The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-22

HHuTO 10 DBbk w ~
defence, and support; whose capacities and in
stincts can best regulate the physical energies
10 selfadvantaRe according to circumstances
in such immense waste OF primary and youth
full life-thoso only come to maturity from
tho strict ordeal by which nature tests
their adaptation to her standard Of perfection
and fitness to continue their kind by reproduce
ton Darwin himself has recognized that
the full force of tho principle of natural solec-
ton" is in the passage just quoted. but no adds
that "onc may no excused for not having dis
covered the fact in a work on naval timber.
Almost Independently with Matthew. Won
Bacr. in examining the embryos OF animals,
showed that creatures 80 unlike ono another in
their adult statc, rs fishes, lizards, lions, and
men, resemble one another SO closely In the
earlier stages of their development that no diff
fcrcncos can DO detected between them. Won
Baer was, himself, anticipated by Maeckel. who
wrote as follows in 1911: "Thero 10 no good
psychologist who has not been struck incident.
ally by the observation that the original form OF
all organisms Is one and the same. and that, out
of this one form, all, the lowest ms we'll as tho
highest, are developed in such a manner that
the latter pass through tie permanent forms of
the former as transitory stages" In 1918 DR..
w. c. Wells published a volume In which, ac-
cording to Darwin, Tho distinctly recognizes tho
ptlltlplo VI UaIuIhi bVlCCIAbhs Aiu thNo 10 thO
first recognition which has been indicated, but
he applies 1t only to tho races Of man and to GER
tain characters alone. OF tho accidental varie-
ties Of man which would occur among the first
few and scattered inhabitants Of the middle re-
Rions Of Africa, some one variety would be bet
ter fitted, he says, than the others to bear tho
diseases OF tho country. This race would. con-
sequcntly, multiply, while the other races would
decrease, not only from their inability TO sus-
tain the attacks Of disease, but from their in
capacity Of contending with their more vigorous
neighbors." In botany. Conrad Sprengol, who
died in 1888, had shown the work effected by in
sects in the fertilization Of plants. Won Mohl,
in 1858, discovered that material basis Of both
plant and animal which he named ''proto-
plasm." Nino years before Won Mohl told tho
story OF the building up Of life from q seemingly
structurelcss jelly. Il book appeared which critics
Of the time charged with poisoning the foun-
tains Of science and sapping tho foundations Of
religion" This was the once famous "vestiges
of Creation acknowledged. after his death. as
the work OF Robert Chambers. in which the
origin and movements of the solar system were
explained as determined by uniform laws, them-
selves the expression Of divine power.
Organisms. said Chambers. from the sim
plest and oldest up to tho highest and most re-
cent" were the result Of an inherent impulse
49, NA ~ NeO bAb oSth = az tAS
them from the several grades and to modify
their structure. as circumstance required"
Three years after the "vestiRes." there was more
''sapping of the foundations OF orthodox be-
lief when M. Boucher de Perthes exhibited some
rudely shaped flint implements which had been
found at intervals in hitherto undisturbed do
posits Of sand and gravel. old river beds in the
Somme Valley, near Abbeville In Picardy.
These rough stone tools and weapons, being Of
human workmanship. testified to the existence
Of savage races Of mon In Europe In a dim and
dateless past. and went far to refute the theo-
ries OF mans paradisaical state ION Oct. %, 4Oo4
b. c." when. according to DR.. Lightfoot's reck-
oning. Adam was created. While the pickaxe,
In disturbing flint knives and spear heads that
had lain buried for countless ages, was disturb
Ing much besides, English and German phi.
losophers were formulating the theory which,
under the name OF the conservation Of energy.
makes clear the indestructibility of both matter
and motion. To complete the work Of prepara-
ton effected by the discoveries hero briefly out
lined. there appeared In a newspaper. now de-
funct. the Leader, In Its issue Of March 20,
1852. an article by Herbert Spencer on tho de-
v%elopment hypothesis. in which occurs the fol-
lowing striking passage: Those who cavalierly
reject the theory OF evolution as not adequately
supported by facts seem quite to forget that
their own theory is supported by no facts at all.
Like the majority of men who are born to
a given belief. they demand the most rigor-
GUS proof OF any adverse belief, but as
sumo that their own needs mono. Hero we
find scattered over the globe vegetable and AMI
NAL organisms. numbering Of one kind accord
Ing to Humboldp some $4,000 species. and of
the other some 2. 200, 900 species tsee Carpenter),
II to which we add the numbers OF animal and
vegetable species that have become extinct, we
H,n ~ aa n - L., IN I shA -,,- -. 49,.
have existed. and are existing upon the earth. at
not less than len millions. Well. which is the
more rational theory about these ten millions OF
species Is 1t more likely that there have been
ten millions of special creations Or is 1t more
likely that, by continual inodiications. duo to
change OF circumstances ten millions OF varie-
ties have been produced. as varieties are being
produced stillf' Mr.. Spencer went on to argue
that even could the supporters OF the develop.
ment hypothesis merely show that the origtna-
i Is eon %, iSPsSSlIs' they by t Reu Pdi0S Ss in OF a % better ndSi.
s siSn t mHeh their naFe 9 3Bpo sSiss T Thssy cs San sS do; h ,pSt
the process of modification has effected, and Is
effecting, decided changes in all organisms sub
ject to modifying influences. . They can
changes continue. until ultimately the new con-
ditions become the natural ones. They can
mails. and in the several races Of men such
alterations have taken place. They can show
that the degrees of difference sc, produced are
often, us in dogs, greater than those on which
distinctions OF species are in other cases found
ed: They can show. too, that the changes daily
taking place in Ourselvcs-the facility that at
tends long practice, and the loss OF aptitude
that begins when practice ceases-the strength.
ening OF passions habitually gratited., and
the development OF every faculty, bodily. moral,
or intellectual; according to the use made OF it
are all explicablc on this same principle. And
thus they can show that throughout ali or.
ganic nature there is at work a modifying In.
fuence. which they assign as the cause OF spe.
cihc differences; an influence which. though
slow In It's action, docs in time. II tho eircum-
stances demand It. produce marked changes
an influence which. to all appearance. would
produce In the millions Of years. and under tho
Fseas sG imply. any an eS amouSt OF Te ohans se9!!oF fSis
quotation shows how. by tho middle Of
thsss on The verge of the discovers Of
Spencer speaks. Conclusive evidence Is brought
forward in this volume that tho theory OF evo-
luton. as a whole. that Is. as dealing with the
non.living as well as the living contents Of the
yenr preceding, the publication Of tho :" Origin
OF Species. The discovery OF tho origin OF
TrSStely by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell
Wallace, ard was first given to the world Mt q
meeting OF tho Linnfsan Society on July l,