2 The Descent of Man 



number of interesting facts brought forward is as surprising 

 as is the ingenuity often displayed in his manipulation of 

 them. Under these circumstances it is a most painful task 

 to have to point out grave defects and serious shortcomings. 

 Mr. Darwin, however, seems in his recent work even more 

 than in his earlier productions to challenge criticism, and to 

 have thrown out ideas and suggestions with a distinct view 

 to their subsequent modification by others. It is but an act 

 of fairness to call attention to this : — 



'False facts,' says Mr. Darwin, ' are highly injurious to the pro- 

 gress of science, for they often long endure ; but false views, if 

 supported by some evidence, do little harm, as every one takes a 

 salutary pleasure in proving their falseness ; and when this is done, 

 one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the 

 same time opened.' — Descent of Man, vol. ii. p. 385. 



Although we are unable to agree entirely with Mr. Darwin 

 in this remark, it none the less contains an undoubted truth. 

 AVe cannot agree, because we feel that a false theory w^hich 

 keenly sohcits the imagination, put forward by a writer 

 widely and deservedly esteemed, and which reposes on a 

 multitude of facts difficult to verify, skilfully interwoven, and 

 exceedingly hard to unravel, is Hkely to be very prejudicial 

 to science. Nevertheless, science cannot make progress with- 

 out the action of two distinct classes of thinkers: the first 

 consisting of men of creative genius, who strike out briUiant 

 hypotheses, and who may be spoken of as ' theorisers ' in the 

 good sense of the word ; the second, of men possessed of the 

 critical faculty, and who test, mould into shape, perfect or 

 destroy, the hypotheses thrown out by the former class. 



Obviously important as it is that there should be such 

 theorisers, it is also most important that criticism should 

 clearly point out when a theory is really proved, when it is 

 but probable, and when it is a mere arbitrary hypothesis. 

 This is all the more necessary if, as may often and very 



