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POPULAR SCIENCE REYIEW. 
our extreme gratification at the manner in which he has discharged an 
extremely difficult task; His work must be read by all engaged, either 
directly or indirectly, with education. 
THE GENESIS OF SPECIES.* 
A MONG the numerous opponents of Mr. Darwin’s doctrines — and that 
they have been numerous a search through our literature for the past 
few years will demonstrate clearly — there were none worthy of considera- 
tion till Mr. Mivart appeared upon the field. And he has come with so much 
force, so much knowledge from reading, so much practical acquaintance 
with the subject of natural history, that anything which he may have to 
say will have to be heard with gravity and thoughtfulness. But apart 
from these, the author’s characteristics, the volume itself is one which, from 
the closeness of its argument, the multitude of examples it contains illus- 
trating its author’s opinions, the great incompleteness of the Darwinian 
theory which it conscientiously exposes, and, above all, the calm, dignified, 
and conscientious tone which prevails throughout its pages, has qualities 
that in the highest degree commend it to the general and scientific reader. 
For ourselves, we may as well say at the outset, that it has not convinced 
us of the force of the views which it endeavours to prove, but we must 
equally admit that we have learned much from it that our mind had failed 
to take in before, and that it has led us to admit a view of natural selection 
more extended, vastly, than that to which Mr. Darwin’s works give place. 
It appears to us that in admitting this extension of “ natural selection,” we 
admit all that is necessary to prove in favour of Mr. Darwin’s dictum ; but 
we confess that it is alone to Mr. Mivart’s efforts that we have altered our 
opinion so seriously on this one point. In reference to the latter portion of Mr. 
Mivart’s book and his opposition to Pangenesis, we differ entirely from him. 
With the theological part of the volume we totally disagree, but that may 
be disregarded in the present place ; but we think his arguments against 
Pangenesis of the very feeblest description, and we could have wished them 
excluded from so admirable a volume. The one fact that a particle which 
can be merely seen by our eyes, may be practically as large as the whole 
world, and is infinite in division, is of itself sufficient in support of the 
principle which Mr. Darwin holds, while in almost every other point the 
doctrine of Pangenesis serves to explain phenomena, and without it, it 
appears to us, we are without any reasonable explanation of a whole host 
of natural facts. 
We cannot, of course, in our short space do anything like justice to so 
admirable a book, for we can in no case give a statement of the author’s 
many and closely-reasoned arguments. But we may briefly state what he 
attempts to prove in the course of the closely-reasoned pages of which his 
work consists. The following is a brief summary of his case : “ That 
* “ On the Genesis of Species.” By St. George Mivart, F.R.S. London : 
Macmillan, 1871. 
