Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 38.djvu/13

Rh to account for some of the difficult questions in connection with this subject it is not necessary to speak here in detail—they are well known to all students of the subject, and have long since established Captain Hutton as a leading authority on the distribution of animals and plants.

During the whole course of his career Captain Hutton gave much thought to the fundamental questions of biology. In 1861 he wrote a review of Darwin's "Origin of Species" for the "Geologist," which showed that even thus early he had grasped and accepted the fundamental principles of the theory of descent, and he continued to deal with various aspects of the question in numerous addresses and lectures. In 1899 he published his "Darwinism and Lamarckism, Old and New": and in 1902 appeared "The Lesson of Evolution," containing his Presidential Address to the Hobart meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, and other essays.

In addition to the large amount of work that he personally performed. Captain Hutton greatly aided and advanced our knowledge of the natural history of New Zealand by the advice, stimulus, and assistance which he at all times so willingly gave to younger workers, and his name will always remain inseparably connected with the foundation of New Zealand geology and zoology.