The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Scientific Evidences of Organic
Evolution, by George John Romanes

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Title: The Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution

Author: George John Romanes

Release Date: November 27, 2006 [EBook #19922]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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_NATURE SERIES._

THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCES

OF

ORGANIC EVOLUTION.

BY
GEORGE J. ROMANES, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.,
ZOOLOGICAL SECRETARY OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.

London:
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1882.

_The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved._

LONDON:
R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.

PREFACE.

Several months ago I published in the _Fortnightly Review_ a lecture,
which I had previously delivered at the Philosophical Institutions of
Edinburgh and Birmingham, and which bore the above title. The late Mr.
Darwin thought well of the epitome of his doctrine which the lecture
presented, and urged me so strongly to republish it in a form which
might admit of its being "spread broadcast over the land," that I
promised him to do so. In fulfilment of this promise, therefore--which I
now regard as more binding than ever--I reproduce the essay in the
"Nature Series" with such additions and alterations as appear to me, on
second thoughts, to be desirable. The only object of the essay is that
which is expressed in the opening paragraph.

LONDON,

_June 1, 1882._

Since this little Essay was published, it has been suggested to me that,
in its mode of presenting the arguments in favour of Evolution, there is
a similarity to that which has been adopted by Mr. Herbert Spencer in
the third part of his _Principles of Biology_. I should therefore like
to state, that while such similarity is no doubt in part due to the
simila