Page Eight 



EVOLUTION 



July, 1929 



EUOLUT(ON 



A Journal of Nature 



To combat bigotry and superstition and 



develop the open mind by popularizing 



natural science 



Published monthly by 



Evolution publishing Corporation 



96 Fifth Ave.. New York. N. Y. 



Tel.: Watkins 7587 



L. E. KATTERFELD, Managing Editor 



Allan Strong BROMS, Science Editor 



Subscription rate: One dollar per year 

 In lists of five or more, fifty cents. 

 Foreign subscriptions ten cents extra. 



Single copy 10c; 20 or more. 5c each. 



Entered as second class matter at the 

 Post Office at New York. N. Y., January 

 7, 1928. under the Act of March 3. 1879. 



VOL. 11, No. 4 



JULY, 1929 



SKIP MAY AND JUNE 



Again we "skipped," we hope for the 

 last time. All subscriptions will, of 

 course, be extended for two months 

 to replace May and June. Every 

 yearly subscriber receives full twelve 

 numbers. 



IS EVOLUTION A CREED? 



"Evolution is a religion." say the 

 Fundamentalists, "and should therefore 

 be barred from the schools." They 

 claim tbat the origin of man and this 

 world is a problem for religion alone 

 and that any attempt at solution hy scien- 

 tists becomes perforce religious. 



Certainly the religious have tried their 

 hands at the problem and have given 

 answers aplenty — but variant and contra- 

 dictory. All (but perhaps one) must 

 therefore be wrong. Yet each quotes 

 divine authority and demands unques- 

 tioning faith. Thus they are mutually 

 intolerant, which is the real reason for 

 barring all teaching of creeds from the 

 schools. If one be taught, all must be 

 taught; but if all be taught, they contra 

 c^ict and only weaken faith. So wisely 

 they have agreed to forebear and teach 

 none at all. The result has been happy, 

 it has kept out a lot of mental rubbish. 

 Now science employs a different 

 method, the testing of each account by 

 its agreement with the whole body of 

 ascertained fact. Facts are ascertained 

 when they are verified consistently by 

 experiment and observation. Of course, 

 if the problem of origins were, of neces- 

 sity, exclusively religious, whatever the 

 approach, then certainly evolution would 

 become religion. But if it be a proper 

 problem for study by any result-getting 

 method, then science cannot v/ell be bar- 

 red just because the religions have made 

 attempts in the same field. Nor should 

 it be barred because its answers differ 

 from those the creeds demand. For the 

 essence and value of the scientific method 

 lie in its free acceptance of the con- 



clusions to which the facts of observa- 

 tion lead. And if the method is valid 

 elsewhere, it is valid here. 



After all, what really worries the 

 Fundamentalists is that the conclusions 

 of science contradict their sanctified 

 guesses. And it is quite too late in this 

 age of practical science to deny and defy 

 the scientific method — it works too many 

 useful wonders. So resort must be had, 

 if the creeds are to be saved, to devious 

 argument and confusing appeals. So 

 we hear that science (in the form of the 

 evolution theory) is religion because it 

 confounds the creeds, and must logically 

 and fairly be barred from the public 

 schools. The argument has a shallow 

 appeal. It would be logical and fair — 

 if it ivere true. 



But it is not true. Evolution is not a 

 religion. It is a conclusion quite unan- 

 imously reached by the scientists of 

 the world on the evidence of the known, 

 pertinent facts. And it is taught, not 

 as an article of faith, to be accepted on 

 divine authority, but as a conclusion 

 which may be drawn from an examina- 

 tion of all the facts that careful research 

 reveals. The student is not asked to ac- 

 cept it blindly, to suppress the doubts, to 

 profess it eagerly. He is asked to ex- 

 amine, to weigh, to test, to judge for 

 himself. He is taught to use his own 

 mind, to derive his own conclusions. 

 That makes for clear, independent, use- 

 ful, honest thinking. It is the way to 

 mental health, to sound progress, to the 

 truth that shall make us free, — ."Mian S. 



Broms. 



WORLD LEAGUE FOR SEXUAL 

 REFORM 



The World League for Sexual Reform 

 will hold its Third International Con- 

 gress in London during the week of 

 September 9th-13th, 1929. The aim of 

 the League is to "establish sexual ethics 

 and sociology on a scientific, biological 

 and psychological basis." The subjects 

 to he discussed at the Congress are: 

 Marriage and Divorce 

 Birth Control. Abortion and Sterilisa- 

 tion 

 Sex and Censorship 

 Venereal Disease and Prostitution 

 The presidents of the Congress are 

 August Forel, Havelock Ellis and Mag- 

 nus Hirshfield. Eminent scientists from 

 many countries are expected to contrib- 

 ute to the programme. The American 

 participants include Dr. Harry Benjamin. 

 Dr. William J. Robinson, Margaret 

 Sanger, Dr. A. A. Brill, Upton Sinclair, 

 Dr. Hannah M. Stone, Dr. Abraham 

 Stone and Dr. S. D. Schmalhausen. 



Further particulars about the Congress 

 may be obtained from the Secretary. Dr. 

 Norman Haire, 127 Harley Street, Lon- 

 don, England. 



CORRECTIONS 



An error for which the author was 

 in no way responsible occurred in the 

 article on "The Origin of Man from 

 the Anthropoid Stem" by Dr. Wm. K. 

 Gregory in our last issue. The cap- 

 tion under the illustration should have 

 been "Hand bones of Man and Go- 

 rilla," not Chimpanzee, and credited to 

 Haeckel. 



Also in the article on "Brains— How 

 Come?" by Allan Strong Broms the 

 printer made brain "convulsions" out 

 of "convolutions." Beg Pardon. 



INVEST IN EDUCATION 



The following friends have invested 

 in this educational enterprise since last 

 report : 



M. M. Cox, $12.00; L. T. B. Light, 

 $200.00; A. Radesinsk-y, $10.00; Geo. 

 Welby Van Pelt, $1.00; Henry Field, 

 $10.00; H. J. Shelton, $2.00; Ellen R. 

 Nagle, $5.00; Thos. L. Brunk, $1.00; 

 Aaron Levy, $10.00; Grace Potter, $120; 

 B. Goldberg, $10.00; J. Ganau, $5.00; 

 Frances Pilat, $5.00; Bertha Howe, $1.00; 

 W. Gordon, $1.00; Geo. H. Parker, $10; 

 E. S. Wertheim, $5.00; Anna Johnson, 

 $1.00; O. C. Harris, $1.00; J C. Nietz- 

 reba $1.50; Joe Kasper, $1.00; Nancy L 

 Beebe, $5.00; Alfred Sorenson, $1.00; 

 Harry Lashkowitz, $1.00; M. Mark, $30; 

 Martin Dewey, $200.00; Paul Metzko, 

 $1.00; Chas. Fuchs, $5.00; Henshaw 

 Ward, $20.00; Frank A. Sieverman, 

 $300.00; A. M. Sieverman, $60.00; A 

 Friend, $25.00; W. R. Wharton, $4.50; 

 Total, $1,065.00. 



Continuation of this splendid support 

 will enable Evolution to become an ef- 

 fective instrument for popular enlighten- 

 ment. For every ten dollars paid in a 

 share is issued. Every reader is invited to 

 become a shareholder. 



IF YOU CHANGE YOUR 

 ADDRESS 



for the summer, give us your old. as 

 well as your new address, and specify 

 for how long. Of course, we hope your 

 letter will also contain some new sub- 

 scribers. 



WELCOME, QUEEN SILVER 



After a lapse of two years Queen 

 Silver's Magazine appears again, frank 

 and fearless as ever. Her article on 

 "Science versus Superstition" in the May- 

 June number is particularly refreshing. 

 Her rate is SO cents a year. Address: 

 Route 1, Box 720, Hawthorne, Cali- 

 fornia. 



CROWDED OUT 



Our feature page "The Amateur Sci- 

 entist" which is crowded out of this issue 

 by the debate, will appear again in our 

 next. 



MORE TRUTH THAN POETRY 



The Bible story of creation 

 With the late plan of salvation 

 From eternal hot damnation 

 Leaves the mind in obfuscation. 



But from the story of Evolution 

 Can be drawn a sane conclusion 

 With very little of confusion — 

 Then the mind's not in occlusion. 

 M. Mark. 



