1895.] Recent Literature. 829 
devoted to tracing the rise and decline of evolutionary thought in 
. France, from Buffon to Geoffroy St. Hilaire (Isidore), in which at- 
tention is called to the opposing views of what may be termed the 
Buffon-Lamarck adherents and those of the Cuvier-Linnaeus school. 
The closing chapter is an exposition of the views of Darwin and Wal- 
lace and their precursors in the teaching of natural selection. 
This review of the history of thought on organic evolution is timely 
and will interest a large circle of readers. It is judicial in treatment, 
and although the author is known to have decided opinions on the sub- 
ject, they do not appear. He reminds us that the early fathers of the 
Christian church, and conspicuously Augustine, were evolutionists and 
that Suarez was not, although the contrary has been alleged. He 
points out the services of Buffon and Erasmus Darwin to thought, and 
shows the imaginative genius of the former, and the practical sagacity 
of the latter. In discussing Lamarck, while crediting him with clear- 
minded sagacity, he shows the superficial character of many of his at- 
tempted explanations. Nevertheless he says in closing his review, 
“ We must close by placing Lamarck in the first rank. He was the 
first naturalist to become profoundly convinced of the great law, and 
to place it in the form of a system.” He shows that Lamarck was the 
first author to understand the nature of actual phylogeny, and depict it 
graphically in true form. Of Darwin, the author says, “The long re- 
tention of his theory from publication marks the contrast of his caution 
with the impetuousness of Lamarck.” But it must be remembered 
that the Recherches sur Organisation des Corps Vivants was not 
written until 1802, when Lamarck was no longer young, and had 
spent his life in study. Further, “He” (Darwin) “sought a hundred 
facts and observations where his predecessors had sought one; his 
notes filled volumes, and he stands out as the first evolutionist who 
worked upon true Baconian principles. It was this characteristic 
which, combined with his originality, won the battle for the evolution 
idea.” This is an estimate of Darwin which time will confirm. 
The perusal of this book will give a just view of the history of 
thought on the doctrine of organic evolution, and will enable the 
reader to determine the respective parts which the contributors to our 
knowledge have played. The improved means of reaching conclusions 
which the additions to the store of facts in later periods placed within 
the reach of later authors, are referred to, The vast increase in our 
knowledge of facts since Darwin, have thrown so much light on the 
subject that it is to be hoped that Professor Osborn will at some future 
