CHAPTER XVII 



THE METHOD OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION 



The modern doctrine of organic evolution may be said 

 to date from the great French naturalist Buffon, who, 

 more than a hundred years before the publication of the 

 Origin of Species, clearly indicated his belief in the 

 mutability of specific and generic forms, although, owing 

 to the power of the Church in his day, he was often 

 obliged to veil his opinions under the guise of hypotheses, 

 which, as they were opposed to religion of course could 

 not be true. Yet he occasionally speaks very plainly, as 

 when he says : — 



"Nature, I maintain, is in a state of continual flux and move- 

 ment ; " 



and again — 



' ' What cannot Nature effect with such means at her disposal ? 

 She can do all except either create matter or destroy it. These two 

 extremes of power the Deity has reserved for Himself only ; creation 

 and destruction are the attributes of His omnipotence. To alter and 

 undo, to develop and renew — these are powers which He has handed 

 over to the charge of Nature." 



Dr. Erasmus Darwin held similar views, which he de- 

 veloped at great length, and in doing so, anticipated many 

 of the arguments afterwards elaborated by the celebrated 

 Lamarck, that changes in species were caused both by the 

 direct action of the environment, by the use and exercise 

 by animals of their several organs, and more especially by 



