10 FROM THE GREEKS TO DARWIN 



origin of the higher forms of life succeeded the 

 old mythology and autochthony in Greece and 

 developed from the teachings of Thales and 

 Anaximander into those of Aristotle. This great 

 philosopher had a general conception of the 

 origin of higher species by descent from lower; 

 he framed an ascending chain of life, yet he could 

 not know of any actual series of organisms rising 

 through Evolution, such as we have suspected 

 from comparative anatomy and embryology and 

 actually witnessed in palaeontology. He also con- 

 sidered certain of the factors of Evolution un- 

 derlying the general law, and it is startling to 

 find him, over two thousand years ago, clearly 

 stating, and then rejecting, the theory of the sur- 

 vival of the fittest as an explanation of the evo- 

 lution of adaptive structures. 



The Greek natural history literature, from be- 

 ginning to end, is a continuous source of plea- 

 sure and surprise. Of late it has been delight- 

 fully reviewed by Charles Singer, D'Arcy 

 Thompson and others. Amid wide differences of 

 opinion as to how far the Greeks actually antici- 

 pated later discoveries, the true conclusion is 

 that they anticipated many of our modern theo- 

 ries by suggestion; thus they carried the evolu- 

 tion idea well into its suggestive stage, which was 

 so much ground gained for those who took it up 

 in Europe. Greek speculations greatly hastened 



