128 HAECKEL 



two sides at once. Haeckel had returned like a 

 new man from the freshness of Italy; and Darwin's 

 work, translated by Bronn, was bringing some 

 slight extract of the English student's thoughts, 

 like a draught of old golden wine. They were 

 bound to meet this time. 



The aged Bronn, a German naturalist of distinc- 

 tion and merit, had found the Origin of Species 

 interesting enough, at least, to deserve the trouble 

 of translation. But his interest in it was very 

 restricted. He was one of the thoughtful students 

 of the days following Cuvier, and was not of the 

 kind to pin his faith to one man. The appearance 

 of the plant and animal species in the various 

 terrestrial periods, so sharply separated by Cuvier 

 himself, showed unmistakably an ascent from 

 lower to higher forms. The fish is placed lower in 

 the system than the mammal. At a certain period 

 there were fishes living, but no mammals as yet. 

 At another period the only plants on the earth were 

 of the decidedly lower group of the cryptogams 

 (ferns, shore-grasses, club-mosses), and these were 

 succeeded by pines and palm-ferns, and finally by 

 the true palms and foliage-trees. Cuvier's theory 

 of creation had to take account of this. Agassiz, 

 who held firmly to the fresh creation of species in 

 each new epoch, conceived the Creator as an artist 

 who improved in his work in the course of time. 

 Each new achievement was better than the pre- 

 ceding. It was rather a curious idea of the 

 Creator ! 



Others, who did not venture to use the idea of 



