PROFESSOR RUDOLF VIRCHOW. 841 



of the German naturalists on the present position of anthropology, in 

 which he maintained that that branch, although one of the youngest 

 of the sciences, already occupied as advanced a position as many of 

 the older branches of study. He opposed the idea that the people 

 now lowest in development must necessarily fade away when they 

 come into contact with civilization, and showed that it was contra- 

 dicted by the history of the Europeans themselves. If the civilized 

 people of the present day be considered as the product of a higher de- 

 velopment, he said, we can not regard the possibility of such a devel- 

 opment as a cause of the extinction of such people as are now on the 

 same platform of culture which we ourselves once occupied. He took 

 an active interest in the investigations of Dr. Schliemann in the Troad, 

 and spent some time there, participating in the work, in 1879. He 

 gave particular attention to the formations of the swamps in the 

 neighborhood, and of the building-stones, and showed that they were 

 all of fresh-water origin, thus conclusively putting to rest, it was held, 

 the objections of those who, opposed to the view that Hissarlik repre- 

 sented the site of ancient Troy, that, at the time of the Trojan war, 

 the place must have been covered by the sea, or too near it to permit 

 the movements described in the Iliad. While here, he gave valuable 

 medical aid to the people of the region. 



Professor Virchow has labored actively for the spread of scientific 

 knowledge among the people. He was for a long time a member of 

 the body of instructors to the Berlin Workingmen's Union, and in 

 that capacity published, in connection with Holtzendorff, a collection 

 of popular scientific treatises. 



The scientific side, although there is enough of it to fill up an 

 ordinary human life, is only one side of Professor Virchow's career. 

 His life is equally full on the political and practical side. Since 1859 

 he has been an alderman of the city of Berlin, and has in that capacity 

 given conscientious attention to the details of the government and wants 

 of the municipality. In direct reference to this office he has written 

 many papers on subjects of hygiene, drainage, and sewerage, marked 

 alike by scientific thoroughness and by adaptation to local wants. He 

 was elected a member of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in 1862, 

 having the choice between the seats for three constituencies offered to 

 him, and has served in that body with distinction ever since. He at 

 once took the lead among those who opposed the arbitrary measures 

 of Bismarck and his despotic assumptions ; and has continued one of 

 the most vigorous and formidable antagonists of that minister. In 

 January, 1863, he proposed and secured the acceptance of an address 

 accusing the ministers of having violated the constitution. In 1865 his 

 opposition was so energetic that there was talk of Herr Bismarck's chal- 

 lenging him to a duel. He did not, however, assume an extreme demo- 

 cratic position, but accepted the constitution with the reservation of 

 the right of protest against objectionable measures which might be pro- 



