xUv THE DARWIN CENTENARY. [Februarys, 



scientists, led to the exaggeration of the evidence for it and the 

 minimizing of the difficulties to be explained. Certain it is that 

 there has been much dogmatism on the subject, an over-confidence 

 in certain hypotheses, and a general lack of scientific caution, which 

 has led biology astray in some instances and has caused persons who 

 are not biologists to accept insecure hypotheses as foundations for 

 more elaborate specualtions ; this is especially true in the fields of 

 sociology and psychology. Dogmatism always begets skepticism 

 and we need not be surprised to find that in recent times a few 

 biologists have totally rejected natural selection as a factor of evolu- 

 tion. But I think we may be surprised at the intensity of feeling 

 and the wholly intemperate attacks of some of the younger biologists 

 upon this theory, and especially is this true in view of the fact that 

 Darwin himself always avoided controversy and was one of the 

 kindest and gentlest of men. Unfortunately the lack of judicial 

 calm is quite as noticeable in these later attacks as in the earlier and 

 less scientific ones. 

 Dennert says : 



Darwinism belongs to the past, we are standing at its death bed, and its 

 friends are preparing to give it a decent burial. 



Driesch also, with more scientific authority, but with no less 



spleen, says : 



Darwinism now belongs to historj' ; like that other curiosity of our 

 century, the Hegelian philosophy; both are variations on the theme: how 

 one manages to lead a whole generation by the nose. 



He calls it a new kind of religion, which would have done honor 

 to Mohammed, and speaks of the softening of the brain of Dar- 

 winians. More recently, however, when Driesch addressed an Eng- 

 lish-speaking audience at Aberdeen, he was much more dignified and 

 conciliatory and said, " Certainly natural selection is a vera causa " 

 but he argues that it is a negative, an eliminating factor, and not a 

 creative one. 



It is surprising how persistent is the misunderstanding of natural 

 selection, which is implied in this statement. The term " natural 

 selection " was chosen, as Darwin says, because of its supposed re- 

 semblance to artificial selection, but it was so frequently misunder- 

 stood that he would have liked, if possible to have changed it to 



