OHAPTEK IX 



DARWIN AND WALLACE : THE THEORY OF 

 NATURAL SELECTION 



CHARLES DARWIN was the grandson of Erasmus 

 Darwin, who, as we have seen, arrived independently 

 at conclusions concerning the origin of species very 

 similar to those of Lamarck, and embodied his views 

 in poems, which, at the time of their publication, 

 achieved a considerable popularity. In the younger 

 philosopher, however, imagination was always kept in 

 subjection by a determination to 'prove all things ' 

 and ' to hold fast that which is good ' ; though, in 

 other respects, there were not wanting indications 

 of the existence of hereditary characteristics in the 

 grandson. 



Born at Shrewsbury and educated in the public 

 school of that town, Charles Darwin from the first 

 exhibited signs of individuality in his ideas and his 

 tastes. The rigid classical teaching of his school did 

 not touch him, but, with the aid of his elder brother, 

 he surreptitiously started a chemical laboratory in a 



