But we may conclude, from the facts presented above, that if there is
such a naturally delimited group as a "species" in the Linnaean sense of
the word, it by no means coincides with what now passes under this name,
but might include many so-called species, often a whole genus, or even
several.
With this in mind, we must pass on to consider the next step in our
study, as to whether new "species" are now coming into being in our
modern world under scientific observation, either natural or
artificial.
VI
MENDELISM AND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
"Had Mendel's work come into the hands of Darwin, it is not too much to
say that the history of the development of evolutionary philosophy would
have been very different from that which we have witnessed."[23]
[Footnote 23: William Bateson, "Mendel's Principles of Heredity," p.
316.]
I
From the latter part of the eighteenth century, attempts were
continually being made to explain the origin of all organic forms by
some system of development or evolution. Buffon had dwelt on the
modifications directly induced by the environment. Lamarck had made much
use of this idea, claiming that such modifications were transmitted to
posterity, and claiming the same for the structural changes produced by
use and disuse.
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