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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



knowledge of facts themselves, that satisfies our 

 desire of knowing and our reason. The knowledge 

 of the simple general causes to which phenomena 

 the most diverse and the most complex are refer- 

 able, at once simplifies and deepens our instruc- 

 tion. The understanding of causes changes a dry 

 science into one of vivid interest. The true meas- 

 ure of intellectual development is not the quan- 

 tity of facts learned, but the way in which we 

 understand their causes. 



To what extent are the fundamental principles 

 of the doctrine of evolution to be introduced into 

 the schools ? In what order are its principal 

 branches — cosmogony, geology, animal and plant 

 phylogeny, anthropology — to be taught in the 

 various classes ? That is a matter to be decided 

 by the professors themselves. I believe that com- 

 prehensive reformation of our school system in 

 this direction is inevitable, and that it will be 

 eminently successful. What a gain it would be, 

 for instance, if that important branch of instruc- 

 tion, languages, were treated according to the 

 comparative and genetic method ! What in- 

 creased interest would be given to physical geog- 

 raphy, if it were genetically connected with geol- 

 ogy ! What new life and light would be infused 

 into the dry and wearisome systematics of animal 

 and plant forms, were they to be represented 

 simply as the divergent branches of a common 

 genealogical stem ! Finally, how different the 

 idea we should have of our own organism, were 

 we no longer to regard ourselves, on the authori- 

 ty of myths and phantoms, as the fictitious image 

 of an anthropomorphic creator, but rather, in 

 the clear light of phylogeny, to consider ourselves 

 as the most highly-developed form of the animal 

 kingdom — as an organism which, in the course 

 of millions and millions of years, has gradually 

 been evolved from a long line of vertebrate an- 

 cestors, and which in the struggle for life has 

 risen high above its kindred ! 



By stimulating every branch of instruction, 

 the theory of evolution will awaken in the breasts 

 of masters and pupils the consciousness of their 

 true dependence. As an historical science it will 

 reconcile the two systems of instruction which 

 are at present vying with each other for mastery 

 in the school — the old, classic, historico-philo- 

 sophical system on the one hand ; the new, exact, 

 physico-mathematical system on the other. Both 

 are equally correct, equally indispensable. The 

 human mind will not attain its perfect develop- 

 ment save by satisfying both at once. If, hith- 

 erto, education has been too exclusively classi- 

 cal, a like thing happens too often nowadays 



in the exact education. The doctrine of evolu- 

 tion reduces the two systems to a true propor- 

 tion by serving as a bond of union between exact 

 science and classical science — the science of Na- 

 ture and the science of mind. It points out ev- 

 erywhere the tide of life which flows with a single, 

 unbroken stream. Everywhere it discloses to the 

 assiduous seeker fresh scientific conquests to be 

 achieved ; it " gently brings the mind to the 

 truth." This boundless perspective of progres- 

 sive perfectionment which is opened to us by the 

 doctrine of evolution is the strongest protest 

 against the pitiable " ignorabimus " which is re- 

 echoed from all sides. No man can foretell at 

 what " limits " the human mind will stand still in 

 the conquest of Nature, or how far its invading 

 progress will extend in the future. 



The most urgent demand, and the one most dif- 

 ficult to comply with, addressed by practical phi- 

 losophy to the evolution doctrine is, it appears to 

 me, the demand for a new morality. No doubt 

 the development of moral character, of religious 

 convictions, will hereafter, as hitherto, be the 

 great concern of education. But hitherto, in all 

 classes of society, the conviction has been that 

 moral precepts are closely connected with cer- 

 tain ecclesiastical tenets ; and since these tenets, 

 or dogmas — mixed up as they are with old crea- 

 tion-myths — are in absolute contradiction with 

 the evolution doctrine, it has been supposed that 

 the existence of religion and morality was in dan- 

 ger from that doctrine. 



This apprehension is, in my opinion, baseless. 

 It is the result of confounding natural religion, 

 which is true and rational, with the dogmatic and 

 mythological religion of the Church. The com- 

 parative history of religions, which is one of 

 the most important branches of anthropology, 

 teaches us how diversified are the garments in 

 which different nations and periods, in accord- 

 ance with their respective characters and needs, 

 are wont to clothe the religious idea. From it we 

 learn that even the dogmas of the Church itself 

 have slowly and uninterruptedly developed. New 

 churches and new sects arise ; old ones die out. 

 How long does any given form of belief persist, 

 under the most favorable conditions ? A thou- 

 sand years or two — a brief span of time, which 

 is lost in the eternity of the geological ages. Fi- 

 nally, the comparative history of civilization also 

 shows us how faint is the connection between 

 true morality and any definite form of faith or of 

 church constitution. Often the utmost brutality, 

 the extremest savagery of manners, are associated 

 with the absolute predominance of a church. We 



