CHAPTER VIII 



EARLY DAYS OF DARWINISM 



In the early part of 1858 Newton accompanied John 

 WoUey to Iceland for the purpose of inquiring into the 

 supposed recent extinction of the Great Auk, and into 

 the causes which had brought about that result. During 

 two months of enforced inaction in an Iceland village, 

 the two men had opportunities of frequently discussing 

 questions that were then occupying the minds of 

 biologists. Among these were, " What is a Species ? " and 

 " How did a Species begin ? " — the latter a question all 

 the more naturally arising from the fact that their 

 particular business was to find out how a species had 

 come to an end. Both of them were well acquainted 

 with the views of Lamarck and the author of the " Ves- 

 tiges of Creation," and also of the contrary views of Sir 

 Charles Lyell and of Adam Sedgwick. Moreover, in 

 the preceding year, Newton had visited America, where 

 he had frequently been impressed with the opinions of 

 Professor Louis Agassiz, which were, briefly, that each 

 species had had not one Centre of Creation, but that 

 many — perhaps most — species had been created in 

 several places, at sundry times, and possibly in vast 

 numbers. These various conflicting theories gave rise 

 to long discussions, often turning on the prevalence of 

 Blue Foxes in Iceland, the relations between the Red 

 Grouse and the Willow Grouse, and so forth ; but they 

 never produced any definite result beyond a firm con- 

 viction that, for the salvation of Botany and Zoology 

 there must soon be found a solution of those problems. 



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