y2 WHAT EVOLUTION IS 



2. LAMARCKISM 



Lamarck's hypothesis as to the means 

 by which evolution has been accom- 

 plished is best stated in his '' Philos- 

 ophic Zoologique" published in 1809, 

 a year which is noteworthy as the 

 birth year of Charles Darwin. La- 

 marck's explanatory views excited 

 very little attention at the time of their 

 publication, for, so far as the scientific 

 world took any interest in evolution 

 at all, it was concerned with the ques- 

 tion of the validity of this doctrine 

 rather than with its explanation. Fifty 

 years later when Darwin advanced 

 natural selection the explanatory as- 

 pects of this question came much more 

 to the front. Then a contrast be- 

 tween Darwin's views and Lamarck's 

 views could be drawn. 



