THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
In the preceding chapter I have endeavoured to show how the hypothesis
of Natural Selection originated in the minds of its authors, and must
now invite attention to the way in which it was introduced to the world.
What has been said earlier with respect to the labours and writings of
Hutton, Scrope and Lyell may serve to indicate the great importance of
the _manner_ of presentment of new ideas--the logical force and literary
skill with which they are brought to the notice of scientific
contemporaries and the world at large.
There are some striking passages in Darwin's naive 'autobiography and
letters' which indicate the beginnings of his ambition for literary
distinction. It must always be borne in mind in reading this
autobiography, however, that it was not intended by Darwin for
publication, but only for the amusement of the members of his own
family. But the charming and unsophisticated self-revelations in it will
always be a source of delight to the world.
When making his first original observations among the volcanic cones and
craters of St Jago in the Cape-de-Verde Islands, he says 'It then first
dawned on me that I might perhaps write a book on the geology of the
different countries visited, and this made me thrill with delight[119].'
He tells us concerning his regular occupations on board the _Beagle_,
that 'during some part of the day, I wrote my Journal and took much
pains in describing carefully and vividly all that I had seen: and this
was good practice[120].'
'Later in the voyage' he says 'FitzRoy' (the Captain of the _Beagle_)
'asked me to read some of my Journal and declared it would be worth
publishing, so here was a second book in prospect[121]!'
Darwin's first published writings were the extracts from his letters
which Henslow read to the Philosophical Society of Cambridge, and those
which Sedgwick submitted to the Geological Society. At Ascension, on the
voyage home, a letter from Darwin's sisters had informed him of the
commendation with which Sedgwick had spoken to his father of these
papers, and he wrote fifty years afterwards: 'After reading this letter,
I clambered over the mountains of Ascension with a bounding step, and
made the volcanic rocks ring under my geological hammer.' When in 1839
his charming _Journal of Researches_ was published he records that 'The
success of this my first literary child always tickles my vanity more
than that of any of my other books[122].'
As a matter of fact, no one could possibly be more diffident and modest
about his actual literary performances than was Charles Darwin. I have
heard him again and again express a wish that he possessed 'dear old
Lyell's literary skill'; and he often spoke with the greatest enthusiasm
of the 'clearness and force of Huxley's style.' On one occasion he
mentioned to me, with something like sadness in his voice, that it had
been asserted 'there was a want of connection and continuity in the
written arguments,' and he told me that, while engaged on the _Origin_,
he had seldom been able to write, without interruption from pain, for
more than twenty minutes at a time!
Charles Darwin never spoke definitely to me about the nature of the
sufferings that he so patiently endured. On the occasion of my first
visit to him at Down he wrote me a letter (dated August 25th, 1880) in
which, after giving the most minute and kindly directions concerning the
journey, he arranged that his dog-cart should bring me to the house in
time for a 1 o'clock lunch, telling me that to catch a certain train for
return, it would be necessary to leave his house a little before 4
o'clock. But he added significantly:--
'But I am bound to tell you that I shall not be able to talk
with you or anyone else for this length of time, however much I
should like to do so--but you can read newspaper or take a
stroll during part of the time.'
His constant practice, whenever I visited him, either at Down or at his
brother's or daughter's house in London, was to retire with me, after
lunch, to a room where we could 'talk geology' for about three quarters
of an hour. At the end of that time, Mrs Darwin would come in smilingly,
and though no word was spoken by her, Darwin would at once rise and beg
me to read the newspaper for a time, or, if I preferred it, to take a
stroll in the garden; and after urging me to stay 'if I could possibly
spare the time,' would go away, as I understood to lie down. On his
return, about half an hour later, the discussion would be resumed where
it had been left off, without further remark.
Mr Francis Darwin has told us that the nature and extent of his father's
sufferings--so patiently and uncomplainingly borne--were never fully
known, even to his own children, but only to the faithful wife who
devoted her whole life to the care of his health. As is well known,
Darwin seldom visited at other houses, besides those of immediate
relatives, or the hydropathic establishment at which he sought relief
from his illness. But he was in the habit of sometimes, when in London,
calling upon David Forbes the mineralogist (a younger brother of Edward
Forbes) then living in York Street, Portman Square. The bonds of union
between Charles Darwin and David Forbes were, first, that they had both
travelled extensively in South America, and secondly, that both were
greatly interested in methods of preserving and making available for
future reference all notes and memoranda collected from various sources.
David Forbes devoted to the purpose a large room with the most elaborate
system of pigeon-holes, about which he told me that Darwin was greatly
excited. He also mentioned to me that, on one or more occasions, while
Darwin was in his house, pains of such a violent character had seized
him that he had been compelled to lie down for a time and had occasioned
his host the greatest alarm.
It must always therefore be remembered, in reading Darwin's works, what
were the sad conditions under which they were produced. It seems to be
doubtful to what extent his ill-health may be regarded as the result of
an almost fatal malady, from which he suffered in South America, or as
the effect of the constant and prolonged sea-sickness of which he was
the victim during the five years' voyage. But certain it is that his
work was carried on under no ordinary difficulties, and that it was only
by the exercise of the sternest resolution, in devoting every moment of
time that he was free from pain to his tasks, that he was able to
accomplish his great undertakings.
I do not think, however, that any unprejudiced reader will regard
Darwin's literary work as standing in need of anything like an apology.
He always aims--and I think succeeds--at conveying his meaning in simple
and direct language; and in all his works there is manifest that
undercurrent of quiet enthusiasm, which was so strikingly displayed in
his conversation. It was delightful to witness the keen enjoyment with
which he heard of any new fact or observation bearing on the pursuits in
which he was engaged, and his generous nature always led him to attach
an exaggerated value to any discovery or suggestion which might be
brought to his knowledge--and to appraise the work of others above his
own.
The most striking proof of the excellence and value of Darwin's literary
work is the fact that his numerous books have attained a circulation, in
their original form, probably surpassing that of any other scientific
writings ever produced--and that, in translations, they have appealed to
a wider circle of readers than any previous naturalist has ever
addressed!
We have seen that the idea of Natural Selection 'flashed on' Darwin's
mind in October 1838, and although he was himself inclined to think that
his _complete_ satisfaction with it, as a solution of the problem of
the origin of species, was delayed to a considerably later date, yet I
believe that this was only the result of his over-cautious temperament,
and we must accept the date named as being that of the real birth of the
hypothesis.
At this early date, too, it is evident that Darwin conceived the idea
that he might accomplish for the principle of evolution in the organic
world, what Lyell had done, in the _Principles_, for the inorganic
world. To cite his own words, 'after my return to England it appeared to
me that by following the example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting
all facts which bore in any way on the variation of animals and plants
under domestication and nature, some light might perhaps be thrown on
the whole subject[123].' 'In June 1842,' he says, 'I first _allowed_
myself' (how significant is the phrase!) 'the satisfaction of writing a
brief abstract of my theory in pencil in 35 pages[124].'
For many years it was thought that this first sketch of Darwin's great
work had been lost. But after the death of Mrs Darwin in 1896, when the
house at Down was vacated, the interesting MS. was found 'hidden in a
cupboard under the stairs which was not used for papers of any value but
rather as an overflow of matters he did not wish to destroy[125].' By
the pious care of his son, this interesting MS.--hurriedly written and
sometimes almost illegible--has been given to the world, and it proves
how completely Darwin had, at that early date, thought out the main
lines of his future _opus magnum_.
Darwin, however, had no idea of publishing his theory to the world until
he was able to support it by a great mass of facts and observations.
Lyell, again and again, warned him of the danger which he incurred of
being forestalled by other workers; while his brother Erasmus constantly
said to him, 'You will find that some one will have been before
you[126]!'
The utmost that Darwin could be persuaded to do, however, was to enlarge
his sketch of 1842 into one of 230 pages. This he did in the summer of
1844. His manner of procedure seems to have been that, keeping to the
same general arrangement of the matter as he had adopted in his original
sketch, he elaborated the arguments and added illustrations. Each of the
35 pages of the pencilled sketch, as it was dealt with, had a vertical
line drawn across it and was thrown aside. While the 'pencilled sketch'
of 1842 was little better than a collection of memoranda, which, though
intelligible to the writer at the time, are sometimes difficult either
to decipher or to understand the meaning of, the expanded work of 1844
was a much more connected and readable document, which Darwin caused to
be carefully copied out. The work was done in the summer months, while
he was absent from home, and unable therefore to refer to his abundant
notes--Darwin speaks of it, therefore, as 'done from memory.'
The two sketches, as Mr Francis Darwin points out, were each divided
into two distinct parts, though this arrangement is not adopted in the
_Origin of Species_, as finally published. Charles Darwin on many
occasions spoke of having adopted the _Principles of Geology_ as his
model. That work as we have seen consisted of a first portion
(eventually expanded from one to two volumes), in which the general
principles were enunciated and illustrated, and a second portion
(forming the third volume), in which those principles were applied to
deciphering the history of the globe in the past. I think that Darwin's
original intention was to follow a similar plan; the first part of his
work dealing with the evidences derived from the study of variation,
crossing, the struggle for existence, etc., and the second to the proofs
that natural selection had really operated as illustrated by the
geological record, by the facts of geographical distribution, and by
many curious phenomena exhibited by plants and animals. Although this
plan was eventually abandoned--no doubt wisely--when the _Origin_ came
to be written, we cannot but recognise in it another illustration of the
great influence exercised by Lyell and his works on Darwin--an influence
the latter was always so ready to acknowledge.
On the 5th July 1844, Darwin wrote a letter to his wife in which he
said, 'I have just finished my sketch of my species theory. If, as I
believe, my theory in time be accepted, even by one competent judge, it
will be a considerable step in science.' He goes on to request his wife,
'in case of my sudden death' to devote L400 (or if found necessary L500)
to securing an editor and publishing the work. As editor he says 'Lyell
would be the best, if he would undertake it,' and later, 'Lyell,
especially with the aid of Hooker (and if any good zoological aid),
would be best of all.' He then suggests other names from which a choice
might be made, but adds 'the editor must be a geologist as well as
naturalist.' Fortunately for the world Mrs Darwin was never called upon
to take action in accordance with the terms of this affecting
document[127].
It must be remembered that, at this time, Darwin was hard at work on the
three volumes of the _Geology of the Beagle_, and on the second and
revised edition of his _Journal of Researches_. This which he considered
his 'proper work' he stuck to closely, whenever his health permitted. He
had hoped to complete these books in three or four years, but they
actually occupied him for _ten_, owing to constant interruptions from
illness. His occasional neglect of this task, and indulgence in his
'species work,' as he called it, was always spoken of at this time by
Darwin as 'idleness.' And when the geological and narrative books were
finished, Darwin took up the systematic study of the Barnacles
(_Cirripedia_), both recent and fossil, and wrote two monumental works
on the subject. These occupied eight years, two out of which he
estimated were lost by interruptions from illness. So absorbed was he in
this work, that his children regarded it as the _necessary occupation_
of a man,--and when a visitor in the house was seen not to be so
employed one of them enquired of their mother, 'When does Mr ---- do
_his_ Barnacles?' Huxley has left on record his view that in devoting so
long a time to the study of the Barnacles Darwin 'never did a wiser
thing,' for it brought him into direct contact with the principles on
which naturalists found 'species[128].' And Hooker has expressed the
same opinion.
Daring these years of labour in geology and zoology--interrupted only by
the 'hours of idleness'--devoted to 'the species question,' Darwin,
though leading at Down almost the life of a hermit, was nevertheless in
frequent communication with two or three faithful friends who followed
his labours with the deepest interest. Cautious as was Darwin himself,
he found in his life-long friend Lyell, a still more doubting and
critical spirit, and it is clear from what Darwin says that he derived
much help by laying new ideas and suggestions before him. The year
before Darwin's death he wrote of Lyell, 'When I made a remark to him on
Geology, he never rested till he saw the whole case clearly, and often
made me see it more clearly than I had done before.'
Lyell's father was a botanist of considerable repute, the friend of Sir
William Hooker and his distinguished son Dr (now Sir Joseph) Hooker.
While Darwin was writing his _Journal of Researches_, he handed the
proof-sheets to Lyell with permission to show them to his father, who
was a man of great literary judgment. The elder Lyell, in turn, showed
them to young Mr Hooker, who was then preparing to join Sir James Ross,
in his celebrated Antarctic voyage with H.M. ships _Erebus_ and
_Terror_. Hooker was then working hard to take his doctor's degree
before joining the expedition as surgeon, but he kept Darwin's
proof-sheets under his pillow, so as to get opportunities of reading
them 'between waking and rising.' Before leaving England, however,
Hooker in 1839 casually met and was introduced to Darwin, and thus
commenced a friendship which resulted in such inestimable benefits to
science. Before sailing with the Antarctic expedition the young surgeon
received from Charles Lyell, as a parting gift, 'a copy of Darwin's
_Journal_ complete'; and he tells us that the perusal stimulated in him
'an enthusiasm in the desire to travel and observe[129].'
On Hooker's return from the voyage in 1843, a friendly letter from
Darwin commenced that remarkable correspondence, which will always
afford the best means of judging of the development of ideas in Darwin's
mind. Hooker's wide knowledge of plants--especially of all questions
concerning their distribution--was of invaluable assistance to Darwin,
at a time when his attention was more particularly absorbed by geology
and zoology, while botany had not as yet received much attention from
him. Hooker's experience, gained in travel, his sound judgment and
balanced mind made him a judicious adviser, while his caution and
candour fitted him to become a trenchant critic of new suggestions,
scarcely inferior in that respect to Lyell.
Darwin does not appear to have made the acquaintance of Huxley till a
considerably later date; but we find the great comparative anatomist had
in 1851 already become so deeply impressed by Darwin, that he said in
writing to a friend he 'might be anything if he had good health[130].'
Huxley used to visit Darwin at Down occasionally, and I have often heard
the latter speak of the instruction and pleasure he enjoyed from their
intercourse.
For many years of his life, Darwin used to come to London and stay with
his brother or daughter for about a week at a time, and on these
occasions--which usually occurred about twice in the year I believe--he
would meet Lyell to 'talk Geology,' Hooker for discussions on Botany,
and Huxley for Zoology.
For twenty years Darwin had 'collected facts on a wholesale scale, more
especially with respect to domesticated productions, by printed
enquiries, by conversations with skilful breeders and gardeners, and by
extensive reading.' 'When,' he added, 'I see the list of books of all
kinds which I read and abstracted, including whole series of Journals
and Transactions, I am surprised at my industry[131].' In September 1854
the Barnacle work was finished and 10,000 specimens sent out of the
house and distributed, and then he devoted himself to arranging his
'huge pile of notes, to observing and experimenting in relation to the
transmutation of species.'
It was early in 1856 when this work had been completed, that, again
urged by Lyell, he actually commenced writing his book. It was planned
as a work on a considerable scale and, if finished, would have reached
dimensions three or four times as great as did eventually the _Origin of
Species_. Working steadily and continuously he had got as far as Chapter
X, completing more than one half the book, when as he says Wallace's
letter and essay came 'like a bolt from the blue.'
Oppressed by illness, anxiety and perplexity, as we have seen that
Darwin was at the time, he fortunately consented to leave
matters--though with great reluctance--in the hands of his friends
Lyell and Hooker. They took the wise course of reading Wallace's paper
at the Linnean Society on July 1st, 1858, at the same time giving
extracts from Darwin's memoir written in 1844, and the abstract of a
letter written by Darwin in 1857 to the distinguished American botanist,
Asa Gray. This solution of the difficulty happily met with the complete
approval of Wallace; and, as the result of the episode, Darwin came to
the conclusion that it would not be wise to defer full publication of
his views, until the extensive work on which he was engaged could be
finished, but an 'abstract' of them must be prepared and issued with as
little delay as possible.
For a time there was hesitation, as Darwin's correspondence with Lyell
and Hooker shows, between the two plans of sending this 'abstract' to
the Linnean Society in a series of papers or of making it an independent
book. But Darwin entertained an invincible dislike to submitting his
various conclusions to the judgment of the Council of a Society, and, in
the end, the preparation of the 'Abstract' in the form of a book of
moderate size, was decided on. This was the origin of Darwin's great
work.
The sickness at Down had led to the abandonment of the house for a time,
and, three weeks after the reading of the joint paper at the Linnean
Society, we find Darwin temporarily established at Sandown, in the Isle
of Wight, where the writing of the _Origin of Species_ was commenced.
The work was resumed in September when the family returned to Down, and
from that time was pressed forward with the greatest diligence.
For the first half of the book, the task before Darwin was to condense,
into less than one half their dimensions, the chapters he had already
written for the large work as originally projected. But for the second
half of the book, he had to expand directly from the essay of 1844.
So closely did Darwin apply himself to the work, that, by the end of
March 28th, 1859, he was able to write to Lyell telling him that he
hoped to be ready to go to press early in May, and asking advice about
publication: he says, 'My Abstract will be about five hundred pages of
the size of your first edition of the _Elements of Geology_.' Lyell
introduced Darwin to John Murray, who had issued all his own works, and
the present representative of that publishing firm has placed on record
a very interesting account of the ever thoughtful and considerate
relations between Darwin and his publishers, which were maintained to
the end[132].
The MS. of the book seems to have been practically finished early in
May, and Darwin's health then broke down for a time, so completely that
he had to retire to a hydropathic establishment. By June 21st he was
able to write to Lyell 'I am working very hard, but get on slowly, for I
find that my corrections are terrifically heavy, and the work most
difficult to me. I have corrected 130 pages, and the volume will be
about 500. I have tried my best to make it clear and striking, but very
much fear that I have failed; so many discussions are and must be very
perplexing. _I have done my best._ If you had all my materials, I am
sure you would have made a splendid book. I long to finish, for I am
certainly worn out[133].' On September 10th the last proof was corrected
and the preparation of the index commenced. At the meeting of the
British Association in Aberdeen, Lyell made the important announcement
of the approaching publication of the great work. On November 24th the
book was issued, 1250 copies having been printed, and Darwin wrote to
Murray, 'I am infinitely pleased and proud at the appearance of my
child.' The edition was sold out in a day, and was followed early in the
next year by the issue of 3000 copies; and untold thousands have since
appeared.
The writing of such a work as the _Origin of Species_, in so short a
time--especially taking into consideration the condition of its author's
health--was a most remarkable feat. It would, of course, not have been
possible but for the fact that Darwin's mind was completely saturated
with the subject, and that he had command of such an enormous body of
methodically arranged notes. He showed the greatest anxiety to convince
his scientific contemporaries, and at the same time to make his meaning
clear to the general reader. With the former object, both MS. and
printed proofs were submitted to the criticism of Lyell and Hooker; and
the latter end was obtained by sending the MS. to a lady friend, Miss G.
Tollet--she, as Darwin says 'being an excellent judge of style, is going
to look out errors for me.' Finally the proofs of the book were
carefully read by Mrs Darwin herself.
The splendid success achieved by the work is a matter of history. Its
clearness of statement and candour in reasoning pleased the general
public; critics without any profound knowledge of natural history were
beguiled into the opinion that they _understood_ the whole matter! and,
according to their varying tastes, indulged in shallow objection or
slightly offensive patronage. The fully-anticipated, theological
vituperation was of course not lacking, but most of the 'replies' to
Darwin's arguments were 'lifted' from the book itself, in which
objections to his views were honestly stated and candidly considered by
the author.
The best testimony to the profound and far-reaching character of the
scientific discussions of the _Origin of Species_ is found in the fact
that both Hooker and Huxley, in spite of their wide knowledge and long
intercourse with Darwin, found the work, so condensed were its
reasonings, a 'very hard book' to read, one on which it was difficult to
pronounce a judgment till after several perusals!
It would be idle to speculate at the present day whether the cause of
Evolution would have been better served by the publication, as Darwin at
one time proposed, of a 'Preliminary Essay,' like that of 1844, or by
the great work, which had been commenced and half completed in 1858,
rather than by the 'abstract,' in which the theory of Natural Selection
was in the end presented to the world. Probably the more moderate
dimensions of the _Origin of Species_ made it far better suited for the
general reader; while the condensation which was necessitated did not in
the end militate against its influence with men of science. It will I
think be now generally conceded that the great success of this grand
work was fully deserved. A subject of such complexity as that which it
dealt with could only be adequately discussed in a manner that would
demand careful attention and thought on the part of the reader; and
Darwin's well-weighed words, carefully balanced sentences, and guarded
reservations are admirably adapted to the accomplishment of the
difficult task he had undertaken. The _Origin of Species_ has been read
by the millions with pleasure, and, at the same time, by the deepest
thinkers of the age with conviction.
It is scarcely possible to refer to the literary style of Darwin's work
without a reference to a misconception arising from that very candid
analysis of his characteristics which he wrote for the satisfaction of
his family, but which has happily been given to the world by his son. In
his early life Darwin was exceedingly fond of music, and took such
delight in good literature, especially poetry, that when on his journeys
in South America he found himself able to carry only one book with him,
the work chosen was the poems of Milton--the former student of his own
Christ's College, Cambridge. But towards the end of his life, Darwin had
sadly to confess that he found that he had quite lost the capacity of
enjoying either music or the noblest works of literature.
Some have argued that Darwin's scientific labours must have actually
proved destructive to his artistic and literary tastes, and have even
gone so far as to assert--in spite of numerous examples to the
contrary--that there is a natural antithesis between the mental
conditions that respectively favour scientific and artistic excellence.
But I think there is a very simple explanation of the loss by Darwin of
his powers of enjoyment of music and poetry, a loss which he evidently
greatly deplored. His scientific undertaking was so gigantic, and, at
the same time, his health was so broken and precarious, that he felt his
only chance of success lay in utilizing, for the tasks before him, every
moment that he was free from acute suffering and retained any power of
working. Consequently, when the self-imposed task of each day was
completed, he found himself in a state of mental collapse. Now to
appreciate the beauties of fine music or the work of a great writer
certainly demands that the mind should be fresh and unjaded, whereas, at
the only times Darwin had for relaxation, he was quite unfitted for
these higher delights. We are not surprised then to learn that he sought
and found relief in listening to his wife's reading of some pleasant
novel or in the nightly game of backgammon, as the only means of resting
his wearied brain.
No one who had the privilege of conversing with Darwin in his later
years can doubt of his having retained to the end the full possession of
his refined tastes as well as his great mental powers. His love for and
sympathy with every movement tending to progress--especially in the
scientific and educational world--his devotion to his friends, with no
little indulgence of indignation for what he thought false or mean in
others, these were his conspicuous characteristics, and they were
combined with a gentle playfulness and sense of humour, which made him
the most delightful and loveable of companions.