54 FIFTY YEARS OF DARWINISM 



of the historic sense which alone could render 

 possible the comparisons I have quoted, require 

 for their appreciation the addition of yet another 

 metaphor to the series we have been so freely 

 offered. 



The effect of the Origin upon the boundless 

 domain of biological thought was as though the 

 sun had at length dispelled the mists that had 

 long enshrouded a vast primaeval continent. It 

 might then perhaps be natural for some primi- 

 tive chief to complain of the strong new light 

 that was flooding his neighbours' lands no less 

 than his own, thinking in error not inexcusable 

 at the dawning of the intelligence of mankind, 

 that their loss must be his gain. 



And now in my concluding words I have done 

 with controversy. 



Fifty years have passed away, and we may be 

 led to forget their deepest lesson, may be tempted 

 to think lightly of the follies and the narrow- 

 ness, as they appear to us, of the times that are 

 gone. This in itself would be a narrow view. 



The distance from which we look back on the 

 conflict is a help in the endeavour to realize its 

 meaning. Huxley's Address on The Coming of 

 Age of the Origin was a paean of triumph. Tyndall, 

 his friend, further removed from the struggle 

 by the nature of his life-work, realized its pathos 

 when he spoke in his Belfast Address of the pain 

 of the illustrious American naturalist who was 

 forced to recognize the success of the teachings he 



