Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1874 — The Darwinian Theory. [ARTICLE]

The Darwinian Theory.

The Dundee Advertiser says: “It is not generally known that a series of elaborate experiments intending to illustrate the law s affecting the variation and selection of species have been for some years going on under the direction of able and intelligent naturalists. These experiments were begun soon after the appearance of Mr. Darwin’s great work, and their object is to discover the extent to which, by persistent effort, species may be varied, to what degree particular organs may be changed by a. different circumstance and condition, and how far feeble and. A radimefttary development may be increased and accelerated by special conditions and wants. These experiments are carried out with the utmost care, and their results recorded with accuracy; and they will no doubt in due time throw much light on the doctrines of development and natural selection. The period during which they have been conducted baa, as yet, been too brief to yield important results, and they may possibly have to be carried on for more than half a century before their scientific value is really ascertained. These experiments are under the direct supervision of nearly all the more eminent naturalists of the day, including Sir John Lubbock, Mr, Darwin, and Mr. Wallace; and they will be the first sustained scientific test to which the laws affecting the variation and origin of the species have been subjected.”