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Successive stages in the division of the ovum, or egg-cell, of a worm 113 30.. A series of embryos at three comparable and progressive stages of development, representing each of the cla

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DARWIN, AND AFTER DARWIN

AN EXPOSITION OF THE DARWINIAN THEORY AND A DISCUSSION OF POST-DARWINIAN

QUESTIONS

GEORGE JOHN ROMANES, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.

Honorary Fellow of Gonville and Caius

College, Cambridge

I THE DARWINIAN

THEORY

FOURTH EDITION

ChicagoTHE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING

COMPANY

1910

The Illustrations of this book (with theexception of the Frontispiece and thecolored plate facing page 332) arecopyrighted under the title “DarwinismIllustrated.”

PRESS OF THE BLAKELY-OSWALD PRINTING CO.

CHICAGO

Ch Ch Oxford:

March 15th 1892.

My dear Sir,

As we have now agreed that

the Open Court Publishing Company is to undertake the American edition of my work entitled “Darwin and after

Darwin,” I have much pleasure

in transferring to you the copyright thereof, with all that this

includes.

Thanking you very much for

the kindness and liberality which

have marked your conduct of these

Several years ago Lord Roseberyfounded, in the University of Edinburgh, alectureship on “The Philosophy of NaturalHistory,” and I was invited by the Senatus

to deliver the lectures This invitation Iaccepted, and subsequently constituted thematerial of my lectures the foundation ofanother course, which was given in theRoyal Institution, under the title “Beforeand after Darwin.” Here the courseextended over three years—namely from

1888 to 1890 The lectures for 1888 weredevoted to the history of biology from theearliest recorded times till the publication

of the “Origin of Species” in 1859; the

lectures for 1889 dealt with the theory oforganic evolution up to the date of Mr.Darwin’s death, in 1882; while those ofthe third year discussed the furtherdevelopments of this theory from that datetill the close of the course in 1890.

It is from these two courses—whichresembled each other in comprisingbetween thirty and forty lectures, butdiffered largely in other respects—that thepresent treatise has grown Seeing,however, that it has Grown much beyondthe bulk of the original lectures, I havethought it desirable to publish the whole inthe form of three separate works Of thesethe first—or that which deals with thepurely historical side of biologicalscience—may be allowed to stand over

for an indefinite time The second is theone which is now brought out and which,

as its sub-title signifies, is devoted to thegeneral theory of organic evolution as thiswas left by the stupendous labours ofdarwin as soon as the translations shallhave been completed, the third portionwill follow (probably in the autumnseason), under the sub-title, “post-darwinian questions.”

As the present volume is thus intended

to be merely a systematic exposition ofwhat may be termed the Darwinism ofDarwin, and as on this account it is likely

to prove of more service to generalreaders than to professed naturalists, Ihave been everywhere careful to avoidassuming even the most elementary

knowledge of natural science on the part

of those to whom the exposition isaddressed The case, however, will bedifferent as regards the next volume,where I shall have to deal with theimportant questions touching Heredity,Utility, Isolation, &c., which have beenraised since the death of Mr Darwin, andwhich are now being debated with suchsalutary vehemence by the best naturalists

University of Edinburgh For alike inrespect of their large numbers, their keenintelligence, and their generous sympathy,the members of that voluntary classyielded a degree of stimulatingencouragement, without which the labour

of preparing the original lectures couldnot have been attended with the interestand the satisfaction that I found in it Mythanks are also due to Mr R E Holdingfor the painstaking manner in which he hasassisted me in executing most of theoriginal drawings with which this volume

is illustrated; and likewise to Messrs.Macmillan and Co for kindly allowing me

acknowledgment in every case—certainpassages from an essay which theypublished for me many years ago, under

the title “Scientific Evidences of OrganicEvolution.” Lastly, I must mention that I

am indebted to the same firm forpermission to reproduce an excellentportrait of Mr Darwin, which constitutesthe frontispiece

Christ Church, Oxford,

April 19th, 1892.

The Theory of Sexual Selection,

Note C to Page 394 448

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1 Successive forms of Paludina, from

the Tertiary deposits of Slavonia 19

3 Skeleton of Greenland Whale 53

4 Paddle of Whale compared with

5 Wing of Reptile, Mammal, and Bird 56

6 Skeleton of Dinornis gravis 61

7 Hermit crabs compared with the

8 Rudimentary or vestigial hind-limbs

of Python

67

Apteryx Australis 69

10 Illustrations of the nictitating

membrane in various animals named 75

11 Rudimentary, or vestigial and

useless, muscles of the human ear 76

12 Portrait of a young male gorilla 78

13 Portrait of a young male child 79

14 An infant, three weeks old,

15 Sacrum of Gorilla compared with

that of Man, showing the

rudimentary tail-bones of each

82

16 Diagrammatic outline of the human

embryo when about seven weeks

old

83

17 Front and back view of adult humansacrum

22 Vestigial characters of human ears 88

23 Hair-tracts on the arms and hands ofMan, as compared with those on the

arms and hands of Chimpanzee

90

24 Molar teeth of lower jaw in Gorilla,

25 Perforation of the humerus

(supra-condyloid foramen) in three species

of Quadrumana where it normally

occurs, and in Man, where it does 95

not normally occur

26 Antlers of stag, showing successive

addition of branches in successive

years

100

28 Hydra viridis, partly in section 111

29 Successive stages in the division of

the ovum, or egg-cell, of a worm 113

30 Ovarian ovum of a Mammal 121

31 Amœboid movements of young

32 Human ovum, mature and greatly

33 Stages in the formation of the polar

bodies in the ovum of a star-fish 125

34 Fertilization of the ovum of an

35 Fertilization of the ovum of a

36 Karyokinesis of a typical tissue-cell(epithelium of Salamander) 129

37 Study of successive changes taking

place in the nucleus of an

epithelium-cell, preparatory to

division of the cell

131

38 Formation and conjugation of the

pronuclei in Ascaris megalocephala

132,

133

40 The contents of an ovum in an

advanced stage of segmentation,

44 Prophysema primordiale, an extant

45 Ideal primitive vertebrate, seen

46 The same in transverse section

a lizard 150

54 Ideal diagram of primitive gill-or

55 The same, modified for a bird 151

56 The same, modified for a mammal 151

57 A series of embryos at three

comparable and progressive stages

of development, representing each

of the classes of vertebrated animalsbelow the Mammalia

152

58 Another series of embryos, also at

three comparable and progressive

stages of development, representing

four different divisions of the class

Mammalia

153

59 Diagram of geological succession ofthe classes of the Animal Kingdom 165

60 Skull of Oreodon Culbertsoni 167

61,62 Horns of Cervus dicrocerus 168

65 Horns of C issiodorensis 168

67 Successive stages in the

development of an existing Deer’s

73 Archæopteryx macura, restored 172

75 Skeleton of Lion 175

76 Anterior limb of Man, Dog, Hog,

77 Posterior limb of Man, Monkey,

78 Posterior limb of Baptanodon

discus, and anterior limb of

81 Bones of the foot of four different

forms of the perissodactyl type 186

82 Bones of the foot of four different

forms of the artiodactyl type 187

83 Feet and teeth In fossil pedigree of

84 Palæotherium (Lower Tertiary of

Paris Basin) 190

85 Hipparion (New World Pliocene) 192

86 Comparative series of Brains 194

87 Ideal section through all the above

88 Skulls of Canadian Stag, Cervalces

Americanus, and Elk 198

89 Transmutations of Planorbis 200

90 Transformation of Strombus 202

91 Pigeons Drawn from life 298

92 Pigeons (continued) Drawn from

94 Fowls (continued) Drawn from life 301

95 Pair of Japanese Fowls, long-tailed

96 Canaries Drawn from life 303

97 Sebastopol, or Frizzled Goose 304

98 The Dingo, or wild dog of Australia 304

100 Dogs (continued) Drawn from life 306

101 The Hairless Dog of Japan 307

102 The skull of a Bull-dog compared

with that of a Deer-hound 307

103 Rabbits Drawn from life 308

104 Horses Drawn from life 309

106 Cattle Drawn from life 311

107 Wild Boar contrasted with a

108 Seasonal changes of colour in

Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) 317109.Œdicneus crepitans, showing the

instinctive attitude of concealment 320

110 Imitative forms and colours in

114 Two further cases of mimicry; fliesresembling a wasp in the one and a

bee in the other

329

115 A case of mimicry where a

non-venomous species of snake

resembles a venomous one

330

116 A case of mimicry where a

homopterous resembles a

leaf-cutting ant

332

119 Electric organ of the Skate 369

120 Electric cells of Raia radiata 370

121 The Garden Bower-bird

123 Courtship of Spiders (continued) 389

124 The Bell-bird (Chasmorhynchus

SECTION I

EVOLUTION

CHAPTER I.

Introductory.

Among the many and unprecedentedchanges that have been wrought by Mr

Darwin’s work on the Origin of Species,

there is one which, although second inimportance to no other, has not receivedthe attention which it deserves I allude tothe profound modification which that workhas produced on the ideas of naturalistswith regard to method

Having had occasion of late yearssomewhat closely to follow the history of

biological science, I have everywhereobserved that progress is not so much

marked by the march of discovery per se,

as by the altered views of method whichthe march has involved If we except whatAristotle called “the first start” in himself,

I think one may fairly say that from therejuvenescence of biology in the sixteenthcentury to the stage of growth which it hasnow reached in the nineteenth, there is adirect proportion to be found between thevalue of work done and the degree inwhich the worker has thereby advancedthe true conception of scientific working

Of course, up to a certain point, it isnotorious that the revolt against the purely

“subjective methods” in the sixteenth

century revived the spirit of inductive

research as this had been left by the

Greeks; but even with regard to this revoltthere are two things which I should like toobserve.

In the first place, it seems to me, analtogether disproportionate value has beenassigned to Bacon’s share in themovement At most, I think, he deserves to

be regarded but as a literary exponent of

t h e Zeitgeist of his century Himself a

philosopher, as distinguished from a man

of science, whatever influence hispreaching may have had upon the generalpublic, it seems little short of absurd tosuppose that it could have produced anyconsiderable effect upon men who wereengaged in the practical work of research

And those who read the Novum Organon

with a first-hand knowledge of what is

required for such research can scarcelyfail to agree with his great contemporaryHarvey, that he wrote upon science like aLord Chancellor.

The second thing I should like toobserve is, that as the revolt against thepurely subjective methods grew in extentand influence it passed to the oppositeextreme, which eventually became onlyless deleterious to the interests of sciencethan was the bondage of authority, and

addiction to a priori methods, from which

the revolt had set her free For, withouthere waiting to trace the history of thismatter in detail, I think it ought now to bemanifest to everyone who studies it, that

up to the commencement of the presentcentury the progress of science in general,

and of natural history in particular, wasseriously retarded by what may be termedthe Bugbear of Speculation Fullyawakened to the dangers of web-spinningfrom the ever-fertile resources of theirown inner consciousness, naturalistsbecame more and more abandoned to theidea that their science ought to consist in amere observation of facts, or tabulation ofphenomena, without attempt at theorizingupon their philosophical import If thefacts and phenomena presented any suchimport, that was an affair for men ofletters to deal with; but, as men of science,

it was their duty to avoid the seductive

temptations of the world, the flesh, and thedevil, in the form of speculation,deduction, and generalization

I do not allege that this ideal of naturalhistory was either absolute or universal;but there can be no question that it wasboth orthodox and general Even Linnæuswas express in his limitations of truescientific work in natural history to thecollecting and arranging of species ofplants and animals In accordance with

this view, the status of a botanist or a

zoologist was estimated by the number ofspecific names, natural habitats, &c.,which he could retain in his memory,rather than by any evidences which hemight give of intellectual powers in theway of constructive thought At the mostthese powers might legitimately exercisethemselves only in the direction oftaxonomic work; and if a Hales, a Haller,

or a Hunter obtained any brilliant results

in the way of observation and experiment,their merit was taken to consist in the

discovery of facts per se: not in any

endeavours they might make in the way ofcombining their facts under generalprinciples Even as late in the day asCuvier this ideal was upheld as thestrictly legitimate one for a naturalist tofollow; and although Cuvier himself wasfar from being always loyal to it, heleaves no doubt regarding the estimate inwhich he held the still greater deviations

of his colleagues, St Hilaire andLamarck

Now, these traditional notionstouching the severance between the facts

of natural history and the philosophy of it,continued more or less to dominate the

minds of naturalists until the publication

of the Origin of Species, in 1859 Then it

was that an epoch was marked in thisrespect, as in so many other respectswhere natural history is concerned For,looking to the enormous results whichfollowed from a deliberate disregard ofsuch traditional canons by Darwin, it haslong since become impossible fornaturalists, even of the strictest sect, not toperceive that their previous bondage to thelaw of a mere ritual has been for eversuperseded by what verily deserves to beregarded as a new dispensation Yet itcannot be said, or even so much assuspected, that Darwin’s method in anyway resembled that of pre-scientific days,the revolt against which led to the straight-laced—and for a long time most salutary