THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



475 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF 



THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 



THEORY OF NATURAL 



SELECTION 



Modern biological science may be 

 said to date from the presentation by 

 Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel 

 Wallace to the Linnean Society on 

 July 1, 1858, of the theory of the 

 origin of species by means of natural 

 selection. The title of the joint paper 

 was " On the Tendency of Species to 

 form Varieties and on the Perpetua- 

 tion of Varieties and Species by Nat- 

 ural Means of Selection." This paper 

 was presented to the society by Joseph 

 D. Hooker and Charles Lyell, and the 

 •circumstances of the case are familiar 

 to most readers of this journal. 



It will be remembered that Mr. Wal- 

 lace sent Darwin a paper written at 

 Ternate in the Malay Archipelago in 

 February, 1858, "On the Tendency of 

 Varieties to depart Indefinitely from 

 the Original Type." The argument was 

 strikingly similar to that of a manu- 

 script work on species which Darwin 

 had sketched *in 1839 and copied in 

 1844, when it was read by Hooker and 



its contents subsequently communicated 

 to Lyell. During all this time Darwin 

 had been accumulating facts and weigh- 

 ing objections to the theory. It was 

 his first intention to allow Wallace's 

 paper to be printed without his own, 

 but he was persuaded by Hooker and 

 Lyell to assent to a joint presenta- 

 tion of his sketch, together with a let- 

 ter to Asa Gray dated September 5, 

 1857, and the paper by Wallace before 

 the Linnean Society. With an intro- 

 duction by Lyell and Hooker, it was 

 read by the secretary to the society in 

 July, 1858, and published that year in 

 its journal. The papers were reprinted 

 in the issue of The Popular Science 

 Monthly for November, 1901. 



The fiftieth anniversary of this event 

 has now been adequately celebrated by 

 the Linnean Society. It was of special 

 interest that Dr. Wallace and Sir 

 Joseph Hooker were present and made 

 addresses. With the admirable gener- 

 osity which has always characterized 

 the relations of the two men, Wallace 

 yielded the superior part to Darwin. 

 He pointed out a certain similarity in 

 their careers — both had been collectors 



The Darwin -Wali_\ce Medal of the Linnean Society. 



