400 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. VI, No. 1, 



MEETING OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Ortox Hall, May I, 190;"). 



The club was called to order by the President, Prof. Hine. 

 The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 

 The program for the evening consisted of an address on "The 

 Present Status of Darwhiism," by Prof. Edward L. Rice of the 

 Ohio Wesley an University. Prof. .Rice gave a brief review of 

 Darwin's work and the conditions under which "The Origin of 

 Species" was published. Darwin really gave us nothing new in 

 his theory but he gave the actual data for evolution, and it was 

 for this reason that his work attracted so much attention. For- 

 merly the struggle was l^etween science and religion, l)ut now it 

 is between scientists as to the method of evolution. Ultra- 

 Darwinians go far beyond Darwin with the theory of natural 

 selection and many, as Weisman and Haeckel, deny Lamark's 

 theory entirely. Whether it is inheritance or environment that 

 inakes the arm of the blacksinith's son strong and that of the 

 preacher's bov weak is the important question. A recent article 

 in the American Field Journal by Redfield of Chicago, on the 

 evolution of the setter may possibly have some bearing on this 

 subject. In tracing the history of the offspring of two male dogs 

 it was found that the oft'spring of the one which had been used 

 constantlv in the field appeared seven times in chami>ion trials. 

 Offspring of the brother of this dog, which had l)een kept for 

 stud purposes only, did not occur among the champion dogs. It 

 is the general verdict of breeders that horses and dogs give 

 better offspring if not kept for stud purposes only. 



Prof. Rice mentioned several of the objections which had 

 Vjeen raised against the theory of natural selection and attem])ted 

 to show that these might not all be entirely valid. 



In a summarv, Prof. Rice stated that he believed that man\- 

 laws were operative in producing the results of evolution. In 

 regard to their effectiveness he Ijelieved that they w^ould stand 

 in about the following order: Darwin's and DeVries' theories 

 first, Romanes second, and sexual selection and environmental 

 influences of less importance. 



Mr. Henriksen, Prof. Landacrc, Miss \\'ilson, and Prof. 

 Schaffner took part in the discussion which followed. 



J. H. (iourley and Miss Caroline Carmack were elected to 

 memberslii|». The club then adjourned. 



Fk.\xk M. SuRi'WCK, Sc\'y. 



Date of Publication of No\eiiibcr Number, Noxembtr 3, 1<'05. 



