eographical distribution, have not only no equals, but, so far
as our knowledge goes, no competitors, within the range of
biological literature. And viewed as a whole, we do not believe
that, since the publication of Von Baer's _Researches on
Development_, thirty years ago, any work has appeared calculated
to exert so large an influence, not only on the future of
biology, but in extending the domination of science over regions
of thought into which she has, as yet, hardly
penetrated."--(_Ibid._)

"Those who take the trouble to read the essays published in 1859
and 1860, will, I think, do me the justice to admit that my zeal
to secure fair play for Mr. Darwin did not drive me into the
position of a mere advocate; and that, while doing justice to the
greatness of the argument, I did not fail to indicate its weak
points. I have never seen any reason for departing from the
position which I took up in these two essays; and the assertion
which I sometimes meet with nowadays that I have 'recanted' or
changed my opinions about Mr. Darwin's views is quite
unintelligible to me.

"As I have said in the seventh essay, the fact of evolution is
to my mind sufficiently evidenced by palaeontology; and I remain
of the opinion expressed in the second, that until selective
breeding is definitely proved to give rise to varieties infertile
with one another, the logical foundation of the theory of natural
selection is quite incomplete. We still remain very much in the
dark about the causes of variation; the apparent inheritance of
acquired characters in some cases; and the struggle for existence
within the organism, which probably lies at the bottom of both
these phenomena."--(1893, _Preface_.)

Finally, when he was awarded the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society, on
November 30, 1894, in the course of an address at the anniversary
dinner of the Society, he said, as reported in the _Times_ next day:

"I am as much convinced now as I was thirty-four years ago that
the theory propounded by Mr. Darwin, I mean that which he
propounded--not that which has been reported to be his by too
many ill-instructed, both friends and foes--has never yet been
shewn to be inconsistent with any positive observations, and if I
may use a phrase which I know has been objected to, and which I