THE HISTORY OF EVOLUTION 15 



theory to Darwin, who was about to give up his own claim to it 

 when dissuaded by two friends, Hooker and Lyell. The theory 

 thus independently formulated by the two men was presented to 

 the Linnaean Society of London in a joint paper on July 1, 1858, 

 and during the succeeding few months Darwin wrot(^ and pub- 

 lished the Origin of Species which appeared in 1859. With gener- 

 osity no less than Darwin's, Wallace recognized the more extensive 

 studies of his fellow scientist on the subject and insisted on relin- 

 quishing his own claim to credit. The Origin of Species was sup- 

 posed to be an outline of the subject but in his subsequent work 

 Darwin failed to produce anything which equalled the first in 

 effect. It is interesting as this account is being written to note 

 that the first publication of the work aroused a storm of opposi- 

 tion, much of it similar to that of the present day, against which a 

 vigorous defense was conducted by such men as Thomas Henry 

 Huxley (1825-1895). 



After Darwin. The period immediately following Darwin's 

 productive work witnessed much speculative thought on the sub- 

 ject of evolution, but before the close of the nineteenth century 

 scientific activity also showed a fortunate trend toward the accu- 

 rate examination of the more tangible related subjects. Indi- 

 vidual development and individual relationships became an object 

 of careful attention and experimentation. Heredity was investi- 

 gated by several biologists and the foundations of the modern 

 science of genetics were laid. The statistical method of handling 

 biological data was introduced, out of which biometry has de- 

 veloped. 



Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was the outstanding philosopher 

 among the evolutionists of this period. His work had considerable 

 influence, but in general the hypotheses which he advanced have 

 failed to stand the test of scientific progress. 



August Weismann (1834-1914), a German biologist, also con- 

 tributed notably to the interpretation of facts bearing on evolu- 

 tion. With a thorough knowledge of biological principles as then 

 understood, including some facts of cell structure, he was much 

 better equipped for his work than the earlier scientists and, al- 

 though his conclusions are now partially disproved, his keen under- 

 standing played an important part in the development of modern 

 ideas. 



Weismann's work dealt largely with inheritance. It was ap- 



