APPENDIX A LIX 



Haeckel. 



Contrast Ant,li this, the views put forth in a boot entitled : " The 

 Riddle of the Universe," by the eminent German biologist, Professor 

 Haeckel, a translation of which has been recently published and has, at 

 present, a wide circulation. In it he gravely oSers us, the hypothesis 

 that every atom has 'in itself the rudiments of life and mind. Is this 

 - a relief to the strain of mystery? Sometimes, no doubt, obscurity i& 

 relieved by a flash of darkness, yet we are not gratefiil. As a comment 

 I shall simply quote an extract from the Presidential Address of Sir 

 G-eorge Stokes to the British Association. 



Sir George Stokes. 



'•'When from the phenomena of life we pass to those of mind, we 

 •'• enter a region still more profoundly mysterious. Science can be ex- 

 '' pected to do but little to aid us here, since the instrument of research 

 " is itself the object of investigation. It can but enlighten us as to the 

 " depth of our ignorance and lead us to look to a higher aid for that 

 '^ which most concerns our well-being."* 



Haeckel versus NewtorC 



I should hardly have alluded to Haeckel had it not been that through 

 unpardonable want of care, he is led to make a charge against ISTewton 

 which is the very reverse of the truth. His object is to disparage 

 Xewton's intellectual capacity, Newton's opinions being diametrically 

 opposed to his own. Mere railing a.t an advocate is not confutation of 

 his arguments, and is sometimes a confession of defeat. We may have 

 here a touchstone of Haeckel's qualifications as a guide. He cannot 

 justly complain if the same kind of test is applied to himself which he 

 tries to apply to jSTewton. 



If a man gives dogmatic opinions on colours, who is proved by an easy 

 test, to be colour blind, he will not be taken as pilot for a steamship. 

 If a diviner or seer finds himself unexpectedly put in gaol for breach of 

 th£ laws, a loss of reputation for his prophecies may be expected. If 

 a man adopts without verification an hypothesis readily proved 

 to be false, and on that as an axiom illogically build's other hypotheses 

 •to the damage of an opponent's reputation, want of confidence in his 

 capacity as a theoT3'-builder is à priori justifiable. 



It is in this way that Professor Haeckel has treated Xewton, whose 

 great fame he admits. On page 217 of the recently published ISTew York 

 edition, he writes: — 



"Xewton ]iad the immortal merit of establishing the law of gravita- 

 " tion and embodying it in an indisputable mathematical formula. 



