196 EVOLUTION, OLD AND NEW. 



perception of many important facts for three-quarters 

 of a century. 



However this may be, Dr, Darwin's name has been 

 but little before the public during the controversies of 

 the last thirty years. Mr. Charles Darwin, indeed, in 

 the " historical sketch " which he has prefixed to the 

 later editions of his 'Origin of Species,' says, "It is 

 curious how largely my grandfather. Dr. Erasmus Dar- 

 win, anticipated the views and erroneous grounds of 

 opinion of Lamarck in his ' Zoonomia,' vol. i. pp. 500- 

 510, published in 1794."* And a few lines lower 

 Mr. Darwia adds, " It is rather a singular instance of 

 the manner in which similar views arise at about the 

 same time, that Goethe in Germany, and Geoffroy St. 

 Hilaire (as we shall immediately see) in France, came 

 to the same conclusion on the ' Origin of Species ' in 

 the years 1794-1796." Acquaintance with Buffon's 

 work will explain much of the singularity, while those 

 who have any knowledge of the writings of Dr. Darwin 

 and feienne Geoffroy St. Hilaire will be aware that 

 neither would admit the other as "coming to the 

 same conclusion," or even nearly so, as himself. Dr. 

 Darwin goes beyond his successor, Lamarck, while 

 Etienne Geoffroy does not even go so far as Dr. Darwin's 

 predecessor, Buffon, had thought fit to let himself be 

 known as going. I have found no other reference to 

 Dr. Darwin in the ' Origin of Species,' except the two 

 just given from the same note. In the first edition I 

 find no mention of him. 



The chief fault to be found with Dr. Darwin's trea- 

 • ' Origin of Species,' note on p. xiv. 



