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CRYSTALLISATION OF THOUGHT 35

In this year he published a volume of essays new and
old, Essays: Scientific > Political, and Speculative; and
this was probably in part responsible for a great
unification in Spencer's thought. It was in the
beginning of 1858 that he made the first sketch of
his System, and on the pth of January he wrote to
his father as follows: "Within the last ten days my
ideas on various matters have suddenly crystallised
into a complete whole. Many things which -were
before lying separate have fallen, into their places as
harmonious parts of a system that admits of logical
development from the simplest general principles."

In this annus mirabilis (1858) when Darwin and
Wallace read their papers nt the Linnaean Society
expounding the idea of Natural Selection, Spencer
was also thinking keenly along evolutionary lines.
He ventured on a defence of the Nebular Hypothesis
and a criticism of Owett*s Vertebral Theory of the
Skull i and he was working at the question of the form
and symmetry of animals, which he interpreted as
" determined by the relations of the parts to incident
forces." Vigorous as he was in his intelligence, he was
still unable to work for more thaa about three hours a
day, and his pecuniary prospects were dismal. In view
of his determination to go on working out Ms System,
it was a fortunate chance that led him in an emergency
to discover that he could greatly increase his pro-
ductivity by dictating instead of writing,

Spencer made various efforts (1859-60) to secure
some Government appointment which would afford
him a steady income and yet leave him free for
his life-work, but as nothing came of these, he
went on quietly with his ©aaay-writing, with many



	CRYSTALLISATION OF THOUGHT 35 In this year he published a volume of essays new and old, Essays: Scientific > Political, and Speculative; and this was probably in part responsible for a great unification in Spencer's thought. It was in the beginning of 1858 that he made the first sketch of his System, and on the pth of January he wrote to his father as follows: "Within the last ten days my ideas on various matters have suddenly crystallised into a complete whole. Many things which -were before lying separate have fallen, into their places as harmonious parts of a system that admits of logical development from the simplest general principles." In this annus mirabilis (1858) when Darwin and Wallace read their papers nt the Linnaean Society expounding the idea of Natural Selection, Spencer was also thinking keenly along evolutionary lines. He ventured on a defence of the Nebular Hypothesis and a criticism of Owett*s Vertebral Theory of the Skull i and he was working at the question of the form and symmetry of animals, which he interpreted as " determined by the relations of the parts to incident forces." Vigorous as he was in his intelligence, he was still unable to work for more thaa about three hours a day, and his pecuniary prospects were dismal. In view of his determination to go on working out Ms System, it was a fortunate chance that led him in an emergency to discover that he could greatly increase his pro- ductivity by dictating instead of writing, Spencer made various efforts (1859-60) to secure some Government appointment which would afford him a steady income and yet leave him free for his life-work, but as nothing came of these, he went on quietly with his ©aaay-writing, with many