Charles Robert Darwin. 51 



ed but little public attention at the time ; but in 1849, on the oc- 

 casion of the translation of the "Vestiges of the Natural History 

 of Creation," by Dr. T. H. van der Break, professor of Chemistry 

 at the military medical college in Utrecht, the subject of evolution 

 received anew impetus — Professors G. T. Mulder, F. C. Donders 

 and P. Ilarting, among others, recognizing the light which the 

 theory of development throws upon creation. Other eminent 

 scholars, including Professor Emil Selenka, of Leiden, and his 

 successor, Professor C. K. Hoffmann, later gave in their adhesion 

 to the doctrine, which, Professor van der Weyde says, is now gen- 

 erally accepted among scientific scholars, and the liberal think 

 ers of the Reformed Church, in the Netherlands. 



Darwin replied briefly and cordially to the letter of the Dutch 

 savants, expressing his obligation for the interesting history con- 

 tained in it, all of which was quite new to him. 



