DARWIN 311 



wrote, apparently, from Lyell's exposition of 

 Lamarck, rather than from the original author 

 himself. He inchned strongly to the transmuta- 

 tion theory, although hesitating to offer a direct 

 opinion. As to the causes of modification, he 

 ignores Lamarck's special theory of the trans- 

 mission of acquired characters, and tends rather 

 to adopt Buffon's factor of the direct action of 

 the environment. 



Spencer (1820-1903) 



Herbert Spencer appeared as one of the few 

 out-and-out evolutionists before the publication 

 of the Origin of Species. In his articles, Illogical 

 Geology and The Development Hypothesis, he 

 strongly contrasts the difficulties of the special 

 creation hypothesis with the arguments for de- 

 velopment, and as already pointed out (p. 22) 

 in his Nebular Hypothesis he argues in favor of 

 ^'creation by evolution." He does not enter into 

 the question of the factors or causes of Evolution, 

 although such passages^ as the following might 

 be interpreted as showing his inclination to 

 Buffon's theory of the direct action of the en- 

 vironment : 



Any existing species — animal or vegetable — when 

 placed under conditions different from its previous 



^The Development Hypothesis, 1852. 



