NAUDIN. 223 



ternative, that ' new forms may be generated without 

 the presence of any mould or germ of former aggre- 

 gates.' I am not sure that I understand some 

 passages ; but it seems that he attributes some in- 

 fluence to the direct action of the conditions of life. 

 He clearly saw, however, the full force of the prin- 

 ciple of Natural Selection." Mr. Matthew was not 

 satisfied with this handsome recognition of his pri- 

 ority ; and is said to have placed on a subsequent 

 title-page, after his name, " Discoverer of the prin- 

 ciple of Natural Selection." 



CHARLES NAUDIN, a veteran French botanist, is 

 the last of the French precursors of Darwin. He 

 followed Lamarck in the general transmutation doc- 

 trine, although he offered quite a different theory 

 of the causes of transmutation. In an article en- 

 titled " Philosophical Considerations upon Species 

 and Varieties," in the Revue Horticole (1852, p. 102), 

 Naudin put forth his views upon the origin of spe- 

 cies, which were published with some reluctance 

 by the editors of that journal, because of their 

 heretical character, transmutation then being at 

 the height of its unpopularity. Quatrefages has 

 outlined Naudin's views very carefully, yet we can- 

 not perceive with him any evidence that Naudin 

 understood the selection theory. Naudin does not 

 speculate upon the origin of life. He bases his 

 belief in transmutation upon ' unity of type,' as 

 proof, not of a preconceived plan, but of a common 

 parentage. From common sources existing species 



