by others of a
somewhat different form, a form changed so as to be adapted to (a la
convenance) the new environment."

Prof. E.B. Poulton ("Science Progress", New Series, Vol. I. 1897. "A
Remarkable Anticipation of Modern Views on Evolution". See also
Chap. VI. in "Essays on Evolution", Oxford, 1908.) has shown that the
anthropologist James Cowles Prichard (1786-1848) must be included, even
in spite of himself, among the precursors of Darwin. In some passages
of the second edition of his "Researches into the Physical History of
Mankind" (1826), he certainly talks evolution and anticipates Prof.
Weismann in denying the transmission of acquired characters. He is,
however, sadly self-contradictory and his evolutionism weakens in
subsequent editions--the only ones that Darwin saw. Prof. Poulton finds
in Prichard's work a recognition of the operation of Natural Selection.
"After enquiring how it is that 'these varieties are developed and
preserved in connection with particular climates and differences of
local situation,' he gives the following very significant answer: 'One
cause which tends to maintain this relation is obvious. Individuals and
families, and even whole colonies, perish and disappear in climates for
which they are, by peculiarity of constitution, not adapted. Of this
fact proofs have been already mentioned.'" Mr Francis Darwin and Prof.
A.C. Seward discuss Prichard's "anticipations" in "More Letters of
Charles Darwin", Vol. I. page 43, and come to the conclusion that the
evolutionary passages are entirely neutralised by others of an opposite
trend. There is the same difficulty with Buffon.

Hints of the idea of Natural Selection have been detected elsewhere.
James Watt (See Prof. Patrick Geddes's article "Variation and
Selection", "Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th edition) 1888.), for
instance, has been reported as one of the anticipators (1851). But we
need not prolong the inquiry further, since Darwin did not know of any
anticipations until after he had published the immortal work of 1859,
and since none of those who got hold of the idea made any use of it.
What Darwin did was to follow the clue which Malthus gave him, to
realise, first by genius and afterwards by patience, how the complex
and subtle struggle for existence works out a natural selection of
those organisms which vary in the direction of fitter adaptation to the
conditions of their life. So much success attended his application of
the Selection