278 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



men's minds. Wolff's Theoria was published in 1759; Dar- 

 win's Origin of Species in 1859. Wolff had been preceded by 

 Harvey in much the same way as Darwin was preceded by 

 Lamarck. Both Wolff and Darwin were ideal investigators, 

 patterns for all time. Darwin's love of truth, his perfect fair- 

 ness and modesty withal, seem to have been Wolff's possession 

 also. This is shown in a letter to Haller, 1 thanking the great 

 champion of emboitement for his kindly notice of the Theoria in 

 his " Etementd": " I thank you for wishing me well, for loving 

 me, sublime man, although you have never seen me, and know 

 me and my character only from my letters. May God reward 

 you for this, since I can never hope in all my life to attain 

 to such distinction, that I may show you worthy acknowledg- 

 ment of your goodness, if you will not receive in lieu of it my 

 everlasting veneration of your intellect. And as to the matter 

 of contention between us, I think thus : For me, no more 

 than for you, glorious man, is truth of the very greatest con- 

 cern. Whether it chance that organic bodies emerge from an 

 invisible into a visible condition, or form themselves out of the 

 air, there is no reason why I should wish that the one were 

 truer than the other, or wish the one and not the other. And 

 this is your view, also, glorious man. We are investigating 

 for truth only ; we seek that which is true. Why, then, should 

 I contend with you ? Why should I withstand you, when you 

 are pressing towards the same goal as myself ? I would rather 

 confide my epigenesis to your protection, for you to defend 

 and elaborate, if it is true; but if it is false, it shall be a 

 detestable monster to me also. I will admire evolution, if it is 

 true, and worship the adorable Author of Nature as a divinity 

 past human comprehension ; but if it is false, you, too, even if 

 I remain silent, will cast it from you without hesitation." 



Both Wolff and Darwin devoted their lives to the investiga- 

 tion of the same great problem the development of life on 



1 Epistolae ad Hallerum, October, 1766. Quoted from Alf. Kirchhoff, " Caspar 

 Friedrich Wolff. Sein Leben und seine Bedeutung fur die Lehre von der orga- 

 nischen Entwickelung," Jen. Zeit. f. Med. u. Natur-wiss., Bd. iv, Heft i, 1868, 

 pp. 193-220. This valuable essay has been of great assistance in the preparation 

 of my lecture. 



