320 FROM THE GREEKS TO DARWIN 



The Selectionists 



The modern theory of natural selection was 

 expressed first by Doctor W. C. Wells, in 1813, 

 then by St. Hilaire the elder, then by Matthew 

 in 1831, and finally, with considerably less clear- 

 ness, by Naudin in 1852. 



Wells (1757-1817), Matthew ( ? ), 

 Wallace {1S2S-191S) 



Darwin gives us references to the two English 

 writers. That of Wells is the first statement of 

 the theory of the survival, not simply of fittest 

 organisms, as understood by previous writers, 

 such as Buff on and Treviranus, but of races sur- 

 viving because of their possession of favorable 

 variations in a single character. 



Wells' paper, read before the Royal Society 

 in 1813, was entitled, An Account of a White 

 Female, part of whose Skin resembles that of a 

 Negro; it was not published until 1818.^ He here 

 recognizes the principle of natural selection as 

 applied to the races of men and to the explana- 

 tion of the origin of the dark coloring of the skin 

 in the negro races of Central Africa. In Darwin's 

 words :^ 



iSee his Two Essays upon Dew and Single Vision. 

 ^Origin of Species^ last edition: An Historical Sketch. 



