THE STUDY OF EVOLUTION 3 
by the general public with all the signs of a genuine 
enthusiasm ; and none; moreover, can be more fas- 
cinating to the professional naturalist. But since the 
time of Darwin the more popular accounts have dealt 
almost exclusively with theoretical considerations and 
with matters of opinion. Highly abstruse contro- 
versies have raged freely between Neo-Lamarckians 
and Neo-Darwinians, and these have found a place 
in the pages of works ostensibly intended for the in- 
struction of all and sundry; whilst only a bare re- 
siduum of actual matters of fact has seen the light of 
popular publication. If the truth must be told, the 
experimental method was given up for a long time by 
the majority of specialists themselves in favour of the 
controversial, and, indeed, this tendency has by no 
means yet died out from among the habits of some 
professed evolutionists. On the other hand, during 
the last fifteen to twenty years, a few scattered workers 
have diligently applied themselves to a study of the 
facts of variation and inheritance, with results which 
already more than justify the anticipation in which 
their work was begun—namely, that by such methods 
alone can any real progress in our knowledge of the 
processes of evolution be brought about. — 
The science of organic evolution is by no means the 
simple and isolated study it might be supposed to be 
from a perusal of some of the more popular accounts. 
Its footing rests immediately upon the widest founda- 
tions which zoology, botany, and physiology can afford ; 
and these in their turn are ultimately based upon the 
results of chemical and physical science. But some 
I—2 
