xii THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION 



While the first lecture appears therefore in a 

 considerably abbreviated form, at the beginning 

 of the second and third lectures introductory 

 matter has been inserted, to facilitate the com- 

 prehension of what follows. 



In Part n. a short historical introduction has 

 been prefixed to the account of the proceedings 

 at the evening discussion. Then come the speeches 

 of my opponents, and, as far as they dealt with the 

 subject-matter of my lectures, they are accurately 

 reported and critically examined. My answer stands 

 as it was taken down by the shorthand writer, 

 with the addition of a few comments. Then follows 

 a short supplement, summing up the results of the 

 discussion on the lines of the newspaper reports. 



I fear that many who read these Berlin lectures 

 will be disappointed at the plain, dry style in which 

 they are worded, and will ask why Fr. Wasmann 

 did not speak with the same kind of ' inspiring 

 eloquence ' which Haeckel employed in his lectures. 

 The answer is simply that my words were not 

 addressed to the imaginations and emotions of my 

 audience, but to the clear, cool judgment of the 

 intellectual men of Berlin assembled before me. 

 I aimed at throwing real light upon the important 

 question : ' What are we to think of the doctrine 

 of evolution ? ' 



The consideration of this great question falls 

 naturally into subdivisions, dealing with single 

 points, which were discussed in the three lectures. 



