NA TURE 



297 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 191 1. 



1 CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF 

 EVOLUTION. 

 I'he Coming of Evolution. The Story of a Great 

 Revolution in Science. By Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., 

 F.R.S. Pp. iv+171. (Cambridge Manuals of 

 Science and Literature.) (Cambridge : University 

 Press, 1910.) Price 15. net. 



SO much has been written within the last few 

 years about the history of evolution and its 

 founders that the first question that arises on meeting 

 ith the title of this new work is whether it is pos- 

 sible to say anything new upon a subject which has 

 already been dealt with so fuuy by the founders of 

 'le doctrine themselves, or has been handled from 

 • many different points of view by the historians 

 : science and philosophy. The title of the little 

 olume under notice need not, however, act as a 

 > terrent, because in the first place the name of the 

 Liihor will command the confidence of scientific 

 aders, and, in the next place, because, in the words 

 i the general prospectus, the series of small manuals 

 ) which it belongs is 



not intended primarily for school use or for young 

 ginners. The educated reader often experiences a 

 .fficulty in obtaining short books in which recent 

 iscoveries or modern tendencies are treated in a 

 mi-popular and broad style." 



With the objects thus set forth we are in complete 



mpathy. There is ample scc^e, not to say a crjing 

 need, for the authoritative enlightenment of the pub- 

 lic mind on scientific questions. With respect to the 

 present contribution to the series it is only necessary 

 to remind readers of the fact that Prof. Judd is among 

 that small and diminishing group of men who can 

 claim to have been personally acquainted with Scrope, 

 Lyell, Darwin, and Huxley, and whose qualifications 

 for instructing the public on that subject which has 

 been placed in his hands are therefore of an exception- 

 ally high order. 



By " The Coming of Evolution " the author means 

 both the preparatory work of the great pioneers in 

 geology, such as Hutton, Scrope, and Lyell, and the 

 history of the revelation of the working mechanism 

 of organic evolution by Darwin and Wallace. Of 

 course, there is not much scope for novelty as re- 

 gards the main facts in such a work since most of 

 the materials have been public propertv for many 

 years. It is in the handling of the material, in the 

 presentment of the history and in the personal touches 

 which here and there enliven the storj' with actual 

 reminiscences that will be found the chief interest 

 "nd value of this fascinating little book. As a 



ologist it is but natural that the author should 



bring into prominence the achievements in that 



domain, and especially those of his own master, 



Lyell, whom he places as the founder of inorganic 



•volution side by side with Darwin as the founder 



t organic evolution. With what feelings do we now 



-ad of the great struggle — rapidly passing into 



ancient history — between uniformitarianism and 



NO. 2149, VOL. 85] 



catastrophism, of the pitying contempt with which 

 many of his contemporaries regarded "poor old 

 Lyell's fads," and of the nerx'ous caution which at 

 that period was necessar\- in order to circumvent the 

 odium theologicum. It may have been excusable in 

 those days to regard the uniformitarianism of Lyell 

 as synonymous with evolution. Yet it must not be 

 I forgotten that this inorganic evolution deals only with 

 the geological record, \^'hether catastrophism in any 

 form occurred during the period represented by that 

 record is a matter of geological evidence, and it is 

 with the geologists that the interpretation of the 

 evidence rests. The old view of terrestrial catas- 

 trophism has certainly been slain ; nevertheless, after 

 the heat of the fray, are we not justified on calm 

 consideration in rejecting the view that catastrophism 

 and evolution are antagonistic and irreconcilable? 

 The shedding of moons by planets, the outburst of 

 temporar}- stars and other cosmical phenomena of 

 castastrophic magnitude would appear to indicate that 

 nature's operations are not always carried out by 

 retail instalments. Evolution per saltum, so far as 

 the geological record teaches, may be ruled out ; never- 

 theless there was a period antecedent to that record, 

 and catastrophic development must be reckoned with 

 as part of the evolutionary machinery of the cosmos. 

 Thoughts of this kind and many other suggestive 

 Ideas will be prompted by the perusal of Prof. Judd's 

 condensed history. There are many points upon 

 which the various classes of readers to whom the 

 book appeals could enlarge, and there is very little 

 scope for criticism in the usual acceptation of the 

 term. Prichard, who in some measure forestalled 

 Galton and Weismann, did not spell his name 

 Pritchard. The statement (p. 155) that "the inherit- 

 ance of acquired characters and similar problems were 

 constantly present to Darwin's ever-open mind" may 

 be challenged, because — to our everlasting regret — 

 this question did not take an acute fcM-m until after 

 Darwin's death. There is only one passing allusion 

 to the subject in the " Origin of Species " (sixth 

 edition, p. 33), where it stated that such "' variations ' 

 are supposed not to be inherited," but Dr. Francis 

 Darwin informed the writer some time ago, 

 when the passage was brought under his notice, 

 that he was unable to throw any light upon the 

 source of his father's authority for the statement, 

 nor has the present writer been able to ascertain by 

 whom this view was held in Darwin's time. Per- 

 haps some of the readers of this notice may be able 

 to supply the necessan- information. 



But these are only small points. From what has 

 been said concerning the volume as a whole it is 

 evident that we are indebted to the author for a most 

 readable and instructive summar}-, which appeals not 

 only to the educated public for which it is intended, 

 but which ought to be read, and read carefully, by 

 students of natural science. Prof. Judd, upon whom 

 manv of the present generation of geologists can now 

 look as their teacher, survives as a living witness of 

 that great campaign, carried on in the arena of 

 science, which resulted in the overthrow of the ancient 

 cosmogony and the demolition of that narrow 

 teleolog)' which hampered scientific progress in ever)' 



