DARWIN, CHARLES R. 



185 



fined to be the perpetuation through the prin- 

 ciple of heredity and the accumulation through 

 the principle of variation of the traits which 

 are best suited to survive the destructive strug- 

 gle for existence, in which the weaker individ- 

 uals perish and the old traits brought down 

 from former conditions of life disappear. Ideas 

 of evolution were already penetrating the 

 thought of the time, and were the outcome of 

 the materialistic and utilitarian philosophy 

 which dominated the younger minds of Eng- 

 land, where it had its birth. Darwin was nat- 

 urally not the first, nor the only one, to con- 

 ceive this great theory, which harmonized with 

 the reigning system of philosophy. Without 

 seeking for the original enunciation of the de- 

 velopment hypothesis in the writings of Aris- 

 totle or Lucretius, in the philosophical theories 

 of Kant or Laplace, in Goethe's scientific spec- 

 ulations or Buffon's bold guesses, without iden- 

 tifying it with the fantastic theories of Eras- 

 mus, or assailing its originality on the strength 

 of the similar views which had been put forth 

 a generation before by the German scientist 

 Lamarck, there were scientific thinkers of Dar- 

 win's own time who were ruminating over the 

 same conception. The idea was in the air; 

 and one thinker, Alfred Russel Wallace, had 

 independently arrived at conclusions almost 

 identical. He generously waived the question 

 of precedence when Darwin stepped forth as 

 the teacher of the new. doctrine. To collect, 

 systematize, and interpret the mass of evidence 

 which Darwin brought to bear upon the theory, 

 and to deduce those secondary laws which ex- 

 plain the manner of the development of species, 

 were feats which Darwin's genius for investi- 

 gation and theoretical deduction alone could 

 have accomplished. The theory was at once 

 accepted by many of the leading minds in 

 science. Others contributed additional proofs, 

 particularly Haeckel, whose strong scientific 

 imagination led him further than Darwin's cau- 

 tious^ and conscientious spirit would allow his 

 own vigorous theoretical powers to carry him. 

 Haeckel brought valuable corroborative evi- 

 dence from the science of embryology. New 

 discoveries in paleontology added strength to 

 the hypothesis year by year. But Darwin's 

 own original observations on the production 

 of variations in fowls, pigeons, and rabbits, on 

 sports and hybrids in plants, on the relation of 

 the habits of insects to the fertilization of 

 plants, on the sexual attractions of animals, 

 his work in co-ordinating a host of facts and 

 phenomena, many of them before unnoted, 

 with the terms of his theory, made up a body 

 of proof which left little to be done in the 

 elaboration or the demonstration of the doc- 

 trine of natural selection. The discrepancies 

 and inconsistencies in his theories were as 

 clearly perceived by him as by his opponents. 

 His mind was always open to doubts, and more 

 ready to admit objections and accept modifi- 

 cations and qualifications than his more ardent 

 disciples thought right. The new doctrine 



was assailed in theological circles with a vehe- 

 ment hostility which is known to all the world. 

 His book on " The Descent of Man, and Selec- 

 tion in Relation to Sex," in which the doctrine 

 was applied to the development of the human 

 species, published in 1871, raised this hostility 

 to a higher pitch, and brought upon the pacific 

 and gentle-souled author a storm of denunci- 

 ation and angry objurgation. Many eminent 

 men of science withheld their acquiescence in 

 the theory, and were disposed, from religious 

 and philosophical grounds, to give greater 

 weight to the scientific objections. When the 

 bulk of scientific authority ranged itself on the 

 side of Darwin, the theologians admitted the 

 compatibility of the theory of descent with the 

 doctrines of revealed religion more readily than 

 they have some of the fundamental laws of sci- 

 ence upon their discovery in less scientific ages. 

 Darwin published, at short intervals, a se- 

 ries of works embodying his amazingly ex- 

 tensive observations with reference to the de- 

 velopment theories, and then, before his death, 

 gave to the world, enforced by a wealth of ob- 

 servations and illustrations, collected through 

 long years, one or two other important scien- 

 tific discoveries. The law of circumnutation 

 in plants (see "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1880) 

 was elucidated in " The Power of Movement in 

 Plants " (1881), and his theory of the influence 

 of earthworms in fertilizing the soil (see " An- 

 nual Cyclopedia " for 1881), in " The Forma- 

 tion of Vegetable Mold through the Action of 

 Worms, with Observations on their Habits" 

 (1882). His most important work bearing on 

 the theory of descent, besides those mentioned 

 above, is " The Variations of Plants and Ani- 

 mals under Domestication " (1867). The other 

 works of this category are "The Various Con- 

 trivances by which Orchids are fertilized by 

 Insects" (1862); "The Movements and Habits 

 of Climbing Plants" (1865) ; " The Expression 

 of the Emotions in Man and Animals " (1872) ; 

 "Insectivorous Plants" (1875); "The Effects 

 of Cross and Self Fertilization in the Vegetable 

 Kingdom" (1876); "The Different Forms of 

 Flowers and Plants of the Same Species" 

 (1877). Darwin's books were filled with an 

 immense assemblage of facts. His method was 

 to pile instance upon instance until the reader 

 forms the conclusion in his own mind. It 

 seems as though his mind had gone through 

 the same process, and only reached the theo- 

 retical conclusion after the accumulation of 

 the host of facts. Really, his theories were 

 thoughts of his youth, which he spent his 

 whole life in testing and proving. The com- 

 bination of such a genius for theoretical specu- 

 lation, with the spirit of the most patient and 

 exact scientific observer, is an example which 

 has done as much to improve scientific method 

 as his ideas have to stimulate scientific thought. 

 A majority of the scientific world have adopted 

 Darwin's views of the evolution of organic 

 nature. A German bibliographer has enumer- 

 ated, in a catalogue of 36 pages, embracing 312 



