Introduction 

 By Marcus Hartog, m.a., d.sc, f.l.s., f.r.h.s. 



IN reviewing Samuel Butler's works, "Unconscious 

 Memory " gives us an invaluable lead ; for it tells us 

 (Chaps. II, III) how the author came to write the Book of 

 the Machines in " Erewhon " (1872), with its foreshadow- 

 ing of the later theory, " Life and Habit " (1878), " Evolu- 

 tion, Old and New" (1879), as well as "Unconscious 

 Memory" (1880) itself. His fourth book on biological 

 theory was " Luck ? or Cunning ? " (1887). ^ 



Besides these books, his contributions to biology comprise 

 several essays : " Remarks on Romanes' Mental Evo- 

 lution in Animals, contained in " Selections from Previous 

 Works " (1884) incorporated into " Luck ? or Cunning," 

 " The Deadlock in Darwinism " [Universal Review, 

 April- June, 1890), republished in the posthumous volume 

 of " Essays on Life, Art, and Science " (1904), and, finally, 

 some of the " Extracts from the Notebooks of the late 

 Samuel Butler," edited by Mr. H. Festing Jones, now in 

 course of publication in the New Quarterly Review. 



Of aU these, "LIFE AND HABIT" (1878) is the most 

 important, the main building to which the other writings 

 are buttresses or, at most, annexes. Its teaching has been 

 summarised in " Unconscious Memory " in four main 

 principles : " (i) the oneness of personahty between parent 

 and offspring ; (2) memory on the part of the offspring of 

 certain actions which it did when in the persons of its 



' This is the date on the title-page. The preface is dated 

 October 15, 1886, and the first copy was issued in November of the 

 same year. All the dates arc taken from the Bibliography by Mr. 

 H. Festing Jones prefixed to the "Extracts" in the New Quarterly 

 Review (1909). 



