THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1897. 
DARWIN AND DARWINISM. 
Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection. 
By Edward B. Poulton, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S., 
&c., Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of 
Oxford. Pp. 224. (London, Paris, and Melbourne : 
Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1896.) 
FTER the one-volume “Life and Letters” by 
Francis Darwin, and the admirable little book by 
maT URE 
Grant Allen in the “English Worthies” series, there | 
seemed to be little room for another English work upon 
the same subject; yet the present small volume is 
markedly original, and while following pretty: closely the 
general lines of the “ Life and Letters,” introduces much 
- new matter, and gives a fuller account of what may be 
termed the critical points of Darwin’s theories than are | 
to be found in any of the works here referred to. It is 
written in a thoroughly sympathetic, though impartial, | 
spirit; and without introducing any actual criticism, 
either of the views of Darwin or of his opponents (which 
would have been manifestly out of place in a popular 
work), it yet makes clear the differences of opinion that 
now exist astosome of Darwin’s most cherished theories, 
and, while briefly stating the main facts and hypotheses 
on both sides, leaves the reader in no doubt, both as to 
the exact nature and importance of the opposing views 
and the kind of evidence that is required in order to 
decide which is most in accordance with the facts of 
nature. 
The first seven chapters deal with Darwin’s life down 
to the year 1856, the facts of which are so widely known 
that they call for no special notice. Though much con- 
densed, they supply all the information needed by the 
general reader; and we will only quote the following 
estimate of character as due to heredity, which is very 
suggestive : 
“Tt appears probable that Charles Darwin’s unique 
power was largely due to inheritance of the imagination 
of his grandfather, combined with the acute observation 
of his father. Although he possessed an even larger 
share of both these qualities than his predecessors, it is 
probable that he owed more to their co-operation than to 
the high degree of their development.” 
While believing this estimate to be generally correct, 
it appears to the present writer that two other important 
factors have been usually overlooked—the solitude of 
the five years’ voyage and the persistent ill-health. 
During a very large portion of the five years*with the 
Beagle, Darwin must have been practically alone and 
thrown on his own mental resources, not only on the ship 
when all the officers would be engaged on their duties, 
but during his numerous land-journeys and excursions 
on shore; and this mental solitude of an active mind, 
furnished continually with new and interesting facts on 
which to exercise the imaginative and reasoning powers, 
led to the formation of those original and suggestive 
ideas which were the foundation of his greatness. 
Hardly less important was the almost continuous ill- 
health, which, while not preventing work or shortening 
life, obliged him to live in the country, free from the dis- 
NO. 1422, VOL. 55 | 
tractions of society, and where his active mind could only 
be satisfied by continual study and experiment. Without 
the solitude of the voyage the fundamental idea of natural 
selection might never have been attained ; with vigorous 
health that wonderful series of experimental observations 
in the quiet and solitude of Down, without which the 
“Origin of Species” would have lost much of its con- 
vincing power, would almost certainly not have been 
made. 
Chapters viii. to xii. are devoted to the relations be- 
tween Darwin and the present writer, about which nothing 
need be here said, except that they contain some new 
matter, and while too flattering to myself, appear to be 
quite accurate as to the facts. 
The next six chapters are devoted to a sketch of the 
writing and publication of the “ Origin,” and the influence 
of Darwin upon his more eminent friends and corre- 
spondents ; and of these chapters the most original and 
important is the eighteenth, on the “ Influence of Darwin 
upon Huxley.” Prof. Poulton here points out the mis- 
conceptions prevalent as to Huxley’s exact views, show- 
ing that the one and only point on which he considered 
the theory to fail in logical completeness was the absence 
of proof of infertility arising among the most divergent 
races of domestic animals, a difficulty which still exists, 
but which may possibly be set at rest by systematic and 
long-continued experiment. This difficulty, however, 
applies equally to all other theories; while, if the 
argument of the present writer is sound—that, under 
certain conditions which are frequently present, the 
variations in fertility which undoubtedly occur will be 
accumulated by natural selection, we not only have the 
general occurrence of infertility between allied species 
explained, but we also see why such infertility does not 
arise among varieties due to man’s selection, since he 
has never attempted to produce it. A more thorough 
examination of this problem seems, therefore, to be 
called for. 
Chapters xix. and xx. are devoted to an interesting 
exposition of the various misconceptions and misrepre- 
sentations of the theory of natural selection, which caused 
so much trouble and annoyance to Darwin, misconcep- 
tions which are still prevalent, as shown by Lord Salis- 
bury’s recent address, and by passages in Prof. Cope’s 
last book (see NATURE, vol. liii. p. 554). These chapters 
are therefore very opportune, and may do something to 
show the public that a large proportion of Darwin’s 
critics have not taken the trouble to understand the 
theory to which they take exception. 
The next two chapters are perhaps the most original 
and important in the volume, since they contain a very 
careful summary of Darwin’s celebrated theory of 
Pangenesis. To most of the readers of this work these 
chapters will be entirely new, and will give them in a 
very readable form some idea of the exceedingly varied 
and complex phenomena of “inheritance” which the 
theory was formed to explain. Among these are sexual 
and asexual reproduction, the complex phenomena of 
variability and inheritance, the diversity of embryonic 
changes during development of allied groups, the 
phenomena of graft-hybrids, the reproduction of lost 
parts, the sterility of hybrids, reversion to ancestral 
forms, and many others. Besides these there are the 
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