598 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that, as we cannot live back into the Tertiary epoch and see what 

 went on at that time, the hypothesis must always remain, in the 

 strictest sense of the word, unverifiable. 



The fact is, that if the objections which are raised to the general 

 doctrine of evolution were not theological objections, their utter 

 childishness would be manifest even to the most childlike of believers. 

 But, if the evolution of all living forms, by gradual modification, is 

 an historical fact, why should the attempt to reconstruct the details 

 of that momentous history be regarded as less philosophical or less 

 laudable than the attempt of a Niebuhr, or of a Mommsen, to build 

 up, from ruined monuments, fragmentary inscriptions, and obscure and 

 often contradictory texts, a connected and intelligible history of 

 Rome ? Active error may advance knowledge in its efforts to establish 

 itself; and nothing is more remarkable than the number of great 

 things, from the discovery of America to that of the antiquity of 

 man, which have been brought about by the attempt to establish 

 erroneous views. But sitting still, and being afraid to stir, for fear 

 of making mistakes, is certain to end in ruin in science as in practical 

 life. 



Prof. Haeckel "is not chargeable with the fault of sitting still, 

 and it may be that he moves too quickly now and then. In his book 

 there are some views which I, for one, do not agree with, but as to 

 which it is just as likely I may be wrong as he. I wish he could be 

 persuaded to take a more liberal view of the duration of life on the 

 earth, though he is far less miserly on that point now than wdien the 

 " Schopfungsgeschichte," formerly noticed in the Academy, was pub- 

 lished. I might desire that he would not mix up phylogenetic 

 " Stammbaume " with objective taxonomy; and I might wish that he 

 would be a little milder with his honest opponents, though I heartily 

 applaud his practice of dealing with critics of the other sort as mere 

 feres natures. 



But, when all is said and done in the way of objection, the "An- 

 thropogenic " is a real live book, full of power and genius, and based 

 upon a foundation of practical original work, to which few living men 

 can offer a parallel. If anybody can read it without profiting by the 

 abundant information and fertile suggestions of new lines of thought 

 which it contains, all I can say is, that I envy him ; and if anybody 

 can read it without being struck by its clearness and methodical com- 

 prehensiveness, and without being convinced that the general line of 

 argument is sound, whatever may be thought of the details, all I can 

 further say is, I do not envy him. I trust that, like the " Schopfungs- 

 geschichte," the " Anthropogenie " may speedily find an English trans- 

 lator. Academy. 



