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Professional jQuery 1st Edition Cesar Otero Digital
Instant Download
Author(s): Cesar Otero, Rob Larsen
ISBN(s): 9781118026687, 1118026683
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 23.27 MB
Year: 2012
Language: english
ffirs.indd ii 22/03/12 9:13 AM
 PROFESSIONAL JQUERY™

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

 PART I JQUERY FUNDAMENTALS

CHAPTER 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CHAPTER 2 JavaScript Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
CHAPTER 3 The jQuery Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
CHAPTER 4 DOM Element Selection and Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
CHAPTER 5 Event Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
CHAPTER 6 HTML Forms, Data, and Ajax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
CHAPTER 7 Animations and Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

 PART II APPLIED JQUERY

CHAPTER 8 jQuery UI Part I—Making Things Look Slick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
CHAPTER 9 jQuery UI Part II—Mouse Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
CHAPTER 10 Writing Effective jQuery Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
CHAPTER 11 jQuery Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
CHAPTER 12 Writing jQuery Plugins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
CHAPTER 13 Advanced Asynchronous Programming with jQuery Deferred . . . . . . 263
CHAPTER 14 Unit Testing with QUnit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
APPENDIX Plugins Used In this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

ffirs.indd i 22/03/12 9:13 AM

ffirs.indd ii 22/03/12 9:13 AM
 PROFESSIONAL

jQuery™

Cesar Otero
Rob Larsen

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ffirs.indd iii 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 Professional jQuery™
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-02668-7
ISBN: 978-1-118-22211-9 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-23592-8 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-26079-1 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affi liates, in the United States and other
countries, and may not be used without written permission. jQuery is a trademark of Software Freedom Conservancy
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with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

ffirs.indd iv 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 To Kala.
—Cesar Otero

This book is dedicated to my wife, Jude, for her

support throughout this project.
—Rob Larsen

ffirs.indd v 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CREDITS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER

Carol Long Tim Tate

PROJECT EDITOR VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE GROUP

Ed Connor PUBLISHER
Richard Swadley
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Andrew Montalenti VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE
PUBLISHER
PRODUCTION EDITOR Neil Edde
Kathleen Wisor
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
COPY EDITOR Jim Minatel
Kim Cofer
PROJECT COORDINATOR, COVER
EDITORIAL MANAGER Katie Crocker
Mary Beth Wakefield
PROOFREADERS
FREELANCER EDITORIAL MANAGER Paul Sagan, Word One
Rosemarie Graham Scott Klemp, Word One

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING INDEXER

David Mayhew Johnna VanHoose Dinse

MARKETING MANAGER COVER DESIGNER

Ashley Zurcher LeAndra Young

BUSINESS MANAGER COVER IMAGE

Amy Knies © iStock / Andrew Rich

ffirs.indd vi 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

CESAR OTERO is a freelance web developer currently living in Mountain View,

California. His technical interests include Python, Django, JavaScript, and
jQuery. Cesar occasionally contributes articles to IBM’s developer works.
He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Inter American University of
Puerto Rico.

ROB LARSEN has more than 12 years’ experience as a front-end engineer and team
leader, building websites and applications for some of the world’s biggest brands.
He is currently a Senior Specialist, Platform at Sapient Global Markets.
Prior to his time at Sapient, Rob spent time at Isobar, The Brand Experience,
Cramer, and as an independent consultant. Over the course of his career, Rob has
solved unique problems for clients like Adidas, Motorola, Philips, Reebok, Gillette,
Boston’s Museum of Science, State Street Corporation, and Harvard Kennedy School.
Rob is an active writer and speaker on web technology with a special focus on emerging standards
like HTML5, CSS3, and the ongoing evolution of the JavaScript programming language. He’s also
active in the open-source community, helping to bridge the gap between the front lines of web
development and the people actively working on the tools that drive the web.

ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EDITOR

ANDREW MONTALENTI is a technologist with over a decade of experience in software

engineering, and over eight years of experience in web application development. He is
cofounder and CTO at Parse.ly, a tech startup that provides insights to the web’s best
publishers. He is also the founder and CEO of Aleph Point, a boutique consulting
fi rm that specializes in large-scale text analysis, information retrieval, and UI design,
with a focus on Python, Grails, and JavaScript web programming. He specializes in
the rapid development of prototypes. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he was a
technical lead and project manager for a small, super-bright team within a top-tier investment bank.

ffirs.indd vii 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MANY THANKS to Andrew Montalenti for taking on the technical editing, and, of course, the
editors at Wiley, Carol Long and Edward Connor. A special thanks to Lynn Haller: without her,
this project wouldn’t have come together. Also, PJ Cabrera for both helping me kickstart my writing
career and introducing me to jQuery.
Thanks to the Hacker Dojo for providing such an amazing coworking space, and to the dojo
members who contributed input.
I’m also grateful to my friends and family for their support and input, most notably Paul Wayland,
Alejandro Valsega, and Valerie Voigt.

—Cesar Otero

I’D LIKE TO THANK the folks at Wiley for giving me this opportunity and especially Carol Long and
Edward Connor for helping me hit the ground running. I’d be crazy not to mention our copy editor,
Kim Cofer, and Andrew Montalenti, our technical editor. Without them, we’d be working without
a spotter. Knowing they’re there to catch us when we stumble makes this a lot easier. I’d also like to
thank Renée Midrack and Lynn Haller from Studio B for steering me towards the opportunity in
the fi rst place.
I defi nitely want to thank the jQuery team and community for being generally phenomenal. Here’s a
big high five to all the great front-end engineers I’ve worked with at Cramer, Isobar, and Sapient —
thanks for pushing me to be a better programmer, manager, and colleague. From Sapient, I need to
specifically thank Jarlath Forde, Joe Morgan, and Alvin Crespo for direct support on the book.

—Rob Larsen

ffirs.indd viii 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION xv

PART I: JQUERY FUNDAMENTALS

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 3

What jQuery Is Good At 3

Hardware and Browser Requirements 4
Obtaining jQuery and jQuery UI 4
“Hello World” Example 5
JavaScript Conventions Used in This Book 6
Development Tools 9
Debugging JavaScript and jQuery 15
Using the FireQuery Plugin 16
Summary 17
CHAPTER 2: JAVASCRIPT PRIMER 19

Understanding Numbers 20
Working with Strings 21
Understanding Booleans 21
Comparison Types 22
A Brief Note About Dates 23
Reviewing Miscellaneous Types 23
Revisiting Variables 24
Understanding Objects 25
Using Functions 29
Understanding Execution Context 32
Working with Scope and Closures 32
Understanding Access Levels 34
Applying Modules 34
Using JavaScript Arrays 35
Augmenting Types 37
Applying JS Best Practices 38
Putting It All Together 38
Summary 39
Note 39

ftoc.indd ix 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 3: THE JQUERY CORE 41

Understanding the Structure of a jQuery Script 41

Utility Functions 43
Using JavaScript Unobtrusively 52
The jQuery Framework Structure 58
Understanding the DOM and Events 60
Using jQuery with Other JavaScript Libraries 60
Summary 61
Notes 62
CHAPTER 4: DOM ELEMENT SELECTION AND MANIPULATION 63

The Power of jQuery Selectors 64

Selecting Elements 64
Selecting by CSS Styles 66
Selecting by Attributes 68
Selecting by Position 72
Using Filter Selectors 72
Custom User Selectors 81
Doing DOM Traversal 82
Accessing and Modifying Elements,
Attributes, and Content 88
Working with Content 88
Generating HTML 92
Summary 93
CHAPTER 5: EVENT HANDLING 95

Understanding the Browser Event Model 96

Event Capturing and Bubbling 99
Understanding How jQuery Handles Events 101
Applying jQuery Event Handlers 103
Working with Events 108
jQuery’s New Event API 114
Summary 116
Notes 117
CHAPTER 6: HTML FORMS, DATA, AND AJAX 119

jQuery Data Appreciation 119

Using Form Validations 121
Feature Detection with Modernizr 122

ftoc.indd x 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CONTENTS

Working with HTML Form Elements 124

Revisiting Ajax Basics 127
Applying Ajax with jQuery 129
Summary 138
Notes 138
CHAPTER 7: ANIMATIONS AND EFFECTS 141

Animating Elements 141

Animating CSS Properties 143
Resizing Elements 146
Designing Custom Animations 146
Animations with HTML5 Canvas 150
Summary 152
Notes 152

PART II: APPLIED JQUERY

CHAPTER 8: JQUERY UI PART I—MAKING THINGS
LOOK SLICK 155

Theming and Styling 155

Using ThemeRoller 156
Using jQuery UI Widgets 157
Button 158
Tabs 159
Accordion 163
Autocomplete 164
Datepicker 167
Dialog 173
Progressbar 175
Slider 176
Summary 178
Notes 178
CHAPTER 9: JQUERY UI PART II—MOUSE INTERACTIONS 179

Dragging and Dropping 179

Sorting 184
Resizing Elements 188
Making Elements Selectable 192
Summary 194

xi

ftoc.indd xi 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 10: WRITING EFFECTIVE JQUERY CODE 195

Optimization Techniques 195

Minimize DOM Updates 196
More Effective Looping 198
Caching Objects 200
Use Efficient Selectors 200
Consider Skipping jQuery Methods Entirely 204
DRY 205
Use JavaScript Patterns 206
Creating an Application Namespace with a Singleton 207
The Module Pattern 210
The Garber-Irish Implementation 213
Using $.data() 216
The Basics of the .data() API 216
Fully Leveraging the Data API 217
Summary 219

CHAPTER 11: JQUERY TEMPLATES 221

Taming a Tangle of Strings 221

Separation of Content and Behavior 223
Code Reuse 223
Aesthetics and Clarity 223
The Past, Present, and Future of jQuery Templates 223
Creating Templates 224
Applying Templates with $.tmpl() 226
Applying Templates Using Remote Data 228
Template Tags 230
Summary 240

CHAPTER 12: WRITING JQUERY PLUGINS 241

The Plugin Basics 241

Applying jQuery Plugin Naming Conventions 242
How to Extend jQuery 242
General Plugin Guidelines 244
Applying Plugin Best Practices 249
Utilize and Learn from Existing Plugin Patterns 256
A Closer Look at the Widget Factory 258
An Example Plugin Implementation 259
Summary 262

xii

ftoc.indd xii 22/03/12 9:13 AM

 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 13: ADVANCED ASYNCHRONOUS PROGRAMMING WITH

JQUERY DEFERRED 263

Building Blocks 263

Promises 264
The Promises/A Proposal 264
The jQuery Deferred Object 265
Summary 279
CHAPTER 14: UNIT TESTING WITH QUNIT 281

An Introduction to Unit Testing 281

What Is Unit Testing? 282
Benefits of Unit Testing 282
Test-Driven Development 283
Understanding What Makes a Good Unit Test 283
Getting Started with QUnit 284
The QUnit Hello World Using equal 284
A Failing QUnit Test 286
Testing for Truthiness with ok 287
Setting Expectations 287
Additional Assertions 288
Testing DOM Elements 289
Using noglobals and notrycatch 290
Organizing Tests into Modules 292
Asynchronous Testing 294
Using asyncTest 295
Mocking Ajax Requests 296
Putting it All Together in a Test Suite 298
Summary 301
APPENDIX: PLUGINS USED IN THIS BOOK 303

INDEX 305

xiii

ftoc.indd xiii 22/03/12 9:13 AM

flast.indd xiv 22/03/12 9:12 AM
 INTRODUCTION

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS JAVASCRIPT has undergone a remarkable transformation. Where
once it was a “toy” language relegated to secondary status it’s now one of the most important
programming languages in the world. With the ongoing importance of Ajax-based development and
the rise of full-featured JavaScript libraries, the stigma surrounding JavaScript has all but vanished.
As easily the most popular and beginner-friendly library, jQuery is responsible for the lion’s share of
that progress.
jQuery is more than just a beginner’s choice; however, it’s in use at some of the largest organizations
in the world, adding interactivity to billions of page views every month. Amazon, IBM, Twitter,
NBC, Best Buy and Dell are just a few of the companies using jQuery in production.
With a web-scale footprint it should come as no surprise that jQuery is evolving at web speed. 2011
saw no less than three major releases and the community surrounding jQuery continues to blossom
as developers the world over contribute bug fi xes, plugins and work on related projects like jQuery
UI and QUnit. This flurry of activity ensures that jQuery presents a full-featured option for any
developer looking to do world-class JavaScript development.
This is true no matter what programming philosophy or technique is followed: jQuery is
prominently featured in the front end of Java/Spring, PHP, .NET, Ruby on Rails, and Python/
Django stacks all over the Web.
If you have experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then this book is for you. This book
will expand your jQuery knowledge by focusing on the core library with the benefit of strong
core JavaScript expertise coloring the lessons. The fi rst few chapters will help you to set up a
development environment, and reviews important JavaScript concepts. Chapters 3 to 7 examine the
jQuery core concepts. The second half of the book focuses on applying jQuery in the real world,
detailing jQuery UI, plugin development, templates, unit testing, best practices, and JavaScript
design patterns applied with jQuery.
Hopefully, this book will give you the hardcore jQuery chops you’ll need to solve whatever
problems the Web throws at you.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

This book is aimed at three groups of readers:
➤ Experienced server-side web application developers looking to move more heavily into the
client side using the world’s most popular front-end library
➤ Experienced JavaScript programmers looking to ramp up quickly on jQuery
➤ Novice to intermediate jQuery developers looking to expand their jQuery knowledge into
more advanced topics

flast.indd xv 22/03/12 9:12 AM

 INTRODUCTION

This book is not aimed at beginners. For beginners looking to start from the basics of HMTL, CSS,
and JavaScript/jQuery development, Beginning JavaScript and CSS Development with jQuery
(Wrox Programmer to Programmer) by Richard York is a more appropriate choice.

WHAT THIS BOOK COVERS

Professional jQuery provides a developer-level introduction to jQuery as well as providing an in-
depth look at more advanced features.
Starting with the fi rst part, the book offers an in-depth introduction to jQuery fundamentals,
selecting elements, manipulating to the DOM, and binding and reacting to browser events.
Building on that solid foundation the book will outline more advanced topics, including plugin
development, unit testing with JavaScript and other advanced features of the library.
The book focuses on features available as of jQuery 1.7.1, but tries to make note of feature support
in older versions of the library wherever relevant.

HOW THIS BOOK IS STRUCTURED

This book is divided into two parts, jQuery Fundamentals and Applied jQuery. jQuery Fundamentals
introduces the core concepts and Applied jQuery focuses on more advanced subjects.
Part I — jQuery Fundamentals consists of the following chapters:
1. Getting Started — This chapter sets up an environment for developing and debugging
jQuery and JavaScript code and defi nes the code standards that will be used throughout the
book. It also talks about ways to package JavaScript for production and sets up code.
2. JavaScript Primer — This chapter goes through the basics of the JavaScript programming
language to fi rm up the foundation upon which the rest of the book is built. jQuery is a
JavaScript library after all, and many of the best features spring from clever application of
core JavaScript techniques.
3. The jQuery Core — Introduces the basic functions that make up the library. It illuminates
usages of the core jQuery functions and then introduces many of the utility functions that
you’ll use to perform a variety of tasks.
4. DOM Element Selection and Manipulation — This chapter dives into one of the core
features of jQuery, the ability to select and manipulate HTML elements.
5. Event Handling — Introduces another key feature of jQuery, the cross-browser ability to
bind and manage browser events.
6. HTML Forms, Data, and Ajax — Explores one of the biggest revolutions in web development
of the past 10 years — Ajax.
7. Animations and Effects — Explores some of the shortcuts that jQuery offers for animating
components in your web applications such as moving, fading, toggling, and resizing
elements.

xvi

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 INTRODUCTION

Part II — Applied jQuery covers the following topics:

8. jQuery UI Part I: Making Things Look Slick — Introduces jQuery UI. jQuery UI is an
associated user interface library for jQuery that contains widgets, effects, animations, and
interactions.
9. jQuery UI Part II: Mouse Interactions — Explores additional jQuery UI features including
moving, sorting, resizing, and selecting elements with the mouse.
10. Writing Effective jQuery Code — Teaches a variety of techniques, best practices,
and patterns that you can apply to your code immediately to make it more efficient,
maintainable, and clear.
11. jQuery Templates — Focuses on the jQuery Template plugin. jQuery templates are a
standard way of marrying data and markup snippets.
12. Writing jQuery Plugins — Focuses on authoring jQuery plugins. Being able to extend the
power of jQuery with custom methods is a fundamental skill for a top jQuery developer.
13. Advanced Asynchronous Programming with jQuery Deferred — Introduces the jQuery
Deferred object. $.Deferred, introduced in version 1.5, is a chainable utility object that
provides fi ne-tuned control over the way callback functions are handled.
14. Unit Testing with QUnit — Introduces the general concept of unit testing and goes into
detail with the specific unit testing framework created and used by the jQuery project itself,
QUnit.

WHAT YOU NEED TO USE THIS BOOK

jQuery supports the following web browsers. You’ll need one of them to run the samples provided
with the book:
➤ Firefox 3.6, Current – 1 version
➤ Internet Explorer 6+
➤ Safari 5.0.x
➤ Opera Current – 1 version
➤ Chrome Current – 1 version

CONVENTIONS
To help you get the most from the text and keep track of what’s happening, we’ve used a number of
conventions throughout the book.

xvii

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 INTRODUCTION

Boxes with a warning icon like this one hold important, not-to-be-forgotten
information that is directly relevant to the surrounding text.

The pencil icon indicates notes, tips, hints, tricks, and asides to the current
discussion.

As for styles in the text:

➤ We highlight new terms and important words when we introduce them.
➤ We show keyboard strokes like this: Ctrl+A.
➤ We show fi le names, URLs, and code within the text like so: persistence.properties.
➤ We present code in two different ways:

We use a monofont type with no highlighting for most code examples.

We use bold to emphasize code that is particularly important in the present context
or to show changes from a previous code snippet.

SOURCE CODE
As you work through the examples in this book, you may choose either to type in all the code
manually, or to use the source code fi les that accompany the book. All the source code used in this
book is available for download at www.wrox.com. When at the site, simply locate the book’s title
(use the Search box or one of the title lists) and click the Download Code link on the book’s detail
page to obtain all the source code for the book. Code that is included on the website is highlighted
by the following icon:

Available for
download on
Wrox.com

Listings include the fi lename in the title. If it is just a code snippet, you’ll fi nd the fi lename in a code
note such as this:
Code snippet filename

Because many books have similar titles, you may fi nd it easiest to search by
ISBN; this book’s ISBN is 978-1-118-02668-7.

xviii

flast.indd xviii 22/03/12 9:12 AM

Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Evolution
Theory, Vol. 1 of 2
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The Evolution Theory, Vol. 1 of 2

Author: August Weismann

Translator: J. Arthur Thomson

Margaret R. Thomson

Release date: January 6, 2021 [eBook #64227]

Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Constanze Hofmann, Alan, Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe and the

Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library and
The Internet Archive.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EVOLUTION

THEORY, VOL. 1 OF 2 ***
 THE
EVOLUTION THEORY
VOLUME I

THE
EVOLUTION THEORY
BY

Dr. AUGUST WEISMANN

PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG IN BREISGAU

TRANSLATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S CO-OPERATION

BY

J. ARTHUR THOMSON
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

AND

MARGARET R. THOMSON
 ILLUSTRATED

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I

LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD
41 & 43 MADDOX STREET, BOND STREET, W.
1904
All rights reserved
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE
When a life of pleasant labour is drawing towards a close, the wish
naturally asserts itself to gather together the main results, and to
combine them in a well-defined and harmonious picture which may
be left as a legacy to succeeding generations.
This wish has been my main motive in the publication of these
lectures, which I delivered in the University of Freiburg in Breisgau.
But there has been an additional motive in the fact that the theory
of heredity published by me a decade ago has given rise not only to
many investigations prompted by it, but also to a whole literature of
'refutations,' and, what is much better, has brought to light a mass
of new facts which, at first sight at least, seem to contradict my
main theory. As I remain as convinced that the essential part of my
theory is well grounded as I was when I first sketched it, I naturally
wish to show how the new facts may be brought into harmony with
it.
It is by no means only with the theory of heredity by itself that I am
concerned, for that has served, so to speak, as a means to a higher
end, as a groundwork on which to base an interpretation of the
transformations of life through the course of the ages. For the
phenomena of heredity, like all the functions of individual life, stand
in the closest association with the whole evolution of life upon our
earth; indeed, they form its roots, the nutritive basis from which all
its innumerable branches and twigs are, in the long run, derived.
Thus the phenomena of the individual life, and especially those of
reproduction and inheritance, must be considered in connexion with
the Theory of Descent, that the latter may be illumined by them,
and so brought nearer our understanding.
I make this attempt to sum up and present as a harmonious whole
the theories which for forty years I have been gradually building up
on the basis of the legacy of the great workers of the past, and on
the results of my own investigations and those of many fellow
workers, not because I regard the picture as complete or incapable
of improvement, but because I believe its essential features to be
correct, and because an eye-trouble which has hindered my work for
many years makes it uncertain whether I shall have much more time
and strength granted to me for its further elaboration. We are
standing in the midst of a flood-tide of investigation, which is
ceaselessly heaping up new facts bearing upon the problem of
evolution. Every theory formulated at this time must be prepared
shortly to find itself face to face with a mass of new facts which may
necessitate its more or less complete reconstruction. How much or
how little of it may remain, in face of the facts of the future, it is
impossible to predict. But this will be so for a long time, and it
seems to me we must not on that account refrain from following out
our convictions to the best of our ability and presenting them sharply
and definitely, for it is only well-defined arguments which can be
satisfactorily criticized, and can be improved if they are imperfect, or
rejected if they are erroneous. In both these processes progress lies.
This book consists of 'Lectures' which were given publicly at the
university here. In my introductory lecture in 1867 I championed the
Theory of Descent, which was then the subject of lively controversy,
but it was not till seven years later that I gave, by way of
experiment, a short summer course with a view to aiding in the
dissemination of Darwin's views. Then very gradually my own
studies and researches and those of others led me to add to the
Darwinian edifice, and to attempt a further elaboration of it, and
accordingly these 'Lectures,' which were delivered almost regularly
every year from 1880 onwards, were gradually modified in
accordance with the state of my knowledge at the time, so that they
have been, I may say, a mirror of the course of my own intellectual
evolution.
In the last two decades of the nineteenth century much that is new
has been introduced into biological science; Nägeli's idea of
'idioplasm'—the substance which determines form; Roux's Struggle
of the Parts, the recognition of a special hereditary substance, 'the
germ-plasm,' its analysis into chromosomes, and its continuity from
generation to generation; the potential immortality of unicellular
organisms and of the germ-cells in contrast to the natural death of
higher forms and 'bodies'; a deeper interpretation of mitotic nuclear
division, the discovery of the centrosphere—the marvellous dividing
apparatus of the cell—which at once allowed us to penetrate a whole
stratum deeper into the unfathomable mine of microscopic vital
structure; then the clearing up of our ideas in regard to fertilization,
and the analysis of this into the two processes combined in it,
reproduction and the mingling of the germ-plasms (Amphimixis); in
connexion with this, the phenomena of maturation, first in the
female and then in the male cell, and their significance as a
reduction of the hereditary units:—all this and much more we have
gained during this period. Finally, there is the refutation of the
Lamarckian principle, and the consequent elaboration of the principle
of selection by applying it to the hitherto closed region of the
ultimate vital elements of the germ-plasm.
The actual form of these lectures has developed as they were
transcribed. But although the form is thus to some extent new, I
have followed in the main the same train of thought as in the
lectures of recent years. The lecture-form has been adhered to in
the book, not merely because of the greater vividness of
presentation which it implies, but for many other reasons, of which
the greater freedom in the choice of material and the limiting of
quotation to a minimum are not the least. That all polemics of a
personal kind have thus been excluded will not injure the book, but
it is by no means lacking in discussions of opinion, and will,
therefore, I trust, contribute something towards the clearing up of
disputed points.
I have endeavoured to introduce as much of the researches and
writings of others as possible without making the book heavy; but
my aim has been to write a book to be read, not merely one to be
referred to.
If it be asked, finally, for whom the book is intended, I can hardly
answer otherwise than 'For him whom it interests.' The lectures were
delivered to an audience consisting for the most part of students of
medicine and natural science, but including some from other
faculties, and sometimes even some of my colleagues in other
departments. In writing the book I have presupposed as little special
knowledge as possible, and I venture to hope that any one who
reads the book and does not merely skim it, will be able without
difficulty to enter into the abstruse questions treated of in the later
lectures.
It would be a great satisfaction to me if this book were to be the
means of introducing my theoretical views more freely among
investigators, and to this end I have elaborated special sections
more fully than in the lectures. Notwithstanding much controversy, I
still regard its fundamental features as correct, especially the
assumption of 'controlling' vital units, the determinants, and their
aggregation into 'ids'; but the determinant theory also implies
germinal selection, and without it the whole idea of the guiding of
the course of transformation of the forms of life, through selection
which rejects the unfit and favours the more fit, is, to my mind, a
mere torso, or a tree without roots.
I only know of two prominent workers of our day who have given
thorough-going adherence to my views: Emery in Bologna and J.
Arthur Thomson in Aberdeen. But I still hope to be able to convince
many others when the consistency and the far-reachingness of these
ideas are better understood. In many details I may have made
mistakes which the investigations of the future will correct, but as far
as the basis of my theory is concerned I am confident: the principle
of selection does rule over all the categories of vital units. It does
not, indeed, create primary variations, but it determines the paths of
evolution which these are to follow, and thus controls all
differentiation, all ascent of organization, and ultimately the whole
course of organic evolution on the earth, for everything about living
beings depends upon adaptation, though not on adaptation in the
sense in which Darwin used the word.
The great prominence thus given to the idea of selection has been
condemned as one-sided and exaggerated, but the physicist is quite
as open to the same reproach when he thinks of gravity as operative
not on our earth alone, but as dominating the whole cosmos,
whether visible to us or not. If there is gravity at all it must prevail
everywhere, that is, wherever material masses exist; and in the
same way the co-operation of certain conditions with certain primary
vital forces must call forth the same process of selection wherever
living beings exist; thus not only are the vital units which we can
perceive, such as individuals and cells, subject to selection, but
those units the existence of which we can only deduce theoretically,
because they are too minute for our microscopes, are subject to it
likewise.
This extension of the principle of selection to all grades of vital units
is the characteristic feature of my theories; it is to this idea that
these lectures lead, and it is this—in my own opinion—which gives
this book its importance. This idea will endure even if everything
else in the book should prove transient.
Many may wonder, perhaps, why in the earlier lectures much that
has long been known should be presented afresh, but I regard it as
indispensable that the student who wishes to make up his own mind
in regard to the selection-idea should not only be clear as to what it
means theoretically, but should also form for himself a conception of
its sphere of influence. Many prejudiced utterances in regard to
'Natural Selection' would never have been published if those
responsible for them had known more of the facts; if they had had
any idea of the inexhaustible wealth of phenomena which can only
be interpreted in the light of this principle, in as far, that is, as we
are able to give explanations of life at all. For this reason I have
gone into the subject of colour-adaptations, and especially into that
of mimicry, in great detail; I wished to give the reader a firm
foundation of fact from which he could select what suited him when
he wished to test by the light of facts the more difficult problems
discussed in the book.
In conclusion, I wish to thank all those who have given me
assistance in one way or other in this work: my former assistant and
friend Professor V. Häcker in Stuttgart, my pupils and fellow workers
Dr. Gunther and Dr. Petrunkewitsch, and the publisher, who has met
my wishes in the most amiable manner.
Freiburg-I-Br.,
February 20, 1902.
PREFATORY NOTE TO ENGLISH EDITION
Professor Weismann's Evolution Theory, here translated from the
second German edition (1904), is a work of compelling interest, the
fruit of a lifetime of observation and reflection, a veteran's judicial
summing up of his results, and certainly one of the most important
contributions to Evolution literature since Darwin's day.
As the author's preface indicates, the salient features of his crowning
work are (1) the illumination of the Evolution process with a wealth
of fresh illustrations; (2) the vindication of the 'Germ-plasm' concept
as a valuable working hypothesis; (3) the final abandonment of any
assumption of transmissible acquired characters; (4) a further
analysis of the nature and origin of variations; and (5), above all, an
extension of the Selection principle of Darwin and Wallace, which
finds its logical outcome in the suggestive theory of Germinal
Selection.
The translation will be welcomed, we believe, not only by biological
experts who have followed the development of 'Weismannism'
during the last twenty years, and will here find its full expression for
the time being, but also by those who, while acquainted with
individual essays, have not hitherto realized the author's complete
system. Apart from the theoretical conceptions which unify the book
and mark it as an original contribution of great value, there is a lucid
exposition of recent biological advances which will appeal to those
who care more for facts than theories. To critics of evolutionism,
who are still happily with us, the book ought to be indispensable; it
will afford them much material for argumentation, and should save
them many tilts against windmills. But, above all, the book will be
valued by workers in many departments of Biology, who are trying to
help in the evolution of Evolution Theory, for it is characteristic of
the author, as the history of recent research shows, to be suggestive
and stimulating, claiming no finality for his conclusions, but urging
us to test them in a mood of 'thätige Skepsis.'
The translation of this book—the burden of which has been borne by
my wife—has been a pleasure, but it has also been a serious
responsibility. We have had fine examples set us by previous
translators of some of Weismann's works, Meldola, Poulton, Shipley,
Parker, and others; and if we have fallen short of their achievements,
it has not been for lack of endeavour to follow the original with
fidelity, nor for lack of encouragement on the part of the author, who
revised every page and suggested many emendations.
J. ARTHUR THOMSON.
University of Aberdeen,
October, 1904.
 CONTENTS
LECTURE PAGE

I. Introductory 1
II. The Darwinian Theory 25
III. The Darwinian Theory (continued) 42
IV. The Coloration of Animals and its relation to the
Processes of Selection 57
V. True Mimicry 91
VI. Protective Adaptations in Plants 119
VII. Carnivorous Plants 132
VIII. The Instincts of Animals 141
IX. Organic Partnerships or Symbiosis 161
X. The Origin of Flowers 179
XI. Sexual Selection 210
XII. Intra-Selection or Selection among Tissues 240
XIII. Reproduction in Unicellular Organisms 253
XIV. Reproduction by Germ-cells 266
XV. The Process of Fertilization 286
XVI. Fertilization in Plants and Unicellular Organisms
and its immediate significance 312
XVII. The Germ-plasm Theory 345
XVIII. The Germ-plasm Theory (continued) 373
XIX. The Germ-plasm Theory (continued) 392
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE PAGE

1. Group of various races of domestic pigeons 35

2. Longitudinally striped caterpillar of a Satyrid 67
Full-grown caterpillar of the Eyed Hawk-moth
3. 67
(Smerinthus ocellatus)
4. Full-grown caterpillar of the Elephant Hawk-moth
(Chærocampa elpenor) 68
5. The Eyed Hawk-moth in its 'terrifying attitude' 69
6. Under surface of the wings of Caligo 70
7. Caterpillar of a North American Darapsa 71
Caterpillar of the Buckthorn Hawk-moth (Deilephila
8. 73
hippophaës)
9. Hebomoja glaucippe, from India; under surface 76
10. Xylina vetusta, in flight and at rest 77
11. Tropidoderus childreni, in flying pose 79
12. Notodonta camelina, in flight and at rest 80
Kallima paralecta, from India, right under side of the
13. 83, 357
butterfly at rest
Cœnophlebia archidona, from Bolivia, in its resting
14. 85
attitude
Cærois chorinæus, from the lower Amazon, in its
15. 86
resting attitude
16. Phyllodes ornata, from Assam 87
Caterpillar of Selenia tetralunaria, seated on a birch
17. 90, 360
twig
18. Upper surfaces of Acræa egina, Papilio ridleyanus,
and Pseudacræa boisduvalii 102
19. Barbed bristles of Opuntia rafinesquii 123
 Vertical section through a piece of a leaf of the
20. 123
Stinging-nettle (Urtica dioica)
21. A piece of a twig of Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) 124
22. Tragacanth (Astragalus tragacantha) 125
23. Bladderwort (Utricularia grafiana) 133
24. Pitcher of Nepenthes villosa 134
25. Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) 136
26. The Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) 137
27. A leaf of the Sundew 137
28. Leaf of Venus Fly-trap 138
29. Aldrovandia vesiculosa 138
30. Aldrovandia, its trap apparatus 139
31. Sea-cucumber (Cucumaria) 148
32. Metamorphosis of Sitaris humeralis, an oil-beetle 150
33. Cocoon of the Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini) 158
34. Hermit-crab 163
35. Hydra viridis, the Green Freshwater Polyp 169
36. Amœba viridis 170
37. Twig of an Imbauba-tree, showing hair cushions 172
38. A fragment of a Lichen 173
39. A fragment of a Silver Poplar root 176
40. Potentilla verna 181
41. Flower of Meadow Sage 183
42. Alpine Lousewort (Pedicularis asplenifolia) 184
43. Flower of Birthwort (Aristolochia clematitis) 185
44. Alpine Butterwort (Pinguicula alpina) 185
45. Daphne mezereum and Daphne striata 187
46. Common Orchis (Orchis mascula) 188
47. Head of a Butterfly 190
48. Mouth-parts of the Cockroach 191
49. Head of the Bee 192
50. Flowers of the Willow 194
51. The Yucca-moth (Pronuba yuccasella) 201
52. The fertilization of the Yucca 202
53. Scent-scales of diurnal Butterflies 217
A portion of the upper surface of the wing of a male
54. 218
'blue' (Lycæna menalcas)
55. Zeuxidia wallacei, male 218
56. Leptodora hyalina 224
57. Moina paradoxa, male 225
58. Moina paradoxa, female 226
59. An Amœba: the process of division 253
60. Stentor rœselii, trumpet-animalcule 254
61. Holophrya multifiliis 256
62. Pandorina morum 257
63. Volvox aureus 270
64. Fucus platycarpus, brown sea-wrack 272
65. Copulation in a Daphnid (Lyncæid) 276
66. Spermatozoa of various Daphnids 277
67. Spermatozoa of various animals 278
68. Diagram of a spermatozoon 279, 338
69. Ovum of the Sea-urchin 281, 338
70. Daphnella 283
71. Bythotrephes longimanus 283
72. Sida crystallina, a Daphnid 284
Diagrammatic longitudinal section of a hen's egg
73. 285
before incubation
74. Diagram of nuclear division 288
75. Process of fertilization in Ascaris megalocephala 296
76. Diagram of the maturation divisions of the ovum 299
77. Diagram of the maturation divisions of the sperm-cell 301
 Diagram of the maturation of a parthenogenetic
78. 305
ovum
The two maturation divisions of the 'drone eggs' of
79. 307, 337
the Bee
80. Fertilization of the ovum of a Gasteropod 310
81. Formation of polar bodies in a Lichen 313
82. Fertilization in the Lily 314
83. Conjugation of Noctiluca 317
Conjugation and polar body formation in the Sun-
84. 319
animalcule
85. Diagram of the conjugation of an Infusorian 321
86. Conjugation of an Infusorian 323
87. Diagram to illustrate the operation of amphimixis 348
Sperm-mother-cells (spermatocytes) of the
88. 350
Salamander
89. Anterior region of the larva of a Midge 364, 393
90. The Common Shore-Crab, seen from below 367
91. Hind leg of a Locustid 371
92. Echinoderm-larvæ 387
93. Development of a limb in the pupa of a Fly 395
94. Diagram to illustrate the phylogenetic shifting back of
the origins of the germ-cells in medusoids and
hydroids 412
Diagram to illustrate the migration of the germ-cells
95. 414
in Hydromedusæ

COLOURED PLATES
SOME MIMETIC BUTTERFLIES AND THEIR IMMUNE MODELS
Plate I to face page 112
Plate II " " 114
Plate III " " 116
 LECTURE I
INTRODUCTORY
Every one knows in a general way what is meant by the doctrine of
descent—that it is the theory which maintains that the forms of life,
animals and plants, which we see on our earth to-day, have not
been the same from all time, but have been developed, by a process
of transformation, from others of an earlier age, and are in fact
descended from ancestors specifically different. According to this
doctrine of descent, the whole diversity of animals and plants owes
its origin to a transformation process, in the course of which the
earliest inhabitants of our earth, extremely simple forms of life, were
in part evolved in the course of time into forms of continually
increasing complexity of structure and efficiency of function,
somewhat in the same way as we can see every day, when any
higher animal is developed from a single cell, the egg-cell, not
suddenly or directly, but connected with its origin by a long series of
ever more complex transformation stages, each of which is the
preparation for, and leads on to the succeeding one. The theory of
descent is thus a theory of development or evolution. It does not
merely, as earlier science did, take for granted and describe existing
forms of life, but regards them as having become what they are
through a process of evolution, and it seeks to investigate the stages
of this process, and to discover the impelling forces that lie behind it.
Briefly, the theory of descent is an attempt at a scientific
interpretation of the origin and diversity of the animate world.
In these lectures, therefore, we have not merely to show on what
grounds we make this postulate of an evolution process, and to
marshall the facts which necessitate it; we must also try to penetrate
as far as possible towards the causes which bring about such
transformations. For this reason we are forced to go beyond the
limits of the theory of descent in the narrow sense, and to deal with
the general processes of life itself, especially with reproduction and
the closely associated problem of heredity. The transformation of
species can only be interpreted in one of two ways; either it depends
on a peculiar internal force, which is usually only latent in the
organism, but from time to time becomes active, and then, to a
certain extent, moulds it into new forms; or it depends on the
continually operating forces which make up life, and on the way in
which these are influenced by changing external conditions. Which
of these alternatives is correct we can only undertake to determine
when we know the phenomena of life, and as far as possible their
causes, so that it is indispensable to make ourselves acquainted with
these as far as we can.
When we look at one of the lowest forms of life, such as an Amœba
or a single-celled Alga, and reflect that, according to the theory of
evolution, the whole realm of creation as we see it now, with Man at
its head, has evolved from similar or perhaps even smaller and
simpler organisms, it seems at first sight a monstrous assumption,
and one which quite contradicts our simplest and most certain
observations. For what is more certain than that the animals and
plants around us remain the same, as long as we can observe them,
not through the lifetime of an individual only, but through centuries,
and in the case of many species, for several thousand years?
This being so, it is intelligible enough that the doctrine of evolution,
on its first emergence at the end of the eighteenth century, was
received with violent opposition, not on the part of the laity only, but
by the majority of scientific minds, and instead of being followed up,
was at first opposed, then neglected, and finally totally forgotten, to
spring up anew in our own day. But even then a host of antagonists
ranged themselves against the doctrine, and, not content with loftily
ignoring it, made it the subject of the most violent and varied
attacks.
This was the state of affairs when, in 1858, Darwin's book on The
Origin of Species appeared, and hoisted the flag of evolution afresh.
The struggle that ensued may now be regarded as at an end, at
least as far as we are concerned—that is, in the domain of science.
The doctrine of descent has gained the day, and we can confidently
say that the Evolution theory has become a permanent possession of
science that can never again be taken away. It forms the foundation
of all our theories of the organic world, and all further progress must
start from this basis.
In the course of these lectures, we shall find at every step fresh
evidence of the truth of this assertion, which may at first seem all
too bold. It is not by any means to be supposed that the whole
question in regard to the transformation of organisms and the
succession of new forms of life has been answered in full, or that we
have now been fortunate enough to solve the riddle of life itself. No!
whether we ever reach that goal or not, we are a long way from it
as yet, and even the much easier problem, how and by what forces
the evolution of the living world has proceeded from a given
beginning, is far from being finally settled; antagonistic views are
still in conflict, and there is no arbitrator whose authoritative word
can decide which is right. The How? of evolution is still doubtful, but
not the fact, and this is the secure foundation on which we stand to-
day: The world of life, as we know it, has been evolved, and did not
originate all at once.
Were I to try to give, in advance, even an approximate idea of the
confidence with which we can take our stand on this foundation, I
should be almost embarrassed by the wealth of facts on which I
might draw. It is hardly possible nowadays to open a book on the
minute or general structural relations, or on the development of any
animal whatever, without finding in it evidences in favour of the
Evolution theory, that is to say, facts which can only be understood
on the assumption of the evolution of the organic world. This, too,
without taking into account at all the continually increasing number
of facts Palæontology is bringing to light, placing before our eyes the
forms which the Evolution theory postulates as the ancestors of the
organic world of to-day: birds with teeth in their bills, reptile-like
forms clothed with feathers, and numerous other long-extinct forms
of life, which, covered up by the mud of earlier waters, and
preserved as 'fossils' in the later sedimentary rocks, tell us plainly
how the earlier world of animals and plants was constituted. Later,
we shall see that the geographical distribution of plant and animal
species of the present day can only be understood in the light of the
Evolution theory. But meantime, before we go into details, what may
justify my assumption is the fact that the Evolution theory enables
us to predict.
Let us take only a few examples. The skeleton of the wrist in all
vertebrate animals above Fishes consists of two rows of small bones,
on the outer of which are placed the five bones of the palm,
corresponding to the five fingers. The outer row is curved, and there
is thus a space between the two rows, which, in Amphibians and
Reptiles, is filled by a special small bone. This 'os centrale' is absent
in many Mammals, notably, for instance, in Man, and the space
between the two rows is filled up by an enlargement of one of the
other bones. Now if Mammals be descended from the lower
vertebrates, as the theory of descent assumes, we should expect to
find the 'os centrale' even in Man in young stages, and, after many
unsuccessful attempts, Rosenberg has at last been able to
demonstrate it at a very early stage of embryonic development.
This prediction, with another to be explained later, is based upon the
experience that the development of an individual animal follows, in a
general way, the same course as the racial evolution of the species,
so that structures of the ancestors of a species, even if they are not
found in the fully developed animal, may occur in one of its earlier
embryonic stages. Further on, we shall come to know this fact more
intimately as a 'biogenetic law,' and it alone would be almost enough
to justify the theory of evolution. Thus, for instance, the lowest
vertebrates, the Fishes, breathe by means of gills, and these
breathing organs are supported by four or more gill-arches, between
which spaces, the gill-slits, remain open for the passage of water.
Although Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals breathe by lungs, and at no
time of their life by gills, yet, in their earliest youth, that is, during
their early development in the egg, they possess these gill-arches
and gill-slits, which subsequently disappear, or are transformed into
other structures.
On the strength of this 'biogenetic law' it could also be predicted that
Man, in whom, as is well known, there are twelve pairs of ribs,
would, in his earliest youth, possess a thirteenth pair, for the lower
Mammals have more numerous ribs, and even our nearest relatives,
the anthropoid Apes, the gorilla and chimpanzee, have a thirteenth
rib, though a very small one, and the siamang has even a
fourteenth. This prediction also has been verified by the examination
of young human embryos, in which a small thirteenth rib is present,
though it rapidly disappears.
During the seventies I was engaged in investigating the
development of the curious marking which adorns the long body of
many of our caterpillars. I studied in particular the caterpillars of our
Sphingidæ or hawk-moths, and found, by a comparison of the
various stages of development from the emergence of the caterpillar
from the egg on to its full growth, that there is a definite succession
of different kinds of markings following each other, in a whole range
of species, in a similar manner. From the standpoint of the Evolution
theory, I concluded that the markings of the youngest caterpillars,
simple longitudinal stripes, must have been those of the most
remote ancestors of our present species, while those of the later
stages, oblique stripes, were those of ancestors of a later date.
If this were the case, then all the species of caterpillar which now
exhibit oblique stripes in their full-grown stage must have had
longitudinal stripes in their youngest stages, and because of this
succession of markings in the individual development, I was able to
predict that the then unknown young form of the caterpillar of our
privet hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustri) must have a white line along each
side of the back. Ten years later, the English zoologist, Poulton,
succeeded in rearing the eggs of Sphinx ligustri, and it was then
demonstrated that the young caterpillar actually possessed the
postulated white lines.
Such predictions undoubtedly give the hypothesis on which they are
based, the Evolution theory, a high degree of certainty, and are
almost comparable to the prediction of the discovery of the planet
Neptune by Leverrier. As is well known, this, the most distant of all
the planets, whose period of revolution round the sun is almost 165
of our years, would probably never have been recognized as a
planet, had not Adams, an astronomer at the Greenwich
Observatory, and afterwards Leverrier, deduced its presence from
slight disturbances in the path of Jupiter's moons, and indicated the
spot where an unknown planet must be looked for. Immediately all
telescopes were directed towards the spot indicated, and Galle, at
the Berlin Observatory, found the sought-for planet.
We might with justice regard as lacking in discernment those who, in
the face of such experiences, still doubt that the earth revolves
round the sun, and we might fairly say the same of any one who, in
the face of the known facts, would dispute the truth of the Evolution
theory. It is the only basis on which an understanding of these facts
is possible, just as the Kant-Laplace theory of the solar system is the
only basis on which an adequate interpretation of the facts of the
heavens can be arrived at.
To this comparison of the two theories it has been objected that the
Evolution theory has far less validity than the other, first, because it
can never be mathematically demonstrated, and secondly, because
at the best it can only interpret the transformations of the animate
world, and not its origin. Both objections are just: the phenomena of
life are in their nature much too intricate for mathematics to deal
with, except with extreme diffidence; and the question of the origin
of life is a problem which will probably have to wait long for solution.
So, if it gives pleasure to any one to regard the one theory as having
more validity than the other, no one can object; but there is no
particular advantage to be gained by doing so. In any case, the
Evolution theory shares the disadvantage of not being able to
explain everything in its own province with the Kant-Laplace
cosmogony, for that, too, must presuppose the first beginning, the
rotating nebula.
Although I regard the doctrine of descent as proved, and hold it to
be one of the greatest acquisitions of human knowledge, I must
repeat that I do not mean to say that everything is clear in regard to
the evolution of the living world. On the contrary, I believe that we
still stand merely on the threshold of investigation, and that our
insight into the mighty process of evolution, which has brought
about the endless diversity of life upon our earth, is still very
incomplete in relation to what may yet be found out, and that,
instead of being vainglorious, our attitude should be one of modesty.
We may well rejoice over the great step forward which the dominant
recognition of the Evolution theory implies, but we must confess that
the beginnings of life are as little clear to us as those of the solar
system. But we can do this at least: we can refer the innumerable
and wonderful inter-relations of the organic cosmos to their causes—
common descent and adaptation—and we can try to discover the
ways and means which have co-operated to bring the organic world
to the state in which we know it.
When I say that the theory of descent is the most progressive step
that has yet been taken in the development of human knowledge, I
am bound to give my reasons for this opinion. It is justified, it seems
to me, even by this fact alone, that the Evolution idea is not merely
a new light on the special region of biological science, zoology and
botany, but is of quite general importance. The conception of an
evolution of the world of life upon the earth reaches far beyond the
bounds of any single science, and influences our whole realm of
thought. It means nothing less than the elimination of the
miraculous from our knowledge of nature, and the placing of the
phenomena of life on the same plane as the other natural processes,
that is, as having been brought about by the same forces, and being
subject to the same laws. In the domain of the inorganic, no one
now doubts that out of nothing nothing can come: energy and
matter are from everlasting to everlasting, they can neither be
increased or decreased, they can only be transformed—heat into
mechanical energy, into light, into electricity, and so on. For us
moderns, the lightning is no longer hurled by the Thunderer Zeus on
the head of the wicked, but, careless alike of merit or guilt, it strikes
where the electric tension finds the easiest and shortest line of
discharge. Thus to our mode of thought it now seems clear that no
event in the world of the living depends upon caprice, that at no
time have organisms been called forth out of nothing by the mighty
word of a Creator, but they have been produced at all times by the
co-operation of the existing forces of nature, and every species must
have arisen just where, and when, and in the form in which it
actually did arise, as the necessary outcome of the existing
conditions of energy and matter, and of their interactions upon each
other. It is this correlation of animate nature with natural forces and
natural laws which gives to the doctrine of evolution its most general
importance. For it thus supplies the keystone in the arch of our
interpretation of nature and gives it unity; for the first time it makes
it possible to form a conception of a world-mechanism, in which
each stage is the result of the one before it, and the cause of the
succeeding one.
How deeply all our earlier opinions are affected by this doctrine will
become clear if we fix our attention on a single point, the derivation
of the human understanding from that of animal ancestors. What of
the reason of Man, of his morals, of his freedom of will? may be
asked, as it has been, and still is often asked. What has been
regarded as absolutely distinct from the nature of animals is said to
differ from their mental activities only in degree, and to have evolved
from them. The mind of a Kant, of a Laplace, of a Darwin—or to
ascend into the plane of the highest and finest emotional life, the
genius of a Raphael or a Mozart—to have any real connexion,
however far back, with the lowly psychical life of an animal! That is
contrary to all our traditionary, we might say our inborn, ideas, and it
is not to be wondered at that the laity, and especially the more
cultured among them, should have opposed such a doctrine whose
dominating power was unintelligible to them, because they were
ignorant of the facts on which it rests. That a man should feel his
dignity lowered by the idea of descent from animals is almost
comical to the naturalist, for he knows that every one of us, in his
first beginning, occupied a much lowlier position than that of our
mammalian ancestors—was, in fact, as regards visible structure, on
a level with the Amœba, that microscopically minute unicellular
animal, which can hardly be said to possess organs, and whose
psychical activities are limited to recognizing and engulfing its food.
Very gradually at first, and step by step, there develop from this
single cell, the ovum, more and more numerous cells; this mass of
cells segregates into different groups, which differentiate further and
further, until at last they form the perfect man. This occurs in the
development of every human being, and we are merely
unaccustomed to the thought that it means nothing else than an
incredibly rapid ascent of the organism from a very low level of life
to the highest.
Still less is it to be wondered at that the Evolution doctrine met with
violent opposition on the part of the representatives of religion, for it
stood in open contradiction to that remarkable and venerable
cosmogony, the Mosaic story of Creation, which people had been
accustomed to regard, not as what it is—a conception of nature at
an early stage of human culture—but as an inalienable part of our
own religion. But investigation shows us that the doctrine of
evolution is true, and it is only a weak religion which is incapable of
adapting itself to the truth, retaining what is essential, and letting go
what is unessential and subject to change with the development of
the human mind. Even the heliocentric hypothesis was in its day
declared false by the Church, and Galilei was forced to retract; but
the earth continued to revolve round the sun, and nowadays any
one who doubted it would be considered mentally weak or warped.
So in all likelihood the time is not far distant when the champions of
religion will abandon their profitless struggle against the new truth,
and will see that the recognition of a law-governed evolution of the
organic world is no more prejudicial to true religion than is the
revolution of the earth round the sun.
Having given this very general orientation of the Evolution problem,
which is to engage our attention in detail, I shall approach the
problem itself by the historical method, for I do not wish to bring the
views of present-day science quite suddenly and directly into
prominence. I would rather seek first to illustrate how earlier
generations have tried to solve the question of the origin of the
living world. We shall see that few attempts at solution were made
until quite recently, that is, until the end of the eighteenth and the
beginning of the nineteenth century. Only then there appeared a few
gifted naturalists with evolutionist ideas, but these ideas did not
penetrate far; and it was not till after the middle of the nineteenth
century that they found a new champion, who was to make them
common property and a permanent possession of science. It was the
teaching of Charles Darwin that brought about this thorough
awakening, and laid the foundations of our present interpretations,
and his work will therefore engross our attention for a number of
lectures. Only after we have made ourselves acquainted with his
teaching shall we try to test its foundations, and to see how far this
splendid structure stands on a secure basis of fact, and how deeply
its power of interpretation penetrates towards the roots of
phenomena. We shall examine the forces by which organisms are
dominated, and the phenomena produced, and thereby test Darwin's
principles of interpretation, in part rejecting them, in part accepting
them, though in a much extended form, and thus try to give the
whole theoretic structure a more secure foundation. I hope to be
able to show that we have made some real progress since Darwin's
day, that deductions have been drawn from his theory which even
he did not dream of, which have thrown fresh light on a vast range
of phenomena, and, finally, that through the more extended use of
his own principles, the Evolution theory has gained a completeness,
and an intrinsic harmony which it previously lacked.
This at least is my own opinion, but I cannot ignore the fact that it is
by no means shared by all living naturalists. The obvious gaps and
insufficiencies of the Darwinian theory have in the last few decennia
prompted all sorts of attempts at improving it. Some of these were
lost sight of almost as soon as they were suggested, but others have
held their own, and can still claim numerous supporters. It would
only tend to bewilder if I gave an account of those of the former
class, but those which still hold their own must be noticed in these
lectures, though it is by no means my intention to expound the
confused mass of opinions which has gathered round the doctrine of
evolution, but rather to give a presentation of the theory as it has
gradually grown up in my own mind in the course of the last four
decades. Even this will not be the last of which science will take
knowledge, but it will, I hope, at least be one which can be further
built upon.
Let us, then, begin at once with that earliest forerunner of the
modern theory of descent, the gifted Greek philosopher Empedocles,
who, equally important as a leader of the state of Agrigentum, and
as a thinker in purely theoretical regions of thought, advanced very
notable views regarding the origin of organisms. We must, however,
be prepared to hear something that is hardly a theory in the modern
scientific acceptation of that term; and we must not be repelled by
the unbridled poetical fancy of the speculative philosopher; we have
to recognize that there is a sound kernel contained in his amusing
pictures—a thought which we meet with later, in much more
concrete form, in the Darwinian theory, and which, if I mistake not,
we shall keep firm hold of in all time to come.
According to Empedocles the world was formed by the four elements
of the ancients, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, moved and guided by
two fundamental forces, Hate and Love, or, as we should now say,
Repulsion and Attraction. Through the chance play of these two
forces with the elements, there arose first the plants, then the
animals, in such a manner that at first only parts and organs of
animals were formed: single eyes without faces, arms without
bodies, and so on. Then, in wild play, Nature attempted to put
together these separate parts, and so created all manner of
combinations, for the most part inept monsters unfit for life, but in a
few cases, where the parts fitted, there resulted a creature capable
not only of life, but, if the juxtaposition was perfect, even of
reproduction.
This phantastic picture of creation seems to us mad enough, but
there slumbers in it, all unsuspected though it may have been by the
author, the true idea of selection, the idea that much that is unfit
certainly arises, but that only the fit endures. The mechanical
coming-to-be of the fit is the sound kernel in this wondersome
doctrine.
The natural science of the ancients, in regard to life and its forms,
reached its climax in Aristotle (died 322 b. c.). A true polyhistorian,
his writings comprehended all the knowledge of his time, but he also
added much to it from his own observation. In his writings we find
many good observations on the structure and habits of a number of
organisms, and he also had the merit of being the first to attempt a
systematic grouping of animals. With true insight, he grouped all the
vertebrates together as Enaimata or animals with blood, and classed
all the rest together as Anaimata or bloodless animals. That he
denied to the latter group the possession of blood is not to be
wondered at, when we take into account the extremely imperfect
means of investigation available in his time, nor is it surprising that
he should have ranked this motley company, in antithesis to the
blood-possessing animals, as a unified and equivalent group. Two
thousand years later, Lamarck did exactly the same thing, when he
divided the animals into backboned and backboneless, and we
reckon this nowadays as a merit only in so far that he was the first,
after Aristotle, to re-express the solidarity of the classes of animals
which we now call vertebrates.
Aristotle was, however, not a systematic zoologist in our sense of the
term, as indeed was hardly possible, considering the very small
number of animal forms that were known in his time. In our day we
have before us descriptions of nearly 300,000 named species
wherefrom to construct our classification, while Aristotle knew hardly
more than 200. Of the whole world of microscopic animals he could,
of course, have no idea, any more than of the remains of prehistoric
animals, of which we now know about 40,000 named and
adequately described species. One would have thought that it would
have occurred to a quick-witted people like the Greeks to pause and
ponder when they found mussel-shells and marine snail-shells on
the hills far above the sea; but they explained these by the great
flood in the time of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and they did not observe
that the fossil molluscs were of different species from the similar
animals living in the sea in their own day.
Thus there was nothing to suggest to Aristotle and others of his time
the idea that a transformation of species had been going on through
the ages, and even the centuries after him evoked no such idea, nor
did there arise new speculations, after the manner of Empedocles, in
regard to the origin of the organic world. On the whole, the
knowledge of the living world retrograded rather than advanced until
the beginning of the Roman Empire. What Aristotle had known was
forgotten, and Pliny's work on animals is a catalogue embellished
with numerous fables, arranged according to a purely external
principle of division. Pliny divided animals into those belonging to
earth, water, and air, which is not very much more scientific than if
he had arranged them according to the letters of the alphabet.
During the time of the Roman Empire, as is well known, the
knowledge of natural history sank lower and lower; there was no
more investigation of nature, and even the physicians lost all
scientific basis, and practised only in accordance with their
traditional esoteric secrets. As the whole culture of the West
gradually disappeared, the knowledge of nature possessed by earlier
centuries was also completely lost, and in the first half of the Middle
Ages Europeans revealed a depth of ignorance of the natural objects
lying about them, which it is difficult for us now to form any
conception of.
Christianity was in part responsible for this, because it regarded
natural science as a product of heathendom, and therefore felt
bound to look coldly on it, if not even to oppose it. Later, however,
even the Christian Church felt itself forced to give the people some
mental nourishment in the form of natural history, and under its
influence, perhaps actually composed by teachers of the Church,
there appeared a little book, the so-called Physiologus, which was
meant to instruct the people in regard to the animal world. This
remarkable work, which has been preserved, must have had a very
wide distribution in the earlier Middle Ages, for it was translated into
no fewer than twelve languages, Greek, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic,
Ethiopic, and so on. The contents are very remarkable, and come
from the most diverse sources, that is, from the most different
writers of antiquity, from Herodotus, from the Bible, and so forth,
but never from original observation. The compilation does not really
give descriptions of animals or of their habits, but, of each of the
forty-one animals which the Physiologus recognizes, something
remarkable is briefly related in true lapidary style, sometimes a mere
curiosity without further import, or sometimes a symbolical
interpretation. Thus the book says of the panther: 'he is gaily
coloured; after satiating himself he sleeps three days, and awakes
roaring, giving forth such an agreeable odour that all animals come
to him.' Of the pelican the well-known legend is related, that it tears
open its own breast to feed its young with its blood, thus standing
as a symbol of mother-love. Fabulous creatures, too, appear in these
pages. Of the Phœnix, that bird whose plumage glitters with gold
and precious stones, which was known even to Herodotus, and
which has survived through Eastern fairy-tales on to the time of our
own romanticists (Tieck), we read: 'it lives a thousand years,
because it has not eaten of the tree of knowledge'; then 'it sets fire
to itself and arises anew from its own ashes,' a symbol of nature's
infinite power of renewing its youth.
But while among the peoples of Europe all the science of the
ancients was lost, except a few barely recognizable fragments, the
old lore was preserved, both as regards organic nature and other
orders of facts, among the Arabs, through whom so many treasures
of antiquity have eventually been handed down to us, coming in the
track of the Arabian conquests across North Africa and Spain to the
nations of Europe.
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