12 FIFTY YEARS OF DARWINISM 



made. I may add that, inasmuch as science con- 

 sists in the attempt to carry down causation as 

 far as possible, it is above all the scientific side of 

 the human intellect that is outraged no weaker 

 term can be used by this more modern develop- 

 ment of the argument of Omphalos. 



THE PUBLICATION OF THE DARWIN-WALLACE 

 ESSAY 



In May, 1856, Darwin, urged by Lyell, began to 

 prepare for publication. He had determined to 

 present his conclusions in a volume, for he was 

 unwilling to place any responsibility for his 

 opinions on the Council of a Scientific Society. 

 On this point, he was, as he told Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, in the only fit state for asking advice, 

 namely, with his mind firmly made up : ' then 

 . . . good advice was very comfortable, and it was 

 easy to reject bad advice.' l The work was con- 

 tinued steadily until June 18, 1858, when Wal- 

 lace's letter and essay arrived from Ternate. As 

 a result of the anniversary held in London on 

 July 1, 1908, new light has been thrown upon 

 the circumstances under which the joint essay 

 was published fifty years before. 



In consequence of the death of the eminent 

 botanist, Robert Brown, Vice-President and Ex- 

 President of the Linnean Society, the last meeting 

 of the summer session, called for June 17, was 

 adjourned. The bye-laws required that the 



1 Life and Letters, ii. 70. See also 68, 69, 71. 



