3^4 



NATURE 



[February 8, 1894 



as illustrated by the " Life and Letters." And the first 

 point he brings forward is that Darwin was a compiler — 

 a " not very sceptical " compiler, an "easy" compiler — 

 and this idea is enforced throughout the first chapter of 

 this second part of the work. Again and again this is 

 recurred to, as the following passages show : — 



" With all his experiences in pigeons, poultry, and 

 seeds, Mr. Darwin supported his results mainly on 

 a conipilation. Had the public but known that !" (p. 

 190). "That all that— of the Descent of Man, say — 

 should be supported, not on thirty years' actual ob- 

 servation, experiment, and insight — personally — of the 

 greatest naturalist in existence, but only on little more 

 than so many years' clippings and cuttings from articles 

 in periodicals and other such, as — about ' Hearne the 

 Hunter'!" (p. 212). "Now that is the pity of it! 

 The success of the book depended on the belief of the 

 public that it was the product of work at first 

 hand, and not of compilation at second — work at first 



hand and of the greatest naturalist in existence 



A compilation is always a dressing of facts for a purpose ; 

 and such a state of the case is simply glaring in every 

 turn of the * Origin.' " (p. 179.) 



It is then clear that Dr. Stirling wishes to impress 

 upon the public that Darwin's chief work was mainly a 

 compilation, badly put together — for he tells us it is 

 " dull " and " as he.ivy as lead " — put together to support 

 a foregone conclusion, without caution or judgment, and 

 yet so as to deceive the ignorant public and make them 

 believe it was original work ! Surely here is a Daniel 

 come to judgment — though rather late in the day. Pre- 

 sently we shall have to inquire whether he who delivers 

 this severe judgment is a competent as well as a just 

 judge. 



The next point is to show how it was that this dull 

 compilation created such an excitement in the literary 

 and scientific world, and made so many converts. We 

 are told this was all owing to Darwin's habit — partly un- 

 conscious, partly designed — of thinking and speaking so 

 highly of the work of his chief scientific corresponden ts — 

 Hooker, Lyell, and Huxley. " Lyell is the biggest fish ; 

 and it is the hooking of him that is wished, and watched, 

 and waited for with the intensest interest." (p. 166.) And 

 after giving nearly two pages of extracts from Darw in's 

 letters, we have the remark — " I suppose no one in this 

 world has been more liberally or more lavishly thanked, 

 iiattered, and bepraised than the recipients of the above.'' 

 (p. 169.) Referring to the preliminary papers read before 

 the Linnean Society, Dr. Stirling remarks : — 



" The way being so conspicuously prepared for it, and 

 its appearance ushered in and heralded by a trumpet- 

 blowing so resonant and extraordinary, was it any won- 

 der that the book itself was hailed with acclamation and 

 received with even a rush of expectation ? And we have 

 now only to see how the proceedings of Mr. Huxley at 

 the very first could but beat the e.xcitement that, so to 

 speak, already blazed into an absolute conflagration and 

 a veritable fury." (p. 172.) "As we all know, all in 

 England is done by parties, and everything that appears 

 in England is of no use whatever until it is made an affair 

 of party. It was not different with the origin of species.'' 

 (p. 174.) " With all before it that has now been detailed 

 what could the public be expected to think ? The most 

 powerful scientific trumpets that, in these islands, could 

 be blown, were blown— before the book. The most 

 powerful popular trumpets that, in these islands, could 



NO. 1267, VOL. 49] 



be blown, were blown — after the book. . . . What 

 could be expected for such a book, if not all but 



a universal rush to buy ? And how did 



the public find the book "■: I do not suppose that 

 any one will pretend that it is read now ; and I do not 

 suppose that any one will pretend that it was read 

 ihroiigJi then — unless by those, the few friends of science 

 and the author, whom, in both respects, of course, it 

 immediately and specially concerned." (p. 176.) 



Dr. Stirling should, however, have explained to his 

 readers how it was that a book which hardly anybody read 

 should have gone through six editions in twelve years, 

 have been translated into every European language, and 

 should still be constantly quoted and referred to as the 

 most classical and authoritative work on the subjects of 

 which it treats. 



Half the volume having been thus occupied in the 

 insinuation, and attempted proof, that Darwin was a 

 mere compiler with little reasoning power, that there was 

 nothing in his book that was not anticipated by his grand- 

 father (pp. 43-49), and that the book itself owed its suc- 

 cess to the carefully-prepared trumpet-blowing of a few 

 influential friends, Dr. Stirling proceeds to demolish 

 the whole theory in detail in order to justify the conclu- 

 sion he has arrived at. And it is clear that the value to 

 be attached to his judgment, in this matter, must depend 

 upon whether he has taken the trouble, or has the 

 capacity, to understand the theory, or has acquired an 

 adequate knowledge of the facts on which the theory is 

 founded. I propose therefore to show, by a rather full 

 account of his work and by a sufficient number of 

 extracts, the almost incredible state of ignorance and 

 misapprehension everywhere displayed by it. 



Chapter v. deals wtih the Struggle for Existence, devot- 

 ing to it twelve pages, and maintaining throughout 

 that, in the sense in which Darwin and his followers 

 understand it, there is no such thing ! If this can be 

 proved Darwinians must indeed tremble. Let us then 

 see how it is done. The tameness of animals in un- 

 inhabited islands is first referred to, with the remark : 

 " It is impossible to think of struggle and strife in such 

 circumstances." Dr. Andrew Smith and Mr. Selous are 

 quoted to show the vast profusion of life in South Africa, 

 carnivora and herbivora — " Plentiful lion was not in- 

 compatible with more plentiful antelope.'' Then the 

 passenger pigeon of North America is referred to, as 

 described in one of Cooper's novels ; and the conclusion 

 after two pages of such facts is—" With nature so prolific 

 of life, what call is there for a struggle? what need?" 

 Then we have several pages given to descriptions of how 

 animals enjoy their lives. Mark Twain is quoted for 

 playful schools of whales ; Bret Harte for squirrels and 

 jays ; Jules Verne for antelopes, zebras, buffaloes, and 

 monkeys ; two articles in Temple Bar on birds and otters 

 amusing themselves. Darwin himself testifies to " the 

 positive pleasures of existence, to the actual joys of 

 nature," and, " it is perfectly within the limits of truth to 

 say that his entire Jourtial disproves the struggle ! " 

 And this conclusion is reiterated to the end of the 

 chapter : — " There is little sign of a struggle for life in 

 such cases. These animals have evidently no need to 

 struggle : they seem indifferent about their food, and can 

 remove themselves carelessly from any supplies of it.' 



