Geoffroy
Saint Hilaire, as Saint Hilaire, as 1861 1866 1869 |
Saint-Hilaire, 1872 |
is is 1861 1866 1869 | as is 1872 |
stated in his 'Life,' written by his son, suspected, as early as 1795, that what we call species are various degenerations of the same type. It was not until 1828 that he published his conviction that the same forms have not been perpetuated since the origin of all things. Geoffroy seems to have relied chiefly on the conditions of life, or the
"
monde
ambiant
,"
ambiant
,"
1861 |
ambiant,
"
1866 1869 |
ambiant
"
1872 |
as the cause of change. He was cautious in drawing conclusions, and did not believe that existing species are now undergoing modification; and, as his son adds,
"C'est "C'est 1861 1866 1872 | "C'ost 1869 |
done done 1861 1869 | donc 1866 1872 |
un problème à réserver entièrement à l'avenir, supposé même que l'avenir doive avoir prise sur
lui." lui." 1861 1866 1869 |
lui." — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1872 |
↑5 blocks not present in 1861; present in 1866 1869 1872 | In 1813
Dr. W. C. Wells read before the Royal Society 'An Account of a White Female, part of whose Skin
resembles that of a Negro;'
but his paper was not published until his famous 'Two Essays upon Dew and Single Vision' appeared in 1818.
In this paper he distinctly recognises the principle of natural selection, and this is the first recognition which has been indicated; but he applies it only to the races of man, and to certain characters alone.
After remarking that negroes and mulattoes enjoy an immunity from certain tropical diseases, he observes, firstly, that all animals tend to vary in some degree, and, secondly, that agriculturists improve their domesticated animals by selection; and then, he adds, but what is done in this latter case "by art, seems to be done with equal efficacy, though more slowly, by nature, in the formation of varieties of mankind,
fitted for the country which they inhabit. Of the accidental varieties of man, which would occur among the first few and scattered inhabitants of the middle regions of Africa, some one would be better fitted than the others to bear the diseases of the country. This race would consequently multiply, while the others would decrease; not only from their inability to sustain the attacks of disease, but from their incapacity of contending with their more vigorous neighbours. The colour of this vigorous race I take for granted, from what has been already said, would be dark. But the same disposition to form varieties still existing, a darker and a darker race would in the course of time occur;
and as the darkest would be the best fitted for the climate, this would at length become the most prevalent, if not the only race, in the particular country in which it had originated."
He then extends these same views to the white inhabitants of colder climates.
I am indebted to the Rev. Mr. Brace,
of the United States, for having called my attention
to
the above passage in Dr. Wells'
work.
|
|
In England the In England the 1861 |
The 1866 1869 1872 |
Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, afterwards Dean of Manchester, in the fourth volume of the 'Horticultural Transactions,' 1822, and in his work on the
'Amaryllidaceæ' 'Amaryllidaceæ' 1861 1866 1872 | 'Amaryllidaccæ' 1869 |
(1837, p. 19, 339), declares that "horticultural experiments have established, beyond the possibility of refutation, that botanical species are only a higher and more permanent class of varieties." He extends the same view to animals. The Dean believes that single species of each genus were created in an originally highly plastic condition, and that these have produced, chiefly by intercrossing, but likewise by variation, all our existing species. |
In
1826, 1826, 1861 | 1826 1866 1869 1872 |
Professor Professor 1861 1866 1869 | professor 1872 |
Grant, in the concluding paragraph in his well-known paper
(Edinburgh (Edinburgh 1861 | ('Edinburgh 1866 1869 1872 |
Philosophical
Journal, Journal, 1861 | Journal,' 1866 1869 1872 |
vol. xiv. p. 283) on the Spongilla, clearly declares his belief that species are descended from other species, and that they become improved in the course of modification. This same view was given in his 55th Lecture, published in the 'Lancet' in 1834. |