IV : DE VRIES AND THE THEORY OF 

 MUTATIONS* 



THAT Darwin invented the theory of trans- 

 formation or the derivation of one species 

 from another is an impression apparently 

 indelibly engraved on the minds of the half-edu- 

 cated many who pride themselves on their acquaint- 

 ance with science. Of course neither Darwin 

 himself nor any of his scientific followers have ever 

 made this claim on his behalf, for he and they were 

 perfectly well aware that in one way or another 

 a theory of transformation had been put forward 

 from time to time from at least the days of St. 

 Augustine. 



The title page of Darwin's epoch-making work 

 generally known under the name of The Origin 

 of Species is really, as already pointed out in pre- 

 vious articles, The Origin of Species by Natural 

 Selection ; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races 

 in the Struggle for Life. It was the method not the 

 fact of evolution which Darwin chiefly endeavoured 

 to demonstrate ; and around the question of 

 natural selection controversy has always raged and 

 still continues to rage. I have already dealt with 



* Species andVarieties Their Origin by Mutation. By Hugo de 

 Vries. Chicago. 1905. 



Evolution and Adaptation. By Thomas Hunt Morgan. New 

 York. 1903. 



Materials for the Study of Variation. By William Bateson. 

 London : Macmillan. 1894. 



