Lankester became a
Fellow of
Exeter College, Oxford, in 1873. He co-edited the
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science which his father had founded. From 1869 until his death he edited this journal (jointly with his father, 1869–1871). He was
knighted in 1907, awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1913, and the
Linnean Society of London's
Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1908. At University College London, one person who attended his class was
Raphael Weldon (1860–1906). Another interesting student was
Alfred Gibbs Bourne, who went on to hold senior positions in biology and education in the
Indian Empire. ,
Vanity Fair 1905 After Huxley the most important influence on his thought was
August Weismann, the German zoologist who rejected
Lamarckism, and wholeheartedly advocated
natural selection as the key force in evolution at a time when other biologists had doubts. Weismann's separation of
germplasm (genetic material) from soma (
somatic cells) was an idea which took many years before its significance was generally appreciated. Lankester was one of the first to see its importance: his full acceptance of selection came after reading Weismann's essays, some of which he translated into English.
Ernst Mayr said "It was Lankester who founded a school of selectionism at Oxford". Those he influenced (in addition to Weldon) included
Edwin Stephen Goodrich (Linacre chair in zoology at Oxford 1921–1946) and (indirectly)
Julian Huxley (the evolutionary synthesis). In turn their disciples, such as
E. B. Ford (ecological genetics),
Gavin de Beer (embryology and evolution),
Charles Elton (ecology) and
Alister Hardy (marine biology) held sway during the middle years of the 20th century. Lankester was a comparative anatomist of the
Huxley school, working mostly on
invertebrates. He was also a voluminous writer on biology for the general readership; in this he followed the example of his old mentor, Huxley. He published over 200 papers during his career. For an overview of his scientific work, see the obituary notice by
Edwin S. Goodrich. Connecting Dohrn's work with
Darwinism, Lankester held that degeneration was one of three general avenues that evolution might take (the others being balance and elaboration). Degeneration was a suppression of form, "Any new set of conditions occurring to an animal which render its food and safety very easily attained, seem to lead to as a rule to Degeneration". Degeneration was well known in parasites, and Lankester gave several examples. In
Sacculina, a genus of
barnacles which is a parasite of
crabs, the female is little more than "a sac of eggs, and absorbed nourishment from the juices of its host by root-like processes" (+
wood-engraved illustration). He called this degenerative evolutionary process in parasites
retrogressive metamorphosis. Lankester pointed out that retrograde metamorphosis could be seen in many species that were not, strictly speaking, degenerate. "Were it not for the recapitulative phases of the
barnacle, we may doubt whether naturalists would
ever have guessed it was a
crustacean." The lizard
Seps has limbs which are "ridiculously small", and
Bipes, a burrowing lizard, possesses two stubby forelimbs, and rear limbs reduced to stumps. The
Dibamidae are legless lizards of tropical forests who also adopt the burrowing habit.
Snakes, which have evolved unique forms of
locomotion, and are probably derived from lizards. Thus degeneration or retrogressive metamorphosis sometimes occurs as species
adapt to changes in
habit or way of life. As evidence of degeneration, Lankester identifies the recapitulative development of the individual. This is the idea propagated by
Ernst Haeckel as a source of evolutionary evidence (
recapitulation theory). As antecedents of degeneration, Lankester lists: :1.
Parasitism :2. Fixity or immobility (
sessile habit) :3. Vegetative nutrition :4. Excessive reduction in size He also considered the
axolotl, a
mole salamander, which can breed whilst still in its gilled larval form without maturing into a terrestrial adult. Lankester noted that this process could take the subsequent evolution of the race into a totally different and otherwise improbable direction. This idea, which Lankester called
super-larvation, is now called
neoteny. Lankester extended the idea of degeneration to human societies, which carries little significance today, but it is a good example of a biological concept invading social science. Lankester and
H. G. Wells used the idea as a basis for propaganda in favour of social and educational reform.
Trouble at the Museum In Lankester's time the
Natural History Museum had its own building in
South Kensington, but in financial and administrative matters it was subordinate to the
British Museum. Moreover, the Superintendent (= Director) of the NHM was the subordinate of the Principal Librarian of the BM, a fact which was bound to cause trouble since that august person was not a scientist. We can see that the conflict which took place was one aspect of the struggle undertaken, in their different ways, by
Owen,
Hooker,
Huxley and
Tyndall to emancipate science from enslavement by traditional forces. There was trouble from the moment Lankester put forward his candidature for the office vacated by Sir
William Flower, who was on the point of death. The Principal Librarian, Sir
Edward Maunde Thompson, the
palaeographer, was also the Secretary to the Trustees, and hence in a strong position to get his own way. There is good evidence that Thompson, an efficient and authoritarian figure, intended to take control of the whole Museum, including the Natural History departments. In the absence of Huxley, who had led most of the battles for over thirty years, it was left to the younger generation to struggle for the independence of science,
Mitchell,
Poulton, and
Weldon were his main supporters, and together they lobbied the Trustees, the Government and in the press to get their point over. Finally Lankester was appointed instead of Lazarus Fletcher (a relative nonentity). Lankester was appointed in 1898, and the outcome was inevitable. Eight years of conflict with Maunde Thompson followed, with Thompson constantly interfering in the affairs of the museum and obstructing Lankester's attempt to improve the museum. Lankester resigned in 1907, at the direction of Thompson, who had discovered a clause in the regulations which allowed him to call for the resignation of officials at the age of 60.
Lazarus Fletcher was appointed in his stead. There was a vast clamour in the press, and from foreign zoologists protesting at the treatment of Lankester. That Lankester had some friends in high places was shown by the Archbishop of Canterbury offering him an enhanced pension, and the knighthood that was bestowed on him the next year. The issues raised by this affair did not end there. Eventually the NHM gained, first, its administrative freedom, then finally there was a complete separation from the BM. Today the
British Library, the British Museum and the Natural History Museum all occupy separate buildings, and have complete legal, administrative and financial independence from each other.
Rationalism Lankester had close family connections with
Suffolk (the
Woodbridge and
Felixstowe area), and was an active member of the
Rationalist group associated with the circle of
Thomas Huxley,
Samuel Laing and others. He was a friend of the Rationalist
Edward Clodd of
Aldeburgh. From 1901 to his death in 1929 he was Honorary President of the
Ipswich Museum. He became convinced of the human workmanship of the (now unfavoured) 'Pre-palaeolithic' implements and rostro-carinates, and championed their cause at the Royal Society in 1910–1912. Through correspondence he became the scientific mentor of the Suffolk prehistorian James Reid Moir (1879–1944). He was a friend of
Karl Marx in the latter's later years and was among the few persons present at his funeral. Lankester was active in attempting to expose the frauds of
Spiritualist mediums during the 1920s. He was an important writer of popular science, his weekly newspaper columns over many years being assembled and reprinted in a series of books entitled
Science from an Easy Chair (first series, 1910; second series, 1912). == Publications ==