Note 5 — Chapter I

Since this chapter was written and sent as a contribution to the Contemporary Review, Professor Weismann has published in Nature (Feb. 6. 1890) an elaborate answer to a criticism of his theory by Professor Vines (Oct. 24, 1889). In the course of this answer Professor Weismann says that he does attribute the origin of sexual reproduction to natural selection. This directly contradicts what he says in his Essays; and, for the reasons given in the text, appears to me an illogical departure from his previously logical attitude. I herewith append quotations, in order to reveal the contradiction.