225 



On the Theory of * Progressive Development^ applied in explana- 

 tion of the Origin and Transmutation of Species. By 

 Hewett C. Watson, Esq., F.L.S. 



(Concluded from page 168). 



My former communications upon this subject ( Phytol. for April, 

 May and June ) shortly stated the theory of ' Progressive Develop- 

 ment,' as set forth in a work lately published under the title of 'Vesti- 

 ges of the Natural History of Creation.' And 1 endeavoured to supply 

 a botanical deficiency in that work, by adducing some examples of 

 the facts and arguments bearing upon the question, which might be 

 drawn from phytological investigations. It is now proposed to bring 

 the question within narrower limits, by adverting to the conclusions 

 which are suggested by the facts before mentioned. I am informed 

 that the author of the ' Vestiges ' has much modified his views in the 

 later editions of his volume. If so, it is of little consequence to my 

 present object. The idea of progressive development was not his 

 own, except by adoption ; nor, as I think, did it derive the support of 

 a single additional fact from the work in question. The merit of the 

 volume consisted in its well-told and well-arranged assemblage of 

 known facts, not in any novelty of ideas or novelty of facts. The 

 author had read rather than observed, had speculated rather than 

 experimented ; and hence, while he may have popularised and diffused 

 his subject, he can scarcely be held to have advanced it in any way, 

 as a question of science or philosophy. His mere opinions, apart 

 from facts, are of no value, and may change with each edition. 



The conclusion, that " like produces like," through an indefinite 

 series of generations, seems almost inevitable to the botanist, whose 

 range of observation takes in only the natural course of events during 

 the quarter of a century, more or less, which comprehends the period 

 of vigorous mental power in a single individual. The same conclu- 

 sion must still appear sound, although we extend the range of obser- 

 vation, by comparing living plants of the present year, with careful 

 descriptions, pictorial representations, or dried specimens of those 

 which lived a hundred years ago. Still the same conclusion must be 

 drawn, when we compare a young oak or chestnut with old trees of 

 their kind which have existed through centuries past. 



Thus far, the resemblance between the past and the present, in the 

 vegetable world, is sufficiently close and certain to warrant a conclu- 

 sion that plants repeat their own images by hereditary descent through 

 a long series of years, to which we can assign no limit. 



These images, it is true, are not always perfect likenesses. Varia- 

 VOL. II. 2 F 



