CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN. I31 



and quite different forms. In this respect we may truly say 

 that in the domain of Zoology and Botany Darwin made 

 the same progress as Lyell, his great countryman, in the 

 domain of Geology. Both proved the uninterriqjted con- 

 nection of the historical development, and demonstrated a 

 gradual transmutation of the different conditions succeeding 

 one another. 



The special merit of Darwin, as I have already remarked 

 in a preceding chapter, is twofold. In the first place, he has 

 treated the Theory of Descent, put forth by Lamarck and 

 Goethe, in a much more comprehensive manner, as a whole, 

 and carried it out in a much more connected manner, than 

 had been done by any one of his predecessors. Secondly, 

 he has established the causal foundation of this Theory of 

 Descent by the Theory of Selection, which is peculiarly his 

 own ; that is, he has demonstrated the acting causes of the 

 changes which the Theory of Descent simply stated, as facts. 

 The Theory of Descent, introduced into Biology in 1809, by 

 Lamarck, asserts that all the different species of animals 

 and plants are descended from a single or some few most 

 simple prototypes, produced by spontaneous generation. 

 The Theory of Selection, established in 1859 by Darwin, 

 shows us why this must be so ; it points out the acting 

 causes in a manner with which Kant would have been 

 delighted, and indeed, in the domain of organic nature, 

 Darwin has become the Newton whose advent Kant 

 thought himself entitled prophetically to deny. 



Now, before we approach Darwin's theory, it will perhaps 

 be of interest to notice a few details as to the personal 

 character of this great naturalist, as to his life, and the 

 way in which he was led to form his doctrine. Charles 



