PREFATORY NOTE TO ENGLISH EDITION
PREFATORY NOTE TO ENGLISH EDITION
Professor Weismann'sEvolution 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 againstwindmills. 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.