Ebooks Home Page
| Page 1 | The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection (6th Edition) By Charles Darwin | Page 2 | |
Ebooks Home Page |
|||
| Page 1 | |||
The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection;
or, the
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S.,
Author of "The Descent of Man," etc., etc.
"But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as this--
we can perceive that events are brought about not by insulated
interpositions of Divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the
establishment of general laws."--Whewell: "Bridgewater Treatise".
"The only distinct meaning of the word 'natural' is STATED, FIXED or
SETTLED; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an
intelligent agent to render it so, i.e., to effect it continually or at
stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for
once."--Butler: "Analogy of Revealed Religion".
"To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety, or
an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far
or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or in the book of God's
works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless
progress or proficience in both."--Bacon: "Advancement of Learning".
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE PROGRESS OF OPINION ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,
PREVIOUSLY TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS WORK.
I will here give a brief sketch of the progress of opinion on the Origin of
Species. Until recently the great majority of naturalists believed that
species were immutable productions, and had been separately created. This
view has been ably maintained by many authors. Some few naturalists, on
the other hand, have believed that species undergo modification, and that
the existing forms of life are the descendants by true generation of pre
existing forms. Passing over allusions to the subject in the classical
writers (Aristotle, in his "Physicae Auscultationes" (lib.2, cap.8, s.2),
after remarking that rain does not fall in order to make the corn grow, any
more than it falls to spoil the farmer's corn when threshed out of doors,
applies the same argument to organisation; and adds (as translated by Mr.
Clair Grece, who first pointed out the passage to me), "So what hinders the
different parts (of the body) from having this merely accidental relation
in nature? as the teeth, for example, grow by necessity, the front ones
sharp, adapted for dividing, and the grinders flat, and serviceable for
masticating the food; since they were not made for the sake of this, but it
was the result of accident. And in like manner as to other parts in which
there appears to exist an adaptation to an end. Wheresoever, therefore,
all things together (that is all the parts of one whole) happened like as
if they were made for the sake of something, these were preserved, having
been appropriately constituted by an internal spontaneity; and whatsoever
things were not thus constituted, perished and still perish." We here see
the principle of natural selection shadowed forth, but how little Aristotle
fully comprehended the principle, is shown by his remarks on the formation
of the teeth.), the first author who in modern times has treated it in a
scientific spirit was Buffon. But as his opinions fluctuated greatly at
different periods, and as he does not enter on the causes or means of the
transformation of species, I need not here enter on details.
Lamarck was the first man whose conclusions on the subject excited much
attention. This justly celebrated naturalist first published his views in
1801; he much enlarged them in 1809 in his "Philosophie Zoologique", and
subsequently, 1815, in the Introduction to his "Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans
Vertebres". In these works he up holds the doctrine that all species,
including man, are descended from other species. He first did the eminent
service of arousing attention to the probability of all change in the
organic, as well as in the inorganic world, being the result of law, and
not of miraculous interposition. Lamarck seems to have been chiefly led to
his conclusion on the gradual change of species, by the difficulty of
distinguishing species and varieties, by the almost perfect gradation of
forms in certain groups, and by the analogy of domestic productions. With
respect to the means of modification, he attributed something to the direct
action of the physical conditions of life, something to the crossing of
already existing forms, and much to use and disuse, that is, to the effects
of habit. To this latter agency he seems to attribute all the beautiful
adaptations in nature; such as the long neck of the giraffe for browsing on
the branches of trees. But he likewise believed in a law of progressive
development, and as all the forms of life thus tend to progress, in order
| Page 1 | The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection (6th Edition) By Charles Darwin | Page 2 | |
Ebooks Home Page |
|||
| Page 1 | |||
NOTE, THAT WHILE THIS EBOOK IS PROVIDED WITHOUT COPYRIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES, YOU MUST CHECK WITH THE LOCAL LAWS OF THE COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN TO DETERMINE THE COPYRIGHT STATUS OF THIS EBOOK UNDER THE LAWS OF THE COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN. THIS EBOOK IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO WARRANTIES OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE USE OF THIS EBOOK OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANY MEDIUM THIS EBOOK MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.