100 THE EVOLUTION OF MAN. 



effect of the book on the special sciences with which 

 zoologists and botanists are concerned, has become really 

 prominent only during the past few years, during which the 

 Theory of Descent has been applied in Anatomy and On- 

 togeny, and in zoological and botanical classification. In 

 some ways it has already caused extraordinary progress and 

 a great reform in the prevailing views. 



But in Darwin's first work of 1859, the point which 

 most interests us here — the application of the Theory 

 of Descent to Man — was not touched at all. For many 

 years it was even asserted that Darwin had no intention of 

 applying his theory to Man, but that he shared the preva- 

 lent opinion, that an entirely peculiar place in creation must 

 be assigned to Man. Not only men unversed in science, 

 including very many theologians, but even educated natur- 

 alists, asserted with the greatest ingenuousness, that the 

 Darwinian Theory in itself was not to be combated, and 

 was entirely correct, for it afforded an excellent means of 

 explaining the origin of the various species of animals and 

 plants; but that the theory was in no way applicable to 

 Man. 



In the mean time, however, many thoughtful people, 

 naturalists as well as others, expressed the opposite opinion, 

 that it necessarily follows as the logical conclusion from the 

 Theory of Descent, as formulated by Darwin, that Man 

 must have descended from other animal organisms, and, 

 immediately, from Mammals resembling Apes. The truth of 

 this conclusion was early recognized by many thoughtful 

 opponents of the theory. Just because they regarded this 

 as a necessary consequence, many felt that the whole theory 

 must be rejected. The first scientific application of this 



