1 4 IIISTOKICAL SKETCH. 



Bometliinp; in tlio foriuation of new ppccics ; but tliir:, it appears (ibiil., vol. 

 ii., p. 708), is inaccurate and witliout evidence. I also gave some extracts 

 from a correspondence between Prof. Owen and the editor of the Lon- 

 don licvicw, from which it appeared manifest to the editor as well as to 

 myself, that Prof. Owen claimed to have promulgated the theory of nat- 

 ural selection before I had done so ; and I expressed my surprise and satis- 

 faction at this announcement ; but, as far as it is possible to understand cer- 

 tain reccntl}--published passages (ibid., vol. iii., p. "JOS), I have, cither par- 

 tially or wholly, again fallen into error. It is consolatory to me that others 

 find Prof. Owen's controversial writings as difficult to understand, and 

 to reconcile with each other, as I do. As far as the mere enunciation of 

 the principle of natural selection is concerned, it is quite immaterial whether 

 or not Prof. Owen preceded me, for both of us, as shown in tliis historical 

 sketch, were long ago preceded by Dr. "Wells and Mr. Matthew. 



M. Isidore GcoflVoy Saint-IIilaire, in his Lectures delivered in 1850 (of 

 which a resume appeared iu the Hevue ctMn(/. dc ZooJog.^ January, 1851), 

 briefly gives his reason for believing that specific characters " sont fixes, 

 pour chaque esijuce, tant qu'elle se perpetue au milieu des m6mes circon- 

 stanccs: lis se modifient, si Icscirconstanccsambiantcs vienncnti changer." 

 "En r6sume, Vohservation des animaux sauvages dcmontre dejiHavariabihte 

 limiiie des cspeces. Les experiences sur Ics animaux sauvages dcvcnus do- 

 mcstiqucs, ct sur les animaux domestiques redcvenus sauvages, la demon- 

 trent plus claircment encore. Ccs memcs experiences prouvcnt, deplus, que 

 les diirercnces produites peuvent ctre de valcur gcniriqne.''^ In his " Hist. 

 Nat. Generalc" (tom. ii., p. 430, 1859) he amplifies analogous conclusions. 



From a circular lately issued it appears that Dr. Frekc, in 1851 {Dublin 

 Medical Frcsa, p. 322), propounded the doctrine that all organic beings have 

 descended from one primordial form. His grounds of belief and treatment 

 of the subject are wholly diflVrent from mine; but, as Dr. Freke has now 

 (1801) ptiblishcd his Essay on the "Origin of Species by means of Organic 

 Affinity," the difficult attempt to give any idea of his views would be super- 

 fluous on my part. 



Mr. Herbert Spencer, in an Essay (originally published in the Leader, 

 March, 1852, and republished in his " Essays " in 1858), has contrasted the 

 theories of the Creation and the Development of organic beings with re- 

 markable skill and force. He argues from the analogy of domestic pro- 

 ductions, from the changes which the embryos of many species undergo, 

 from the difficulty of distinguishing species and A-arictics, and from the prin- 

 ciple of general gradation, that species have been modified ; and he attributes 

 the modification to the change of circumstances. The author (1855) has 

 also treated Psychology on the principle of tliencce.-sary acquirement of each 

 mental power and capacity by gradation. 



