436 THE STRUCTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
almost religious romanticism, an odd rhetorical strategy (and smokescreen) for
such a severe rationalist: "The view of permanency represents life as being
surrounded with unavoidable death, the principle of periodicity follows in the same
way the idea of resurrection, granting the possibility of future progression for all
living beings. At the same time it yields a more hopeful prospect for experimental
inquiry" (1905, p. 693).
The complexities, interrelationships (in some cases amounting to near
contradictions) and comprehensive character of ideas at the core of de Vries'
mutation theory may best be illustrated by his attempt to epitomize his system as a
set of seven laws (1905, pp. 558-571, 578). Note particularly the tug of war (both
logical and psychological) between his understanding that the theory refutes
Darwinian principles on one hand, and his desire, on the other hand, to retain fealty
with Darwin as a personal hero.
- "New elementary species appear suddenly, without intermediate steps" (p.
558). De Vries's first paragraph of description boldly expresses the contradiction
between this statement and Darwinian principles. (But note how he declines to
attach Darwin's name to the orthodoxy he opposes—speaking instead only of
"current scientific belief," or "the ordinary conception"):
This is a striking point, and the one that is in the most immediate
contradiction to current scientific belief. The ordinary conception assumes
very slow changes, in fact, so slow that centuries are supposed to be
required to make the differences appreciable. If this were true, all chance of
ever seeing a new species arise would be hopelessly small. Fortunately, the
evening primroses exhibit contrary tendencies... The mutants that
constitute the first representatives of their race, exhibit all the attributes of
the new type in full display at once. No series of generations, no selection,
no struggle for existence are needed to reach this end (1905, p. 558).- "New forms spring laterally from the main stem" (p. 560). De Vries
presents a cogent defense of cladogenetic vs. anagenetic modes for conceptualizing
evolutionary change, including the full set of implications that continue to evoke
debate today:
The current conception concerning the origin of species assumes that
species are slowly converted into others. The conversion is assumed to
affect all the individuals in the same direction and in the same degree. The
whole group changes its character, acquiring new attributes.... The birth of
the new species necessarily seemed to involve the death of the old one ...
The general belief is not supported by the evidence of the evening
primroses. There is neither a slow nor sudden change of all the individuals.
On the contrary, the vast majority remains unchanged; thousands are seen
exactly repeating the original prototype yearly, both in the native field and
in my garden. There is no danger that Lamarckiana might die out from the
act of mutating, nor that the mutating strains it would be exposed to
ultimate destruction from this cause (pp. 560-561).