NATURE 



THURSDAY. JUNE 24, 1909. 



EVOLUTION : OLD AXD NEW. 

 Diirivin and Modem Science. Essays in Commemora- 

 tion of the Centenary of the Birth of Charles 

 Darwin and of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the 

 Publication of the " Origin of Species." Edited for 

 the Cambridge Philosophical Society and the Syndics 

 of the University Press by Prof. A. C. Seward, 

 F.R.S. Pp. xvii + 595. (Cambridge: University 

 Press, 1909.) Price i8i. net. 



IN bringing together the series of essays composing 

 this volume, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 

 the syndics of the University Press, and the editor 

 of the work, Prof. Seward, have rendered a public 

 service for which all those who cultivate science in 

 any of its numerous branches must be deeply grateful. 

 It is an appropriate international memorial raised at a 

 most opportune time in memory of the centenary of 

 the birth of our greatest naturalist, and in celebration 

 of the jubilee of the publication of that epoch-making 

 book which made the principle of organic evolution 

 a living realitv in the strictest scientific sense. We 

 have now been provided with a symposium of twenty- 

 eight essays by English and foreign experts — every 

 name being that of a recognised authority in that 

 subject with which he deals. It is no exaggeration to 

 speak of this work as monumental ; it is a monument 

 of greater durabilitv than bronze or marble, because 

 it stereotypes the collective thought of our age. For 

 the future historian of science it must for all time 

 serve as a land-mark indicating the present stage of 

 development of scientific doctrine in every department 

 of human thought where science holds sway, and 

 where the great principle of evolution has, under 

 Darwin's influence, served as a guide in the inter- 

 pretation both of organic and inorganic nature. 



It detracts in no way from the value of this volume 

 that it is in the best sense " popular " as distinguished 

 from technical. As stated in the preface, " Authors 

 were asked to address themselves primarily to the 

 educated layman rather than the expert." From this 

 point of view some writers, as might have been 

 expected, have succeeded better than olhers, although, 

 on the whole, the result is highly satisfactory. The 

 book should thus be particularly valuable to those 

 workers in other departments of science or in other 

 fields whose occupations have precluded their 

 keeping pace with the rapid development in know- 

 ledge and mode of thought to which Darwin gave the 

 impetus half a century ago. But it is difficult, if not 

 impossible, to impose any restriction with respect to 

 the class of reader to which these essays will appeal. 

 The names of the authors whose services have been 

 invoked will suffice to show that every branch of 

 scientific culture has been influenced by the teaching 

 of the man who in his modesty wrote of his own work 

 shortly before his death : — 



" \\'ith such moderate abilities as I possess, it is 

 truly surprising that I should have influenced to a 

 considerable extent the belief of scientific men on 

 some important points." 



NO. 2069, VOL. So] 



Biology naturally predominates, and for zoology 

 and botany the names of Weismann, de Vries, Francis 

 Darwin, Strasburger, Bateson, Sedgwick, Klebs, 

 Loeb, Poulton, and Goebel stand as sponsors for their 

 respective subjects. Schwalbe treats of the descent of 

 man, and Ernst Haeckel of Darwin as an anthro- 

 pologist. Geographical distribution is handled by 

 Thiselton-Dyer and Hans Gadow ; geology by Judd, 

 and palaeontology by W. B. Scott, of Princeton, and 

 D. H. Scott. Lloyd Morgan writes on the " Mental 

 Factors of Evolution," Hoffding on evolution in 

 relation to modern philosophy, Bougie on sociology, 

 the Rev. P. N. Waggett and Jane Ellen Harrison on 

 the religious influence of Darwin's work. Philology 

 is treated by P. Giles and history by J. B. Bury. 

 For the essays on the application of the principle of 

 evolution to inorganic nature we are indebted to Sir 

 George Darwin, who treats of double stars, and to 

 W. C. D. Whetham, who gives an account of the- 

 evolution of matter according to the modern hypo- 

 thesis of atomic "disintegration." The history of 

 evolution is written by J. A. Thomson, who treats of 

 Darwin's predecessors, and by J. G. Frazer, who gives- 

 an account of early theories of the origin of man. 

 .\n introductory letter from Sir Joseph Hooker appro- 

 priately prefaces this splendid contribution to the 

 n-.odern literature of evolution. 



A work of the order and magnitude herein indi- 

 cated does not come within the purview of the 

 ordinary reviewer of scientific treatises. There is 

 ample scope for discussion, for the views of some of 

 the writers are at variance with those of others re- 

 specting the cardinal doctrine of the " Origin of 

 Species by Means of Natural Selection," to quote the 

 exact title of that classical work which the present 

 \olume commemorates. The one bond which unites 

 all the contributors is the principle of evolution and 

 the indebtedness of science, philosophy, and history 

 to the man who made the nations " think in terms of 

 evolution." Perhaps the best praise that can be 

 bestowed upon the historical collection of essays 

 forming the subject of this notice is to compare it in 

 its candour with the writings of the master himself, 

 for, as has so frequently been pointed out, the best and 

 the severest critic of the theory of natural selection 

 was Charles Darwin. It is only in harmony with the 

 scientific spirit of our great leader that we should find 

 between the same covers, and written with the same 

 object of paying homage to the far-reaching influence 

 of that leader's work, the strictly " selectionist " con- 

 tributions of authors such as Weismann and Poulton, 

 and the later divergent views of the schools repre- 

 sented by de Vries and Bateson. We quite agree 

 with the latter that the greatness of Darwin's work is 

 " that it may be admired from more aspects than 

 one" (Essay v., p. 85). Perhaps not the least im- 

 portant of these aspects is that we must credit the 

 " Origin " with having been the first work which suc- 

 cessfully rescued the species question from the domain 

 of ancient mysticism and ecclesiasticism, and handed it 

 over to the scientific world for treatment by those 

 same methods of investigation which had long been 

 recognised as the only legitimate weapons of attack 

 in other departments of natural knowledge— a true 



