376 Darwin, and after Darwin. 



are objections which vitally affect the theory only as 

 it has been stated and upheld by Wallace. As the 

 theory has been stated and upheld by Darwin, all 

 these objections are irrelevant. This is a fact which 

 I had not myself perceived at the time when I men- 

 tioned these objections in a paper entitled Physio- 

 logical Selection, which was published in 1886. The 

 discussions to which that paper gave rise, however, led 

 me to consider these matters more closely ; and 

 further study of Darwin's writings, with these matters 

 specially in view, has led me to see that none of the 

 objections in question are relevant to his theory, as 

 distinguished from that of Mr. Wallace. This, I 

 acknowledge, I ought to have perceived before I 

 published the paper just alluded to ; but in those 

 days I had had no occasion to follow out the dif- 

 ferences between Darwin and Wallace to all their 

 consequences, and therefore adopted the prevalent 

 view that their theories of evolution were virtually 

 identical. Now, however, I have endeavoured to 

 make it clear that tiie points wherein they differ 

 involve the important consequences above set forth. 

 All these the most formidable objections against the 

 theory of natural selection arise simply and solely 

 from what I conceive to be the erroneous manner in 

 which the theory has been presented by Darwin's 

 distinguished colleague. 



I have now considered, as impartially as I can, all 

 the main criticisms and objections which have been 

 brought against the theory of natural selection ; and 

 the result is to show that, neither singly nor col- 

 lectively, are they entitled to much weight. On the 



