effected a lodgment under the common name of evolution. In these circumstances there is no direct call, as there are no proper materials, for attempting a reconciliation between the principles of religion, and definite scientific conclusions as to the origin of species. We are still occupying that position which makes historical treatment of the subject the most appropriate, leaving to speculation the probable lines of adjustment which may render possible a wider induction bearing on a general theory of the universe. The observations of Alfred Russell Wallace in the Malay Archipelago led towards the same conclusions as those indicated by Darwin, to whom Mr. Wallace dedicated his book,[BD] giving the results of research extending from 1854 to 1862, and in confirmation of Darwin's theory, though differing on important points, Wallace published in 1870 his _Contribution to the Theory of Natural Selection_. Mr. Darwin's views when first promulgated received decided though somewhat guarded support from Sir Charles Lyell, whose geological studies marked him out as a highly qualified witness on the subject, and were strongly favored by Dr. Hooker, author of _Introduction to the Australian Flora_, while they encountered not a little criticism, and were met with announcements of formal reservations, on the part of distinguished naturalists. A fuller statement as to the history of his own thought was given by Mr. Darwin in the fifth edition of his work, and also in a letter to Hæckel, author of the bolder venture as to the _History of the Creation_, and the _Evolution of Man_. This letter to Hæckel may be given here as having considerable value in its bearing on the formation of the theory of evolution. After referring to his early researches as to lower forms of life, Mr. Darwin proceeds thus--"Having reflected much on the foregoing facts, it seemed to me probable that _allied species_ were descended from a common ancestor. But during several years I could not conceive how each form could have been modified so as to become admirably adapted to its place in nature. I began therefore to study domesticated animals and cultivated plants, and after a time perceived that _man's power of selecting and breeding_ from certain individuals was the most powerful of all means in the production of _new races_. Having attended to the habits of animals and their relations to the surrounding conditions, I was able to realize the severe _struggle for existence_ to which all organisms are subjected; and my geological observations had allowed me to appreciate to a certain extent the duration of past geological periods. With my mind thus prepared, I fortunately happened to read Malthus's _Essay on Population_; and the idea of natural selection through the struggle for existence at once occurred to me. Of all the subordinate points in the theory, the last which I understood was the cause of the _tendency_ in the descendants