Page:First Principles (1862).djvu/11

vi [In logical order should here come the application of these First Principles ''to Inorganic Nature. But this great division it is proposed to pass'' over: partly because, even without it, the scheme is too extensive; an partly because the interpretation of Organic Nature after the proposed ''method, is of more immediate importance. The second work of the series'' will therefore be — ]

— Including those general truths of Physics and Chemistry with which rational Biology must set out.

— A statement of the leading generalizations which Naturalists, Physiologists, and Comparative Anatomists, have established.

— Concerning the speculation commonly known as “The Development Hypothesis” — its à priori and à posteriori evidences.

— Pointing out the relations that are everywhere traceable between organic forms and the average of the various forces to which they are subject; and seeking in the cumulative effects of such forces a theory of the forms.

— The progressive differentiation of functions similarly traced; and similarly interpreted as consequent upon the exposure of different parts of organisms to different sets of conditions.

— Generalizations respecting the rates of reproduction of the vai'ious classes of plants and animals; followed by an attempt to show the dependence of these variations upon certain necessary causes.