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CHAPTER XIII. 



LAMAKCK AND MR. DARWIN. 



IT will have been seen that in the preceding pages 

 the theory of evolution, as originally propounded by 

 Lamarck, has been more than once supported, as against 

 the later theory concerning it put forward by Mr. Dar- 

 win, and now generally accepted. 



It is not possible for me, within the limits at my 

 command, to do anything like justice to the argu- 

 ments that may be brought forward in favour of either 

 of these two theories. Mr. Darwin's books are at the 

 command of every one; and so much has been dis- 

 covered since Lamarck's day, that if he were living 

 now, he would probably state his case very differently ; 

 I shall therefore content myself with a few brief re- 

 marks, which will hardly, however, aspire to the dignity 

 of argument. 



According to Mr. Darwin, differentiations of struc- 

 ture and instinct have mainly come about through the 

 accumulation of small, fortuitous variations without 

 intelligence or desire upon the part of the creature 

 vaiying; modification, however, through desire and 

 sense of need, is not denied entirely, inasmuch as con- 



