68 



F4CTS AND FANCIES 



on his guard. Still, it is not necessary to 

 believe that Haeckel is an intentional deceiver. 

 Such fallacies are those which are especially 

 fitted to mislead enthusiastic specialists, to be 

 identified by them with proved results of science, 

 and to be held in an intolerant and dogmatic 



spirit. ;■:,.,'.■'■-/,. ■•■..,„■ ^^^ ■;.■■ '• ■ 



Having thus noticed Haeckel's assumptions 

 and his methods, we may next shortly consider 

 the manner in which he proceeds to work out 

 the phylogeny of man. Here he pursues a 

 purely physiological method, only occasionally 

 and slightly referring to geological facts. He 

 takes as a first principle the law long ago form- 

 ulated by Hunter, Omne vivum ex ovo — a law 

 which modern research has amply confirmed, 

 showing that every animal, however complex, 

 can be traced back to an ^%gy which in its sim- 

 plest state is no more than a single cell, though 

 this cell requires to be fertilized by the addition 

 of the contents of another dissimilar cell, pro- 

 duced either in another organ of the same in- 

 dividual or in a distinct individial. This pro- 

 cess of fertilization Haeckel seems to regard as 

 unnecessary in the lowest forms of life ; but, 

 though there are some simple animals in which 

 it has not been recognized, analogy would lead 



\ . 



