Per Contra 24.9 
attempt to claim the theory of descent with modification 
is to be found in the practice of Lamarck, Mr. Patrick 
Matthew, the author of the “ Vestiges of Creation,” and 
Mr. Herbert Spencer, and, again, in the total absence of 
complaint which this practice met with. If Lamarck might 
write the “ Philosophie Zoologique ’’ without, so far as I 
remember, one word of reference to Buffon, and without 
being complained of, why might not Mr. Darwin write the 
“ Origin of Species ’’ without more than a passing allusion 
to Lamarck? Mr. Patrick Matthew, again, though writing 
what is obviously a résumé of the evolutionary theories of 
his time, makes no mention of Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin, 
or Buffon. I have not the original edition of the ‘‘ Vestiges 
of Creation ’”’ before me, but feel sure I am justified in say- 
ing that it claimed to be a more or less Minerva-like work, 
that sprang full armed from the brain of Mr. Chambers 
himself. This at least is how it was received by the public ; 
and, however violent the opposition it met with, I cannot 
find that its author was blamed for not having made 
adequate mention of Lamarck. When Mr. Spencer wrote 
his first essay on evolution in the Leader (March 20, 1852) 
he did indeed begin his argument, ‘‘ Those who cavalierly 
reject the doctrine of Lamarck,” &c., so that his essay 
purports to be written in support of Lamarck ; but when he 
republished his article in 1858, the reference to Lamarck 
was cut out. 
I make no doubt that it was the bad example set him by 
the writers named in the preceding paragraph which 
betrayed Mr. Darwin into doing as they did, but being 
more conscientious than they, he could not bring himself 
to do it without having satisfied himself that he had got 
hold of a more or less distinctive feature, and this, of course, 
made matters worse. The distinctive feature was not due 
to any deep-laid plan for pitchforking mind out of the 
universe, or as part of a scheme of materialistic philosophy, 
though it has since been made to play an important 
