10 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



Epicfiirean Theory. 



Epicurus assumed the existence of matter, 

 force and motion, — Stoff und Kraft. He held 

 that all space was filled with molecules of mat- 

 ter in a state of rapid motion in every direc- 

 tion. These molecules were subject to gravity 

 and endowed with properties or forces. One 

 combination of molecules gave rise to unorgan- 

 ized matter, another to life, another to mind ; 

 and from the various combinations, guided by 

 unintelligent phj^sical laws, all the wonderful 

 organisms of plants and animals have arisen. 

 To these combinations also all the phenomena 

 of life, instinct, and intelligence in the world 

 are to be referred. This theory has been 

 adopted in our day by a large class of scien- 

 tific men, especially in Germany. The mod- 

 j ern advocates of the theory are immeasurably 

 1 superior to the ancient Epicureans in their 

 , knowledge of astronomy, botany, zoology, and 

 \ biology ; but in their theory of the universe, 

 I and in their mode of accounting for all the 

 phenomena of life and intelligence, they are 

 precisely on the same level. They have not 

 added an idea to the system, which has ever 

 been regarded as the opprobrium of human 



