THE BEE FAST ADDR KSS. 473 
he not found Wallace upon his track.* A concentrated, 
but full and powerful, epitome of his labors was the con- 
sequence. The book was by no means an easy one; and 
probably not one in every score of those who then attacked 
it, hud read its pages through, or were competent to grasp 
their significance if they had. I do not say this merely to 
discredit them: for there were in those days some really 
eminent scientific men, entirely raised above the heat of 
popular prejudice, and willing to accept any conclusion 
that science had to offer, provided it was duly backed by 
fact and argument, who entirely mistook Mr. Darwin's 
views. In fact, the work needed an expounder, and it 
found one in Mr. Huxley. I know nothing more admirable 
in the way of scientific exposition than those early articles 
of his on the origin of species. He swept the curve of 
discussion through the really significant points of the sub- 
ject, enriched his exposition with profound original remarks 
and reflections, often summing up in a single pithy sen- 
tence an argument which a less compact mind would have 
spread over pages. But there is one impression made by 
the book itself which no exposition of it, however luminous, 
can convey; and that is the impression of the vast amount 
of labor, both of observation and of thought, implied in 
its production. Let us glance at its principles. 
It is conceded on all hands that what are called " varie- 
ties "are continually produced. The rule is probably 
without exception. No chick, or child, is in all respects 
and particulars the counterpart of its brother and sister: 
and in such differences we have " variety" incipient. No 
naturalist could tell how far this variation could be carried; 
but the great mass of them held that never, by any amount 
of internal or external change, nor by the mixture of both, 
could the offspring of the same progenitor so far deviate 
from each other as to constitute different species. The 
function of the experimental philosopher is to combine the 
conditions of Nature and to produce her results; and this 
was the method of Darwin, f He made himself acquainted 
* The behavior of Mr. Wallace iu relation to this subject has been 
dignified in the highest degree. 
f The first step only toward experimental demonstration has been 
taken. Experiments now begun might, a couple of centuries hence, 
furnish data of incalculable value, which ought to be supplied 
science of the future. 
