The book explores the history of evolutionary thought before and during the nineteenth century, focusing on the competing mechanisms proposed to explain the transformation of species. The author examines the philosophies of Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, and Lamarck, analyzing their views on the mutability of species, the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and the inner purposiveness of organic structures. A central problem addressed is whether biological design arises from external creation or from the internal strivings and adaptations of living organisms themselves.
The argument develops through detailed historical and scientific critiques, contrasting the blind mechanisms of natural selection with the teleological view that organisms fashion their own organs through use, habit, and need over vast stretches of time. The text also investigates the role of embryology, rudimentary organs, and memory in heredity, proposing that instinctive behaviours and physical traits are the accumulated results of ancestral experiences. While acknowledging the immense service rendered by Charles Darwin to the general theory of descent, the author challenges the notion that evolution occurs without purpose, arguing instead that design resides within the living forms themselves. The work concludes by re-establishing the older evolutionary framework as a more coherent and intelligible explanation for the diversity and complexity of life.
