Early Organic Evolution

Author : E. D. Cope
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330336458
Total Pages : 573 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (364 download)

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Download or read book The Primary Factors of Organic Evolution written by E. D. Cope and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-16 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Primary Factors of Organic Evolution The present book is an attempt to select from the mass of facts accumulated by biologist, those which, in the author's opinion, throw a clear light on the problem of organic evolution, and especially that of the animal kingdom. As the actual lines of descent can be finally demonstrated chiefly from paleontologic research, I have drawn a large part of my evidence from this source. Of course, the restriction imposed by limited space has compelled the omission of a great many facts which have an important bearing on the problem. I have preferred the paleontologic evidence for another reason. Darwin and the writers of his immediate school have drawn most of their evidence from facts which are embraced in the science of œcology. Weismann and writers of his type draw most of their evidence from the facts of embryology. The mass of facts recently brought to light in the field of paleontology, especially in the United States, remained to be presented, and the evidence they contain interwoven with that derived from the sources mentioned. Many of the zoologists of this country, in common with many of those of other nations, have found reason for believing that the factors of evolution which were first clearly formulated by Lamarck, are really such. This view is taken in the following pages, and the book may be regarded as containing a plea on their behalf. In other words, the argument is constructive and not destructive. The attempt is made to show what we know, rather than what we do not know. This is proper at this time, since, in my opinion, a certain amount of evidence has accumulated to demonstrate the doctrine here defended, and which I have defended as a working hypothesis for twenty-five years. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.