4 Life and Matter [chap. i. 



finds it accompanied by another still more 

 popular and similarly-priced treatise by the 

 same author, a digest or summary of the 

 religious aspect of his scientific philosophy, 

 under the title The Confession of Faith of a 

 Man of Science. 



Professor Haeckel's credentials, as a 

 learned biologist who introduced Darwinism 

 into Germany, doubtless stand high ; and it 

 is a great tribute to his literary ability that 

 a fairly abstruse work on so comprehensive 

 a subject should have obtained a wide 

 notoriety, and have been welcomed by 

 masses of thinking readers, especially by 

 many among the skilled artisans, in this 

 country. 



From several points of view this diffusion 

 of interest is most satisfactory, since the 

 spread of thought on serious topics is greatly 

 to be welcomed. Moreover, there is a vast 

 mass of information in these writings which 

 must be new to the bulk of the inhabitants 

 of these islands. There is also a great deal 

 of criticism which should arouse professors 



