Works on Biology, etc. 



On the first delivery of his lecture on the *' Darwinian 

 Theory" at Boston it was no small pleasure to Wallace 

 to find the audience both large and attentive. One of the 

 newspapers expressed the public appreciation in the fol- 

 lowing truly American fashion : '* The first Darwinian, 

 Wallace, did not leave a leg for anti-Darwinism to stand 

 on when he had got through his first Lowell Lecture last 

 evening. It was a masterpiece of condensed statement — 

 as clear and simple as compact — a most beautiful specimen 

 of scientific work. Dr. Wallace, though not an orator, is 

 likely to become a favourite as a lecturer, his manner is 

 so genuinely modest and straightforward." 



Wherever he went during his tour of the States this 

 lecture more than all others attracted and pleased his 

 audiences. Many who had the opportunity of conversing 

 with him, and others by correspondence, confessed that 

 they had not been able to understand the " Origin of 

 Species " until they heard the facts explained in such a 

 lucid manner by him. It was this fact, therefore, which 

 led him, on his return home in the autumn of 1887, to 

 begin the preparation of the book ('' Darwinism ") pub- 

 lished in 1889. The method he chose was that of follow- 

 ing as closely as possible the lines of thought running 

 through the *' Origin of Species," to which he added many 

 new features, in addition to laying special emphasis on the 

 parts which had been most generally misunderstood. 

 Indeed, so fairly and impartially did he set forth the 

 general principles of the Darwinian theory that he was 

 able to say : '' Some of my critics declare that I am 

 more Darwinian than Darwin himself, and in this, I 

 admit, they are not far wrong." 



His one object, as set out in the Preface, was to treat 

 the problem of the origin of species from the standpoint 

 reached after nearly thirty years of discussion, with an 



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