mentioning darwin gave up natural selection and became a lamarckian the article currently makes no mention of the historically important fact that darwin himself converted from the natural selection theory of evolution to a lamarckian environmentalist position in later editions of the origin of species which went into different editions by hence i propose the following insert at the first darwin quotation in the current section publication of the theory of natural selection which i also propose should be retitled publication of the darwin s theory of evolution proposed insert 'however even in the first edition of his book darwin only claimed natural selection was the main means of selection but not the only one in the last sentence of its introduction he said furthermore i am convinced that natural selection has been the main but not exclusive means of modification but by he had published six editions of the book with corrections and revisions and in later editions in response to criticism of his theory of inheritance darwin even gave up the theory of natural selection as the main selector of evolution with its strong principle of inheritance in favour of lamarckian environmentalism with a changing environment as the main selector as c d darlington wrote in in his foreword to a new and first reprint of the otherwise unavailable first edition of the origin let no one imagine however that in the world of science darwin's theory has enjoyed an unchequered prosperity on the contrary the dust of battle is only now beginning to settle on the hotly disputed ground the most abiding source of trouble was that discovered by the professor of engineering at edinburgh professor fleming sic jenkin pointed out in that any new variation appearing in one individual would be lost or swamped in later generations when that individual was compelled to cross with others of the old and established type and its differences as darwin believed blended in inheritance nature would never be able to keep any differences to select darwin's defence against this objection was already prepared he had hinted it in the first edition of the origin of species at the end of the introduction he had said that natural selection has been the main but not exclusive means of modification in later editions he hedged further he fell back on the other means these depended chiefly on the action of a changing environment its direct effect in altering living things so as to suit it must be inherited in adopting this view darwin was giving up his own and wallace's peculiar claim to originality he was giving up the argument implied in the title of the book and he was falling back on the discarded and disreputable theory of lamarck p xvii on the origin of species by means of natural selection first edition reprint in the thinker's library by watts co ' but darlington failed to establish lamarck's theory was discarded or disreputable in fact the theory of natural selection only became accepted in the mid th century with the mendelian darwinian synthesis in population genetics but even by darwinism was still not accepted in academia according to darlington in view of the triumph of his ideas it might be thought that darwinism in all civilised countries would be taught as one of the foundations of thought that in the universities everywhere it would be critically expounded and experimentally developed that is true of its remote and general applications to such sciences as astronomy and geology but where as in its applications to ourselves in the study of the genetics of men and to the histories of nations as exact knowledge of the principles of variation hybridization and selection is required we hear on every side nothing but confused and ignorant speculations at the same time the foundation of darwinism in the experimental study of evolution has largely been smothered in darwin's own country the universities with their museums and botanic gardens are happy to forget what in they were unable to resist they contain no memorial of his work and all the means of developing his doctrine they frustrate by an arrangement of teaching which the theory of evolution is not allowed to disturb the old pedantic learning of botany and zoology which darwin treated as one subject they continue to cleave asunder burying the halves under their ancient schedules of instruction ibid pxviii xix ' i also propose the following edit of the article's introduction his book on the origin of species posited natural selection was the main selector in the evolution and origin of species but by its sixth edition darwin had abandon