THE B EL FAST A DDR KSS. 4 73 



lie 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, had 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 in 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 to the 

 science of the future. 



