«The Origin of Species» Revisited: A Victorian Who Anticipated Modern Developments in Darwin's Theory

Dr. Patrick W. Colgan is Director of Research and Natural Lands at the
Royal Botanical Gardens.

A protégé of Charles Darwin, George John Romanes (1848–1894) is
known, if at all, for advocacy of the concept of “physiological
selection” in Darwinian theory. The concept has variously been
ignored, rejected, or puzzled over in the intervening years. Long an
associate professor of biochemistry at Queen’s University, and long
interested in the social setting of science, Forsdyke offers, as a
laboratory scientist, a reinterpretation of Romanes’s theory in light
of molecular genetics, in a work with four parts. Part 1 is a blend of
evolutionary understanding in the half-century following Darwin’s 1859
book and associated genetic knowledge on breeding, hybrids, and
sexuality. Forsdyke claims that Romanes reversed Darwin’s sequence of
natural selection leading to reproductive isolation. However,
distinguishing causes and results is not easy in evolution, and the
terminology is complex, as witnessed by the opposite uses of
“complementary” by Romanes and the later geneticist, William
Bateson.

Reviewing molecular findings such as mutation and recombination in Part
2, Forsdyke links what he terms the species-dependent component of
(nucleotide) base composition to physiological selection. He extends
such findings in Part 3, examining selfish genes, molecular dynamics,
genetic dominance, and sex chromosomes, with a parade including prions,
introns, and Teilhard de Chardin. The historical Part 4 focuses on the
rejection and subsequent obscurity of Romanes’s concept, with the cast
of characters extended to the founders of the modern evolutionary
synthesis. To ensure historical accuracy and understanding, Forsdyke
uses quotations extensively. Each chapter concludes with a brief
summary.

Forsdyke states that the book is directed to no one in particular, and
herein begins the troubles. The volume is a chimera of molecular
genetics and history of biology. The historical material requires a
context for readers not already well acquainted with the area, while the
basic genetical review of Part 1 will be unnecessary for those who can
make the leap to the advanced findings of molecular genetics presented
in the middle two parts but insufficient for those who cannot. Lay
readers need more explanation of phylogenetic trees, nucleic
acid-protein translation, and unindexed terms such as “G2 phase” and
“duplex.” While Forsdyke addresses biochemical issues only,
speciation must also be studied behaviorally and ecologically, and is
not confirmed as a punctuated progression.

Forsdyke admits his limits as a historian but unaccountably claims that
the book is “unabashed” Whig history. The themes of the book
(Romanes’s theory, subsequent supportive biochemical findings, and
suppression by the scientific establishment) are woven in a tangled
tapestry. The bumpy and highly subsectioned text testifies that the
authorial learning and enthusiasm accompanying personal explorations do
not guarantee smooth explication to the public. The difficulties are
exacerbated by errors such as “synaptonemal” mutating to
“synaptosomal” five pages later,

“in vein” (intravenous?) for “in vain,” and reference to
“group selection” and “the evolutionary scale.” In the
acknowledgments, there is no mention of peer reviews or comprehensive
editing.