EA RLT EVOLU TIONA R T VIE WS. 29 



bacer, 1 and Omar " the learned," as well as by many 

 of the Schoolmen, especially Albertus Magnus. The 

 last-named scholar was remarkable for his extended 

 knowledge of nature. Besides discussing the theo- 

 ries which had been framed by his predecessors, he 

 was a keen observer and skillful experimenter, and 

 it is not too much to say that he contributed more 

 towards the advance of science than anyone who 

 had lived since the time of Aristotle. 



The illustrious pupil of Albertus Magnus, St. 

 Thomas Aquinas, deserves a special mention here 

 for his teachings respecting organic Evolution. Ac- 

 cepting the views of Aristotle, St. Gregory of Nyssa 

 and St. Augustine, regarding the origin and develop- 

 ment of animal and plant life, he laid down principles 

 concerning derivative or secondary creations, which 



'In a curious philosophical romance Abu bacer writes as 

 follows on the birth of what he designates the " nature-man : " 

 "There happens to be," he says, " under the equator an island, 

 where man comes into the world without father or mother. By 

 spontaneous generation he arises directly, in the form of a boy, 

 from the earth, while the spirit, which, like sunshine, emanates 

 from God. unites with the body, growing out of a soft, unformed 

 mass. Without any intelligent surroundings, and without educa- 

 tion, this 'nature-man,' through simple observation of the outer 

 world, and through the combination of various appearances, rises 

 to the knowledge of the world and of the Godhead. First, he 

 perceives the individual, and then he recognizes the various 

 species as independent forms, but as he compares the varieties 

 and species with each other, he comes to the conclusion that 

 they are all sprung from a single animal spirit, and, at the same 

 time that the entire animal race forms a single whole. He 

 makes the same discovery among the plants, and finally he sees 

 the animal and plant forms in their unity, and discovers that 

 among all their differences they have sensitiveness and feeling 

 in common ; from which he concludes that animals and plants 

 are only one and the same thing." How like unto many mod- 

 ern speculations this fancy of the old Arab philosopher ! 



