but1 as ,i have said already1 ,i        
question how far ,dr4 ,darwin understood
 ,buffon's humour2 he does not present  
any of the phenomena of having done so1 
and therefore ,i am afraid he must be   
said to have missed it4  ,like ,buffon1 
,dr4 ,darwin had no wish to see far     
beyond the obvious2 he missed good      
things sometimes1 but he gained more    
than he lost2 he knew that it is always 
on the margin1 as it were1 of the       
self-evident that the greatest purchase 
against the nearest difficulty is       
obtainable4 ,his life was not one of    
,herculean effort1 but1 like the lives  
of all those organisms that are most    
likely to develop and transmit a useful 
modification1 it was one of             
well-sustained activity2 it was a       
long-continued keeping open of the      
windows of his own mind1 much after the 
advice he gave to the ,nottingham       

weavers4 ,dr4 ,darwin knew1 and1 ,i     
imagine1 quite instinctively1 that      
nothing tends to oversight like         
overseeing4 ,he does not trouble himself
 about the origin of life2 as for the   
perceptions and reasoning faculties of  
animals and plants1 it is enough for him
 that animals and plants do things which
 we say involve sensation and           
consciousness when we do them ourselves 
or see others do them4 ,if1 then1 plants
 and animals appear as if they felt and 
understood1 let the matter rest there1  
and let us say they feel and            
understand--being guided by the common  
use of language1 rather than by any     
theories concerning brain and nervous   
system4 ,if any young writer happens to 
be in want of a subject1 ,i beg to      
suggest that he may find his opportunity
 in a ',philosophy of the ,superficial4'
  ,though ,dr4 ,darwin was more deeply  
impressed than ,buffon with the oneness 
of personality between parents and      
offspring1 so that these latter are not 

new creatures1 but elongations of the   
parents1 and hence may retain some of   
the habits of the parent system1 he did 
not go on to infer definitely all that  
he might easily have inferred from such 
a pregnant premiss4 ,he did not refer   
the repetition by offspring1 of actions 
which their parents have done for many  
generations1 but which they can never   
have seen those parents do1 to the      
memory 7in the strict sense of the word7
 of their having done those actions when
 they were in the persons of their      
parents2 which memory1 though dormant   
until awakened by the presence of       
associated ideas1 becomes promptly      
kindled into activity when a sufficient 
number of these ideas are reproduced4   
,this1 ,i gather1 is the theory put     
forward by ,professor ,hering1 of whose 
work1 however1 ,i know no more than is  
told us by ,professor ,ray ,lankester in
 an article which1 appeared in          
',nature1' ,july #acth1 #ahgf4 ,this    
theory seems to be adopted by ,professor

 ,haeckel1 and to receive support from  
,professor ,ray ,lankester himself4     
,knowing no ,german1 ,i have been unable
 to make myself acquainted with         
,professor ,hering's position in detail1
 but its similarity to1 if not identity 
with1 that taken by myself subsequently1
 but independently1 in ',life and       
,habit1' seems sufficiently established 
by the following extracts2 it is to be  
wished1 however1 that a full account of 
this lecture were accessible to ,english
 readers4 ,the extracts are as          
follows3--  ,professor ,hering has the  
merit of introducing some striking      
phraseology into his treatment of the   
subject which serves to emphasize the   
leading idea4 ,he points out that since 
all transmission of 'qualities' from    
cell to cell in the growth and repair of
 one and the same organ1 or from parent 
to offspring1 is a transmission of      
vibrations or affections of material    
particles1 whether these qualities      
manifest themselves as form1 or as a    

facility for entering on a given series 
of vibrations1 we may speak of all such 
phenomena as 'memory1' whether it be the
 conscious memory exhibited by the nerve
 cells of the brain or the unconscious  
memory we call habit1 or the inherited  
memory we call instinct2 or whether1    
again1 it be the reproduction of        
parental form and minute structure4 ,all
 equally may be called the 'memory of   
living matter4' ,from the earliest      
existence of protoplasm to the present  
day the memory of living matter is      
continuous4 ,though individuals die1 the
 universal memory of living matter is   
carried on4  ,professor ,hering1 in     
short1 helps us to a comprehensive      
conception of the nature of heredity and
 adaptation1 by giving us the term      
'memory' conscious or unconscious1 for  
the continuity of ,mr4 ,herbert         
,spencer's polar forces1 or polarities  
of physiological units4       4 4 4 4 4 
4  ,the undulatory movement of the      
plastidules is the key to the mechanical

 explanation of all the essential       
phenomena of life4 ,the plastidules are 
liable to have their undulations        
affected by every external force1 and1  
once modified1 the movement does not    
return to its pristine condition4 ,by   
assimilation they continually increase  
to a certain point in size1 and then    
divide1 and thus perpetuate in the      
undulatory movement of successive       
generations1 the impressions or         
resultants due to the action of external
 agencies on individual plastidules4    
,this is ,memory4 ,all plastidules      
possess memory2 and ,memory which we see
 in its ultimate analysis is identical  
with reproduction1 is the distinguishing
 feature of the plastidule2 is that     
which it alone of all molecules         
possesses1 in addition to the ordinary  
properties of the physicist's molecule2 
is1 in fact1 that which distinguishes it
 as vital4 ,to the sensitiveness of the 
movement of plastidules is due          
,variability--to their unconscious      

,memory the power of ,hereditary        
,transmission4 ,as we know them to-day  
they may 'have learnt little1 and       
forgotten nothing' in one organism1 and 
'have learnt much1 and forgotten much'  
in another2 but in all1 their memory if 
sometimes fragmentary1 yet reaches back 
to the dawn of life upon the earth4--,e4
 ,ray ,lankester4  ,nothing can well be 
plainer and more uncompromising than the
 above4 ,professor ,hering would1 ,i    
gather1 no less than myself1 refer the  
building of its nest by a bird to the   
intense--but unconscious1 owing to its  
very perfection and                     
intensity--recollection by the bird of  
the nests it built when it was in the   
persons of its ancestors2 this memory   
would begin to stimulate action when the
 surrounding associations1 such as      
temperature1 state of vegetation1 c41   
reminded it of the time when it had been
 in the habit of beginning to build in  
countless past generations4 ,dr4 ,darwin
 does not go so far as this4 ,he says   

that wild birds choose spring as their  
building time from their acquired       
knowledge that the mild temperature of  
the air is more convenient for hatching 
their eggs1 and a little lower down he  
speaks of the fact that graminivorous   
animals generally produce their young in
 spring1 as part of the traditional     
knowledge which they learn from the     
example of their parents4#aef  ,again he
 says1 that birds seem to be instructed 
how to build their nests from their     
observation of that in which they were  
educated1 and from their knowledge of   
those things that are most agreeable to 
their touch in respect to warmth1       
cleanliness1 and stability4  ,had ,dr4  
,darwin laid firmly hold of two         
superficial facts concerning memory     
which we can all of us test for         
ourselves--,i mean its dormancy until   
kindled by the return of a sufficient   
number of associated ideas1 and its     
unselfconsciousness upon becoming       
intense and perfect--and had he         

connected these two facts with the unity
 of life through successive             
generations--an idea which plainly      
haunted him--he would have been saved   
from having to refer instinct to        
imitation1 in the face of the fact that 
in a thousand instances the creature    
imitating can never have seen its model1
 save when it was a part of its         
parents1--seeing what they saw1 doing   
what they did1 feeling as they felt1 and
 remembering what they remembered4      
,miss ,seward tells us that ,dr4 ,darwin
 read his chapter on instinct to a lady 
who was in the habit of rearing canary  
birds4 ,she observed that the pair which
 he then saw building their nest in her 
cage1 were a male and female1 who had   
been hatched and reared in that very    
cage1 and were not in existence when the
 mossy cradle was fabricated in which   
they first saw light4 ,she asked him1   
and quite reasonably1 how1 upon his     
principle of imitation1 he could account
 for the nest he then saw building1     

being constructed even to the precise   
disposal of every hair and shred of wool
 upon the model of that in which the    
pair were born1 and on which every other
 canary bird's nest is constructed1 when
 the proper materials are furnished4    
,that of the pyefinch1 she added1 is of 
much compacter form1 warmer1 and more   
comfortable4 ,pull one of these nests to
 pieces for its materials2 and place    
another nest before these canary birds  
as a pattern1 and see if they will make 
the slightest attempt to imitate their  
model6 ,no1 the result of their labour  
will1 upon instinctive hereditary       
impulse1 be exactly the slovenly little 
mansion of their race1 the same with    
that which their parents built before   
themselves were hatched4 ,the ,doctor   
could not do away the force of that     
single fact1 with which his system was  
incompatible1 yet he maintained that    
system with philosophic sturdiness1     
though experience brought confutation   
from a thousand sources4#aeg  ,as       

commonly happens in such disputes1 both 
were right and both were wrong4 ,the    
lady was right in refusing to refer     
instinct to imitation1 and the ,doctor  
was right in maintaining reason and     
instinct to be but different degrees of 
perfection of the same mental processes4
 ,had he substituted memory for         
imitation1 and asked the lady to define 
sameness or personal identity1 he would 
have soon secured his victory4  ,the    
main fact1 compared with which all else 
is a matter of detail1 is the admission 
that instinct is only reason become     
habitual4 ,this admission involves1     
consciously or unconsciously1 the       
admission of all the principles         
contended for in ',life and ,habit'2    
principles which1 if admitted1 make the 
facts of heredity intelligible by       
showing that they are of the same       
character as other facts which we call  
intelligible1 but denial of which makes 
nonsense of half the terms in common use
 concerning it4 ,for the view that      

instinct is habitual reason involves    
sameness of personality and memory as   
common to parents and offspring2 it     
involves also the latency of that memory
 till rekindled by the return of a      
sufficient number of its associated     
ideas1 and points the unconsciousness   
with which habitual actions are         
performed4 ,these principles being      
grasped1 the infertility inter se of    
widely distant species1 the commonly    
observed sterility of hybrids1 the      
sterility of certain animals and plants 
under confinement1 the phenomena of old 
age as well as those of growth1 and the 
principle which underlies longevity and 
alternate generations1 follow logically 
and coherently1 as ,i showed in ',life  
and ,habit4' ,moreover1 we find that the
 terms in common use show an unconscious
 sense that some such view as ,i have   
insisted on was wanted and would come1  
for we find them made and to hand       
already2 few if any will require        
altering2 all that is necessary is to   

take common words according to their    
common meanings4  ,dr4 ,darwin is very  
good on this head4 ,here1 as everywhere 
throughout his work1 if things or       
qualities appear to resemble one another
 sufficiently and without such traits of
 unlikeness1 on closer inspection1 as   
shall destroy the likeness which was    
apparent at first1 he connects them1 all
 theories notwithstanding4 ,i have given
 two instances of his manner of looking 
at instinct and reason4#aeh ,if these   
are not1 he concludes1 deductions from  
their own previous experience1 or       
observation1 all the actions of mankind 
must be resolved into instincts4#aei    
,if by previous experience we could be  
sure that ,dr4 ,darwin persistently     
meant previous experience in the persons
 of their ancestors1 he would be in an  
impregnable position4 ,as it is1 we feel
 that though he had caught sight of the 
truth1 and had even held it in his      
hands1 yet somehow or other it just     
managed to slip through his fingers4    

,again he writes3--  ,so flies burn     
themselves in candles1 deceived like    
mankind by the misapplication of their  
knowledge4  ,again3--  ,an ingenious    
philosopher has lately denied that      
animals can enter into contracts1 and   
thinks this an essential difference     
between them and the human creature3 but
 does not daily observation convince us 
that they form contracts of friendship  
with each other and with mankind8 ,when 
puppies and kittens play together is    
there not a tacit contract that they    
will not hurt each other8 ,and does not 
your favourite dog expect you should    
give him his daily food for his services
 and attention to you8 ,and thus barters
 his love for your protection8 ,in the  
same manner that all contracts are made 
among men that do not understand each   
other's arbitrary language4#afj  ,one   
more extract from a chapter full of     
excellent passages must suffice4  ,one  
circumstance ,i shall relate which fell 
under my own eye1 and showed the power  

of reason in a wasp1 as it is exercised 
among men4 ,a wasp on a gravel walk had 
caught a fly nearly as large as himself2
 kneeling on the ground1 ,i observed him
 separate the tail and the head from the
 body part1 to which the wings were     
attached4 ,he then took the body part in
 his paws1 and rose about two feet from 
the ground with it2 but a gentle breeze 
wafting the wings of the fly turned him 
round in the air1 and he settled again  
with his prey upon the gravel4 ,i then  
distinctly observed him cut off with his
 mouth first one of the wings and then  
the other1 after which he flew away with
 it1 unmolested by the wind4  ,go1 proud
 reasoner1 and call the worm thy        
sister6#afa  ,dr4 ,darwin's views on the
 essential unity of animal and vegetable
 life are put forward in the following  
admirable chapter on ,vegetable         
,animation1 which ,i will give in full1 
and which is confirmed in all important 
respects by the latest conclusions of   
our best modern scientists1 so1 at      

least1 ,i gather from ,mr4 ,francis     
,darwin's interesting lecture4#afb  ,i4 
#a4 ,the fibres of the vegetable world1 
as well as those of the animal1 are     
excitable into a variety of motion by   
irritations of external objects4 ,this  
appears particularly in the mimosa or   
sensitive plant1 whose leaves contract  
on the slightest injury3 the ,dionaea   
muscipula1 which was lately brought over
 from the marshes of ,america1 presents 
us with another curious instance of     
vegetable irritability2 its leaves are  
armed with spines on their upper edge1  
and are spread on the ground around the 
stem2 when an insect creeps on any of   
them in its passage to the flower or    
seed1 the leaf shuts up like a steel    
rat-trap1 and destroys its enemy4#afc   
,the various secretions of vegetables as
 of odour1 fruit1 gum1 resin1 wax1      
honey1 seem brought about in the same   
manner as in the glands of animals2 the 
tasteless moisture of the earth is      
converted by the hop plant into a bitter

 juice2 as by the caterpillar in the    
nutshell1 the sweet powder is converted 
into a bitter powder4 ,while the power  
of absorption in the roots and barks of 
vegetables is excited into action by the
 fluids applied to their mouths like the
 lacteals and lymphatics of animals4    
#b4 ,the individuals of the vegetable   
world may be considered as inferior or  
less perfect animals2 a tree is a       
congeries of many living buds1 and in   
this respect resembles the branches of  
the coralline1 which are a congeries of 
a multitude of animals4 ,each of these  
buds of a tree has its proper leaves or 
petals for lungs1 produces its          
viviparous or its oviparous offspring in
 buds or seeds2 has its own roots1      
which1 extending down the stem of the   
tree1 are interwoven with the roots of  
the other buds1 and form the bark1 which
 is the only living part of the stem1 is
 annually renewed and is superinduced   
upon the former bark1 which then dies1  
and1 with its stagnated juices gradually

 hardening into wood1 forms the         
concentric circles which we see in      
blocks of timber4  ,the following       
circumstances evince the individuality  
of the buds of trees4 ,first1 there are 
many trees whose whole internal wood is 
perished1 and yet the branches are      
vegete and healthy4 ,secondly1 the      
fibres of the bark of trees are chiefly 
longitudinal1 resembling roots1 as is   
beautifully seen in those prepared barks
 that were lately brought from          
,otaheita4 ,thirdly1 in horizontal      
wounds of the bark of trees1 the fibres 
of the upper lip are always elongated   
downwards like roots1 but those of the  
lower lip do not approach to meet them4 
,fourthly1 if you wrap wet moss round   
any joint of a vine1 or cover it with   
moist earth1 roots will shoot out from  
it4 ,fifthly1 by the inoculation or     
engrafting of trees many fruits are     
produced from one stem4 ,sixthly1 a new 
tree is produced from a branch plucked  
from an old one and set in the ground4  

,whence it appears that the buds of     
deciduous trees are so many annual      
plants1 that the bark is a contexture of
 the roots of each individual bud1 and  
that the internal wood is of no other   
use but to support them in the air1 and 
that thus they resemble the animal world
 in their individuality4  ,the          
irritability of plants1 like that of    
animals1 appears liable to be increased 
or decreased by habit2 for those trees  
or shrubs which are brought from a      
colder climate to a warmer1 put out     
their leaves and blossoms a fortnight   
sooner than the indigenous ones4        
,professor ,kalm1 in his travels in ,new
 ,york1 observes that the apple trees   
brought from ,england blossom a         
fortnight sooner than the native ones4  
,in our country1 the shrubs that are    
brought a degree or two from the north  
are observed to flourish better than    
those which come from the south4 ,the   
,siberian barley and cabbage are said to
 grow larger in this climate than the   

similar more southern vegetables2 and   
our hoards of roots1 as of potatoes and 
onions1 germinate with less heat in     
spring1 after they have been accustomed 
to the winter's cold1 than in autumn1   
after the summer's heat4  ,,ii4 ,the    
stamens and pistils of flowers show     
evident marks of sensibility1 not only  
from many of the stamens and some       
pistils approaching towards each other  
at the season of impregnation1 but from 
many of them closing their petals and   
calyxes during the cold part of the day4
 ,for this cannot be ascribed to        
irritation1 because cold means a defect 
of the stimulus of heat2 but as the want
 of accustomed stimuli produces pain1 as
 in coldness1 hunger1 and thirst of     
animals1 these motions of vegetables in 
closing up their flowers must be        
ascribed to the disagreeable sensation1 
and not to the irritation of cold4      
,others close up their leaves during    
darkness1 which1 like the former1 cannot
 be owing to irritation1 as the         

irritating material is withdrawn4  ,the 
approach of the anthers in many flowers 
to the stigmas1 and of the pistils of   
some flowers to the anthers1 must be    
ascribed to the passion of love1 and    
hence belongs to sensation1 not to      
irritation4  ,,iii4 ,that the vegetable 
world possesses some degree of voluntary
 powers appears from their necessity to 
sleep1 which we have shown in ,section  
,,xviii4 to consist in the temporary    
abolition of voluntary power4 ,this     
voluntary power seems to be exerted in  
the circular movement of the tendrils of
 the vines1 and other climbing          
vegetables2 or in the efforts to turn   
the upper surfaces of their leaves1 or  
their flowers1 to the light4  ,,iv4 ,the
 associations of fibrous motions are    
observable in the vegetable world as    
well as in the animal4 ,the divisions of
 the leaves of the sensitive plant have 
been accustomed to contract at the same 
time from the absence of light2 hence1  
if by any other circumstance1 as a      

slight stroke or injury1 one division is
 irritated into contraction1 the        
neighbouring ones contract also from    
their motions being associated with     
those of the irritated part4 ,so the    
various stamina of the class of         
syngenesia have been accustomed to      
contract together in the evening1 and   
thence if you stimulate any one of them 
with a pin1 according to the experiment 
of ,m4 ,colvolo1 they all contract from 
their acquired associations4  ,to evince
 that the collapsing of the sensitive   
plant is not owing to any mechanical    
vibrations propagated along the whole   
branch when a single leaf is struck with
 the finger1 a leaf of it was slit with 
sharp scissors1 with as little          
disturbance as possible1 and some       
seconds of time passed before the plant 
seemed sensible of the injury1 and then 
the whole branch collapsed as far as the
 principal stem4 ,this experiment was   
repeated several times with the least   
possible impulse to the plant4  ,v4 #a4 

,for the numerous circumstances in which
 vegetable buds are analogous to        
animals1 the reader is referred to the  
additional notes at the end of ',botanic
 ,garden1' ,part ,i4 ,it is there shown 
that the roots of vegetables resemble   
the lacteal system of animals2 the sap  
vessels in the early spring1 before     
their leaves expand1 are analogous to   
the placental vessels of the foetus2    
that the leaves of land plants resemble 
lungs1 and those of aquatic plants the  
gills of fish2 that there are other     
systems of vessels resembling the vena  
portarum of quadrupeds1 or the aorta of 
fish2 that the digestive power of       
vegetables is similar to that of animals
 converting the fluids which they absorb
 into sugar2#afd that their seeds       
resemble the eggs of animals1 and their 
buds and bulbs their viviparous         
offspring2 and lastly1 that the anthers 
and stigmas are real animals attached to
 their parent tree like polypi or coral 
insects1 but capable of spontaneous     

motion2 that they are affected with the 
passion of love1 and furnished with     
powers of reproducing their species1 and
 are fed with honey like the moths and  
butterflies which plunder their         
nectaries4#afe  ,the male flowers of    
,vallisneria approach still nearer to   
apparent animality1 as they detach      
themselves from the parent plant1 and   
float on the surface of the water to the
 female ones4#aff ,other flowers of the 
classes of monoecia and dioecia1 and    
polygamia discharge the fecundating     
farina1 which1 floating in the air1 is  
carried to the stigma of the female     
flowers1 and that at considerable       
distances4 ,can this be effected by any 
specific attraction8 ,or1 like the      
diffusion of the odorous particles of   
flowers1 is it left to the currents of  
the winds1 and the accidental           
miscarriages of it counteracted by the  
quantity of its production8  #b4 ,this  
leads us to a curious inquiry1 whether  
vegetables have ideas of external       

things8 ,as all our ideas are originally
 received by our senses1 the question   
may be changed to whether vegetables    
possess any organs of sense8 ,certain it
 is that they possess a sense of heat   
and cold1 another of moisture and       
dryness1 and another of light and       
darkness1 for they close their petals   
occasionally from the presence of cold1 
moisture1 or darkness4 ,and it has been 
already shown that these actions cannot 
be performed simply from irritation1    
because cold and darkness are negative  
quantities1 and on that account         
sensation1 or volition are implied1 and 
in consequence a sensorium or union of  
their nerves4 ,so when we go into the   
light we contract the iris2 not from any
 stimulus of the light on the fine      
muscles of the iris1 but from its       
motions being associated with the       
sensation of too much light upon the    
retina1 which could not take place      
without a sensorium or centre of union  
of the nerves of the iris1 with those of

 vision4#afg  ,besides these organs of  
sense1 which distinguish cold1 moisture1
 and darkness1 the leaves of mimosa1 and
 of dionaea1 and of drosera1 and the    
stamens of many flowers1 as of the      
berbery1 and the numerous class of      
syngenesia1 are sensible to mechanic    
impact1 that is1 they possess a sense of
 touch1 as well as a common sensorium1  
by the medium of which their muscles are
 excited into action4 ,lastly1 in many  
flowers the anthers1 when mature1       
approach the stigma1 in others the      
female organ approaches to the male4 ,in
 a plant of collinsonia1 a branch of    
which is now before me1 the two yellow  
stamens are about three-eighths of an   
inch high1 and diverge from each other  
at an angle of about fifteen degrees1   
the purple style is half an inch high1  
and in some flowers is now applied to   
the stamen on the right hand1 and in    
others to that of the left2 and will1 ,i
 suppose1 change place to-morrow in     
those1 where the anthers have not yet   

effused their powder4  ,i ask by what   
means are the anthers in many flowers   
and stigmas in other flowers directed to
 find their paramours8 ,how do either of
 them know that the other exists in     
their vicinity8 ,is this curious kind of
 storge produced by mechanic attraction1
 or by the sensation of love8 ,the      
latter opinion is supported by the      
strongest analogy1 because a            
reproduction of the species is the      
consequence2 and then another organ of  
sense must be wanted to direct these    
vegetable amourettes to find each other1
 one probably analogous to our sense of 
smell1 which in the animal world directs
 the new-born infant to its source of   
nourishment1 and they may thus possess a
 faculty of perceiving as well as of    
producing odours4  ,thus1 besides a kind
 of taste at the extremity of their     
roots1 similar to that of the           
extremities of our lacteal vessels1 for 
the purpose of selecting their proper   
food1 and besides different kinds of    

irritability residing in the various    
glands1 which separate honey1 wax1      
resin1 and other juices from their      
blood2 vegetable life seems to possess  
an organ of sense to distinguish the    
variations of heat1 another to          
distinguish the varying degrees of      
moisture1 another of light1 another of  
touch1 and probably another analogous to
 our sense of smell4 ,to these must be  
added the indubitable evidence of their 
passion of love1 and ,i think we may    
truly conclude that they are furnished  
with a common sensorium for each bud1   
and that they must occasionally repeat  
those perceptions1 either in their      
dreams or waking hours1 and consequently
 possess ideas of so many of the        
properties of the external world1 and of
 their own existence4#afh  ,,footnotes3 
#aee ',origin of ,species1' note on p4  
xiv4  #aef ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4 #agj4
  #aeg ,miss ,seward's ',memoirs1' c41  
p4 #dia4  #aeh ,see p4 #aaf of this     
volume4  #aei ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4   

#ahd4  #afj ',zoonomia1' p4 #aga4  #afa 
',zoonomia1' p4 #ahg4  #afb ',nature1'  
,march #ad and #ba1 #ahgh4  #afc ,see   
',botanic ,garden1' part ii41 note on   
,silene4  #afd ',on the ,digestive      
,powers of ,plants4' ,see ,mr4 ,francis 
,darwin's lecture1 already referred to4 
#afe ,see ',botanic ,garden1 part i41   
add4 note1 p4 xxxix4  #aff ,ibid41 part 
ii41 art4 ,vallisneria4  #afg ,see      
',botanic ,garden1' part i4 cant #c1 l4 
#ddj4  #afh ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#ajg4     ,,chapter ,,xiv4  ,,fuller    
,,quotations ,,from ,,the ',,zoonomia4' 
,the following are the passages in the  
',zoonomia' which have the most         
important bearing on evolution3--  ,the 
ingenious ,dr4 ,hartley1 in his work on 
man1 and some other philosophers have   
been of opinion1 that our immortal part 
acquires during this life certain habits
 of action or of sentiment which become 
for ever indissoluble1 continuing after 
death in a future state of existence2   
and add that if these habits are of the 

malevolent kind1 they must render their 
possessor miserable even in ,heaven4 ,i 
would apply this ingenious idea to the  
generation or production of the embryon 
or new animal1 which partakes so much of
 the form and propensities of its       
parent4  ,owing to the imperfection of  
language the offspring is termed a new  
animal1 but is in truth a branch or     
elongation of the parent1 since a part  
of the embryon-animal is1 or was1 a part
 of the parent1 and therefore in strict 
language1 cannot be said to be entirely 
new at the time of its production2 and1 
therefore1 it may retain some of the    
habits of the parent system4  ,at the   
earliest period of its existence the    
embryon would seem to consist of a      
living filament with certain            
capabilities of irritation1 sensation1  
volition1 and association1 and also with
 some acquired habits or propensities   
peculiar to the parents2 the former of  
these are in common with other animals2 
the latter seem to distinguish or       

produce the kind of animal1 whether man 
or quadruped1 with the similarity of    
feature or form to the parent4#afi      
99     99     99     99     99  ,going  
on to describe the gradual development  
of the embryo1 ,dr4 ,darwin continues3--
  ,as the want of this oxygenation of   
the blood is perpetual 7as appears from 
the incessant necessity of breathing by 
lungs or gills71 the vessels become     
extended by the efforts of pain or      
desire to seek this necessary object of 
oxygenation1 and to remove the          
disagreeable sensations which this want 
occasions4#agj       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the  
lateral production of plants by wires1  
while each new plant is thus chained to 
its parent1 and continues to put forth  
another and another as the wire creeps  
onward on the ground1 is exactly        
resembled by the tape-worm or taenia1 so
 often found in the bowels1 stretching  
itself in a chain quite from the stomach
 to the rectum4 ,linnaeus asserts 'that 
it grows old at one extremity1 while it 

continues to generate younger ones at   
the other1 proceeding ad infinitum like 
a sort of grass2 the separate joints are
 called gourd worms1 and propagate new  
joints like the parent without end1 each
 joint being furnished with its proper  
mouth and organs of digestion4'#aga     
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,many ingenious            
philosophers have found so great        
difficulty in conceiving the manner of  
the reproduction of animals1 that they  
have supposed all the numerous progeny  
to have existed in miniature in the     
animal originally created2 and that     
these infinitely minute forms are only  
evolved or distended1 as the embryon    
increases in the womb4 ,this idea1      
besides its being unsupported by any    
analogy we are acquainted with1 ascribes
 a greater tenuity to organized matter  
than we can readily admit2 as these     
included embryons are supposed each of  
them to consist of the various and      
complicate parts of animal bodies1 they 
must possess a much greater degree of   

minuteness than that which was ascribed 
to the devils which tempted ,st4        
,anthony1 of whom #bj1jjj were said to  
have been able to dance a saraband on   
the point of the finest needle without  
incommoding one another4#agb       4 4 4
 4 4 4  ,i conceive the primordium or   
rudiment of the embryon as secreted from
 the blood of the parent to consist of a
 simple living filament as a muscular   
fibre2 which ,i suppose to be an        
extremity of a nerve of locomotion1 as a
 fibre of the retina is an extremity of 
a nerve of sensation2 as1 for instance1 
one of the fibrils which compose the    
mouth of an absorbent vessel4 ,i suppose
 this living filament of whatever form  
it may be1 whether sphere1 cube1 or     
cylinder1 to be endued with the         
capability of being excited into action 
by certain kinds of stimulus4 ,by the   
stimulus of the surrounding fluid in    
which it is received from the male it   
may bend into a ring1 and thus form the 
beginning of a tube4 ,such moving       

filaments and such rings are described  
by those who have attended to           
microscopic animalculae4 ,this living   
ring may now embrace or absorb a        
nutritive particle of the fluid in which
 it swims2 and by drawing it into its   
pores1 or joining it by compression to  
its extremities1 may increase its own   
length or crassitude1 and by degrees the
 living ring may become a living tube4  
,with this new organization1 or         
accretion of parts1 new kinds of        
irritability may commence2 for so long  
as there was but one living organ it    
could only be supposed to possess       
irritability2 since sensibility may be  
conceived to be an extension of the     
effect of irritability over the rest of 
the system4 ,these new kinds of         
irritability and of sensibility in      
consequence of new organization appear  
from variety of facts in the more mature
 animals2 thus 444 the lungs must be    
previously formed before their exertions
 to obtain fresh air can exist2 the     

throat1 or oesophagus1 must be formed   
previous to the sensation or appetites  
of hunger and thirst1 one of which seems
 to reside at the upper end and the     
other at the lower end of that          
canal4#agc  ,it seems to me ,dr4 ,darwin
 is wrong in supposing that the organ   
must have preceded the power to use it4 
,the organ and its use--the desire to do
 and the power to do--have always gone  
hand in hand1 the organism finding      
itself able to do more according as it  
advanced its desires1 and desiring to do
 more simultaneously with any increase  
in power1 so that neither appetency nor 
organism can claim precedence1 but power
 and desire must be considered as       
,siamese twins begotten together1       
conceived together1 born together1 and  
inseparable always from each other4 ,at 
the same time they are torn by mutual   
jealousy2 each claims1 with some vain   
show of reason1 to have been the elder  
brother2 each intrigues incessantly from
 the beginning to the end of time to    

prevent the other from outstripping him2
 each is in turn successful1 but each is
 doomed to death with the extinction of 
the other4  ,so inflamed tendons and    
membranes1 and even bones1 acquire new  
sensations2 and the parts of mutilated  
animals1 as of wounded snails and polypi
 and crabs1 are reproduced2 and at the  
same time acquire sensations adapted to 
their situation4 ,thus when the head of 
a snail is reproduced after decollation 
with a sharp razor1 those curious       
telescopic eyes are also reproduced1 and
 acquire their sensibility to light1 as 
well as their adapted muscles for       
retraction on the approach of injury4   
,with every change1 therefore1 of       
organic form or addition of organic     
parts1 ,i suppose a new kind of         
irritability or of sensibility to be    
produced2 such varieties of irritability
 or of sensibility exist in our adult   
state in the glands2 every one of which 
is furnished with an irritability or a  
taste or appetency1 and a consequent    

mode of action peculiar to itself4  ,in 
this manner ,i conceive the vessels of  
the jaws to produce those of the teeth2 
those of the fingers to produce the     
nails2 those of the skin to produce the 
hair2 in the same manner as afterwards1 
about the age of puberty1 the beard and 
other great changes in the form of the  
body and disposition of the mind are    
produced in consequence of new          
developments2 for1 if the animal is     
deprived of these developments1 those   
changes do not take place4 ,these       
changes ,i believe to be formed not by  
elongation or distension of primeval    
stamina1 but by apposition of parts2 as 
the mature crab fish when deprived of a 
limb1 in a certain space of time1 has   
power to regenerate it2 and the tadpole 
puts forth its feet after its long      
exclusion from the spawn1 and the       
caterpillar in changing into a butterfly
 acquires a new form with new powers1   
new sensations1 and new desires4#agd    
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,from hence ,i conclude    

that with the acquisition of new parts1 
new sensations and new desires1 as well 
as new powers are produced2 and this by 
accretion to the old ones and not by    
distension of them4 ,and finally1 that  
the most essential parts of the system1 
as the brain for the purpose of         
distributing the powers of life1 and the
 placenta for the purpose of oxygenating
 the blood1 and the additional absorbent
 vessels1 for the purpose of acquiring  
aliment1 are first formed by the        
irritations above mentioned1 and by the 
pleasurable sensations attending those  
irritations1 and by the exertions in    
consequence of painful sensations       
similar to those of hunger and          
suffocation4 ,after these an apparatus  
of limbs for future uses1 or for the    
purpose of moving the body in its       
present natant state1 and of lungs for  
future respiration1 and of testes for   
future reproduction1 are formed by the  
irritations and sensations and          
consequent exertions of the parts       

previously existing1 and to which the   
new parts are to be attached4#age       
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the embryon must be       
supposed to be a living filament1 which 
acquires or makes new parts1 with new   
irritabilities as it advances in its    
growth4#agf       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,from    
this account of reproduction it appears 
that all animals have a similar origin1 
viz4 a single living filament2 and that 
the difference of their forms and       
qualities has arisen only from the      
different irritabilities and            
sensibilities1 or voluntarities1 or     
associabilities1 of this original living
 filament1 and perhaps in some degree   
from the different forms of the         
particles of the fluids by which it has 
at first been stimulated into           
activity4#agg       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,all   
animals1 therefore1 ,i contend1 have a  
similar cause of their organization1    
originating from a single living        
filament1 endued with different kinds of
 irritabilities and sensibilities1 or of

 animal appetencies1 which exist in     
every gland1 and in every moving organ  
of the body1 and are as essential to    
living organism as chemical affinities  
are to certain combinations of inanimate
 matter4  ,if ,i might be indulged to   
make a simile in a philosophical work1  
,i should say that the animal           
appetencies are not only perhaps less   
numerous originally than the chemical   
affinities1 but that1 like these latter1
 they change with every fresh           
combination2 thus vital air and azote1  
when combined1 produce nitrous acid1    
which now acquires the property of      
dissolving silver2 so that with every   
new additional part to the embryon1 as  
of the throat or lungs1 ,i suppose a new
 animal appetency to be produced4#agh   
99     99     99     99     99  ,here1  
again1 it should be insisted on that    
neither can the additional part precede 
the appetency1 nor the appetency precede
 the additional part for long           
together--the two advance nearly pari   

passu2 sometimes the power a little     
ahead of the desire1 stimulates the     
desire to an activity it would not      
otherwise have known2 as those who have 
more money than they once had1 feel new 
wants which they would not have known if
 they had not obtained the power to     
gratify them2 sometimes1 on the other   
hand1 the desire is a little more active
 than the power1 and pulls the power up 
to itself by means of the effort made to
 gratify the desire--as those who want a
 little more of this or that than they  
have money to pay for1 will try all     
manner of shifts to earn the additional 
money they want1 unless it is so much in
 excess of their present means that they
 give up the endeavour as hopeless2 but 
whichever gets ahead1 immediately sets  
to work to pull the other level with it1
 the getting ahead either of power or   
desire being exclusively the work of    
external agencies1 while the coming up  
level of the other is due to agencies   
that are incorporate with the organism  

itself4 ,thus an unusually abundant     
supply of food1 due to causes entirely  
beyond the control of the individual1 is
 an external agency2 it will immediately
 set power a little ahead of desire4 ,on
 this the individual will eat as much as
 it can--thus learning pro tanto to be  
able to eat more1 and to want more under
 ordinary circumstances--and will also  
breed rapidly up to the balance of the  
abundance4 ,this is the work of the     
agencies incorporate in the organism1   
and will bring desire level with power  
again4 ,famine1 on the other hand1 puts 
desire ahead of power1 and the          
incorporate agencies must either bring  
power up by resource and invention1 or  
must pull desire back by eating less1   
both as individuals1 and as the race1   
that is to say1 by breeding less freely2
 for breeding is an assimilation of     
outside matter so closely akin to       
feeding1 that it is only the feeding of 
the race1 as against that of the        
individual4  ,i do not think the reader 

will find any clearer manner of         
picturing to himself the development of 
organism than by keeping the normal     
growth of wealth continually in his     
mind4 ,he will find few of the phenomena
 of organic development which have not  
their counterpart in the acquisition of 
wealth4 ,thus a too sudden acquisition1 
owing to accidental and external        
circumstances and due to no internal    
source of energy1 will be commonly lost 
in the next few generations4 ,so a      
sudden sport due to a lucky accident of 
soil will not generally be perpetuated  
if the offspring plant be restored to   
its normal soil4 ,again1 if the advance 
in power carry power suddenly far beyond
 any past desire1 or be far greater than
 any past-remembered advance of power   
beyond desire--then desire will not come
 up level easily1 but only with         
difficulty and all manner of            
extravagance1 such as is likely to      
destroy the power itself4 ,demand and   
,supply are also good illustrations4    

,but to return to ,dr4 ,darwin4  ,when  
we revolve in our minds1 he writes1     
first the great changes which we see    
naturally produced in animals after     
their nativity1 as in the production of 
the butterfly with painted wings from   
the crawling caterpillar2 or of the     
respiring frog from the subnatant       
tadpole2 from the boy to the bearded    
man1 from the infant girl to the        
woman1--in both which cases mutilation  
will prevent due development4           
,secondly1 when we think over the great 
changes introduced into various animals 
by artificial or accidental cultivation1
 as in horses1 which we have exercised  
for the different purposes of strength  
or swiftness1 in carrying burthens or in
 running races1 or in dogs which have   
been cultivated for strength and        
courage1 as the bull-dog2 or for        
acuteness of his sense of smell1 as the 
hound or spaniel2 or for the swiftness  
of his foot1 as the greyhound2 or for   
his swimming in the water or for drawing

 snow sledges1 as the rough-haired dogs 
of the north2 or1 lastly1 as a play dog 
for children1 as the lapdog2 with the   
changes of the forms of the cattle which
 have been domesticated from the        
greatest antiquity1 as camels and sheep1
 which have undergone so total a        
transformation that we are now ignorant 
from what species of wild animal they   
had their origin4 ,add to these the     
great changes of shape and colour which 
we daily see produced in smaller animals
 from our domestication of them1 as     
rabbits or pigeons1 or from the         
difference of climates and even of      
seasons2 thus the sheep of warm climates
 are covered with hair instead of wool2 
and the hares and partridges of the     
latitudes which are long buried in snow 
become white during the winter months2  
add to these the various changes        
produced in the forms of mankind by     
their early modes of exertion1 or by the
 diseases occasioned by their habits of 
life1 both of which become hereditary1  

and that through many generations4      
,those who labour at the anvil1 the oar1
 or the loom1 as well as those who carry
 sedan chairs or who have been educated 
to dance upon the rope1 are             
distinguishable by the shape of their   
limbs2 and the diseases occasioned by   
intoxication deform the countenance with
 leprous eruptions1 or the body with    
tumid viscera1 or the joints with knots 
and distortions4  ,thirdly1 when we     
enumerate the great changes produced in 
the species of animals before their     
nativity1 as1 for example1 when the     
offspring reproduces the effects        
produced upon the parent by accident or 
cultivation2 or the changes produced by 
the mixture of species1 as in mules2 or 
the changes produced probably by the    
exuberance of nourishment supplied to   
the fetus1 as in monstrous births with  
additional limbs2 many of these         
enormities of shape are propagated and  
continued as a variety at least1 if not 
as a new species of animal4 ,i have seen

 a breed of cats with an additional claw
 on every foot2 of poultry also with an 
additional claw1 and with wings to their
 feet2 and of others without rumps4 ,mr4
 ,buffon mentions a breed of dogs       
without tails which are common at ,rome 
and ,naples--which he supposes to have  
been produced by a custom long          
established of cutting their tails close
 off4 ,there are many kinds of pigeons  
admired for their peculiarities which   
are more or less thus produced and      
propagated4#agi       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,when
 we consider all these changes of animal
 form and innumerable others which may  
be collected from the books of natural  
history1 we cannot but be convinced that
 the fetus or embryon is formed by      
apposition of new parts1 and not by the 
distention of a primordial nest of germs
 included one within another like the   
cups of a conjurer4  ,fourthly1 when we 
revolve in our minds the great          
similarity of structure which obtains in
 all the warm-blooded animals1 as well  

quadrupeds1 birds1 and amphibious       
animals1 as in mankind2 from the mouse  
and bat to the elephant and whale2 one  
is led to conclude that they have alike 
been produced from a similar living     
filament4 ,in some this filament in its 
advance to maturity has acquired hands  
and fingers with a fine sense of touch1 
as in mankind4 ,in others it has        
acquired claws or talons1 as in tigers  
and eagles4 ,in others1 toes with an    
intervening web or membrane1 as in seals
 and geese4 ,in others it has acquired  
cloven hoofs1 as in cows and swine2 and 
whole hoofs in others1 as in the horse3 
while in the bird kind this original    
living filament has put forth wings     
instead of arms or legs1 and feathers   
instead of hair4 ,in some it has        
protruded horns on the forehead instead 
of teeth in the fore part of the upper  
jaw2 in others1 tusks instead of horns2 
and in the others1 beaks instead of     
either4 ,and all this exactly as is seen
 daily in the transmutation of the      

tadpole1 which acquires legs and lungs  
when he wants them1 and loses his tail  
when it is no longer of service to him4 
,fifthly1 from their first rudiment or  
primordium to the termination of their  
lives1 all animals undergo perpetual    
transformations2 which are in part      
produced by their own exertions in      
consequence of their desires and        
aversions1 of their pleasures and their 
pains1 or of irritations or of          
associations2 and many of these acquired
 forms or propensities are transmitted  
to their posterity4  ,as air and water  
are supplied to animals in sufficient   
profusion1 the three great objects of   
desire which have changed the forms of  
many animals by their desires to gratify
 them are those of lust1 hunger1 and    
security4 ,a great want of one part of  
the animal world has consisted in the   
desire of the exclusive possession of   
the females2 and these have acquired    
weapons to combat each other for this   
purpose1 as the very thick1 shield-like1

 horny skin on the shoulder of the boar 
is a defence only against animals of his
 own species who strike obliquely       
upwards1 nor are his tusks for other    
purposes except to defend himself1 as he
 is not naturally a carnivorous animal4 
,so the horns of the stag are sharp to  
offend his adversary1 but are branched  
for the purpose of parrying or receiving
 the thrust of horns similar to his own1
 and have therefore been formed for the 
purpose of combating other stags1 for   
the exclusive possession of the females2
 who are observed like the ladies in the
 times of chivalry to attend the car of 
the victor4  ,the birds which do not    
carry food to their young1 and do not   
therefore marry1 are armed with spurs   
for the purpose of fighting for the     
exclusive possession of the females1 as 
cocks and quails4 ,it is certain that   
these weapons are not provided for their
 defence against other adversaries1     
because the females of these species are
 without this armour4 ,the final cause  

of this contest among the males seems to
 be that the strongest and most active  
animal should propagate the species1    
which should thence become improved4#ahj
  ,dr4 ,darwin would have been on       
stronger ground if he had said that the 
effect of the contest among the males   
was that the fittest should survive1 and
 hence transmit any fit modifications   
which had occurred to them as vitally   
true1 rather than that the desire to    
attain this end had caused the contest2 
but either way the sentence just given  
is sufficient to show that he was not   
blind to the fact that the fittest      
commonly survive1 and to the            
consequences of this fact4 ,the use1    
however1 of the word thence1 as well as 
of the expression final cause1 is loose1
 as ,dr4 ,darwin would no doubt readily 
have admitted4 ,improvement in the      
species is due quite as much1 by ,dr4   
,darwin's own showing1 to the causes    
which have led to such and such an      
animal's making itself the fittest1 as  

to the fact that if fittest it will be  
more likely to survive and transmit its 
improvement4 ,there have been two       
factors in modification2 the one        
provides variations1 the other          
accumulates them2 neither can claim     
exclusive right to the word thence1 as  
though the modification was due to it   
and to it only4 ,dr4 ,darwin's use of   
the word thence here is clearly a slip1 
and nothing else2 but it is one which   
brings him for the moment into the very 
error into which his grandson has fallen
 more disastrously4  ,another great     
want1 he continues1 consists in the     
means of procuring food1 which has      
diversified the forms of all species of 
animals4 ,thus the nose of the swine has
 become hard for the purpose of turning 
up the soil in search of insects and of 
roots4 ,the trunk of the elephant is an 
elongation of the nose for the purpose  
of pulling down the branches of trees   
for his food1 and for taking up water   
without bending his knees4 ,beasts of   

prey have acquired strong jaws or       
talons4 ,cattle have acquired a rough   
tongue and a rough palate to pull off   
the blades of grass1 as cows and sheep4 
,some birds have acquired harder beaks  
to crack nuts1 as the parrot4 ,others   
have acquired beaks to break the harder 
seeds1 as sparrows4 ,others for the     
softer kinds of flowers1 or the buds of 
trees1 as the finches4 ,other birds have
 acquired long beaks to penetrate the   
moister soils in search of insects or   
roots1 as woodcocks1 and others broad   
ones to filtrate the water of lakes and 
to retain aquatic insects4 ,all which   
seem to have been gradually produced    
during many generations by the perpetual
 endeavour of the creature to supply the
 want of food1 and to have been         
delivered to their posterity with       
constant improvement of them for the    
purposes required4  ,the third great    
want among animals is that of security1 
which seems to have diversified the     
forms of their bodies and the colour of 

them2 these consist in the means of     
escaping other animals more powerful    
than themselves4 ,hence some animals    
have acquired wings instead of legs1 as 
the smaller birds1 for purposes of      
escape4 ,others1 great length of fin or 
of membrane1 as the flying fish and the 
bat4 ,others have acquired hard or armed
 shells1 as the tortoise and the        
,echinus marinus4  ,mr4 ,osbeck1 a pupil
 of ,linnaeus1 mentions the ,american   
frog-fish1 ,lophius ,histrio1 which     
inhabits the large floating islands of  
sea-weed about the ,cape of ,good ,hope1
 and has fulcra resembling leaves1 that 
the fishes of prey may mistake it for   
the sea-weed1 which it inhabits4#aha    
,the contrivances for the purposes of   
security extend even to vegetables1 as  
is seen in the wonderful and various    
means of their concealing or defending  
their honey from insects and their seeds
 from birds4 ,on the other hand1        
swiftness of wing has been acquired by  
hawks and swallows to pursue their prey2

 and a proboscis of admirable structure 
has been acquired by the bee1 the moth1 
and the humming bird for the purpose of 
plundering the nectaries of flowers4    
,all which seem to have been formed by  
the original living filament1 excited   
into action by the necessities of the   
creatures which possess them1 and on    
which their existence depends4  ,from   
thus meditating on the great similarity 
of the structure of the warm-blooded    
animals1 and at the same time of the    
great changes they undergo both before  
and after their nativity2 and by        
considering in how minute a portion of  
time many of the changes of animals     
above described have been produced2     
would it be too bold to imagine that in 
the great length of time since the earth
 began to exist1 perhaps millions of    
ages before the commencement of the     
history of mankind--would it be too bold
 to imagine that all warm-blooded       
animals have arisen from one living     
filament1 which the ,great ,first ,cause

 endued with animality1 with the power  
of attaining new parts1 attended with   
new propensities1 directed by           
irritations1 sensations1 volitions1 and 
associations2 and thus possessing the   
faculty of continuing to improve1 by its
 own inherent activity1 and of          
delivering down those improvements by   
generation to its posterity world       
without end6  ,sixthly1 the cold-blooded
 animals1 as the fish tribes1 which are 
furnished with but one ventricle of the 
heart1 and with gills instead of lungs1 
and with fins instead of feet or wings1 
bear a great similarity to each other2  
but they differ nevertheless so much in 
their general structure from the        
warm-blooded animals1 that it may not   
seem probable at first view that the    
same living filament could have given   
origin to this kingdom of animals1 as to
 the former4 ,yet are there some        
creatures which unite or partake of both
 these orders of animation1 as the      
whales and seals2 and more particularly 

the frog1 who changes from an aquatic   
animal furnished with gills to an aerial
 one furnished with lungs4  ,the        
numerous tribes of insects without      
wings1 from the spider to the scorpion1 
from the flea to the lobster2 or with   
wings1 from the gnat or the ant to the  
wasp and the dragon-fly1 differ so      
totally from each other1 and from the   
red-blooded classes above described1    
both in the forms of their bodies and in
 their modes of life2 besides the organ 
of sense1 which they seem to possess in 
their antennae or horns1 to which it has
 been thought by some naturalists that  
other creatures have nothing similar2   
that it can scarcely be supposed that   
this nature of animals could have been  
produced by the same kind of living     
filament as the red-blooded classes     
above mentioned4 ,and yet the changes   
which many of them undergo in their     
early state to that of their maturity1  
are as different as one animal can be   
from another4 ,as those of the gnat1    

which passes his early state in water1  
and then stretching out his new wings   
and expanding his new lungs1 rises in   
the air2 as of the caterpillar and      
bee-nymph1 which feed on vegetable      
leaves or farina1 and at length bursting
 from their self-formed graves1 become  
beautiful winged inhabitants of the     
skies1 journeying from flower to flower1
 and nourished by the ambrosial food of 
honey4  ,there is still another class of
 animals which are termed vermes by     
,linnaeus1 which are without feet or    
brain1 and are hermaphrodites1 as worms1
 leeches1 snails1 shell-fish1 coralline 
insects1 and sponges1 which possess the 
simplest structure of all animals1 and  
appear totally different from those     
already described4 ,the simplicity of   
their structure1 however1 can afford no 
argument against their having been      
produced from a single living filament1 
as above contended4  ,last of all1 the  
various tribes of vegetables are to be  
enumerated amongst the inferior orders  

of animals4 ,of these the anthers and   
stigmas have already been shown to      
possess some organs of sense1 to be     
nourished by honey1 and to have the     
power of generation like insects1 and   
have thence been announced amongst the  
animal kingdom in ,section ,,xiii42 and 
to these must be added the buds and     
bulbs1 which constitute the viviparous  
offspring of vegetation4 ,the former ,i 
suppose to be beholden to a single      
living filament for their seminal or    
amatorial procreation2 and the latter to
 the same cause for their lateral or    
branching generation1 which they possess
 in common with the polypus1 taenia1 and
 volvox1 and the simplicity of which is 
an argument in favour of the similarity 
of its cause4  ,linnaeus supposes1 in   
the introduction to his natural orders1 
that very few vegetables were at first  
created1 and that their numbers were    
increased by their intermarriages1 and  
adds1 ',suaderet haec ,creatoris leges a
 simplicibus ad composita4' ,many other 

changes appear to have arisen in them by
 their perpetual contest for light and  
air above ground1 and for food or       
moisture beneath the soil4 ,as noted in 
the ',botanic ,garden1' ,part ,,ii41    
note on ,cuscuta4 ,other changes of     
vegetables from climate or other causes 
are remarked in the note on ,curcuma in 
the same work4 ,from these one might be 
led to imagine that each plant at first 
consisted of a single bulb or flower to 
each root1 as the gentianella and daisy1
 and that in the contest for air and    
light1 new buds grew on the old decaying
 flower-stem1 shooting down their       
elongated roots to the ground1 and that 
in process of ages tall trees were thus 
formed1 and an individual bulb became a 
swarm of vegetables4 ,other plants which
 in this contest for light and air were 
too slender to rise by their own        
strength1 learned by degrees to adhere  
to their neighbours1 either by putting  
forth roots like the ivy1 or by tendrils
 like the vine1 or by spiral contortions

 like the honeysuckle1 or by growing    
upon them like the mistleto1 and taking 
nourishment from their barks1 or by only
 lodging or adhering on them and        
deriving nourishment from the air as    
tillandsia4  ,shall we then say that the
 vegetable living filament was          
originally different from that of each  
tribe of animals above described8 ,and  
that the productive living filament of  
each of those tribes was different from 
the other8 ,or as the earth and ocean   
were probably peopled with vegetable    
productions long before the existence of
 animals2 and many families of these    
animals1 long before other families of  
them1 shall we conjecture that one and  
the same kind of living filament is and 
has been the cause of all organic       
life8#ahb       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the late  
,mr4 ,david ,hume in his posthumous     
works places the powers of generation   
much above those of our boasted reason1 
and adds1 that reason can only make a   
machine1 as a clock or a ship1 but the  

power of generation makes the maker of  
the machine2 and probably from having   
observed that the greatest part of the  
earth has been formed out of organic    
recrements1 as the immense beds of      
limestone1 chalk1 marble1 from the      
shells of fish2 and the extensive       
provinces of clay1 sandstone1 ironstone1
 coals1 from decomposed vegetables2 all 
of which have been first produced by    
generation1 or by the secretion of      
organic life2 he concludes that the     
world itself might have been generated  
rather than created2 that it might have 
been gradually produced from very small 
beginnings1 increasing by the activity  
of its inherent principles1 rather than 
by a sudden evolution of the whole by   
the ,almighty fire4 ,what a magnificent 
idea of the infinite power of the great 
,architect6 ,the ,cause of causes6      
,parent of parents6 ,ens entium6#ahc    
,,footnotes3  #afi ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 
p4 #dhd4  #agj ,ibid4 p4 #dhe4  #aga    
,ibid4 p4 #dic4  #agb ',zoonomia1' vol4 

i4 p4 #did4  #agc ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4  
p4 #dig4  #agd ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4  
#dih4  #age ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#ejj4  #agf ,ibid4 p4 #eja4  #agg ,ibid4
 p4 #ejb4  #agh ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4 
#ejc4  #agi ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#eje4  #ahj ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#ejg4  #aha ',voyage to ,china1' p4     
#aac4  #ahb ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#eaa4  #ahc ',zoonomia1' vol4 i4 p4     
#eac4     ,,chapter ,,xv4  ,,memoir ,,of
 ,,lamarck4   ,i take the following     
memoir of ,lamarck entirely from the    
biographical sketch prefixed by ,m4     
,martins to his excellent edition of the
 ',philosophie ,zoologique4'#ahd ,from  
this sketch ,i find that ,lamarck was   
born ,august #a1 #agdd1 at ,barenton1 in
 ,picardy1 being the eleventh child of  
,pierre de ,monet1 squire of the place1 
a man of old family1 but poor4 ,his     
father intended him for the ,church1 the
 ordinary resource of younger sons at   
that time1 and accordingly placed him   
under the care of the ,jesuits at       

,amiens4 ,but this was not his vocation3
 the annals of his family spoke all to  
him of military glory2 his eldest       
brother had died in the breaches at the 
siege of ,bergen-op-,zoom2 two others   
were still serving in the army1 and     
,france was exhausting her energies in  
an unequal struggle4 ,his father would  
not yield to his wishes1 but on his     
death1 in #agfj1 ,lamarck was left free 
to take his own line1 and made his way  
at once--upon a very bad horse--to the  
army of ,germany1 then encamped at      
,lippstadt in ,westphalia4  ,he was the 
bearer of a letter written by ,madame de
 ,lameth1 one of his neighbours in the  
country1 and recommending him to ,m4 de 
,lastic1 colonel of the regiment of     
,beaujolais4 ,this gentleman1 on seeing 
before him a lad of seventeen1 whose    
somewhat stunted growth made him look   
still younger than he really was1 sent  
the youth immediately to his own        
quarters4 ,the next day a battle was    
immediately impending1 and ,m4 de       

,lastic1 on passing his regiment in     
review1 saw his protege in the first    
rank of a company of grenadiers4 ,the   
,french army was under the orders of the
 ,marshal de ,broglie and of the ,prince
 de ,soubise2 the allied troops were    
commanded by ,ferdinand of ,brunswick4  
,the two ,french generals were beaten   
owing to their divided counsels1 and    
,lamarck's company1 almost annihilated  
by the enemy's fire1 was forgotten in   
the confusion of the retreat4 ,all the  
officers1 commissioned and              
non-commissioned1 were killed1 and only 
fourteen men out of the whole company   
remained alive3 the eldest proposed to  
retreat1 but ,lamarck1 improvising      
himself as commander1 declared that they
 ought not to retire without orders4    
,presently the colonel seeing that this 
company did not rally sent an orderly   
officer who made his way up to it by    
protected paths4 ,next day ,lamarck was 
made an officer1 and shortly afterwards 
lieutenant4  ,fortunately for science1  

continues ,m4 ,martins1 this brilliant  
debut was not to decide his career4     
,after peace had been signed he was sent
 into garrison at ,toulon and ,monaco1  
where an inflammation of the lymphatic  
ganglions of the neck necessitated an   
operation which left him deeply scarred 
for life4  ,the vegetation in the       
neighbourhood of ,toulon and ,monaco now
 arrested the young officer's attention4
 ,he had already derived some little    
knowledge of botany from the ',traite   
des ,plantes usuelles' of ,chomel4      
,having retired from the service1 and   
having nothing beyond his modest pension
 of four hundred francs a year1 he took 
a situation at ,paris with a banker2 but
 drawn irresistibly to the study of     
nature1 he used to study from his attic 
window the forms and movements of       
clouds1 and made himself familiar with  
the plants in the ,jardin du ,roi or in 
the public gardens4 ,he began to feel   
that he was on his right path1 and      
understood1 as ,voltaire said of        

,condorcet1 that discoveries of         
permanent value could make him no less  
illustrious than military glory4        
,dissatisfied with the botanical systems
 of his time1 in six months he wrote his
 ',flore francaise1' preceded by the    
',cle dichotomique1' with the help of   
which it is easy even for a beginner to 
arrive with certainty at the name of the
 plant before him4 ,of this work1 ,m4   
,martins tells us in a note1 that the   
second edition1 published by ,candolle  
in #ahae1 is still the standard work on 
,french plants4  ,in #aggh ,rousseau had
 brought botany into vogue4 ,women and  
men of fashion took to it4 ,buffon had  
the three volumes of ',flore francaise' 
printed at the royal press1 and in the  
following year ,lamarck entered the     
,academy of ,sciences4 ,buffon being    
anxious that his son should travel1 gave
 him ,lamarck for his companion and     
tutor4 ,he thus made a trip through     
,holland1 ,germany1 and ,hungary1 and   
became acquainted with ,gleditsch at    

,berlin1 with ,jacquin at ,vienna1 and  
with ,murray at ,gottingen4  ,the       
',encyclopedie methodique1' begun by    
,diderot and ,d',alembert1 was not yet  
completed4 ,for this work ,lamarck wrote
 four volumes1 describing all the then  
known plants whose names began with the 
letters from ,a to ,p4 ,this great work 
was completed by ,poiret1 and comprises 
twelve volumes1 which appeared between  
the years #aghc and #ahag4 ,a still more
 important work1 also part of the       
,encyclopedia1 and continually quoted by
 botanists1 is the ',illustration des   
,genres4' ,in this work ,lamarck        
describes two thousand genera1 and      
illustrates them1 according to the      
title-page1 with nine hundred           
engravings4 ,only a botanist can form   
any idea of the research in collections1
 gardens1 and books1 which such a work  
must have involved4 ,but ,lamarck's     
activity was inexhaustible4 ,sonnerat   
returned from ,india in #agha with a    
very large number of dried plants2 no   

one except ,lamarck thought it worth    
while to inspect them1 and ,sonnerat1   
charmed with his enthusiasm1 gave him   
the whole magnificent collection4  ,in  
spite1 however1 of his incessant toil1  
,lamarck's position continued to be most
 precarious4 ,he lived by his pen1 as a 
publisher's hack1 and it was with       
difficulty that he obtained even the    
poorly paid post of keeper of the king's
 cabinet of dried plants4 ,like most    
other naturalists he had thus to contend
 with incessant difficulties during a   
period of fifteen years4  ,at length    
fortune bettered his condition while    
changing the direction of his labours4  
,france was now under the ,convention2  
what ,carnot had done for the army      
,lakanal undertook to do for the natural
 sciences4 ,at his suggestion a museum  
of natural history was established4     
,professors had been found for all the  
chairs save that of ,zoology2 but in    
that time of enthusiasm1 so different   
from the present1 ,france could find men

 of war and men of science wherever and 
whenever she had need of them4 ,etienne 
,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire was twenty-one  
years old1 and was engaged in the study 
of mineralogy under ,hauey4 ,daubenton  
said to him1 ',i will undertake the     
responsibility for your inexperience4 ,i
 have a father's authority over you4    
,take this professorship1 and let us one
 day say that you have made zoology a   
,french science4' ,geoffroy accepted1   
and undertook the higher animals4       
,lakanal knew that a single professor   
could not suffice for the task of       
arranging the collections of the entire 
animal kingdom1 and as ,geoffroy was to 
class the vertebrate animals only1 there
 remained the invertebrata--that is to  
say1 insects1 molluscs1 worms1          
zoophytes--in a word1 what was then the 
chaos of the unknown4 ',lamarck1' says  
,m4 ,michelet1 'accepted the unknown4'  
,he had devoted some attention to the   
study of shells with ,bruguieres1 but he
 had still everything to learn1 or ,i   

should perhaps say rather1 everything to
 create in that unexplored territory    
into which ,linnaeus had declined to    
enter1 and into which he had thus       
introduced none of the order he had so  
well known how to establish among the   
higher animals4  ,lamarck began his     
course of lectures at the museum in     
#agid1 after a year's preparation1 and  
at once established that great division 
of animals into vertebrate and          
invertebrate1 which science has ever    
since recognized4  ,dividing the        
vertebrate animals--as ,linnaeus had    
already divided them--into mammals1     
birds1 reptiles1 and fishes1 he divided 
the invertebrates into molluscs1        
insects1 worms1 echinoderms1 and polyps4
 ,in #agii he separated the crustacea   
from the insects1 with which they had   
been classed hitherto2 in #ahjj he      
established the arachnids as a class    
distinct from the insects2 in #ahjb that
 of the annelids1 a subdivision of the  
worms1 and that of the radiata as       

distinct from the polyps4 ,time has     
approved the wisdom of these divisions1 
founded all of them upon the organic    
type of the creatures themselves--that  
is to say1 upon the rational method     
introduced into zoology by ,cuvier1     
,lamarck1 and ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire4  
,this introduction being devoted only to
 ,lamarck's labours as a naturalist1 we 
will pass over certain works in which he
 treats of physics and chemistry4 ,these
 attempts--errors of a powerful mind    
which thought itself able by the help of
 pure reason to establish truths which  
rest only upon experience--attempts1    
moreover1 which were some of them but   
resuscitations of exploded theories1    
such as that of 'phlogistic'--had not   
even the honour of being refuted3 they  
did not deserve to be so1 and should be 
a warning to all those who would write  
upon a subject without the necessary    
practical knowledge4       4 4 4 4 4 4  
,at the beginning of this century there 
was not yet any such science as geology4

 ,people observed but little1 and in    
lieu of observation made theories to    
embrace the entire globe4 ,lamarck made 
his in #ahjb1 and twenty-three years    
later the judicious ,cuvier still       
yielded to the prevailing custom in     
publishing his ',discoveries on the     
,earth's ,revolutions4'  ,lamarck's     
merit was to have discovered that there 
had been no catastrophes1 but that the  
gradual action of forces during         
thousands of ages accounted for the     
changes observable upon the face of the 
earth1 better than any sudden and       
violent perturbations4 ',nature1' he    
writes1 'has no difficulty on the score 
of time2 she has it always at command2  
it is with her a boundless space in     
which she has room for the greatest as  
for the smallest operations4'  ,here we 
must not forget ,buffon's fine passage1 
,nature's great workman is ,time1 c4    
,see page #ajc4  ,lamarck1 continues ,m4
 ,martins1 was the first to distinguish 
littoral from ocean fossils1 but no one 

accepts his theory that oceans make     
their beds deeper owing to the action of
 the tides1 and distribute themselves   
differently over the earth's surface    
without any change of level of the      
different parts of that surface4       4
 4 4 4 4 4  ,settling down to a single  
branch of science1 in consequence of his
 professorship1 ,lamarck now devoted    
himself to the twofold labour of        
lecturing and classifying the           
collections at the museum4 ,in #ahjb he 
published his ',considerations on the   
,organization of ,living ,bodies'2 in   
#ahji his ',philosophie ,zoologique1' a 
development of the ',considerations'2   
and from #ahaf to #ahbb his ,natural    
,history of the invertebrate animals1 in
 seven volumes4 ,this is his great work1
 and1 being entirely a work of          
description and classification1 was     
received with the unanimous approbation 
of the scientific world4 ,his ',fossil  
,shells of the ,neighbourhood of        
,paris'--a work in which his profound   

knowledge of existing shells enabled him
 to class with certainty the remains of 
forms that had disappeared thousands of 
ages ago--met also with a favourable    
reception4  ,lamarck was fifty years old
 before he began to study zoology2 and  
prolonged microscopic examinations first
 fatigued and at length enfeebled his   
eyesight4 ,the clouds which obscured it 
gradually thickened1 and he became quite
 blind4 ,married four times1 the father 
of seven children1 he saw his small     
patrimony and even his earlier savings  
swallowed up by one of those hazardous  
investments with which promoters impose 
on the credulity of the public4 ,his    
small endowment as professor alone      
protected him from destitution4 ,men of 
science whom his reputation as a        
botanist and zoologist had attracted    
near him1 wondered at the manner in     
which he was neglected4       4 4 4 4 4 
4  ,he passed the last ten years of his 
laborious life in darkness1 tended only 
by the affectionate care of his two     

daughters4 ,the eldest wrote from his   
dictation part of the sixth and seventh 
volumes of his work on the invertebrate 
animals4 ,from the time her father      
became confined to his room his daughter
 never left the house2 and when first   
she did so after his death1 she was     
distressed by the fresh air to which she
 had been so long a stranger4  ,lamarck 
died ,december #ah1 #ahbi1 at the age of
 eighty-five4 ,latreille and ,blainville
 were his successors at the museum4 ,the
 incredible activity of the first       
professor had so greatly increased the  
number of the known invertebrata that it
 was found necessary to endow two       
professors1 where one had originally    
been sufficient4  ,his two daughters    
were left penniless4 ,in the year #ahcb 
,i myself saw ,mlle4 ,cornelie de       
,lamarck earning a scanty pittance by   
fastening dried plants on to paper1 in  
the museum of which her father had been 
a professor4 ,many a species named and  
described by him must have passed under 

her eyes and increased the bitterness of
 her regret4#ahe  ,,footnotes3  #ahd    
,paris1 #ahgc4  #ahe ,introduction      
,biographique to ,m4 ,martins' edition  
of the ',phil4 ,zool41' pp4 ix-xx4      
,,chapter ,,xvi4  ,,general             
,,misconception ,,concerning            
,,lamarck--,,his ,,philosophical        
,,position4   ,if ,cuvier1 says ,m4     
,isidore ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire1#ahf is
 the modern successor of ,linnaeus1 so  
is ,lamarck of ,buffon4 ,but ,cuvier    
does not go so far as ,linnaeus1 and    
,lamarck goes much farther than ,buffon4
 ,lamarck1 moreover1 took his own line1 
and his conjectures are not only much   
bolder1 or rather more hazardous1 but   
they are profoundly different from      
,buffon's4  ,it is well known that the  
vast labours of ,lamarck were divided   
between botany and physical science in  
the eighteenth century1 and between     
zoology and natural philosophy in the   
nineteenth2 it is1 however1 less        
generally known that ,lamarck was long a

 partisan of the immutability of        
species4 ,it was not till #ahja1 when he
 was already old1 that he freed himself 
from the ideas then generally           
prevailing4 ,but ,lamarck1 having once  
made up his mind1 never changed it2 in  
his ripe age he exhibits all the ardour 
of youth in propagating and defending   
his new convictions4  ,in the three     
years1 #ahja1 #ahjb1 #ahjc1 he enounced 
them twice in his lectures1 and three   
times in his writings4#ahg ,he returns  
to the subject and states his views     
precisely in #ahjf1ahh and in #ahji he  
devotes a great part of his principal   
work1 the ',philosophie ,zoologique1' to
 their demonstration4#ahi ,here he might
 have rested and have quietly awaited   
the judgment of his peers2 but he is too
 much convinced2 he believes the future 
of science to depend so much upon his   
doctrine that to his dying day he feels 
compelled to explain it further and     
insist upon it4 ,when already over      
seventy years of age he enounces it     

again1 and maintains it as firmly as    
ever in #ahae1 in his ',histoire des    
,animaux sans ,vertebres1' and in #ahbj 
in his ',systeme des ,connaissances     
,positives4'#aij  ,this doctrine1 so    
dearly cherished by its author1 and the 
conception1 exposition1 and defence of  
which so laboriously occupied the second
 half of his scientific career1 has been
 assuredly too much admired by some1 who
 have forgotten that ,lamarck had a     
precursor1 and that that precursor was  
,buffon4 ,it has1 on the other hand1    
been too severely condemned by others   
who have involved it in its entirety in 
broad and sweeping condemnation4 ,as if 
it were possible that so great labour on
 the part of so great a naturalist      
should have led him to 'a fantastic     
conclusion' only--to a 'flighty error1' 
and1 as has been often said1 though not 
written1 to 'one absurdity the more4'   
,such was the language which ,lamarck   
heard during his protracted old age1    
saddened alike by the weight of years   

and blindness2 this was what people did 
not hesitate to utter over his grave yet
 barely closed1 and what1 indeed1 they  
are still saying--commonly1 too1 without
 any knowledge of what ,lamarck         
maintained1 but merely repeating at     
second hand bad caricatures of his      
teaching4  ,when will the time come when
 we may see ,lamarck's theory           
discussed--and1 ,i may as well at once  
say1 refuted in some important          
points--with at any rate the respect due
 to one of the most illustrious masters 
of our science8 ,and when will this     
theory1 the hardihood of which has been 
greatly exaggerated1 become freed from  
the interpretations and commentaries by 
the false light of which so many        
naturalists have formed their opinion   
concerning it8 ,if its author is to be  
condemned1 let it be1 at any rate1 not  
before he has been heard4#aia  ,it is   
not necessary for me to give the        
extracts from ,lamarck which ,m4        
,isidore ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire quotes 

in order to show what he really         
maintained1 inasmuch as they will be    
given at greater length in the following
 chapter2 but ,i may perhaps say that ,i
 have not found ,m4 ,geoffroy refuting  
,lamarck in any essential point4        
,professor ,haeckel says that to        
,lamarck will always belong the immortal
 glory of having for the first time     
worked out the theory of descent as an  
independent scientific theory of the    
first order1 and as the philosophical   
foundation of the whole science of      
,biology4       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the       
',philosophie ,zoologique1' continues   
,professor ,haeckel1 is the first       
connected exposition of the theory of   
descent carried out strictly into all   
its consequences2 444 and with the      
exception of ,darwin's work1 which      
appeared exactly half a century later1  
we know of none which we could in this  
respect place by the side of the        
',philosophie ,zoologique4' ,how far it 
was in advance of its time is perhaps   

best seen from the circumstance that it 
was not understood by most men1 and for 
fifty years was not spoken of at        
all4#aib  ,this is an exaggeration1 both
 as regards the originality of          
,lamarck's work and the reception it has
 met with4 ,it is probably more accurate
 to say with ,m4 ,martins that          
,lamarck's theory has never yet had the 
honour of being discussed seriously1#aic
 not1 at least1 in connection with the  
name of its originators4  ,so completely
 has this been so that the author of the
 ',vestiges of ,creation1' even in the  
edition of #ahfj1 in which he           
unreservedly acknowledges the adoption  
of ,lamarck's views1 not unfrequently   
speaks disparagingly of ,lamarck        
himself1 and never gives him his due    
meed of recognition4 ,i am not1         
therefore1 wholly displeased to find    
this author conceiving himself to have  
been treated by ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin   
with some of the injustice which he has 
himself inflicted on ,lamarck4  ,in the 

#ahei edition of the ',origin of        
,species1' and in a very prominent      
place1 ,mr4 ,darwin says3--,the author  
of the ',vestiges of ,creation' would ,i
 presume say1 that after a certain      
number of unknown generations1 some bird
 had given birth to a woodpecker1 and   
some plant to a misseltoe1 and that     
these had been produced perfect as we   
now see them4#aid ,this is the only     
allusion to the ',vestiges' which ,i    
have found in the first edition of the  
',origin of ,species4'  ,those who have 
read the #ahec edition of the           
',vestiges' will not be surprised to    
find the author rejoining1 in his       
edition of #ahfj1 that it was to be     
regretted ,mr4 ,darwin should have read 
the ',vestiges' nearly as much amiss as 
though1 like its declared opponents1 he 
had an interest in misunderstanding it4 
,and a little lower he adds that ,mr4   
,darwin's book in no essential respect  
contradicts the ',vestiges'2 on the     
contrary1 while adding to its           

explanations of nature1 it expresses    
substantially the same general          
ideas4#aie ,it is right to say that the 
passage thus objected to is not to be   
found in later editions of the ',origin 
of ,species1' while in the historical   
sketch we now read as follows3--,in my  
opinion it 7the ',vestiges of           
,creation'7 has done excellent service  
in this country by calling attention to 
the subject1 removing prejudice1 and in 
thus preparing the ground for the       
reception of analogous views4  ,mr4     
,darwin1 the main part of whose work on 
the ',origin of ,species' is taken up   
with supporting the theory of descent   
with modification 7which frequently in  
the recapitulation chapter of the       
',origin of ,species' he seems to treat 
as synonymous with natural selection71  
has fallen into the common error of     
thinking that ,lamarck can be ignored or
 passed over in a couple of sentences4  
,i only find ,lamarck's name twice in   
the #ahei edition of the ',origin1' once

 on p4 #bdb1 where ,mr4 ,darwin writes3 
,i am surprised that no one has advanced
 this demonstrative case of neuter      
insects1 against the well-known doctrine
 of ,lamarck2 and again1 p4 #dbg1 where 
,lamarck is stated to have been the     
first to call attention to the very     
important distinction between real      
affinities and analogical or adaptive   
resemblances4 ,how far from             
demonstrative is the particular case    
which in #ahei ,mr4 ,darwin considered  
so fatal to the well-known doctrine of  
,lamarck--which should surely1 one would
 have thought1 include the doctrine of  
descent with modification1 which ,mr4   
,darwin is himself supporting--,i have  
attempted to show in ',life and ,habit1'
 but had perhaps better recapitulate    
briefly here4  ,mr4 ,darwin writes3 ,in 
the simpler case of neuter insects all  
of one caste1 which1 as ,i believe1 have
 been rendered different from the       
fertile males and females through       
natural selection4444#aif ,he thus      

attributes the sterility and peculiar   
characteristics1 we will say1 of the    
common hive working bees--neuter insects
 all of one caste--to natural selection4
 ,now1 nothing is more certain than that
 these characteristics--sterility1 a    
cavity in the thigh for collecting wax1 
a proboscis for gathering honey1 c4--are
 due to the treatment which the eggs    
laid by the queen bee receive after they
 have left her body4 ,take an egg and   
treat it in a certain way1 and it       
becomes a working bee2 treat the same   
egg in a certain other way1 and it      
becomes a queen4 ,if the bees are in    
danger of becoming queenless they take  
eggs which were in the way of being     
developed into working bees1 and change 
their food and cells1 whereon they      
develop into queens instead4 ,how ,mr4  
,darwin could attribute the             
neutralization of the working bees--an  
act which is obviously one of abortion  
committed by the body politic of the    
hive on a balance of considerations--to 

the action of what he calls natural     
selection1 and how1 again1 he could     
suppose that what he was advancing had  
any but a confirmatory bearing upon     
,lamarck's position1 is                 
incomprehensible1 unless the passage in 
question be taken as a mere slip4 ,that 
attention has been called to it is      
plain1 for the words the well-known     
doctrine of ,lamarck have been changed  
in later editions into the well-known   
doctrine of inherited habit as advanced 
by ,lamarck1#aig but this correction1   
though some apparent improvement on the 
original text1 does little indeed in    
comparison with what is wanted4  ,mr4   
,darwin has since introduced a paragraph
 concerning ,lamarck into the historical
 sketch1 already more than once referred
 to in these pages4 ,in this he         
summarises the theory which ,i am about 
to lay before the reader1 by saying that
 ,lamarck upheld the doctrine that all  
species1 including man1 are descended   
from other species4 ,if ,lamarck had    

been alive he would probably have       
preferred to see ,mr4 ,darwin write that
 he upheld the doctrine of descent with 
modification as the explanation of all  
differentiations of structure and       
instinct4 ,mr4 ,darwin continues1 that  
,lamarck seems to have been chiefly led 
to his conclusion on the gradual change 
of species1 by the difficulty of        
distinguishing species and varieties1 by
 the almost perfect gradation of forms  
in certain groups1 and by the analogy of
 domestic productions4  ,lamarck would  
probably have said that though he did   
indeed turn--as ,mr4 ,darwin has done1  
and as ,buffon and ,dr4 ,darwin had done
 before him--to animals and plants under
 domestication1 in illustration and     
support of the theory of descent with   
modification2 and that though he did    
also insist1 as so many other writers   
have done1 on the arbitrary and         
artificial nature of the distinction    
between species and varieties1 he was   
mainly led to agree with ,buffon and    

,dr4 ,darwin by a broad survey of the   
animal kingdom1 with the details also of
 which few naturalists have ever been   
better acquainted4  ,great1 says ,mr4   
,darwin1 is the power of steady         
misrepresentation1--and greatly indeed  
has the just fame of ,lamarck been      
eclipsed in consequence2 but1 as ,mr4   
,darwin finely continues1 the history of
 science shows that fortunately this    
power does not long endure4#aih  ,that  
,lamarck anticipated it1 was prepared to
 face it1 and even felt that things were
 thus1 after all1 as they should be1    
will appear from the shrewd and pleasant
 passage which is to be found near the  
close of his preface3--  ,so great is   
the power of preconceived opinion1      
especially when any personal interest is
 enlisted on the same side as itself1   
that though it is hard to deduce new    
truths from the study of nature1 it is  
still harder to get them recognized by  
other people4  ,these difficulties1     
however1 are on the whole more          

beneficial than hurtful to the cause of 
science2 for it is through them that a  
number of eccentric1 though perhaps     
plausible speculations1 perish in their 
infancy1 and are never again heard of4  
,sometimes1 indeed1 valuable ideas are  
thus lost2 but it is better that a      
truth1 when once caught sight of1 should
 have to struggle for a long time       
without meeting the attention it        
deserves1 than that every outcome of a  
heated imagination should be readily    
received4  ,the more ,i reflect upon the
 numerous causes which affect our       
judgments1 the more convinced ,i am     
that1 with the exception of such        
physical and moral facts as no one can  
now throw doubt upon1 all else is matter
 of opinion and argument2 and we know   
well that there is hardly an argument to
 be found anywhere1 against which       
another argument cannot plausibly be    
adduced4 ,hence1 though it is plain that
 the various opinions of men differ     
greatly in probability and in the weight

 which should be attached to them1 it   
seems to me that we are wrong when we   
blame those who differ from us4  ,are we
 then to recognize no opinions as well  
founded but those which are generally   
received8 ,nay--experience teaches us   
plainly that the highest and most       
cultivated minds must be at all times in
 an exceedingly small minority4 ,no one 
can dispute this4 ,authority should be  
told by weight and not by number--but in
 good truth authority is a hard thing to
 weigh4  ,nor again--in spite of the    
many and severe conditions which a      
judgment must fulfil before it can be   
declared good--is it quite certain that 
those whom public opinion has declared  
to be authorities1 are always right in  
the conclusions they arrive at4         
,positive facts are the only solid      
ground for man2 the deductions he draws 
from them are a very different matter4  
,outside the facts of nature all is a   
question of probabilities1 and the most 
that can be said is that some           

conclusions are more probable than      
others4  ,lamarck's poverty was perhaps 
one main reason of the ease with which  
it was found possible to neglect his    
philosophical opinions4 ,science is not 
a kingdom into which a poor man can     
enter easily1 if he happens to differ   
from a philosopher who gives good       
dinners1 and has his sisters and his    
cousins and his aunts to play the part  
of chorus to him4 ,lamarck's two        
daughters do not appear to have been the
 kind of persons who could make         
effective sisters or cousins or aunts4  
,men of science are of like passions    
even with the other holy ones who have  
set themselves up in all ages as the    
pastors and prophets of mankind4 ,the   
saint has commonly deemed it to be for  
the interests of saintliness that he    
should strain a point or two in his own 
favour--and the more so according as his
 reputation for an appearance of candour
 has been the better earned4 ,if1 then1 
,lamarck's opponents could keep         

choruses1 while ,lamarck had nothing to 
fall back upon but the merits of his    
case only1 it is not surprising that he 
should have found himself neglected by  
the scientists of his own time4         
,moreover he was too old to have        
undertaken such an unequal contest4 ,if 
he had been twenty years younger when he
 began it1 he would probably have       
enjoyed his full measure of success     
before he died4  ,not that ,lamarck can 
claim1 as a thinker1 to stand on the    
same level with ,dr4 ,darwin1 and still 
less so with ,buffon4 ,he attempted to  
go too fast and too far4 ,seeing that if
 we accept descent with modification1   
the question arises whether what we call
 life and consciousness may not         
themselves be evolved from some thing or
 things which looked at one time so     
little living and conscious that we call
 them inanimate--and being anxious to   
see his theory reach1 and to follow it1 
as far back as possible1 he speculates  
about the origin of life2 having formed 

a theory thereon1 he is more inclined to
 interpret the phenomena of lower animal
 life so as to make them fit in with his
 theory1 than as he would have          
interpreted them if there had been no   
theory at stake4  ,thus his denial that 
sensation1 and much more1 intelligence  
and deliberate action1 can exist without
 a brain and a nervous system1 has led  
him to deny sensation1 consciousness1   
and intelligence to many animals which  
act in such manner as would certainly   
have made him say that they feel and    
know what they are about1 if he had     
formed no theory about brains and       
nervous systems4  ,nothing can be more  
different than the manners in which     
,lamarck and ,dr4 ,darwin wrote on this 
head4 ,lamarck over and over again      
maintains that where there is no nervous
 system there can be no sensation4      
,combating1 for example1 the assertion  
of ,cabanis1 that to live is to feel1 he
 says that the greater number of the    
polypi and all the infusoria1 having no 

nervous system1 it must be said of them 
as also of worms1 that to live is still 
not to feel2 and so again of plants4#aii
  ,how different from this is the       
un-theory-ridden language of ,dr4       
,darwin1 quoted on p4 #aaf of this work4
  ,lamarck again writes3--  ,the very   
imperfect animals of the lowest classes1
 having no nervous system1 are simply   
irritable1 have nothing but certain     
habits1 experience no sensations1 and   
never conceive ideas4  ,this1 in the    
face of the performances of the         
amoeba--a minute jelly speck1 without   
any special organ whatever--in making   
its tests1 cannot be admitted4 ,is it   
possible that ,lamarck was in some      
measure misled by believing ,buffon to  
be in earnest when he advanced          
propositions little less monstrous8     
,but1 continues ,lamarck1 the less      
imperfect animals which have a nervous  
system1 though they have not the organ  
of intelligence1 have instinct1 habits1 
and proclivities2 they feel sensations1 

and yet form no ideas whatever4 ,i      
venture to say that where there is no   
organ for a faculty that faculty cannot 
exist4#bjj  ,who can tell what ideas a  
worm does or does not form8 ,we can     
watch its actions1 and see that they are
 such as involve what we call design and
 a perception of its own interest4      
,under these circumstances it seems     
better to call the worm a reasonable    
creature with ,dr4 ,darwin than to say  
with ,lamarck that because worms do not 
appear to have that organ which he      
assumes to be the sole means of causing 
sensation and ideas1 therefore they can 
neither feel nor think4 ,doubtless they 
cannot feel and think as many sensations
 and thoughts as we can1 but our ideas  
of what they can and cannot feel must be
 formed through consideration of what we
 see them do1 and must be biassed by no 
theories of what they ought to be able  
to feel or not feel4  ,again ,lamarck1  
shortly after an excellent passage in   
which he points out that the lower      

animals gain by experience just as man  
does 7and here probably he had in his   
mind the passage of ,buffon referred to 
at p4 #aab of this work71 nevertheless  
writes3--  ,if the facts and            
considerations put forward in this      
volume be held worthy of attention1 it  
will follow necessarily that there are  
some animals which have neither reason  
nor instinct 7,i should be glad to see  
one of these animals and to watch its   
movements71 such as those which have no 
power of feeling2 that there are others 
which have instinct but no degree       
whatever of reason 7whereas from ,dr4   
,darwin's premises it should follow1 and
 would doubtless be readily admitted by 
him1 that instinct is reason1 but reason
 many times repeated made perfect1 and  
finally repeated by rote2 so that far   
from being prior to reason1 as ,lamarck 
here implies1 it can only come long     
afterwards71 such as those which have a 
system enabling them to feel1 but which 
still lack the organ of intelligence2   

and finally1 that there are those which 
have not only instinct1 but over and    
above this a certain degree of reasoning
 power1 such as those creatures which   
have one system for sensations and      
another for acts involving intelligence4
 ,instinct is with these last animals   
the motive power of almost all their    
actions1 and they rarely use what little
 reason they have4 ,man1 who comes next 
above them1 is also possessed of        
instincts which inspire some of his     
actions1 but he can acquire much reason1
 and can use it so as to direct the     
greater part of his actions4#bja  ,all  
this will be felt to be less            
satisfactory than the simple directness 
of ,dr4 ,darwin4 ,it comes in great     
measure from following ,buffon without  
being en rapport with him4 ,on the other
 hand1 ,lamarck must be admitted to have
 elaborated the theory of descent with  
modification with no less clearness than
 ,dr4 ,darwin1 and with much greater    
fulness of detail4 ,there is no         

substantial difference between the      
points they wish to establish2 ,dr4     
,darwin has the advantage in that not   
content with maintaining that there will
 be a power of adaptation to the        
conditions of an animal's existence     
which will determine its organism1 he   
goes on to say what the principal       
conditions are1 and shows more lucidly  
than ,lamarck has done 7though ,lamarck 
adopts the same three causes in a       
passage which will follow71 that        
struggle1 and consequently modification1
 will be chiefly conversant about the   
means of subsistence1 of reproduction1  
and of self-protection4 ,nevertheless1  
though ,dr4 ,darwin has said enough to  
show that he had the whole thing clearly
 before him1 and could have elaborated  
it as finely as or better than ,lamarck 
himself has done1 if he had been so     
minded1 yet the palm must be given to   
,lamarck on the score of what he        
actually did1 and this ,i observe to be 
the verdict of history1 for whereas     

,lamarck's name is still daily quoted1  
,dr4 ,darwin's is seldom mentioned1 and 
never with the applause which it        
deserves4  ,the resemblance between the 
two writers--that is to say1 the        
complete coincidence of their views--is 
so remarkable that the question is      
forced upon us how far ,lamarck knew the
 substance of ,dr4 ,darwin's theory4    
,lamarck knew ,buffon personally2 he had
 been tutor to ,buffon's son1 and       
,buffon had three of ,lamarck's volumes 
on the ,french ,flora printed at the    
royal printing press2--how can we       
account for ,lamarck's having had       
,buffon's theory of descent with        
modification before him for so many     
years1 and yet remaining a partisan of  
immutability till #ahja8 ,before this   
year we find no trace of his having     
accepted evolution2 thenceforward he is 
one of the most ardent and constant     
exponents which this doctrine has ever  
had4 ,what was it that repelled him in  
,buffon's system8 ,how is it that in the

 ',philosophie ,zoologique' there is    
not1 so far as ,i can remember1 a single
 reference to ,buffon1 from whom1       
however1 as we shall see1 many          
paragraphs are taken with but very      
little alteration8  ,i am inclined to   
think that the secret of this sudden    
conversion must be found in a ,french   
translation by ,m4 ,deleuze of ,dr4     
,darwin's poem1 ',the ,loves of the     
,plants' which appeared in #ahjj4       
,lamarck--the most eminent botanist of  
his time--was sure to have heard of and 
seen this1 and would probably know the  
translator1 who would be able to give   
him a fair idea of the ',zoonomia4'  ,i 
will give a few of the passages which   
,lamarck would find in this translation4
 ,speaking of ,dr4 ,darwin1 ,m4 ,deleuze
 says3--,il falloit encore qu'un nouvel 
observateur1 entrant dans la route qui  
venoit de s'ouvrir1 s'y frayat des      
sentiers ignores2 que liant la physique 
vegetale a la botanique il nous montrat 
dans les plantes1 non seulement des     

corps organises soumis a des lois       
constantes1 mais des etres doues sinon  
de sensibilite1 au moins d'une          
irritabilite particuliere1 d'un principe
 de vie qui leur fait executer des      
mouvements analogues a leurs            
besoins4444#bjb  ,il est des animaux et 
des plantes qui par le laps du tems     
paroissent avoir eprouve des changemens 
dans leur organisation1 pour            
s'accommoder a de nouveaux genres de    
nourriture et aux moyens de se la       
procurer4 ,peut-etre les productions de 
la nature font elles des progres vers la
 perfection4 ,cette idee appuyee par les
 observations modernes sur              
l'accroissement progressif des parties  
solides du globe1 s'accorde avec la     
dignite et la providence du createur de 
l'univers4#bjc  ,la nature semble s'etre
 fait un jeu d'etablir entre tous les   
etres organises une sorte de guerre qui 
entretient leur activite3 si elle a     
donne aux uns des moyens de defense1    
elle a donne aux autres des moyens      

d'attaque4#bjd  ,turning to the         
',botanic ,garden' itself1 ,i find that 
this admirable sentence belongs to ,m4  
,deleuze1 and not to ,dr4 ,darwin1 who1 
however1 has said what comes to much the
 same thing1#bje as may be seen p4 #bbg 
of this volume4 ,but the authorship is  
immaterial2 whether the passage was by  
,dr4 ,darwin or ,m4 ,deleuze1 it was1 in
 all probability1 known to ,lamarck     
before his change of front4       99    
99     99     99     99  ,the note on   
,trapa ,natans again#bjf suggests itself
 as the source from which the passage in
 the ',philosophie ,zoologique' about   
the ,ranunculus aquatilis is taken1#bjg 
while one of the most important passages
 in the work1 a summary1 in fact1 of the
 principal means of modification1 seems 
to be taken1 the first half of it from  
,buffon1 and the second from ,dr4       
,darwin4 ,i have called attention to it 
on pp4 #cjj1 #cja4  ,we may then suppose
 that ,lamarck failed to understand     
,buffon1 and conceived that he ought    

either to have gone much farther1 or not
 so far2 not being yet prepared to go   
the whole length himself1 he opposed    
mutability till ,dr4 ,darwin's additions
 to ,buffon's ostensible theory reached 
him1 whereon he at once adopted them1   
and having received nothing but a few   
notes and hints1 felt himself at liberty
 to work the theory out independently   
and claim it4 ,in so original a work as 
the ',philosophie ,zoologique' must     
always be considered1 this may be       
legitimate1 but ,i find in it1 as       
,isidore ,geoffroy seems also to have   
found1 a little more claim to complete  
independence than is acceptable to one  
who is fresh from ,buffon and ,dr4      
,darwin4  ,,footnotes3  #ahf ',hist4    
,nat4 ,gen41' tom4 ii4 p4 #djd1 #ahei4  
#ahg ',systeme des ,animaux sans        
,vertebres1' ,paris1 in-#h1 an4 ix4     
7#ahja72 ',discours d',ouverture1' p4   
#ab1 c42 ',recherches sur               
l',organisation des ,corps ,vivants1'   
,paris1 in-#h1 #ahjb1 p4 #ej1 c42       

',discours d',ouverture d'un ,cours de  
,zoologie pour l'an ix41' ,paris1 in-#h1
 #ahjc4 ,this discourse is entirely     
devoted to the consideration of the     
question1 ,what is ,species8  #ahh      
',discours d',ouverture d'un ,cours de  
,zoologie1' #ahjf1 ,paris1 in-#h1 p4 #h1
 c4  #ahi ,see following chapter4  #aij 
',hist1 des ,anim4 sans ,verteb41' tom1 
i41 ,introduction1 #are ed41 #ahae2     
',syst4 des ,conn4 ,positives1' ,paris1 
in-#h1 #ahbj1 #are part1 #bme sect4 ch4 
ii4 p4 #aad1 c4  #aia ',hist4 ,nat4     
,gen41' tom4 ii4 p4 #djg4  #aib         
',history of ,creation1' ,english       
translation1 vol4 i4 pp4 #aaa1 #aab4    
#aic ,m4 ,martins' edition of the       
',philosophie ,zoologique1' ,paris1     
#ahgc4 ,introd41 p4 vi4  #aid ',origin  
of ,species1' p4 #c1 #ahei4  #aie       
',vestiges of ,creation1' ed4 #ahfj1    
,proofs1 ,illustrations1 c41 p4 lxiv4   
#aif ',origin of ,species1' ed4 #a1 p4  
#bci2 ed4 #f1 p4 #bca4  #aig ',origin of
 ,species1' ed4 #a1 p4 #bdb2 ed4 #f1    

#ahgf1 p4 #bcc4  #aih ',origin of       
,species1' p4 #dba1 ed4 #ahgf4  #aii    
',phil4 ,zool41' vol4 i4 p4 #djd4  #bjj 
,ibid4 vol4 ii4 p4 #cbd4  #bja ',phil4  
,zool41' vol4 ii4 p4 #daj4  #bjb ',les  
,amours des ,plantes1' ,discours        
,prelim41 p4 #g4 ,paris1 #ahjj4  #bjc   
,ibid41 ,notes du chant i41 p4 #bjb4    
#bjd ,ibid4 p4 #bch4  #bje ',zoonomia1' 
vol4 i4 p4 #ejg4  #bjf ',les ,amours des
 ,plantes1' p4 #cfj4  #bjg ,vol4 i4 p4  
#bca1 ed4 ,m4 ,martins1 #ahgc4          
,,chapter ,,xvii4  ,,summary ,,of ,,the 
',,philosophie ,,zoologique4'   ,the    
first part of the ',philosophie         
,zoologique' is the one which deals with
 the doctrine of evolution or descent   
with modification4 ,it is to this1      
therefore1 that our attention will be   
confined4 ,yet only a comparatively     
small part of the three hundred and     
fifty pages which constitute ,lamarck's 
first part are devoted to setting forth 
the reasons which led him to arrive at  
his conclusions--the greater part of the

 volume being occupied with the         
classification of animals1 which we may 
again omit1 as foreign to our purpose4  
,i shall condense whenever ,i can1 but  
,i do not think the reader will find    
that ,i have left out much that bears   
upon the argument4 ,i shall also use    
inverted commas while translating with  
such freedom as to omit several lines   
together1 where ,i can do so without    
suppressing anything essential to the   
elucidation of ,lamarck's meaning4 ,i   
shall1 however1 throughout refer the    
reader to the page of the original work 
from which ,i am translating4  ,the     
common origin of bodily and mental      
phenomena1 says ,lamarck in his         
preliminary chapter1 has been obscured1 
because we have studied them chiefly in 
man1 who1 as the most highly developed  
of living beings1 presents the problem  
in its most difficult and complicated   
aspect4 ,if we had begun our study with 
that of the lowest organisms1 and had   
proceeded from these to the more complex

 ones1 we should have seen the          
progression which is observable in      
organization1 and the successive        
acquisition of various special organs1  
with new faculties for every additional 
organ4 ,we should thus have seen that   
sense of needs--originally hardly       
perceptible1 but gradually increasing in
 intensity and variety--has led to the  
attempt to gratify them2 that the       
actions thus induced1 having become     
habitual and energetic1 have occasioned 
the development of organs adapted for   
their performance2 that the force which 
excites organic movements can in the    
case of the lowest animals exist outside
 them and yet animate them2 that this   
force was subsequently introduced into  
the animals themselves1 and fixed within
 them2 and1 lastly1 that it gave rise to
 sensibility and1 in the end1 to        
intelligence4#bjh ,the reader had better
 be on his guard here1 and whenever     
,lamarck is speculating about the lowest
 forms of action and sensation4 ,i have 

thought it well1 however1 to give enough
 of these speculations1 as occasion     
arises1 to show their tendency4         
,sensation is not the proximate cause of
 organic movements4 ,it may be so with  
the higher animals1 but it cannot be    
shown to be so with plants1 nor even    
with all known animals4 ,at the outset  
of life there was none of that sensation
 which could only arise where organic   
beings had already attained a           
considerable development4 ,nature has   
done all by slow gradations1 both organs
 and faculties being the outcome of a   
progressive development4#bji  ,the mere 
composition of an animal is but a small 
part of what deserves study in          
connection with the animal itself4 ,the 
effects of its surroundings in causing  
new wants1 the effects of its wants in  
giving rise to actions1 those of its    
actions in developing habits and        
tendencies1 the effects of use and      
disuse as affecting any organ1 the means
 which nature takes to preserve and make

 perfect what has been already          
acquired--these are all matters of the  
highest importance4#baj  ,in their      
bearing upon these questions the        
invertebrate animals are more important 
and interesting than the vertebrate1 for
 they are more in number1 and being more
 in number are more varied2 their       
variations are more marked1 and the     
steps by which they have advanced in    
complexity are more easily observed4#baa
  ,i propose1 therefore1 to divide this 
work into three parts1 of which the     
first shall deal with the conventions   
necessary for the treatment of the      
subject1 the importance of analogical   
structures1 and the meaning which should
 be attached to the word species4 ,i    
will point out on the one hand the      
evidence of a graduated descending      
scale1 as existing between the highest  
and the lowest organisms2 and1 on the   
other1 the effect of surroundings and   
habits on the organs of living beings1  
as the cause of their development or    

arrest of development4 ,lastly1 ,i will 
treat of the natural order of animals1  
and show what should be their fittest   
classification and arrangement4#bab  ,it
 seems unnecessary to give ,lamarck's   
intentions with regard to his second and
 third parts1 as they do not here       
concern us2 they deal with the origin of
 life and mind4  ,the first chapter of  
the work opens with the importance of   
bearing in mind the difference between  
the conventional and the natural1 that  
is to say1 between words and things4    
,here1 as indeed largely throughout this
 part of his work1 he follows ,buffon1  
by whom he is evidently influenced4     
,the conventional deals with systems of 
arrangement1 classification1 orders1    
families1 genera1 and the nomenclature1 
whether of different sections or of     
individual objects4  ,an arrangement    
should be called systematic1 or         
arbitrary1 when it does not conform to  
the genealogical order taken by nature  
in the development of the things        

arranged1 and when1 by consequence it is
 not founded upon well-considered       
analogies4 ,there is such a thing as a  
natural order in every department of    
nature2 it is the order in which its    
several component items have been       
successively developed4#bac  ,some lines
 certainly seem to have been drawn by   
,nature herself4 ,it was hard to believe
 that mammals1 for example1 and birds1  
were not well-defined classes4          
,nevertheless the sharpness of          
definition was an illusion1 and due only
 to our limited knowledge4 ,the         
ornithorhynchus and the echidna bridge  
the gulf4#bad  ,simplicity is the main  
end of any classification4 ,if all the  
races1 or as they are called1 species1  
of any kingdom were perfectly known1 and
 if the true analogies between each     
species1 and between the groups which   
species form1 were also known1 so that  
their approximations to each other and  
the position of the several groups were 
in conformity with the natural analogies

 between them--then classes1 orders1    
sections1 and genera would be families1 
larger or smaller2 for each division    
would be a greater or smaller section of
 a natural order or sequence4#bae ,but  
in this case it would be very difficult 
to assign the limits of each division2  
they would be continually subjected to  
arbitrary alteration1 and agreement     
would only exist where plain and        
palpable gaps were manifest in our      
series4 ,happily1 however1 for          
classifiers there are1 and will always  
probably remain1 a number of unknown    
forms4#baf  ,that the foregoing is still
 felt to be true by those who accept    
evolution1 may be seen from the         
following passage1 taken from ,mr4      
,darwin's ',origin of ,species'3--  ,as 
all the organic beings which have ever  
lived can be arranged within a few great
 classes2 and as all within each class  
have1 according to our theory1 been     
connected together by fine gradations1  
the best1 and if our collections were   

nearly perfect1 the only possible       
arrangement would be genealogical3      
descent being the hidden bond of        
connection which naturalists have been  
seeking under the term of the ,natural  
,system4 ,on this view1 we can          
understand how it is that in the eyes of
 most naturalists1 the structure of the 
embryo is even more important for       
classifications than that of the        
adult4#bag  ,in his second chapter      
,lamarck deals with the importance of   
comparative anatomy1 and the study of   
homologous structures4 ,these indicate a
 sort of blood relationship between the 
individuals in which they are found1 and
 are our safest guide to any natural    
system of classification4 ,their        
importance is not confined to the study 
of classes1 families1 or even species2  
they must be studied also in the        
individuals of each species1 as it is   
thus only1 that we can recognize either 
identity or difference of species4 ,the 
results arrived at1 however1 are only   

trustworthy over a limited period1 for  
though the individuals of any species   
commonly so resemble one another at any 
given time1 as to enable us to          
generalize from them1 at the date of our
 observing them1 yet species are not    
fixed and immutable through all time3   
they change1 though with such extreme   
slowness that we do not observe their   
doing so1 and when we come upon a       
species that has changed1 we consider it
 as a new one1 and as having always been
 such as we now see it4#bah  ,it is none
 the less true that when we compare the 
same kind of organs in different        
individuals1 we can quickly and easily  
tell whether they are very like each    
other or not1 and hence1 whether the    
animals or plants in which they are     
found1 should be set down as members of 
the same or of a different species4 ,it 
is only therefore the general inference 
drawn from the apparent immutability of 
species1 that has been too              
inconsiderately drawn4#bai  ,the        

analogies and points of agreement       
between living organisms1 are always    
incomplete when based upon the          
consideration of any single organ only4 
,but though still incomplete1 they will 
be much more important according as the 
organ on which they are founded is an   
essential one or otherwise4  ,with      
animals1 those analogies are most       
important which exist between organs    
most necessary for the conservation of  
their life4 ,with plants1 between their 
organs of generation4 ,hence1 with      
animals1 it will be the interior        
structure which will determine the most 
important analogies3 with plants it will
 be the manner in which they            
fructify4#bbj  ,with animals we should  
look to nerves1 organs of respiration1  
and those of the circulation2 with      
plants1 to the embryo and its           
accessories1 the sexual organs of their 
flowers1 c4#bba ,to do this1 will set us
 on to the ,natural ,method1 which is as
 it were a sketch traced by man of the  

order taken by ,nature in her           
productions4#bbb ,nevertheless the      
divisions which we shall be obliged to  
establish1 will still be arbitrary and  
artificial1 though presenting to our    
view sections arranged in the order     
which ,nature has pursued4#bbc  ,what1  
then1 he asks1#bbd is species--and can  
we show that species has                
changed--however slowly8 ,he now covers 
some of the ground since enlarged upon  
in ,mr4 ,darwin's second chapter1 in    
which the arbitrary nature of the       
distinction between species and         
varieties is so well exposed4 ,i shall  
show1 says ,lamarck 7in substance1 but  
,i am compelled to condense much71 that 
the habits by which we now recognize any
 species1 are due to the conditions of  
life circonstances under which it has   
for a long time existed1 and that these 
habits have had such an influence upon  
the structure of each individual of the 
species1 as to have at length modified  
this structure1 and adapted it to the   

habits which have been contracted4#bbe  
,the individuals of any species1 he     
continues1 certainly resemble their     
parents2 it is a universal law of nature
 that all offspring should differ but   
little from its immediate progenitors1  
but this does not justify the ordinary  
belief that species never vary4 ,indeed1
 naturalists themselves are in continual
 difficulty as regards distinguishing   
species from varieties2 they do not     
recognize the fact that species are only
 constant as long as the conditions in  
which they are placed are constant4     
,individuals vary and form breeds which 
blend so insensibly into the            
neighbouring species1 that the          
distinctions made by naturalists between
 species and varieties1 are for the most
 part arbitrary1 and the confusion upon 
this head is becoming day by day more   
serious4#bbf  ,not perceiving that      
species will not vary as long as the    
conditions in which they are placed     
remain essentially unchanged1           

naturalists have supposed that each     
species was due to a special act of     
creation on the part of the ,supreme    
,author of all things4 ,assuredly1      
nothing can exist but by the will of    
this ,supreme ,author1 but can we       
venture to assign rules to him in the   
execution of his will8 ,may not his     
infinite power have chosen to create an 
order of things which should evolve in  
succession all that we know as well as  
all that we do not know8 ,whether we    
regard species as created or evolved1   
the boundlessness of his power remains  
unchanged1 and incapable of any         
diminution whatsoever4 ,let us then     
confine ourselves simply to observing   
the facts around us1 and if we find any 
clue to the path taken by ,nature1 let  
us say fearlessly that it has pleased   
her ,almighty ,author that she should   
take this path4#bbg  ,what applies to   
species applies also to genera2 the     
further our knowledge extends1 the more 
difficult do we find it to assign its   

exact limits to any genus4 ,gaps in our 
collections are being continually filled
 up1 to the effacement of our dividing  
lines of demarcation4 ,we are thus      
compelled to settle the limits of       
species and variety arbitrarily1 and in 
a manner about which there will be      
constant disagreement4 ,naturalists are 
daily classifying new species which     
blend into one another so insensibly    
that there can hardly be found words to 
express the minute differences between  
them4 ,the gaps that exist are simply   
due to our not having yet found the     
connecting species4  ,i do not1 however1
 mean to say that animal life forms a   
simple and continuously blended series4 
,life is rather comparable to a         
ramification4 ,in life we should see1 as
 it were1 a ramified continuity1 if     
certain species had not been lost4 ,the 
species which1 according to this        
illustration1 stands at the extremity of
 each bough1 should bear a resemblance1 
at least upon one side1 to the other    

neighbouring species2 and this certainly
 is what we observe in nature4  ,having 
arranged living forms in such an order  
as this1 let us take one1 and then1     
passing over several boughs1 let us take
 another at some distance from it2 a    
wide difference will now be seen between
 the species which the forms selected   
represent4 ,our earliest collections    
supplied us with such distantly allied  
forms only2 now1 however1 that we have  
such an infinitely greater number of    
specimens1 we can see that many of them 
blend one into the other without        
presenting noteworthy differences at any
 step4#bbh  ,this has been well extended
 by ,mr4 ,darwin in a passage which     
begins3--,the affinities of all beings  
of the same class have sometimes been   
represented by a great tree4 ,i believe 
that this simile largely speaks the     
truth4#bbi  ,what1 then1 continues      
,lamarck1 can be the cause of all this8 
,surely the following3 namely1 that when
 individuals of any species change their

 situation1 climate1 mode of existence1 
or habits conditions of life1 their     
structure1 form1 organization1 and in   
fact their whole being becomes little by
 little modified1 till in the course of 
time it responds to the changes         
experienced by the creature4#bcj  ,in   
his preface ,lamarck had already        
declared that the thread which gives us 
a clue to the causes of the various     
phenomena of animal organization1 in the
 manifold diversity of its developments1
 is to be found in the fact that ,nature
 conserves in offspring all that their  
life and environments has developed in  
parents4 ,heredity--the hidden bond of  
common descent--tempered with the       
modifications induced by changed        
habits--which changed habits are due to 
new conditions and surroundings--this   
with ,lamarck1 as with ,buffon and ,dr4 
,darwin1 is the explanation of the      
diversity of forms which we observe in  
nature4 ,he now goes on to support      
this--briefly1 in accordance with his   

design--but with sufficient detail to   
prevent all possibility of mistake about
 his meaning4  ,in the same climate     
differences in situation1 and a greater 
or less degree of exposure1 affect      
simply1 in the first instance1 the      
individuals exposed to them2 but in the 
course of time1 these repeated          
differences of surroundings in          
individuals which reproduce themselves  
continually under similar circumstances1
 induce differences which become part of
 their very nature2 so that after many  
successive generations1 these           
individuals1 which were originally1 we  
will say1 of any given species1 become  
transformed into a different one4#bca   
,let us suppose that a grass growing in 
a low-lying meadow gets carried by some 
accident to the brow of a neighbouring  
hill1 where the soil is still damp      
enough for the plant to be able to      
exist4 ,let it live here for many       
generations1 till it has become         
thoroughly accustomed to its position1  

and let it then gradually find its way  
to the dry and almost arid soil of a    
mountain side2 if the plant is able to  
stand the change and to perpetuate      
itself for many generations1 it will    
have become so changed that botanists   
will class it as a new species4#bcb     
,the same sort of process goes on in the
 animal kingdom1 but animals are        
modified more slowly than plants4#bcc   
,the sterility of hybrids1 to which ,mr4
 ,darwin devotes a great part of the    
ninth chapter of his ',origin of        
,species1'#bcd is then touched          
on--briefly1 but sufficiently--as       
follows3--  ,the idea that species were 
fixed and immutable involved the belief 
that distinct species could not be      
fertile inter se4 ,but unfortunately    
observation has proved1 and daily       
proves1 that this supposition is        
unfounded4 ,hybrids are very common     
among plants1 and quite sufficiently so 
among animals to show that the          
boundaries of these so-called immutable 

species are not so well defined as has  
been supposed4 ,often1 indeed1 there is 
no offspring between the individuals of 
what are called distinct species1       
especially when they are widely         
different1 and again1 the offspring when
 produced is generally sterile2 but when
 there is less difference between the   
parents1 both the difficulty of breeding
 the hybrid1 and its sterility when     
produced1 are found to disappear4 ,in   
this very power of crossing we see a    
source from which breeds1 and ultimately
 species1 may arise4#bce  ,mr4 ,darwin  
arrives at the same conclusion4 ,he     
writes3--  ,we must1 therefore1 either  
give up the belief of the universal     
sterility of species when crossed1 or we
 must look at this sterility in animals1
 not as an indelible characteristic1 but
 as one capable of being removed by     
domestication4  ,finally1 on considering
 all the ascertained facts on the       
intercrossing of plants and animals1 it 
may be concluded that some degree of    

sterility1 both in first crosses and in 
hybrids1 is an exceedingly general      
result1 but that it cannot1 under our   
present state of knowledge1 be          
considered as absolutely universal4#bcf 
,returning to ,lamarck1 we find him     
saying3--  ,the limits1 therefore1 of   
so-called species are not so constant   
and unvarying as is commonly supposed4  
,consider also the following4 ,all      
living forms upon the face of the globe 
have been brought forth in the course of
 infinite time by the process of        
generation only4 ,nature has directly   
created none but the lowest organisms2  
these she is still producing every day1 
they being1 as it were1 the first       
sketches of life1 and produced by what  
is called spontaneous generation4       
,organs have been gradually developed in
 these low forms1 and these organs have 
in the course of time increased in      
diversity and complexity4 ,the power of 
growth in each living body has given    
rise to various modes of reproduction1  

and thus progress1 already acquired1 has
 been preserved and handed down to      
offspring4#bcg ,with sufficient time1   
favourable conditions of life           
circonstances1 successive changes in the
 surface of the globe1 and the power of 
new surroundings and habits to modify   
the organs of living bodies1 all animal 
and vegetable forms have been           
imperceptibly rendered such as we now   
see them4 ,it follows that species will 
be constant only in relation to their   
environments1 and cannot be as old as   
,nature herself4  ,but what are we to   
say of instinct8 ,can we suppose that   
all the tricks1 cunning1 artifices1     
precautions1 patience1 and skill of     
animals are due to evolution only8 ,must
 we not see here the design of an       
all-powerful ,creator8 ,no one certainly
 will assign limits to the ,creator's   
power1 but it is a bold thing to say    
that he did not choose to work in this  
way or that way1 when his own handiwork 
declares to us that this is the way he  

chose4 ,i find proof in ,nature--meaning
 by nature the ensemble of all that     
is1#bch but regarding her as herself the
 effect of an unknown first             
cause#bci--that she is the author of    
organization1 life1 and even sensation2 
that she has multiplied and diversified 
the organs and mental powers of the     
creatures which she sustains and        
reproduces2 that she has developed in   
animals1 through the sole               
instrumentality of sense of need as     
establishing and directing their habits1
 all actions and all habits1 from the   
simplest up to those which constitute   
instinct1 industry1 and finally         
reason4#bdj  ,against this it is alleged
 that we have no reason to believe      
species to have changed within any known
 era4 ,the skeletons of some ,egyptian  
birds1 preserved two or three thousand  
years ago1 differ in no particular from 
the same kind of creatures at the       
present day4 ,but this is what we should
 expect1 inasmuch as the position and   

climate of ,egypt itself do not appear  
to have changed4 ,if the conditions of  
life have not varied1 why should the    
species subjected to those conditions   
have done so8 ,moreover1 birds can move 
about freely1 and if one place does not 
suit them they can find another that    
does4 ,all that these ,egyptian mummies 
really prove is1 that there were animals
 in ,egypt two or three thousand years  
ago which are like the animals of       
to-day2 but how short a space is two or 
three thousand years1 as compared with  
the time which ,nature has had at her   
disposal6 ,a time infinitely great qua  
man1 is still infinitely short qua      
,nature4#bda  ,if1 however1 we turn to  
animals under confinement1 we find      
immediate proof that the most startling 
changes are capable of being produced   
after some generations of changed       
habits4 ,in the sixth chapter we shall  
have occasion to observe the power of   
changed conditions circonstances to     
develop new desires in animals1 and to  

induce new courses of action2 we shall  
see the power which these new actions   
will have1 after a certain amount of    
repetition1 to engender new habits and  
tendencies2 and we shall also note the  
effects of use and disuse in either     
fortifying and developing an organ1 or  
in diminishing it and causing it to     
disappear4 ,with plants under           
domestication1 we shall find            
corresponding phenomena4 ,species will  
thus appear to be unchangeable for      
comparatively short periods only4#bdb   
,it is interesting to see that ,mr4     
,darwin lays no less stress on the study
 of animals and plants under            
domestication than ,buffon1 ,dr4        
,darwin1 and ,lamarck4 ,indeed1 all four
 writers appear to have been in great   
measure led to their conclusions by this
 very study4 ,at the commencement of my 
investigations1 writes ,mr4 ,darwin1 it 
seemed to me probable that a careful    
study of domesticated animals and of    
cultivated plants would offer the best  

chance of making out this obscure       
problem4 ,nor have ,i been disappointed2
 in this and in all other perplexing    
cases1 ,i have invariably found that our
 knowledge1 imperfect though it be1 of  
variation under domestication1 afforded 
the best and safest clue4 ,i may venture
 to express my conviction of the high   
value of such studies1 though they have 
been very commonly neglected by         
naturalists4#bdc  ,in justice to the    
three writers whom ,i have named1 it    
should be borne in mind that they also  
ventured to express their conviction of 
the high value of these studies4        
,buffon1 indeed1 as we have seen1 gives 
animals under domestication the foremost
 place in his work4 ,he does not treat  
of wild animals till he has said all he 
has to say upon our most important      
domesticated breeds1--on whose descent  
from one or two wild stocks he is never 
weary of insisting4 ,it was doubtless   
because of the opportunities they       
afforded him for demonstrating the      

plasticity of living organism that the  
most important position in his work was 
assigned to them4  ,lamarck professes   
himself unable to make up his mind about
 extinct species2 how far1 that is to   
say1 whole breeds must be considered as 
having died out1 or how far the         
difference between so many now living   
and fossil forms is due to the fact that
 our living species are modified        
descendants of the fossil ones4 ,such   
large parts of the globe were still     
practically unknown in ,lamarck's time1 
and the recent discovery of the         
ornithorhynchus has raised such hopes as
 to what might yet be found in          
,australia1 that he was inclined to     
think that only such creatures as man   
found hurtful to him1 as1 for example1  
the megatherium and the mastodon1 had   
become truly extinct1 nor was he1 it    
would seem1 without a hope that these   
would yet one day be discovered4 ,the   
climatic and geological changes that    
have occurred in past ages1 would1 he   

believed1 account for all the difference
 which we observe between living and    
fossil forms1 inasmuch as they would    
have changed the conditions under which 
animals lived1 and therefore their      
habits and organs would have become     
correspondingly modified4 ,he therefore 
rather wondered to find so much1 than so
 little1 resemblance between existing   
and fossil forms4  ,buffon took a juster
 view of this matter2 it will be        
remembered that he concluded his remarks
 upon the mammoth by saying that many   
species had doubtless disappeared       
without leaving any living descendants1 
while others had left descendants which 
had become modified4  ,lamarck          
anticipated ,lyell in supposing         
geological changes to have been due     
almost entirely to the continued        
operation of the causes which we observe
 daily at work in nature3 thus he       
writes3--  ,every observer knows that   
the surface of the earth has changed2   
every valley has been exalted1 the      

crooked has been made straight1 and the 
rough places plain2 not even is climate 
itself stable4 ,hence changed           
conditions2 and these involve changed   
needs and habits of life2 if such       
changes can give rise to modifications  
or developments1 it is clear that every 
living body must vary1 especially in its
 outward character1 though the variation
 can only be perceptible after several  
generations4  ,it is not surprising then
 that so few living species should be   
represented in the geologic record4 ,it 
is surprising rather that we should find
 any living species represented at      
all4#bdd  ,catastrophes have indeed been
 supposed1 and they are an easy way of  
getting out of the difficulty2 but      
unfortunately1 they are not supported by
 evidence4 ,local catastrophes have     
undoubtedly occurred1 as earthquakes and
 volcanic eruptions1 of which the       
effects can be sufficiently seen2 but   
why suppose any universal catastrophe1  
when the ordinary progress of nature    

suffices to account for the phenomena8  
,nature is never brusque4 ,she proceeds 
slowly step by step1 and this with      
occasional local catastrophes will      
remove all our difficulties4#bde  ,in   
his fourth chapter ,lamarck points out  
that animals move themselves1 or parts  
of themselves1 not through impulsion or 
movement communicated to them as from   
one billiard ball to another1 but by    
reason of a cause which excites their   
irritability1 which cause is within some
 animals and forms part of them1 while  
it is wholly outside of others4#bdf  ,i 
should again warn the reader to be on   
his guard against the opinion that any  
animals can be said to live if they have
 no inward motion of their own which    
prompts them to act4 ,we cannot call    
anything alive which moves only as wind 
and water may make it move1 but without 
any impulse from within to execute the  
smallest action and without any capacity
 of feeling4 ,such a creature does not  
look sufficiently like the other things 

which we call alive2 it should be first 
shown to us1 so that we may make up our 
minds whether the facts concerning it   
have been truly stated1 and if so1 what 
it most resembles2 we may then classify 
it accordingly4  ,some animals change   
their place by creeping1 some by        
walking1 some by running or leaping2    
others again fly1 while others live in  
the water and swim4  ,the origin of     
these different kinds of locomotion is  
to be found in the two great wants of   
animal life3 #a1 the means of procuring 
food2 #b1 the search after mates with a 
view to reproduction4  ,since then the  
power of locomotion was a matter        
affecting their individual              
self-preservation1 as well as that of   
their race1 the existence of the want   
led to the means of its being           
gratified4#bdg  ,lamarck is practically 
at one with ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 that 
modification will commonly travel along 
three main lines which spring from the  
need of reproduction1 of procuring food1

 and 7,dr4 ,darwin has added7 the power 
of self-protection2 but ,dr4 ,darwin's  
treatment of this part of his subject is
 more lucid and satisfactory than       
,lamarck's1 inasmuch as he immediately  
brings forward instances of various     
modifications which have in each case   
been due to one of the three main       
desires above specified1 namely1        
reproduction1 subsistence1 and          
self-defence4  ,lamarck concludes the   
chapter with some passages which show   
that he was alive--as what ,frenchman   
could fail to be after ,buffon had      
written8--to the consequences which must
 follow from the geometrical ratio of   
increase1 and to the struggle for       
existence1 with consequent survival of  
the fittest1 which must always be one of
 the conditions of any wild animal's    
existence4 ,the paragraphs1 indeed1 on  
this subject are taken with very little 
alteration from ,buffon's work4 ,as     
,lamarck's theory is based upon the fact
 that it is on the nature of these      

conditions that the habits and          
consequently the structure of any animal
 will depend1 he must have seen that the
 shape of many of its organs must vary  
greatly in correlation to the conditions
 to which it was subjected in the matter
 of self-protection4 ,i do not see1     
then1 that there is any substantial     
difference between the positions taken  
by ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin and by ,lamarck
 in this respect4  ,let us conclude1 he 
writes1 by showing the means employed by
 nature to prevent the number of her    
creatures from injuring the conservation
 of what has been produced already1 and 
of the general order which should       
subsist4#bdh       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,in     
consequence of the extremely rapid rate 
of increase of the smaller1 and         
especially of the most imperfect1       
animals1 their numbers would become so  
great as to prove injurious to the      
conservation of breeds1 and to the      
progress already made towards more      
perfect organization1 unless nature had 

taken precautions to keep them down     
within certain fixed limits which she   
cannot exceed4#bdi  ,this seems to      
contain1 and in a nutshell1 as much of  
the essence of what ,mr4 ,herbert       
,spencer and ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin have 
termed the survival of the fittest in   
the struggle for existence1 as was      
necessary for ,lamarck's purpose4  ,to  
,lamarck1 as to ,dr4 ,darwin and        
,buffon1 it was perfectly clear that the
 facts1 that animals have to find their 
food under varying circumstances1 and   
that they must defend themselves in all 
manner of varying ways against other    
creatures which would eat them if they  
could1 were simply some of the          
conditions of their existence4 ,in      
saying that the surrounding             
circumstances--which amount to the      
conditions of existence--determined the 
direction in which any plant or animal  
should be slowly modified1 ,lamarck     
includes as a matter of course the fact 
that the stronger and better armed      

should eat the weaker1 and thus survive 
and bear offspring which would inherit  
the strength and better armour of its   
parents4 ,nothing therefore can be more 
at variance with the truth than to      
represent ,lamarck and the other early  
evolutionists as ignoring the struggle  
for existence and the survival of the   
fittest2 these are inevitably implied   
whenever they use the word circonstances
 or environment1 as ,i will more fully  
show later on1 and are also expressly   
called attention to by the greater      
number of them4#bej  ,animals1 except   
those which are herbivorous1 prey upon  
one another2 and the herbivorous are    
exposed to the attacks of the           
flesh-eating races4  ,the strongest and 
best armed for attack eat the weaker1   
and the greater kinds eat the smaller4  
,individuals of the same race rarely eat
 one another2 they war only with other  
races than their own4#bea  ,dr4 ,darwin 
here again has the advantage over       
,lamarck2 for he has pointed out how the

 males contend with one another for the 
possession of the females1 which ,i do  
not find ,lamarck to have done1 though  
he would at once have admitted the fact4
 ,lamarck continues3--  ,the smaller    
kinds of animals breed so numerously and
 so rapidly that they would people the  
globe to the exclusion of other forms of
 life1 if nature had not limited their  
inconceivable multitude4 ,as1 however1  
they are the prey of a number of other  
creatures1 live but a short time1 and   
perish easily with cold1 they are kept  
always within the proportions necessary 
for the maintenance both of their own   
and of other races4#beb  ,as regards the
 larger and stronger animals1 they would
 become dominant1 and be injurious to   
the conservation of many other races1 if
 they could multiply in too great       
numbers4 ,but as it is1 they devour one 
another1 and breed but slowly1 and few  
at a birth1 so that equilibrium is duly 
preserved among them4 ,man alone is the 
unquestionably dominant animal1 but men 

war among themselves1 so that it may be 
safely said the world will never be     
peopled to its utmost capacity4#bec  ,in
 his fifth chapter ,lamarck returns to  
the then existing arrangement and       
classification of animals4  ,naturalists
 having remarked that many species1 and 
some genera and even families present   
characters which as it were isolate     
them1 it has been imagined that these   
approached or drew further from each    
other according as their points of      
agreement or difference seemed greater  
or less when set down as it were on a   
chart or map4 ,they regard the small    
well-marked series which have been      
styled natural families1 as groups which
 should be placed between the isolated  
species and their nearest neighbours so 
as to form a kind of reticulation4 ,this
 idea1 which some of our modern         
naturalists have held to be admirable1  
is evidently mistaken1 and will be      
discarded on a profounder and more      
extended knowledge of organization1 and 

more especially when the distinction has
 been duly drawn between what is due to 
the action of special conditions and to 
general advance of organization4#bed  ,i
 take it that ,lamarck is here          
attempting to express what ,mr4 ,charles
 ,darwin has rendered much more clearly 
in the following excellent passage3--   
,it should always be borne in mind what 
sort of intermediate forms must1 on the 
theory what theory81 have formerly      
existed4 ,i have found it difficult when
 looking at any two species to avoid    
picturing to myself forms directly      
intermediate between them4 ,but this is 
a wholly false view2 we should always   
look for forms intermediate between each
 species and a common but unknown       
progenitor2 and the progenitor will     
generally have differed in some respects
 from all its modified descendants4 ,to 
give a simple illustration3 the fantail 
and pouter pigeons are both descended   
from the rock pigeon4 ,if we possessed  
all the intermediate varieties which    

have ever existed1 we should have an    
extremely close series1 between both and
 the rock pigeon2 but we should have no 
varieties directly intermediate between 
the fantail and the pouter2 none1 for   
instance1 combining a tail somewhat     
expanded with a crop somewhat enlarged1 
the characteristic features of these two
 breeds4 ,these two breeds1 moreover1   
have become so much modified that1 if we
 had no historical or indirect evidence 
regarding their origin1 it would not    
have been possible to have determined1  
from a mere comparison of their         
structure with that of the rock pigeon  
,c4 livia1 whether they had descended   
from this species1 or from some other   
allied form1 as ,c4 oenas4  ,so with    
natural species1 if we look to forms    
very distinct--for instance1 to the     
horse and the tapir--we have no reason  
to suppose that links directly          
intermediate between them ever existed1 
but between each and an unknown common  
parent4 ,the common parent will have had

 in its whole organization much general 
resemblance to the tapir and the horse2 
but in some points of structure it may  
have differed considerably from both1   
even perhaps more than they differ from 
each other4 ,hence in all such cases we 
should be unable to recognize the parent
 form of any two or more species1 even  
if we closely compared the structure of 
the parent with that of its modified    
descendants1 unless at the same time we 
had a nearly perfect chain of the       
intermediate links4       4 4 4 4 4 4   
,by the theory of natural selection     
surely this is a slip for by the theory 
of descent with modification all living 
species have been connected with the    
parent species of each genus1 by        
differences not greater than we see     
between the natural and domestic        
varieties of the same species at the    
present day2 and their parent species1  
now generally extinct1 have in their    
turn been similarly connected with more 
ancient forms1 and so on backwards1     

always converging to the common ancestor
 of each great class2 so that the number
 of intermediate and transitional links 
between all living and extinct species  
must have been inconceivably great4 ,but
 assuredly if this theory the theory of 
descent with modification or that of    
natural selection8 be true1 such have   
lived upon the earth4#bee  ,to return1  
however1 to ,lamarck4  ,though ,nature1 
he continues1 in the course of long time
 has evolved all animals and plants in a
 true scale of progression1 the steps of
 this scale can be perceived only in the
 principal groups of living forms2 it   
cannot be perceived in species nor even 
in genera4 ,the reason of this lies in  
the extreme diversity of the            
surroundings in which each different    
race of animals and plants has existed4 
,these surroundings have often been out 
of harmony with the growing organization
 of the plants and animals themselves2  
this has led to anomalies1 and1 as it   
were1 digressions1 which the mere       

development of organization by itself   
could not have occasioned4#bef ,or1 in  
other words1 to that divergency of type 
which is so well insisted on by ,mr4    
,charles ,darwin4  ,it is only therefore
 the principal groups of animal and     
vegetable life which can be arranged in 
a vertical line of descent2 species and 
even genera cannot always be so--for    
these contain beings whose organization 
has been dependent on the possession of 
such and such a special system of       
essential organs4  ,each great and      
separate group has its own system of    
essential organs1 and it is these       
systems which can be seen to descend1   
within the limits of the group1 from    
their most complex to their simplest    
form4 ,but each organ1 considered       
individually1 does not descend by       
equally regular gradation2 the          
gradations are less and less regular    
according as the organ is of less       
importance1 and is more susceptible of  
modification by the conditions which    

surround it4 ,organs of small           
importance1 and not essential to        
existence1 are not always either        
perfected or degraded at an equal rate1 
so that in observing all the species of 
any class we find an organ in one       
species in the highest degree of        
perfection1 while another organ1 which  
in this same species is impoverished or 
very imperfect1 is highly developed in  
another species of the same group4#beg  
,the facts maintained in the preceding  
paragraph are in great measure supported
 by ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin1 who1 however1
 assigns their cause to natural         
selection4  ,mr4 ,darwin writes1        
,ordinary specific characters are more  
variable than generic2 and again1 a     
little lower down1 ,the points in which 
all the species of a genus resemble each
 other1 and in which they differ from   
allied genera1 are called generic       
characters2 and these characters may be 
attributed to inheritance from a common 
progenitor1 for it can rarely happen    

that natural selection will have        
modified several distinct species fitted
 to more or less widely different       
habits1 in exactly the same manner2 and 
as these so called generic characters   
have been inherited from before the     
period when the several species first   
branched off from their common          
progenitor1 and subsequently have not   
varied or come to differ in any degree1 
or only in a slight degree1 it is not   
probable that they should vary at the   
present day4 ,on the other hand1 the    
points in which species differ from     
other species of the same genus are     
called specific characters2 and as these
 specific characters have varied and    
come to differ since the period when the
 species branched off from a common     
progenitor1 it is probable that they    
should still often be in some degree    
variable1 or at least more variable than
 those parts of the organization which  
have for a very long time remained      
constant4#beh  ,the fact1 then1 that it 

is specific characters which vary most  
is agreed upon by both ,lamarck and ,mr4
 ,darwin4 ,lamarck1 however1 maintains  
that it is these specific characters    
which are most capable of being affected
 by the habits of the creature1 and that
 it is for this reason they will be most
 variable1 while ,mr4 ,darwin simply    
says they are most variable1 and that1  
this being so1 the favourable variations
 will be preserved and accumulated--an  
assertion which ,lamarck would certainly
 not demur to4  ,irregular degrees of   
perfection1 says ,lamarck1 and          
degradation in the less essential       
organs1 are due to the fact that these  
are more liable than the more essential 
ones to the influence of external       
circumstances3 these induce             
corresponding differences in the more   
outward parts of the animal1 and give   
rise to such considerable and singular  
difference in species1 that instead of  
being able to arrange them in a direct  
line of descent1 as we can arrange the  

main groups1 these species often form   
lateral ramifications round about the   
main groups to which they belong1 and in
 their extreme development are truly    
isolated4#bei  ,in his summary of the   
second chapter of his ',origin of       
,species1' ,mr4 ,darwin well confirms   
this when he says1 ,in large genera the 
species are apt to be closely1 but      
unequally1 allied together1 forming     
little clusters round other species4  ,a
 longer time1 says ,lamarck1 and a      
greater influence of surrounding        
conditions1 is necessary in order to    
modify interior organs4 ,nevertheless we
 see that ,nature does pass from one    
system to another without any sudden    
leap1 when circumstances require it1    
provided the systems are not too far    
apart4 ,her method is to proceed from   
the more simple to the more complex4#bfj
  ,she does this not only in the race1  
but in the individual4 ,here ,lamarck1  
like ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 shows his   
perception of the importance of         

embryology in throwing light on the     
affinities of animals--as since more    
fully insisted on by the author of the  
',vestiges of ,creation1' and by ,mr4   
,darwin1#bfa as well as by other        
writers4 ,breathing through gills is    
nearer to breathing through lungs than  
breathing through trachea is4 ,not only 
do we see ,nature pass from gills to    
lungs in families which are not too far 
apart1 as may be seen by considering the
 case of fishes and reptiles2 but she   
does so during the existence of a single
 individual1 which may successively make
 use both of the one and of the other   
system4 ,the frog while yet a tadpole   
breathes through gills2 on becoming a   
frog it breathes through lungs2 but we  
cannot find that ,nature in any case    
passes from trachea to lungs4#bfb       
,lamarck now rapidly reviews previous   
classifications1 and propounds his own1 
which stands thus3--,i4 ,vertebrata1    
consisting of ,mammals1 ,birds1 ,fishes1
 and ,reptiles4 ,,ii4 ,invertebrata1    

consisting of ,molluscs1 ,centipedes1   
,annelids1 ,crustacea1 ,arachnids1      
,insects1 ,worms1 ,radiata1 ,polyps1    
,infusoria4  ,the degradation of        
organism1 he concludes1 in this         
descending scale is not perfectly even1 
and cannot be made so by any            
classification1 nevertheless there is   
such evidence of sustained degradation  
in the principal groups as must point in
 the direction of some underlying       
general principle4#bfc  ,lamarck's sixth
 chapter is headed ,degradation and     
,simplification of the ,animal ,chain as
 we proceed downwards from the most     
complex to the most simple ,organisms4  
,this is a positive fact1 and results   
from the operation of a constant law of 
nature2 but a disturbing cause1 which   
can be easily recognized1 varies the    
regular operation of the law from one   
end to the other of the chain of        
life4#bfd  ,we can see1 nevertheless1   
that special organs become more and more
 simple the lower we descend2 that they 

become changed1 impoverished1 and       
attenuated little by little2 that they  
lose their local centres1 and finally   
become definitely annihilated before we 
reach the lowest extremity of the       
chain4#bfe  ,as has been said already1  
the degradation of organism is not      
always regular2 such and such an organ  
often fails or changes suddenly1 and    
sometimes in its changes assumes forms  
which are not allied with any others by 
steps that we can recognize4 ,an organ  
may disappear and reappear several times
 before being entirely lost3 but this is
 what we might expect1 for the cause    
which has led to the evolution of living
 organisms has evolved many varieties1  
due to external influences4             
,nevertheless1 looking at organization  
broadly1 we observe a descending        
scale4#bff  ,if the tendency to         
progressive development was the only    
cause which had influenced the forms and
 organs of animals1 development would   
have been regular throughout the animal 

chain2 but it has not been so3 ,nature  
is compelled to submit her productions  
to an environment which acts upon them1 
and variation in environment will induce
 variation in organism3 this is the true
 cause of the sometimes strange         
deviations from the direct line of      
progression which we shall have to      
observe4#bfg  ,if ,nature had only      
called aquatic beings into existence1   
and if these beings had lived always in 
the same climate1 in the same kind of   
water1 and at the same depth1 the       
organization of these animals would     
doubtless have presented an even and    
regular scale of development4 ,but there
 has been fresh water1 salt water1      
running and stagnant water1 warm and    
cold climates1 an infinite variety of   
depth3 animals exposed to these and     
other differences in their surroundings 
have varied in accordance with them4#bfh
 ,in like manner those animals which    
have been gradually fitted for living in
 air instead of water have been         

subjected to an endless diversity in    
their surroundings4 ,the following law1 
then1 may be now propounded1 namely3--  
,that anomalies in the development of   
organism are due to the influences of   
the environment and to the habits of the
 creature4#bfi  ,some have said that the
 anomalies above mentioned are so great 
as to disprove the existence of any     
scale which should indicate descent2 but
 the nearer we approach species1 the    
smaller we see differences become1 till 
with species itself we find them at     
times almost imperceptible4#bgj         
,lamarck here devotes about seventy     
pages to a survey of the animal kingdom 
in its entirety1 beginning with the     
mammals and ending with the infusoria4  
,he points out the manner in which organ
 after organ disappears as we descend   
the scale1 till we are left with a form 
which1 though presenting all the        
characteristics of life1 has yet no     
special organ whatever4 ,i am obliged to
 pass this classification over1 but do  

so very unwillingly1 for it is          
illustrative of ,lamarck1 both at his   
best and at his worst4  ,the seventh    
chapter is headed--  ,on the influence  
of their surroundings on the actions and
 habits of animals1 and on the effect of
 these habits and actions in modifying  
their organization4  ,the effect of     
different conditions of our organization
 upon our character1 tendencies1        
actions1 and even our ideas1 has been   
often remarked1 but no attention has yet
 been paid to that of our actions and   
habits upon our organization itself4    
,these actions and habits depend        
entirely upon our relations to the      
surroundings in which we habitually     
exist2 we shall have occasion1          
therefore1 to see how great is the      
effect of environment upon organization4
  ,but for our having domesticated      
plants and animals we should never have 
arrived at the perception of this truth2
 for though the influence of the        
environment is at all times and         

everywhere active upon all living       
bodies1 its effects are so gradual that 
they can only be perceived over long    
periods of time4#bga  ,taking the chain 
of life in the inverse order of         
nature--that is to say1 from man        
downwards--we certainly perceive a      
sustained but irregular degradation of  
organism1 with an increasing simplicity 
both in organism and faculties4  ,this  
fact should throw light upon the order  
taken by nature1 but it does not show us
 why the gradation is so irregular1 nor 
why throughout its extent we find so    
many anomalies or digressions which have
 apparently no order at all in their    
manifold varieties4#bgb ,the explanation
 of this must be sought for in the      
infinite diversity of circumstances     
under which organisms have been         
developed4 ,on the one hand1 there is a 
tendency to a regular progressive       
development2 on the other1 there is a   
host of widely different surroundings   
which tend continually to destroy the   

regularity of development4  ,it is      
necessary to explain what is meant by   
such expressions as 'the effect of its  
environment upon the form and           
organization of an animal4' ,it must not
 be supposed that its surroundings      
directly effect any modification        
whatever in the form and organization of
 an animal4#bgc ,great changes in       
surroundings involve great changes in   
the wants of animals1 and these changes 
in their wants involve corresponding    
changes in their actions4 ,if these new 
wants become permanent1 or of very long 
duration1 the animals contract new      
habits1 which last as long as the wants 
which gave rise to them4#bgd ,a great   
change in surroundings1 if it persist   
for a long time1 must plainly1          
therefore1 involve the contraction of   
new habits4 ,these new habits in their  
turn involve a preference for the       
employment of such and such an organ    
over such and such another organ1 and in
 certain cases the total disuse of an   

organ which is no longer wanted4 ,this  
is perfectly self-evident4#bge  ,on the 
one hand1 new wants have rendered a part
 necessary1 which part has accordingly  
been created by a succession of efforts3
 use has kept it in existence1 gradually
 strengthening and developing it till in
 the end it attains a considerable      
degree of perfection4 ,on the other1 new
 circumstances having in some cases     
rendered such or such a part useless1   
disuse has led to its gradually ceasing 
to receive the development which the    
other parts attain to2 on this it       
becomes reduced1 and in time            
disappears4#bgf  ,plants have neither   
actions nor habits properly so called1  
nevertheless they change in a changed   
environment as much as animals do4 ,this
 is due to changes in nutrition1        
absorption and transpiration1 to degrees
 of heat1 light1 and moisture1 and to   
the preponderance over others which     
certain of the vital functions attain   
to4  ,lamarck is led into the statement 

that plants have neither actions nor    
habits1 by his theories about the       
nervous system and the brain4 ,plain    
matter-of-fact people will prefer the   
view taken by ,buffon1 ,dr4 ,darwin1    
and1 more recently1 by ,mr4 ,francis    
,darwin1 that there is no radical       
difference between plants and animals4  
,the differences between well-nourished 
and ill-nourished plants become little  
by little very noticeable4 ,if          
individuals1 whether animal or          
vegetable1 are continually ill-fed and  
exposed to hardships for several        
generations1 their organization becomes 
eventually modified1 and the            
modification is transmitted until a race
 is formed which is quite distinct from 
those descendants of the common parent  
stock which have been placed in         
favourable circumstances4#bgg ,in a dry 
spring the meagre and stunted herbage   
seeds early4 ,when1 on the other hand1  
the spring is warm but with occasional  
days of rain1 there is an excellent     

hay-crop4 ,if1 however1 any cause       
perpetuates unfavourable circumstances1 
plants will vary correspondingly1 first 
in appearance and general conditions1   
and then in several particulars of their
 actual character1 certain organs having
 received more development than others1 
these differences will in the course of 
time become hereditary4#bgh  ,nature    
changes a plant or animal's surroundings
 gradually--man sometimes does so       
suddenly4 ,all botanists know that      
plants vary so greatly under            
domestication that in time they become  
hardly recognizable4 ,they undergo so   
much change that botanists do not at all
 like describing domesticated varieties4
 ,wheat itself is an example4 ,where can
 wheat be found as a wild plant1 unless 
it have escaped from some neighbouring  
cultivation8 ,where are our             
cauliflowers1 our lettuces1 to be found 
wild1 with the same characters as they  
possess in our kitchen gardens8  ,the   
same applies to our domesticated breeds 

of animals4 ,what a variety of breeds   
has not man produced among fowls and    
pigeons1 of which we can find no        
undomesticated examples6#bgi  ,the      
foregoing remarks on the effects of     
domestication seem to have been inspired
 by those given p4 #abc and pp4 #afh1   
#afi of this volume4#bhj  ,some1        
doubtless1 have changed less than       
others1 owing to their having undergone 
a less protracted domestication1 and a  
less degree of change in climate2       
nevertheless1 though our ducks and      
geese1 for example1 are of the same type
 as their wild progenitors1 they have   
lost the power of long and sustained    
flight1 and have become in other        
respects considerably modified4#bha  ,a 
bird1 after having been kept five or six
 years in a cage1 cannot on being       
liberated fly like its brethren which   
have been always free4 ,such a change in
 a single lifetime has not effected any 
transmissible modification of type2 but 
captivity1 continued during many        

successive generations1 would           
undoubtedly do so4 ,if to the effects of
 captivity there be added also those of 
changed climate1 changed food1 and      
changed actions for the purpose of      
laying hold of food1 these1 united      
together and become constant1 would in  
the course of time develop an entirely  
new breed4  ,this1 again1 is almost     
identical with the passage from         
,buffon1#bhb p4 #adh of this volume4    
,see also pp4 #afi1 #agj4  ,where can   
our many domestic breeds of dogs be     
found in a wild state8 ,where are our   
bulldogs1 greyhounds1 spaniels1 and     
lapdogs1 breeds presenting differences  
which1 in wild animals1 would be        
certainly called specific8 ,these are   
all descended from an animal nearly     
allied to the wolf1 if not from the wolf
 itself4 ,such an animal was            
domesticated by early man1 taken at     
successive intervals into widely        
different climates1 trained to different
 habits1 carried by man in his          

migrations as a precious capital into   
the most distant countries1 and crossed 
from time to time with other breeds     
which had been developed in similar     
ways4 ,hence our present multiform      
breeds4#bhc  ,here1 also1 it is         
impossible to forget ,buffon's passages 
on the dog1 given pp4 #aba1 #abb4 ,see  
also p4 #bbc4  ,observe the gradations  
which are found between the ranunculus  
aquatilis and the ranunculus hederaceus3
 the latter--a land plant--resembles    
those parts of the former which grow    
above the surface of the water1 but not 
those that grow beneath it4#bhd  ,the   
modifications of animals arise more     
slowly than those of plants2 they are   
therefore less easily watched1 and less 
easily assignable to their true causes1 
but they arise none the less surely4 ,as
 regards these causes1 the most potent  
is diversity of the surroundings in     
which they exist1 but there are also    
many others4#bhe  ,the climate of the   
same place changes1 and the place itself

 changes with changed climate and       
exposure1 but so slowly that we imagine 
all lands to be stable in their         
conditions4 ,this1 however1 is not true2
 climatic and other changes induce      
corresponding changes in environment and
 habit1 and these modify the structure  
of the living forms which are subjected 
to them4 ,indeed1 we see intermediate   
forms and species corresponding to      
intermediate conditions4  ,to the above 
causes must be ascribed the infinite    
variety of existing forms1 independently
 of any tendency towards progressive    
development4#bhf  ,the reader has now   
before him a fair sample of the         
well-known doctrine of inherited habit  
as advanced by ,lamarck4#bhg ,in what   
way1 let me ask in passing1 does the    
case of neuter insects prove            
demonstrative against it1 unless it is  
held equally demonstrative against ,mr4 
,darwin's own position8 ,lamarck        
continues3--  ,the character of any     
habitable quarter of the globe is qua   

man constant3 the constancy of type in  
species is therefore also qua man       
persistent4 ,but this is an illusion4   
,we establish1 therefore1 the three     
following propositions3--  #a4 ,that    
every considerable and sustained change 
in the surroundings of any animal       
involves a real change in its needs4    
#b4 ,that such change of needs involves 
the necessity of changed action in order
 to satisfy these needs1 and1 in        
consequence1 of new habits4#bhh  #c4 ,it
 follows that such and such parts1      
formerly less used1 are now more        
frequently employed1 and in consequence 
become more highly developed2 new parts 
also become insensibly evolved in the   
creature by its own efforts from within4
  ,from the foregoing these two general 
laws may be deduced3--  ,firstly4 ,that 
in every animal which has not passed its
 limit of development1 the more frequent
 and sustained employment of any organ  
develops and aggrandizes it1 giving it a
 power proportionate to the duration of 

its employment1 while the same organ in 
default of constant use becomes         
insensibly weakened and deteriorated1   
decreasing imperceptibly in power until 
it finally disappears4#bhi  ,secondly4  
,that these gains or losses of organic  
development1 due to use or disuse1 are  
transmitted to offspring1 provided they 
have been common to both sexes1 or to   
the animals from which the offspring    
have descended4#bij  ,lamarck now sets  
himself to establish the fact that      
animals have developed modifications    
which have been transmitted to their    
offspring4  ,naturalists1 he says1 have 
believed that the possession of certain 
organs has led to their employment4     
,this is not so3 it is need and use     
which have developed the organs1 and    
even called them into existence4 ,i have
 already sufficiently insisted that it  
is impossible to dispense with either of
 these two views4 ,demand and ,supply   
have gone hand in hand1 each reacting   
upon the other4 ,otherwise a special act

 of creation would be necessary for     
every different combination of          
conditions2 and it would be also        
necessary that the conditions should    
remain always constant4  ,if this were  
really so we should have no racehorses  
like those of ,england1 nor drayhorses  
so heavy in build and so unlike the     
racehorse2 for there are no such breeds 
in a wild state4 ,for the same reason1  
we should have no turnspit dogs with    
crooked legs1 no greyhounds nor         
water-spaniels2 we should have no       
tailless breed of fowls nor fantail     
pigeons1 c4 ,nor should we be able to   
cultivate wild plants in our gardens1   
for any length of time we please1       
without fear of their changing4         
',habit1' says the proverb1 'is a second
 nature'2 what possible meaning can this
 proverb have1 if descent with          
modification is unfounded8#bia  ,as     
regards the circumstances which give    
rise to variation1 the principal are    
climatic changes1 different temperatures

 of any of a creature's environments1   
differences of abode1 of habit1 of the  
most frequent actions2 and lastly1 of   
the means of obtaining food1            
self-defence1 reproduction1 c41 c4#bib  
,here we have absolute agreement with   
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1#bic except that  
there seems a tendency in this passage  
to assign more effect to the direct     
action of conditions than is common with
 ,lamarck4 ,he seems to be mixing       
,buffon and ,dr4 ,darwin4  ,in          
consequence of change in any of these   
respects1 the faculties of an animal    
become extended and enlarged by use3    
they become diversified through the long
 continuance of the new habits1 until   
little by little their whole structure  
and nature1 as well as the organs       
originally affected1 participate in the 
effects of all these influences1 and are
 modified to an extent which is capable 
of transmission to offspring4#bid  ,this
 sentence alone would be sufficient to  
show that ,lamarck was as much alive as 

,buffon and ,dr4 ,darwin were before    
him1 to the fact that one of the most   
important conditions of an animal's     
life1 is the relation in which it stands
 to the other inhabitants of the same   
neighbourhood--from which the survival  
of the fittest follows as a self-evident
 proposition4 ,nothing1 therefore1 can  
be more unfounded than the attempt1 so  
frequently made by writers who have not 
read ,lamarck1 or who think others may  
be trusted not to do so1 to represent   
him as maintaining something perfectly  
different from what is maintained by    
modern writers on evolution4 ,the       
difference1 in so far as there is any   
difference1 is one of detail only4      
,lamarck would not have hesitated to    
admit1 that1 if animals are modified in 
a direction which is favourable to them1
 they will have a better chance of      
surviving and transmitting their        
favourable modifications4 ,in like      
manner1 our modern evolutionists should 
allow that animals are modified not     

because they subsequently survive1 but  
because they have done this or that     
which has led to their modification1 and
 hence to their surviving4  ,having     
established that animals and plants are 
capable of being materially changed in  
the course of a few generations1        
,lamarck proceeds to show that their    
modification is due to changed          
distribution of the use and disuse of   
their organs at any given time4  ,the   
disuse of an organ1 he writes1 if it    
becomes constant in consequence of new  
habits1 gradually reduces the organ1 and
 leads finally to its disappearance4#bie
  ,thus whales have lost their teeth1   
though teeth are still found in the     
embryo4 ,so1 again1 ,m4 ,geoffroy has   
discovered in birds the groove where    
teeth were formerly placed4 ,the        
ant-eater1 which belongs to a genus that
 has long relinquished the habit of     
masticating its food1 is as toothless as
 the whale4#bif  ,then are adduced      
further examples of rudimentary organs1 

which will be given in another place1   
and need not be repeated here4 ,speaking
 of the fact1 however1 that serpents    
have no legs1 though they are higher in 
the scale of life than the batrachians1 
,lamarck attributes this to the         
continued habit of trying to squeeze    
through very narrow places1 where four  
feet would be in the way1 and would be  
very little good to them1 inasmuch as   
more than four would be wanted in order 
to turn bodies that were already so much
 elongated4#big  ,if it be asked why1 on
 ,lamarck's theory1 if serpents wanted  
more legs they could not have made them1
 the answer is that the attempt to do   
this would be to unsettle a question    
which had been already so long settled1 
that it would be impossible to reopen   
it4 ,the animal must adapt itself to    
four legs1 or must get rid of all or    
some of them if it does not like them2  
but it has stood so long committed to   
the theory that if there are to be legs 
at all1 there are to be not more than   

four1 that it is impossible for it now  
to see this matter in any other light4  
,the experiments of ,m4 ,brown ,sequard 
on guinea pigs1 quoted by ,mr4          
,darwin1#bih suggest that the form of   
the serpent may be due to its having    
lost its legs by successive accidents in
 squeezing through narrow places1 and   
that the wounds having been followed by 
disease1 the creature may have bitten   
the limbs off1 in which case the loss   
might have been very readily transmitted
 to offspring2 the animal would         
accordingly take to a sinuous mode of   
progression that would doubtless in time
 elongate the body still further4 ,m4   
,brown ,sequard carefully recorded      
thirteen cases1 and saw even a greater  
number1 in which the loss of toes by    
guinea pigs which had gnawed their own  
toes off1 was immediately transmitted to
 offspring4 ,accidents followed by      
disease seem to have been somewhat      
overlooked as a possible means of       
modification4 ,the missing forefinger to

 the hand of the potto#bii would appear 
at first sight to have been lost by some
 such mishap4 ,returning to ,lamarck1 we
 find him saying3--  ,even in the       
lifetime of a single individual we can  
see organic changes in consequence of   
changed habits4 ,thus ,m4 ,tenon has    
constantly found the intestinal canal of
 drunkards to be greatly shorter than   
that of people who do not drink4 ,this  
is due to the fact that habitual        
drunkards eat but little solid food1 so 
that the stomach and intestines are more
 rarely distended4 ,the same applies to 
people who lead studious and sedentary  
lives4 ,the stomachs of such persons and
 of drunkards have little power1 and a  
small quantity will fill them1 while    
those of men who take plenty of exercise
 remain in full vigour and are even     
increased4#cjj  ,it becomes now         
necessary to establish the converse     
proposition1 namely that3--  ,the       
frequent use of an organ increases its  
power2 it even develops the organ       

itself1 and makes it acquire dimensions 
and powers which it is not found to have
 in animals which make no use of such an
 organ4  ,in support of this we see that
 the bird whose needs lead it to the    
water1 in which to find its prey1       
extends the toes of its feet when it    
wants to strike the water1 and move     
itself upon the surface4 ,the skin at   
the base of the toes of such a bird     
contracts the habit of extending itself 
from continual practice4 ,to this cause1
 in the course of time1 must be         
attributed the wide membrane which      
unites the toes of ducks1 geese1 c4 ,the
 same efforts to swim1 that is to say1  
to push the water for the purpose of    
moving itself forward1 has extended the 
membrane between the toes of frogs1     
turtles1 the otter1 and the beaver4#cja 
,this is taken1 ,i believe1 from ,dr4   
,darwin or ,buffon1 but ,i have lost the
 passage1 if1 indeed1 ,i ever found it4 
,it had been met by ,paley some years   
earlier 7#ahjb7 in the following3--     

,there is nothing in the action of      
swimming as carried on by a bird upon   
the surface of the water that should    
generate a membrane between the toes4   
,as to that membrane it is an action of 
constant resistance4444 ,the web feet of
 amphibious quadrupeds1 seals1 otters1  
c41 fall under the same observation4#cjb
  ,on the other hand those birds whose  
habits lead them to perch on trees1 and 
which have sprung from parents that have
 long contracted this habit1 have their 
toes shaped in a perfectly different    
manner4 ,their claws become lengthened1 
sharpened1 and curved1 so as to enable  
the creature to lay hold of the boughs  
on which it so often rests4 ,the shore  
bird again1 which does not like to swim1
 is nevertheless continually obliged to 
enter the water when searching after its
 prey4 ,not liking to plunge its body in
 the water1 it makes every endeavour to 
extend and lengthen its lower limbs4 ,in
 the course of long time these birds    
have come to be elevated1 as it were1 on

 stilts1 and have got long legs bare of 
feathers as far as their thighs1 and    
often still higher4 ,the same bird is   
continually trying to extend its neck in
 order to fish without wetting its body1
 and in the course of time its neck has 
become modified accordingly4#cjc        
,swans1 indeed1 and geese have short    
legs and very long necks1 but this is   
because they plunge their heads as low  
in the water as they can in their search
 for aquatic larvae and other           
animalcules1 but make no effort to      
lengthen their legs4#cjd  ,this too is  
taken from some passage which ,i have   
either never seen or have lost sight of4
 ,paley never gives a reference to an   
opponent1 though he frequently does so  
when quoting an author on his own side1 
but ,i can hardly doubt that he had in  
his mind the passage from which ,lamarck
 in #ahji derived the foregoing1 when in
 #ahjb he wrote ,sec4 #e of chapter xv4 
and the latter half of chapter xxiii4 of
 his ',natural ,theology4'  ,the tongues

 of the ant-eater and the woodpecker1   
continues ,lamarck1 have become         
elongated from similar causes4 ,humming 
birds catch hold of things with their   
tongues2 serpents and lizards use their 
tongues to touch and reconnoitre objects
 in front of them1 hence their tongues  
have come to be forked4  ,need--always  
occasioned by the circumstances in which
 an animal is placed1 and followed by   
sustained efforts at gratification--can 
not only modify an organ1 that is to    
say1 augment or reduce it1 but can      
change its position when the case       
requires its removal4#cje  ,ocean fishes
 have occasion to see what is on either 
side of them1 and have their eyes       
accordingly placed on either side their 
head4 ,some fishes1 however1 have their 
abode near coasts on submarine banks and
 inclinations1 and are thus forced to   
flatten themselves as much as possible  
in order to get as near as they can to  
the shore4 ,in this situation they      
receive more light from above than from 

below1 and find it necessary to pay     
attention to whatever happens to be     
above them2 this need has involved the  
displacement of their eyes1 which now   
take the remarkable position which we   
observe in the case of soles1 turbots1  
plaice1 c4 ,the transfer of position is 
not even yet complete in the case of    
these fishes1 and the eyes are not1     
therefore1 symmetrically placed2 but    
they are so with the skate1 whose head  
and whole body are equally disposed on  
either side a longitudinal section4     
,hence the eyes of this fish are placed 
symmetrically upon the uppermost        
side4#cjf  ,the eyes of serpents are    
placed on the sides and upper portions  
of the head1 so that they can easily see
 what is on one side of them or above   
them2 but they can only see very little 
in front of them1 and supplement this   
deficiency of power with their tongue1  
which is very long and supple1 and is in
 many kinds so divided that it can touch
 more than one object at a time2 the    

habit of reconnoitring objects in front 
of them with their tongues has even led 
to their being able to pass it through  
the end of their nostrils without being 
obliged to open their jaws4#cjg         
,herbivorous mammals1 such as the       
elephant1 rhinoceros1 ox1 buffalo1      
horse1 c41 owe their great size to their
 habit of daily distending themselves   
with food and taking comparatively      
little exercise4 ,they employ their feet
 for standing1 walking1 or running1 but 
not for climbing trees4 ,hence the thick
 horn which covers their toes4 ,these   
toes have become useless to them1 and   
are now in many cases rudimentary only4 
,some pachyderms have five toes covered 
with horn2 some four1 some three4 ,the  
ruminants1 which appear to be the       
earliest mammals that confined          
themselves to a life upon the ground1   
have but two hooves1 while the horse has
 only one4#cjh  ,some herbivorous       
animals1 especially among the ruminants1
 have been incessantly preyed upon by   

carnivorous animals1 against which their
 only refuge is in flight4 ,necessity   
has therefore developed the light and   
active limbs of antelopes1 gazelles1 c4 
,ruminants1 only using their jaws to    
graze with1 have but little power in    
them1 and therefore generally fight with
 their heads4 ,the males fight          
frequently with one another1 and their  
desires prompt an access of fluids to   
the parts of their heads with which they
 fight2 thus the horns and bosses have  
arisen with which the heads of most of  
these animals are armed4#cji ,the       
giraffe owes its long neck to its       
continued habit of browsing upon trees1 
whence also the great length of its fore
 legs as compared with its hinder ones4 
,carnivorous animals1 in like manner1   
have had their organs modified in       
correlation with their desires and      
habits4 ,some climb1 some scratch in    
order to burrow in the earth1 some tear 
their prey2 they therefore have need of 
toes1 and we find their toes separated  

and armed with claws4 ,some of them are 
great hunters1 and also plunge their    
claws deeply into the bodies of their   
victims1 trying to tear out the part on 
which they have seized2 this habit has  
developed a size and curvature of claw  
which would impede them greatly in      
travelling over stony ground2 they have 
therefore been obliged to make efforts  
to draw back their too projecting claws1
 and so1 little by little1 has arisen   
the peculiar sheath into which cats1    
tigers1 lions1 c41 withdraw their claws 
when they no longer wish to use         
them4#caj  ,we see then that the        
long-sustained and habitual exercise of 
any part of a living organism1 in       
consequence of the necessities          
engendered by its environment1 develops 
such part1 and gives it a form which it 
would never have attained if the        
exercise had not become an habitual     
action4 ,all known animals furnish us   
with examples of this4#caa ,if anyone   
maintains that the especially powerful  

development of any organ has had nothing
 to do with its habitual use--that use  
has added nothing1 and disuse detracted 
nothing from its efficiency1 but that   
the organ has always been as we now see 
it from the creation of the particular  
species onwards--,i would ask why cannot
 our domesticated ducks fly like wild   
ducks8 ,i would also quote a multitude  
of examples of the effects of use and   
disuse upon our own organs1 effects     
which1 if the use and disuse were       
constant for many generations1 would    
become much more marked4  ,a great      
number of facts show1 as will be more   
fully insisted on1 that when its will   
prompts an animal to this or that       
action1 the organs which are to execute 
it receive an excess of nervous fluid1  
and this is the determinant cause of the
 movements necessary for the required   
action4 ,modifications acquired in this 
way eventually become permanent in the  
breed that has acquired them1 and are   
transmitted to offspring1 without the   

offspring's having itself gone through  
the processes of acquisition which were 
necessary in the case of the            
ancestor4#cab ,frequent crosses1        
however1 with unmodified individuals1   
destroy the effect produced4 ,it is only
 owing to the isolation of the races of 
man through geographical and other      
causes1 that man himself presents so    
many varieties1 each with a distinctive 
character4  ,a review of all existing   
classes1 orders1 genera1 and species    
would show that their structure1 organs1
 and faculties1 are in all cases solely 
attributable to the surroundings to     
which each creature has been subjected  
by nature1 and to the habits which      
individuals have been compelled to      
contract2 and that they are not at all  
the result of a form originally         
bestowed1 which has imposed certain     
habits upon the creature4#cac  ,it is   
unnecessary to multiply instances2 the  
fact is simply this1 that all animals   
have certain habits1 and that their     

organization is always in perfect       
harmony with these habits4#cad ,the     
conclusion hitherto accepted is that the
 ,author of ,nature1 when he created    
animals1 foresaw all the possible       
circumstances in which they would be    
placed1 and gave an unchanging organism 
to each creature1 in accordance with its
 future destiny4 ,the conclusion1 on the
 other hand1 here maintained is that    
nature has evolved all existing forms of
 life successively1 beginning with the  
simplest organisms and gradually        
proceeding to those which are more      
complete4 ,forms of life have spread    
themselves throughout all the habitable 
parts of the earth1 and each species has
 received its habits and corresponding  
modification of organs1 from the        
influence of the surroundings in which  
it found itself placed4#cae  ,the first 
conclusion supposes an unvarying        
organism and unvarying conditions4 ,the 
second1 which is my theory 7la mienne   
propre71 supposes that each animal is   

capable of modifications which in the   
course of generations amount to a wide  
divergence of type4  ,if a single animal
 can be shown to have varied            
considerably under domestication1 the   
first conclusion is proved to be        
inadmissible1 and the second to be in   
conformity with the laws of nature4     
,this is a milder version of ,buffon's  
conclusion 7see ante1 pp4 #ij1 #ia74 ,it
 is a little grating to read the words  
la mienne propre1 and to recall no      
mention of ,buffon in the ',philosophie 
,zoologique4'  ,animal forms then are   
the result of conditions of life and of 
the habits engendered thereby4 ,with new
 forms new faculties are developed1 and 
thus nature has little by little evolved
 the existing differentiations of animal
 and vegetable life4#caf  ,lamarck makes
 no exception in man's favour to the    
rule of descent with modification4 ,he  
supposes that a race of quadrumanous    
apes gradually acquired the upright     
position in walking1 with a             

corresponding modification of the feet  
and facial angle4 ,such a race having   
become master of all the other animals1 
spread itself over all parts of the     
world that suited it4 ,it hunted out the
 other higher races which were in a     
condition to dispute with it for        
enjoyment of the world's productions1   
and drove them to take refuge in such   
places as it did not desire to occupy4  
,it checked the increase of the races   
nearest itself1 and kept them exiled in 
woods and desert places1 so that their  
further development was arrested1 while 
itself1 able to spread in all           
directions1 to multiply without         
opposition1 and to lead a social life1  
it developed new requirements one after 
another1 which urged it to industrial   
pursuits1 and gradually perfected its   
capabilities4 ,eventually this          
pre-eminent race1 having acquired       
absolute supremacy1 came to be widely   
different from even the most perfect of 
the lower animals4  ,certain apes       

approach man more nearly than any other 
animal approaches him2 nevertheless1    
they are far inferior to him1 both in   
bodily and mental capacity4 ,some of    
them frequently stand upright1 but as   
they do not habitually maintain this    
attitude1 their organization has not    
been sufficiently modified to prevent it
 from being irksome to them to stand for
 long together4 ,they fall on all fours 
immediately at the approach of danger4  
,this reveals their true origin4#cag    
,but is the upright position altogether 
natural1 even to man8 ,he uses it in    
moving from place to place1 but still   
standing is a fatiguing position1 and   
one which can only be maintained for a  
limited time1 and by the aid of muscular
 contraction4 ,the vertebrate column    
does not pass through the axis of the   
head so as to maintain it in like       
equilibrium with other limbs4 ,the head1
 chest1 stomach1 and intestines weigh   
almost entirely on the anterior part of 
the vertebrate column1 and this column  

itself is placed obliquely1 so that1 as 
,m4 ,richerand has observed1 continual  
watchfulness and muscular exertion are  
necessary to avoid the falls towards    
which the weight and disposition of our 
parts are continually inclining us4     
',children1' he remarks1 'have a        
constant tendency to assume the position
 of quadrupeds4'#cah  ,surely these     
facts should reveal man's origin as     
analogous to that of the other mammals1 
if his organization only be looked to4  
,but the following consideration must be
 added4 ,new wants1 developed in        
societies which had become numerous1    
must have correspondingly multiplied the
 ideas of this dominant race1 whose     
individuals must have therefore         
gradually felt the need of fuller       
communication with each other4 ,hence   
the necessity for increasing and varying
 the number of the signs suitable for   
mutual understanding4 ,it is plain      
therefore that incessant efforts would  
be made in this direction4#cai  ,the    

lower animals1 though often social1 have
 been kept in too great subjection for  
any such development of power4 ,they    
continue1 therefore1 stationary as      
regards their wants and ideas1 very few 
of which need be communicated from one  
individual to another4 ,a few movements 
of the body1 a few simple cries and     
whistles1 or inflexions of voice1 would 
suffice for their purpose4 ,with the    
dominant race1 on the other hand1 the   
continued multiplication of ideas which 
it was desirable to communicate rapidly1
 would exhaust the power of pantomimic  
gesture and of all possible inflexions  
of the voice--therefore by a succession 
of efforts this race arrived at the     
utterance of articulate sounds4 ,a few  
only would be at first made use of1 and 
these would be supplemented by          
inflexions of the voice3 presently they 
would increase in number1 variety1 and  
appropriateness1 with the increase of   
needs and of the efforts made to speak4 
,habitual exercise would increase the   

power of the lips and tongue to         
articulate distinctly4  ,the diversity  
of language is due to geographical      
distribution1 with consequent greater or
 less isolation of certain races1 and   
corruption of the signs originally      
agreed upon for each idea4 ,man's own   
wants1 therefore1 will have achieved the
 whole result4 ,they will have given    
rise to endeavour1 and habitual use will
 have developed the organs of           
articulation4#cbj  ,how1 let me ask     
again1 is the case of neuter insects    
demonstrative against the well-known    
theory put forward in the foregoing     
chapter8  ,,footnotes3  #bjh ',phil4    
,zool41' tom4 i41 edited by ,m4         
,martins1 #ahgc1 pp4 #be1 #bf4  #bji    
',phil4 ,zool4' tom4 i4 pp4 #bf1 #bg4   
#baj ,page #bh4  #baa ,pages #bh-ca4    
#bab ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 pp4 #cd1  
#ce4  #bac ,page #db4  #bad ,page #df4  
#bae ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #ej4   
#baf ,pages #ej1 #ea4  #bag ',origin of 
,species1' p4 #cie1 ed4 #ahgf4  #bah    

',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #fa4  #bai  
',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #fb4  #bbj  
,page #fc4  #bba ,page #fd4  #bbb ,page 
#fe4  #bbc ,page #fg4  #bbd ,chap4 iii4 
#bbe ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #gb4   
#bbf ,pages #ga-gc4  #bbg ',phil4       
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #gd1 #ge4  #bbh     
',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 pp4 #ge-gg4    
#bbi ',origin of ,species1' p4 #ajd1 ed4
 #ahgf4  #bcj ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4  
p4 #gi4  #bca ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4  
pp4 #gi1 #hj4  #bcb ',phil4 ,zool41'    
tom4 i4 p4 #hj4  #bcc ,page #hj4  #bcd  
,ed4 #ahgf4  #bce ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 
i4 p4 #ha4  #bcf ',origin of ,species1' 
p4 #bda4  #bcg ',phil4 ,zool41' p4 #hb4 
#bch ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #hc4   
#bci ,pages #cdi-cea4  #bdj ,page #hd4  
#bda ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #hh4   
#bdb ,page #ij4  #bdc ',origin of       
,species1' p4 #c4  #bdd ',phil4 ,zool41'
 tom4 i4 p4 #id4  #bde ,pages #ie-if4   
#bdf ,page #ig4  #bdg ,phil4 ,zool41'   
tom4 i4 p4 #ih4  #bdh ',phil4 ,zool41'  
tom4 i4 p4 #aaa4  #bdi ',phil4 ,zool41' 

tom4 i4 p4 #aab4  #bej ,see pp4 #bbg and
 #bei of this book4  #bea ',phil4       
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #aac4  #beb ,page   
#aac4  #bec ',phil ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4  
#aac4  #bed ,this passage is rather     
obscure4 ,i give it therefore in the    
original3--  ,ainsi les naturalistes    
ayant remarque que beaucoup d'especes1  
certains genres1 et meme quelques       
familles paraissent dans une sorte      
d'isolement1 quant a leurs caracteres1  
plusieurs se sont imagines que les etres
 vivants1 dans l'un ou l'autre regne1   
s'avoisinaient1 ou s'eloignaient entre  
eux1 relativement a leurs rapports      
naturels1 dans une disposition semblable
 aux differents points d'une carte de   
geographie ou d'une mappemonde4 ,ils    
regardent les petites series bien       
prononcees qu'on a nommees familles     
naturelles1 comme devant etre disposees 
entre elles de maniere a former une     
reticulation4 ,cette idee qui a paru    
sublime a quelques modernes1 est        
evidemment une erreur1 et1 sans doute1  

elle se dissipera des qu'on aura des    
connaissances plus profondes et plus    
generales de l'organisation1 et surtout 
lorsqu'on distinguera ce qui appartient 
a l'influence des lieux d'habitation et 
des habitudes contractees1 de ce qui    
resulte des progres plus ou moins       
avances dans la composition ou le       
perfectionnement de l'organisation4--7p4
 #abj74  #bee ',origin of ,species1' pp4
 #bfe1 #bff4  #bef ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4
 i4 p4 #aba4  #beg ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4
 i4 p4 #abb4  #beh ',origin of          
,species1' pp4 #abb1 #abc4  #bei ',phil4
 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #abc4  #bfj ',phil4
 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #abc4  #bfa        
',origin of ,species1' chap4 xiv4  #bfb 
',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #abc4  #bfc 
',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #adj4  #bfd 
,page #adb4  #bfe ,page #adc4  #bff     
',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #adc4  #bfg 
,page #add4  #bfh ,ibid4  #bfi ',phil4  
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #ade4  #bgj ,page   
#adf4  #bga ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#bba4  #bgb ,page #bbb4  #bgc ',phil4   

,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bbc4  #bgd ,page   
#bbd4  #bge ,page #bbc4  #bgf ,page     
#bbe4  #bgg ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#bbe4  #bgh ,page #bbf4  #bgi ',phil4   
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bbh4  #bhj ,see    
,buffon1 ',hist4 ,nat41' tom4 v4 pp4    
#aif1 #aig1 and ,supp4 tom4 v4 pp4      
#bej-bec4  #bha ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4
 p4 #bbi4  #bhb ',hist4 ,nat41' tom4 xi4
 p4 #bij4  #bhc ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4
 p4 #bca4  #bhd ,page #bca4 ,see ,dr4   
,darwin's note on ,trapa natans1        
',botanic ,garden1' part ii4 canto #d1  
l4 #bjd4  #bhe ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 
p4 #bcb4  #bhf ,page #bcc4 ,see ,buffon 
on ,climate1 tom4 ix41 ',the ,animals of
 the ,old and ,new ,worlds4'  #bhg      
',origin of ,species1' p4 #bcc1 ed4     
#ahgf4  #bhh ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p 
#bcd4  #bhi ,page #bce4  #bij ,page     
#bcf4  #bia ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#bcg4  #bib ,page #bch4  #bic ,see ante1
 pp4 #bbj-bbh4  #bid ',phil4 ,zool41'   
tom4 i4 p4 #bci4  #bie ',phil4 ,zool41' 
tom4 i4 p #bdj4  #bif ,page #bda4  #big 

,page #bde4  #bih ',animals and ,plants 
under ,domestication1' vol4 i4 p4 #dfg1 
c4  #bii ,see frontispiece to ,professor
 ,mivart's ',genesis of ,species4'  #cjj
 ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bdg4  #cja
 ,page #bdh4  #cjb ',nat4 ,theol41' vol4
 xii41 end of ,sec4 viii4  #cjc ',phil4 
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bdi4  #cjd ',phil4 
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bej4  #cje ,page   
#bej4  #cjf ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#bea4  #cjg ,page #beb4  #cjh ',phil4   
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bec4  #cji ,page   
#bed4  #caj ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#bef4  #caa ,page #beg4  #cab ',phil4   
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bei4  #cac ,page   
#bfj4  #cad ,page #bfc4  #cae ',phil4   
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bfc4  #caf ,page   
#bfe4  #cag ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#cdc4  #cah ',phil4 ,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 
#cdc4  #cai ,page #cdf4  #cbj ',phil4   
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #cdg4     ,,chapter 
,,xviii4  ,,mr4 ,,patrick ,,matthew1    
,,mm4 ,,etienne ,,and ,,isidore         
,,geoffroy ,,st4 ,,hilaire1 ,,and ,,mr4 
,,herbert ,,spencer4   ,the same        

complaint must be made against ,mr4     
,matthew's excellent survey of the      
theory of evolution1 as against ,dr4    
,erasmus ,darwin's original exposition  
of the same theory1 namely1 that it is  
too short4 ,it may be very true that    
brevity is the soul of wit1 but the     
leaders of science will generally       
succeed in burking new-born wit1 unless 
the brevity of its soul is found        
compatible with a body of some bulk4    
,mr4 ,darwin writes thus concerning ,mr4
 ,matthew in the historical sketch to   
which ,i have already more than once    
referred4  ,in #ahca ,mr4 ,patrick      
,matthew published his work on ',naval  
,timber and ,arboriculture1' in which he
 gives precisely the same view on the   
origin of species as that 7presently to 
be alluded to7 propounded by ,mr4       
,wallace and myself in the ',linnean    
,journal1' and as that enlarged in the  
present volume4 ,unfortunately the view 
was given by ,mr4 ,matthew very briefly1
 in scattered passages in an appendix to

 a work on a different subject1 so that 
it remained unnoticed until ,mr4        
,matthew himself drew attention to it in
 the ',gardener's ,chronicle' for ,april
 #g1 #ahfj4 ,the differences of ,mr4    
,matthew's view from mine are not of    
much importance2 he seems to consider   
that the world was nearly depopulated at
 successive periods1 and then           
re-stocked1 and he gives as an          
alternative1 that new forms may be      
generated 'without the presence of any  
mould or germ of former aggregates4' ,i 
am not sure that ,i understand some     
passages2 but it seems that he          
attributes much influence to the direct 
action of the conditions of life4 ,he   
clearly saw1 however1 the full force of 
the principle of natural selection4#cba 
,nothing could well be more misleading4 
,if ,mr4 ,matthew's view of the origin  
of species is precisely the same as that
 propounded by ,mr4 ,darwin1 it is hard 
to see how ,mr4 ,darwin can call those  
of ,lamarck and ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin   

erroneous2 for ,mr4 ,matthew's is       
nothing but an excellent and            
well-digested summary of the conclusions
 arrived at by these two writers and by 
,buffon4 ,if1 again1 ,mr4 ,darwin is    
correct in saying that ,mr4 ,matthew    
clearly saw the full force of the       
principle of natural selection1 he      
condemns the view he has himself taken  
of it in his ',origin of ,species1' for 
,mr4 ,darwin has assigned a far more    
important and very different effect to  
the fact that the fittest commonly      
survive in the struggle for existence1  
than ,mr4 ,matthew has done4 ,mr4       
,matthew sees a cause underlying all    
variations2 he takes the most           
teleological or purposive view of       
organism that has been taken by any     
writer 7not a theologian7 except myself1
 while ,mr4 ,darwin's view1 if not the  
least teleological1 is certainly nearly 
so1 and his confession of inability to  
detect any general cause underlying     
variations1 leaves1 as will appear      

presently1 less than common room for    
ambiguity4 ,here are ,mr4 ,matthew's own
 words3--  ,there is a law universal in 
nature1 tending to render every         
reproductive being the best possibly    
suited to the condition that its kind1  
or that organized matter is susceptible 
of1 and which appears intended to model 
the physical and mental or instinctive1 
powers to their highest perfection1 and 
to continue them so4 ,this law sustains 
the lion in his strength1 the hare in   
her swiftness1 and the fox in his wiles4
 ,as nature in all her modifications of 
life has a power of increase far beyond 
what is needed to supply the place of   
what falls by ,time's decay1 those      
individuals who possess not the         
requisite strength1 swiftness1          
hardihood1 or cunning1 fall prematurely 
without reproducing--either a prey to   
their natural devourers1 or sinking     
under disease1 generally induced by want
 of nourishment1 their place being      
occupied by the more perfect of their   

own kind1 who are pressing on the means 
of existence4  ,throughout this volume1 
we have felt considerable inconvenience 
from the adopted dogmatical             
classification of plants1 and have all  
along been floundering between species  
and variety1 which certainly under      
culture soften into each other4 ,a      
particular conformity1 each after its   
own kind1 when in a state of nature1    
termed species1 no doubt exists to a    
considerable degree4 ,this conformity   
has existed during the last forty       
centuries2 geologists discover a like   
particular conformity--fossil           
species--through the deep deposition of 
each great epoch2 but they also discover
 an almost complete difference to exist 
between the species or stamp of life of 
one epoch from that of every other4 ,we 
are therefore led to admit either a     
repeated miraculous conception1 or a    
power of change under change of         
circumstances to belong to living       
organized matter1 or rather to the      

congeries of inferior life which appears
 to form superior4 7,by this ,i suppose 
,mr4 ,matthew to imply his assent to the
 theory1 that our personality or        
individuality is but as it were the     
consensus1 or full flowing river of a   
vast number of subordinate              
individualities or personalities1 each  
one of which is a living being with     
thoughts and wishes of its own47 ,the   
derangements and changes in organized   
existence1 induced by a change of       
circumstances from the interference of  
man1 afford us proof of the plastic     
quality of superior life2 and the       
likelihood that circumstances have been 
very different in the different epochs1 
though steady in each1 tend strongly to 
heighten the probability of the latter  
theory4  ,when we view the immense      
calcareous and bituminous formations1   
principally from the waters and         
atmosphere1 and consider the oxidations 
and depositions which have taken place1 
either gradually or during some of the  

great convulsions1 it appears at least  
probable that the liquid elements       
containing life have varied considerably
 at different times in composition and  
weight2 that our atmosphere has         
contained a much greater proportion of  
carbonic acid or oxygen2 and our waters1
 aided by excess of carbonic acid1 and  
greater heat resulting from greater     
density of atmosphere1 have contained a 
greater quantity of lime1 and other     
mineral solutions4 ,is the inference1   
then1 unphilosophic that living things  
which are proved to have a              
circumstance-suiting power 7a very      
slight change of circumstance by culture
 inducing a corresponding change of     
character71 may have gradually          
accommodated themselves to the          
variations of the elements containing   
them1 and without new creation1 have    
presented the diverging changeable      
phenomena of past and present organized 
existence8  ,the destructive liquid     
currents before which the hardest       

mountains have been swept and comminuted
 into gravel1 sand1 and mud1 which      
intervened between and divided these    
epochs1 probably extending over the     
whole surface of the globe and          
destroying nearly all living things1    
must have reduced existence so much that
 an unoccupied field would be formed for
 new diverging ramifications of life1   
which from the connected sexual system  
of vegetables1 and the natural instinct 
of animals to herd and combine with     
their own kind1 would fall into specific
 groups--these remnants in the course of
 time moulding and accommodating their  
being anew to the change of             
circumstances1 and to every possible    
means of subsistence--and the millions  
of ages of regularity which appear to   
have followed between the epochs1       
probably after this accommodation was   
completed1 affording fossil deposit of  
regular specific character4       4 4 4 
4 4 4  ,in endeavouring to trace 444 the
 principle of these changes of fashion  

which have taken place in the domiciles 
of life the following questions occur3  
,do they arise from admixture of species
 nearly allied producing intermediate   
species8 ,are they the diverging        
ramifications of the living principle   
under modification of circumstance8 or  
have they resulted from the combined    
agency of both8  ,is there only one     
living principle8 ,does organized       
existence1 and perhaps all material     
existence1 consist of one ,proteus      
principle of life capable of gradual    
circumstance-suited modifications and   
aggregations without bound1 under the   
solvent or motion-giving principle of   
heat or light8 ,there is more beauty and
 unity of design in this continual      
balancing of life to circumstance1 and  
greater conformity to those dispositions
 of nature that are manifest to us1 than
 in total destruction and new creation4 
,it is improbable that much of this     
diversification is owing to commixture  
of species nearly allied2 all change by 

this appears very limited and confined  
within the bounds of what is called     
species2 the progeny of the same parents
 under great difference of circumstance1
 might in several generations even      
become distinct species1 incapable of   
co-reproduction4  ,the self-regulating  
adaptive disposition of organized life  
may1 in part1 be traced to the extreme  
fecundity of nature1 who1 as before     
stated1 has in all the varieties of her 
offspring a prolific power much beyond  
7in many cases a thousand fold7 what is 
necessary to fill up the vacancies      
caused by senile decay4 ,as the field of
 existence is limited and preoccupied1  
it is only the hardier1 more robust1    
better suited to circumstance           
individuals1 who are able to struggle   
forward to maturity1 these inhabiting   
only the situations to which they have  
superior adaptation and greater power of
 occupancy than any other kind2 the     
weaker and less circumstance-suited     
being prematurely destroyed4 ,this      

principle is in constant action2 it     
regulates the colour1 the figure1 the   
capacities1 and instincts2 those        
individuals in each species whose colour
 and covering are best suited to        
concealment or protection from enemies1 
or defence from inclemencies and        
vicissitudes of climate1 whose figure is
 best accommodated to health1 strength1 
defence1 and support2 whose capacities  
and instincts can best regulate the     
physical energies to self-advantage     
according to circumstances--in such     
immense waste of primary and youthful   
life those only come forward to maturity
 from the strict ordeal by which nature 
tests their adaptation to her standard  
of perfection and fitness to continue   
their kind by reproduction4  ,from the  
unremitting operation of this law acting
 in concert with the tendency which the 
progeny have to take the more particular
 qualities of the parents1 together with
 the connected sexual system in         
vegetables and instinctive limitation to

 its own kind in animals1 a considerable
 uniformity of figure1 colour1 and      
character is induced constituting       
species2 the breed gradually acquiring  
the very best possible adaptation of    
these to its condition which it is      
susceptible of1 and when alteration of  
circumstance occurs1 thus changing in   
character to suit these1 as far as its  
nature is susceptible of change4  ,this 
circumstance-adaptive law operating upon
 the slight but continued natural       
disposition to sport in the progeny     
7seedling variety7 does not preclude the
 supposed influence which volition or   
sensation may have had over the         
configuration of the body4 ,to examine  
into the disposition to sport in the    
progeny1 even when there is only one    
parent as in many vegetables1 and to    
investigate how much variation is       
modified by the mind or nervous         
sensation of the parents1 or of the     
living thing itself during its progress 
to maturity2 how far it depends upon    

external circumstance1 and how far on   
the will1 irritability1 and muscular    
exertion1 is open to examination and    
experiment4 ,in the first place1 we     
ought to examine its dependency upon the
 preceding links of the particular chain
 of life1 variety being often merely    
types or approximations of former       
parentage2 thence the variation of the  
family as well as of the individual must
 be embraced by our experiments4  ,this 
continuation of family type1 not broken 
by casual particular aberration1 is     
mental as well as corporeal1 and is     
exemplified in many of the dispositions 
or instincts of particular races of men4
 ,these innate or continuous ideas or   
habits seem proportionally greater in   
the insect tribes1 and in those         
especially of shorter revolution2 and   
forming an abiding memory1 may resolve  
much of the enigma of instinct1 and the 
foreknowledge which these tribes have of
 what is necessary to completing their  
round of life1 reducing this to         

knowledge or impressions and habits     
acquired by a long experience4  ,this   
greater continuity of existence1 or     
rather continuity of perceptions and    
impressions in insects1 is highly       
probable2 it is even difficult in some  
to ascertain the particular steps when  
each individual commences1 under the    
different phases of egg1 larva1 pupa1 or
 if much consciousness of individuality 
exists4 ,the continuation of            
reproduction for several generations by 
the females alone in some of these      
tribes1 tends to the probability of the 
greater continuity of existence2 and the
 subdivisions of life by cuttings 7even 
in animal life71 at any rate1 must      
stagger the advocate of individuality4  
,among the millions of specific         
varieties of living things which occupy 
the humid portions of the surface of our
 planet1 as far back as can be traced1  
there does not appear1 with the         
exception of man1 to have been any      
particular engrossing race1 but a pretty

 fair balance of power of occupancy--or 
rather most wonderful variation of      
circumstance parallel to the nature of  
every species1 as if circumstance and   
species had grown up together4 ,there   
are1 indeed1 several races which have   
threatened ascendancy in some particular
 regions2 but it is man alone from whom 
any general imminent danger to the      
existence of his brethren is to be      
dreaded4  ,as far back as history       
reaches1 man had already had            
considerable influence1 and had made    
encroachments upon his fellow denizens1 
probably occasioning the destruction of 
many species1 and the production and    
continuation of a number of varieties1  
and even species1 which he found more   
suited to supply his wants1 but which   
from the infirmity of their             
condition--not having undergone         
selection by the law of nature1 of which
 we have spoken--cannot maintain their  
ground without culture and protection4  
,it is only however in the present age  

that man has begun to reap the fruits of
 his tedious education1 and has proven  
how much 'knowledge is power4' ,he has  
now acquired a dominion over the        
material world1 and a consequent power  
of increase1 so as to render it probable
 that the whole surface of the earth may
 soon be overrun by this engrossing     
anomaly1 to the annihilation of every   
wonderful and beautiful variety of      
animal existence which does not         
administer to his wants1 principally as 
laboratories of preparation to befit    
cruder elemental matter for assimilation
 by his organs4       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the 
consequences are being now developed of 
our deplorable ignorance of1 or         
inattention to1 one of the most evident 
traits of natural history--that         
vegetables1 as well as animals1 are     
generally liable to an almost unlimited 
diversification1 regulated by climate1  
soil1 nourishment1 and new commixture of
 already-formed varieties4 ,in those    
with which man is most intimate1 and    

where his agency in throwing them from  
their natural locality and disposition  
has brought out this power of           
diversification in stronger shades1 it  
has been forced upon his notice1 as in  
man himself1 in the dog1 horse1 cow1    
sheep1 poultry1--in the apple1 pear1    
plum1 gooseberry1 potato1 pea1 which    
sport in infinite varieties1 differing  
considerably in size1 colour1 taste1    
firmness of texture1 period of growth1  
almost in every recognizable quality4   
,in all these kinds man is influential  
in preventing deterioration1 by careful 
selection of the largest or most        
valuable as breeders4#cbb   ,etienne and
 ,isidore ,geoffroy4  ,both ,cuvier and 
,etienne ,geoffroy1 says ,isidore       
,geoffroy1 had early perceived the      
philosophical importance of a question  
7evolution7 which must be admitted      
as--with that of unity of               
composition--the greatest in natural    
history4 ,we find them laying it down in
 the year #agie in one of their joint   

',memoirs' 7on the ,orangs71 in the very
 plainest terms1 in the following       
question1 ',must we see1' they inquire1 
'what we commonly call species1 as the  
modified descendants of the same        
original form8'  ,both were at that time
 doubtful4 ,some years afterwards       
,cuvier not only answered this question 
in the negative1 but declared1 and      
pretended to prove1 that the same forms 
have been perpetuated from the beginning
 of things4 ,lamarck1 his antagonist par
 excellence on this point1 maintained   
the contrary position with no less      
distinctness1 showing that living beings
 are unceasingly variable with change of
 their surroundings1 and giving with    
some boldness a zoological genesis in   
conformity with this doctrine4          
,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire had long        
pondered over this difficult subject4   
,the doctrine which in his old age he so
 firmly defended1 does not seem to have 
been conceived by him till after he had 
completed his ',philosophie             

,anatomique1' and except through        
lectures delivered orally to the museum 
and the faculty1 it was not published   
till #ahbh2 nor again in the work then  
published do we find his theory in its  
neatest expression and fullest          
development4  ,isidore ,geoffroy ,st4   
,hilaire tells us in a note that the    
work referred to as first putting his   
father's views before the public in a   
printed form1 was a report to the       
,academy of ,sciences on a memoir by ,m4
 ,roulin2 but that before this report   
some indications of them are to be found
 in a paper on the ,gavials1 published  
in #ahbe4 ,their best rendering1        
however1 and fullest development is in  
several memoirs1 published in           
succession1 between the years #ahbh and 
#ahcg4  ,this doctrine1 he continues1 is
 diametrically opposed to that of       
,cuvier1 and is not entirely the same as
 ,lamarck's4 ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire    
refutes the one1 he restrains and       
corrects the other4 ,cuvier1 according  

to him1 sums up against the facts1 while
 ,lamarck goes further than they will   
bear him out4 ,essentially however on   
questions of this nature he is a        
follower of ,lamarck1 and took pleasure 
on several occasions in describing      
himself as the disciple of his          
illustrious confrere4#cbc  ,i have been 
unable to detect any substantial        
difference of opinion between ,geoffroy 
,st4 ,hilaire and ,lamarck1 except that 
the first maintained that a line must be
 drawn somewhere--and did not draw      
it--while the latter said that no line  
could be drawn1 and therefore drew none4
 ,mr4 ,darwin is quite correct in saying
 that ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire relied    
chiefly on the conditions of life1 or   
the 'monde ambiant1' as the cause of    
change4 ,but this is only ,lamarck over 
again1 for though ,lamarck attributes   
variation directly to change of habits  
in the creature1 he is almost wearisome 
in his insistence on the fact that the  
habit will not change1 unless the       

conditions of life also do so4 ,with    
both writers then it is change in the   
relative positions of the exterior      
circumstances1 and of the organism1     
which results in variation1 and finally 
in specific modification4  ,here is     
another sketch of ,etienne ,geoffroy1   
also by his son ,isidore4  ,in #agie1   
while ,lamarck was still a believer in  
immutability1 ,etienne ,geoffroy ,st4   
,hilaire had ventured to say that       
species might well be 'degenerations    
from a single type1' but1 though he     
never lost sight of the question1 he    
waited more than a quarter of a century 
before passing from meditation to       
action4 ,he at length put forward his   
opinion in #ahbe1 he returned to it1 but
 still briefly1 in #ahbh and #ahbi1 and 
did not set himself to develop and      
establish it till the year #ahca--the   
year following the memorable discussion 
in the ,academy1 on the unity of organic
 composition4#cbd  ,if1 says his son1 he
 began by paying homage to his          

illustrious precursor1 and by laying it 
down as a general axiom1 that there is  
no such thing as fixity in nature1 and  
especially in animated nature1 he       
follows this adhesion to the general    
doctrine of variability by a dissent    
which goes to the very heart of the     
matter4 ,and this dissent becomes deeper
 and deeper in his later works4 ,not    
only is ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire at pains
 to deny the unlimited extension of     
variability which is the foundation of  
the ,lamarckian system1 but he moreover 
and particularly declines to explain    
those degenerations which he admits as  
possible1 by changes of action and habit
 on the part of the creature            
varying--,lamarck's favourite           
hypothesis1 which he laboured to        
demonstrate without even succeeding in  
making it appear probable4#cbe  ,isidore
 ,geoffroy then declares that his       
father1 though chronologically a        
follower of ,lamarck1 should be ranked  
philosophically as having continued the 

work of ,buffon1 to whom all his        
differences of opinion with ,lamarck    
serve to bring him nearer4#cbf ,if he   
had understood ,buffon he would not have
 said so4  ,his conclusions are thus    
summed up3--,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire     
maintains that species are variable if  
the environment varies in character2    
differences1 then1 more or less         
considerable according to the power of  
the modifying causes may have been      
produced in the course of time1 and the 
living forms of to-day may be the       
descendants of more ancient forms4#cbg  
,it is not easy to see that much weight 
should be attached to ,geoffroy ,st4    
,hilaire's opinion4 ,he seems to have   
been a person of hesitating temperament1
 under an impression that there was an  
opening just then through which a       
judicious trimmer might pass himself in 
among men of greater power4 ,if his son 
has described his teaching correctly1 it
 amounts practically to a bona fide     
endorsement of what ,buffon can only be 

considered to have pretended to believe4
 ,the same objection that must be fatal 
to the view pretended by ,buffon1 is so 
in like manner to those put forward     
seriously of both the ,geoffroys--for   
,isidore ,geoffroy followed his father1 
but leant a little more openly towards  
,lamarck4 ,he writes3--  ,the characters
 of species are neither absolutely      
fixed1 as has been maintained by some2  
nor yet1 still more1 indefinitely       
variable as according to others4 ,they  
are fixed for each species as long as   
that species continues to reproduce     
itself in an unchanged environment2 but 
they become modified if the environment 
changes4#cbh  ,this is all that ,lamarck
 himself would expect1 as no one could  
be more fully aware than ,m4 ,geoffroy1 
who1 however1 admits that degeneration  
may extend to generic differences4#cbi  
,i have been unable to find in ,m4      
,isidore ,geoffroy's work anything like 
a refutation of ,lamarck's contention   
that the modifications in animals and   

plants are due to the needs and wishes  
of the animals and plants themselves2 on
 the contrary1 to some extent he        
countenances this view himself1 for he  
says1 hence arise notable differences of
 habitation and climate1 and these in   
their turn induce secondary differences 
in diet and even in habits4#ccj ,from   
which it must follow1 though ,i cannot  
find it said expressly1 that the author 
attributes modification in some measure 
to changed habits1 and therefore to the 
changed desires from which the change of
 habits has arisen2 but in the main he  
appears to refer modification to the    
direct action of a changed environment4 
,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer4  ,those who     
cavalierly reject the theory of ,lamarck
 and his followers as not adequately    
supported by facts1 wrote ,mr4 ,herbert 
,spencer1#cca seem quite to forget that 
their own theory is supported by no     
facts at all--inasmuch as no one        
pretends to have seen an act of direct  
creation4 ,mr4 ,spencer points out that1

 according to the best authorities1     
there are some #cbj1jjj species of      
plants now existing1 and about          
#b1jjj1jjj species of animals1 including
 insects1 and that if the extinct forms 
which have successively appeared and    
disappeared be added to these1 there    
cannot have existed in all less than    
some ten million species4 ,which1 asks  
,mr4 ,spencer1 is the most rational     
theory about these ten millions of      
species8 ,is it most likely that there  
have been ten millions of special       
creations8 or1 is it most likely that by
 continual modification due to change of
 circumstances1 ten millions of         
varieties may have been produced as     
varieties are being produced still8     
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,even could the supporters 
of the development hypothesis merely    
show that the production of species by  
the process of modification is          
conceivable1 they would be in a better  
position than their opponents4 ,but they
 can do much more than this2 they can   

show that the process of modification   
has effected and is effecting great     
changes in all organisms1 subject to    
modifying influences 444 they can show  
that any existing species--animal or    
vegetable--when placed under conditions 
different from its previous ones1       
immediately begins to undergo certain   
changes of structure fitting it for the 
new conditions4 ,they can show that in  
successive generations these changes    
continue until ultimately the new       
conditions become the natural ones4     
,they can show that in cultivated plants
 and domesticated animals1 and in the   
several races of men1 these changes have
 uniformly taken place4 ,they can show  
that the degrees of difference1 so      
produced1 are often1 as in dogs1 greater
 than those on which distinctions of    
species are in other cases founded4     
,they can show that it is a matter of   
dispute whether some of these modified  
forms are varieties or modified species4
 ,they can show too that the changes    

daily taking place in ourselves2 the    
facility that attends long practice1 and
 the loss of aptitude that begins when  
practice ceases2 the strengthening of   
passions habitually gratified1 and the  
weakening of those habitually curbed2   
the development of every faculty1       
bodily1 moral or intellectual1 according
 to the use made of it1 are all         
explicable on this same principle4 ,and 
thus they can show that throughout all  
organic nature there is at work a       
modifying influence of the kind they    
assign as the cause of these specific   
differences1 an influence which1 though 
slow in its action1 does in time1 if the
 circumstances demand it1 produce marked
 changes2 an influence which1 to all    
appearance1 would produce in the        
millions of years1 and under the great  
varieties of condition which geological 
records imply1 any amount of change4    
,this leaves nothing to be desired4 ,it 
is ,buffon1 ,dr4 ,darwin1 and ,lamarck1 
well expressed4 ,those were the days    

before ,natural ,selection had been     
discharged into the waters of the       
evolution controversy1 like the         
secretion of a cuttle fish4 ,changed    
circumstances immediately induce changed
 habits1 and hence a changed use of some
 organs1 and disuse of others3 as a     
consequence of this1 organs and         
instincts become changed1 and these     
changes continue in successive          
generations1 until ultimately the new   
conditions become the natural ones4     
,this is the whole theory of            
development1 evolution1 or descent with 
modification4 ,volumes may be written to
 adduce the details which warrant us in 
accepting it1 and to explain the causes 
which have brought it about1 but ,i fail
 to see how anything essential can be   
added to the theory itself1 which is    
here so well supported by ,mr4 ,spencer1
 and which is exactly as ,lamarck left  
it4 ,all that remains is to have a clear
 conception of the oneness of           
personality between parents and         

offspring1 of the eternity1 and latency1
 of memory1 and of the unconsciousness  
with which habitual actions are         
repeated1 which last point1 indeed1 ,mr4
 ,spencer has himself touched upon4     
,mr4 ,spencer continues--,that by any   
series of changes a zoophyte should ever
 become a mammal1 seems to those who are
 not familiar with zoology1 and who have
 not seen how clear becomes the         
relationship between the simplest and   
the most complex forms1 when all        
intermediate forms are examined1 a very 
grotesque notion 444 they never realize 
the fact that by small increments of    
modification1 any amount of modification
 may in time be generated4 ,that        
surprise which they feel on finding one 
whom they last saw as a boy1 grown into 
a man1 becomes incredulity when the     
degree of change is greater4            
,nevertheless1 abundant instances are at
 hand of the mode in which we may pass  
to the most diverse forms by insensible 
gradations4  ,nothing can be more       

satisfactory and straightforward4 ,i    
will make one more quotation from this  
excellent article3--  ,but the blindness
 of those who think it absurd to suppose
 that complex organic forms may have    
arisen by successive modifications out  
of simple ones1 becomes astonishing when
 we remember that complex organic forms 
are daily being thus produced4 ,a tree  
differs from a seed immeasurably in     
every respect--in bulk1 in structure1 in
 colour1 in form1 in specific gravity1  
in chemical composition--differs so     
greatly that no visible resemblance of  
any kind can be pointed out between     
them4 ,yet is the one changed in the    
course of a few years into the          
other--changed so gradually that at no  
moment can it be said1 ',now the seed   
ceases to be1 and the tree exists4'     
,what can be more widely contrasted than
 a newly-born child1 and the small1     
semi-transparent gelatinous spherule    
constituting the human ovum8 ,the infant
 is so complex in structure that a      

cyclopaedia is needed to describe its   
constituent parts4 ,the germinal vesicle
 is so simple1 that a line will contain 
all that can be said of it4             
,nevertheless1 a few months suffices to 
develop the one out of the other1 and   
that too by a series of modifications so
 small1 that were the embryo examined at
 successive minutes1 not even a         
microscope would disclose any sensible  
changes4 ,that the uneducated and       
ill-educated should think the hypothesis
 that all races of beings1 man          
inclusive1 may in process of time have  
been evolved from the simplest monad a  
ludicrous one is not to be wondered at4 
,but for the physiologist1 who knows    
that every individual being is so       
evolved--who knows further that in their
 earliest condition the germs of all    
plants and animals whatsoever are so    
similar1 'that there is no appreciable  
distinction among them which would      
enable it to be determined whether a    
particular molecule is the germ of a    

conferva or of an oak1 of a zoophyte or 
of a man'#ccb--;for him to make a       
difficulty of the matter is inexcusable4
 ,surely1 if a single structureless cell
 may1 when subjected to certain         
influences1 become a man in the space of
 twenty years1 there is nothing absurd  
in the hypothesis that under certain    
other influences a cell may1 in the     
course of millions of years1 give origin
 to the human race4 ,the two processes  
are generically the same1 and differ    
only in length and complexity4       99 
99     99     99     99  ,the very      
important extract from ,professor       
,hering's lecture should perhaps have   
been placed here4 ,the reader will1     
however1 find it on page #aii4          
,,footnotes3  #cba ',origin of          
,species1' ,hist4 ,sketch1 p4 xvi4  #cbb
 ,see ',naval ,timber and               
,arboriculture1' by ,patrick ,matthew1  
published by ,adam and ,c4 ,black1      
,edinburgh1 and ,longmans and ,co41     
,london1 #ahca1 pp4 #cfd1 #cfe1         

#cha-chh1 and also #ajf-ajh1            
',gardeners' ,chronicle1' ,april #g1    
#ahfj4  #cbc ',vie et ,doctrine         
,scientifique de ,geoffroy ,etienne ,st4
 ,hilaire1' ,paris1 ,strasbourg1 #ahdg1 
pp4 #cdd-cdf4  #cbd ',hist4 ,nat4       
,gen41' tom4 ii4 #dac4  #cbe ',hist4    
,nat4 ,gen41' tom4 ii4 p4 #dae4  #cbf   
,ibid4  #cbg ,ibid4 p4 #dba4  #cbh      
',hist4 ,nat4 ,gen41' vol4 ii4 p4 #dca1 
#ahei4  #cbi ',origin of ,species1'     
,hist4 ,sketch1 p4 xix4  #ccj ',hist4   
,nat4 ,gen41' vol4 ii4 p4 #dcb4  #cca   
,see ',the ,leader1' ,march #bj1 #aheb1 
,the ,haythorne ,papers4  #ccb          
,carpenter's ',principles of            
,physiology'1 #crd ed41 p4 #hfg4        
,,chapter ,,xix4  ,,main ,,points ,,of  
,,agreement ,,and ,,of ,,difference     
,,between ,,the ,,old ,,and ,,new       
,,theories ,,of ,,evolution4   ,having  
put before the reader with some fulness 
the theories of the three writers to    
whom we owe the older or teleological   
view of evolution1 ,i will now compare  

that view more closely with the theory  
of ,mr4 ,darwin and ,mr4 ,wallace1 to   
whom1 in spite of my profound difference
 of opinion with them on the subject of 
natural selection1 ,i admit with        
pleasure that ,i am under deep          
obligation4 ,for the sake of brevity1 ,i
 shall take ,lamarck as the exponent of 
the older view1 and ,mr4 ,darwin as that
 of the one now generally accepted4  ,we
 have seen1 that up to a certain point  
there is very little difference between 
,lamarck and ,mr4 ,darwin4 ,lamarck     
maintains that animals and plants vary3 
so does ,mr4 ,darwin4 ,lamarck maintains
 that variations having once arisen have
 a tendency to be transmitted to        
offspring and accumulated3 so does ,mr4 
,darwin4 ,lamarck maintains that the    
accumulation of variations1 so small1   
each one of them1 that it cannot be1 or 
is not noticed1 nevertheless will lead  
in the course of that almost infinite   
time during which life has existed upon 
earth1 to very wide differences in form1

 structure1 and instincts3 so does ,mr4 
,darwin4 ,finally1 ,lamarck declares    
that all1 or nearly all1 the differences
 which we observe between various kinds 
of animals and plants are due to this   
exceedingly gradual and imperceptible   
accumulation1 during many successive    
generations1 of variations each one of  
which was in the outset small3 so does  
,mr4 ,darwin4 ,but in the above we have 
a complete statement of the fact of     
evolution1 or descent with              
modification--wanting nothing1 but      
entire1 and incapable of being added to 
except in detail1 and by way of         
explanation of the causes which have    
brought the fact about4 ,as regards the 
general conclusion arrived at1          
therefore1 ,i am unable to detect any   
difference of opinion between ,lamarck  
and ,mr4 ,darwin4 ,they are both bent on
 establishing the theory of evolution in
 its widest extent4  ,the late ,sir     
,charles ,lyell1 in his ',principles of 
,geology1' bears me out here4 ,in a note

 to his resume of the part of the       
',philosophie ,zoologique' which bears  
upon evolution1 he writes3--  ,i have   
reprinted in this chapter word for word 
my abstract of ,lamarck's doctrine of   
transmutation1 as drawn up by me in     
#ahcb in the first edition of the       
',principles of ,geology4'#ccc ,i have  
thought it right to do this in justice  
to ,lamarck1 in order to show how nearly
 the opinions taught by him at the      
commencement of this century resembled  
those now in vogue amongst a large body 
of naturalists respecting the infinite  
variability of species1 and the         
progressive development in past time of 
the organic world4 ,the reader must bear
 in mind that when ,i made this analysis
 of the ',philosophie ,zoologique' in   
#ahcb1 ,i was altogether opposed to the 
doctrine that the animals and plants now
 living were the lineal descendants of  
distinct species1 only known to us in a 
fossil state1 and 444 so far from       
exaggerating1 ,i did not do justice to  

the arguments originally adduced by     
,lamarck and ,geoffroy ,st4 ,hilaire1   
especially those founded on the         
occurrence of rudimentary organs4 ,there
 is therefore no room for suspicion that
 my account of the ,lamarckian          
hypothesis1 written by me thirty-five   
years ago1 derived any colouring from my
 own views tending to bring it more into
 harmony with the theory since          
propounded by ,darwin4#ccd ,so little   
difference did ,sir ,charles ,lyell     
discover between the views of ,lamarck  
and those of his successors4  ,with the 
identity1 however1 of the main          
proposition which1 both ,lamarck and    
,mr4 ,darwin alike endeavour to         
establish1 the points of agreement      
between the two writers come to an end4 
,lamarck's great aim was to discover the
 cause of those variations whose        
accumulation results in specific1 and   
finally in generic1 differences4 ,not   
content with establishing the fact of   
descent with modification1 he1 like his 

predecessors1 wishes to explain how it  
was that the fact came about4 ,he finds 
its explanation in changed              
surroundings--that is to say1 in changed
 conditions of existence--as the        
indirect cause1 and in the varying needs
 arising from these changed conditions  
as the direct cause4  ,according to     
,lamarck1 there is a broad principle    
which underlies variation generally1 and
 this principle is the power which all  
living beings possess of slightly       
varying their actions in accordance with
 varying needs1 coupled with the fact   
observable throughout nature that use   
develops1 and disuse enfeebles an organ1
 and that the effects1 whether of use or
 disuse1 become hereditary after many   
generations4  ,this resolves itself into
 the effect of the mutual interaction of
 mind on body and of body on mind4 ,thus
 he writes3--  ,the physical and the    
mental are to start with undoubtedly one
 and the same thing2 this fact is most  
easily made apparent through study of   

the organization of the various orders  
of known animals4 ,from the common      
source there proceeded certain effects1 
and these effects1 in the outset hardly 
separated1 have in the course of time   
become so perfectly distinct1 that when 
looked at in their extremest development
 they appear to have little or nothing  
in common4  ,the effect of the body upon
 the mind has been already sufficiently 
recognized2 not so that of the mind upon
 the body itself4 ,the two1 one in the  
outset though they were1 interact upon  
each other more and more the more they  
present the appearance of having become 
widely sundered1 and it can be shown    
that each is continually modifying the  
other and causing it to vary4#cce  ,and 
again1 later3--  ,i shall show that the 
habits by which we now recognize any    
creature are due to the environment     
7circonstances7 under which it has for a
 long while existed1 and that these     
habits have had such an influence upon  
the structure of each individual of the 

species as to have at length 7that is to
 say1 through many successive slight    
variations1 each due to habit engendered
 by the wishes of the animal itself71   
modified this structure and adapted it  
to the habits contracted4#ccf  ,these   
quotations must suffice1 for the reader 
has already had ,lamarck's argument     
sufficiently put before him4            
,variation1 and consequently            
modification1 are1 according to         
,lamarck1 the outward and visible signs 
of the impressions made upon animals and
 plants in the course of their long and 
varied history1 each organ chronicling a
 time during which such and such        
thoughts and actions dominated the      
creature1 and specific changes being the
 effect of certain long-continued wishes
 upon the body1 and of certain changed  
surroundings upon the wishes4 ,plants   
and animals are living forms of faith1  
or faiths of form1 whichever the reader 
pleases4  ,mr4 ,darwin1 on the other    
hand1 repeatedly avows ignorance1 and   

profound ignorance1 concerning the      
causes of those variations which1 or    
nothing1 must be the fountain-heads of  
species4 ,thus he writes of the complex 
and little known laws of variation4#ccg 
,there is also some probability in the  
view propounded by ,andrew ,knight1 that
 variability may be partly connected    
with excess of food4#cch ,many laws     
regulate variation1 some few of which   
can be dimly seen4#cci ,the results of  
the unknown1 or but dimly understood1   
laws of variation are infinitely complex
 and diversified4#cdj ,we are profoundly
 ignorant of the cause of each slight   
variation or individual difference4#cda 
,we are far too ignorant to speculate on
 the relative importance of the several 
known and unknown causes of             
variation4#cdb ,he admits1 indeed1 the  
effects of use and disuse to have been  
important1 but how important we have no 
means of knowing2 he also attributes    
considerable effect to the action of    
changed conditions of life--but how     

considerable again we know not2         
nevertheless1 he sees no great principle
 underlying the variations generally1   
and tending to make them appear for a   
length of time together in any definite 
direction advantageous to the creature  
itself1 but either expressly1 as at     
times1 or by implication1 as throughout 
his works1 ascribes them to accident or 
chance4  ,in other words1 he admits his 
ignorance concerning them1 and dwells   
only on the accumulation of variations  
the appearance of which for any length  
of time in any given direction he leaves
 unaccounted for4  ,lamarck1 again1     
having established his principle that   
sense of need is the main direct cause  
of variation1 and having also           
established that the variations thus    
engendered are inherited1 so that       
divergences accumulate and result in    
species and genera1 is comparatively    
indifferent to further details4 ,his    
work is avowedly an outline4            
,nevertheless1 we have seen that he was 

quite alive to the effects of the       
geometrical ratio of increase1 and of   
the struggle for existence which thence 
inevitably follows4  ,mr4 ,darwin1 on   
the other hand1 comparatively           
indifferent to1 or at any rate silent   
concerning the causes of those          
variations which appeared so            
all-important to ,lamarck1 inasmuch as  
they are the raindrops which unite to   
form the full stream of modification1   
goes into very full detail upon natural 
selection1 or the survival of the       
fittest1 and maintains it to have been  
the most important but not the exclusive
 means of modification4#cdc  ,it will be
 readily seen that1 according to        
,lamarck1 the variations which when     
accumulated amount to specific and      
generic differences1 will have been due 
to causes which have been mainly of the 
same kind for long periods together4    
,conditions of life change for the most 
part slowly1 steadily1 and in a set     
direction2 as in the direction of       

steady1 gradual increase or decrease of 
cold or moisture2 of the steady1 gradual
 increase of such and such an enemy1 or 
decrease of such and such a kind of     
food2 of the gradual upheaval or        
submergence of such and such a          
continent1 and consequent drying up or  
encroachment of such and such a sea1 and
 so forth4 ,the thoughts of the creature
 varying will thus have been turned     
mainly in one direction for long        
together2 and hence the consequent      
modifications will also be mainly in    
fixed and definite directions for many  
successive generations2 as in the       
direction of a warmer or cooler         
covering2 of a better means of defence  
or of attack in relation to such and    
such another species2 of a longer neck  
and longer legs1 or of whatever other   
modification the gradually changing     
circumstances may be rendering          
expedient4 ,it is easy to understand the
 accumulation of slight successive      
modifications which thus make their     

appearance in given organs and in a set 
direction4  ,with ,mr4 ,darwin1 on the  
contrary1 the variations being          
accidental1 and due to no special and   
uniform cause1 will not appear for any  
length of time in any given direction1  
nor in any given organ1 but will be just
 as liable to appear in one organ as in 
another1 and may be in one generation in
 one direction1 and in another in       
another4  ,in confirmation of the above1
 and in illustration of the important   
consequences that will follow according 
as we adopt the old or the more recent  
theory1 ,i would quote the following    
from ,mr4 ,mivart's ',genesis of        
,species4'  ,shortly before maintaining 
that two similar structures have often  
been developed independently of one     
another1 ,mr4 ,mivart points out that if
 we are dependent upon indefinite       
variations only1 as provided for us by  
,mr4 ,darwin1 this would be so          
improbable as to be practically         
impossible4#cdd ,the number of possible 

variations being indefinitely great1 it 
is therefore an indefinitely great      
number to one against a similar series  
of variations occurring and being       
similarly preserved in any two          
independent instances4 ,it will be felt 
7as ,mr4 ,mivart presently insists7 that
 this objection does not apply to a     
system which maintains that in case an  
animal feels any given want it will     
gradually develop the structure which   
shall meet the want--that is to say1 if 
the want be not so great and so sudden  
as to extinguish the creature to which  
it has become a necessity4 ,for if there
 be such a power of self-adaptation as  
thus supposed1 two or more very widely  
different animals feeling the same kind 
of want might easily adopt similar means
 to gratify it1 and hence develop       
eventually a substantially similar      
structure2 just as two men1 without any 
kind of concert1 have often hit upon    
like means of compassing the same ends4 
,mr4 ,spencer's theory--so ,mr4 ,mivart 

tells us--and certainly that of         
,lamarck1 whose disciple ,mr4 ,spencer  
would appear to be1#cde admits a certain
 peculiar1 but limited power of response
 and adaptation in each animal and      
plant--to the conditions of their       
existence4 ,such theories1 says ,mr4    
,mivart1 have not to contend against the
 difficulty proposed1 and it has been   
urged that even very complex extremely  
similar structures have again and again 
been developed quite independently one  
of the other1 and this because the      
process has taken place not by merely   
haphazard1 indefinite variations in all 
directions1 but by the concurrence of   
some other internal natural law or laws 
co-operating with external influences   
and with ,natural ,selection in the     
evolution of organic forms4  ,it must   
never be forgotten that to admit any    
such constant operation of any such     
unknown natural cause is to deny the    
purely ,darwinian theory which relies   
upon the survival of the fittest by     

means of minute fortuitous indefinite   
variations4  ,among many other          
obligations which the author has to     
acknowledge to ,professor ,huxley1 are  
the pointing out of this very           
difficulty1 and the calling his         
attention to the striking resemblance   
between certain teeth of the dog1 and of
 the thylacine1 as one instance1 and    
certain ornithic peculiarities of       
pterodactyles as another4#cdf  ,in brief
 then1 changed distribution of use and  
disuse in consequence of changed        
conditions of the environment is with   
,lamarck the main cause of modification4
 ,according to ,mr4 ,darwin natural     
selection1 or the survival of favourable
 but accidental variations1 is the most 
important means of modification4 ,in a  
word1 with ,lamarck the variations are  
definite2 with ,mr4 ,darwin indefinite4 
,,footnotes3  #ccc ,vol4 ii4 chap4 i4   
#ccd ,vol4 ii4 chap1 xxxiv41 ed4 #ahgb4 
#cce ',philosophie ,zoologique1' ed4 ,m4
 ,martins1 ,paris1 ,lyons1 #ahgc1 tom4  

i4 p4 #bd4  #ccf ',philosophie          
,zoologique1' tom4 i4 p4 #gb4  #ccg     
',origin of ,species1' p4 #c4  #cch     
,ibid4 p4 #e4  #cci ',origin of         
,species1' p4 #h4  #cdj ,ibid4 p4 #i4   
#cda ,ibid4 p4 #aeh4  #cdb ,ibid4 p4    
#aei4  #cdc ',origin of ,species1' p4   
#d4  #cdd ',genesis of ,species1' p4    
#gd1 #ahga4  #cde ,see ante1 p4 #ccj1   
line #a after heading4  #cdf ',genesis  
of ,species1' p4 #gf1 ed4 #ahga4        
,,chapter ,,xx4  ,,natural ,,selection  
,,considered ,,as ,a ,,means ,,of       
,,modification4 ,,the ,,confusion       
,,which ,,this ,,expression ,,occasions4
   ,when ,mr4 ,darwin says that natural 
selection is the most important means of
 modification1 ,i am not sure that ,i   
understand what he wishes to imply by   
the word means4 ,i do not see how the   
fact that those animals which are best  
fitted for the conditions of their      
existence commonly survive in the       
struggle for life1 can be called in any 
special sense a means of modification4  

,means is a dangerous word2 it slips too
 easily into cause4 ,we have seen ,mr4  
,darwin himself say that ,buffon did not
 enter on the causes or means#cdg of    
modification1 as though these two words 
were synonymous1 or nearly so4          
,nevertheless1 the use of the word means
 here enables ,mr4 ,darwin to speak of  
,natural ,selection as if it were an    
active cause 7which he constantly does71
 and yet to avoid expressly maintaining 
that it is a cause of modification4     
,this1 indeed1 he has not done in       
express terms1 but he does it by        
implication when he writes1 ,natural    
,selection might be most effective in   
giving the proper colour to each kind of
 grouse1 and in keeping that colour when
 once acquired4 ,such language1 says the
 late ,mr4 ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes1 is           
misleading2 it makes selection an       
agent4#cdh  ,it is plain that natural   
selection cannot be considered a cause  
of variation2 and if not of variation1  
which is as the rain drop1 then not of  

specific and generic modification1 which
 are as the river2 for the variations   
must make their appearance before they  
can be selected4 ,suppose that it is an 
advantage to a horse to have an         
especially hard and broad hoof1 then a  
horse born with such a hoof will indeed 
probably survive in the struggle for    
existence1 but he was not born with the 
larger and harder hoof because of his   
subsequently surviving4 ,he survived    
because he was born fit--not1 he was    
born fit because he survived4 ,the      
variation must arise first and be       
preserved afterwards4  ,mr4 ,darwin     
therefore is in the following dilemma4  
,if he does not treat natural selection 
as a cause of variation1 the ',origin of
 ,species' will turn out to have no     
raison d'etre4 ,it will have professed  
to have explained to us the manner in   
which species has originated1 but it    
will have left us in the dark concerning
 the origin of those variations which1  
when added together1 amount to specific 

and generic differences4 ,thus1 as ,i   
said in ',life and ,habit1' ,mr4 ,darwin
 will have made us think we know the    
whole road1 in spite of his having      
almost ostentatiously blindfolded us at 
every step in the journey4 ,the ',origin
 of ,species' would thus prove to be no 
less a piece of intellectual            
sleight-of-hand than ,paley's ',natural 
,theology4'  ,if1 on the other hand1    
,mr4 ,darwin maintains natural selection
 to be a cause of variation1 this comes 
to saying that when an animal has varied
 in an advantageous direction1 the fact 
of its subsequently surviving in the    
struggle for existence is the cause of  
its having varied in the advantageous   
direction--or more simply still--that   
the fact of its having varied is the    
cause of its having varied4  ,and this  
is what we have already seen ,mr4       
,darwin actually to say1 in a passage   
quoted near the beginning of this       
present book4 ,when writing of the eye  
he says1 ,variation will cause the      

slight alterations2#cdi but the slight  
alterations are the variations2 so that 
,mr4 ,darwin's words come to this--that 
variation will cause the variations4    
,there does not seem any better way out 
of this dilemma than that which ,mr4    
,darwin has adopted--namely1 to hold out
 natural selection as a means of        
modification1 and thenceforward to treat
 it as an efficient cause2 but at the   
same time to protest again and again    
that it is not a cause4 ,accordingly he 
writes that ,natural ,selection acts    
only by the preservation and            
accumulation of small inherited         
modifications1#cej--that is to say1 it  
has had no share in inducing or causing 
these modifications4 ,again1 ,what      
applies to one animal will apply        
throughout all time to all animals--that
 is1 if they vary1 for otherwise natural
 selection can effect nothing#cea2 and  
again1 for natural selection only takes 
advantage of such variations as         
arise#ceb--the variations themselves    

arising1 as we have just seen1 from     
variation4  ,nothing1 then1 can be      
clearer from these passages than that   
natural selection is not a cause of     
modification2 while1 on the other hand1 
nothing can be clearer1 from a large    
number of such passages1 as1 for        
instance1 natural selection may be      
effective in giving and keeping         
colour1#cec than that natural selection 
is an efficient cause2 and in spite of  
its being expressly declared to be only 
a means of modification1 it will be     
accepted as cause by the great majority 
of readers4  ,mr4 ,darwin explains this 
apparent inconsistency thus3--,he       
maintains that though the advantageous  
modification itself is fortuitous1 or   
without known cause or principle        
underlying it1 yet its becoming the     
predominant form of the species in which
 it appears is due to the fact that     
those animals which have been           
advantageously modified commonly survive
 in times of difficulty1 while the      

unmodified individuals perish3 offspring
 therefore is more frequently left by   
the favourably modified animal1 and thus
 little by little the whole species will
 come to inherit the modification4      
,hence the survival of the fittest      
becomes a means of modification1 though 
it is no cause of variation4  ,it will  
appear more clearly later on how much   
this amounts to4 ,i will for the present
 content myself with the following      
quotation from the late ,mr4 ,g4 ,h4    
,lewes in reference to it4 ,mr4 ,lewes  
writes3--  ,mr4 ,darwin seems to imply  
that the external conditions which cause
 a variation are to be distinguished    
from the conditions which accumulate and
 perfect such variation1 that is to say1
 he implies a radical difference between
 the process of variation and the       
process of selection4 ,this ,i have     
already said does not seem to me        
acceptable2 the selection ,i conceive to
 be simply the variation which has      
survived4#ced  ,certainly those animals 

and plants which are best fitted for    
their environment1 or1 as ,lamarck calls
 it1 circonstances--those animals1 in   
fact1 which are best fitted to comply   
with the conditions of their            
existence--are most likely to survive   
and transmit their especial fitness4 ,no
 one would admit this more readily than 
,lamarck4 ,this is no theory2 it is a   
commonly observed fact in nature which  
no one will dispute1 but it is not more 
a means of modification than many other 
commonly observed facts concerning      
animals4  ,why is the survival of the   
fittest more a means of modification    
than1 we will say1 the fact that animals
 live at all1 or that they live in      
successive generations1 being born1     
continuing their species1 and dying1    
instead of living on for ever as one    
single animal in the common acceptation 
of the term2 or than that they eat and  
drink8  ,the heat whereby the water is  
heated1 the water which is turned into  
steam1 the piston on which the steam    

acts1 the driving wheel1 c41 c41 are all
 one as much as another a means whereby 
a train is made to go from one place to 
another2 it is impossible to say that   
any one of them is the main means4 ,so  
7mutatis mutandis7 with modification4   
,there is no reason therefore why the   
survival of the fittest should claim to 
be an especial means of modification    
rather than any other necessary adjunct 
of animal or vegetable life4  ,i find   
that the late ,mr4 ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes has   
insisted on this objection in his       
',physical ,basis of ,mind4' ,i observe1
 also1 that in the very passage in which
 he does so1 ,mr4 ,lewes appears to have
 been misled by ,mr4 ,darwin's use of   
that dangerous word means1 and1 at the  
same time1 by his frequent treatment of 
natural selection as though it were an  
active cause2 so that ,mr4 ,lewes       
supposes ,mr4 ,darwin to have fallen    
into the very error of which1 as ,i have
 above shown1 he is evidently struggling
 to keep clear--namely1 that of         

maintaining natural selection to be a   
cause of variation4 ,mr4 ,lewes then    
continues3--  ,he ,mr4 ,darwin separates
 ,natural ,selection from all the       
primary causes of variation either      
internal or external--either as results 
of the laws of growth1 of the           
correlations of variation1 of use and   
disuse1 c41 and limits it to the slow   
accumulation of such variations as are  
profitable in the struggle with         
competitors4 ,and for his purpose this  
separation is necessary4 ,but biological
 philosophy must1 ,i think1 regard the  
distinction as artificial1 referring    
only to one of the great factors in the 
production of species4#cee  ,the fact   
that one in a brood or litter is born   
fitter for the conditions of its        
existence than its brothers and sisters1
 and1 again1 the causes that have led to
 this one's having been born            
fitter--which last is what the older    
evolutionists justly dwelt upon as the  
most interesting consideration in       

connection with the whole subject--are  
more noteworthy factors of modification 
than the factor that an animal1 if born 
fitter for its conditions1 will commonly
 survive longer in the struggle for     
existence4 ,if the first of these can be
 explained in such a manner as to be    
accepted as true1 or highly probable1 we
 have a substantial gain to our         
knowledge4 ,the second is little--if at 
all--better than a truism4 ,granted1 if 
it were not generally the case that     
those forms are most likely to survive  
which are best fitted for the conditions
 of their existence1 no adaptation of   
form to conditions of existence could   
ever have come about4 ,the survival of  
the fittest therefore1 or1 perhaps      
better1 the fertility of the fittest1 is
 thus a sine qua non for modification4  
,but1 as we have just insisted1 this    
does not render the fertility of the    
fittest an especial means of            
modification1 rather than any other sine
 qua non for modification4  ,but1 to    

look at the matter in another light4    
,mr4 ,darwin maintains natural selection
 to be the most important but not the   
exclusive means of modification4  ,for  
natural selection substitute the words  
survival of the fittest1 which we may do
 with ,mr4 ,darwin's own consent        
abundantly given4  ,to the words        
survival of the fittest add what is     
elided1 but what is1 nevertheless1      
unquestionably as much implied as though
 it were said openly whenever these     
words are used1 and without which       
fittest has no force--,i mean1 for the  
conditions of their existence4  ,we thus
 find that when ,mr4 ,darwin says that  
natural selection is the most important1
 but not exclusive means of             
modification1 he means that the survival
 in the struggle for existence of those 
creatures which are best fitted to      
comply with the conditions of their     
existence is the most important1 but not
 exclusive means whereby the descendants
 of a creature1 we will say1 ,a1 have   

become modified1 so as to be now        
represented by a creature1 we will say1 
,b4  ,but the word circonstances1 so    
frequently used by ,lamarck for the     
conditions of an animal's existence1    
contains1 by implication1 the idea of   
animals which shall exist or not        
according as they fulfil those          
conditions or fail to fulfil them4      
,conditions of existence are conditions 
which something capable of existing must
 fulfil if it would exist at all1 and   
nothing is a condition of an animal's   
existence which that animal need not    
comply with and may yet continue to     
exist4 ,again1 the words animals and    
plants comprehend the ideas of fit1     
fitter1 and fittest1 unfit1 unfitter1   
and unfittest for certain conditions1   
for we know of no animals or plants in  
which we do not observe degrees of      
fitness or unfitness for their          
circonstances or environment1 or        
conditions of existence4  ,the use1     
therefore1 of the term conditions of    

existence is sufficient to show that the
 person using it intends to imply that  
those animals and plants will live      
longest 7or survive7 and thrive best    
which are best able to fulfil those     
conditions4 ,hence it implies neither   
more nor less than what is implied by   
the words struggle for existence1 with  
consequent survival of the fittest--that
 is to say1 if we hold the complying    
with any condition of life to which     
difficulty is attached to be part of the
 struggle for life1 and this we should  
certainly do4  ,the words conditions of 
existence may1 then1 be used instead of 
the struggle for existence with         
consequent survival of the fittest1 for 
as they cannot imply any less than the  
struggle1 c41 when they are set out in  
full1 and without suppression1 so       
neither do they imply more2 for nothing 
is a condition of existence1 in so far  
as its power of effecting the           
modification of any animal is concerned1
 which does not also involve more or    

less difficulty or struggle2 for if     
there is no difficulty or struggle there
 will be nothing to bring about change  
of habit1 and hence of structure4 ,this 
identity of meaning may be also seen if 
we call to mind that the conditions of  
existence can be only a synonym for the 
conditions of continuing to live1 and   
the conditions of continuing to live a  
synonym for the conditions of continuing
 to live a longer time1 and the         
conditions of continuing to live a      
longer time1 for the conditions of      
survival1 and the conditions of         
survival1 for the survival of the       
fittest1 inasmuch as the being fittest  
is the condition of being the longest   
survivor4  ,but we have already seen    
that the survival of the fittest1 is1   
according to ,mr4 ,darwin1 a synonym for
 natural selection2 hence it follows    
that the conditions of existence imply  
neither more nor less than what is      
implied by natural selection when this  
expression is properly explained1 and   

may be used instead of it2 so that when 
,mr4 ,darwin says that natural selection
 is the main but not exclusive means of 
modification1 he must mean1 consciously 
or unconsciously1 that the conditions of
 existence are the main but not         
exclusive means of modification4 ,but   
this is only falling in with the views  
and erroneous grounds of opinion1 as    
,mr4 ,darwin briefly calls them1 of     
,lamarck himself2 a fact which ,mr4     
,darwin's readers would have seen more  
readily if he had kept to the use of the
 words survival of the fittest instead  
of natural selection4 ,of that          
expression ,mr4 ,darwin says#cef that it
 is more accurate than natural          
selection1 but naively adds1 and        
sometimes equally convenient4  ,i have  
said that there is a practical identity 
of meaning between natural selection and
 the conditions of existence1 when both 
expressions are fully extended4 ,i say  
this1 however1 without prejudice to my  
right of maintaining that1 of the two   

expressions1 the one is accurate1 lucid1
 and calculated to keep the thread of   
the argument well in sight of the       
reader1 while the other is inaccurate1  
and always1 if ,i may say so1 less      
convenient1 as being always liable to   
lead the reader astray4 ,nor should it  
be lost sight of that ,lamarck and ,dr4 
,erasmus ,darwin maintain that species  
and genera have arisen because animals  
can fashion themselves into accord with 
their conditions1 so that1 as ,lamarck  
is so continually insisting1 the action 
of the conditions is indirect           
only--changed use and disuse being the  
direct causes2 while1 according to ,mr4 
,darwin1 it is natural selection itself 
7which1 as we have seen1 is but another 
way of saying conditions of existence7  
that is the most important means of     
modification4  ,the identity of meaning 
above insisted on was1 on the face of   
it1 almost as obscure as that between   
eveque and bishop4 ,yet we know that    
eveque is episc and bishop piscop1 and  

that episcopus is the ,latin for bishop2
 the words1 therefore1 are really one   
and the same1 in spite of the difference
 in their appearance4 ,i think ,i can   
show1 moreover1 that ,mr4 ,darwin       
himself holds natural selection and the 
conditions of existence to be one and   
the same thing4 ,for he writes1 in one  
sense1 and it is hard to see any sense  
but one in what follows1 the conditions 
of life may be said not only to cause   
variability 7so that here ,mr4 ,darwin  
appears to support ,lamarck's main      
thesis7 either directly or indirectly1  
but likewise to include natural         
selection2 for the conditions determine 
whether this or that variety shall      
survive4#ceg ,but later on we find that 
the expression of conditions of         
existence1 so often insisted upon by the
 illustrious ,cuvier 7and surely also by
 the illustrious ,lamarck1 though he    
calls them circonstances7 is fully      
embraced by the principle of natural    
selection4#ceh ,so we see that the      

conditions of life include natural      
selection1 and yet the conditions of    
existence are fully embraced by natural 
selection1 which1 ,i take it1 is an     
enigmatic way of saying that they are   
one and the same thing1 for it is not   
until two bodies absolutely coincide and
 occupy the same space that the one can 
be said both to include and to be       
embraced by the other4  ,the difficulty1
 again1 of understanding ,mr4 ,darwin's 
meaning is enhanced by his repeatedly   
writing of natural selection1 or the    
fact that the fittest survive in the    
struggle for existence1 as though it    
were the same thing as evolution or the 
descent1 through the accumulation of    
small modifications in many successive  
generations1 of one species from another
 and different one4 ,in the concluding  
and recapitulatory chapter of the       
',origin of ,species1' he writes3--     
,turning to geographical distribution1  
the difficulties encountered on the     
theory of descent with modification are 

serious enough2#cei and in the next     
paragraph1 ,as1 according to the theory 
of natural selection1 c41 the context   
showing that in each case descent with  
modification is intended4  ,again3--    
,on the theory of the natural selection 
of successive1 slight1 but profitable1  
modifications1#cfj that is to say1 on   
the theory of the survival of the       
fittest2 while on the next page we find 
the theory of descent with modification1
 and the principle of natural selection1
 used as though they were convertible   
terms4  ,again3--  ,the existence of    
closely allied or representative species
 in any two areas implies1 on the theory
 of descent with modification1 c42#cfa  
and1 in the next paragraph1 the theory  
of natural selection1 with its          
contingencies of extinction and         
divergence of character1 is substituted 
as though the two expressions were      
identical4  ,this is calculated to      
mislead4 ,independently of the fact that
 natural selection1 or the survival of  

the fittest1 is in no sense a theory1   
but simply an observed fact1 yet even if
 the words are allowed to stand for     
descent with modification by means of   
natural selection1 it is still          
misleading to write as though this were 
synonymous with the theory of evolution1
 or the theory of descent with          
modification4 ,to do this prevents the  
reader from bearing in mind that        
evolution by means of the               
circumstance-suiting power of plants and
 animals as advanced by the earlier     
evolutionists2 and evolution by means of
 lucky accidents with comparatively     
little circumstance-suiting power1 are  
two very different things1 of which the 
one may be true and the other untrue4   
,it leads the reader to forget that     
evolution by no means stands or falls   
with evolution by means of natural      
selection1 and makes him think that if  
he accepts evolution at all1 he is bound
 to ,mr4 ,darwin's view of it4 ,hence1  
when he falls in with such writers as   

,professor ,mivart and the ,rev4 ,j4 ,j4
 ,murphy1 who show1 and very plainly1   
that the survival of the fittest1       
unsupplemented by something which shall 
give a definite aim to the variations   
which successively occur1 fails to      
account for the coadaptations of need   
and structure1 he imagines that         
evolution has much less to say for      
itself than it really has4 ,if ,mr4     
,darwin1 instead of taking the line     
which he has thought fit to adopt       
towards ,buffon1 ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 
,lamarck1 and the author of the         
',vestiges1' had shown us what these men
 taught1 why they taught it1 wherein    
they were wrong1 and how he proposed to 
set them right1 he would have taken a   
course at once more agreeable with      
ordinary practice1 and more likely to   
clear misconception from his own mind   
and from those of his readers4  ,mr4    
,darwin says1#cfb it is easy to hide our
 ignorance under such expressions as    
'the plan of creation' and 'unity of    

design4' ,surely1 also1 it is easy to   
hide want of precision of thought1 and  
the absence of any fundamental          
difference between his own main         
conclusion and that of ,dr4 ,darwin and 
,lamarck whom he condemns1 under the    
term natural selection4  ,i assure the  
reader that ,i find the task of forming 
a clear1 well-defined conception of ,mr4
 ,darwin's meaning1 as expressed in his 
',origin of ,species1' comparable only  
to that of one who has to act on the    
advice of a lawyer who has obscured the 
main issue as far as he can1 and whose  
chief aim has been to make as many      
loopholes as possible for himself to    
escape through in case of his being     
called to account4 ,or1 again1 to that  
of one who has to construe an ,act of   
,parliament which was originally framed 
so as to throw dust in the eyes of those
 who would oppose the measure1 and      
which1 having been since found          
unworkable1 has had clauses repealed and
 inserted up and down it1 till it is in 

an inextricable tangle of confusion and 
contradiction4  ,as an example of my    
meaning1 ,i will quote a passage to     
which ,i called attention in ',life and 
,habit4' ,it runs3--  ,in the earlier   
editions of this work ,i underrated1 as 
now seems probable1 the frequency and   
importance of modifications due to      
spontaneous variability4 ,but it is     
impossible to attribute to this cause   
7i4 e4 spontaneous variability1 which is
 itself only an expression for unknown  
causes7 the innumerable structures which
 are so well adapted to the habits of   
life of each species4 ,i can no more    
believe in this 7i4 e4 that the         
innumerable structures1 c41 can be due  
to unknown causes7 than that the well   
adapted form of a racehorse or          
greyhound1 which1 before the principle  
of selection by man was well understood1
 excited so much surprise in the minds  
of the older naturalists1 can thus 7i4  
e4 by attributing them to unknown       
causes7 be explained4#cfc  ,this amounts

 to saying that unknown causes can do so
 much1 but cannot do so much more4 ,on  
this passage ,i wrote1 in ',life and    
,habit'3--  ,it is impossible to believe
 that1 after years of reflection upon   
his subject1 ,mr4 ,darwin should have   
written as above1 especially in such a  
place1 if his mind was clear about his  
own position4 ,immediately after the    
admission of a certain amount of        
miscalculation there comes a more or    
less exculpatory sentence1 which sounds 
so right that ninety-nine people out of 
a hundred would walk through it1 unless 
led by some exigency of their own       
position to examine it closely1 but     
which yet1 upon examination1 proves to  
be as nearly meaningless as a sentence  
can be4#cfd  ,no one1 to my knowledge1  
has impugned the justice of this        
criticism1 and ,i may say that further  
study of ,mr4 ,darwin's works has only  
strengthened my conviction of the       
confusion and inaccuracy of thought1    
which detracts so greatly from their    

value4  ,so little is it generally      
understood that evolution and what is   
called ,darwinism convey indeed the same
 main conclusion1 but that this         
conclusion has been reached by two      
distinct roads1 one of which is         
impregnable1 while the other has already
 fallen into the hands of the enemy1    
that in the last ,november number of the
 ',nineteenth ,century' ,professor      
,tyndall1 while referring to descent    
with modification or evolution1 speaks  
of it as though it were one and         
inseparable from ,mr4 ,darwin's theory  
that it has come about mainly by means  
of natural selection4 ,he writes3--     
,darwin's theory1 as pointed out nine or
 ten years ago by ,helmholtz and        
,hooker1 was then exactly in this       
condition of growth2 and had they to    
speak of the subject to-day they would  
be able to announce an enormous         
strengthening of the theoretic fibre4   
,fissures in continuity which then      
existed1 and which left little hope of  

being ever spanned1 have been since     
bridged over1 so that the further the   
theory is tested the more fully does it 
harmonize with progressive experience   
and discovery4 ,we shall never probably 
fill all the gaps2 but this will not    
prevent a profound belief in the truth  
of the theory from taking root in the   
general mind4 ,much less will it justify
 a total denial of the theory4 ,the man 
of science1 who assumes in such a case  
the position of a denier1 is sure to be 
stranded and isolated4  ,this is in the 
true vein of the professional and       
orthodox scientist2 of that new         
orthodoxy which is clamouring for       
endowment1 and which would step into the
 ,pope's shoes to-morrow1 if we would   
only let it4 ,if ,professor ,tyndall    
means that those who deny evolution will
 find themselves presently in a very    
small minority1 ,i agree with him2 but  
if he means that evolution is ,mr4      
,darwin's theory1 and that he who       
rejects what ,mr4 ,darwin calls the     

theory of natural selection will find   
himself stranded1 his assertion will    
pass muster with those only who know    
little of the history and literature of 
evolution4  ,,footnotes3  #cdg ',origin 
of ,species1' ,hist4 ,sketch1 p4 xiii4  
#cdh ',physical ,basis of ,mind1' p4    
#ajh4  #cdi ',origin of ,species1' p4   
#adf4  #cej ,ibid4 p4 #ge4  #cea ,ibid4 
p4 #hh4  #ceb ',origin of ,species1' p4 
#ih4  #cec ,ibid4 p4 #ff4  #ced         
',physical ,basis of the ,mind1' p4     
#aji1 #ahgh4  #cee ',physical ,basis of 
the ,mind1' p4 #ajg1 #ahgh4  #cef       
',origin of ,species1' p4 #di4  #ceg    
',origin of ,species1' p4 #ajg4  #ceh   
,ibid4 p4 #aff4  #cei ',origin of       
,species1' p4 #djf4  #cfj ,ibid1 p4     
#daf4  #cfa ,ibid4 p4 #dai4  #cfb       
',origin of ,species1' p4 #dbb4  #cfc   
',origin of ,species1' p4 #aga1 ed4     
#ahgf4  #cfd ',life and ,habit1' p4     
#bfj4     ,,chapter ,,xxi4  ,,mr4       
,,darwin',s ,,defence ,,of ,,the        
,,expression1 ,,natural                 

,,selection--,,professor ,,mivart ,,and 
,,natural ,,selection4   ,so important  
is it that we should come to a clear    
understanding upon the positions taken  
by ,mr4 ,darwin and ,lamarck            
respectively1 that at the risk of       
wearying the reader ,i will endeavour to
 exhaust this subject here4 ,in order to
 do so1 ,i will follow ,mr4 ,darwin's   
answer to those who have objected to the
 expression1 natural selection4  ,mr4   
,darwin says3--  ,several writers have  
misapprehended or objected to the term  
'natural selection4' ,some have even    
imagined that natural selection induces 
variability4#cfe  ,and small wonder if  
they have2 but those who have fallen    
into this error are hardly worth        
considering4 ,the true complaint is that
 ,mr4 ,darwin has too often written of  
natural selection as though it does     
induce variability1 and that his        
language concerning it is so confusing  
that the reader is not helped to see    
that it really comes to nothing but a   

cloak of difference from his            
predecessors1 under which there lurks a 
concealed identity of opinion as to the 
main facts4 ,the reader is thus led to  
look upon it as something positive and  
special1 and1 in spite of ,mr4 ,darwin's
 disclaimer1 to think of it as an       
actively efficient cause4  ,few will    
deny that this complaint is a just one1 
or that ninety-nine out of a hundred    
readers of average intelligence1 if     
asked1 after reading ,mr4 ,darwin's     
',origin of ,species1' what was the most
 important cause of modification1 would 
answer natural selection4 ,let the same 
readers have read the ',zoonomia' of    
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 or the           
',philosophie ,zoologique' of ,lamarck1 
and they would at once reply1 the wishes
 of an animal or plant1 as varying with 
its varying conditions1 or more briefly1
 sense of need4  ,whereas1 continues    
,mr4 ,darwin1 it 7natural selection7    
implies only the preservation of such   
variations as arise1 and are beneficial 

to the being under its conditions of    
life4 ,no one objects to agriculturists 
speaking of the potent effects of man's 
selection4  ,of course not2 for there is
 an actual creature man1 who actually   
does select with a set purpose in order 
to produce such and such a result1 which
 result he presently produces4  ,and in 
this case the individual differences    
given by nature1 which man for some     
object selects1 must first occur4  ,this
 shows that the complaint has already   
reached ,mr4 ,darwin1 that in not       
showing us how the individual           
differences first occur1 he is really   
leaving us absolutely in the dark as to 
the cause of all modification--giving us
 an ',origin of ,species' with the      
origin cut out2 but ,i do not think that
 any reader who has not been compelled  
to go somewhat deeply into the question 
would find out that this is the real    
gist of the objection which ,mr4 ,darwin
 is appearing to combat4 ,a general     
impression is left upon the reader that 

some very foolish objectors are being   
put to silence1 that ,mr4 ,darwin is the
 most candid literary opponent in the   
world1 and as just as ,aristides        
himself2 but if the unassisted reader   
will cross-question himself what it is  
all about1 ,i shall be much surprised if
 he is ready with his answer4           
,others--to resume our criticism on ,mr4
 ,darwin's defence--have objected that  
the term implies conscious choice in the
 animals which become modified1 and it  
has been even urged that as plants have 
no volition1 natural selection is not   
applicable to them6                     
,this--unfortunately--must have been the
 objection of a slovenly1 or wilfully   
misapprehending reader1 and was unworthy
 of serious notice4 ,but its            
introduction here tends to draw the     
reader from the true ground of          
complaint1 which is that at the end of  
,mr4 ,darwin's book we stand much in the
 same place as we did when we started1  
as regards any knowledge of what is the 

origin of species4  ,in the literal     
sense of the word1 no doubt1 natural    
selection is a false term4  ,then why   
use it when another1 and1 by ,mr4       
,darwin's own admission1 a more accurate
 one is to hand in the survival of the  
fittest8#cff ,this term is not          
appreciably longer than natural         
selection4 ,mr4 ,darwin may say1 indeed1
 that it is sometimes as convenient a   
term as natural selection2 but the kind 
of men who exercise permanent effect    
upon the opinions of other people will  
bid such a passage as this stand aside  
somewhat sternly4 ,if a term is not     
appreciably longer than another1 and if 
at the same time it more accurately     
expresses the idea which is intended to 
be conveyed1 it is not sometimes only1  
but always1 more convenient1 and should 
immediately be substituted for the less 
accurate one4  ,no one complains of the 
use of what is1 strictly speaking1 an   
inaccurate expression1 when it is       
nevertheless the best that we can get4  

,it may be doubted whether there is any 
such thing possible as a perfectly      
accurate expression4 ,all words that are
 not simply names of things are apt to  
turn out little else than compendious   
false analogies2 but we have a right to 
complain when a writer tells us that he 
is using a less accurate expression when
 a more accurate one is ready to his    
hand4 ,hence1 when ,mr4 ,darwin         
continues1 ,who ever objected to        
chemists speaking of the elective       
affinities of the various elements8 and 
yet an acid cannot strictly be said to  
elect the base with which it by         
preference combines1 he is beside the   
mark4 ,chemists do not speak of elective
 affinities in spite of there being a   
more accurate and not appreciably longer
 expression at their disposal4  ,it has 
been said1 continues ,mr4 ,darwin1 that 
,i speak of natural selection as an     
active power or deity4 ,but who objects 
to an author speaking of the attraction 
of gravity8 ,everyone knows what is     

meant and implied by such metaphorical  
expressions1 and they are almost        
necessary for brevity4  ,mr4 ,darwin    
certainly does speak of natural         
selection acting1 accumulating1         
operating2 and if every-one knew what   
was meant and implied by this           
metaphorical expression1 as they now do1
 or think they do1 in the case of the   
attraction of gravity1 there might be   
less ground of complaint2 but the       
expression was known to very few at the 
time ,mr4 ,darwin introduced it1 and was
 used with so much ambiguity1 and with  
so little to protect the reader from    
falling into the error of supposing that
 it was the cause of the modifications  
which we see around us1 that we had a   
just right to complain1 even in the     
first instance2 much more should we do  
so on the score of the retention of the 
expression when a more accurate one had 
been found4  ,if the survival of the    
fittest had been used1 to the total     
excision of natural selection from every

 page in ,mr4 ,darwin's book--it would  
have been easily seen that the survival 
of the fittest is no more a cause of    
modification1 and hence can give no more
 explanation concerning the origin of   
species1 than the fact of a number of   
competitors in a race failing to run the
 whole course1 or to run it as quickly  
as the winner1 can explain how the      
winner came to have good legs and lungs4
 ,according to ,lamarck1 the winner will
 have got these by means of sense of    
need1 and consequent practice and       
training1 on his own part1 and on that  
of his forefathers2 according to ,mr4   
,darwin1 the most important means of his
 getting them is his happening to be    
born with them1 coupled1 with the fact  
that his uncles and aunts for many      
generations could not run so well as his
 ancestors in the direct line4 ,but can 
the fact of his uncles and aunts running
 less well than his fathers and mothers 
be a means of his fathers and mothers   
coming to run better than they used to  

run8  ,if the reader will bear in mind  
the idea of the runners in a race1 it   
will help him to see the point at issue 
between ,mr4 ,darwin and ,lamarck4      
,perhaps also the double meaning of the 
word race1 as expressing equally a breed
 and a competition1 may not be wholly   
without significance4 ,what we want to  
be told is1 not that a runner will win  
the prize if he can run ever such a     
little faster than his fellows--we know 
this--but by what process he comes to be
 able to run ever such a little faster4 
,so1 again1 continues ,mr4 ,darwin1 it  
is difficult to avoid personifying      
nature1 but ,i mean by nature only the  
aggregate action and product of many    
natural laws1 and by laws the sequence  
of events as ascertained by us4  ,this1 
again1 is raising up a dead man in order
 to knock him down4 ,nature has been    
personified for more than two thousand  
years1 and every one understands that   
nature is no more really a woman than   
hope or justice1 or than ,god is like   

the pictures of the mediaeval painters2 
no one whose objection was worth notice 
could have objected to the              
personification of nature4  ,mr4 ,darwin
 concludes3--  ,with a little           
familiarity1 such superficial objections
 will be forgotten4#cfg  ,as a matter of
 fact1 ,i do not see any greater        
tendency to acquiesce in ,mr4 ,darwin's 
claim on behalf of natural selection    
than there was a few years ago1 but on  
the contrary1 that discontent is daily  
growing4 ,to say nothing of the ,rev4   
,j4 ,j4 ,murphy and ,professor ,mivart1 
the late ,mr4 ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes did not    
find the objection a superficial one1   
nor yet did he find it disappear with a 
little familiarity2 on the contrary1 the
 more familiar he became with it the    
less he appeared to like it4 ,i may even
 go1 without fear1 so far as to say that
 any writer who now uses the expression 
natural selection1 writes himself down  
thereby as behind the age4 ,it is with  
great pleasure that ,i observe ,mr4     

,francis ,darwin in his recent          
lecture#cfh to have kept clear of it    
altogether1 and to have made use of no  
expression1 and advocated no doctrine to
 which either ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin or  
,lamarck would not have readily         
assented4 ,i think ,i may affirm        
confidently that a few years ago any    
such lecture would have contained       
repeated reference to ,natural          
,selection4 ,for my own part ,i know of 
few passages in any theological writer  
which please me less than the one which 
,i have above followed sentence by      
sentence4 ,i know of few which should   
better serve to show us the sort of     
danger we should run if we were to let  
men of science get the upper hand of us4
  ,natural ,selection1 then1 is only    
another way of saying ,nature4 ,mr4     
,darwin seems to be aware of this when  
he writes1 ,nature1 if ,i may be allowed
 to personify the natural preservation  
or survival of the fittest4 ,and again1 
at the bottom of the same page1 ,it may 

metaphorically be said that natural     
selection is daily and hourly           
scrutinizing throughout the world the   
slightest variations4#cfi ,it may be    
metaphorically said that ,nature is     
daily and hourly scrutinizing1 but it   
cannot be said consistently with any    
right use of words1 metaphorical or     
otherwise1 that natural selection       
scrutinizes1 unless natural selection is
 merely a somewhat cumbrous synonym for 
,nature4 ,when1 therefore1 ,mr4 ,darwin 
says that natural selection is the most 
important1 but not the exclusive means  
whereby any modification has been       
effected1 he is really saying that      
,nature is the most important means of  
modification--which is only another way 
of telling us that variation causes     
variations1 and is all very true as far 
as it goes4  ,i did not read ,professor 
,mivart's ',lessons from ,nature1' until
 ,i had written all my own criticism on 
,mr4 ,darwin's position4 ,from that     
work1 however1 ,i now quote the         

following3--  ,it cannot then be        
contested that the far-famed ',origin of
 ,species1' that1 namely1 by ',natural  
,selection1' has been repudiated in     
fact1 though not expressly even by its  
own author4 ,this circumstance1 which is
 simply undeniable1 might dispense us   
from any further consideration of the   
hypothesis itself4 ,but the conspiracy  
of silence1 which has accompanied the   
repudiation tends to lead the unthinking
 many to suppose that the same          
importance still attaches to it as at   
first4 ,on this account it may be well  
to ask the question1 what1 after all1 is
 ',natural ,selection'8  ,the answer may
 seem surprising to some1 but it is none
 the less true1 that ',natural          
,selection' is simply nothing4 ,it is an
 apparently positive name for a really  
negative effect1 and is therefore an    
eminently misleading term4 ,by ',natural
 ,selection' is meant the result of all 
the destructive agencies of ,nature1    
destructive to individuals and to races 

by destroying their lives or their      
powers of propagation4 ,evidently1 the  
cause of the distinction of species     
7supposing such distinction to be       
brought about in natural generation7    
must be that which causes variation1 and
 variation in one determinate direction 
in at least several individuals         
simultaneously4 ,i should like to have  
added here the words and during many    
successive generations1 but they will go
 very sufficiently without saying4  ,at 
the same time1 continues ,professor     
,mivart1 it is freely conceded that the 
destructive agencies in nature do       
succeed in preventing the perpetuation  
of monstrous1 abortive1 and feeble      
attempts at the performance of the      
evolutionary process1 that they rapidly 
remove antecedent forms when new ones   
are evolved more in harmony with        
surrounding conditions1 and that their  
action results in the formation of new  
characters when these have once attained
 sufficient completeness to be of real  

utility to their possessor4  ,continued 
reflection1 and five years further      
pondering over the problems of specific 
origin have more and more convinced me  
that the conception1 that the origin of 
all species 'man included' is due simply
 to conditions which are 7to use ,mr4   
,darwin's own words7 'strictly          
accidental1' is a conception utterly    
irrational4       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,with    
regard to the conception as now put     
forward by ,mr4 ,darwin1 ,i cannot truly
 characterize it but by an epithet which
 ,i employ only with much reluctance4 ,i
 weigh my words and have present to my  
mind the many distinguished naturalists 
who have accepted the notion1 and yet ,i
 cannot hesitate to call it a 'puerile  
hypothesis4'#cgj  ,i am afraid ,i cannot
 go with ,professor ,mivart farther than
 this point1 though ,i have a strong    
feeling as though his conclusion is     
true1 that the material universe is     
always and everywhere sustained and     
directed by an infinite cause1 for which

 to us the word mind is the least       
inadequate and misleading symbol4 ,but  
,i feel that any attempt to deal with   
such a question is going far beyond that
 sphere in which man's powers may be at 
present employed with advantage3 ,i     
trust1 therefore1 that ,i may never try 
to verify it1 and am indifferent whether
 it is correct or not4  ,again1 ,i      
should probably differ from ,professor  
,mivart in finding this mind inseparable
 from the material universe in which we 
live and move4 ,so that ,i could neither
 conceive of such a mind influencing and
 directing the universe from a point as 
it were outside the universe itself1 nor
 yet of a universe as existing without  
there being present--or having been     
present--in its every particle something
 for which mind should be the least     
inadequate and misleading symbol4 ,but  
the subject is far beyond me4  ,as      
regards ,professor ,mivart's            
denunciations of natural selection1 ,i  
have only one fault to find with them1  

namely1 that they do not speak out with 
sufficient bluntness4 ,the difficulty of
 showing the fallacy of ,mr4 ,darwin's  
position1 is the difficulty of grasping 
a will-o'-the-wisp4 ,a concluding       
example will put this clearly before the
 reader1 and at the same time serve to  
illustrate the most tangible feature of 
difference between ,mr4 ,darwin and     
,lamarck4  ,,footnotes3  #cfe ',origin  
of ,species1' p4 #fb4  #cff ',origin of 
,species1' p4 #di4  #cfg ',origin of    
,species1' p4 #fc4  #cfh ',nature1'     
,march #ad and #ba1 #ahgh4  #cfi        
',origin of ,species1' p4 #fe4  #cgj    
',lessons from ,nature1' p4 #cjj4       
,,chapter ,,xxii4  ,,the ,,case ,,of    
,,the ,,madeira ,,beetles ,,as          
,,illustrating ,,the ,,difference       
,,between ,,the ,,evolution ,,of        
,,lamarck ,,and ,,of ,,mr4 ,,charles    
,,darwin--,,conclusion4   ,an island of 
no very great extent is surrounded by a 
sea which cuts it off for many miles    
from the nearest land4 ,it lies a good  

deal exposed to winds1 so that the      
beetles which live upon it are in       
continual danger of being blown out to  
sea if they fly during the hours and    
seasons when the wind is blowing4 ,it is
 found that an unusually large          
proportion of the beetles inhabiting    
this island are either without wings or 
have their wings in a useless and merely
 rudimentary state2 and that a large    
number of kinds which are very common on
 the nearest mainland1 but which are    
compelled to use their wings in seeking 
their food1 are here entirely wanting4  
,it is also observed that the beetles on
 this island generally lie much         
concealed until the wind lulls and the  
sun shines4 ,these are the facts2 let us
 now see how ,lamarck would treat them4 
,lamarck would say that the beetles once
 being on this island it became one of  
the conditions of their existence that  
they should not get blown out to sea4   
,for once blown out to sea1 they would  
be quite certain to be drowned4         

,beetles1 when they fly1 generally fly  
for some purpose1 and do not like having
 that purpose interfered with by        
something which can carry them          
all-whithers1 whether they like it or   
no4 ,if they are flying and find the    
wind taking them in a wrong direction1  
or seaward--which they know will be     
fatal to them--they stop flying as soon 
as may be1 and alight on terra firma4   
,but if the wind is very prevalent the  
beetles can find but little opportunity 
for flying at all3 they will therefore  
lie quiet all day and do as best they   
can to get their living on foot instead 
of on the wing4 ,there will thus be a   
long-continued disuse of wings1 and this
 will gradually diminish the development
 of the wings themselves1 till after a  
sufficient number of generations these  
will either disappear altogether1 or be 
seen in a rudimentary condition only4   
,for each beetle which has made but     
little use of its wings will be liable  
to leave offspring with a slightly      

diminished wing1 some other organ which 
has been used instead of the wing       
becoming proportionately developed4 ,it 
is thus seen that the conditions of     
existence are the indirect cause of the 
wings becoming rudimentary1 inasmuch as 
they preclude the beetles from using    
them2 the disuse however on the part of 
the beetles themselves is the direct    
cause4  ,now let us see how ,mr4 ,darwin
 deals with the same case4 ,he writes3--
  ,in some cases we might easily set    
down to disuse1 modifications of        
structure which are wholly or mainly due
 to natural selection4 ,then follow the 
facts about the beetles of ,madeira1 as 
,i have given them above4 ,while we are 
reading them we naturally make up our   
minds that the winglessness of the      
beetles will prove due either wholly1 or
 at any rate mainly1 to natural         
selection1 and that though it would be  
easy to set it down to disuse1 yet we   
must on no account do so4 ,the facts    
having been stated1 ,mr4 ,darwin        

continues3--,these several              
considerations make me believe that the 
wingless condition of so many ,madeira  
beetles is mainly due to the action of  
natural selection1 and when we go on to 
the words that immediately follow1      
combined probably with disuse1 we are   
almost surprised at finding that disuse 
has had anything to do with the matter4 
,we feel a languid wish to know exactly 
how much and in what way it has entered 
into the combination2 but we find it    
difficult to think the matter out1 and  
are glad to take it for granted that the
 part played by disuse must be so       
unimportant that we need not consider   
it4 ,mr4 ,darwin continues3--  ,for     
during many successive generations each 
individual beetle which flew least1     
either from its wings having been ever  
so little less perfectly developed1 or  
from indolent habit1 will have had the  
best chance of surviving from not having
 been blown out to sea2 and on the other
 hand those beetles which most readily  

took to flight would oftenest be blown  
out to sea and perish4#cga  ,so apt are 
we to believe what we are told1 when it 
is told us gravely and with authority1  
and when there is no statement at hand  
to contradict it1 that we fail to see   
that ,mr4 ,darwin is all the time really
 attributing the winglessness of the    
,madeira beetles either to the qua him  
unknown causes which have led to the    
ever so little less perfect development 
of wing on the part of the beetles that 
leave offspring--that is to say1 is     
admitting that he can give no account of
 the matter--or else to the indolent    
habit of the parent beetles which has   
led them to disuse their wings1 and     
hence gradually to lose them--which is  
neither more nor less than the erroneous
 grounds of opinion1 and well-known     
doctrine of ,lamarck4  ,for ,mr4 ,darwin
 cannot mean that the fact of some      
beetles being blown out to sea is the   
most important means whereby certain    
other beetles come to have smaller      

wings--that the ,madeira beetles in fact
 come to have smaller wings mainly      
because their large winged uncles and   
aunts--go away4  ,but if he does not    
mean this1 what becomes of natural      
selection8  ,for in this case we are    
left exactly where ,lamarck left us1 and
 must hold that such beetles as have    
smaller wings have them because the     
conditions of life or circumstances in  
which their parents were placed1        
rendered it inconvenient to them to fly1
 and thus led them to leave off using   
their wings4  ,granted1 that if there   
had been nothing to take unmodified     
beetles away1 there would have been less
 room and scope for the modified        
beetles2 also that unmodified beetles   
would have intermixed with the modified1
 and impeded the prevalence of the      
modification4 ,but anything else than   
such removal of unmodified individuals  
would be contrary to our hypothesis4    
,the very essence of conditions of      
existence is that there shall be        

something to take away those which do   
not comply with the conditions2 if there
 is nothing to render such and such a   
course a sine qua non for life1 there is
 no condition of existence in respect of
 this course1 and no modification       
according to ,lamarck could follow1 as  
there would be no changed distribution  
of use4  ,i think that if ,i were to    
leave this matter here ,i should have   
said enough to make the reader feel that
 ,lamarck's system is direct1           
intelligible and sufficient--while ,mr4 
,darwin's is confused and confusing4 ,i 
may however quote ,mr4 ,darwin himself  
as throwing his theory about the        
,madeira beetles on one side in a later 
passage1 for he writes3--  ,it is       
probable that disuse has been the main  
agent in rendering organs rudimentary1  
or in other words that ,lamarck was     
quite right--nor does one see why if    
disuse is after all the main agent in   
rendering an organ rudimentary1 use     
should not have been the main agent in  

developing it--but let that pass4 ,it   
7disuse7 would at first lead1 continues 
,mr4 ,darwin1 by slow steps to the more 
and more complete reduction of a part1  
until at last it became rudimentary--as 
in the case of the eyes of animals      
inhabiting dark caverns1 and of the     
wings of birds inhabiting oceanic       
islands1 which have seldom been forced  
by beasts of prey to take flight1 and   
have ultimately lost the power of       
flying4 ,again1 an organ useful under   
certain conditions1 might become        
injurious under others1 as with the     
wings of beetles living on small and    
exposed islands2#cgb so that the        
rudimentary condition of the ,madeira   
beetles' wings is here set down as      
mainly due to disuse--while above we    
find it mainly due to natural           
selection--,i should say that           
immediately after the word islands just 
quoted1 ,mr4 ,darwin adds and in this   
case natural selection will have aided  
in reducing the organ1 until it was     

rendered harmless and rudimentary1 but  
this is ,mr4 ,darwin's manner1 and must 
go for what it is worth4  ,how          
refreshing to turn to the simple        
straightforward language of ,lamarck4   
,long continued disuse1 he writes1 in   
consequence of the habits which an      
animal has contracted1 gradually reduces
 an organ1 and leads to its final       
disappearance4444  ,eyes placed in the  
head form an essential part of that plan
 on which we observe all vertebrate     
organisms to be constructed4            
,nevertheless the mole which uses its   
vision very little1 has eyes which are  
only very small and hardly apparent4    
,the aspalax of ,olivier1 which lives   
underground like the mole1 and exposes  
itself even less than the mole to the   
light of day1 has wholly lost the use of
 its sight1 nor does it retain more than
 mere traces of visual organs1 these    
traces again being hidden under the skin
 and under certain other parts which    
cover them up and leave not even the    

smallest access to the light4 ,the      
,proteus1 an aquatic reptile akin to the
 ,salamander and living in deep and     
obscure cavities under water1 has1 like 
the aspalax1 no longer anything but     
traces of eyes remaining--traces which  
are again entirely hidden and covered   
up4#cgc  ,the following consideration   
should be decisive4  ,light cannot      
penetrate everywhere1 and as a          
consequence1 animals which live         
habitually in places which it cannot    
reach1 do not have an opportunity of    
using eyes1 even though they have got   
them2 but animals which form part of a  
system of organization which comprises  
eyes as an invariable rule among its    
organs1 must have had eyes originally4  
,since then we find among these animals 
some which have lost their eyes1 and    
which have only concealed traces of     
these organs1 it is evident that the    
impoverishment1 and even disappearance  
of the organs in question1 must be the  
effect of long-continued disuse4  ,a    

proof of this is to be found in the fact
 that the organ of hearing is never in  
like case with that of sight2 we always 
find it in animals of whose system of   
organization hearing is a component     
part2 and for the following reason1     
namely1 that sound1 which is the effect 
of vibration upon the ear1 can penetrate
 everywhere1 and pass even through      
massive intermediate bodies4 ,any       
animal1 therefore1 with an organic      
system of which the ear is an essential 
part1 can always find a use for its     
ears1 no matter where it inhabits4 ,we  
never1 therefore1 come upon rudimentary 
ears among the vertebrata1 and when1    
going down the scale of life lower than 
the vertebrata1 we come to a point at   
which the ear is no longer to be found2 
we never come upon ears again in any    
lower class4  ,not so with the organ of 
sight3 we see this organ disappear1     
reappear1 and disappear again with the  
possibility or impossibility of using   
eyes on the part of the creature        

itself4#cgd  ,the great development of  
mantle in the acephalous molluscs has   
rendered eyes1 and even a head1 entirely
 useless to them4 ,these organs1 though 
belonging to the type of the organism1  
and by rights included in it1 have had  
to disappear and become annihilated     
owing to continued default of use4      
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,many insects which1 by the
 analogy of their order and even genus1 
should have wings1 have nevertheless    
lost them more or less completely       
through disuse4 ,a number of coleoptera1
 orthoptera1 hymenoptera1 and hemiptera 
give us examples1 the habits of these   
animals never leading them to use their 
wings4#cge       99     99     99     99
     99  ,i will here bring this present
 volume to a conclusion1 hoping1        
however1 to return to the same subject  
shortly1 but to that part of it which   
bears upon longevity and the phenomena  
of old age4 ,in ',life and ,habit' ,i   
pointed out that if differentiations of 
structure and instinct are considered as

 due to the different desires under     
different circumstances of an organism1 
which must be regarded as a single      
creature1 though its development has    
extended over millions of years1 and    
which is guided mainly by habit and     
memory until some disturbing cause      
compels invention--then the longevity of
 each generation or stage of this       
organism should depend upon the lateness
 of the average age of reproduction in  
each generation2 so that an organism    
7using the word in its usual            
signification7 which did not upon the   
average begin to reproduce itself till  
it was twenty1 should be longer lived   
than one that on the average begins to  
reproduce itself at a year old4 ,i also 
maintained that the phenomena of old age
 should be referred to failure of memory
 on the part of the organism1 which in  
the embryonic stages1 infancy1 youth1   
and early manhood1 leans upon the memory
 of what it did when it was in the      
persons of its ancestors2 in middle     

life1 carries its action onward by means
 of the impetus1 already received1 and  
by the force of habit2 and in old age   
becomes puzzled1 having no experience of
 any past existence at seventy-five1 we 
will say1 to guide it1 and therefore    
forgetting itself more and more         
completely till it dies4 ,i hope to     
extend this1 and to bring forward       
arguments in support of it in a future  
work4  ,of the importance of the theory 
put forward in ',life and ,habit'--,i am
 daily more and more convinced4 ,unless 
we admit oneness of personality between 
parents and offspring1 memory of the    
often repeated facts of past existences1
 the latency of that memory until it is 
rekindled by the presence of the        
associated ideas1 or of a sufficient    
number of them1 and the far-reaching    
consequences of the unconsciousness     
which results from habitual action1     
evolution does not greatly add to our   
knowledge as to how we shall live here  
to the best advantage4 ,add these       

considerations1 and its value as a guide
 becomes immediately apparent2 a new    
light is poured upon a hundred problems 
of the greatest delicacy and difficulty4
 ,not the least interesting of these is 
the gradual extension of human          
longevity--an extension1 however1 which 
cannot be effected till many many       
generations as yet unborn have come and 
gone4 ,there is nothing1 however1 to    
prevent man's becoming as long lived as 
the oak if he will persevere for many   
generations in the steps which can alone
 lead to this result4 ,another          
interesting achievement which should be 
more quickly attainable1 though still   
not in our own time1 is the earlier     
maturity of those animals whose rapid   
maturity is an advantage to us1 but     
whose longevity is not to our purpose4  
99     99     99     99     99  ,the    
question--,evolution or ,direct         
,creation of all species8--has been     
settled in favour of ,evolution4 ,a     
hardly less interesting and important   

battle has now to be fought over the    
question whether we are to accept the   
evolution of the founders of the        
theory--with the adjuncts hinted at by  
,dr4 ,darwin and ,mr4 ,matthew1 and     
insisted on1 so far as ,i can gather1 by
 ,professor ,hering and myself--or the  
evolution of ,mr4 ,darwin1 which denies 
the purposiveness or teleology inherent 
in evolution as first propounded4 ,i am 
assured that such of my readers as ,i   
can persuade to prefer the old evolution
 to the new will have but little reason 
to regret their preference4       99    
99     99     99     99  ,p4,s4--,as    
these sheets leave my hands1 my         
attention is called to a review of      
,professor ,haeckel's ',evolution of    
,man1' by ,mr4 ,a4 ,e4 ,wallace1 in the 
',academy' for ,april #ab1 #ahgi4       
,professor ,haeckel maintains1 says ,mr4
 ,wallace1 that the struggle for        
existence in nature evolves new forms   
without design1 just as the will of man 
produces new varieties in cultivation   

with design4 ,i maintain in preference  
with the older evolutionists1 that in   
consequence of change in the conditions 
of their existence1 organisms design new
 forms for themselves1 and carry those  
designs out in additions to1 and        
modifications of1 their own bodies4     
,the science of rudimentary organs1     
continues ,mr4 ,wallace1 which ,haeckel 
terms 'dysteleology1 or the doctrine of 
purposelessness1' is here discussed1 and
 a number of interesting examples are   
given1 the conclusion being that they   
prove the mechanical or monistic        
conception of the origin of organisms to
 be correct1 and the idea of any        
'all-wise creative plan an ancient      
fable4' ,i see no reason to suppose1 or 
again not to suppose1 an all-wise       
creative plan4 ,i decline to go into    
this question1 believing it to be not   
yet ripe1 nor nearly ripe1 for          
consideration4 ,i see purpose1 however1 
in rudimentary organs as much as in     
useful ones1 but a spent or extinct     

purpose--a purpose which has been       
fulfilled1 and is now forgotten--the    
rudimentary organ being repeated from   
force of habit1 indolence1 and dislike  
of change1 so long as it does not1 to   
use the words of ,buffon1 stand in the  
way of the fair development of other    
parts which are found useful and        
necessary4 ,i demur1 therefore1 to the  
inference of purposelessness which ,i   
gather that ,professor ,haeckel draws   
from these organs4  ,in the ',academy'  
for ,april #ai1 #ahgi1 ,mr4 ,wallace    
quotes ,professor ,haeckel as saying    
that our highly purposive and           
admirably-constituted sense-organs have 
developed without premeditated aim2 that
 they have originated by the same       
mechanical process of ,natural          
,selection1 by the same constant        
interaction of ,adaptation and ,heredity
 what is ,heredity but another word for 
unknown causes1 unless it is explained  
in some such manner as in ',life and    
,habit'8 by which all the other         

purposive contrivances of the animal    
organization have been slowly and       
gradually evolved during the struggle   
for existence4  ,i see no evidence for  
premeditated aim at any modification    
very far in advance of an existing      
organ1 any more than ,i do for          
premeditated aim on man's part at any as
 yet inconceivable mechanical invention2
 but as in the case of man's inventions1
 so also in that of the organs of       
animals and plants1 modification is due 
to the accumulation of small1           
well-considered improvements1 as found  
necessary in practice1 and the conduct  
of their affairs4 ,each step having been
 purposive1 the whole road has been     
travelled purposively2 nor is the       
purposiveness of such an organ1 we will 
say1 as the eye1 barred by the fact that
 invention has doubtless been aided by  
some of those happy accidents which from
 time to time happen to all who keep    
their wits about them1 and know how to  
turn the gifts of ,fortune to account4  

,,footnotes3  #cga ',origin of          
,species1' p4 #aji4  #cgb ',origin of   
,species1 p4 #dja4  #cgc ',phil4        
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bdb4  #cgd ',phil4 
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bdd4  #cge ',phil4 
,zool41' tom4 i4 p4 #bde4               
,,appendix4     ,,chapter ,i4  ,,reviews
 ,,of ',,evolution1 ,,old ,,and ,,new4' 
,those who have been at the pains to    
read the foregoing book will1 perhaps1  
pardon me if ,i put before them a short 
account of the reception it has met     
with3 ,i will not waste time by arguing 
with my critics at any length2 it will  
be enough if ,i place some of their     
remarks upon my book under the same     
cover as the book itself1 with here and 
there a word or two of comment4  ,the   
only reviews which have come under my   
notice appeared in the ',academy' and   
the ',examiner1' both of ,may #ag1      
#ahgi2 the ',edinburgh ,daily ,review1' 
,may #bc1 #ahgi2 ',city ,press1' ,may   
#ba1 #ahgi2 ',field1' ,may #bf1 #ahgi2  
',saturday ,review1' ,may #ca1 #ahgi2   

',daily ,chronicle1' ,may #ca1 #ahgi2   
',graphic' and ',nature1' both ,june    
#ab1 #ahgi2 ',pall ,mall ,gazette1'     
,june #ah1 #ahgi2 ',literary ,world1'   
,june #bj1 #ahgi2 ',scotsman1' ,june    
#bd1 #ahgi2 ',british ,journal of       
,homoeopathy' and ',mind1' both ,july   
#a1 #ahgi2 ',journal of ,science1' ,july
 #ah1 #ahgi2 ',westminster ,review1'    
,july1 #ahgi2 ',athenaeum1' ,july #bf1  
#ahgi2 ',daily ,news1' ,july #bi1 #ahgi2
 ',manchester ,city ,news1' ,august #af1
 #ahgi2 ',nonconformist1' ,november #bf1
 #ahgi2 ',popular ,science ,review1'    
,jan4 #a1 #ahhj2 ',morning ,post1' ,jan4
 #ab1 #ahhj4  ,some of the most hostile 
passages in the reviews above referred  
to are as follows3--  ,from beginning to
 end1 our eccentric author treats us to 
a dazzling flood of epigram1 invective1 
and what appears to be argument2 and    
finally leaves us without a single clear
 idea as to what he has been driving at4
       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,mr4 ,butler comes  
forward1 as it were1 to proclaim himself

 a professional satirist1 and a         
mystifier who will do his best to leave 
you utterly in the dark with regard to  
his system of juggling4 ,is he a        
teleological theologian making fun of   
evolution8 ,is he an evolutionist making
 fun of teleology8 ,is he a man of      
letters making fun of science8 ,or is he
 a master of pure irony making fun of   
all three1 and of his audience as well8 
,for our part we decline to commit      
ourselves1 and prefer to observe1 as    
,mr4 ,butler observes of ,von ,hartmann1
 that if his meaning is anything like   
what he says it is1 we can only say that
 it has not been given us to form any   
definite conception whatever as to what 
that meaning may be4--',academy1' ,may  
#ag1 #ahgi1 ,signed ,grant ,allen4      
99     99     99     99     99  ,here is
 another criticism of ,evolution1 ,old  
and ,new--also1 ,i believe ,i am        
warranted in saying1 by ,mr4 ,grant     
,allen4 ,these two criticisms appeared  
on the same day2 how many more ,mr4     

,allen may have written later on ,i do  
not know4  ,we find the writer who in   
the ',academy' declares that he has been
 left without a single clear idea as to 
what ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' has   
been driving at saying on the same day  
in the ',examiner' that ',evolution1    
,old and ,new1' has a more evident      
purpose than any of its predecessors4   
,if so1 ,i am afraid the predecessors   
must have puzzled ,mr4 ,allen very      
unpleasantly4 ,what the purpose of      
',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' is1 he     
proceeds to explain3--  ,as to his 7,mr4
 ,butler's7 main argument1 it comes     
briefly to this3 natural selection does 
not originate favourable varieties1 it  
only passively permits them to exist2   
therefore it is the unknown cause which 
produced the variations1 not the natural
 selection which spared them1 that ought
 to count as the mainspring of          
evolution4 ,that unknown cause ,mr4     
,butler boldly declares to be the will  
of the organism itself4 ,an intelligent 

ascidian wanted a pair of eyes1#cgf so  
set to work and made itself a pair1     
exactly as a man makes a microscope2 a  
talented fish conceived the idea of     
walking on dry land1 so it developed    
legs1 turned its swim bladder into a    
pair of lungs1 and became an amphibian2 
an aesthetic guinea-fowl admired bright 
colours1 so it bought a paint-box1      
studied ,mr4 ,whistler's ornamental     
designs1 and1 painting itself a gilded  
and ocellated tail1 was thenceforth a   
peacock4 ,but how about plants8 ,mr4    
,butler does not shirk even this        
difficulty4 ,the theory must be         
maintained at all hazards4444 ,this is  
the sort of mystical nonsense from which
 we had hoped ,mr4 ,darwin had for ever 
saved us4--',examiner1' ,may #ag1 #ahgi4
       99     99     99     99     99   
,in this last article1 ,mr4 ,allen has  
said that ,i am a man of genius1 with   
the unmistakable signet-mark upon my    
forehead4 ,i have been subjected to a   
good deal of obloquy and                

misrepresentation at one time or        
another1 but this passage by ,mr4 ,allen
 is the only one ,i have seen that has  
made me seriously uneasy about the      
prospects of my literary reputation4  ,i
 see ,mr4 ,allen has been lately writing
 an article in the ',fortnightly        
,review' on the decay of criticism4     
,looking over it somewhat hurriedly1 my 
eye was arrested by the following3--    
,nowadays any man can write1 because    
there are papers enough to give         
employment to everybody4 ,no reflection1
 no deliberation1 no care2 all is haste1
 fatal facility1 stock phrases1         
commonplace ideas1 and a ready pen that 
can turn itself to any task with equal  
ease1 because supremely ignorant of all 
alike4       4 4 4 4 4 4  ,the writer   
takes to his craft nowadays1 not because
 he has taste for literature1 but       
because he has an incurable faculty for 
scribbling4 ,he has no culture1 and he  
soon loses the power of taking pains1 if
 he ever possessed it4 ,but he can talk 

with glib superficiality and imposing   
confidence about every conceivable      
subject1 from a play or a picture to a  
sermon or a metaphysical essay4 ,it is  
the utter indifference to               
subject-matter1 joined with the vulgar  
unscrupulousness of pretentious         
ignorance1 that strikes the keynote of  
our existing criticism4 ,men write      
without taking the trouble to read or   
think4#cgg       99     99     99     99
     99  ,the ',saturday ,review'       
attacked ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' ,i
 may almost say savagely4 ,it wrote3    
,when ,mr4 ,butler's ',life and ,habit' 
came before us1 we doubted whether his  
ambiguously expressed speculations      
belonged to the regions of playful but  
possibly scientific imagination1 or of  
unscientific fancies2 and we gave him   
the benefit of the doubt4 ,in fact1 we  
strained a point or two to find a       
reasonable meaning for him4 ,he has now 
settled the question against himself4   
,not professing to have any particular  

competence in biology1 natural history1 
or the scientific study of evidence in  
any shape whatever1 and1 indeed1 rather 
glorying in his freedom from any such   
superfluities1 he undertakes to assure  
the overwhelming majority of men of     
science1 and the educated public who    
have followed their lead1 that1 while   
they have done well to be converted to  
the doctrine of the evolution and       
transmutation of species1 they have been
 converted on entirely wrong grounds4   
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,when a writer who has not 
given as many weeks to the subject as   
,mr4 ,darwin has given years as a matter
 of fact1 it is now twenty years since  
,i began to publish on the subject of   
,evolution is not content to air his own
 crude1 though clever1 fallacies1 but   
presumes to criticize ,mr4 ,darwin with 
the superciliousness of a young         
schoolmaster looking over a boy's theme1
 it is difficult not to take him more   
seriously than he deserves or perhaps   
desires4 ,one would think that ,mr4     

,butler was the travelled and laborious 
observer of ,nature1 and ,mr4 ,darwin   
the pert speculator1 who takes all his  
facts at secondhand4       4 4 4 4 4 4  
,let us once more consider how matters  
stood a year or two before the ',origin 
of ,species' first appeared4 ,the       
continuous evolution of animated ,nature
 had in its favour the difficulty of    
drawing fixed lines between species and 
even larger divisions1 all the          
indications of comparative anatomy and  
embryology1 and a good deal of general  
scientific presumption4 ,several        
well-known writers1 and some eminent    
enough to command respect1 had expressed
 their belief in it4 ,one or two        
far-seeing thinkers1 among whom the     
place of honour must be assigned to ,mr4
 ,herbert ,spencer1 had done more4 ,they
 had used their philosophic insight1    
which1 to science1 is the eye of faith1 
to descry the promised land almost      
within reach2 they knew and announced   
how rich and spacious the heritage would

 be1 if once the entry could be made    
good4 ,but on that 'if' everything hung4
 ,nature was not bound to give up her   
secret1 or was bound only in a mocking  
covenant with an impossible condition3  
,si caelum digito tetigeris2 if only    
some fortunate hand could touch the     
inaccessible firmament1 and bring down  
the golden chain to earth6 ,but fruition
 seemed out of sight4 ,even those who   
were most willing to advance in this    
direction1 could only regret that they  
saw no road clear4 ,there was a tempting
 vision1 but nothing proven--many would 
have said nothing provable4 ,a few years
 passed1 and all this was changed4 ,the 
doubtful speculation had become a firm  
and connected theory4 ,in the room of   
scattered foragers and scouts1 there was
 an irresistibly advancing column4      
,nature had surrendered her stronghold1 
and was disarmed of her secret4 ,and if 
we ask who were the men by whom this was
 done1 the answer is notorious1 and     
there is but one answer possible3 the   

names that are for ever associated with 
this great triumph are those of ,charles
 ,darwin and ,wallace4#cgh  ,i gave the 
lady or gentleman who wrote this an     
opportunity of acknowledging the        
authorship2 but she or he preferred1 not
 ,i think unnaturally1 to remain        
anonymous4  ,the only other criticism of
 ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' to which  
,i would call attention1 appeared in    
',nature1' in a review of ',unconscious 
,memory1' by ,mr4 ,romanes1 and         
contained the following passages3--     
,but to be serious1 if in charity we    
could deem ,mr4 ,butler a lunatic1 we   
should not be unprepared for any        
aberration of common sense that he might
 display4444 ,a certain nobody writes a 
book ',evolution1 ,old and ,new'        
accusing the most illustrious man in his
 generation of burying the claims of    
certain illustrious predecessors out of 
the sight of all men4 ,in the hope of   
gaining some notoriety by deserving1 and
 perhaps receiving a contemptuous       

refutation from the eminent man in      
question1 he publishes this book which1 
if it deserved serious consideration1   
would be not more of an insult to the   
particular man of science whom it       
accuses of conscious and wholesale      
plagiarism there is no such accusation  
in ',evolution1 ,old and ,new' than it  
would be to men of science in general   
for requiring such elementary           
instruction on some of the most famous  
literature in science from an upstart   
ignoramus1 who1 until two or three years
 ago1 considered himself a painter by   
profession4--',nature1' ,jan4 #bg1      
#ahha4       99     99     99     99    
99  ,in a subsequent letter to          
',nature1' ,mr4 ,romanes said he had    
been acting the part of policeman by    
writing as he had done4 ,any            
unscrupulous reviewer may call himself a
 policeman if he likes1 but he must not 
expect those whom he assails to         
recognize his pretensions4 ',evolution1 
,old and ,new1' was not written for the 

kind of people whom ,mr4 ,romanes calls 
men of science2 if men of science means 
men like ,mr4 ,romanes1 ,i trust they   
say well who maintain that ,i am not a  
man of science2 ,i believe the men to   
whom ,mr4 ,romanes refers to be men1 not
 of that kind of science which desires  
to know1 but of that kind whose aim is  
to thrust itself upon the public as     
actually knowing4 ',evolution1 ,old and 
,new1' could be of no use to these2     
certainly1 it was not intended as an    
insult to them1 but if they are insulted
 by it1 ,i do not know that ,i am sorry1
 for ,i value their antipathy and       
opposition as much as ,i should dislike 
their approbation3 of one thing1        
however1 ,i am certain--namely1 that    
before ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' was 
written1 ,professors ,huxley and        
,tyndall1 for example1 knew very little 
of the earlier history of ,evolution4   
,professor ,huxley1 in his article on   
,evolution in the ninth edition of the  
',encyclopaedia ,britannica1' published 

in #ahgh1 says of the two great pioneers
 of ,evolution1 that ,buffon contributed
 nothing to the general doctrine of     
,evolution1#cgi and that ,erasmus       
,darwin can hardly be said to have made 
any real advance on his                 
predecessors4#chj  ,professor ,haeckel  
evidently knew little of ,erasmus       
,darwin1 and still less1 apparently1    
about ,buffon4#cha ,professor           
,tyndall1#chb in #ahgh1 spoke of        
,evolution as ,darwin's theory2 and ,i  
have just read ,mr4 ,grant ,allen as    
saying that ,evolutionism is an almost  
exclusively ,english impulse4#chc       
,since ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' was 
published1 ,i have observed several of  
the so-called men of science--among them
 ,professor ,huxley and ,mr4            
,romanes--airing ,buffon2 but ,i never  
observed any of them do this till within
 the last three years4 ,i maintain that 
men of science were1 and still are1 very
 ignorant concerning the history of     
,evolution2 but1 whether they were or   

were not1 ,i did not write ',evolution1 
,old and ,new1' for them2 ,i wrote for  
the general public1 who have been kind  
enough to testify their appreciation of 
it in a sufficiently practical manner4  
,the way in which ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin 
met ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1' has    
been so fully dealt with in my book1    
',unconscious ,memory2' in the          
',athenaeum1' ,jan4 #ca1 #ahhj2 the     
',st4 ,james's ,gazette1' ,dec4 #h1     
#ahhj2 and ',nature1' ,feb4 #c1 #ahha1  
that ,i need not return to it here1 more
 especially as ,mr4 ,darwin has1 by his 
silence1 admitted that he has no defence
 to make4  ,i have quoted by no means   
the moat exceptionable parts of ,mr4    
,romanes' article1 and have given them a
 permanence they would not otherwise    
attain1 inasmuch as nothing can better  
show the temper of the kind of men who  
are now--as ,i said in the body of the  
foregoing work--clamouring for          
endowment1 and who would step into the  
,pope's shoes to-morrow if we would only

 let them4  ,,footnotes3  #cgf ,see p4  
#dd1 and the whole of chap4 v41 where ,i
 say of this supposition1 that nothing  
could be conceived more foreign to      
experience and common sense4  #cgg      
',fortnightly ,review1' ,march #a1      
#ahhb1 pp4 #cdd1 #cde4  #cgh ',saturday 
,review1' ,may #ca1 #ahgi1 pp4 #fhb-c4  
#cgi ,p4 #gdh4  #chj ,ibid4  #cha ,see  
pp4 #ga-gc4  #chb ',nineteenth ,century'
 for ,november1 pp4 #cfj1 #cfa4  #chc   
',fortnightly ,review1' ,march1 #ahhb4  
,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,rome ,,and           
,,pantheism4   ,evolution would after   
all be a poor doctrine if it did not    
affect human affairs at every touch and 
turn4 ,i propose to devote the second   
chapter of this ,appendix to the        
consideration of an aspect of ,evolution
 which will always interest a very large
 number of people--the development of   
the relation that may exist between     
religion and science4  ,if the ,church  
of ,rome would only develop some        
doctrine or1 ,i know not how1 provide   

some means by which men like myself1 who
 cannot pretend to believe in the       
miraculous element of ,christianity1    
could yet join her as a conservative    
stronghold1 ,i1 for one1 should gladly  
do so4 ,i believe the difference between
 her faith and that of all who can be   
called gentlemen to be one of words     
rather than things4 ,our practical      
working ideal is much the same as hers2 
when we use the word gentleman we mean  
the same thing that the ,church of ,rome
 does2 so that1 if we get down below the
 words that formulate her teaching1     
there are few points upon which we      
should not agree4 ,but1 alas6 words are 
often so very important4  ,how is it    
possible for myself1 for example1 to    
give people to understand that ,i       
believe in the doctrine of the          
,immaculate ,conception or in the       
,lourdes miracles8 ,if the ,pope could  
spare time to think about so            
insignificant a person1 would he wish me
 to pretend such beliefs or think better

 of me if ,i did pretend them8 ,i should
 be sorry to see him turn suddenly round
 and deny his own faith1 and ,i am      
persuaded that1 in like manner1 he would
 have me continue to hold my own in     
peace2 nevertheless1 the duty of        
subordinating private judgment to the   
avoidance of schism is so obvious that1 
if we could see a practicable way of    
bridging the gulf between ourselves and 
,rome1 we should be heartily glad to    
bridge it4  ,i speak as though the      
,church of ,rome was the only one we can
 look to4 ,i do not see how it is easy  
to dispute this4 ,protestantism has been
 tried and failed2 it has long ceased to
 grow1 but it has by no means ceased to 
disintegrate4 ,note the manner in which 
it is torn asunder by dissensions1 and  
the rancour which these dissensions     
engender--a rancour which finds its way 
into the political and social life of   
,europe1 with incalculable damage to the
 health and well-being of the world4    
,who can doubt but that there will be a 

split even in the ,church of ,england   
ere so many years are over8             
,protestantism is like one of those     
drops of glass which tend to split up   
into minuter and minuter fragments the  
moment the bond that united them has    
been removed4 ,it is as though the force
 of gravity had lost its hold1 and a    
universal power of repulsion taken the  
place of attraction4 ,this may1 perhaps1
 come about some day in the material as 
well as in the spiritual and political  
world1 but the spirit of the age is as  
yet one of aggregation2 the spirit of   
,protestantism is one of disintegration4
 ,i maintain1 therefore1 that it is not 
likely to be permanent4  ,all the great 
powers of ,europe have from numberless  
distinct tribes become first a few      
kingdoms or dukedoms1 then two or three 
nations1 and now homogeneous wholes1 so 
that there is no chance of their further
 dismemberment through internal         
discontent2 a process which has been    
going on for so many hundreds of years  

all over ,europe is not likely to be    
arrested without ample warning4 ,true1  
during the ,roman ,empire the world was 
practically bonded together1 yet broke  
in pieces again2 but this1 ,i imagine1  
was because the bonding was prophetic   
and superficial rather than genuine4    
,nature very commonly makes one or two  
false starts1 and misses her aim a time 
or two before she hits it4 ,she nearly  
hit it in the time of ,alexander the    
,great1 but this was a short-lived      
success2 in the case of the ,roman      
,empire she succeeded better and for    
longer together4 ,where ,nature has once
 or twice hit her mark as near as this  
she will commonly hit it outright       
eventually2 the disruption of the ,roman
 ,empire1 therefore1 does not militate  
against the supposition that the normal 
condition of right-minded people is one 
which tends towards aggregation1 or1 in 
other words1 towards compromise and the 
merging of much of one's own            
individuality for the sake of union and 

concerted action4  ,see1 again1 how     
,rome herself1 within the limits of     
,italy1 was an aggregation1 an          
aggregation which has now within these  
last few years come together again after
 centuries of disruption2 all           
middle-aged men have seen many small    
countries come together in their own    
lifetime1 while in ,america a gigantic  
attempt at disruption has completely    
failed4 ,success will1 of course1       
sometimes attend disruption1 but on the 
whole the balance inclines strongly in  
favour of aggregation and homogeneity2  
analogy points in the direction of      
supposing that the great civilized      
nations of ,europe1 as they are the     
coalition of subordinate provinces1 so  
must coalesce themselves also to form a 
larger1 but single empire4 ,wars will   
then cease1 and surely anything that    
seems likely to tend towards so         
desirable an end deserves respectful    
consideration4  ,the ,church of ,rome is
 essentially a unifier4 ,it is a great  

thing that nations should have so much  
in common as the acknowledgment of the  
same tribunal for the settlement of     
spiritual and religious questions1 and  
there is no head under which            
,christendom can unite with as little   
disturbance as under ,rome4 ,nothing    
more tends to keep men apart than       
religious differences2 this certainly   
ought not to be the case1 but it no less
 certainly is1 and therefore we should  
strain many points and subordinate our  
private judgment to a very considerable 
extent if called upon to do so4 ,a man1 
under these circumstances1 is right in  
saying he believes in much that he does 
not believe in4 ,nevertheless there are 
limits to this1 and the ,church of ,rome
 requires more of us at present than we 
can by any means bring ourselves into   
assenting to4  ,it may be asked1 ,why   
have a ,church at all8 ,why not unite in
 community of negation rather than of   
assertion8 ,when ,i wrote ',evolution1  
,old and ,new1' three years ago1 ,i     

thought1 as now1 that the only possible 
,church must be a development of the    
,church of ,rome2 and seeing no chance  
of agreement between avowed             
free-thinkers1 like myself1 and ,rome   
7for ,i believed ,rome immovable71 ,i   
leaned towards absolute negation as the 
best chance for unity among civilized   
nations2 but even then1 ,i expressed    
myself as having a strong feeling as    
though ,professor ,mivart's conclusion  
is true1 that 'the material universe is 
always and everywhere sustained and     
directed by an infinite cause1 for which
 to us the word mind is the least       
inadequate and misleading symbol4'#chd  
,i had hardly finished ',evolution1 ,old
 and ,new1' before ,i began to deal with
 this question according to my lights1  
in a series of articles upon ,god#che   
which appeared in the ',examiner' during
 the summer of #ahgi1 and ,i returned to
 the same matter more than once in      
',unconscious ,memory1' my next         
succeeding work4 ,the articles ,i intend

 recasting and rewriting1 as they go    
upon a false assumption2 but subsequent 
reflection has only confirmed me in the 
general result ,i arrived at--namely1   
the omnipresence of mind in the         
universe4  ,i have therefore come to see
 that we can go farther than negation1  
and in this case--a positive expression 
of faith as regards an invisible        
universe of some sort being possible--a 
,church of some sort is also possible1  
which shall formulate and express the   
general convictions as regards man's    
position in respect of this faith4 ,i   
think the instinct which has led so many
 countries towards a double legislative 
chamber1 and ourselves1 till at any rate
 quite recently1 to a double system of  
jurisprudence1 law and equity1 was not  
arrived at without having passed through
 the stages of reason and reflection4   
,there are a variety of delicate1 almost
 intangible1 questions which belong     
rather to conscience than to law1 and   
for which a ,church is a fitter         

tribunal--at any rate for many ages     
hence--than a parliament or law court4  
,there is room1 therefore1 for both a   
,state and a ,church1 each of which     
should be influenced by the action of   
the other4  ,i do not say that ,i       
personally should like to see the       
,church of ,rome as at present          
constituted in the position which ,i    
should be glad to see attained by an    
ideal ,church4 ,if it were in that      
position ,i would attack it to the      
utmost of my power2 but ,i have little  
hesitation in thinking that the world   
with a very possible feasible ,church1  
would be better than the world with no  
,church at all2 and1 if so1 ,i have     
still less hesitation in concluding1 for
 the reasons already given1 that it is  
to ,rome we must turn as the source from
 which the ,church of the future is to  
be evolved1 if it is to come at all4    
,for the new1 if it is to strike deep   
root and be permanent1 must grow out of 
the old1 without too violent a          

transition4 ,some violence there will   
always be1 even in the kindliest birth2 
but the less the better1 and a leap     
greater than the one from ,judaism to   
,christianity is not desirable1 even if 
it were possible4 ,as a free-thinker1   
therefore1 but also as one who wishes to
 take a practical view of the manner in 
which things will1 and ought to go1 ,i  
neither expect to see the religions of  
the world come once for all to an end   
with the belief in ,christianity--which 
to me is tantamount to saying with      
,rome--nor am ,i at all sure that such a
 consummation is more desirable than    
likely to come about4 ,the ultimate     
fight will1 ,i believe1 be between ,rome
 and ,pantheism2 and the sooner the two 
contending parties can be ranged into   
their opposite camps by the extinction  
of all intermediate creeds1 the sooner  
will an issue of some sort be arrived   
at4 ,this will not happen in our time1  
but we should work towards it4  ,when it
 arrives1 what is to happen8 ,is        

,pantheism to absorb ,rome1 and1 if so1 
what sort of a religious formula is to  
be the result8 or is ,rome so to modify 
her dogmas that the ,pantheist can join 
her without doing too much violence to  
his convictions8 ,we who are outside the
 ,church's pale are in the habit of     
thinking that she will make little if   
any advances in our direction4 ,the     
dream of a ,pantheistic ,rome seems so  
wild as hardly to be entertained        
seriously2 nevertheless ,i am much      
mistaken if ,i do not detect at least   
one sign as though more were within the 
bounds of possibility than even the most
 sanguine of us could have hoped for a  
few years back4 ,we do not expect the   
,church to go our whole length2 it is   
the business of some to act as pioneers1
 but this is the last function a ,church
 should assume4 ,a ,church should be as 
the fly-wheel of a steam-engine1 which  
conserves1 regulates and distributes    
energy1 but does not originate it4 ,in  
all cases it is more moral and safer to 

be a little behind the age than a little
 in front of it2 a ,church1 therefore1  
ought to cling to an old-established    
belief1 even though her leaders know it 
to be unfounded1 so long as any         
considerable number of her members would
 be shocked at its abandonment4 ,the    
question is whether there are any signs 
as though the ,church of ,rome thought  
the time had come when she might        
properly move a step forward1 and ,i    
rejoice to think1 as ,i have said above1
 that at any rate one such sign--and a  
very important one--has come under my   
notice4  ,in his ,encyclical of ,august 
#d1 #ahgi1 the ,pope desires the        
,bishops and ,clergy to restore the     
golden wisdom of ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 
and to spread it far and wide4 ,vos     
omnes1 he writes1 ,venerabiles ,fratres1
 quam enixe hortamur ut ad ,catholicae  
fidei tutelam et decus1 ad societatis   
bonum1 ad scientiarum omnium incrementum
 auream ,sancti ,thomae sapientiam      
restituatis1 et quam latissime          

propagetis4 ,he proceeds then with the  
following remarkable passage3 ,we say   
the wisdom of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,for        
whatever has been worked out with too   
much subtleness by the doctors of the   
schools1 or handed down inconsiderately1
 whatever is not consistent with the    
teachings of a later age1 or finally1 is
 in any way ,,not ,,probable1 ,we in no 
wise intend to propose for acceptance in
 these days4#chf  ,it would be almost   
possible to suppose that these words had
 been written inadvertently1 so the     
,pope practically repeats them thus3 ,we
 willingly and gratefully declare that  
whatsoever can be excepted with         
advantage1 is to be excepted1 no matter 
by whom it has been invented4#chg  ,the 
passage just quoted is so pregnant that 
a few words of comment may be very well 
excused4 ,in the first place1 ,i cannot 
but admire the latitude which the ,pope 
not only tolerates1 but enjoins3 he     
defines nothing1 but declares point     
blank that if we find anything in ,st4  

,thomas ,aquinas not consistent with the
 assured teachings of a later age1 or   
finally ,,in ,,any ,,way ,,not          
,,probable--7what is not involved       
here87--we are in no wise to suppose    
that it is being proposed for our       
acceptance4 ,but it is a small step from
 allowing latitude in accepting or      
rejecting the parts of ,st4 ,thomas     
,aquinas which conflict with the assured
 result of later discoveries to allowing
 a similar latitude in respect1 we will 
say1 of ,st4 ,jude2 and if of ,st4      
,jude1 then of ,st4 ,james the ,less2   
and if of ,st4 ,james the ,less1 then   
surely ere very long of ,st4 ,james the 
,greater and ,st4 ,john and ,st4 ,paul2 
nor will the matter stop there4 ,how    
marvellously closely are the two        
extremes of doctrine approaching to one 
another6 ,we1 on the one hand1 who begin
 with tabulae rasae having made a clean 
sweep of every shred of doctrine1 lay   
hold of the first thing we can grasp    
with any firmness1 and work back from   

it4 ,we grope our way to evolution2     
through this to purposive evolution2    
through this to the omnipresence of mind
 and design throughout the universe2    
what is this but ,god8 ,so that we can  
say with absolute freedom from equivoque
 that we are what we are through the    
will of ,god4 ,the theologian1 on the   
other hand1 starts with ,god1 and finds 
himself driven through this to          
evolution1 as surely as we found        
ourselves driven through evolution to   
the omnipresence of ,god4  ,let us look 
a little more closely at the ground     
which the ,church of ,rome and the      
,evolutionist hold in common4 ,st4 ,paul
 speaks of there being one body and one 
spirit1 and of one ,god as being above  
all1 and through all1 and in you        
all4#chh ,again1 he tells us that we are
 members of ,god's body1 of his flesh   
and of his bones2#chi in another place  
he writes that ,god has reconciled us to
 himself1 in the body of his flesh1#cij 
and in yet another of the ,spirit of    

,god dwelling in us4#cia ,st4 ,paul     
indeed is continually using language    
which implies the closest physical as   
well as spiritual union between ,god and
 those at any rate of mankind who were  
,christians4 ,then he speaks of our     
being builded together for an habitation
 of ,god through the spirit1#cib and of 
our being filled with the fulness of    
,god4#cic ,he calls ,christian men's    
bodies temples of the ,holy ,spirit1#cid
 in fact it is not too much to say that 
he regarded ,christian men's limbs as   
the actual living organs of ,god        
himself1 for the expressions quoted     
above--and many others could be         
given--come to no less than this4 ,it   
follows that since any man could unite  
himself to the flesh and bones of ,god  
by becoming a ,christian1 ,paul had a   
perception of the unity at any rate of  
human life2 and what ,paul admitted ,i  
am persuaded the ,church of ,rome will  
not deny4  ,granted that ,paul's notion 
of the unity of all mankind in one      

spirit animating1 or potentially        
animating the whole was mystical1 ,i    
submit that the main difference between 
him and the ,evolutionist is that the   
first uses certain expressions more or  
less prophetically1 and without perhaps 
a full perception of their import2 while
 the second uses the same expressions   
literally1 and with the ordinary        
signification attached to the words that
 compose them4 ,it is not so much that  
we do not hold what ,paul held1 but that
 we hold it with the greater            
definiteness and comprehension which    
modern discovery has rendered possible4 
,we not only accept his words1 but we   
extend them1 and not only accept them as
 articles of faith to be taken on the   
word of others1 but as so profoundly    
entering into our views of the world    
around us that that world loses the     
greater part of its significance if we  
may not take such sayings as that we are
 ,god's flesh and his bones as meaning  
neither more nor less than what appears 

upon the face of them4 ,we believe that 
what we call our life is part of the    
universal life of the ,deity--which is  
literally and truly made manifest to us 
in flesh that can be seen and           
handled--ever changing1 but the same    
yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever4    
,so much for the closeness with which we
 have come together on matters of fact1 
and now for the rapprochement between us
 in respect of how much conformity is   
required for the sake of avoiding       
schism4 ,we find ourselves driven       
through considerations of great         
obviousness and simplicity to the       
conclusion that a man both may and      
should keep no small part of his        
opinions to himself1 if they are too    
widely different from those of other    
people for the sake of union and the    
strength gained by concerted action2 and
 we also find the ,pope declaring of one
 of the brightest saints and luminaries 
of the ,church that we need not follow  
him when it is plainly impossible for us

 to do so4 ,is it so very much to hope  
that ere many years are over the        
approximation will become closer still8 
,i have sometimes imagined that the     
doctrine of ,papal ,infallibility may be
 the beginning of a way out of the      
difficulty1 and that its promoters were 
so eager for it1 rather for the         
facilities it afforded for the repealing
 of old dogmas than for the imposition  
of new ones4 ,the ,pope cannot1 even    
now1 under any circumstances1 declare a 
dogma of the ,church to be obsolete or  
untrue1 but ,i should imagine he can1 in
 council1 ex cathedra1 modify the       
interpretation to be put upon any dogma1
 if he should find the interpretation   
commonly received to be prejudicial to  
the good of the ,church3 and if so1 the 
manner in which ,rome can put herself   
more in harmony with the spirit of      
recent discoveries1 without putting     
herself in an illogical position1 is not
 likely to escape eyes so keen as those 
of the ,catholic hierarchy4 ,no sensible

 man will hesitate to admit that many an
 interpretation which was natural to and
 suitable for one age is unnatural to   
and unsuitable for another2 as          
circumstances are always changing1 so   
men's moods and the meanings they attach
 to words1 and the state of their       
knowledge changes2 and hence1 also1 the 
interpretation of the dogmas in which   
their conclusions are summarized4 ,there
 is nothing to be ashamed of or that    
needs explaining away in this2 nothing  
can remain changeless under changed     
conditions2 and that institution is most
 likely to be permanent which contains  
provision for such changes as time may  
prove to be expedient1 with the least   
disturbance4 ,i can see nothing1        
therefore1 illogical or that needs      
concealment in the fact of an infallible
 ,pope putting a widely different       
interpretation upon a dogma now1 to what
 a no less infallible ,pope put upon the
 same dogma fifteen hundred1 or even    
fifteen years ago2 it is only right1    

reasonable1 and natural that this should
 be so4 ,the ,church of ,england may    
have made no provision for the virtual  
pruning off of dogmas that have become  
rudimentary1 but the ,encyclical from   
which ,i have just quoted leads me to   
think that the ,church of ,rome has     
found one1 and1 in her own cautious way1
 is proceeding to make use of it4 ,if   
so1 she may possibly in the end get rid 
of ,protestantism by putting herself    
more in harmony with the spirit of the  
age than ,protestantism can do4 ,in this
 case1 the spiritual reunion of         
,christendom under ,rome ceases to be   
impossible1 or even1 ,i should think    
improbable4 ,i heartily wish that my    
conjecture concerning future            
possibilities is not unfounded4         
,scientists have been right in preaching
 evolution1 but they have preached it in
 such a way as to make it almost as much
 of a stumbling-block as of an          
assistance4 ,for though the fact that   
animals and plants are descended from a 

common stock is accepted by the greater 
and more reasonable part of mankind1    
these same people feel that the evidence
 in favour of design in the universe is 
no less strong than that in favour of   
evolution1 and our scientists1 for the  
most part1 uphold a theory of evolution 
of which the cardinal doctrine is that  
design and evolution have nothing to do 
with one another2 the jar they raise1   
therefore1 is as bad as the jar they    
have allayed4  ,it has been the object  
of the foregoing work to show that those
 who take this line are wrong1 and that 
evolution not only tolerates design1 but
 cannot get on without it4 ,the         
unscrupulousness with which ,i have been
 attacked1 together with the support    
given me by the general public1 are     
sufficient proofs that ,i have not      
written in vain4  ,,footnotes3  #chd ,p4
 #cga4  #che ,published as ,god the     
,known and ,god the ,unknown in #aiji4  
7,fifield47  #chf ,sapientiam ,sancti   
,thomae dicimus3 si quid enim est a     

doctoribus scholasticis vel nimia       
subtilitate quaesitum1 vel parum        
considerate traditum1 si quid cum       
exploratis posterioris aevi doctrinis   
minus cohaerens1 vel denique quoque modo
 non probabile1 id nullo pacto in animo 
est aetate nostra ad imitandum proponi4 
#chg ,edicimus libenti gratoque animo   
excipiendum esse quidquid utiliter      
fuerit a quopiam inventum atque         
excogitatum4  #chh ,eph4 iv4 #c1 #d1 #e4
  #chi ,eph4 v4 #cj4  #cij ,col4 i4 #bb4
  #cia ,rom4 viii4 #b4  #cib ,eph4 ii4  
#bb4  #cic ,eph4 iii4 #ai4  #cid #a     
,cor4 vii4 #ai4     ,,index             
,,abortion1 neutralization of working   
bees an act of1 #bej  ,accessory        
touches1 varying ,buffon on1 #ib        
,accident1 many of our best thoughts    
come thoughtlessly1 #dh1 #chd  ----     
profiting by1 #ea1 #ec  ---- and        
discovery of theory connecting meteors  
with comets1 #ec  ---- shaking the bag  
to see what will come out1 #ec  ----    
effects of1 transmitted to offspring1   

,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 #bbd  ---- and   
design1 the line between these hard to  
draw1 #chd  ,accidental variations      
thrown for as with dice1 #c             
,accumulation of variations1 ,c4 ,darwin
 deals with the1 and not with   the     
origin of1 #cdj1 #cda  ---- of small    
divergencies1 ,buffon on the1 #ajc      
,accurate1 survival of fittest more     
accurate than ,nat4 ,sel4 and           
sometimes equally convenient1 #i1 #ced1 
#cfe  ,act of ,parliament1 ,natural     
,selection compared to a certain kind   
of1 #ceh  ,age1 old1 the phenomena of1  
#fg1 #bjd1 #cha  ,aggregation1 the      
spirit of the age tends towards1 #cig1  
#cih  ,ahead1 no organism sees very far1
 #dd1 #dh1 #ed1 #chd  ,aldrovandus1     
,buffon on the learned1 #ic  ,alive1    
when we must not say that an animal is  
alive 7to be   retracted71 #bgi  ,allen1
 ,grant1 on ',evolution1 ,old and ,new1'
 #chf-chh  ---- on the decay of         
criticism1 #chh  ---- calls             
,evolutionism an almost exclusively     

,english impulse1 #cic  ,alternations of
 fat and lean years1 ,buffon on1 #abe   
,amoeba1 the1 did not conceive the idea 
of an eye and work towards   it1 #dc1   
#dd1 #chd  ,analogies1 false1 all words 
are apt to turn out to be1 #cfe         
,animals1 contracts among1 ,dr4 ,e4     
,darwin on1 #bje  ,ape1 the1 and man1   
#ij  ,apes and monkeys1 ,buffon on1 #aec
  ---- and children fall on all-fours at
 the approach of danger1 #cab           
,apparentibus1 de non1 et non           
existentibus1 c41 #cf  ,appearances1    
rather superficial1 our only guide to   
classification1 #cd1 #ce1 #cf1 #aih1    
#bjd  ,appetency1 ,paley's argument     
against the view that structures have   
been   developed through1 #bb1 #de      
,aristides1 ,c4 ,darwin as just as1 #cfc
  ,aristotle denied teleology1 #d       
,artificial and real foot1 differences  
between1 #be  ,asceticism1 virtue errs  
on the side of excess rather than on    
that of1 #ce  ,ass1 the1 and horse1     
,buffon's pregnant passage on their     

relationship1 #hj1 #ij1 #ia1 #ajj1 #aja1
 #adb1 #adc1 #aee1 #afd1 #caa           
,authority1 a hard thing to weigh1 #bec 
,,bacon1 ,f41 on evolution1 #fi         
,balzac1 quotation from1 on memory and  
instinct1 #fg  ,bark1 ,erasmus ,darwin's
 theory of1 #bjh  ,beaver1 trowel       
incorporated into the beaver's organism1
 #h  ,bees1 neutralization of working1  
an act of abortion1 #bej  ,beetles1     
,madeira1 ,lamarck and ,c4 ,darwin's    
views of their winglessness   compared1 
#cgc1 #chj  ,begin1 ,how could the eye  
begin8 #df1 #dg  ,beginnings1 of complex
 structures1 a difficulty in the way of 
natural   selection1 #ba1 #bb  ----     
difficulty of accounting for1 #df1 #dg  
---- a matter of conjecture and         
inference1 #dh  ,behind1 more moral to  
be behind the age than in front of it1  
#dja  ,best1 making the best of whatever
 power one has1 #ej  ,bird1 how birds   
became web-footed1 #dh1 #di1 #ea  ----  
a1 will modify its nest a little1 under 
altered circumstances1 #ee  ---- ,buffon

 on1 #agj1 c4  ---- nests1 ,dr4 ,erasmus
 ,darwin's failure to connect the power 
to make   them with memory1 #bja1 #bjc  
---- aquatic and wading1 ,lamarck on1   
#cje  ,bishop1 and ,eveque1 common      
derivation of1 #cee  ,blindfolded1 we   
are so far1 that we can see a few steps 
in front1   but no more1 #dd  ---- us1  
,c4 ,darwin has almost ostentatiously1  
#cdf  ,blindly1 forces interacting      
blindly1 #ei  ,body and mind1 ,lamarck  
on1 #cch1 #cci1 #cda  ,brain1 ,lamarck  
had brain upon the brain1 #cf  ----     
,buffon on the1 #aca1 #acc1 c4  ,brevity
 may be the soul of wit1 but1 c41 #cae  
,breeding1 and feeding1 #bbb            
,brown-,sequard1 his experiments on     
guinea-pigs' legs1 #cjc  ,buds1         
individuality of1 ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin 
on the1 #bjg1 #bjh  ,buffalo1 ,buffon on
 the1 #adh1 c4  ,buffon1 profoundly     
superficial1 #cd  ---- plus il a su1    
plus il a pu1 c41 #dd  ---- dans        
l'animal il y a moins de jugement que de
 sentiment1 #ea  ---- ignorance         

concerning1 #fa  ---- memoir of1 #gd1 c4
  ---- on glory1 genius1 and style1 #gf1
 #gg  ---- ironical character of his    
work and method 7see ,irony71 #gh1   c41
 #aga  ---- on the ass1 horse1 and      
zebra1 #hj1 #ij1 #ia1 #ajj1 #aja1 #adb1 
#adc1 #aee1 #afd1 #caa  ---- would not  
play the part of ,rousseau or ,voltaire1
 #ha  ---- ,sir ,w4 ,jardine on1 and the
 ,sorbonne1 #hb  ---- regards all animal
 and vegetable life as from one common  
source1 #ij  ---- if a single species   
has ever been found under domestication1
   c41 #ia  ---- on plaisanterie1 and   
the learned ,aldrovandus1 #ic1 c4  ---- 
his compromise1 #ib  ---- accessory     
touches1 #ib  ---- especially the same1 
#if  ---- fluctuation of opinion an     
unfounded charge1 #ig1 c41 #afd  ---- on
 the accumulation of small divergencies1
 #ajc  ---- began preaching evolution   
almost on his first page1 #ajd  ----    
chapter on the degeneration des animaux1
 equivalent to on   descent with        
modification1 #ajd1 c4  ---- difference 

of opinion between him and ,erasmus     
,darwin and   ,lamarck1 #aje  ----      
probably did not differ from ,lamarck1  
#aje  ---- on direct action of changed  
conditions1 #aje1 #ade1 #adg  ---- on   
man and the lower animals1 #ajh  ---- on
 classification1 #ajh1 #aji1 #ada  ---- 
on animals and plants1 #aji1 #aaj  ---- 
on reason and instinct1 #aaj1 #aae  ----
 on final causes 7the pig71 #aah1 c4    
---- on hybridism1 #aag1 #aah  ----     
rudimentary organs1 #abj  ---- on       
animals under domestication1 #aba1 c41  
#adh  ---- deals with these early1 as   
giving him the best opportunities   for 
illustrating the theory of evolution1   
#bgf  ---- approaches natural selection 
in his by some chance common   enough in
 ,nature1 #abb  ---- preaching on the   
hare when he should have preached on the
 rabbit   out of pure love of mischief1 
#abc  ---- resumption of feral          
characteristics1 #abc  ---- on the      
geometrical ratio of increase1 #abc1 c4 
---- alternation of fat and lean years1 

#abe  ---- equilibrium of ,nature1 #abe 
---- au reel1 #abf  ---- on violent     
death1 #abf  ---- on sensation1 #abf1 c4
  ---- on the interaction of organ and  
sense1 #abg  ---- the carnivora1 #abf   
---- his criterion of what name a thing 
is to bear1 #abg  ---- his criterion of 
perception and sensation1 #abg  ---- on 
the unity of the individual1 #abg1 #abh 
---- satirizes our habit of judging all 
things by our own standards1 #abi  ---- 
the diaphragm1 #abi  ---- on the stock  
and the diaphragm1 #acj  ----           
distinction between perception and      
sensation1 #abi1 #acj  ---- on the      
meninges1 #acb  ---- on the brain1 #aca1
 #acc1 c4  ---- on scientific orthodoxy 
and mystification1 #ach  ---- on the    
relativity of science1 #adj  ---- on    
nomenclature and knowledge1 #ada  ----  
on the genus felis1 #adc  ---- on the   
lion and the tiger1 #adc1 #ade  ---- on 
the animals of the old and new world1   
#ade1 c4  ---- on changed geographical  
distribution of land and water1 #ade1   

#afd  ---- on extinct species1 #adf     
---- hates the new world1 #adf  ---- on 
heredity and habit1 #adh1 #aei1 #afj1   
#afa1 #afb  ---- approaches ,erasmus    
,darwin and ,lamarck1 re the ,buffalo1  
,camel1   and ,llama1 #adh1 #afj1 #afa  
---- on oneness of personality between  
parents and offspring1 #aea  ---- on the
 organic and inorganic1 #aec1 c4  ----  
on apes and monkeys1 #aec1 c4  ---- on  
the causes or means of the              
transformation of species1 #aei1 c4     
---- on generic 7as well as specific7   
differences1 #afd  ---- on plants under 
domestication1 #afg  ---- on pigeons and
 fowls1 #afi  ---- on birds1 #agj1 c4   
---- the assistance he rendered to      
,lamarck1 #bcg1 #beh  ---- ,isidore     
,geoffroy's failure to understand1 #cbh 
---- ,colonel1 #ge  ,bulk1 a sine qua   
non for success in literature or        
science1 #cae  ,bull running1 ,tutbury1 
and ,erasmus ,darwin1 #ahg   ,,camel1   
,buffon on the hereditary ills of the1  
#afa  ,cant1 and rudimentary organs1 #ch

  ,captandum1 all good things are done  
ad1 #he  ,carnivora1 ,buffon on the1    
#abf  ,carriage1 ,dr4 ,erasmus          
,darwin's1 #aha  ,cat1 family1 ,buffon  
on the1 #adb1 c4  ---- with a mane and  
long tail1 #adc  ,cataclysms1 the good  
cells that get exterminated during the  
cataclysms   of our own development1 #ge
  ,catastrophes1 ,lamarck on1 #bgg      
,causes1 or means1 of modification1 #cja
  ---- ,c4 ,darwin says that ,buffon has
 not entered on the1 #ajd1 c4  ---- ,c4 
,darwin gets us into a fog about1 #cde1 
c4  ,change1 under changed              
circumstances1 ,mr4 ,patrick ,matthew   
on1 #cah  ,charity1 the greatest of     
these is1 #gg  ,church1 a1 like a second
 chamber1 #djj  ---- the world better   
with than without1 #djj  ---- should be 
like the fly-wheel of a steam engine1   
#ajd  ,circonstances 7see ,conditions of
 ,existence71 ,lamarck on1 #bfh1 #bha   
,circumstance1 suiting power1 a1 ,mr4   
,patrick ,matthew on1 #cah-cba          
,classification1 rather superficial     

appearances our best guide   to1 #cd1   
#ce1 #cf1 #aih1 #bjd  ---- ,buffon on1  
#ajh1 #aji1 #ada  ,clear1 an            
ineradicable tendency to make things1   
#ib  ,clifford1 ,professor1 on ,design1 
#f1 #g  ,climbing plants1 the movements 
of1 ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bji      
,coherency1 the persistency of ideas the
 best argument in support of   their    
legitimate connection1 #bc  ,coleridge1 
on ,darwinising1 #ba  ,common terms1    
our1 involve the connection between     
memory and   heredity1 #bja1 #bje  ---- 
descent1 the hidden bond of ,lamarck1 as
 also of ,c4 ,darwin1 #bga  ,comparative
 anatomy1 ,lamarck on1 #bff1 c4         
,complex structures1 the incipiency of1 
a difficulty in the way of the   natural
 selection view of evolution1 #ba1 #bb  
,compromise1 ,buffon's1 #ib  ,conditions
 of existence1 the very essence of      
condition involves that   there shall be
 penalty in case of non-fulfilment1     
#ceb1 #cgf1 #cgg  ---- and the          
winglessness of ,madeira beetles1 #cgc1 

c4  ---- according to ,c4 ,darwin1      
include and yet are fully embraced by   
natural selection1 #cee  ---- identical 
with natural selection1 #cea-ced  ----  
,etienne ,geoffroy1 and ,lamarck on1    
#cbf1 #cbg1 #cbh  ---- ,buffon on the1  
#ajc2      difference between ,buffon's 
and ,lamarck's view of their action1    
#aje  ---- direct action of changed1    
,buffon on the1 #ade1 #adg1 #afj  ----  
,lamarck on1 #aje1 #bfh1 #bgj1 #bga1    
#bge1 #bgg1 #bgh1 #bha1 #bia1   #bib1   
#bid1 #bie1 #bih1 #bii1 #cjj1 c4        
,continuity in discontinuity1 and vice  
versa1 #dg  ,contracts of animals1 ,dr4 
,e4 ,darwin on the1 #bje  ,contrivance1 
does organism show signs of this8 #b    
,convenient1 not only sometimes1 but    
always1 more1 #cfe  ,corkscrew for      
corks1 and lungs for respiration1 ,prof4
 ,clifford on1 #g4   ,see also p4 #eh   
---- we should have grown a1 if drawing 
corks had been important   to us1 #g    
,creator1 a1 who is not an organism1    
unintelligible1 #f1 #aa1 #bd            

,criticising1 difficulty of1 without    
knowing more than the mere facts   which
 are to be criticised1 #agb  ,criticism1
 ,miss ,seward's1 on ,dr4 ,darwin's     
,elegy1 #ahi  ---- ,grant ,allen on the 
decay of1 #chh  ,crux1 the1 of the early
 evolutionist1 #ce  ,cuttle-fish1       
natural selection like the secretion of 
a1 #ccb   ,,damnation1 praising with    
faint1 #aaa  ,darwin1 ,charles1 on the  
eye1 denies design1 #h  ---- declares   
variation to be the cause of variation1 
#h1 #cdg1 #cfi  ---- and blind chance   
working on whither2 the accumulation of 
innumerable lucky accidents1 #da1 #db   
---- our indebtedness to1 #fb1 #ff1 #cce
  ---- has adopted one half of ,isidore 
,geoffroy's conclusion without          
verifying either1 #hc  ---- on ,buffon's
 fluctuation of opinion1 #ig  ---- on   
,isidore ,geoffroy1 #ig  ---- his       
assertion that ,buffon has not entered  
on the causes or   means of             
transformation1 #ajd  ---- his meagre   
notice of his grandfather1 #aif  ----   

his treatment of the author of the      
,vestiges of ,creation1 #fe1   #bdg1    
#bdh  ---- attributes the               
characteristics of neuter insects to    
natural   selection1 #bdi  ---- his     
treatment of ,lamarck1 #bdi1 #bej1 #bea1
 #bih1 #cad1 #cgf  ---- great is the    
power of steady misrepresentation1 #bea 
---- his happy simplicity about animals 
and plants under   domestication1 #bgf  
---- his notice of ,mr4 ,patrick        
,matthew in the imperfect historical    
sketch which he has prefaced to the     
,origin of ,species1 #cae1 #caf  ----   
points of agreement between him and     
,lamarck1 #cce-ccg  ---- sees no broad  
principle underlying variation1 #cci    
---- dwells on the accumulation of      
variations1 the origination of   which  
he leaves unaccounted for1 #cdj1 #cda   
---- his variations being due to no     
general underlying principle1 will   not
 tend to appear in definite directions1 
nor to many individuals   at a time1 nor
 to be constant for long together1 #cdb 

---- speaks of natural selection as a   
cause of modification1 while   declaring
 it to be a means only1 #cde1 c4  ----  
his explanation of this1 #chd1 c4  ---- 
his dilemma1 as regards the ,origin of  
,species1 #cdf  ---- declares the fact  
of variation to be the cause of         
variation1   #h1 #cdg1 #cfi  ---- if he 
had told us more of what ,buffon1 c41   
said1 and where   they were wrong1 he   
would have taken a course1 c41 #ceg     
---- on the ease with which we can hide 
our ignorance under a cloud   of words1 
#ceh  ---- apologizes for having        
underrated the frequency and importance 
of variation due to spontaneous         
variability1 #ceh  ---- his ,origin of  
,species like the opinion of a lawyer   
who wanted   to leave loopholes1 or an  
,act of ,parliament full of repealed and
   inserted clauses1 #ceh  ---- accused 
of confusion and inaccuracy of thought1 
#cei  ---- as just as ,aristides        
himself1 #cfd  ---- most candid literary
 opponent in the world1 #cfd  ----      

declares ,nature to be the most         
important means of modification1   and  
variation to be the cause of variations1
 #cfi  ---- like a will-o'-the-wisp1    
#cgb  ---- disuse1 the main agent in    
reducing wings of ,madeira beetles1 #cgg
  ---- how he and ,lamarck treat the    
winglessness of ,madeira beetles        
respectively1 #cgc-chj  ---- an example 
of his manner1 #cgh  ---- the way in    
which he met ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 
#cic  ,darwin1 ,erasmus1 never quite    
recognized design1 #ci  ---- ignorance  
concerning1 #fa  ---- on reason and     
instinct1 #aae1 c4  ---- life of1 #agc1 
c4  ---- in ,nottingham market-place1   
#ahb1 #ahd1 #aig  ---- and ,dr4         
,johnson1 #ahd1 #ahe  ---- and ,tutbury 
bull running1 #ahg  ---- his poetry     
about the pump1 and illustration1 #hd1  
#aic  ---- should have given his        
evolution theory a book to itself1 #aig 
---- had no wish to see far beyond the  
obvious1 #aig  ---- must be admitted to 
have missed detecting ,buffon's         

humour1 #hc1 #hd1 #aig  ---- did not    
attribute instincts and structures to   
memory pure   and simple1 #aih  ---- on 
the reasoning powers of animals1 and on 
instinct1 #bja1 #bje  ---- his failure  
to connect memory and instinct1 as with 
birds'   nests1 #bja-bjc  ---- failed to
 see the four main propositions which ,i
 contended   for in ,life and ,habit1   
#cg1 #bjc1 #bjd  ---- on the analogies  
between animal and vegetable life1 #bjf1
 c4  ---- on sensitive plants1 #bjf1    
#baj  ---- on the individuality of buds1
 and his theory of bark1 #bjg1 #bjh     
---- on the movements of climbing       
plants1 #bji  ---- on the oneness of    
personality between parents and         
offspring1 #bad2      the embryo not a  
new animal1 #bae  ---- on animals under 
domestication1 #bbc  ---- on the effects
 of accidents transmitted to offspring1 
#bbd  ---- sees struggle1 and hence     
modification1 turn mainly round three   
great wants1 #bbf1 #bbi1 #beg1 #bgi     
---- on desire as a means of            

modification1 #bbf1 #bbh1 #bei  ---- by 
a slip approaches the error of his      
grandson1 #bbg1 #bbh  ---- on embryonic 
metamorphoses1 #bcj1 #bca  ---- believed
 animals and plants to be descended from
 a common   stock1 #bcc  ---- and       
,lamarck compared1 #beg  ---- on the    
struggle of existence1 and the survival 
of the   fittest1 #bbg1 #bcb1 #bei      
,darwin1 ,mrs4 ,erasmus1 death-bed of1  
#agh  ,darwin1 ,francis1 mentioned1 #aji
  ---- his interesting lecture1 #bjf    
---- does not use the expression natural
 selection1 #cfh  ,darwinising1         
,coleridge on1 #ba  ,darwinism1 the old 
,darwinism involves desire1 invention1  
and design1 #eh  ---- modern1 falling   
into disfavour1 #fj  ---- and evolution 
not to be confounded1 #cfj1 #cfa  ,day1 
the portrait of1 by ,wright of ,derby1  
#ahj  ,death1 violent1 ,buffon on1 #abf 
---- of ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 #aic1    
#aid  ,death-bed of ,mrs4 ,erasmus      
,darwin1 #agh  ,deed1 illustration drawn
 from a very intricate1 #bh  ,definite1 

with ,lamarck the variations are1 #cda1 
#cdd  ,degenerations1 #hg  ,demand and  
supply1 like power and desire1 #bbb1    
#cjj  ,demonstrative case1 this         
demonstrative case of neuter insects1   
c41 #bdi1 #bih1 #cad  ,descent1 with    
modification1 spoken of as though       
synonymous with   natural selection1    
#bdh1 #cef  ,design1 and organism1 shall
 we or shall we not connect these ideas8
 #b  ---- ,aristotle denied1 ,plato     
upheld1 ,haeckel on1 #d  ---- ,prof4    
,clifford's denial of1 #f1 #g  ---- does
 certainly involve a designer who has an
 organism1 who   can think1 and make    
mistakes1 #f1 #bd  ---- a belief in both
 design and evolution1 commonly held to 
be incompatible1 #i  ---- ,sir ,w4      
,thomson and ,sir ,j4 ,herschel on1 #aa 
---- ,paley on1 #ab1 c4  ---- light     
thrown by embryology on the method of1  
#be  ---- ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes opposes1 #bf   
---- the three positions in respect to1 
taken by ,charles ,darwin1   ,paley1 and
 the earlier evolutionists1 #ca  ----   

the first evolutionists did not see that
 their view of   evolution involved     
design1 #cd  ---- from within as much   
design as from without1 #cf  ---- was   
equivalent to theological design1 with  
the early   evolutionists1 #cf  ---- if 
each step is taken designedly1 the whole
 is done   designedly1 #eb1 #chd  ----  
and accident1 the line between them hard
 to draw2 shaking   the bag1 c41 #ec1   
#chd  ---- instinct originated in1 #ed  
---- as much lost sight of with         
old-established forms of the            
steam-engine as with birds' nests or the
 wheel1 #ee  ---- ,dr4 ,e4 ,darwin's    
failure to see that evolution involves  
design1 #aie  ---- we feel the want of1 
as much as we do of evolution1 #djg     
---- evolution not only tolerates1 but  
cannot get on without1 #djh  ,designer1 
,i believe in an organic and tangible   
designer of every   complex structure1  
#f  ---- where is he8 show him to us1   
c41 #bi1 #cj  ---- the1 of any organism1
 the organism itself1 #cj1 #ca1 #dj     

,desire and power1 interaction of1 #dd1 
#de1 #dg1 #abg1 #bag1 #bba1 #cjj1 #cbb  
---- and power1 like wealth1 #bbb  ---- 
as a means of modification1 ,dr4        
,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bbf1 #bbh1 #bei   
,development1 the history of organic1   
the history of a moral struggle1 #de    
---- always due to making the best of   
the present1 #ej  ,devils1 #bj1jjj1     
dancing a saraband on the point of a    
needle1 #baf  ,dew drop1 or lens1 the1  
and ,lord ,rosse's telescope1 #dd1 #dg  
,diaphragm1 ,buffon on the1 #abi  ,dice1
 accidental variations thrown for as    
with1 #c  ,difference between animal and
 ordinary mechanism1 #bd  ---- the main1
 between the manufacture of tools and   
that of organs1 #ci  ,dilemma1 ,c4      
,darwin's1 #cdf  ,direct action of      
changed conditions1 ,buffon on the1     
#aje1 #ade1 #adg1 #afj  ,discontinuity  
in continuity1 #dg  ,disease1 accidents 
followed by1 #cjc  ,disintegration1     
,protestantism tends towards1 #cig      
,distribution1 geographical1 changed1   

,buffon on1 #ade1 #afd  ,disuse1 and the
 winglessness of ,madeira beetles1 we   
are almost surprised   to find that they
 are connected at all1 #cge  ---- the   
main agent in reducing the wings of     
,madeira beetles1 #cgg  ---- some       
examples of the effect of1 adduced by   
,lamarck1 #cgh  ,dog1 ,buffon on the1   
#abj  ---- ,lamarck on the various      
breeds of the1 #big  ,domestication1 a  
single case of a species formed under   
domestication   sufficient to remove the
 a priori difficulty from a             
comprehensive theory of evolution1 #ij1 
#ia1 #caa  ---- plants under1 ,buffon   
on1 #afg1 c4  ---- ,buffon on animals   
under1 #ajc1 #abj1 c41 #adh1 c41 #aei1  
c41 #bgf  ---- animals under1 ,dr4      
,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bbc  ---- animals 
under1 ,buffon on1 #aba1 c41 #adh1 #bgf 
---- ,c4 ,darwin on1 #bgf  ---- animals 
and plants under1 ,lamarck on1 #bge1    
#bic1 #bif1 #big1 #cjj  ---- animals and
 plants under1 ,mr4 ,patrick ,matthew   
on1 #cbd  ,door1 the doing anything well

 will open the door for doing           
something else1 #ea  ,ducks1 our        
domesticated1 why they cannot fly like  
wild ones1 #bif1 #cji   ,,earn1 you are 
but doing your best to earn an honest   
living1 #bi  ,ears are never found in a 
rudimentary condition1 #cgi  ,eat1 or be
 eaten1 #agg  ,effort1 ,paley's argument
 that structures have not been developed
   through1 #bb1 #de  ---- too much1 as 
vicious as indolence1 #ce  ---- neither 
too much nor too little1 #ej  ----      
,herculean1 condemned1 #aig  ,egyptian  
mummies1 ,lamarck on1 #bgd1 #bge        
,embryology1 the light it throws upon   
the mode in which organisms   have been 
designed1 #be  ,embryonic metamorphoses1
 ,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bcj1 #bca        
,embryonic development1 ,lamarck on1    
#bhi  ,encyclical1 the ,pope's1 on ,st4 
,thomas ,aquinas1 #djb1 c4  ,endeavour1 
,paley's argument against the view that 
structures have   been developed        
through1 #bb1 #de  ,endowment1 the new  
orthodoxy1 which is clamouring for1 #cfj

  ,english wines1 ,dr4 ,erasmus         
,darwin's preference for1 #age          
,environment4 ,see ,conditions of       
,existence  ,equilibrium1 the1 of       
,nature1 ,buffon on the1 #abe  ,err1 the
 power to1 rated highly1 #bi  ---- it is
 on this margin that we may err or      
wander1 #ej  ---- virtue ever errs on   
the side of excess1 #ce  ,error1        
importance of1 dependent on the         
distance1 rather than the   direction1  
#ej  ,especially the same1 #ib1 #if     
,ethiopian1 the1 can change his skin1 if
 it becomes worth his while   to try    
long enough1 #dj  ,eveque and bishop1   
common derivation of1 #cee              
,everlasting1 ,god1 how far1 #cb        
,evolution1 commonly held incompatible  
with design1 #i  ---- ,paley1 its first 
serious opponent in ,england1 #ba  ---- 
,sir ,walter ,raleigh on1 #ba1 #gj  ----
 must stand or fall according as it     
rests on a purposive   foundation or no1
 #fj  ---- brief summary of its six     
principal stages1 #fb1 c4  ---- ,bacon  

on1 #fi  ---- the theory of1 as apart   
from the evidence in support of it1 #ccb
  ---- ,c4 ,darwin and ,lamarck are     
equally intent upon establishing   the  
same theory of evolution1 #cce-ccg  ----
 and ,darwinism1 not to be confounded1  
#cfj1 #cfa  ---- ,rome and ,pantheism   
meet in1 #djc  ,evolutionists1 the      
early1 did not know that they accepted  
teleology1 #cd  ---- the early1 saw     
design1 only as design by the ,god of   
theologians1 #cf  ,experience and       
instinct1 ,mr4 ,patrick ,matthew on1    
#cbb  ,extinct species1 ,lamarck on1    
#bgg  ---- ,buffon on1 #adf1 #bgg  ,eye1
 no creature that had nothing like an   
eye ever set itself to   conceive one   
and grow one1 #dd1 #chg  ---- ,paley    
asks how will our philosopher get an    
eye8 #df  ---- of flat fish1 ,lamarck on
 the1 #cjg  ---- ,lamarck on the1 of    
underground and cave-inhabiting animals1
 #cgh  ---- disappear and reappear in   
the scale of organism according to the  
power of using them1 #cgi   ,,faith1    

forms of1 or faiths of form1 c41 #cci   
,familiarity1 with a little1 such       
superficial objections will be          
forgotten1 #cfg  ,far ahead1 no organism
 ever saw an improvement a long way off 
and made   towards it1 #dc1 #dd1 #dh1   
#di1 #ed1 #chd  ,father1 the man who    
could be father of such a son and retain
 his   affection1 c41 #gf  ,factors1    
there have been two1 of modification1   
one producing and the   other           
accumulating variations1 #bbg           
,fecundity1 alternate years of1 ,buffon 
on1 #abe  ,feeding and breeding1 #bbb   
,feel1 if plants and animals look as if 
they feel1 let us say   they feel1 #aih 
,feeling1 there is more feeling than    
reason in animals1 #ea  ,feral          
characteristics1 resumption of1 ,buffon 
on1 #abc  ,final causes1 the doctrine   
of1 as commonly held in the time of the 
early evolutionists1 #cd1 #cf  ----     
,buffon on1 #aah1 c4  ,fitness1 the     
cause of1 more important than the fact  
that fitness is   commonly fit1 and     

therefore successful1 #cea  ,flat fish1 
,lamarck on the eyes of1 #cjg           
,fluctuation of opinion1 ,c4 ,darwin on 
,buffon's1 the charge   refuted1 #ig1   
c41 #afd1 #aff  ,fontenelle1 on         
theories1 #bb  ,foot1 and model of foot1
 differences between1 #bd  ,forms of    
faith1 or faiths of form1 c41 #cci      
,four main points which the early       
evolutionists failed to see in   their  
connection and bearing on each other1   
#cg1 #bjc  ,four main principles1 the1  
which ,i contended for in ,life and     
,habit1 #cg1 #bjc1 #chj1 #cha  ,fowls   
and pigeons1 ,buffon on1 #afi           
,,garnett1 ,mr4 ,r41 and ,darwinising1  
#ba  ,genius1 ,mr4 ,allen says ,i am a1 
#chh  ,gentleman1 the ,church of ,rome  
means the same by the word as we do1    
#cie  ,geoffroy1 ,etienne1 how small a  
way he goes1 #aif  ---- and ,isidore1   
trimmers1 #cbh  ---- on ,buffon1 #cbh   
---- on conditions of existence1 #cbf1  
#cbg  ---- declares against ,lamarck's  
hypothesis1 #cbh  ---- his position1    

#cbe-cbh  ,geoffroy1 ,isidore1 on       
evolution and final causes1 #i  ---- on 
,buffon's fluctuation of opinion1 #ih1  
c41 #afd1 #aff  ---- points out the     
difference between the views of ,buffon 
and ,lamarck1 #aje  ---- statement that 
,buffon's opinions fluctuated again     
refuted1 #aff  ---- and ,lamarck's      
hypothesis1 #bdd-bdf1 #cbi  ---- on     
,buffon1 #cbh  ---- his position1 #cbi  
,genealogical order1 ,lamarck on1 #bfd  
---- ,c4 ,darwin on1 #bfe  ,generation  
more remarkable than reason1 ,hume on1  
#bcc  ,generic differences 7as well as  
specific71 ,buffon on1 #afd  ,genius1 a 
supreme capacity for taking pains1 #gf  
,geographical distribution1 changed1    
,buffon on1 #ade1 c41 #afd  ,geometrical
 ratio of increase1 ,buffon on1 #abc    
---- ,lamarck1 on1 #bhj  ---- ,patrick  
,matthew on1 #cbj1 #cba  ,germ of oak   
indistinguishable from that of a man1   
#ccd  ,germans1 ,buffon on the1 #ic     
,glory comes after labour if she can1   
c41 #gf  ,go away1 because their uncles1

 aunts1 #cgf  ,god1 embodied in living  
forms1 and dwelling in them1 #ca  ----  
how far everlasting1 invisible1         
imperishable1 omnipotent1 c41 #cb  ---- 
the unseen parts of1 are as a           
deep-buried history1 #cc  ,goethe1 as an
 evolutionist1 #ga  ,gradations         
infinitely subtle1 #hg  ,grant ,allen1  
on ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 #chf-chh  
---- on the decay of criticism1 #chh    
---- says that ,evolutionism is an      
almost exclusively ,english   impulse1  
#cic  ,greyhound or racehorse1 the      
well-adapted form of the1 #cei  ,growth 
attended at each step by a felicitous   
tempering of two   antagonistic         
principles1 #ce  ,gueneau de            
,montbeillard1 #agb1 #agc   ,,habit1    
,life and4 ,see ,life and ,habit4  ---- 
rudimentary organs repeated through mere
 force of1 #ch1 #ci  ---- ,buffon on1   
#adh1 #aei1 #afj1 #afa1 #afb  ---- a    
second ,nature1 ,lamarck on1 #cjj       
,habits1 or use1 and organ1 ,lamarck on 
the interaction of1 #bib1 #caa          

,haeckel1 on design1 #d1 #e  ---- on    
,goethe as an evolutionist1 #ga  ----   
does not appear to know of ,buffon as an
 evolutionist1 #ga1 #cic  ---- his      
surprising statement concerning         
,lamarck1 #gc  ---- his ignorance       
concerning ,erasmus ,darwin1 #gc1 #cic  
---- on ,lamarck1 #bdf1 #bdg  ---- ,a4  
,r4 ,wallace's review of his ,evolution 
of ,man1 #chb1 #chd  ,hamlet1 the       
,origin of ,species like ,hamlet without
 ,hamlet1 #cfc  ,handiest1 a man should 
do whatever comes handiest1 #ea1 #eb    
,hare1 ,buffon on the1 #abc1 c4         
,hartmann's philosophy of the           
unconscious1 and ,life and ,habit1 #ef1 
#eg  ,hearing1 when we once reach       
animals so low as to have no organ of1  
we lose this organ for good and all1    
#cgi  ,heredity and habit1 ,buffon on1  
#adh1 #aei1 #afj1 #afa1 #afb  ---- only 
another term for unknown causes1 unless 
the ,life and ,habit   theory be        
adopted1 #chd  ,hering1 ,professor1     
referred to1 #ff1 #fg  ---- his theory  

as given in ,nature by ,ray ,lankester1 
#aih-bjj  ,herschel1 ,sir ,john1        
compares natural selection to the       
,laputan   method of making books1 #aj  
,higgling and haggling of the market1   
#ej  ,history of the universe1 each     
organism is a1 from its own point   of  
view1 #ca  ,horse and ass1 ,buffon's    
most pregnant passage on the1 #hj1 #ij1 
#ia1   #ajj1 #aja1 #adb1 #adc1 #aee1    
#afd1 #caa  ---- and man1 skeleton of   
the1 #hh1 #hi  ---- and zebra1 ,buffon  
on the1 example of irony1 #hj1 #aee1    
#afd  ,hume1 his saying that generation 
is more remarkable than reason1 #bcc    
,huxley1 ,professor1 referred to1 #ic   
---- pointed out to ,professor ,mivart  
the difficulty in the way of   natural  
selection1 #cdd  ---- his ignorance     
concerning the earlier history of       
evolution1 #cib1 #cic  ,hybridism1      
,buffon on1 #aag1 #aah  ,hybrids1       
sterility of1 ,lamarck on1 and ,c4      
,darwin on1 #bgb1 #bgc   ,,ideas1 the   
bond or nexus of our1 #bc1 #bi1 #cj     

,ignorance1 the prevailing1 concerning  
the earlier evolutionists1 #fa  ---- it 
is easy to hide our1 under such         
expressions as plan of   creation1 or   
natural selection1 #ceh  ,imitation1    
instinct not referable to1 as maintained
 by ,erasmus   ,darwin1 #bjb            
,immutability of species and design     
commonly accepted together1 #i1 #aj     
,improvements1 small successive1 in     
man's inventions1 #dd1 #df1   #dg1 #ed1 
#ee1 #chd  ,inaccuracy of thought1 ,c4  
,darwin accused of1 #cei  ,incipiency1  
of complex structures1 a difficulty in  
the way of the   ,natural selection view
 of evolution1 #ba1 #bb  ,incorporate1  
the designer is1 with the organism1 #cj 
,increase1 geometrical ratio of ,buffon 
on the1 #abc  ---- ,lamarck on1 #bhj    
---- ,patrick ,matthew on1 #cbj1 #cba   
,indefinite1 with ,c4 ,darwin the       
variations are1 #cdb1 #cdd              
,indifference1 ,i say ,i am more        
indifferent than ,i think ,i am1 whether
   mind is or is not the least          

misleading symbol for the cause that    
sustains the universe1 #cga  ,indirect  
action of conditions of existence       
according to   ,lamarck1 #bid1 #bii1    
#cjf4 7,see ,conditions of ,existence7  
,individuality1 ,buffon on1 #abh  ----  
of buds1 ,erasmus ,darwin on the1 #bjg1 
#bjh  ---- our1 a consensus1 or         
full-flowing river1 #cah                
,infallibility1 possible results of the 
doctrine of ,papal1 #djf  ,insectivorous
 plants1 ,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bjf      
,instep1 ligament that binds the tendons
 of the1 ,paley on the1 #bb  ,instinct1 
present1 does not bar its having arisen 
in reason and   reflection1 #ec1 #ed    
---- returns to its earlier phase1 i4 e4
 to reason on the presence   of the     
unfamiliar1 #ed1 #ee1 #ef  ---- and     
reason1 ,buffon on1 #aaj-aaf  ----      
,darwin1 ,erasmus1 on1 #aae1 #aaf1 #bjd 
---- not referable to imitation1 as     
maintained by ,erasmus ,darwin1 #bjb    
---- is reason become habitual1 #bjc    
---- reason perfected and got by rote1  

#bef  ---- and reason1 ,lamarck on1     
#bef1 #beg1 #bgd  ---- referred to      
experience and memory1 by ,patrick      
,matthew1 #cbb  ,insult1 ,evolution1    
,old and ,new1 not intended as an insult
 to men   of science1 #cib  ,interaction
 of want and power1 #dd1 #de1 #dg1 #bag1
 #bah1 #bba1 #cjj1 #cbc  ---- of body   
and mind1 ,lamarck on the1 #cch1 #cci1  
#cda  ,interesting1 the more interesting
 the animal the more evolution ,buffon  
puts into his account of it1 #hd        
,intermediate forms1 ,lamarck on1 #bhc1 
#bhf  ---- ,c4 ,darwin1 #bhd1 #bhe      
,inventions1 small successive           
improvements in man's1 and development  
of1   analogous to that of organism1    
#dd1 #df1 #dg1 #ed1 #ee1 #chd  ,irony1  
good-natured and the reverse1 #ia  ---- 
an apology for1 and explanation how far 
it is legitimate1 #aaa1 #aab  ----      
,buffon's1 #gh1 c41 #ia1 #ib1 #ic1 #aee1
 #aeg1 #afc1 #afd   ,,jardine1 ,sir ,w41
 on ,buffon's character1 #hb  ,johnson1 
,dr41 and ,erasmus ,darwin1 #ahd1 #ahe  

,joints1 ,paley on the human1 #ai1 #bj  
,juggle1 ,paley's argument a juggle1    
unless man has had a bona fide          
personal1 and therefore organic         
designer1 #ad1 #af   ,,knee-,,pan1      
,paley on the human1 #ah  ,knowledge1   
nomenclature mistaken for1 #ada         
,,labour1 glory comes after1 if she can1
 #gf  ,lamarck1 had brain upon the      
brain1 #cf  ---- never quite recognized 
design1 #ci  ---- ,haeckel's surprising 
statement concerning1 #gc  ---- wherein 
he mainly differs from ,buffon1 #aje    
---- memoir of1 #bce  ---- his          
connection with ,buffon1 as tutor to his
 son1 c41 #bcg1 #beh  ---- his          
daughters1 #bdb1 #bec  ---- his poverty 
and blindness1 #bdb1 #bec  ---- ,isidore
 ,geoffroy on1 bad caricature of his    
teaching1 #bdd-bdf  ---- ,haeckel on1   
#bdf1 #bdg  ---- never seriously        
discussed1 #bdg  ---- the well-known    
doctrine of1 ,c4 ,darwin's reference    
to1 #bdi1 #bej1 #bea1 #bih1 #cad1 #cgf  
---- on the opposition his theory met   

with1 #beb  ---- too old to have begun  
his unequal contest1 #bec  ---- on the  
feeling of animals1 #bed1 #bee  ---- too
 theory-ridden1 #bed  ---- misled by    
,buffon 7query71 #bee  ---- took from   
,buffon without sufficient              
acknowledgment1   #bee1 #beh1 #bfj1 #caa
  ---- as compared with ,dr4 ,erasmus   
,darwin1 #beg  ---- like ,dr4 ,e4       
,darwin1 sees struggle and modification 
turn   mainly round three great wants1  
#beg1 #bgi1 #cjj1 #cji  ---- when and   
how he came over to the side of         
mutability1 #beh  ---- and the ,french  
translation of the ,loves of the ,plant1
 #bei  ---- on comparative anatomy1 #bff
  ---- on species1 #bfg1 c4  ---- on    
conditions of existence 7circonstances71
 #aje1 #bfh1 #bgj1 #bga1   #bge1 #bgg1  
#bgh1 #bha1 #bia1 #bib1 #bid1 #bie1     
#bih1 #bii1 #cjj1 c4  ---- on instinct1 
#bgd  ---- on animals and plants under  
domestication1 #bge1 #bic1 #bif1 #big1  
#cjj  ---- on extinct species1 #bgg     
---- anticipated ,lyell in rejecting    

catastrophes1 #bgg  ---- on the         
geometrical ratio of increase and       
struggle for   existence1 #bhj-bhb  ----
 on embryonic development1 #bhi  ----   
the main principles which he supposes to
 underlie   variations1 #bib1 #bii1     
#cch1 #cci  ---- his contention that    
plants have neither actions nor habits1 
#bie  ---- on use and disuse1 #bid1     
#bif1 #bii1 #cja1 #cjb1 #cjd1 #cje1     
#cjg-cji  ---- on the various breeds of 
the dog1 #big  ---- habit a second      
nature1 #cjj  ---- like ,erasmus ,darwin
 and ,buffon1 understood the survival of
   the fittest1 #cja  ---- on the way in
 which serpents have lost their legs1   
#cjc  ---- on wading and aquatic birds1 
#cje  ---- on the eyes of flat fish1    
#cjg  ---- on man1 #caa1 c4  ---- on a  
single instance of considerable         
variation under   domestication1 #caa   
---- on speech1 #cac1 #cad  ---- on the 
upright position of man and certain     
apes1 #cac  ---- his1 and ,etienne      
,geoffroy's views on conditions of      

existence1 #cbf1 #cbg1 #cbh  ---- his   
hypothesis1 and ,isidore ,geoffroy1 #cbi
  ---- ,herbert ,spencer on1 #ccj1 #cca 
---- desired to discover the law        
underlying variations1 #ccg  ---- the   
extent to which he and ,c4 ,darwin take 
common ground1 #cce-ccg  ---- on body   
and mind1 #cch1 #cci1 #cda  ---- on his 
theory variations will be definite1 will
 appear in large   numbers of           
individuals at the same time1 for long  
periods   together1 #cda  ---- how he   
and ,c4 ,darwin treat the winglessness  
of ,madeira beetles   respectively1     
#cgc-chj  ---- on the eyes and ears of  
cave-inhabiting animals1 #cgh1 #cgi     
,laputan method of making books1 the1   
and natural selection1 #aa  ,lawyer's   
deed1 if we come across a very          
intricate1 c41 #bg  ,leopard1 the1 can  
change his spots if it becomes worth his
 while to   try long enough1 #dj        
,lewes1 ,g4 ,h41 on embryology1 #be     
---- his objection to the tentativeness 
with which the same errors   are        

repeated generation after generation1   
#bf  ---- his objection to ,c4 ,darwin's
 language concerning natural            
selection1 #cdf  ,lewes1 ,g4 ,h41 on    
natural selection1 #cdh1 #cdi1 #cei     
,life1 some remarks about the criterion 
of1 that ,i must retract1 #bgi  ---- one
 ,proteus principal of1 #cbj  ,life and 
,habit1 what ,i believe to have been its
 most important   features1 #fg1 #bjc1  
#bjd  ---- recapitulation of the main   
principle insisted on1 #cg1 #ef1   #bjc1
 #chj1 #cha1 #chd  ---- and ,hartmann's 
philosophy of the unconscious1 ,german  
review1 #ef1 #eg  ,lifetime1            
considerable modifications effected     
during a single1 #cjd  ---- the changes 
undergone by organisms during a single1 
,herbert   ,spencer1 on1 #ccb-ccd       
,ligament1 the1 which binds down the    
tendons of the instep1 #ba  ,living1    
,paley is but doing his best to earn an 
honest1 #bi  ---- forms of faith1 or    
faiths of form1 #cci  ,lines1 no sharp  
can be drawn1 #dg  ,lion and tiger1     

,buffon on the1 #adc1 #ade  ,llama1     
,buffon on the hereditary ills of the1  
#afa  ,longevity1 the principle         
underlying1 #fg1 #chj1 #cha  ,loopholes 
for escape1 the ,origin of ,species full
 of1 #ceh  ,loves of the ,plants1       
,french translation of the1 #fc1 #bei   
,lungs for respiration1 and corkscrew   
for corks1 ,professor   ,clifford on1   
#g4 7,see also p4 #eh7  ,lyell1 ,sir    
,c41 and ,lamarck1 #bgg  ---- on the    
similarity between ,lamarck's theory and
 ,mr4   ,darwin's1 #ccf1 #ccg           
,,machine1 ,paley declares animals to be
 neither wholly machines   nor wholly   
not machines1 #ad  ,madeira beetles1 the
 ways in which ,lamarck and ,c4 ,darwin 
would   treat their winglessness1       
#cgc-chj  ,maillet1 de1 referred to1 #gj
  ,mainspring1 the true1 of our         
existence lies not in these   muscles1  
c41 #cb  ,man1 the designer of man1 #cj 
---- and horse1 skeleton of the1 #hh1   
#hi  ---- and the ape1 #ij  ---- and the
 lower animals1 ,buffon on1 #ajg1 #ajh  

---- ,lamarck on1 #caa1 c4  ,manner1    
the1 is the man himself1 #gg  ---- but  
this is ,mr4 ,darwin's1 #cgh            
,manufacture1 the1 of tools and of      
organs1 two species of   the same genus1
 #ci  ,margin1 there is a margin in     
every organic structure1 c41 #di1 #ej   
---- on the margin of the self-evident  
the greatest purchase is   obtainable1  
#aig  ,market1 the higgling and haggling
 of the1 #ej  ,martins1 ,m41 his life of
 ,lamarck1 #bce1 c4  ,matter less       
important than the manner1 #gg  ---- and
 mind1 inseparable1 #cga  ,matthew1 ,mr4
 ,patrick1 his work on naval timber and 
arboriculture1 #fd1 #fe  ---- extracts  
from1 #cae1 c4  ---- ,mr4 ,c4 ,darwin   
on1 #cae  ---- on animals and plants    
under domestication1 #cbd  ---- on will 
as influencing organism1 #cbj1 #cba1    
#cbb  ---- on the struggle for existence
 with survival of the   fittest1 #cbj1  
#cbb  ---- and natural selection1 #cbc  
---- on instinct and memory1 and on the 
continued personality   of parents in   

offspring1 #cba1 #cbb1 #cbc  ,means1 ,c4
 ,darwin's dangerous use of this word1  
#cde  ---- one sine qua non for a thing 
is as much a means of that   thing's    
coming about as anything else is1 #cdi  
,mechanism of animals1 ,paley on the1   
#ad  ,mechanism of animals1 evidence of 
design in any ordinary1 #ae  ,memory1   
and life and heredity1 #cg1 #ch1 #ci1   
#ef1 #fg1 #aih-bjc1   #ccb1 #chj1 #cha  
---- ,professor ,hering on1 #aih-bjj    
---- ,patrick ,matthew on1 #cbb         
,meteoric1 both want and power are1 #dd1
 #de  ,meninges1 ,buffon on the1 #acb   
,microcosm1 each organism a history of  
the universe from its   own point of    
view1 #ca  ,microscope1 illustration    
from successive improvements in the1    
#df1 #dg  ,mind1 the least inadequate   
and misleading symbol1 for the power    
that has designed organism1 #c1 #cga    
---- and body1 ,lamarck on1 #cch1 #cci1 
#cda  ---- and matter inseparable1 #cga 
,misfortune1 take advantage of1 #ea     
,misrepresentation1 great is the power  

of steady1 #bea  ,missionaries should   
avoid trying to effect sudden           
modifications1 #ahc  ,mistake1 the power
 to make1 rated highly1 #bi  ----       
importance of1 depends on magnitude     
rather than on the   direction1 #ej     
,mivart1 ,professor1 says that1 ,mind is
 the least adequate and   misleading    
symbol1 c41 #c1 #cga  ---- referred to1 
#bb1 #ff1 #fg  ---- admits that his     
objection does not tell against the     
,lamarckian   theory of evolution1 #cdc 
---- points out that the admission of a 
principle underlying variations   is    
fatal to ,c4 ,darwin's theory concerning
 natural selection1 #cdc  ---- on ,c4   
,darwin's haphazard1 indefinite         
variations1 #cdc  ---- how ,professor   
,huxley pointed out to him the objection
 to ,c4   ,darwin's theory concerning   
natural selection1 #cdd  ---- asks what 
is natural selection8 and declares it to
 be repudiated   by its propounder1 #cfi
  ---- declares it to be nothing1 and a 
puerile   hypothesis1 #cgj1 #cga  ----  

declares the causes of variation to be  
the causes of the   distinction of      
species1 #cgj  ,model1 artificial1 of a 
foot1 and true foot1 difference between1
 #bd  ,modification4 ,it is only on     
modification that reason reasserts      
itself1 #ee  ---- there have been two   
factors of1 one producing variations1   
and   the other accumulating them1 #bbg 
---- arrived at by struggle round three 
great wants1 ,erasmus   ,darwin on1     
#bbf-bbi  ---- ,lamarck on the same1    
#beg1 #bgi1 #cjj1 #cja  ---- the cause  
of survival1 not survival the cause of  
modification1 #cjb  ,moral1 an organism 
is most1 when looking a little ahead1   
but not   too far1 #dd  ---- struggle1  
the history of organic development1 the 
history of a1 #de  ---- more1 and safer1
 to be behind the age than in front of  
it1 #dja  ,movement1 ,buffon's great    
criterion of sensation1 #abg  ,mummies1 
,egyptian1 ,lamarck on1 #bgd1 #bge      
,murphy1 ,rev4 ,j4 ,j41 mentioned1 #bb  
---- referred to1 #ff1 #fg  ,mutability 

of species commonly held to be          
incompatible with a   belief in design1 
#i1 #aj  ,mystery-mongering1 that       
,buffon wished to protest against1 #ha1 
#aga  ,mystification1 scientific1 and   
orthodoxy1 ,buffon on1 #ach   ,,naively1
 as ,mr4 ,darwin naively adds1 sometimes
 equally   convenient1 #ced  ,natural   
selection1 the essence of the theory is 
that the variations   shall have been   
mainly accidental1 #g  ,natural         
selection1 the unerring skill of1 #i    
---- ,sir ,william ,thomson and ,sir    
,john ,herschel on1 #aj  ---- ,button1  
and1 by some chance common enough with  
,nature1 #abb  ---- spoken of as though 
synonymous with descent with            
modification1 #bdh1 #bhe1 #cef  ---- ,c4
 ,darwin attributes the instincts of    
neuter insects to1 #bdi  ---- ,mr4      
,patrick ,matthew and1 #cbc  ---- like  
the secretion of a cuttle-fish1 #ccb    
---- ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes's objection to ,c4  
,darwin's language concerning1 #cdf     
---- if this is declared to be a cause1 

the fact of variation   is declared to  
be the cause of variation1 #cdg  ----   
declared by ,c4 ,darwin to be a means of
 variation1 #cdg  ---- treated as a     
cause1 #cdh  ---- ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes on1    
#cdh1 #cdi1 #cej  ---- identity with    
conditions of existence1 #cea-ced  ---- 
according to ,c4 ,darwin1 fully embraces
 and yet is included   in conditions of 
existence1 #cee  ---- a cloak for want  
of precision of thought1 and of         
substantial   difference from ,lamarck1 
#ceh  ---- some have even imagined that 
it induces variability2 and small       
wonder1 considering ,c4 ,darwin's       
language concerning it1 #cfb  ---- ,c4  
,darwin's reply to those who have       
objected to the term1 #cfb-cfh  ---- a  
cloak of difference from ,c4 ,darwin's  
predecessors1 under which   there lurks 
a concealed identity of opinion as to   
main facts1 #cfb1 #cfc  ---- implies    
only the preservation of such variations
 as arise1   c41 #cfc  ---- admitted by 
,c4 ,darwin to be a false term1 #cfd    

---- the complaint is that the          
expression has been retained when   an  
avowedly more accurate one is to hand1  
#cfe1 #cff  ---- only another way of    
saying ,nature1 #cfh1 #cfi  ---- the    
dislike of it is increasing1 #cfh1 #cfi 
---- ,francis ,darwin does not use the  
expression1 #cfh1 #cfi  ---- daily and  
hourly scrutinizing throughout the      
world1 c41 #cfi  ---- practically       
repudiated by ,c4 ,darwin himself1 #cfi 
---- ,professor ,mivart declares it to  
be simply nothing1 #cgj  ---- a puerile 
hypothesis1 #cga  ---- and not disuse1  
the true main cause of the winglessness 
of   ,madeira beetles1 according to ,c4 
,darwin1 #cgd  ---- not the main cause  
of the winglessness of ,madeira beetles1
   according to ,c4 ,darwin1 #cgg  ---- 
combined probably with disuse1 will     
account1 according to   ,c4 ,darwin1 for
 the winglessness of ,madeira beetles1  
#cge  ,naturalistes1 le peuple des1 #hj1
 #aga  ,nature1 the personification of  
comparatively venial1 #cfg  ---- and    

natural selection the same thing1 #cfh1 
#cfi  ---- the most important means of  
modification1 and variation the   cause 
of variation1 #cfi  ,neck1 ,paley on the
 human1 #ag1 #ah  ,need1 sense of1 the  
main idea in connection with evolution  
that is   left with the reader by the   
,zoonomia1 or ,philosophie              
,zoologique1 #cfc  ,needle1 #bj1jjj     
devils dancing a saraband on the point  
of a1 #baf  ,nest1 a bird will alter its
 nest a little1 to meet altered         
circumstances1 #ee  ,nests1 birds'1 ,dr4
 ,e4 ,darwin on1 #bja  ,neuter insects1 
the demonstrative case of neuter        
insects1   c41 #bdi1 #bih1 #cad  ,new   
countries1 ,buffon a hater of1 #adf     
,nomenclature1 mistaken for knowledge1  
#ada  ,nottingham market-place1 ,erasmus
 ,darwin in1 #ahb1 #ahd1 #aig   ,,oak   
and man1 the germs of1                  
indistinguishable1 #ccd  ---- man may   
become as long-lived as the1 #chb       
,obvious1 ,erasmus ,darwin had no wish  
to see far beyond the1 #aig  ,oken1     

alluded to1 #gb  ,old age1 the phenomena
 of1 #fg1 #bjd1 #cha  ---- and new      
worlds1 ,buffon on the fauna of1 #ade1  
c4  ,one source for all life1 ,buffon   
on1 #ia  ---- ,erasmus ,darwin on1 #aji1
 #bcc  ,oneness of personality between  
parents and offspring1 #cg1 #ch1 #ci    
---- ,buffon on the1 #aea  ---- ,erasmus
 ,darwin and ,professor ,hering on the1 
#aih-bjj  ---- ,dr4 ,e4 ,darwin's       
failure to grasp the whole facts in     
connection   with this1 #aih1 #bja1 #bjc
  ---- ,dr4 ,e4 ,darwin on1 #bad1 #bae  
---- ,patrick ,matthew on1 #cbb1 #cbc   
---- mentioned1 #ccb1 #chj1 #cha        
,orang-outang1 ,buffon on the1 #aef-aei 
,organ and use4 ,see ,use4  ---- and    
sense1 interaction of the1 ,buffon on1  
#abg  ---- and faculty1 ,lamarck on1    
#bee  ,organs are living tools1 #b  ----
 the manufacture of1 and that of tools1 
two species of the   same genus1 #ci1   
#dc1 c4  ---- are the expressions of    
mental phases1 #cci1 #cda  ,organic     
structures have a margin1 #di1 #ej      

,organic strictures and inorganic1      
,buffon on the1 #aec1 c4  ,organisms1   
have been developed as man's inventions 
have1 #dd1 #df1 #dg1 #chd  ,origin of   
,species1 the1 cannot take permanent    
rank in the   literature of evolution1  
#fb  ---- has no raison d'etre1 if      
natural selection is not a   cause of   
variation1 #cdf  ---- a piece of        
intellectual sleight of hand1 #cdf  ----
 compared to the advice of a lawyer who 
wanted to leave   plenty of loopholes1  
or to a cobbled ,act of ,parliament1    
#ceh  ---- is ,hamlet with the part of  
,hamlet cut out1 #cfc  ---- most readers
 would say that it advocated natural    
selection as   the most important cause 
of variation1 #cfc  ---- and the        
,zoonomia1 or the ,philosophie          
,zoologique2 the one   upholds natural  
selection1 the other1 sense of need1    
#cfc  ,orthodoxy1 scientific1 and       
mystification1 ,buffon on1 #ach  ----   
scientific1 clamouring for endowment1   
#cfj  ---- dangers of1 #cfh  ,overseeing

 tends to oversight1 #aig   ,,pains1    
genius a supreme capacity for taking1   
#gf  ,painting1 a man should do         
something1 no matter what1 #ea1 #eb     
,paley1 quotations from1 #ab1 c4  ----  
his argument a juggle1 unless some one  
designed man1 much as   man designed the
 watch1 #ad1 #af  ---- on ordinary      
mechanism1 as showing design1 #ae  ---- 
on the human neck1 #af1 #ag  ---- on the
 patella1 #ah  ---- on the joints1 #ai1 
#bj  ---- as a writer against evolution1
 #ba  ---- on the ligament that binds   
the tendons of the instep1 #ba1 #bb     
---- opposes the view that structures   
have been formed through   appetency1   
endeavour or effort1 #bb1 #de  ---- we  
turn on him and say1 ,show us your      
designer1 #bi  ---- asks1 ,how will our 
philosopher get an eye8 #df  ---- his   
,natural ,theology written throughout at
 the ,zoonomia1 #aie  ---- never gives a
 reference when quoting an opponent1    
#aie1 #cjf  ,pantheism and ,rome will in
 the end be the two sole combatants1    

#dja  ---- common ground held by ,rome  
and ,pantheism1 #djc-dje  ---- of ,paul1
 #djd  ,parents and offspring1 oneness  
of personality between 7see             
,personality7  ,passions1 of like       
passions1 men of science are1 with other
   pastors and prophets1 #bec  ,patella1
 or knee-pan1 ,paley on the1 #ah  ,paul1
 ,st41 his pantheistic tendencies1 #djd 
---- we want to accept him literally1   
#dje  ,peace1 the1 that passeth         
understanding1 #ce  ,perception and     
sensation1 ,buffon on the difference    
between1 #abi1 #acj  ,personality1      
oneness of1 between parents and         
offspring1 #cg1 #ch1 #ci  ---- ,buffon  
on the1 #aea  ---- ,erasmus ,darwin and 
,professor ,hering on the1 #aih-bjj     
---- ,erasmus ,darwin's failure to grasp
 the whole conception1   #aih1 #bja1    
#bjc  ---- ,erasmus ,darwin on the1     
#bad1 #bae  ---- ,patrick ,matthew on   
the1 #cbb1 #cbc  ---- mentioned1 #ccb1  
#chj1 #cha  ,personification1 the1 of   
,nature1 comparatively venial1 #cfg     

,pessimism3 ,which is the pessimist ,i  
or ,mr4 ,darwin8 #ei  ,peuple des       
,naturalistes1 le1 #hj1 #aga            
,philosophie ,zoologique1 summary of1   
#bfa-cad  ---- the1 leaves sense of need
 on the reader's mind2 the   ,origin of 
,species1 natural selection1 #cfc  ,pig1
 ,buffon on the1 #aah1 c4  ,pigeons and 
fowls1 ,buffon on1 #afi  ,plaisanterie1 
,button's disclaimer of1 #ic  ,planted  
upside down1 the vertebrata regarded as 
vegetables1 #acg  ,plants under         
domestication1 ,buffon on1 #afg1 c4     
---- ,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 on the life 
of1 #bjf1 c4  ---- ,lamarck's assertion 
that they have no action nor habits1    
#bid1 #bie  ,plato upheld teleology1 #d 
,plus il a su1 c41 #dd  ,poem1 a1 by    
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin1 #ahi  ,poetry1   
,dr4 ,erasmus ,darwin's1 #hc1 #ahi1 #aic
  ,pope's shoes1 scientists would step  
into the1 if we would let   them1 #cfj1 
#cid  ,portrait of ,mr4 ,day1 author of 
,sandford and ,merton1 #ahj  ,potto1 the
 missing forefinger of the1 #cjc  ,power

 and desire1 interaction of1 #dd1 #de1  
#dg1 #abg1 #bag1 #bba1 #cjj1 #cbc       
,praising1 with faint damnation1 #aaa   
,prescience1 need not extend over more  
than the next step1 and yet the   whole 
road may have been travelled            
presciently1 #eb1 #chd  ,present1       
development due to a wise use of the1   
#ej-eb  ,probable1 whatever in the      
teaching of ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas is not
 probable   is to be rejected1 #djb1    
#djc  ,proficiency is due to design if  
each step was taken designedly1 though  
the end was not far foreseen1 #eb1 #chd 
,protestantism tends towards            
disintegration1 #cif  ,proteus principle
 of life1 one1 #cbj  ,pump1 ,erasmus    
,darwin's poetry about the1 #hd1 #aic   
,purpose1 instinctive actions were once 
done with a1 #ed  ---- spent or extinct1
 and rudimentary organs1 #ch1 #chc      
,purposive1 if each step is purposive1  
the whole is purposive1 #eb1 #chd       
,purposiveness3 ,i maintain the lungs to
 be as purposive us the   corkscrew1 #e1

 #f1 #g1 #eh   ,,race1 the runners in a1
 and natural selection1 #cff1 #cfg  ----
 significance of the words being used   
for a breed and a   competition1 #cff1  
#cfg  ,racehorse or greyhound1 the      
well-adapted forms of the1 #cei         
,ranunculus aquatilis1 ,lamarck's       
passage on1 #bfj1 #big  ,raleigh1 ,sir  
,walter1 and evolution1 #ba1 #gj  ,ray  
,lankester1 ,professor1 on ,hering's    
theory connecting memory   and heredity1
 #aih-bjj  ,reason1 there is less reason
 than feeling in animals1 ,buffon1 #ea  
---- perfected becomes instinct1 but    
reasserts itself when the               
circumstances alter1 #ed1 #ee1 #ef1 #bjc
  ---- and instinct1 ,buffon on1 #aaj1  
#aaf  ---- ,erasmus ,darwin on1 #aae1   
#aaf1 #bja-bje  ---- a less remarkable  
faculty than generation1 ,hume on1 #bcc 
---- and instinct1 ,lamarck on1 #bef1   
#bgd  ---- declared to be incipient     
instinct1 #bef  ,reel1 au1 ,buffon's use
 of these words1 #abf  ,relativity of   
the sciences1 ,buffon on the1 #adj      

,religion1 ,buffon's appeals to1 #ia1   
#aae  ,reopen settled questions1 animals
 cannot1 serpents must have no   more   
than four legs1 #cjc  ,resume earlier   
habits1 the tendency to1 on the approach
 of a   difficulty1 #cab1 #cac          
,retrogressive1 ,mr4 ,darwin's views of 
evolution retrogressive1 #ff            
,revelation1 ,buffon's appeals to1      
against evolution1 #ia1 #aae  ,reviews  
of ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 #che1 c4  
,riches1 the normal growth of1 and      
evolution1 #bbb  ,roman ,empire1 the1   
prophetic1 #cig  ,romanes1 ,g4 ,r41 on  
,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 #cia-cic     
,rome1 ,church of1 means the same by    
gentleman as we do1 #cie  ---- ,i would 
join1 if ,i could1 #cie1 #cif  ---- a   
unifier1 #cih  ---- the only source from
 which a church can come1 #cih-dja  ----
 and ,pantheism1 the ultimate fight will
 be between1 #dja  ---- points of       
agreement between ,rome and ,pantheists1
 #djc-dje  ---- may1 and should get rid 
of ,protestantism by outbidding it1 #djg

  ,rousseau1 ,buffon would not play part
 of1 #ha  ,rudimentary organs1 the crux 
of the early evolutionist in respect of 
design1 #cd  ---- are now mere cant     
formulae1 force of habit1 #ch1 #chc     
---- like the protuberance at the bottom
 of a tobacco-pipe1 #ch  ---- ,buffon   
would not accept them as designed1 #hc  
---- ,buffon on1 #abj  ---- ,professor  
,haeckel on1 #chc  ,run1 how did the    
winner come to be able to run ever such 
a little   faster than his fellows1 #cfg
  ,runners in a race and natural        
selection1 #cff1 #cfg   ,,sandford and  
,merton1 ,miss ,seward on the author of1
 #agi1 #ahj  ,saints will commonly      
strain a point or two in their own      
favour1 #bec  ,saturday ,review on      
,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 #chi-cia     
,savery1 ,captain1 #ed  ,science1 men   
of1 of like passions with other priests 
and prophets1 #bec  ---- not a kingdom  
into which a poor man can enter easily1 
#bec  ---- the leaders of will generally
 burke new-born wit unless1 c41 #cae    

---- not of that kind which desires to  
know1 #cib  ,scientific orthodoxy and   
mystification1 ,buffon on1 #ach  ----   
danger of1 #cfj1 #cfh  ,scramble1 birds 
learned to swim through scrambling1 #dh1
 #ea  ,self-indulgence1 virtue has ever 
erred rather on the side of1 than   on  
that of asceticism1 #ce  ,sensation1    
,buffon on1 #abf1 #abi  ,sense1 in one  
sense1 #cee  ,sensitive plants1 ,dr4 ,e4
 ,darwin on1 #bjf1 #baj  ,seriously1    
,buffon speaking1 #abf  ,serpents1 how  
it is that they have lost their legs1   
#cjb  ,seward1 ,miss1 her life of       
,erasmus ,darwin1 #agd1 c4  ,shakspeare 
and ,handel address the many as well as 
the few1 #ha  ,shortest day1 and        
shortest day but one1 no difference     
perceptible   between1 #dh  ,skeletons1 
the1 of man and of the horse1 #hh1 c4   
,skill1 the unerring1 of natural        
selection1 #i  ,siamese twins1 desire   
and power compared to1 #bah1 #cjj       
,simplicity1 happy1 an example of1 #bgf 
,sisters1 his1 and his cousins and his  

aunts1 #bec  ,slit1 a slit in one tendon
 to let another pass through1 #bj       
,something a man should do1 no matter   
what1 #ea  ,sometimes1 equally          
convenient 7the survival of the fittest 
with natural selection71 #i1 #ced1 #cfe 
,son1 the people who can get good sons  
and retain their affection   are the    
only ones worth studying from1 #gf      
,sorbonne1 the1 and ,buffon1 #hb1 #hd   
,sorbonnes1 never do like people who    
write in this way1 #adc  ,specialists1  
embryos are1 #bh  ,species1 ,buffon on  
the causes or means of transformation1  
#aei1 c4  ---- ,lamarck on1 #bfg1 c4    
---- clusters of1 ,lamarck on1 #bhh     
---- ,c4 ,darwin on1 #bhi  ,specific    
characteristics vary more than generic1 
,lamarck on1 #bhg1 #bhh  ---- ,c4       
,darwin on1 #bhh  ,speech1 ,lamarck on1 
#cac1 #cad  ,spencer1 ,herbert1 on      
,lamarck's hypothesis1 #ccj1 #cca  ---- 
a follower of ,buffon1 ,dr4 ,erasmus    
,darwin and ,lamarck1 #ccb  ,spent1 or  
extinct purpose1 and rudimentary organs1

 #chc  ,spontaneous3 ,c4 ,darwin uses   
this word in connection with            
variability1 #ceh  ---- variability 7or 
unknown causes71 ,c4 ,darwin1 on what it
 will   account for1 or make known1 #ceh
  ,steam engine1 latest development of1 
not foreseen1 though each   immediate   
step in advance was so1 #ed1 #chd  ---- 
design lost sight of in the most common 
patterns1 as with   a bird's-nest1 or   
the wheel1 #ee  ,step1 if each step is  
purposive1 the whole road has been      
travelled purposively1 #eb1 #chd  ----  
only the few nearest are taken          
definitely1 #dd1 #chd  ,sterility of    
hybrids1 ,lamarck on1 #bgb  ---- ,c4    
,darwin on1 #bgc  ,stock1 ,buffon on    
the1 and the diaphragm1 #acj  ,stronger1
 the1 succeed1 and the weaker fail1     
#cbj1 #cba  ,strongest1 the1 eat the    
weaker1 #bhb  ,struggle for existence1  
,buffon on the1 #abc  ---- and hence    
modification1 according to ,dr4 ,erasmus
 ,darwin1 mainly   conversant about     
three wants1 #bbf-bbi1 #bcb  ----       

comparison between ,erasmus ,darwin and 
,lamarck's views on the   foregoing1    
#beg  ---- ,lamarck on the foregoing1   
#bgi  ---- and survival of the fittest1 
,lamarck on the1 #bha1 #bhb  ----       
,patrick ,matthew on1 #cba  ,style1     
,buffon on1 #gf1 #gg  ,sudden1 the      
question what is too1 to be settled by  
higgling and   haggling1 #ej  ----      
modifications1 missionaries should avoid
 trying to effect1 #ahc  ,superficial1  
philosophy of the1 #cd1 #ce1 #cf1 #aih1 
#bjd  ,supply and demand1 and desire and
 power1 #bbc1 #cjj  ,survival of the    
fittest1 a synonym for natural          
selection1 #i  ---- ,dr4 ,erasmus       
,darwin on the1 #bbg  ---- in the       
struggle for existence1 ,lamarck on the1
 #bha1 #bhb  ---- understood and        
admitted by ,buffon1 ,erasmus ,darwin1  
and   ,lamarck1 #cja  ---- subsequent to
 modification1 and therefore not the    
cause   of it1 #cjb1 #cdf  ---- ,patrick
 ,matthew on1 #cba  ---- this is not a  
theory1 but a fact1 #cef1 #ceg          

,swimming1 no shore bird ever set itself
 to learn1 of malice   prepense1 #dh1   
#ea   ,,tail1 the beaver's1 has become  
an incarnate trowel1 #h  ,teething1 the 
pain an infant feels is the death-cry of
 many a   good cell1 #ge  ,teleological1
 failure of the early evolutionists to  
see their   position as1 #cd            
,teleology1 statement of the question1  
#a  ---- ,aristotle denied1 ,plato      
upheld1 #d  ---- the1 of ,paley and the 
theologians1 #ab1 c4  ---- internal as  
much teleology as external1 #cf  ----   
,see also ,design4  ,telescope1 ,lord   
,rosse's1 and dew-drop1 #dd1 #dg        
,tempering1 the felicitous1 of two great
 contradictory principles1 #ce  ,tendon1
 a slit in one1 to let another pass     
through1 #bj  ,terminology of botany    
harder than botany1 #ajh  ---- ,buffon  
on1 #adj1 #ada  ,test1 ,buffon's1 as to 
the name an object is to bear1 #aae     
---- of perception and sensation1       
,buffon's1 #abg  ,theological writer1   
few passages in any1 displease me more1 

c41 #cfh  ,theory1 the survival of the  
fittest is a fact1 not a theory1 #cef1  
#ceg  ,theories1 true1 ,fontenelle on1  
#bb1 #bc  ---- to be ordered out of     
court if troublesome1 #ce  ,this3 ,i can
 no more believe in this1 c41 #cei  ----
 it is impossible to attribute to this  
cause1 #ceh  ,thomas1 ,st41 ,aquinas1   
,papal encyclical on1 #djb1 #djc        
,thomson1 ,sir ,w41 natural selection   
and design1 #aj  ,thought is expressed  
in organ1 #cci1 #cda  ,time1 ,buffon on1
 #ajc  ---- ,lamarck on1 #bda           
,tobacco-pipe1 a rudimentary organ on a1
 #ch  ,toes1 a man who plays the violin 
with his1 #ej  ,tools1 organs are living
 tools1 #b  ---- the manufacture of1 and
 that of organs1 two species of the     
same genus1 #ci  ,touch1 all senses     
modifications of the sense of touch1 #dg
  ,transformation of species1 ,buffon on
 the causes or means of1 #aei           
,translation of the ,loves of the       
,plants into ,french1 #fc1 #beh1 #bei   
,translation of the ,zoonomia into      

,german1 #ga  ---- of ,dr4 ,e4 ,darwin's
 other works1 #aie  ,trapa ,natans1     
,erasmus ,darwin's note on1 #bfj        
,treviranus alluded to1 #gb  ,tree1 life
 seen as a tree1 by ,lamarck1 #bfi  ----
 by ,c4 ,darwin1 #bgj  ---- nature      
compared to a1 by ,buffon1 #aga  ,trees1
 the blind man who saw men as trees     
walking1 #acg  ,trowel1 the beaver has  
an incarnate trowel1 #h  ,true1 vitally1
 #bbg  ---- all very1 as far as it goes 
7that ,nature is the most   important   
means of modification71 #cfi  ,truism1  
the survival of the fittest1 a1 #cea    
,tutbury bull running1 #ahg  ,tyndall1  
,professor1 a rhapsody about ,c4        
,darwin1 #da  ---- calls evolution ,c4  
,darwin's theory1 #cfj1 #cfa   ,,uncles 
and aunts do not beget their nephews and
 nieces1 #cfg1 #cgf  ,unconscious1 our  
acquired habits come to be done as      
unconsciously   as though instinctive1  
on repetition1 #ef  ---- difference     
between my view of the1 and ,von        
,hartmann's1 #eh  ,unconsciousness1 the1

 with which habitual actions come to be 
performed1 #cg1 #ch1 #ci1 #ef-eh1 #fg1  
#bjc1 #ccb1 #cha  ,understanding1 the   
peace of mind that passeth1 #ce  ,unity 
of the individual1 ,buffon on the1 #abg1
 #abh4 7,see ,oneness7  ,unknown causes1
 according to ,mr4 ,darwin1 can do so   
much1 but   not so much more1 #cei  ----
 their identity with spontaneous        
variability1 #cei  ---- heredity only   
another name for1 unless the ,life and  
,habit   theory be adopted1 #chd        
,upright position in man and certain    
apes1 and children1 ,lamarck   on1 #cab 
,upside down1 the vertebrata are        
perambulating vegetables planted1 #acg  
,use and organ1 #dd1 #de1 #dg1 #bag1    
#bah1 #bba1 #bib1 #bid1 #bif1 #bii1     
#cja1   #cjb1 #cjd1 #cje1 #cjg-cji1     
#caa1 #cbc   ,,vacuum1 an omniscient and
 omnipotent1 #bh  ,vague1 efforts and   
desires are vague in the outset1 #dg1   
#eb1 #chd  ,variation1 ,c4 ,darwin      
declares the fact of variation to be the
 cause   of variation1 #h1 #i1 #cdg1    

#cfi  ,variations1 one factor of        
modification provides1 the other        
accumulates1 #bbg  ---- ,lamarck strove 
to discover the law underlying1 #ccg    
---- ,c4 ,darwin sees no cause          
underlying them1 #cci1 #cdj  ----       
according to ,lamarck1 they will tend to
 appear in definite   directions in     
large numbers of individuals1 for long  
periods   together2 according to ,c4    
,darwin they will not do thus1 #cda     
---- must appear before they can be     
preserved1 #cdf  ---- the cause of      
variations is the cause of species      
7,professor   ,mivart on this71 #cgj    
,vary1 man cannot vary his practices    
much more than animals can1 #ee         
,vestiges of ,creation1 the1 #fe  ----  
,c4 ,darwin on the1 #fe  ---- the author
 of1 on ,lamarck1 #bdg  ---- ,darwin's  
treatment of1 #bdg1 #bdh  ,virtue has   
ever erred on the side of excess than on
 that of   asceticism1 #ce  ,violin1 a  
man who plays the1 with his toes1 #ej   
,vitally true1 #bbg  ,volition4 7,see   

,will7  ,voltaire1 ,buffon would not    
play the part of1 #ha   ,,wallace1 ,a4  
,r41 his review of ,professor ,haeckel's
 ,evolution   of ,man1 #chb-chd  ,want  
and power1 interaction of1 #dd1 #de1    
#dg1 #dh1 #bag1 #bah1   #bba1 #cjj1 #cbc
  ,wasp1 cutting a fly in half1 ,dr4    
,erasmus ,darwin on1 #bje  ,watch1      
,paley's argument from the1 #ac         
,weaker1 the strongest eat the1 #bhb    
,wealth1 the normal growth of1 and      
evolution1 #bbb  ,web-footed1 how birds1
 became1 #dh1 #di1 #ea  ---- development
 of1 birds1 ,lamarck on1 #cje  ----     
,paley on1 #cje  ,wedge1 ,buffon let in 
the thin end of the wedge1 by saying    
that changed habits modify form1 #aje1  
#ajf  ,whisky1 ,god keep you from--if he
 can1 #agf  ,will1 ,patrick ,matthew on1
 as influencing organism1 #cbj-cbb4     
7,see also ,desire1 ,design1 ,want1     
,wish7  ,will-o'-the-wisp1 ,c4 ,darwin  
like a1 #cgb  ,wish and power1 their    
interaction1 #dd1 #de1 #dg1 #dh1 #bag1  
#bah1 #bba1   #cjj1 #cbc  ,wit1 brevity 

may be its soul1 but the leaders of     
science1 c41 #cae  ,worcester1 the      
,marquis of1 #ed  ,words are apt to turn
 out compendious false analogies1 #cfe  
,worms1 reasonable creatures1 #bee      
,worth1 nothing worth looking at or     
doing1 except at a fair price1 #ce      
,wright1 of ,derby1 his portrait of ,mr4
 ,day1 #ahj   ,,zebra and horse1 ,buffon
 on the1 #hj1 #aee1 #afd  ,zoonomia1    
,german translation of the1 #ga  ----   
,paley's ,natural ,theology written at  
the1 #aie  ---- fuller quotations from  
the1 #bad1 c4  ---- the1 and the ,origin
 of ,species1 the different ideas that  
an   average reader would carry away    
with him from these two works   7,sense 
of ,need and ,natural ,selection71 #cfc 
,the ,mayflower ,press1 ,plymouth1      
,england4 ,william ,brendon  ,son1 ,ltd4