I. 



The Origin of Species without the Aid of 



Natural Selection. 



A REPLY. 



I AM much indebted to Mr. Wallace for his interesting paper 

 (Natural Science, vol. v., p. 179). As he was the joint pro- 

 pounder of Natural Selection with Darwin, I could not hope for a 

 weightier critic. Still, I am not in the least shaken in my opinion 

 by it. 



In reply, I would first observe that I take the terms " definite " 

 and " indefinite " — which Mr. Wallace says he does not understand — 

 from Darwin himself, who says : " The direct action of changed 

 conditions leads to definite or indefinite results ; " ^ while of the 

 former he writes : " By the term definite action, I mean an action 

 of such a nature that, when many individuals of the same variety are 

 exposed during several generations to any change in their physical 

 conditions of life, all, Qr nearly all the individuals, are modified in 

 the same manner. A new sub-variety would thus be produced with- 

 out the aid of selection. "^ 



These words really strike at the root of Darwin's theory ; and, 

 indeed, the whole of my contention, if it were not founded on facts 

 and observations, might be based on this passage ; for Darwinism 

 may be compared to an inverted pyramid, the apex being the mistake 

 Darwin made in supposing variations in any seedlings of a plant (or 

 variety) in nature being" indefinite." ^They aye always definite. Though 

 hundreds may perish, tlie survivors all vary in tlie same direction, viz., 

 towards adaptation to the environment. ^ 



In a correspondence with the late Professor Romanes last spring 

 on this subject, he wrote me as follows: "Of course, if you could 

 prove that indiscriminate [z.^., indefinite] variations have not occurred 

 in wild plants, but only under cultivation, you would destroy 

 Darwinism in toto.'" (Hyeres, March 12, 1894.) 



Having stated my case thus briefly, I will proceed to remark 

 upon Mr. Wallace's criticisms. 



1 " Origin of Species," 6th ed., p. 106. 



■^ "Animals and Plants under Domestication," ii., p. 271. 



^ See, e.g., " Origin of Species," pp. 72, 175, 176. 



