THE NET RESULT 199 



seemed to them the carmagnoles and orgies of a bio- 

 logical Thermidor. 



At the same time, it must be steadily remembered 

 that there are many naturalists at the present day, 

 especially among those of the lower order of intelli- 

 gence, who, while accepting evolutionism in a general 

 way, and therefore always describing themselves as 

 Darwinians, do not believe and often cannot even 

 understand the distinctive Darwinian addition to the 

 evolutionary doctrine namely, the principle of natural 

 selection. Such hazy and indistinct thinkers as these 

 are still really at the prior stage of Lamarckian evolu- 

 tionism. It is probable that in the future, while a 

 formal acceptance of Darwinism becomes general, the 

 special theory of natural selection will be thoroughly 

 understood and assimilated only by the more abstract 

 and philosophical minds. Our children will be taught 

 as a matter of course the doctrine of development or of 

 descent with modification ; but the rationale of that 

 descent will still remain in all likelihood always beyond 

 the grasp of most of them : just as thousands accept on 

 authority the Copernican astronomy, who would never 

 even be capable of comprehending the simplest proofs 

 of the earth's annual movement round the sun. Thus 

 the name of Darwin will often no doubt be tacked on 

 to what are in reality the principles of Lamarck. 



Every day, however, in spite of such half-ignorant 

 adherents, the effects of true Darwinism are widening 

 and deepening. One group of earnest workers is using 

 it now as a guide to physiological, embryological, and 

 anatomical researches. Another is employing it with 

 zeal and skill in the field of classificatory and physio- 



