But when we touched upon the
great problem, and whether he had arrived at even one of the first steps
towards its solution, our hopes were dashed at once. That, he said, was
too fundamental a problem to even think of solving at present. We did
not yet know enough of matter in its essential constitution nor of the
various forces of nature; and all he could say was that everything
pointed to its having been a development out of matter--a phase of that
continuous process of evolution by which the whole universe had been
brought to its present condition. And so we had to wait and work
contentedly at minor problems. And now, after forty years, though
Spencer and Darwin and Weismann have thrown floods of light on the
phenomena of life, its essential nature and its origin remain as great a
mystery as ever. Whatever light we do possess is from a source which
Spencer and Darwin neglected or ignored."[27]
In his presidential address to the Entomological Society in 1872 Wallace
made some special allusion to Spencer's theory of the origin of
instincts, and on receiving a copy of the address Spencer wrote: "It is
gratifying to me to find that your extended knowledge does not lead you
to scepticism respecting the speculation of mine which you quote, but
rather enables you to cite further facts in justification of it.
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