CHAPTER III 



THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION 



IN 1813 a communication was read before the Royal 

 Society by Dr. W. C. Wells upon the differentiation 

 which exists between certain races of mankind. In 

 Dr. Wells's paper this differentiation was explained 

 from the facts that, since no two individuals are alike, 

 some would be better fitted than others to resist the 

 diseases proper to a particular country, and would 

 consequently tend to survive, whilst their less fortunate 

 neighbours would perish in greater numbers. Wells 

 supposed the dark races of mankind to be better 

 adapted to warm climates than white races are, and 

 he thus applied to the particular case of the human 

 species the true Darwinian principle of a gradual 

 evolution through the survival of the fittest. 



A similar view was applied to the origin of species 

 in general by Patrick Matthews in a book on naval 

 timber and arboriculture published in 1831. 



Both these works were unknown to Darwin at the 

 time of the first publication of the ' Origin of Species,' 

 and it is quite unnecessary to point out that their 

 existence does not in the least prejudice the value or 

 originality of that great work. Their interest at the 

 38 



