NOVEMBEE 25, 1898.] 



SCIENCE, 



753 



dead aud the living will, I do not doubt, here- 

 after throw more light on the appearance of 

 organic beings on our earth, and their disap- 

 pearance from it, than any other class of facts." 

 The other discovery was the astonishing diver- 

 sity between the species or local varieties of the 

 Galapagos Islands and the evident deviation 

 of the fauna from the nearest continent. As 

 be exclaims: " Reviewing the facts here given, 

 one is astonished at the amount of creative 

 force — if such an expression be used — displayed 

 on these small, barren and rocky islands; and 

 still more so at its diverse and j'et analogous 

 action on points so near each other." This 

 occurrence of extremely localized forms is a 

 matter of special interest at the present day, 

 because it is due largely to isolation, and the 

 case of the Galapagos Islands appears to be 

 paralleled by the distribution of the land shells 

 of the Hawaiian Islands, and the extremely 

 slightly marked local varieties of the fishes of 

 certain lakes in Indiana, those of the lAUorina 

 littorea, and the fiat fish of the New England 

 coast; the problem as to the causes of their 

 origin being still a matter of discussion. 



In several very interesting chapters the au- 

 thor tells us about the relations between Dar- 

 win and Wallace ; with the former originating 

 the discovery of the principle of natural selec- 

 tion, and with the latter that of the survival of 

 the fittest, both receiving their inspiration from 

 a common source, Malthus' suggestive book on 

 Population. As is well known, Darwin brooded 

 over his work for twenty years, all this period 

 observing aud collecting facts, and experiment- 

 ing and testing the truth of his views, while 

 Wallace ' thought out almost the whole of his 

 theory ' in two hours, completing his essay in 

 three evenings. 



The publication of the joint article by Darwin 

 and Wallace, in 1858, is memorable not only in 

 the annals of science, but in the history of 

 morals. For the nobility of spirit and generosity 

 shown by both of the young ai'dent naturalists, 

 the fact that, instead of leading to jealousy and 

 bitterness, it formed the beginning of a life- 

 long friendship, and of mutual confidence and 

 esteem between the two, is most creditable to 

 them as men and as scientists. 



The historic meeting of the Linnean Society 



when the joint essay was read appeared to 

 have produced but little immediate effect. The 

 first one to accept, in October, 1859, and by his 

 own wide experience extend to variation in 

 birds the principle of selection, was Canon 

 Tristram. 



The doctrine of the origin of species, as well 

 as the principle of evolution in general, were 

 ably supported by those intellectual giants 

 Lyell, Hooker, Herbert Spencer, Huxley and 

 Asa Gray, and the chapters in which the influ- 

 ence of these men on the acceptance and spread 

 of Darwin's doctrines is described are not the 

 least interesting in the book. 



While the author is most sympathetic and 

 appreciative, he becomes a grain narrow and 

 provincial in his reference to Lamarck and his 

 work, stating on p. 99 that the causes of evo- 

 lution proposed by Lamarck are 'seriously 

 disputed and it is possible that they may be 

 ultimately abandoned.' On the contrary, we 

 are now hearing, after they had laid perdu for a 

 generation, a great deal about Lamarck's views 

 as to the causes of variation, involving the 

 influence of environment, of use and disuse, of 

 isolation; even if we throw out use-inheritance, 

 now in question, from a broad and catholic 

 standpoint, we must concede to Lamarck the 

 discovery of the fundamental causes of variation, 

 and to Darwin and Wallace the discovery of the 

 principles of competition and of selection. 



A. S. Packard. 



La structure du protoplasma et les theories sur 

 Vheridite et les grands problems de la hiologie 

 generals. Par Yves Delage, Professeur a la 

 Sorbonne. Paris, C. Reinwald et Cie., Li- 

 braires-editeurs. 1895. 8vo. Pp. 878. 

 Although Professor Delage' s volume was pub- 

 lished in 1895, it is perhaps not too late to say 

 a few words to call the attention of the Amer- 

 ican scientific public to this valuable work. 

 Professor Delage occupies quite a unique posi- 

 tion through the series of elaborate critical 

 compilations which he has made. These com- 

 pilations have all been much more than a series 

 of literary studies, having all been based to a 

 considerable degree upon the examination by 

 the author of the material involved in his sub- 

 ject. We need only refer here to the many- 



