x OBITUARY 255 
acquaintance with natural phenomena was set 
forth; but in a still greater degree, probably, to 
the boldness of the speculative views, always 
ingenious and sometimes fantastic, in which he 
indulged. The conception of evolution set afoot 
- by De Maillet and others, in the early part of the 
century, not only found a vigorous champion in 
Erasmus Darwin, but he propounded an hypo- 
thesis as to the manner in which the species of 
_ animals and plants have acquired their characters, 
_ which is identical in principle with that subse- 
quently rendered famous by Lamarck. 
That Charles Darwin’s chief intellectual in- 
_heritance came to him from the paternal side, 
_ then, is hardly doubtful. But there is nothing to 
_ show that he was, to any sensible extent, directly 
_ influenced by his. grandfather’s biological work. 
He tells us that a perusal of the “ Zoonomia” in 
_ early life produced no effect upon him, although 
_ he greatly admired it; and that, on reading it again, 
_ ten or fifteen years afterwards, he was much disap- 
_ pointed, “the proportion of speculation being so 
large to the facts given.” But with his usual 
anxious candour he adds, “ Nevertheless, it is proba- 
_ ble that the hearing, rather early in life, such views 
maintained and praised, may have favoured my 
upholding them, in a different form, in my ‘ Origin 
of Species.” (I., p.38.) Erasmus Darwin was in 
fact an anticipator of Lamarck, and not of Charles 
_ Darwin; there is no tracein his works of the. 
