tever for holding
such a view, but in fairness the possibility should not be forgotten,
and in the light of modern research it scarcely looks so absurdly
improbable as before.

No one can survey the work of recent years without perceiving that
evolutionary orthodoxy developed too fast, and that a great deal has
got to come down; but this satisfaction at least remains, that in the
experimental methods which Mendel inaugurated, we have means of
reaching certainty in regard to the physiology of Heredity and
Variation upon which a more lasting structure may be built.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 56: _Venus Physique, contenant deux Dissertations, l'une sur
l'origine des Hommes et des Animaux_; _Et l'autre sur l'origine des
Noirs_, La Haye, 1746, pp. 124 and 129. For an introduction to the
writings of Maupertuis I am indebted to an article by Professor
Lovejoy in _Popular Sci. Monthly_, 1902.]

[Footnote 57: For the fullest account of the views of these pioneers
of Evolution, see the works of Samuel Butler, especially _Evolution,
Old and New_ (2nd edit.) 1882. Butler's claims on behalf of Buffon
have met with some acceptance; but after reading what Butler has said,
and a considerable part of Buffon's own works, the word "hinted" seems
to me a sufficiently correct description of the part he played. It is
interesting to note that in the chapter on the Ass, which contains
some of his evolutionary passages, there is a reference to "_plusieurs
idees tres-elevees sur la generation_" contained in the Letters of
Maupertuis.]

[Footnote 58: See especially W. Lawrence, _Lectures on Physiology_,
London, 1823, pp. 213 f.]

[Footnote 59: See the chapter contributed to the _Life and Letters of
Charles Darwin_, II. p. 195. I do not clearly understand the sense in
which Darwin wrote (Autobiography, _ibid._ I. p. 87): "It has
sometimes been said that the success of the _Origin_ proved 'that the
subject was in the air,' or 'that men's minds were prepared for it.' I
do not think that this is strictly true, for I occasionally sounded
not a few naturalists, and never happened to come across a single one
who seemed to doubt about the permanence of species." This experience
may perhaps have been an accident due to Darwin's isolation. The
literature of the period abounds with indications of "critical
expectancy." A most interesting expression of that feeling is given in
the charming account of the "Early Days of Darwinism" by Alfred
Newton, _Macm