PROFESSOR V IRC HO W AND EVOLUTION. 643 



written expressly by himself. " Nothing," he says, " was 

 farther from his intention than any wish to disparage the 

 great services rendered by Mr. Darwin to the advancement 

 of biological science, of which no one has expressed more 

 admiration than himself. On the other hand, it seemed 

 high time to him to enter an energetic protest against the 

 attempts that are made to proclaim the problems of research 

 as actual facts, and the opinions of scientists as established 

 science." On the ground, among others, that it promotes 

 the pernicious delusions of the Socialist, Virchow considers 

 the theory of evolution dangerous; but his fidelity to truth 

 is so great that he would brave the danger and teach the 

 theory, if it were only proved. " However dangerous the 

 state of things might be, let the confederates be as mis- 

 chievous as they might, still I do not hesitate to say that 

 from the moment when we had become convinced that the 

 evolution theory was a perfectly established doctrine so 

 certain that we could pledge our oath to it, so sure that we 

 could say, 'Thus it is' from that moment we could not 

 dare to feel any scruple about introducing it into our 

 actual life, so as not only to communicate it to every edu- 

 cated man, but to impart it to every child, to make it the 

 foundation of our whole ideas of the world, of society, 

 and the state, and to base upon it our whole system of 

 education. This I hold to be a necessity." 



It would be interesting to know the persons designated 

 by the pronoun " we " in the first sentence of the foregoing 

 quotation. No doubt Professor Haeckel would accept 

 this canon in all its fullness, and found on it his justifica- 

 tion. He would say without hesitation: " I am convinced 

 that the theory of evolution is a perfectly established 

 doctrine, and hence on your own showing I am justified 

 in urging its introduction into our schools." It is plain, 

 however, that Professor Virchow would not accept this 

 retort as valid. His "we "must cover something more 

 than Professor Haeckel. It would probably cover more 

 even than the audience he addressed; for he would hardly 

 affirm, even if every one of his hearers accepted the theory 

 of evolution, that, that would be a sufficient warrant for 

 forcing it upon the public at large. His " we," I submit, 

 needs definition. If he means that the theory of evolution 

 ought to be introduced into our schools, not when experts 

 are agreed as to its truth, but when the community is pre- 



