THE PLACE OF LYELL AND DARWIN IN HISTORY
From the account given in the foregoing pages, it will be seen
that--without detracting from the merits of their predecessors or the
value of the labours of their contemporaries--we must ascribe the work
of establishing on a firm foundation of observation and reasoning the
doctrine of evolution--both in the inorganic and the organic world--to
the investigations and writings of Lyell and Darwin.
Lyell had to oppose the geologists of his day, who led by Buckland in
this country and by Cuvier on the continent, were almost, without
exception, hopelessly wedded to the doctrines of 'Catastrophism,' and
bitterly antagonistic to all ideas savouring of continuity or evolution.
And, in the same way, Darwin, at the outset, found himself face to face
with a similarly hostile attitude, on the part of biologists, with
respect to the mode of appearance of new species of plants and animals.
While Darwin doubtless derived his inspiration, and much valuable aid,
from the _Principles of Geology_, and its gifted author, yet Lyell, with
all his clearness of vision, logical faculty and literary skill, did not
possess the strong faith and resolute courage--to say nothing of that
wonderful tenacity of purpose and power of research which were such
striking characteristics of Darwin--which would have enabled him to do
for the organic what he did for the inorganic world. If it be true, as
Darwin used to suggest, that the _Origin of Species_ might never have
been written had not Lyell first produced the _Principles of Geology_, I
believe it is no less certain that the crowning of Lyell's great
edifice, by the full application of his principles to the world of
living beings, could only have been accomplished by a man possessing, in
unique combination, the powers of observation, experiment, reasoning and
criticism, joined to unswerving determination, which distinguished
Darwin.
Starting from Lyell's most advanced post, Darwin boldly advanced into
regions in which his friend was unable to lead, and indeed long
hesitated to follow. Together, for nearly forty years, the two
men--influencing one another 'as iron sharpeneth iron'--thought and
communed and worked, aided at all times by the wide knowledge and
judicious criticism of the sagacious Hooker; and together the fame of
these men will go down to posterity.
There is a tendency, when a great man has passed from our midst, to
estimate his merits and labours with undiscriminating, and often perhaps
exaggerated, admiration; and this excessive praise is too often followed
by a reaction, as the result of which the idol of one generation becomes
almost commonplace to the next. A still further period is required
before the proper position of mental perspective is reached by us, and a
just judgment can be formed of the man's real place in history. The
reputations of both Lyell and Darwin have, I think, passed through both
these two earlier phases of thought, and we may have arrived at the
third stage.
There was one respect in which both Lyell and Darwin failed to satisfy
many both of their contemporaries and successors. Lyell, like Hutton,
always deprecated attempts to go back to a 'beginning,' while Darwin,
who strongly supported Lyell in his geological views, was equally averse
to speculations concerning the 'origin of life on the globe.'
Scrope[146], and also Huxley[147] in his earlier days, held the opinion
that it was legitimate to assume or imagine a beginning, from which,
with ever diminishing energy, the existing 'comparatively quiet
conditions,' thought to characterise the present order of the world,
would be reached. Both Lyell and Darwin insisted that geology is a
historical science, and must be treated as such quite distinct from
Cosmogony. And in the end, Huxley accepted the same view[148].
'Geology,' he asserted, 'is as much a historical science as
archaeology.'
The sober historian has always had to contend against the traditional
belief that 'there were giants on the earth in those days!' The love of
the marvellous has always led to the ascription of past events to the
work of demigods who were not of like powers and passions with
ourselves. Hence the invention of those 'catastrophies'--in which the
reputations of deities as well as of men and women have often suffered.
It is the same tendency in the human mind which makes it so difficult to
conceive of all the changes in the earth's surface-features and its
inhabitants being due to similar operations to those still going on
around us.
Lyell's views have constantly been misrepresented by the belief being
ascribed to him that 'the forces operating on the globe have never acted
with greater intensity than at the present day.' But his real position
in this matter was a frankly 'agnostic' one. 'Bring me evidence,' he
would have said, 'that changes have taken place on the globe, which
cannot be accounted for by agencies still at work _when operating
through sufficiently long periods of time_, and I will abandon my
position.' But such evidence was not forthcoming in his day, and I do
not think has ever been discovered since. Professor Sollas has very
justly said, 'Geology has no need to return to the catastrophism of its
youth; in becoming evolutional it does not cease to remain essentially
uniformitarian[149].'
Alfred Russel Wallace, who has always been as stout a defender of the
views of Lyell as he has of those of Darwin, has given me his permission
to quote from a letter he wrote me in 1888. After referring to what he
regards as the weak and mistaken attacks on Lyell's teachings, 'which
have of late years been so general among geologists,' he says:--
'I have always been surprised when men have advanced the view
that volcanic action _must_ have been greater when the earth was
hotter, and entirely ignore the numerous indications that both
subterranean and meteorological forces, even in Palaeozoic
times, were of the same order of magnitude as they are now--and
this I have always believed is what Lyell's teaching implies.'
I believe that Mr Wallace's expression, adopted from the mathematicians,
'the same order of magnitude,' would have met with Lyell's complete
acquiescence. He was not so unwise as to suppose that, in the limited
periods of human history, we must necessarily have had experience--even
at Krakatoa or 'Skaptar Jokull'--of nature's greatest possible
convulsions, but he fought tenaciously against any admission of
'cataclysms' that would belong to a totally different category to those
of the present day.
Apart from theological objections, the most formidable obstacle to the
reception of evolutionary ideas had always been the prejudice against
the admission of vast duration of past geological time. It was
unfortunate that, even when rational historical criticism had to a great
extent neutralised the effect of Archbishop Usher's chronology, the
mathematicians and physicists, assuming certain sources of heat in the
earth and sun could have been the only possible ones, tried to set a
limit to the time at the disposal of the geologist and biologist.
Happily the discovery of radio-activity and the new sources of heat
opened up by that discovery, have removed those objections, which were
like a nightmare to both Geology and Biology.
Lyell used to relate the story of a man, who, from a condition of dire
poverty, suddenly became the possessor of vast wealth, and when
remonstrated with by friends on the inadequacy of a subscription he had
offered, the poor fellow exclaimed sadly, 'Ah! you don't know how hard
it is to get the chill of poverty out of one's bones.'
Geologists and biologists alike have long been the victims of this
'chill of poverty,' with respect to past time. So long as physicists
insisted that one hundred millions, or forty millions, or even ten
millions of years, must be the limit of geological time, it was not
possible to avoid the conclusion stated by Lord Salisbury in 1894, 'Of
course, if the mathematicians are right the biologists cannot have what
they demand[150].' But now geologists and biologists may alike feel
that the liberty with respect to _space_, which is granted ungrudgingly
to the astronomer, is no longer withheld from them in regard to _time_.
We can say with old Lamarck:--
'For Nature, Time is nothing. It is never a difficulty, she
always has it at her disposal; and it is for her the means by
which she has accomplished the greatest as well as the least
results. For all the evolution of the earth and of living
beings, Nature needs but three elements--Space, Time and
Matter[151].'
Darwin, equally with Lyell, has suffered from a reaction following on
extravagant and uninformed praise of his work. The fields in which he
laboured single-handed, have yielded to hundreds of workers in many
lands an abundant harvest. New doctrines and improved methods of enquiry
have arisen--Mutationism, Mendelism, Weismannism, Neo-Lamarckism,
Biometrics, Eugenics and what not--are being diligently exploited. But
all of these vigorous growths have their real roots in Darwinism. If we
study Darwin's correspondence, and the successive essays in which he
embodied his views at different periods, we shall find, variation by
mutation (or _per saltum_), the influence of environment, the question
of the inheritance of acquired characters and similar problems were
constantly present to Darwin's ever open mind, his views upon them
changing from time to time, as fresh facts were gathered.
No one could sympathise more fully than would Darwin, were he still with
us, in these various departures. He was compelled, from want of
evidence, to regard variations as spontaneous, but would have heartily
welcomed every attempt to discover the laws which govern them; and
equally would he have delighted in researches directed to the
investigation of the determining factors, controlling conditions and
limits of inheritance. The man who so carefully counted and weighed his
seeds in botanical experiments, could not but rejoice in the refined
mathematical methods now being applied to biological problems.
Let us not 'in looking at the trees, lose sight of the wood.' Underlying
all the problems, some of them very hotly discussed at the present day,
there is the great central principle of Natural Selection--which if not
the sole factor in evolution, is undoubtedly a very important and potent
one. It is only necessary to compare the present position of the Natural
History sciences with that which existed immediately before the
publication of the _Origin of Species_, to realise the greatness of
Darwin's achievement.
The fame of both Lyell and Darwin will endure, and their names will
remain as closely linked as were the two men in their lives, the two
devoted friends, whose remains found a meet resting-place, almost side
by side, in the Abbey of Westminster. Very touching indeed was it to
witness the marks of affection between these two great men; an affection
which remained undiminished to the end. Lyell was twelve years senior to
Darwin, and died seven years before his friend. During the last year of
Lyell's life, I spent the summer with him at his home in Forfarshire.
How well do I recollect the keenness with which--in spite of a
near-sightedness that had increased with age almost to blindness--he
still devoted himself to geological work. The 264 note-books, all
carefully indexed, were in constant use, and visits were made to all the
haunts of his youth, with the frequent pathetic appeal to me, 'You must
lend me your eyes.' In spite of age and weakness, he would insist on
clambering up the steepest hills to show me where he had found glacial
markings, and would eagerly listen to my report on them. But the _great_
delight of those days was the arrival of a letter from Darwin! Lyell was
the recipient of many honours, and he declined many more, when he feared
that they might interfere with the work to which he had devoted his
life, but the distinction he prized most of all was that conferred on
him by his life-long friend, who used to address him as 'My dear old
Master,' and subscribe himself 'Your affectionate pupil.'
During the seven years that elapsed after the death of Lyell, I saw
Darwin from time to time, for he loved to hear 'what was doing' in his
'favourite science.' On board the _Beagle_, before he had met the man
whose life and work were to be so closely linked with his own, he was in
the habit of specially treasuring up any 'facts that would interest Mr
Lyell'; in middle life he declared that 'when seeing a thing never seen
by Lyell, one yet saw it partially through his eyes[152]'; and never, I
think, did we meet after the friend was gone, without the oft repeated
query, 'What would Lyell have said to that?'
These reminiscences of the past, in which I have ventured to indulge,
may not inappropriately conclude with a reference to the last interview
I was privileged to have with him, who was 'the noblest Roman of them
all!' On the occasion of his last visit to London, in December, 1881,
Charles Darwin wrote asking me to take lunch with him at his daughter's
house, and to have 'a little talk' on geology. Greatly was I surprised
at the vigour which he showed on that afternoon, for, contrary to his
usual practice, he did not interrupt the conversation to retire and rest
for a time, though I suggested the desirability of his doing so, and
offered to stay. His brightness and animation, which were perhaps a
little forced, struck me as so unusual that I laughingly suggested that
he was 'renewing his youth.' Then a slight shade passed over his
countenance--but only for a moment--as he told me that he had 'received
his warning.' The attack, to which his son has alluded, as being the
prelude to the end[153], had occurred during this visit to town; and he
intimated to me that he knew his heart was seriously affected. Never
shall I forget how, seeing my concern, he insisted on accompanying me to
the door, and how, with the ever kindly smile on his countenance, he
held my hand in a prolonged grasp, that I sadly felt might perhaps be
the last. And so it proved.
And now all the world is united in the conviction which Darwin so
modestly expressed concerning his own career, 'I believe that I have
acted rightly in steadily following and devoting myself to science!'
For has not that _devotion_ resulted in a complete reform of the
Natural-History Sciences! The doctrine of the 'immutability of
species'--like that of 'Catastrophism' in the inorganic world--has been
eliminated from the Biological sciences by Darwin, through his _steadily
following_ the clues found by him during his South American travels; and
continuity is now as much the accepted creed of botanists and zoologists
as it is of geologists. As a result of the labours of Darwin, new lines
of thought have been opened out, fresh fields of investigation
discovered, and the infinite variety among living things has acquired a
grander aspect and a special significance. Very justly, then, has Darwin
been universally acclaimed as 'the Newton of Natural History.'
NOTES
In the following references, L.L.L. indicates the "Life and Letters of
Sir Charles Lyell" by Mrs K. Lyell (1881), D.L.L. the "Life and Letters
of Charles Darwin" by F. Darwin (1887), M.L.D. "More Letters of Charles
Darwin" edited by F. Darwin and A. C. Seward (1903), and H.C.E. Huxley's
"Collected Essays."
[1] The Darwin-Wallace Celebration, Linn. Soc. (1908), p. 10.
[2] Darwin and Modern Science (1909), pp. 152-170.
[3] Pope, Essay on Man, Ep. I. lines 111-2.
[4] Genesis, Chap. XXX. verses 31-43.
[5] Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1900 (Bradford), pp. 916-920.
[6] _Ibid._ 1909 (Winnipeg), pp. 491-493.
[7] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 468.
[8] Origin of Species, Chap. XV. end.
[9] Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. VII. lines 454-466.
[10] Edinb. Rev. LXIX. (July 1839), pp. 446-465.
[11] Principles of Geology, Vol. I. (1830), p. 61.
[12] Zittel, Hist. of Geol. &c. Eng. transl. p. 72.
[13] Quart. Rev. Vol. XLVIII. (March 1832), p. 126.
[14] Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1866 (Nottingham).
[15] H.C.E. Vol. VIII. p. 315.
[16] _Ibid._ p. 190.
[17] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 179-204.
[18] H.C.E. Vol. V. p. 101.
[19] D.L.L. Vol. II. p. 190.
[20] Edinb. Rev. Vol. LXIX. (July 1839), p. 455 _note_.
[21] 'Theory of the Earth,' Vol. II. p. 67.
[22] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 272.
[23] Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1833 (Cambridge), pp. 365-414.
[24] Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales, p. xliv.
[25] Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, p. iii.
[26] Edinb. Rev. LXIX. (July 1839), p. 455 _note_.
[27] _Ibid._
[28] Zittel, Hist. of Geol. &c. Eng. transl. p. 141.
[29] Considerations on Volcanoes, &c. (1825), pp. iv-vi.
[30] Volcanoes of Central France, 2nd Ed. (1858), p. vii.
[31] See Quart. Rev. Vol. XXXVI. (Oct. 1827), pp. 437-485.
[32] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 46.
[33] Principles of Geology, Vol. II. 2nd Ed.
[34] L.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 47-8.
[35] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 268.
[36] Environs de Paris (1811), p. 56.
[37] Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd Ser. Vol. II. pp. 73-96.
[38] See Mantell's Geology of the Isle of Wight and L.L.L. Vol. I. pp.
114-122.
[39] Hist. of Geol. &c. Eng. transl. p. 188.
[40] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 173.
[41] British Critic and Theological Review (1830), p. 7 of the review.
[42] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 177.
[43] Preface to Vol. III. of the 'Principles' (1833), p. vii.
[44] L.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 233-4.
[45] Charles Lyell and Modern Geology (1898), p. 214.
[46] Proc. Geol. Soc. Vol. I. p. 374.
[47] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 196.
[48] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 197.
[49] Proc. Geol. Soc. Vol. I. pp. 145-9.
[50] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 253.
[51] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 234.
[52] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 271.
[53] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 270.
[54] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 271.
[55] Quart. Rev. Vol. XLIII. (Oct. 1830), pp. 411-469 and Vol. LIII.
(Sept. 1835), pp. 406-448. Both these reviews are by Scrope. The Review
of the 2nd Vol. of the 'Principles,' Q.R. Vol. XLVII. (March 1832), pp.
103-132 is by Whewell.
[56] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 270.
[57] _Ibid._ Vol. I. pp. 260-1.
[58] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 314.
[59] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 165.
[60] M.L.D. Vol. II. p. 232 and D.L.L. Vol. II. p. 190.
[61] L.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 316-7.
[62] Proc. Geol. Soc. Vol. I. pp. 302-3.
[63] L.L.L. Vol. II. p. 41.
[64] See also D.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 72-3.
[65] Nineteenth Century, Oct. 1895, and Controverted Questions in
Geology (1895), pp. 1-18.
[66] M.L.D. Vol. II. p. 117.
[67] D.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 337-8 and p. 342.
[68] Origin of Species, Chap. X. See also Darwin and Modern Science, pp.
337-385.
[69] D.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 341-2.
[70] L.L.L. Vol. II. p. 44.
[71] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 296.
[72] _Ibid._ p. 72.
[73] _Ibid._ p. 71.
[74] A. R. Wallace, 'My Life, &c.' (1905), Vol. I. p. 433.
[75] The Darwin-Wallace Celebration, Linn. Soc. (1908), p. 118.
[76] L.L.L. Vol. II. p. 459.
[77] Report of lecture at Forrester's Hall.
[78] H.C.E. Vol. VIII. p. 312.
[79] D.L.L. Vol. II. p. 190.
[80] L.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 2, 3.
[81] _Ibid._ Vol. II. p. 36.
[82] _Ibid._ Vol. II. p. 5.
[83] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 94.
[84] L.L.L. Vol. I. pp. 417-8.
[85] H. F. Osborn, 'From the Greeks to Darwin' (1894), p. 165.
[86] _Loc. cit._ pp. 467-469.
[87] L.L.L. Vol. I. p. 168.
[88] _Ibid._ Vol. II. p. 365.
[89] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 23, 29, 39.
[90] _Ibid._ Vol. III. p. 15 (see also pp. 11-14).
[91] 'Origin of Species,' 6th Ed. (1875), p. xiv.
[92] 'Darwin and Modern Science,' p. 125.
[93] 'Origin of Species,' 6th Ed. (1875), pp. xvi, xvii.
[94] M.L.D. Vol. I. p. 3.
[95] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 41.
[96] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 41.
[97] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 52.
[98] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 58.
[99] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 58.
[100] H.C.E. Vol. II. p. 271.
[101] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 73.
[102] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 263.
[103] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 38.
[104] H.C.E. Vol. II. p. 20.
[105] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 275.
[106] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 83.
[107] _Ibid._ Vol. II. pp. 5-10.
[108] H.C.E. Vol. II. p. 71.
[109] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 47.
[110] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 84.
[111] Macmillan's Magazine, Feb. 1888, p. 241.
[112] My Life, &c. Vol. I. p. 355.
[113] Darwin-Wallace Celebration, Linn. Soc. (1908), pp. 6-7.
[114] _Ibid._ pp. 14-16.
[115] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 116-7.
[116] 'Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection' (1871),
Preface, pp. iv, v.
[117] Darwin-Wallace Celebration, Linn. Soc. (1908), p. 7.
[118] _Ibid._ p. 7.
[119] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 66.
[120] _Ibid._ Vol. I. pp. 62-3.
[121] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 66.
[122] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 66.
[123] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 83.
[124] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 84.
[125] 'The Foundations of the Origin of Species' (1909), p. xv.
[126] Letter to A. R. Wallace, Christ's Coll. Mag. Vol. XXIII. (1909),
p. 229.
[127] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 16-18.
[128] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 347.
[129] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 19-21.
[130] Huxley's Life and Letters (1900), Vol. I. p. 94.
[131] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 83.
[132] Science Progress, Vol. III. (1908), pp. 537-542.
[133] D.L.L. Vol. II. p. 160.
[134] H.C.E. Vol. II. pp. 227-243.
[135] D.L.L. Vol. II. pp. 179-204.
[136] _Ibid._ Vol. II. p. 255.
[137] The Review is republished in H.C.E. Vol. II. pp. 1-21.
[138] Huxley's Life and Letters, Vol. I. pp. 179-189.
[139] D.L.L. Vol. II. p. 185.
[140] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 93.
[141] See Haeckel's 'History of Creation.'
[142] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 71.
[143] _Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 72.
[144] D.L.L. Vol. I. p. 98; Vol. III. pp. 217-218.
[145] H.C.E. Vol. II. p. 247.
[146] Quart. Rev. XLIII. pp. 464-467 and Vol. LIII. pp. 446-448.
[147] H.C.E. Vol. VIII. p. 315.
[148] H.C.E. Vol. V. p. 99.
[149] The Age of the Earth and other Geological Studies, p. 322.
[150] Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1894 (Oxford), p. 13.
[151] 'Hydrogeologie,' p. 67.
[152] M.L.D. Vol. II. p. 117.
[153] D.L.L. Vol. III. p. 356.
INDEX
Adaptation, in relation to divergence of species, Darwin's recognition
of, 108, 109
Agriculturalists, ideas of creation, 5, 6
ARNOLD, MATTHEW, on Lucretius and Darwin, 3, 4
Auvergne, N. Desmarest on, 17;
Scrope on, 35;
visited by Lyell and Murchison, 56, 57;
their memoir on, 58
'Beagle,' H.M.S., Darwin's voyage in, 98, 99;
narrative of, 106
BONNEY, T. G., estimate of amount of Lyell's travels by, 56, 57
Botanical works of Darwin, 141
_British Critic_, Whewell's review of Lyell in, 53
BRODERIP, W. J., aid given to Lyell by, 65;
Vol. II. of _Principles_ dedicated to, 65
BROWN, ROBERT, assistance to Lyell by, 47
BUCKLAND, Dr, on infant Geological Society, 26;
champion of 'Catastrophism' in England, 27;
his eccentricity, 42-44;
'Equestrian Geology' of, 28;
influence on Lyell, 34, 44;
2nd edition of Vol. I. of _Principles_ dedicated to, 44;
his opposition to Lyell, 71
Cambridge, Darwin at, 97, 98
CANDOLLE, A. P. DE, on struggle for existence, 107
Catastrophism, origin of idea of, 14, 15;
defined, 22;
origin of term, 22;
connexion with orthodoxy, 21;
championed by Buckland, Sedgwick &c., 27;
by Cuvier, 31, 50, 102;
opposition by Lyell and Darwin to, 105
Centres of Creation, Lyell's views on, 65
CHAMBERS, ROBERT, publishes _Vestiges of Creation_, 92;
his reasons for anonymity, 93
Chemists, part played in early days of Geological Society by, 26
Christ's College, Cambridge, the home of Milton and Darwin, 13;
of Paley, 108
CLODD, E., his _Pioneers of Evolution_, 16
Continuity, term for Evolution suggested by Grove, 23
CONYBEARE, W. D., advocacy of Catastrophism, 27;
criticism of Hutton, 28;
misconception of Hutton, 29;
on formation of Thames Valley, 58;
friendship with Lyell, 69
Creation, legends of, 5-7;
use of term by Lyell and Darwin, 11;
contrast of their views with those of Milton, 12, 13
Criticisms of the _Principles of Geology_, 68, 69, 70, 71;
of the _Origin of Species_, 132-139
CUVIER, his strong support of Catastrophism, 31, 46, 50, 102
DARWIN, CHARLES, nobility of character, 3;
his use of term 'Creation,' 11;
on grandeur of idea of Evolution, 12;
his devotion to Lyell and the _Principles of Geology_, 63, 73-75, 78;
his horror of slavery, 76;
opposition to Catastrophism, 77;
opinion of Lamarck's works, 90, 91:
on the _Vestiges of Creation_, 94;
his dislike for speculation, 101;
his optimism and courage, 77;
his birth and education, 95, 96;
life at Edinburgh, 97;
at Cambridge, 97, 98;
voyage in the 'Beagle,' 99, 100;
first awakening to the idea of Evolution, 102, 104;
work with Lyell at Geological Society, 105;
begins 'species work,' 106;
influence of Malthus's work on, 107;
intercourse with Wallace, 113;
action in respect to theory, 128, 129;
his first literary ambitions, 116;
difficulties of work caused by ill-health, 117, 118, 119;
his loss of appreciation for music and literature, and its cause, 134,
135;
later writings on Evolution, 141, 144;
his declining years, 147, 158, 159;
his death, 147;
present position of his theory of Natural Selection, 155, 156, 159
DARWIN, ERASMUS, his independent conception of Lamarckism, 91, 92;
absence of influence on his grandson, 95, 101
DARWIN, ERASMUS (the younger), advice given to Charles on publication, 122
DARWIN, FRANCIS, edited _Life and Letters_ &c., 121;
extracts from C.D.'s note-books &c., and _Foundations of the Origin of
Species_, 123;
on his father's health, 118
DARWIN, Mrs, her care of her husband's health, 118;
read proofs of _Origin of Species_, 132
DAUBENY, C. G. B., assists Lyell in his researches, 47
DE LA BECHE, H., his attitude with respect to evolution, 71
DESHAYES, G. B., assists Lyell in conchological work, 66
DESMAREST, N., work in Auvergne, 17;
evolutionary views of, 17, 20
Earthworms, Darwin's work on, 147
Edinburgh, Darwin's life at, 97;
Wernerian Society at, founded by Jameson, 21, 25
Egypt, idea of inorganic evolution originated in, 15
Entomology, influence of, on Lyell, 42, 57;
on Darwin, 96;
on Wallace, 110
'Equestrian Geology,' popularity of, at Oxford, 27;
at Cambridge, 28
Evolution, in _organic_ and _inorganic_ world, 14;
how ideas originated, 15-16, 82, 83;
revolution effected by, 1, 32, 159;
causes of opposition to, 20, 21, 155;
opposition of Sedgwick and Whewell, 83;
support of Herschel, 83
Euclid, influence on Darwin, 108
FARADAY, M., assistance given to Lyell by, 47
FITTON, Dr, on supposed indebtedness of Hutton to Generelli, 18;
and of Lyell to Hutton, 18;
on causes of Hutton's failure to reform geology, 23, 25;
his attitude towards Lyell's views, 30, 71
Fluvialists, 58
FORBES, DAVID, intercourse with Darwin, 119
Fossil bones, discovery of, in South America first suggests to Darwin
mutability of species, 102
_Foundations of the Origin of Species_, 123
FRAZER, J. G., on legends of creation, 5, 7
Galapagos Islands, influence of study of fauna on Darwin, 104
GENERELLI, advocacy of Evolution, 17, 20
Geographical distribution, Lyell on, 65;
Wallace on, 146
Geological Society, foundation of, 25;
early history, 26;
connexion of Lyell with, 44, 71:
of Darwin, 100, 105:
of Scrope, 50;
discussions on rival doctrines at, 24, 25, 29, 30, 60, 76, 77, 105
Geology, Darwin's interest in, 96, 99, 124, 147, 158
GIBBON, his influence on Lyell, 52, 67
GREENOUGH, G. B., founds Geological Society and first President, 26;
his strong support of Wernerism, 26, 29
GROVE, R., suggests term 'Continuity,' 23
GUENTHER, Dr, his estimate of number of species of animals, 10
HAECKEL, E., credits Lyell with early conviction of Evolution, 84
HENSLOW, J. S., friendship for and help of Darwin, 97, 98, 99;
opposition to Evolution, 27, 72
Heredity, early recognition of importance, 9
HERSCHEL, J., belief in Evolution, 12, 71;
correspondence with Lyell, 12, 83, 85
HOFF, C. VON, influence of his works on Lyell, 49
HOOKER, J. D., friendship with Lyell's father, 126;
voyage to Antarctic with Ross, 126;
introduction to Darwin, 126;
correspondence with, 127;
assistance to Darwin, 126;
advice to, 129;
on origin of Australian flora, 139;
friendship with Lyell, 79, 126
HUTTON, his _Theory of the Earth_, 17, 18, 19, 20;
rarity of the book, 30;
small influence of, 21;
supposed infidelity and persecution of, 21, 22, 25, 69;
Lyell's mistaken views on, 54;
difference of his theory from Lyell's, 53
HUXLEY, T. H., early views on distinction of Uniformitarianism and
Evolution, 23;
later view of identity, 23, 24;
influence of Darwin on, 24, 127, 144;
on 1st edition of Principles, 67, 80, 81;
argues for Lyell's belief in Evolution, 84;
reviews _Origin of Species_, 136, 137;
reply to Bishop of Oxford, 138;
defence of Darwinism, 140;
on Darwin's death, 147, 148;
on Lyell's death, 80
Hybridity, Lyell's discussion on, 65, 103
Hypotheses of Creation, twofold character of, 5-8
Ideas _v._ Actions, Wallace on, 4
Independent discovery of Natural Selection by Wallace, 113;
Darwin's letter on, 113
Italian geologists, their anticipation of evolutionary ideas, 17
JACOB, his frauds based on ideas of heredity and variation, 9
JAMESON, R., founds Wernerian Society 1807, 25;
influence on Darwin, 97
_Journal of Researches_, by Darwin, 106;
dedicated to Lyell, 72
King's College, London, Lyell professor at, 65, 66
Kinnordy, Lyell at, 42, 43, 46
KIRWAN, DE LUC, and WILLIAMS, opposition to Hutton, 25
LAMARCK, his _Hydrogeologie_, 87;
_Philosophie Zoologique_, 88;
Lyell's admiration of, 64, 89;
criticism of theory, 64, 90;
views of Darwin on, 90, 91;
on geological time, 155
Lectures by Lyell, 65, 66
Linnean Society, papers of Darwin and Wallace at, 112, 129, 130
Literature, Lyell and, 52, 67;
Darwin and, 116, 117, 120;
his loss of interest in, 134, 135
LOCKHART and _Quarterly Review_, 60
LUCRETIUS, belief in Evolution, 3, 4
LYELL, CHARLES, use of term 'Creation,' 11;
on grandeur of idea of Evolution, 12;
birth and ancestry, 41;
education, 34, 42;
influence of Buckland on, 34, 42-44;
on Cuvier, 46;
change of views not due to Hutton's works, 45;
but to travel and observation, 45;
in East Anglia, 45;
in Strathmore, 46, 47;
abandons career as barrister for geology, 48;
work with Dr Mantell, 48;
visits to Continent, 48;
influence of von Hoff's works, 49;
of Scrope, 50;
his remarks on Hutton's supposed heresies, 51, 54;
influence of Gibbon on his literary style, 52;
praise of Hutton and Playfair at later date, 53;
review of Scrope's book on Auvergne, 56;
visit to Auvergne with Murchison, 56;
advocacy of travel for geologists, 56;
journeys in Italy, 58;
Lyell on Murchison, 57;
Murchison on Lyell, 58;
Lyell's avoidance of controversy, 63;
differences of opinion with Scrope, 62, 63;
attention to literary style, 65;
professorship at King's College, London, 65, 69;
lectures, 66;
controversies at Geological Society, 71;
aid of Darwin in discussions, 71;
his friendship with Darwin, 73, 104, 105;
his extreme caution, 75-77;
candour in finally accepting Natural Selection, 77;
opposition to his views, 83, 84;
his belief in Evolution at an early date, 81, 84-86;
his anticipation of 'Mimicry,' 85, 86;
his action in Darwin-Wallace episode, 113, 129;
induces Darwin to commence writing his work, 128;
his attitude towards theory of Natural Selection, 139, 140, 145;
great influence of Lyell's works on Darwin and Evolution, 150;
misrepresentation of his views, 152-154;
his declining years, 157;
last hours, 80;
Hooker's tribute to his memory, 79, 80
LYELL, CHARLES (the elder), botanist and student of Dante, 41;
intercourse with the Hookers, 126
MALTHUS, _On Population_, influence of work on Darwin, 107;
on Wallace, 112
Man, descent of, Darwin's work on, 142, 144;
Wallace's views on, 144
MANTELL, Lyell's researches with, 48;
correspondence with, 55, 89
MATTHEW, P., anticipation of theory of Natural Selection, 92
MILTON, description of creation, 13;
Darwin's early love of his poetry, 134;
at Christ's College, Cambridge, 13
Mimicry, doctrine of, Lyell's early recognition of importance, 85, 86
_Modern Science, Darwin and_, 148
MURCHISON, accompanies Lyell to Auvergne, 56;
opinion of Lyell, 57;
Lyell's opinion of, 57, 58;
3rd Vol. of _Principles_ dedicated to, 66;
correspondence with, 59
MURRAY, JOHN, and _Quarterly Review_, 60;
publishes Lyell's works, 60;
publishes Darwin's works, 130;
his reminiscences of Darwin, 132
Music, Darwin's loss of power to appreciate, and its cause, 134, 135
Natural Selection, theory of, defined by Huxley, 106;
forestalled by Wells, Matthew &c., 18, 19;
first conception of by Darwin, 107;
by Wallace, 112
'Neptunism' or 'Wernerism' and Catastrophism, 18
NEWTON, Professor A., on vague hopes of solution of 'species question'
before Darwin, 94, 109
_Origin of Species_, first idea of, 121;
plan proposed to follow _Principles_, 123;
first sketch of 1842, enlarged draft of 1844, commencement of great
treatise on Evolution in 1856, interruption by arrival of
Wallace's papers, 128, 129;
the 'Abstract' or _Origin of Species_ commenced, 130;
finished, 131;
reception of, 132-139;
influence of, 1, 159
OSBORN, H. F., his _From the Greeks to Darwin_, 16;
on Lamarck, 87
PALEY, his influence on Darwin, 108
PHILLIPS, JOHN, his attitude towards Lyell's views, 30, 71
Philosophers, on Evolution, 16, 82
PLAYFAIR, JOHN, his _Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory_, 29;
explains the causes of Hutton's failure, 30
'Plutonism,' 'Vulcanism,' or 'Huttonism,' 18
Poets and Evolution, 16
PRESTWICH, Sir J., opposition to Lyell's views, 72
PREVOST, CONSTANT, aid to Lyell, 50;
opposition to Cuvier, 50
PRIESTLEY, persecution of, 21, 69
_Principles of Geology_, first idea of, 55;
early draft sent to publisher in 1827, 56;
withdrawn and rewritten in 1830, 56;
issue of first volume, 63;
success, 64;
review by Scrope, 60-62;
decision to confine Vol. II. to Organic Evolution, 65;
3rd volume, classification of Tertiaries and Metamorphic theory, 66;
later editions, 66;
_Elements, Manual and Student's elements_, 67;
success of work, 67;
Darwin's opinion on, 67;
of Huxley, 67, 80, 81;
Wallace on, 79;
criticisms of, 68, 69, 70, 71
PYTHAGORAS, his evolutionary ideas, 16
_Quarterly Review_, articles by Lyell, 56, 89;
by Scrope, 60, 62
Reviews, of the _Principles_ by Scrope, 56, 89;
by Whewell, 22, 53;
of the _Origin_ by Huxley, 136, 137
SCROPE, G. POULETT, education, 34;
travels, 34;
work in Auvergne, 35;
in Italy, 35;
delay in publishing, 35;
work on volcanoes, 36;
his just views on Evolution, 37-39;
cause of want of recognition of his work, 39, 40;
devotion to politics, 40;
reviews of _Principles_, 41, 61;
correspondence with and influence on Lyell, 50, 61;
his differences of opinion from Lyell, 62, 63, 151;
effects of his review, 64
SEDGWICK, A., advocates Catastrophism, 27, 28;
opposition to Hutton, influence on Scrope, 34;
on Darwin, 98;
opposition to Lyell, 83;
weakening of opposition to, 58;
on _Principles_, 70, 71;
dislike to Evolution, 83
SHIPLEY, A. E., estimate of number of species of animals, 10
Slavery, views of Lyell and Darwin, 76
SMITH, W., influence of his teaching on Geological Society, 27
SOLLAS, W. J., on Evolution and Uniformitarianism, 152, 153
Species, origin of idea of, 9;
number of species of animals, 10;
of plants, 11
Struggle for existence, Lyell on, 103, 107;
de Candolle on, 107
_Theory of the Earth_, Hutton's, 17;
Scrope's, 36
THOMPSON, G. P., _see_ Scrope, 33
Time geological, Lyell on, 154;
Lamarck on, 155
TOLLET, Miss G., aids Darwin in revising _Origin of Species_, 132
Uniformitarianism, origin of the term, 14, 15, 22
Uniformity (or Continuity), Lyell's real views on, 62, 63;
misconceptions of his views on, 151, 152, 155
University of London, Lyell's connexion with, 59, 65
Variation, early recognition of its importance, 9;
Lyell's discussion of, 64, 103;
Darwin's work on, 141
_Vestiges of Creation_, influence of, 93;
Darwin on, 94;
Wallace on, 110
VINES, S. H., estimate of number of species of plants, 10
Volcanoes, Scrope on, 36
Vulcanism, _see_ Plutonism &c., 18
WALLACE, ALFRED RUSSEL, on ideas and actions, 4;
his early life, 110;
in South America, 110;
in Malay Archipelago, 110;
influence of _Principles_ on, 79, 110;
speculations at Sarawak, 111;
influence of Malthus on, 112;
conception of idea of Natural Selection, 111, 112;
ignorance of Darwin's views, 112;
statement on his relation to Darwin, 113, 114;
his magnanimity, 114;
on geographical distribution of animals, 146;
his defence of Lyell's principle of Uniformity, 153
WELLS, Dr, his anticipation of theory of Natural Selection, 92
WERNER, success of his teachings, 21, 26, 27;
his influence on early geologists, 26
Wernerian Society, founded, 1807, by Jameson, 21, 25
Wernerism, 18
WHEWELL, Dr, contrast of doctrines of Hutton and Lyell, 22, 53;
originates terms 'Catastrophism,' 'Uniformitarianism,' 22;
and 'Geological Dynamics,' 70;
reviews _Principles_, 53;
opposition to Evolution, 83
World, small part known to ancients, 9
Worms, Darwin's work on, 147
ZITTEL, K. VON, on Hutton's work, 19;
on von Hoff and Lyell, 50
_Zoonomia_ of Erasmus Darwin, 101
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
* * * * *
Transcribers' note:
General: Inconsistent capitalisation of Von in Von Hoff as in original
General: No period (full stop) after Mr, Mrs, Dr as in original
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Pages 33, 171: Inconsistent spelling of Thomson/Thompson as in original.
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most likely place
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