2 ANTIC IP A TION AND INTER PRE TA TION OF NA TURE, 



and that the development of the idea was at times 

 arrested and even retrogressive ; yet the conviction 

 grows with inquiry that the Evolution law was 

 reached not by any decided leap, but by the pro- 

 gressive development of every subordinate idea 

 connected with it, until it was recognized as a 

 whole by Lamarck, and later by Darwin. 



In order to prove this, I endeavour to trace 

 back some of these lesser ideas to their sources, 

 and to bring the comparatively little known early 

 evolutionists into their true relief as original think- 

 ers and contributors, or mere borrowers and imi- 

 tators. This is possible only because such search 

 has already been very ably made among certain 

 authors and in certain periods by other writers, to 

 whom I am largely indebted for whatever success 

 I have attained in this first attempt to cover the 

 whole period and to establish the evidence of con- 

 tinuity. 



Little national bias has been shown in the search 

 for anticipations of Darwin among his precursors ; 

 as one instance, the highest praises of Lamarck 

 have been sounded in Germany, and of Goethe in 

 France. The greatest defects I find in the histori- 

 cal literature of this subject are the lack of sense 

 of proportion as to the original merits of different 

 writers, and the non-appreciation of the continuity 

 of evolution thought. In general, we need more 

 critical and thorough work than has yet been given 

 us. Many heralded anticipations are not anticipa- 



