INTRODUCTORY. 



made out a better case for his side than he has done ; 

 no other naturalist could, we are persuaded, have done 

 more, or done better, to sustain Mr. Darwin's great thesis. 

 We say " Mr. Darwin's great thesis," because in main- 

 taining it the modern Darwinian school are faithful 

 followers of their master. For the late Mr. Darwin de- 

 clared that to admit the existence of a distinction of kind 

 between the origin of man and that of other animals 

 " would make the theory of ' Natural Selection ' value- 

 less," and that, under such circumstances, he " would 

 give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural 

 Selection," adding, '' I think you will be driven to reject 

 all or admit all." That Mr. Romanes is a faithful 

 exponent of his master's views is certain, for Charles 

 Darwin has told us again and again that he saw no 

 distinction of " kind," but only one of "degree," between 

 our highest intellectual faculties and the feelings of a 

 brute. He has also proclaimed the doctrine which 

 denies to us the possession of any intellectual and 

 moral faculties that could not have been evolved by the 

 chance action of natural forces, from the powers pos- 

 sessed by brutes, to be a doctrine which " rests upon 

 ground that will never be shaken." * 



The question to which Mr. Romanes applies himself 

 — the question as to the existence of any essential 

 distinction between the lowest human intellect and the 



* This shows how little justified Mr. Alfred R. Wallace was 

 in bestowing on his recent work, the name of " Darwinism " — a 

 work which, however fully it may maintain the doctrine of the 

 origin of species of plants and animals by " Natural Selection," 

 culminates in a distinct denial of that which we thus see Mr. 

 Darwin regarded as an essential part of his whole contention. 



