366 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



But tliis is only the beginning of the gloom that anticipated the 

 dawn. 



Although in 1874 Dr. Elsberg, in a " Contribution to the Doctrine 

 of Evolution/' addressed this academy (and also the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science), in favor of the principles of 

 Darwin, although Cope continued to sustain his earlier contentions, 

 and general workers were beginning to make original observations in 

 favor of the principles of organic descent, the reviewers of the delibera- 

 tions of scientific gatherings give little promise of anything like a 

 general acceptance of the beliefs in which we are interested. 



In 1875, the retiring president of the American Association said: 



I fear that the unhappy spirit of contention still survives, and that there 

 are a few who fight for victory rather than for the truth. 



One of the vice-presidents at this meeting declined to " enter on 

 the vast field of discussion . . . opened up by Darwin and others," 

 and resolved to avoid the use of the word " evolution," " as this has 

 recently been employed in so many senses as to have become nearly 

 useless for any scientific purpose." 



Thus closed five years of struggle. 



The year 1876, the centennial of political independence in America, 

 marked also the dawn of intellectual independence and scientific free- 

 dom. It was the year of Brooks's first Salpa paper, and of his paper 

 on pangenesis. Cope explicitly stated that the law of natural selection 

 was now generally accepted, and the then librarian of this academy, 

 Louis Elsberg, submitted his paper on the plastidule hypothesis, as non- 

 chalantly as though he were discussing a lingual ribbon. 



It was under these really blessed conditions that the American Asso- 

 ciation met in BufEalo and listened to a vice-presidential address fully 

 worthy the title of the organization, Edward S. Morse had demon- 

 strated his ability as an investigator in his paper of 1872, already men- 

 tioned, but the simple, straightforward, patient and kindly manner in 

 which he addressed his audience in 1876, the thoroughness with which 

 he scanned the work of others, the fairness with which he acknowledged 

 the value of their results, and his concluding passages, in which he indi- 

 cated the important bearing that the theories of descent had upon the 

 social problems of the day, render his address a fit conclusion of a dis- 

 tinct epoch in the history of American science. 



Since 1876, practically every zoological worker has sought to make 

 some contribution that might strengthen his faith in a rational evolu- 

 tion of organic life and activities. It may be that such contributions 

 will prove insufficient. It may be that Darwinism as a thing will ulti- 

 mately fail of proof, but to those in the future who may inquire for the 

 reason for these exercises and for the erection of this monument, Dar- 

 winism as a method will ever be a sufficient reply. 



