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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to know how the problem of the origin of 

 man now stands in the light of science, 

 whether they believe in the doctrine of evo- 

 lution or not, will turn to this exposition of 

 it by one of the first of living biologists, and 

 thus satisfy their curiosity and post up in a 

 discussion which is beginning to engross a 

 large share of the attention of thoughtful 

 men all over the world. Those who accept 

 the doctrine of evolution and wish to be- 

 come familiar with its higher applications to 

 organic life, and whose concern with the sub- 

 ject is strictly scientific, will also turn to 

 this work to get the latest and fullest knowl- 

 edge that has been reached concerning the 

 development of man, and with no other so- 

 licitude than to obtain the truth. Yet the 

 book in its subject matter is so greatly in 

 advance of the intelligence and liberality 

 of the age that multitudes will care nothing 

 about it. The mass of people have but pre- 

 cious little curiosity as to where they came 

 from, or how they got here. They generally 

 have some belief about it, which tbey ac- 

 quired early, and hold satisfactory, and do 

 not care to have disturbed. To all such, 

 scientific inquiries into these questions are 

 mere impertinence. Then there are others 

 who have a strong antipathy to all these 

 investigations into the germ history of man. 

 As Professor Haeckel remarks : " If we say 

 that each human individual develops from 

 an egg, the only answer even of most so- 

 called educated men will be an incredulous 

 smile ; if we show them the series of embry- 

 onic forms, developed from this human egg, 

 their doubt will, as a rule, change into dis- 

 gust." It will obviously be a long time be- 

 fore such prejudices are overcome and there 

 arises a general desire to know the facts 

 concerning the genealogy of man, and his 

 real place in nature. People must appren- 

 tice themselves a long time to the study of 

 evolution among the lower forms of life, be- 

 fore they are willing to include themselves 

 in the inquiry. Meantime there are many 

 who are alive to the magnitude and import 

 of the investigation, and these will cordially 

 welcome a treatise from Haeckel on " The 

 Evolution of Man." 



Professor Haeckel some years ago pub- 

 lished a comprehensive work on " The Nat- 

 ural History of Creation." It was an ex- 

 position of evolutionary doctrine through 



the widest circle of biological phenomena, 

 and was of a much more general character 

 than the present treatise. The develop- 

 ment of man is, of course, confined to a con- 

 sideration of the genesis of the human race. 

 This subject, however, can not be treated 

 alone ; and, although it is in a certain sense 

 a sequel to the first work, it is nevertheless 

 much occupied with questions belonging to 

 the general domain of life. The derivation 

 of man is a question of kinship with the 

 whole series of ancestral forms. Haeckel 

 is so much of a pioneer in a great field, hith- 

 erto scantily cultivated, that he assumes 

 the right of forming his own terminology, 

 and hence we meet with various unfamiliar 

 words in his pages, although he always 

 makes them clear, and makes them contrib- 

 ute to the clearness of his discussion. The 

 present treatise, devoted to anthropogeny, 

 is divided into two parts : the first, ontogeny, 

 or the history of individual human organ- 

 isms, concerns itself chiefly with germ histo- 

 ry or embryology; and the second, on phy- 

 logeny, is a history of the evolution of the 

 various animal forms, from which man has 

 descended in the course of countless ages. 

 Phylogeny is thus a history of evolution, 

 and embraces the sub-sciences of paleontol- 

 ogy and genealogy. These terms mark out 

 the divisions aud scope of the work, and 

 show that it is occupied with the radical 

 problems of the subject. 



Though strictly scientific, this treatise of 

 Haeckel's is in a remarkable degree popu- 

 lar in style and form. It is written with 

 great clearness, and with a view of render- 

 ing the subject attractive, and its profusion 

 of elegant wood cuts and colored plates 

 greatly enhances its interest. The time has 

 not come when all biologists will agree 

 with Haeckel as to the genealogical chain 

 that he has made out from man to the 

 moner, and much of his work may be long 

 held as speculative. But Haeckel strenu- 

 ously maintains that dissent from his array 

 of proofs must be due to their not being 

 sufficiently weighed, or to the bias of rival 

 hypotheses. He writes with the ardor of a 

 man intensely convinced, and with the lu- 

 cidity and grasp of one thoroughly famil- 

 iar with the wide elements of his subject. 

 The book may be commended without hesi- 

 tation to all who wish to acquaint themselves 



