THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 189 



Professor Huxley's theory of tracing 

 back the Origin of Life to dead matter, 

 has found a warm upholder in another 

 professor of foreign birth, viz., Professor 

 Haeckel, who must be regarded as the 

 rival, and indeed opponent, rather than the 

 disciple of Darwin ; so wide was the gulf 

 respecting the Origin of Life between 

 these two. On the continent the theory 

 went often by the name of " HaecJcelism" 

 because its votaries were conscious that 

 HaeckePs Atheism had little in common 

 with Darwin's Christianity ; Professor 

 Haeckel' s doctrine on the Origin of Life 

 and Species may be summarily described 

 in his words as follows : " After the dead 

 matter of carbon had gone on for count- 

 less ages evolving, it had at length 

 brought forth a living creature in the 

 shape of a lowly monera, which originated 

 about the beginning of the Laurentian 

 period by means of spontaneous generation... 

 Without any doubt a long series of extinct 

 worms were our direct ancestors."* To 



* See Appendix E. 



