PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



THIS book needs only brief introduction. It 

 attempts to tell the story of the origin of the Evolu- 

 tion idea in Ionia, and, after long arrest, of the revival 

 of that idea in modern times, when its profound and 

 permanent influence on thought in all directions, 

 and, therefore, on human relations and conduct, is 

 apparent. 



Between birth and revival there were the cen- 

 turies of suspended animation, when the nepenthe 

 of dogma drugged the reason ; the Church teaching, 

 and the laity mechanically accepting, the sufficiency 

 of the Scriptures and of the General Councils to decide 

 on matters which lie outside the domain of both. 

 Hence the necessity for particularising the causes 

 which actively arrested advance in knowledge for 

 sixteen hundred years. 



In indicating the parts severally played in the 

 Renascence of Evolution by a small group of 

 illustrious men, the writer, through the courtesy of 



