24 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 1. 



and more forcible as the years have passed. 

 While the followers of Darwin's views have 

 tried to shut their eyes to them and have 

 tried to explain away the objections that 

 have arisen, it has been plain to every 

 thinking naturalist that the natural selec- 

 tion of minute accidental variations is en- 

 tirely inadequate to accomplish the great 

 end of producing species. The most import- 

 ant result of Mr. Bateson's study of varia- 

 tions is that the variations that occur in 

 animals are not minute and continuous, or, 

 rather, that they are fi-equently discontin- 

 uous. By this term the author means that 

 variations may be sudden and extreme in 

 character, such as the sudden development 

 of a new tooth in a single generation, or 

 the appearance of a new leg, or some other 

 very prominent characteristic which appears 

 at once without the numerous intermediate 

 stages which Mr. Darwin's theory assumes. 

 ■\Vhile Mr. Bateson does not claim that this 

 view is demonstrated by the facts now col- 

 lected, he does iasist that all of his data 

 pomt in that direction. The extreme sig- 

 nificance of this conclusion upon the ques- 

 tion of the origin of species is plaiu at once. 

 A second conclusion which one reaches in 

 the perusal of these mstances is that varia- 

 tions are not haphazard, but, while, of course, 

 they cannot be predicted with certaiatj^, 

 they do fall under certain definite laws. 

 Jlr. Bateson has found it possible to group 

 the variations that occur in animals under 

 verj^ definite classes, so definite that, in many 

 cases, at least, it is imijossible to question 

 that they are regulated by some organic 

 law. Of coiu-se, Mr. Darwin recognized that 

 variations had then- causes, but, neverthe- 

 less, he was iaclined to believe that they 

 were ' par hazard.' According to the con- 

 clusions of Mr. Bateson, however, they are 

 of a more or less definite nature. Inci- 

 dentally also Ml-. Bateson points oiit that 

 the study of variation gives us a new con- 

 ception of homology, and almost deprives 



us of the belief in the long recognized law of 

 reversion. It is somewhat surprising to be 

 called upon to abandon the law of reversion, 

 and perhaps the author does not deny that 

 it may be a factor in development, but he 

 does claim most of the instances so ex- 

 plained have nothing to do with this prin- 

 ciple. It is not possible here to dwell far- 

 ther upon the many suggestive facts which 

 are brought out by this study. 



In criticism one may say that the Eng- 

 lish is extremely poor. The subject, of 

 course, is a difficult one, and the author is 

 obliged to use a new termiaologj' and to ex- 

 plain his priaciples as he progresses. This 

 in itself renders the book somewhat obscure, 

 but we must add to this the fact that in 

 many cases his sentences are very involved 

 and cumbersome, and' altogether the work 

 is difficult reading. We may also some- 

 what regret that the author does not weave 

 into the work a few more suggestions as to 

 the significance of some of the facts that he 

 has treated. The great part of this work 

 reads like a museum catalogue, and museum 

 catalogues are much more intelligible if one 

 understands the basis of classification. Mr. 

 Bateson, however, distinctly states that he 

 does not consider the evidence as yet suffi- 

 cient to warrant conclusions except in re- 

 gard to some few general subjects. One 

 may also question if most of his material 

 does not savor too strongly of abnormal, 

 and, indeed, almost pathological variations, 

 to fairly serve as a basis for a theory of the 

 origin of species. But, in spite of one or 

 two such minor criticisms, the book of Mr. 

 Bateson is an exti-emely valuable addition 

 to zoological literature, and when it is com- 

 pleted by siibsequent volumes upon varia- 

 tions of different nature it is hardly possi- 

 ble to doubt that it will be one of the few 

 valuable and lasting additions to the litera- 

 tm-e on the general subject of the evolution 

 of organic natui-e. H. W. Conn. 



Wesleyan Univbesity. 



