REPRESENTATIVE LAMARCKIANS MV 



much more fairness than the Neo-Darwinians ever did. 

 In the sixth edition of "The Origin of Species," which 

 he considered as the final edition, Darwin estimated as 

 follows the part played by Lamarck in the develop- 

 ment of the transformist idea: "He first did the 

 eminent service of arousing attention to the proba- 

 bility of all change in the organic, as well as the 

 inorganic world, being the result of law, and not of 

 miraculous interposition." 2 



In the next paragraph, Darwin presented La- 

 marck's views relative to the various factors of trans- 

 formation. In the same edition of "The Origin of 

 Species," he acknowledged that environment and life 

 conditions have more importance than he had attrib- 

 uted to them previously. Furthermore, in a letter 

 addressed to Moritz Wagner in 1876 and reproduced 

 in Wagner's book on "Species-forming Through Isola- 

 tion," Darwin confessed that the greatest mistake he 

 had ever made was to minimize the importance of the 

 direct action of the environment ( food, climate, etc. ) , 

 independently of natural selection. 



When he wrote "The Origin of Species" there were 

 few proofs at hand of the direct action of the environ- 

 ment. There were man}', he added, at the time he 

 wrote the letter to Wagner. 



On the other hand, we observe, even in the earlier 

 American naturalists, a Lamarckian turn of mind, 



- Origin of Species, Historical Sketch, p. vi. 



