July i, 1909] 



NA TURE 



1 1 



trade in life. To him we trace in the main the view 

 which has affected, not merely our ideas of the develop- 

 ment of livingf organisms, but our ideas upon politics, upon 

 sociology, ideas which cover the whole domain of human 

 terrestrial activity. He is the fount and origin, and he 

 will stand for all time as the man who has made this 

 great, and, as I think, beneficent revolution in the mode 

 in which educated men can see the history, not merely 

 of their own institutions, not merely of their own race, 

 but of everything which has that unexplained attribute of 

 life, everything that lives on the surface of the globe or 

 within the depths of the ocean. He is the Newton of this 

 great department of human research, and to him we look, 

 as we looked to Newton, to measure out heavens or to 

 weigh suns and their attendant planets. After all, the 

 branch of research which he initiated is surely the most 

 difficult of all. I talk of measuring heavens and weighing 

 suns, but surely these are tasks incomparably easy com- 

 pared with the problem that attracts the physiologist and 

 the morphologist in dealing with the living cell, be it 

 plant, or animal, or man. That problem of life is one 

 which it is impossible for us to evade, which it may be 

 impossible for us ultimately to solve, but in dealing with 

 which in its larger manifestations Charles Darwin made 

 greater strides than any man in the history of the world 

 has made before or any man has made since. 



Prof. Arrhenius then spoke as follows : — 



Evolutional ideas are as old as human civilisation. We 

 find traces of them in old Egyptian legends of the growth 

 of mankind, in Hindu myths, as well as in the cosmogony 

 of Herod and in Ovid's Metamorphoses. During the 

 lapse of centuries they were developed by philosophers and 

 astronomers, i.e. by the men of the oldest sciences ; and 

 in the eighteenth century, when most modern sciences took 

 a distinct shape, those ideas formed important parts of the 

 scientific work of Kant, and still more in the admirable 

 theoretical speculations of Lamarck. But still the finalist 

 school, founded on primitive and medireval considerations, 

 was in the highest degree preponderant ; and the leading 

 biologist at the end of that century, Cuvier, had no con- 

 ception of evolutionism. Even in Kant's works we find 

 the finalistic ideas prevailing. 



To accomplish the now prevailing evolutionary ideas a 

 great work was necessary, in order that these should be 

 developed into a system embracing all the biological 

 sciences with the strictest logic and severest criticism. 

 The attempts made at the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century by many scientific men, amongst whom the name 

 of Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, mav 

 be recalled, were far from sufficient. The epoch-making 

 work was delivered by Charles Darwin, who, with an 

 unrivalled patience and diligence, as well as a rare 

 impartiality, during nearly thirty years, collected and sifted 

 the enormous material upon which is based his masterly 

 work " The Origin of Species." 



It must be said that the time was ripe for the triumph 

 of the conception of evolution, as is clearly indicated by 

 the simultaneous work of Wallace on biology and by the 

 publication of Herbert Spencer's philosophical investiga- 

 tions. Charles Darwin was also immediately followed by 

 enthusiastic and prominent adherers, such as Huxley and 

 Haeckel, who propagated and worked out the new 

 doctrines. 



This rapid success also caused a strong reaction from 

 the side of the representatives of the old finalistic ideas, 

 grown strong through centuries. The battle fought 

 between the two parties carried the new ideas into common 

 life, far from the men of science and the philosophers' 

 study. During the last decade of his life Darwin had the 

 good fortune to see his ideas brought to definite victory 

 and generally accepted, not only in the vast domain of 

 biology, which has been spoken of so eloquently this 

 morning, but even by scientific men in general, and by 

 the enlightened public opinion. 



Charles Darwin had a clear perception of the far- 

 reaching importance of his ideas. He applied them in 

 elaborate investigations concerning the development of the 

 intellectual and reflective faculties, to the formation of 

 primitive social ideas amongst animals and men, to the 

 NO. 2070, VOL. 81] 



genesis of the most elementary moral and religious con- 

 ceptions, as well as to the fundamental problems of 

 anthropology. 



The more these various questions have been discussed 

 the more the doctrine of evolution has grown in strength, 

 and the greater has been the extent to which science has 

 been brought under its beneficent influence. Nowadays 

 there is hardly a science which has not been affected 

 and in many cases thoroughly permeated by it. The 

 sociological and statistical sciences now rest on an evolu- 

 tional basis ; history, and especially the history of culture, 

 has found through it new lines of development ; the 

 linguist tries to find the natural laws of development of 

 languages ; the lawyer sees the legislative work of past 

 generations and foresees their future modifications from 

 the standpoint of evolution ; the criminalist seeks the 

 sources of crime in the influence of heredity and environ- 

 ment ; and even the theologian, who for so long a time re- 

 jected the new ideas, finds now in them essential points of 

 high ethical charm which he seeks to reconcile with true 

 religion. At the same time, the investigators in exact 

 sciences, where the doctrine of evolution had been adopted 

 earlier than in biological sciences, were inspired to new 

 and successful efforts to use it, as is, for example, obvious 

 from the researches of Sir George Darwin, who, as well 

 as the other members of the family, is a brilliant example 

 of the heredity of intellectual properties. 



Science is international ; and this momentous movement 

 has been felt in every country in the civilised world. 

 Therefore we, representatives of all sciences, have come 

 from all parts of the world to join you in doing homage to 

 the memory of the greatest of all evolutionists. 



All of us are profoundly sensible that the great intel- 

 lectual revolution which is due to the introduction of 

 evolutionism is the most important event in the development 

 of the human mind, since the mighty political movement 

 which began with the storming of the Bastille 120 years 

 ago. There is, however, this significant difference between 

 that time and this, that whereas in such a period every 

 mighty change in the social, political, and intellectual 

 development of mankind was only efTected by strife and 

 horrors of war, to-day, thanks to the civilising progress, this 

 change has been accomplished by reason and persuasion. 

 " The pen has been mightier than the sword." How 

 much may we not congratulate ourselves that we have lived 

 in such a period? In reality, the doctrine of evolution 

 is inconsistent with violence, and we may hope, therefore, 

 that it will give a mighty impetus to the maintenance of 

 pence and a good understanding between civilised nations. 



In conclusion, let me say that in thus venerating 

 Darwin's memory all men of science regard him, not only 

 as an ideal man of science, but as a man of science whose 

 power and influence have been enhanced by his integrity 

 and moral worth. 



In replying to the toast, Mr. W. Erasmus Darwin 

 related some interesting incidents as to Darwin's 

 kindly and considerate nature in his home life. The 

 toast of " The University of Cambridge " was proposed 

 by Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., who asked whether 

 the comparative freedom enjoyed by Darwin in his 

 college life would be possible in these days of ex- 

 amination pressure. The vice-chancellor, in respond- 

 ing to the toast, said it was hoped that Dr. Wallace 

 would attend the celebration and receive an honorary 

 degree at Cambridge, but his health would not permit 

 him to accept the invitation. The suggestion had 

 been made (we understand it came from Prof. Meldola) 

 that a message should be sent to Dr. Wallace ; and 

 the vice-chancellor announced that the following 

 telegram had been sent : — " The naturalists, assem- 

 bled at Cambridge for the Darwin celebration, cannot 

 forget your share in the great work which they are 

 commemorating, and regret your inability to be 

 present." 



On Thursday, June 24, the concluding day of the 

 celebration, honorary degrees were conferred upon 

 twenty-one of the delegates, and Sir .Archibald Geikie 

 delivered the Rede lecture already mentioned. The 



