MR. DARWIN'S CRITICS 1 



[1871] 



THE gradual lapse of time has now separated us by 

 more than a decade from the date of the publi- 

 cation of the " Origin of Species " and whatever 

 may be thought or said about Mr. Darwin's doc- 

 trines, or the manner in which he has propounded 

 them, this much is certain, that, in a dozen years, 

 the " Origin of Species " has worked as complete a 

 revolution in biological science as the " Principia " 

 did in astronomy and it has done so, because, in 

 the words of Helmholtz, it contains " an essentially 

 new creative thought." 2 



And as time has slipped by, a happy change 



1 1. Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. By 

 A. R. Wallace. 1870. 2. The Genesis of Species. I3y St. George 

 Mivart, F.R.S. Second Edition. 1871. 3. Darwin's Descent, 

 of Man. Quarterly Review, July 1871. 



2 Helmholtz : Ueber das Zicl und die Fortschritte der Natur- 

 wissenschaft. Erbffnungsrede fur die Naturforscherversainm- 

 lung zu Innsbruck. 1869. 



