CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES"* 



1. UEBER DIE DARWIN'SCHE SCHOPFUNGSTHEORIE BIN VORTRAG, 



VON A. KOLLIKER. Leipzig, 1864. 



2. EXAMINATION DU LIVRE DE M. DARWIN SUR I/ORIGINE DBS 



ESPECES. Par P. FLOURENS. Paris, 1864. 



IN the course of the present year several foreign com- 

 mentaries upon Mr. Darwin's great work have made their 

 appearance. Those who have perused that remarkable 

 chapter of the Antiquity of Man, in which Sir Charles 

 Lyell draws a parallel between the development of species 

 and that of languages, will be glad to hear that one of the 

 most eminent philologers of Germany, Professor Schleicher, 

 has, independently, published a most instructive and philoso- 

 phical pamphlet (an excellent notice of which is to be found 

 in the Reader, for February 27th of this year) supporting 

 similar views w r ith all the weight of his special knowledge and 

 established authority as a linguist. Professor Haeckel, to 

 whom Schleicher addresses himself, previously took occasion, 

 in his splendid monograph on the Radiolariarf to express his 

 high appreciation of, and general concordance with, Mr. 

 Darwin's views. 



But the most elaborate criticisms of the Origin of Species 

 which have appeared are two works of very widely different 

 merit, the one by Professor Kolliker, the well-known 

 anatomist and histologist of "Wurzburg ; the other by M. 

 Flourens, Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of 

 Sciences. 



Professor Kolliker's critical essay Upon the Darwinian 

 Theory is, like all that proceeds from the pen of that 

 thoughtful and accomplished writer, worthy of the most 

 careful consideration. It comprises a brief but clear sketch of 

 Darwin's views followed by an enumeration of the leading 

 difficulties in the way of their acceptance; difficulties 

 which would appear to be insurmountable to Professor 



* The Natural History Review, 1864. 



| Die Eadiolarien : eine Monographic, p. 231. 



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