362 SOME NEW BOOKS [November 



we do not find this little book remarkable in any of these respects. It seems 

 to us interesting rather as a clear exposition of the conclusions of one who 

 began to write upon Darwinism in 1861, who has carefully examined many 

 phases of evolutionary opinion, who remains after all a loyal Darwinian. 



As one would expect from the author's varied contributions to natural 

 history the book is saved by many concrete illustrations from seeming a merely 

 logical discussion, and the exposition is on the whole delightfully clear, though 

 it seems sanguine to hope that it will be altogether understood at the first 

 reading. It requires some careful leading up before the reader can face Avith 

 safety such a sentence as—" These indefinite variations may become definite 

 through repetition ; and are controlled in their development by the principle of 

 selection, sometimes aided by use-inheritance." 



As an old experienced hand, Captain Hutton is very careful in his use of 

 terms, but occasionally his usage seems open to question. He speaks, for 

 instance, of "the theory of development" contained in the "Origin of 

 Species," but this phrase is more appropriately kept for the attempts to under- 

 stand ontogeny. Similarly, when he says that " selection has no power if the 

 individuals are not competing," he is either guilty of gross exaggeration or of 

 an unjustifiable use of the word " compete," which seems almost irrelevant in 

 those cases where the struggle is between the living creature and the inanimate 

 environment. It seems to us also regrettable that the author does not take 

 advantage of the distinction between modifications and variations which has 

 been clearly defined and widely accepted, and saves a lot of time. 



As to up-to-dateness, the book shows much of this quality, and yet not quite 

 enough, for it is regrettable that suggestions like those in Weismann's " Germinal 

 Selection," or in the so-called "Organic Selection Theory," should have been 

 passed over in silence. 



The first lecture on the scope and limitations of Darwinism is a fine illus- 

 tration of successful exposition, to which personal reminiscences add interest. 

 How many pages might have been saved — might still be saved — for more 

 profitable use if critics would study Darwin's works as the author has done, or 

 would even carefully acquaint themselves with a summary like this lecture. 

 We need only recall Darwin's sentence — " Natural selection has no relation 

 whatever to the primary cause of any modification of structure " — as a good 

 instance of one of those so often forgotten. 



The essence of the new Darwinism, according to the author, is found in the 

 theory of isolation, which furnishes some sort of interpretation of the persistence 

 of useless characters and incipient useful characters, and of the origin of 

 divergence. A further difficulty — the existence of mutual sterility between 

 different species — remains; but the author gets rid of it by saying : — "It has 

 been shown to be outside Darwinism altogether ; which is a theory of the 

 preservation and development of variations, and not of their origin." As an 

 example of the style, we may cite from this lecture the following passage : — ■ 

 " We may liken the progress of organic evolution to the march of an army, 

 which is continually throwing off numerous scouting parties, who penetrate into 

 every nook and cranny, and leave nothing unexplored. The few that find 

 roads, lead off part of the army after them ; while the majority, who fail to do 

 so, perish on their tracks, and are heard of no more. Natural selection 

 preserves and intensifies adaptations, or utilitarian characters only ; isolation 

 preserves both utilitarian and non-utilitarian characters. Progress is due to the 

 former, variety to the latter." Thus the new Darwinism lifts us "out of the 

 deadly region of utilitarianism into an altogether higher and purer air." 

 Indeed, the air is so high and pure that we find it unsuitable for everyday 

 respiration, for the author leads us to " the conclusion that all these so-called 

 useless structures, all that give us beauty and variety, have been specially 

 designed for man's education." 



A condensed statement of the author's views would read somewhat as 



