FROM DARWIN TO OUR OWN DAY 



CHAPTER X 



THE PRECONDITIONS OF DARWINISM 



I. Modern Geology 



DURING THE ZENITH of the power of Darwinism it was considered in 

 certain quarters that one of the chief missions of cultural history- 

 was to seek after "pre-Darwinists." It was obvious that in such 

 circumstances aspirants to this honour should come forward in large num- 

 bers; to begin with, the old Greek natural philosophers Anaximandros and 

 Empedocles were named, and the number increased the nearer one came to 

 modern times. There came another period when the list of personalities thus 

 accumulated could be used to depreciate Darwin, as Kohlbrugge used it.' If, 

 however, we damp our enthusiasm somewhat and have regard to actual 

 facts, we shall find that the precursors of Darwin were far fewer. He him- 

 self has acknowledged the influence that he derived from Lyell's geological 

 theories and Malthus's studies of population, and it seems only fair when 

 reviewing a scientist's development to take into consideration his own re- 

 marks on the subject. If we do this, we get two preconditions for the origin of 

 the Darwinian theory — a natural scientific, or, more exactly, a geological, and 

 a socio-political. We shall now proceed to consider the former of these two. 

 Compared with biology, modern geology is a young science. Some of 

 its pioneers have been mentioned in the foregoing: da Vinci, Steno, BufFon. 

 The creator of geological study as a special branch of science is without 

 doubt Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750-1817), professor at the mining 

 academy at Freiberg, a teacher of Humboldt and many other geologists and 

 mineralogists. He systematically explored the geology of his own district, 

 determined the sequence of the rock-beds, examined their composition, and 

 on the results thereof based a rational mining-industry. He never actually 

 printed his theories; it is only through the medium of his pupils that the 

 world has become acquainted with them. He is best known as the advocate 



^ Kohlbrugge, "War Darwin tin originates Genid" Biologisches Zcntralblatt, Vol. XXXV, p. 93. 



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