134 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
zoology and paleontology that it seems almost as if he had left 
nothing for his successors to do, as far as these groups are 
concerned. But his later works have so completely eclipsed his 
earlier, that many perhaps who have read some of the former 
are ignorant of the fact that Darwin had a world-wide scientific 
reputation before he brought out his great philosophical works. 
His greatest work, the “Origin of Species,” published when he 
was just 50 years old, has proved, to use the words of Prof. 
Allmann, “a key to the order and hidden forces of the world of 
life.’ More than twenty years of almost continuous work and 
thought were devoted to the elaboration of the theory contained 
in it; and, fearful lest his tenure of life would prove insufficient 
for the completion of his task, he published his treatise in 1859, 
modestly terming it “this abstract.” The gist of the theory, 
with which his name will always remain associated, is contained 
in these concluding words of the introductory chapter :— 
“ Although much remains obscure, and will long remain 
obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate 
study and dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that 
the view which most naturalists until recently entertained, and 
which I formerly entertained—namely, that each species has 
been independently created—is erroneous. Iam fully convinced 
that species are not immutable; but that those belonging to 
what are called the same genera are lineal descendants of some 
other and generally extinct species, in the same manner as the 
acknowledged varieties of any one species are the descendants 
of that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that Natural 
Selection has been the most important, but not the exclusive, 
means of modification.” | 
Darwin claimed no new discovery ; he elaborated, and pre- 
sented in a lucid, concise, and convincing manner the theories 
already shadowed forth by his predecessors. His own grand- 
father (Erasmus Darwin), Lamarck, the anonymous author of 
the “Vestiges of Creation,’ Owen, A. R. Wallace, I. Geoffroy 
St. Hilaire, and Herbert Spencer, had all advanced similar 
hypotheses, and paved the way by their researches. But all 
were before their time. Public opinion “cared for none of these 
things,” and their theories appeared to have been thrown into 
the limbo of forgetfulness, when, at the touch of the magician’s 
wand, they were vivified again. It is marvellous what great 
insight Darwin brought to bear in his researches. Problems 
which seemed inscrutable were explained in the simplest con- 
ceivable manner, and people wondered how they could have 
failed to find them out for themselves. Matters which appeared 
most irrelevant to the subjects under discussion were shown to 
have a close connection with them, and the applications of the 
theory were made to every branch of science. There was no 
fear ever shown by the author as to how far his theory would 
extend, and where it would land him. He was prepared to take 
the inevitable consequences, believing that, as far as it would 
explain that “mystery of mysteries,’ the origin of species, it 
