6 DARWINISM TO-DAY. 



ate way with Darwinism as the polemic vigour of the Ger- 

 man and French anti-Darwinians leads them to suggest. 

 Says one of them : 5 "Darwinism now belongs to history, 

 Intemperate ^ e that other curiosity of our century, the 

 anti-Darwin- Hegelian philosophy ; both are variations on the 

 theme : how one manages to lead a whole gen- 

 eration by the nose." The same writer also speaks of "the 

 softening of the brain of the Darwinians." Another one, 6 in 

 similarly relegating Darwinism to the past, takes much pleas- 

 ure in explaining that "we [anti-Darwinians] are now stand- 

 ing by the death-bed of Darwinism, and making ready to 

 send the friends of the patient a little money to insure a 

 decent burial of the remains." No less intemperate and in- 

 decent is Wolff's 7 reference to the "episode of Darwinism" 

 and his suggestion that our attitude toward Darwin should 

 be "as if he had never existed." Such absurdity of ex- 

 pression might pass unnoticed in the mouth of a violent 

 non-scientific debater let us say an indignant theologian 

 of Darwin's own days but in the mouth of a biologist of 

 recognised achievement, of thorough scientific training and 

 unusually keen mind for this expression came from just 

 such a man it can only be referred to as a deplorable 

 example of those things that make the judicious to grieve. 

 Such violence blunts or breaks one's own weapons. 



While I have said that the coming across the water of 

 the more vigorous anti-Darwinian utterances might cause 

 some dismay and panic in the ranks of the educated reader 

 really unnecessary panic, as I hope to point out it will 

 doubtless occur to some of my readers to say that this fear 

 of panic is unwarranted. If the first phrases to come are 

 as injudicious and intemperate, hence as unconvincing, as 

 those just cited, the whole anti-Darwinian movement will 

 be discredited and given no attention. Which, I hasten to 

 reply, will be as much of a mistake as panic would be. 

 There is something very seriously to be heeded in the 



