New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-08-28
SCIENCE AT BUFFALO.
AMERICAN DARWINISM.

xv.n AT HOME OF THE ANIMAL ANCESTRY or
TIE HUMAN RACE.
tpuoN A sTAPF CORRESPONDENT OF THn TEibuNk''
BuFFALo, Aug. 25.-By far the most SURFING
,o,nre of Wednesdays proceedings before tie Auc''oa
Ioc;eon for the Advancement Of Science was tue ast
ddreSs delivered in the evening by Prof. H. . orso' ~
So, hap very generally whispered about that he wohid
% ,he o,rortunity as a Vice-Presdent and the prcsd-
ear nj the Section which includes natural history
=, ,ve full and expict declaration OF MS weli-Hhowh
,h IN the doctrines OF Evolution lie thinks that the
,ine for being mcaly-mouthed in this matter Is past
taIly ia credit duo to the American workers Ia TINS
ad Of research The main object of th9 address was TO
.bow what America hid contributed lo"dru tuo s'o"'
Of the Development Theory.
He said that before the present pcflod mas the
,u1 Of animal life ISSUED so high dignity among tne
onc.s Chemistry could long since point 10 nor
,,opls in the useful arts geology to the revelations
., bidder wealth below the surface; but zoology was
% valued AS an adjunct 10 geological studies or looked
means for avoriinG the ravages OF insects Now
en- onesuon OF the origin OF man Is answered b' the
rov,atius from animal forms. No general reVle" "l
A,,,r,cap studies in TINS Geld has hitherto Oeeh
.t,.,nped The works on the subject which meet inc
',onu,ar eve are from English and German sources
,orancos ARE largely composed of European OBJ
r,iops and the public has commonly inferred that
,,a ore the principal examples. Their remOteness pre-
ve,ts theso evidences from carrying due cohNc''"h
r native researches lie concealed IT, the proceedings oil
Iesrped socetes aud only IN few instances iauc
Accessible to the ordinary reader OF the literature OF the
day. -. ..
Tho development Of geological study i'm this country
a,s itself under two aspects. The first and earliest
,,s the period when yOtaries busted themselves WIN
making an inventory of animals and piatS' ana ar
ranging them under schedules of genera specios ana va
r,stis Very necessary work was this. Prof Agds7iz
kened Il to the labor of bringing together the stones
and bricks for a building But these workers piied UP
their materials thus accumulated I'LL they shut ont the
U,t Of knowledge and Offered barrier TO those wno
would nave built the ediGce OF the science nSe lhe
words Of Emerson describing science in England
IN Is47, were true OF this country al i''er
aa,.. "One hermit finds this fac another
bnds that and lives and dies ignorant oi its vane Tue
change from this Vc 0d OF preparation to ono al de't
work IN building w tho Science of zoology dates from
the ar ival Prof Agssis In this country ana e vast
popular interest which attended Ills efforts TO kmde INC
Rruwth of knowledge. These efforts were ia gey uu to
toward elevating the character and aus oil te pp'tS
contributed to learned societies AM the success no
met with Was as noteworthy here as Ill the ar ma "''
he was more generally known to the public iIo''
Ayassz made men, Previously they had been the slaves
of their science. the mere hewcrS OF woOd ana "e's
water he taught Americans what CuNier Won b"er'
and l. had been doing. He urged lhuee"' nls
hearty protests against evolution theories but thereh
M ali o.od eryee in awakening attent to the sub
iect and compelling further inquiry Srce then All tHe
siudents whom he educated personally haNe' WIN
srcely an exception, become converts to thOs' cOIs
The first clear p1emOnton Of the doctrine oil natural
seecton came from this country, or rather from ap
American VIM Charles Wells horn at Charleston, r. e.
an 1757 This appears pauer which he rcaa III 1913
before the Royal Society 1t proers an explanation of
The color of darkskinned races Of men, lie cites the
changes of animals under domostcatloh' SHOWS tna'
yareti IN men and animals were occurring exception
auy but constantly; that different breeds OF animals
were thus obtained b. mans selective supervision
IN
effected by the comparative Immunity ITO"
certain diseases OF those who had dark sRlus
Az evidences Of the tranSnutatiOn Of species, Pr0t
Ms hey CITED the instances where the seeds Of ALPINE
plauts sown In warmer regions gradually prouuc'"
plants that had previously been regarded as oi aHue
ent species kind OF crustacean was similarly changed
from one recorded species to another by gradually ircs
ening the bring water ia which lived Ia slowly alter
lug thus actually lost Of its segnents Nj James
Lewis discovered that trunc tie form Of usScl Which
had thus been distinguished from another iOrlh hld
taken it's peculiar shape from tho circumstances 10 which
It had been exposed viz, the abrasion OF lts
edges and consequent retardng OF It's CROWN
IN tho rapd currents Of the Mohawk River;
he also made similar observations on other
nollusks under other influences a c. WetLerby called
attention TO changes OF the KIND III snas under Tx" sur
rouadings Prof Agassiz urged that what are called
yareties by naturass do not really exist separately
Re found a series OF eclinodcms in which the iorhs
were graded insensiby from one TO the other Ihe e&
tremtes Of the series would have been called distinct
species Prof suggested that species might DO
done away with ali intermediate forms should De- us
covered; end Dr. Gray expressed the boiler that all
species might be thus eventually resolved into varieties
Dr. j. O. Cooper aud Mes,rs. stearus Bland, and brney
eaeh described instances where such changes IN animals
followed altered circumstances of heat or m0isture
In broader field and respecting different classes OF
creatures PROT T. ird, j. A. Allen, and Robert Rld
way have severaly found that marked differences III
birds and mammals are due solely to Their SURROUNDING
Birds bred at high attitudes at the North were thus
shawn 70 b smaller than those OF the kind at tho
soutb or al lower elevations Western birds have longer
tails than Eastern OF the same species the bills
increase in size below certain lattuhe on the Pacific
coast tue birds acquire darker hue. Similar changes III
the ears and feet OF mammals as well as VA their
fur. are noted as dependent on climate When
these changes tabulated and shown on
q geographical Chart, they were found co'h-
cideDt with variations already asccrainCd in the annual
amount Of rainfall IN the different regions The Total
number OF species Of birds reduced a5out nth
BY these myestgtOns the number vi species 81 spur
rels dinsnes onohalf or more. Dr. A g. Packard
that this process Of reducing species must on While
the gaps between them gradually filed, and the
genera must follow in this process OF obliteron He
saws Inc work Of the systematic biologist amounts
In producing new evidences the doctrine Oi natural
selection, Dr. Burt O. Wider has Drnc di'tlGsuahcd
part Anatomical changes have been closely observed
~ this class students belong also he essays OF Ir.
Wm X. Brooke, DIR. EnglemaDn, and Prof. Chailts ';
n lev Prof .He,'s proof OF tho utordcpcEdcnce of
nJwer and Insect TIE OF the Yucca moth Is Que Of
these mlhs FrOf. GFJto has made a noteworthy Oh
seratiOn ON the caused b o. n0u-d>e IA
tie Antenn the butterfly. Gao OF the most striking
instances the better knowledge winch closer OhSeFNd-
u of has conferred is that Of j1c shape O tie
huueycOnb. In the days OF the BIidgewatcf 1fcatsss
n was demons rated That the fOrm o. tie cell
uiaGhemahclly considered, was thai wlch uscd space
and material TO the s1eatest possible adyau'age The
Late Pref Jcfrlrs WyInau spoiled tlIs pretty theory by
snOn ing that a cell OF tis mathematical perfection IS
rarely Il ever made the cells are quilt uioqualy aud
nf