Crown 8vo. cloth extra, 6s. 

 THE 



EVOLUTIONIST AT LARGE. 



BY GRANT ALLEN. 



'On the whole, any one who knows natural selection in the general as a theory, 

 but has not realised its varied applications in the most familiar facts of animal and 

 vegetable life, can hardly find a better aid to his imagination than Mr. Grant Allen's 

 volume ; and to those who already have any taste for natural history in the concrete, 

 it may safely be recommended as a welcome holiday companion.' 



SATURDAY REVIEW. 



' Nearly all the fresh lights which have been thrown upon the relations of the 

 natural world by the teachings of Darwin and Herbert Spencer are here condensed 

 and exhibited in the most simple gossiping style.' NATURE. 



' These essays are quite as much bits of literary art as bits of scientific exposition. 

 They aim at awakening an interest in " the principles and methods of evolutionists " 

 among unscientific readers, and they do so by means of a literary treatment that has 

 something of the charm of Lessing's "Laocoon." . . . Mr. Allen's readers will 

 certainly hope that in hours of relaxation from heavier work he may throw off more 

 of these delightful scientific vignettes.' ACADEMY. 



' Characterised by a tone of fresh experience and enjoyment of nature which the 

 average scientific student lives through before he gains the power of speaking with 

 authority upon questions of general interest. ... It would be difficult to suggest a 

 more pleasant travelling companion than this volume.' WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 



' Taken as a whole, the volume is one of the best specimens of popular scientific 

 exposition that we have ever had the good fortune to fall in with. The author is a 

 naturalist of the highest type ; he has acquired an insight into the workings of 

 Nature which nothing but a close personal study of her manifold processes can 

 give : and his command of clear and impressive language is as complete as his 

 knowledge is extensive.' LEEDS MERCURY. 



' There can be no doubt of Mr. Grant Allen's competence as a writer on natural 

 history subjects. . . . In the present volume he has selected such natural objects as may 

 for the most part be met with in any country walk a wild strawberry, a snail-shell, 

 a tadpole, a butterfly, a bird, or a wayside flower the more striking external features 

 of which he seeks to explain by the light of evolutionary principles. . . . The author 

 is as much at home among plants as among animals, and probably his most enjoyable 

 papers are those in which he discourses on the use to the plants themselves of the 

 colours of flowers, the sweetness of fruits, and the hardness of nuts. The essays 

 twenty-three in number are neither long nor deep, but they give a broad general 

 view of the principles and methods of evolution, couched in clear, untechnical, and 

 oftentimes racy language, and are thus admirably adapted for their intended purpose.' 



SCOTSMAN. 



' Mr. Allen's method of treatment, as explanatory of the scientific revolution known 

 as evolution, gives a sort of personality and human character to the trout or the 

 strawberry blossom, which invests them with additional charm, and makes many of 

 his pages read more like a fanciful fairy tale than a scientific work, . . . Mr. Allen's 

 essays ought to open many a half-closed eye.'MANCHESTER EXAMINER. 



' \Ve can recommend Mr. Allen's pleasant pages. As an instructive companion 

 for a long journey, or as a book for a seaside holiday or country residence, it has a 

 deep value in its suggestive topics, affording an incentive to gather the " harvest of 

 a quiet eye."' GLASGOW HERALD. 



CIIATTO & WINDUS, Piccadilly, W. 



