20 Darwinism 



mously by the scientific men of his day. There is no 

 doubt he was a man of the very greatest powers of 

 observation, of wide culture, fine literary style, and of 

 a high and noble character. These all combined to 

 aid greatly the acceptance of his views. 



In this country they have met with little opposition. 

 The Church at first stood out, but unfortunately its 

 ministers did not possess the scientific knowledge 

 necessary to defend their position, and the result has 

 been that the theory has been largely absorbed by 

 the ecclesiastics. In Germany alone, so far as I know, 

 have scientific men actually been bold enough to 

 attack this established scientific creed. Professor von 

 Hartman is reported to have said : "In the first 

 decade of the twentieth century it has become apparent 

 that the days of Darwinism are numbered." Amongst 

 its latest opponents are such savants as Eimer, 

 Gustav Wolf, De Vries, Hoocke, Von Wellstein, 

 Reinicke, and many others. Professor von Fleischmann 

 maintains that " the Darwinian theory of descent has 

 not a single fact to confirm it in the realm of nature, 

 that it is not the result of scientific research, but purely 

 the product of the imagination." 



In this country I do not know of any men of science 

 who do not agree with Darwin — at least there are none 

 who have openly dissented. Some years ago I read an 

 article by the Reverend Professor Henslow which was 

 decided in its opposition. Among other things he 

 wrote : " ' The Origin of Species by Means of Natural 

 Selection ' was published in 1859. Up to the present 

 day it is an indisputable fact that not a single variety 

 or species of any wild animal or plant has ever been 

 proved to have had its origin by means of ' natural 

 selection.' " In 1908 a book was published in Edin- 

 burgh entitled " No Struggle for Existence ; No 

 Natural Selection," by George Paulin. I believe this 



