IV. 



DE. BUCHNER ON DARWINISM. 1 



THE words &quot;materialist&quot; and &quot;atheist&quot; have 

 been so long employed as death-dealing epithets 

 in the hands of hard-hitting theological controver 

 sialists that it seems hardly kind in us to begin 

 the notice of a somewhat meritorious book by 

 saying that it is the work of a materialist and an 

 atheist. We are reassured, however, by the re 

 flection that these are just the titles which the 

 author himself delights in claiming. Dr. Biich- 

 ner would regard it as a slur upon his mental fit 

 ness for philosophizing if we were to refuse him 

 the title of atheist ; and &quot; materialism &quot; is the 

 name of that which is as dear to him as &quot; liberty &quot; 

 was dear to the followers of Danton and Mirabeau. 

 Accordingly, in applying these terms to Dr. Biich- 

 ner, they become divested of their old opprobri- 

 ousness, and are enabled to discharge the proper 



1 Man in the Past, Present, and Future. A Popular Account of 

 the Results of Recent Scientific Research as regards Hie Origin, Posi 

 tion, and Prospects of the Human Race. From the German of Dr. L. 

 Buchner. by W. S. Dallas, F. L. S. London, 1872. 



