376 Revieics — The Danvin Centennial. 



It is remarkable that the present year is rendered famous by the 

 centenaiy of the birth of Darwin, and by the jubilee of the publication 

 of his Origin of Species, events which have been fittingly celebrated 

 at home and abroad. 



February 12 being the birthday of Darwin, that date was chosen at 

 Oxford, and the hundredth anniversary was celebrated by a reception 

 given in the examination schools by Professors 8. H. Vines, 

 E. B. Poulton, and Gr. C. Bourne. It is noteworthy that the pro- 

 ceedings were opened by the Dean of Christ Church, while an 

 address on "Fifty Years of Darwinism" was delivered by Professor 

 Poulton.i 



In America, on the same date, besides other gatherings, there was 

 a special celebration at Columbia University, New York, when 

 Dr. Henry Pairfield Osborn gave an address on the " Life and "Works 

 of Darwin". This has been printed (in the Popular Science Monthly 

 for April), with eight portraits, including that of the bust of Darwin 

 by William Couper, a copy of which in bronze was presented to Christ's 

 College, Cambridge. 



Naturalh^ the chief celebration was held at the University of 

 Cambridge, where Darwin, as an undergraduate at Christ's College, 

 gained inspiration in natural science and laid the foundations of his 

 great career. 



Proceedings were opened at the Fitzwilliam Museum on June 22, 

 with the reception of delegates and other invited guests by Lord 

 Eayleigh, the Chancellor of the University. The invitations were 

 confined almost entirely to naturalists. - 



On June 23 Lord Bayleigh gave a brief address in the Senate House, 

 and remarked that "What appeals to all is the character of the man, 

 loved by everyone who knew him, and admired by everyone with 

 a spark of the scientific spirit. It is a pleasure and a stimulus to 

 think of him, working on in spite of ill-health in his study, in his 

 garden, and in his hot-houses, and from his retirement moving the 

 minds of thinking men in a manner almost without parallel ". 



The presentation by delegates of addresses from all parts of the 

 world was accompanied by a few speeches. Then Sir Ray Lankester, 

 on behalf of British naturalists, referred to the inspiration given to 

 Darwin by Henslow, remarking that it was through " the influence of 

 his splendid abilities and high personal character upon Darwin that 

 Cambridge acquired the right to claim the author of the Origin of 

 Species as a product of her beneficence and activity as a seat of 

 learning". If Darwin did not explain the origin of variation, he 

 explained the origin of species by the preservation of minute variations 

 favourable to existence under prevailing natural conditions, and he 

 ' ' furnished the key to the explanation of what are called useless 

 specific characters and of incipient organs". 



On June 24 Sir Archibald Geikie delivered the Rede lecture, which 

 was included in the proceedings of the celebration, and he chose as his 



' See also his recently published Essays on Evolution, 1908. 

 * For many particulars here recorded we are indebted to Nature for June 10, 

 June 24, and July 1. 



