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certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and
in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that
continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of
species - that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our
greatest philosophers. On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837,
that something might be made out on this question by patiently accumu-
lating and reflecting upon all sorts of facts which could possibly have
any bearing on it. After five years work I allowed myself to speculate
on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844
into a sketch of the conclusions which then seemed to me probable: from
that period to the present day I have steadily pursued the same object. I
hope that I may be excused for entering on these personal details, as I
give them to show that I have not been hasty in coming to a decision.
{8a}
In the latest edition this passage remains unaltered, except in one unim-
portant respect. What could more completely throw us off the scent of
the earlier writers? If they had written anything worthy of our attention,
or indeed if there had been any earlier writers at all, Mr. Darwin would
have been the first to tell us about them, and to award them their due
meed of recognition. But, no; the whole thing was an original growth in
Mr. Darwin s mind, and he had never so much as heard of his grandfa-
ther, Dr. Erasmus Darwin.
Dr. Krause, indeed, thought otherwise. In the number of Kosmos for
February 1879 he represented Mr. Darwin as in his youth approaching
the works of his grandfather with all the devotion which people usually
feel for the writings of a renowned poet. {8b} This should perhaps be a
delicately ironical way of hinting that Mr. Darwin did not read his grand-
father s books closely; but I hardly think that Dr. Krause looked at the
matter in this light, for he goes on to say that almost every single work
of the younger Darwin may be paralleled by at least a chapter in the
works of his ancestor: the mystery of heredity, adaptation, the protective
arrangements of animals and plants, sexual selection, insectivorous
plants, and the analysis of the emotions and sociological impulses; nay,
even the studies on infants are to be found already discussed in the pages
of the elder Darwin. {8c}
Nevertheless, innocent as Mr. Darwin s opening sentence appeared, it
contained enough to have put us upon our guard. When he informed us
that, on his return from a long voyage, it occurred to him that the way
to make anything out about his subject was to collect and reflect upon
the facts that bore upon it, it should have occurred to us in our turn, that
when people betray a return of consciousness upon such matters as this,
they are on the confines of that state in which other and not less elemen-
tary matters will not occur to them. The introduction of the word pa-
tiently should have been conclusive. I will not analyse more of the sen-
tence, but will repeat the next two lines:- After five years of work, I al-
lowed myself to speculate upon the subject, and drew up some short
notes. We read this, thousands of us, and were blind.
If Dr. Erasmus Darwin s name was not mentioned in the first edition of
the Origin of Species, we should not be surprised at there being no no-
tice taken of Buffon, or at Lamarck s being referred to only twice - on
the first occasion to be serenely waved aside, he and all his works; {9a}
on the second, {9b} to be commended on a point of detail. The author
of the Vestiges of Creation was more widely known to English read-
ers, having written more recently and nearer home. He was dealt with
summarily, on an early and prominent page, by a misrepresentation,
which was silently expunged in later editions of the Origin of Species.
In his later editions (I believe first in his third, when 6000 copies had
been already sold), Mr. Darwin did indeed introduce a few pages in
which he gave what he designated as a brief but imperfect sketch of
the progress of opinion on the origin of species prior to the appearance
of his own work; but the general impression which a book conveys to,
and leaves upon, the public is conveyed by the first edition - the one
which is alone, with rare exceptions, reviewed; and in the first edition of
the Origin of Species Mr. Darwin s great precursors were all either ig-
nored or misrepresented. Moreover, the brief but imperfect sketch,
when it did come, was so very brief, but, in spite of this (for this is what
I suppose Mr. Darwin must mean), so very imperfect, that it might as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and
in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that
continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of
species - that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our
greatest philosophers. On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837,
that something might be made out on this question by patiently accumu-
lating and reflecting upon all sorts of facts which could possibly have
any bearing on it. After five years work I allowed myself to speculate
on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844
into a sketch of the conclusions which then seemed to me probable: from
that period to the present day I have steadily pursued the same object. I
hope that I may be excused for entering on these personal details, as I
give them to show that I have not been hasty in coming to a decision.
{8a}
In the latest edition this passage remains unaltered, except in one unim-
portant respect. What could more completely throw us off the scent of
the earlier writers? If they had written anything worthy of our attention,
or indeed if there had been any earlier writers at all, Mr. Darwin would
have been the first to tell us about them, and to award them their due
meed of recognition. But, no; the whole thing was an original growth in
Mr. Darwin s mind, and he had never so much as heard of his grandfa-
ther, Dr. Erasmus Darwin.
Dr. Krause, indeed, thought otherwise. In the number of Kosmos for
February 1879 he represented Mr. Darwin as in his youth approaching
the works of his grandfather with all the devotion which people usually
feel for the writings of a renowned poet. {8b} This should perhaps be a
delicately ironical way of hinting that Mr. Darwin did not read his grand-
father s books closely; but I hardly think that Dr. Krause looked at the
matter in this light, for he goes on to say that almost every single work
of the younger Darwin may be paralleled by at least a chapter in the
works of his ancestor: the mystery of heredity, adaptation, the protective
arrangements of animals and plants, sexual selection, insectivorous
plants, and the analysis of the emotions and sociological impulses; nay,
even the studies on infants are to be found already discussed in the pages
of the elder Darwin. {8c}
Nevertheless, innocent as Mr. Darwin s opening sentence appeared, it
contained enough to have put us upon our guard. When he informed us
that, on his return from a long voyage, it occurred to him that the way
to make anything out about his subject was to collect and reflect upon
the facts that bore upon it, it should have occurred to us in our turn, that
when people betray a return of consciousness upon such matters as this,
they are on the confines of that state in which other and not less elemen-
tary matters will not occur to them. The introduction of the word pa-
tiently should have been conclusive. I will not analyse more of the sen-
tence, but will repeat the next two lines:- After five years of work, I al-
lowed myself to speculate upon the subject, and drew up some short
notes. We read this, thousands of us, and were blind.
If Dr. Erasmus Darwin s name was not mentioned in the first edition of
the Origin of Species, we should not be surprised at there being no no-
tice taken of Buffon, or at Lamarck s being referred to only twice - on
the first occasion to be serenely waved aside, he and all his works; {9a}
on the second, {9b} to be commended on a point of detail. The author
of the Vestiges of Creation was more widely known to English read-
ers, having written more recently and nearer home. He was dealt with
summarily, on an early and prominent page, by a misrepresentation,
which was silently expunged in later editions of the Origin of Species.
In his later editions (I believe first in his third, when 6000 copies had
been already sold), Mr. Darwin did indeed introduce a few pages in
which he gave what he designated as a brief but imperfect sketch of
the progress of opinion on the origin of species prior to the appearance
of his own work; but the general impression which a book conveys to,
and leaves upon, the public is conveyed by the first edition - the one
which is alone, with rare exceptions, reviewed; and in the first edition of
the Origin of Species Mr. Darwin s great precursors were all either ig-
nored or misrepresented. Moreover, the brief but imperfect sketch,
when it did come, was so very brief, but, in spite of this (for this is what
I suppose Mr. Darwin must mean), so very imperfect, that it might as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]