CHAPTER X 

 NATURAL SELECTION * 



IN that most delightful of printed books, the 

 " Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann 

 and Soretj" there is an amusing anecdote 

 which shows how distinctly the great master real- 

 ized the importance of the question of the ori- 

 gin of species. The news of the French Revo- 

 lution of July, 1830, had just reached Weimar 

 and set the whole town in commotion. In the 

 course of the afternoon, says Soret, " I went 

 around to Goethe's. * Now,' exclaimed he to 

 me, as I entered, ' what do you think of this 

 great event ? The volcano has come to an 

 eruption ; everything is in flames, and we have 

 no longer a transaction with closed doors ! ' 

 ' Terrible afl^air,' said I, ' but what could be ex- 

 pected under such outrageous circumstances, and 

 with such a ministry, otherwise than that the 

 whole would end with the expulsion of the royal 

 family ? * ' My good friend,' gravely returned 

 Goethe, * we seem not to understand each other. 



^ [See Introduction, § 18. Compare with this chapter the 

 essay I. in Darwinism and Other Essays, on *« Darwinism 

 Verified.''] 



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