TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 101 



these and a hundred other problems of like nature was rarely approached by the 

 old method of study, or if approached was only the subject of vague speculation. 

 It is to the illustrious author of the ' Origin of Species ' that we are indebted for 

 teaching us how to study nature as one great, compact, and beautifully adjusted 

 system. Under the touch of his magic wand the countless isolated facts of internal 

 and external structure of living things — their habits, their colours, their develop- 

 ment, their distribution, their geological history, — all fell into their approximate 

 places; and although, from the intricacy of the subject and our very imperfect 

 knowledge of the facts themselves, much still remains uncertain, yet we can no 

 longer doubt that even the minutest and most superiicial peculiarities of animals 

 and plants either, on the one hand, are or have been useful to them, or, on the 

 other hand, have been developed under the influence of general laws, wliicli we 

 may one day understand to a much greater extent than we do at present. So 

 great is the alteration effected in our comprehension of nature by the studv of 

 variation, inheritance, cross-breeding, competition, distribution, protection, "and 

 selection — showing, as they often do, the meaning of the most obscure phenomena 

 and the mutual dependence of the most widely-separated organisms — that it can 

 only be fitly compared with the analogous alteration produced in our conception of 

 the universe by Newton's grand discovery of the law of gravitation. 



1 know it will be said (and is said) that Darwin is too highly rated, that some 

 of his tlieories are wholly and others partially erroneous, and that he often builds 

 a vast superstructure on a very uncertain basis of doubtfully interpreted I'acts. Now, 

 even admitting this criticism to be well founded — and I myself believe that to a 

 limited extent it is so — I nevertheless maintain that Darwin is not and canuot be 

 too highly rated ; for his greatness does not at all depend upon his being infallible, 

 but on his having developed, with rare patience and judgment, a new system of 

 observation and study, guided by certain general principles which are almost as 

 simple as gravitation and as wide-reaching in their eii'ects. And if other principles 

 should hereafter be discovered, or if it be proved that some of his subsidiary theoi-ies 

 are wholly or partially erroneous, this very discovery can only be made by "following 

 in Darwin's steps, by adopting the method of research which he has taught us, and 

 by largely using the rich stores of material which he has collected. The ' Origin 

 of Species, ' and the grand series of works which have succeeded it, have revolu- 

 tionized the study of biology : they have given us new ideas and fertile principles ; 

 they have infused life and vigour into our science, and have opened up hitherto 

 unthought-of lines of research on which hundreds of eager students are now la- 

 bouring. Whatever modifications some of his theories may require, Darwin mast 

 none the less be looked up to as the founder of philosophical biology. 



As a small contribution to this great subject, I propose now to call your atten- 

 tion to some curious relations of organisms to their environment, which seem to me 

 wortliy of more systematic study than has hitherto been given them. The points 

 I shall moi-e especially deal with are — the influence of locality, or of some unknown 

 local causes, in determining the colours of insects, and, to a less extent, of birds ; 

 and the way in which certain peculiaiities in the distribution of plants may have 

 been brought about by their dependence on insects. The latter part of my address 

 will deal with the present state of our knowledge as to the antiquity and early his- 

 tory of mankind. 



On some Behitmis of Livimj Things to their Environment. 



Of all the external characters of animals, the most beautiful, the most varied, and 

 the most gener.ally attractive are the brilliant colours and strange yet often elegant 

 markings ^yith which so many of them are adorned. Yet of all characters this is 

 the most difficult to bring under the laws of utility or of physical connexion. Mr. 

 Darwin — as you are well aware — has shown how wide is the influence of sex on 

 the intensity of coloration ; and he has been led to the conclusion that active or 

 voluntary sexual selection is one of the chief causes, if not the chief cause, of all 

 the variety and beauty of colour we see among the higher animals. This is one 

 of the points on which there is nuich divergence of opinion even among the siip- 

 porlers of Mr. Diirwin, and one as to which T myself difler from him. I liave 

 argued, and still believe, that the need of protection is a far more efficient cause of 



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