Sophisms. 89 



fact, that "they originated about the begin- 

 ning of the Laurentian period, by archebiosis 

 or spontaneous generation," from " so-called in- 

 organic compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxy- 

 gen, and nitrogen." 1 After what has been 

 already said of spontaneous generation, 2 it is 

 almost superfluous to add that this assertion 

 about our earliest "ancestors" is not only 

 destitute, it is also incapable, of proof. And 

 yet the fundamental law (Grundgesetz] of on- 

 togenesis absolutely requires it. 



Again. In his Munich Address, Haeckel re- 

 peats the trite old tale (" as if it had not been 

 a hundred times blown into the 'infinite azure'") 

 that " the Monera, consisting of protoplasm 

 only, bridge over the deep chasm between 

 organic and inorganic nature, and show us Jwiv 

 the simplest and oldest organisms must have 

 originated from inorganic carbon compounds." 8 

 Whereas, on the contrary, the simple fact is 

 that the Monera bridge over nothing whatever ; 

 nor do they show, in any conceivable way, how 

 life has originated from inorganic compounds. 

 Chemically and dynamically the protoplasm of 



1 " Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte," p. 578. 

 3 Vide sup., p. 50 et seqq., especially p. 59. 

 * " Die Heutige Entwickelungslehre im Verhaltnisse 

 xur Gesammtwissenschaft," p. 13. 



