LECTURE XLIV. 

 HISTORY OF EVOLUTION. 



As a philosophical suggestion, very old. Shrewd 

 guesses and unverified suggestions comparatively val- 

 ueless. Lucretius. 



Linnaeus, " Systema Naturae," 1758 ; a system of sci- 

 entific nomenclature enabling the keeping of perfect 

 records. "As many species now as there were dif- 

 ferent forms created in the Beginning by the Supreme 

 Being." 



Lamarck, "Philosophic Zoologique," 1800. Devel- 

 opment of species through functional use and disuse, 

 and the slow willing of animals. 



St. Hilaire, 1815. Goethe : " sanest of men." 



Cuvier. " Regne Animal," 1817. Origin of species an 

 insoluble problem. As many species now as had come 

 into being with the present zoological era. Lamarck 

 overborne by the weight of authority of the father of 

 studies in homology. 



Robert Chambers : the " Vestiges of Creation." 



Agassiz : "Essay on Classification"; species the 

 thoughts of God. 



Darwin : "Origin of Species," 1859. 



Origin of species : the mystery of mysteries. Life 

 problem of Darwin. Devoted himself for twenty-five 

 years to collection of all facts which bear upon it. As- 

 sumption, that as the appearance of species is a fact 



