16 [320] 



DARWIN ARD HUMBOLDT. 



only a few months before his death 

 he had arranged to provide funds for 

 the preparation of the new edition of 

 STEUDEL'sNomenclator,* which, at his 

 earnest wish, has been projected at 

 Kew. 



V. WORK IN ZOOLOGY. 



BTG. J. ROMANES, F.R.S. 



The influence which our great 

 naturalist has exerted upon zoology 

 is unquestionably greater than that 

 which has been exerted by any other 

 individual ; and as it depends on his 

 generalizations much more than upon 

 his particular researches, we may best 

 do justice to it by taking a broad 

 view of the effects of Darwinism on 

 zoology, rather than by detailing 

 those numberless facts which have 

 been added to the science by the ever 

 vigilant observations of Darwin. 

 Nevertheless, we may begin our sur- 

 vey by enumerating the more im- 

 portant results of his purely zoologi- 

 cal work, not so much because these 

 have been rarely equaled by the work 

 of any other zoologist, as because Ave 

 may thus give due prominence to the 

 remarkable association of qualities 

 which was presented by Mr. Dar- 

 win's mind. This association of 

 qualities was such that he was able 

 fully to appreciate and successfully to 

 cultivate every department and rami- 

 fication of biological research — wheth- 

 er morphological, physiological, syste- 

 matic, descriptive, or statistical — and 

 at the same time to rise above the 

 minutioz of these various branches, to 

 take those commanding views of the 

 Avhole range of nature and of natural 

 science which have produced so 

 enormous a change upon our means 

 of knowledge and our modes of 

 thought. No laborer in the field of 

 science has ever plodded more 

 patiently through masses of small de- 



* An enumeration of the names and syn- 

 onyms of all described flowerings plants with 

 their native countries. 



tail ; no master-mind on the highest 

 elevation of philosophy has ever 

 grasped more world- transforming 

 truth. 



Taking the purely zoological work 

 in historical order, we have first 

 to consider the observations made 

 during the voyage of the Beagle. 

 These, however, are much too numer- 

 ous and minute to admit of being 

 here detailed. Among the most 

 curious are those relating to the 

 scissor-beak bird, niata cattle, aeronaut 

 spiders, upland geese, sense of sight 

 and smell in vultures; and among 

 the most important are those relating 

 to the geographical distribution of 

 species. The results obtained on the 

 latter head are of peculiar interest, 

 inasmuch as it was owing to them 

 that Mr. Darwin was first led to 

 entertain the idea of evolution. As 

 displaying the dawn of this idea in his 

 mind w T e may quote a passage or two 

 from his Voyage of a Naturalist, 

 where these Observations relating to 

 distribution are given : 



''These mountains (the Andes) 

 have existed as a great barrier since 

 the present races of animals have 

 appeared, and therefore, unless we 

 suppose the same species to have 

 been created in two different places, 

 we ought not to expect any closer 

 similarity between the organic beings 

 on the opposite sides of the Andes, 

 than on the opposite shores of the 

 ocean." 



"The natural history of these 

 islands (of the Galapagos Archipelago) 

 is eminently curious, and well deserves 

 attention. Most of the organic pro- 

 ductions are aboriginal creations, 

 found nowhere else ; there is even a 

 difference between the inhabitants of 

 the different islands ; yet all show a 

 marked relationship with those of 

 America, though separated from that 

 continent by an open space of ocean 

 between 500 and 600 miles in width. 

 The Archipelago is a little world 

 within itself, or rather a satellite 

 attached to America, whence it has 

 derived a few stray colonists, and has 

 received the general character of its 



