THE WONDERS OF LIFE 



still prevails in our universities, and state and Church 

 protect the venerable tradition, there can be no doubt 

 that sooner or later it will be replaced by a purely mo- 

 nistic philosophy of history. Modern anthropogeny 

 shows us the intimate connection between the evolution 

 of the human individual and that of the race ; and by 

 means of prehistoric and phylogenetic research it.joins 

 what is called the history of the world to the stem- 

 history of the vertebrates. 



Medicine belongs to the front rank of practical or 

 applied sciences. In its long and interesting history it 

 teaches how it is only a monistic knowledge of nature, 

 not a dualistic notion of revelation, that affords the 

 foundations of true science and the profitable application 

 of this to the most important aspects of practical life. 

 Medicine was originally the business of the priests, and 

 for thousands of years it was under the influence of 

 mystic and superstitious ideas which were connected 

 with religious dogmas. However, two thousand years 

 ago the great physicians of classic antiquity made a 

 serious effort to provide a solid base for medical practice 

 by a thorough anatomic and physiological study of the 

 human frame. But in the general reaction of the Mid- 

 dle Ages superstitious and miraculous ideas once more 

 defeated independent scientific investigation. Disease 

 was supposed to be the work of evil spirits (as Christ 

 thought) which had to be exorcised. Miracles are still 

 thought to take place, even in cultured circles. I need 

 only mention the wonders of patent medicines, mag- 

 netic cures, Christian Science, and other charlatanrj'. 

 However, the great development of science in the nine- 

 teenth century, especially the astonishing advance of 

 biology about the middle of the century, gradually 

 shaped medicine into the monistic science which as- 

 suages so much pain and suffering in humanity to-day. 

 Pathology, the science of disease, and therapeutics, the 



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