PREFACE TO EDITION OF 1894 



This volume has grown out of lectures first 

 delivered in Princeton in 1890, upon the period 

 between Buffon and Darwin, and completed in 

 a fuller course delivered in Columbia in 1893, 

 which covered also the period before Buffon. 

 When I began the study, my object w^as to bring 

 forward the many strong and true features of 

 pre-Darwinian Evolution, which are so gener- 

 ally passed over or misunderstood. When all the 

 materials were brought together from the earliest 

 times, the evidence of continuity in the develop- 

 ment of the idea became more clear, and to trace 

 these lines of development has gradually become 

 the central motive of these lectures. More thor- 

 ough research, which may, perhaps, be stimu- 

 lated by these outlines will, I believe, strengthen 

 this evidence. 



I am greatly indebted to my friends Profes- 

 sor George Macloskie and Professor Alexander 

 T. Ormond for assistance and critical advice in 

 connection with the revision of the proofs. 



H. F. O. 



Columbia College, July 11th, 1894. 



