THE DARWINIAN THEORY 



he established the conviction among biol- 

 ogists that the processes of life are as com- 

 pletely subject to natural laws as are all 

 other processes in the world. He also 

 possessed in an eminent degree a fair and 

 open mind towards opponents, while he 

 pursued his course of observation and ex- 

 periment in the spirit of an ideal scientific 

 investigator. Full appreciation of these 

 personal traits was widely expressed at the 

 recent celebration of the centenary of his 

 birth by the leading biologists of Europe. 

 At a like gathering in America, the chair- 

 man,* Professor H. F. Osborn, while re- 

 marking that " there is no denying that 

 there is to-day a wide reaction against the 

 central feature of Darwin's thought," yet 

 eloquently sets forth the lasting honor 

 which will attach to Darwin's name in the 

 world of science. 



* Popular Science Monthly, Darwin Number, April, 

 1909. 



21 



