POLYGENESIS 69 



(J859:6t9) rejected unconditionally the idea of polygenesis, 

 and sought to explain all distribution by migration, though 

 he admitted that this was difBcult in many cases. He ex- 

 pressed his ideas on this subject in the following statement: 

 "It is also obvious that the individuals of the same species, 

 though now inhabiting distant and isolated regions, must 

 have proceeded from one spot, where their parents were 

 first produced : for, as has been explained, it is incredible 

 that individuals identically the same should have been pro- 

 duced from parents specifically distinct. We are thus 

 brought to the question, which has been largely discussed 

 by naturalists, namely, whether species have been created 

 at one or more points of the earth's surface. Undoubtedly 

 there are many cases of extreme difQculty in understanding 

 how the same species could possibly have migrated from 

 some one point to the several distant and isolated points 

 where now found. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the view 

 that each species was first produced within a single region 

 captivates the mind. He who rejects it rejects the ve7a 

 causa oi ordinary generation with subsequent migration, and 

 calls in the agency of a miracle." Palacky (J864,Just '89: 

 169) was apparently the first, after the publication of Dar- 

 win's theory, to lend support to the doctrine of polygenesis, 

 but his work, unfortunately, is not accessible. 



Kabsch (1865:552) has asserted most emphatically his 

 opinion that species have single centres of creation and that 

 they proceed from a single individual. In this connection 

 he has made the following statements: "Jede Art besitzt nur 

 einen Punkt auf der Erde, wo sie entstanden und von dem aus 

 sie sich welter verbreitet hat : es giebt nicht zwei Punkte auf 

 der Erde in einiger Entfernung von einander und hat es zu 

 keiner Zeit gegeben, wo die oft so ausserst zarten und fttr 

 unser Auge zum Theil noch verborgenen oder nicht erkann- 

 ten Lebensbedingungen, welche auf die Umbildung der 

 Pflanzen wirken, sich so vollkommen gleich gewesen waren, 

 dass dieselbe Pflanzenform an verschiedenen Punkten 

 zugleich hatte entstehen kOnnen. Aehnliche Verhaltnisse 

 sind jedoch jetzt und noch mehr in fruheren Erdepochen 



