1892.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 455 



THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY IN BIOLOGICAL 

 EVOLUTION : A RECLAMATION AND CRITIQUE. 



BY JOHN A. RYDER. 



The present paper owes its existence to the recent discussion of 

 the principle of conservation of energy in relation to biological 

 evolution/ at the Rochester meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, August, 1892, and to 

 the fact that I had made a similar criticism^ of the views of 

 Weismann and his followers nearly two years earlier, which was 

 published in the same journal. My earlier paper, though not 

 as full and complete a refutation of the erroneous opinions of 

 Weismann as Dr. Miles' article, anticipated the latter's main line 

 of argument by almost or quite two years. While this is true, 

 it affords me great pleasure to find that others are coming for- 

 ward to criticise, from a scientific standpoint, the very vulnerable 

 and untenable position of the Neo-Darwinians. While it is a great 

 satisfaction to be able to hail the advent of new supporters of 

 Lamarck's doctrine, it may be worth while to call the attention of 

 students to the original position of Lamarck, and the ease with 

 which it may be made to conform to the requirements of the doctrine 

 of the conservation of energy as bearing upon organic evolution. 

 Li the Introduction to the "Animaux sans Yertebres" (Ed. of De- 

 shayes and Milne-Edwards, Bruxelles, 1837, Tom. I, p. 14) occur 

 the following statements of principles. 



" First Principle : Every fact or phenomenon of which observa- 

 tion makes us cognizant, is essentially physical, and owes its exist- 

 ence or production to some body, or to the relations between 

 bodies." 



"Second Principle: Every movement or change, every active 

 force, and every effect whatsoever observed in a body, depend 

 necessarily upon mechanical causes regulated by their law'S." 



" Third Principle : Every fact or phenomenon observed in a 

 living body is at once a physical fact or phenomenon, and a product 

 of organization." 



^Heredity of acquired characters, by Dr. Manly Miles. American Naturalist, 

 XXVI, 1892, pp. 887-900. 



^A physiological hypothesis of heredity and variation. American Naturalist, 

 January, 1890, pp. 87-92. 



