June 2i, 1883] 



NA TURE 



189 



physical science no less than it was a canon of historical science 

 that speculation should confine itself to construing past events by 

 the analogy of those of the present time. The hypothesis of con- 

 struction.'seemed to him unacceptable, because it led them into 

 contravention of tradition on the one side and into contravention 

 of scientific logic on the other. The only other alternative hypo- 

 thesis w as that of evolution, which meant that the different forms 

 of animal life had not arisen independently of each other in the 

 great sweep of past time, but that the one had proceeded from 

 the other ; and that that which had happened in the course of 

 past ages had been analogous to that which took place daily and 

 hourly in the case of the individual. That was to say that just 

 as at the present day in the course of individual development the 

 lower and simple forms, in virtue of the properties which were 

 inherent in them, passed step by step by the establishment of 

 small successive differences into the higher and more complicated 

 forms, so, in the case of past ages, that which constituted the 

 stock of the whole ancestry had advanced grade by grade and 

 step by step until it had attained the degree of complexity which 

 was seen at the present day. No objection could be brought 

 against this hypothesis on the ground of analog)', because in 

 putting it forward they were not bringing in any kind of causa- 

 tion w hich was not abundantly operative at the present time. 

 The question was whether the history of the globe in past time 

 coincided with this hypothesis, and to that point he would next 

 address himself. What did they find if they considered the 

 whole series of these forms? UnquestionaMy, as he had said, 

 nautili were found as far back as the Upper Silurian age. Before 

 that time there were no nautili, but there were shells of the 

 Oithoceratidu — of which there were magnificent examples before 

 him — which resembled those of the nautili in that they were 

 chambered, siphoned, <S:c., with the last chamber of such a size 

 that it obviou-ly sheltered the body of the animal. He thought 

 no one could doubt that the creatures which fabricated these 

 still earlier shells were substantially similar to the nautili, although 

 their shells were straight, just as a nautilus shell would be if it 

 were pulled out from a helix into a cone. Then came the forms 

 known as the cyrtoctras, which were slightly curved. Along with 

 these they had the other forms which were oh the table, and in 

 which the shell began to grow spiral. The next that came were 

 forms of nautilus, which differed from the nautilus of to-day in 

 that the septa were like watch-glasses, and that the whorls did 

 not overlap one another. In the next series, belonging to the 

 later palaeozoic strata, the shell was closely coiled and the septa 

 began to be a little wavy, and the whorls began to overlap one 

 another. And this process was continued in later forms, down 

 to that of the present day. Looking broadly at the main changes 

 which the nautilus stock underwent, changes parallel with those 

 which were followed by the individual nautilus in the course of its 

 development, he considered that there could be no doubt that they 

 were justified in the hypothesis that the causes at work w ere the 

 same in loth case-, and that the inherent faculty, or power, or 

 whatever else it might be called, which determined the successive 

 changes of the nautilus after it had been hatched, had been 

 operative throughout the whole continuous series of existence of 

 the genus from its earliest appearances in the later Silurian rocks 

 up to the present day. What the whole question, in whatever 

 way it might be put, came to, was this: Successive generations of 

 animals were so many cycles of evolution that succeeded one 

 another. Within the historical period, there was no doubt that, 

 speaking roughly, those succeeding cycles had been identical, that 

 was to say, without discernible difference. But when the period 

 of observation became proportional to the slow rate of change 

 they found, so 10 speak, that the hour hand bad moved ; 

 for, in the successive cycles of evolution which had occupied 

 the whole period, successive cycles had differed from one another 

 to a slight extent. If they might assume that, then the whole of 

 the phenomena of palaeontology would fall into order and 

 intelligibility. If not, they had to adopt an hypothesis which, as 

 he bad pointed out, had no support in tradition, and which was 

 absolutely contradicted by every sound canon of scientific re- 

 search. This was his case for evolution, which he rested wholly 

 upon arguments of the kind he had adduced. From the time 

 when he first read Charles Darwin's " Origin of Species," now 

 some twenty-four years ago, his mind had fixed itself upon the 

 tenth chapter of that book, which treated of the succession of 

 forms in geological times, for it appeared to him that that was 

 the key of the position ; that if the doctrine of evolution was 

 correct, the facts of palaeontology, as soon as they became suffi- 

 ciently known, must bear it out and verify it in every particular. 



On the other hand, he believed that, if the facts of palaeontology 

 or the historical facts of life on the globe were against evolution, 

 then all the rest of the argumentation in its favour would be vain 

 and empty, because the difficulty of adopting it would be in that 

 case absolutely insuperable. He would venture to repeat that 

 the occurrence of evolution was a question of history. He did 

 not know whether Sir Henry Maine was not more competent to 

 speak on that point than he was. It was a question as to whether 

 they would interpret the facts of animated nature scientifically, 

 or whether they would open the door to every description of 

 hypothetical vagary. He came to the conclusion that that was 

 a point worth testing in every possible way, and for some twenty 

 years be had given what leisure he had been aide to beg, borrow, 

 or sometimes steal, to the investigation of these questions. He 

 had endeavoured to ascertain for himself how the doctrine ot 

 evolution fitted with the facts of pala.-ontology.with regard to the 

 higher vertebrated animals, and with regard to the chief varieties 

 of invertebrate animals, and all he could tell them was that the 

 farther his own investigations had gone, the more complete had 

 appeared to be the coincidence between the facts of palaeontology 

 and the requirements of the doctrine of evolution. The conclu- 

 siun he had come to was that at which every competent person 

 who had undertaken a similar inquiry had arrived, and if they 

 would pay attention to the writings of such men as Gaudiy, 

 Rutime)er, Marsh, Cope, and others, who had added ma- 

 terials upon which to form a judgment such as were not 

 dreamt of when Darwin first wrote, they would find that they 

 all without hesitation attached themselves to the doctrine of 

 evolution as the only key to the enigma. In deciding the issue 

 between the two hypotheses, serious inquirers would not trouble 

 themselves about any collateral points as to the how and the w hy, 

 or as to any of the subordinate points at issue. He thought he 

 was entitled to entreat those who by their calling or by their 

 position in society, or by the fact that they possessed any in- 

 fluence, might be led to express an opinion upon this matter, to 

 look into the arguments which formed the foundation of the case 

 for evolution. Happily, he might address that recommendation 

 to members of the University of Cambridge with a perfectly 

 good conscience, for at this present time he knew not where in 

 the world any one could find better means of passing through all 

 those preliminary studies which were essential to a comprehension 

 of this great question, or where any one could find more amply 

 displayed the means of testing the arguments which he had 

 laid before them. He ventured to say that the members of 

 this University were without excuse if they gave opinions on 

 thi- question of evolution without having prepared themselves, by 

 as diligent study as they w ould for the purpose of approaching 

 questions of literary or theological criticism, to express an opinion 

 upon it. These were the considerations which he had wished 

 to set before them that day. It would be understood that they 

 would not suffice to enable any one to form a judgment upon the 

 doctrine of evolution, but he hoped that thev had sufficed, brief 

 and insufficient as they were, to show that if judgment on this 

 question was to be worth anything intellectually, if it was to be 

 creditable to the moral sense of those who formed it, it would 

 first be necessary that the facts should be clearly comprehended, 

 and that the conclusion — whatever it might be — should be one 

 which right reason would admit might be justly and perfectly 

 connected with the facts. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Oxford. — The term that has just concluded has been chiefly 

 noticeable for the interest drawn towards Oriental studies in the 

 University by the building of the new Indian Institute. The 

 vi-it of the Prince of Wales to the Chancellor of the University 

 srrved to draw national attention to the work which Oxford, and 

 especially Balliol College, has undertaken in respect to the 

 training of the selected candidates for the Indian Civil Service. 

 In spite of the failure of the late attempt to induce the Uni- 

 versity to relax its rule requiring three years' residence as a quali- 

 fication for a B. A. degree in the case of the Indian Civil Sen-ants, 

 a considerable proportion of the selected candidates come into 

 residence at the University ; Balliol, by providing teachers and 

 tutors in Oriental subjects, attracts by far the greatest number. 



With the exception of two debates there has been little excite- 

 ment during the term in the Convocation House. The two 

 questions that roused general interest were, first, the proposal that 



