76 THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD 



As may be apprehended from this substantial 

 summary of the ideas of Neumayr, this eminent 

 naturalist resolutely follows the Darwinian school, 

 and accepts the transformist theory as the most 

 probable, and even as the only one permitting a 

 rational explanation of all the facts observed in 

 palaeontology, when coupled with those in living 

 nature. We owe to him the buttressing of the descent 

 hypothesis by palseontological facts and proofs which 

 were either wanting, or only appeared in a very super- 

 ficial form, in the researches of the founders of trans- 

 formism. Especially we must grant him the merit 

 of having largely contributed to bring to light, and 

 of having illustrated by valuable examples, the 

 series of forms showing the variation of specific 

 types through the course of ages. These series 

 are still, at the present day, the most solid argument 

 in favour of the hypothesis of descent. But we 

 have also been able to repeatedly admire the 

 prudent reserve, the critical mind, and even the 

 rational scepticism of Neumayr, whenever there is a 

 question of going back to the causes and of stating 

 clearly the laws of palseontological evolution. No 

 doubt it seemed possible to him thenceforth to re- 

 gard the whole animated world as the result of 

 the gradual transformation of extremely simple 

 primitive organisms. These successive forms are 

 due, probably, to the accumulation of individual 

 variations, according to purely mechanical laws. 

 But of these laws we are only acquainted with a 

 meagre portion. We are still ignorant, notwith- 

 standing the hypotheses of Lamarck, Darwin, and 

 many other transformists, of the real causes of in- 



