THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 17 



himself speaking of his " hypothesis of spontaneous genera- 

 tion." He even plays with the word " hypothesis," and 

 says "it can hardly be maintained that a 'hypothesis' is 

 able to ' decide' any dispute." 1 In the very next paragraph 

 he charges Haeckel with failing to state it as a mere hypo- 

 thesis : 



An unscientific reader could hardly imagine that the 

 apparently detailed account given in the next sentence of 

 the automatic origin of life, as it may have arisen on 

 other planes [planets], and must have arisen on this, is of 

 the nature of hypothesis. 



He immediately subjoins, as sentences taken from the 

 Riddle of the Universe, the following : 



First simple monera are formed by spontaneous genera- 

 tion, and from these arise unicellular protists From 



these unicellular protists arise, in the further course of 

 evolution, first social cell-communities, and subsequently 

 tissue-forming plants and animals (p. 131). 



These sentences surely have a dogmatic ring, and lend 

 serious authority to Sir Oliver Lodge's persistent and weari- 

 some cry of "dogmatism." There are worse things than 

 dogmatism. I open my Riddle of the Universe at the page 

 quoted (131). To my amazement I find that they are 

 taken from a purely hypothetical account, in a series of 

 theses, of the probable course of life-development on other 

 planets. Every single sentence begins with, " It is very 

 probable that," or " It is very questionable whether." Sir 

 Oliver Lodge has struck out the words, " It is very probable 



1 Haeckel, of course, said nothing of the kind. He 

 thesis was important to us " in deciding " the dispute. 



said the hypo- 



