94 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



portance, that all natural bodies with which we 

 are acquainted are equally endowed with life 

 (gleichmassig belebt sind) ; that the distinc- 

 tion between living and dead matter does not 

 exist. "When a stone is thrown into the air 

 and falls by certain laws to the ground, or 

 when a solution of salt forms a crystal, the 

 result is neither more nor less a mechanical 

 manifestation of life, than the flowering of a 

 plant, the generation or sensibility of animals, 

 or the feelings or the mental activity of man. 

 In thus establishing the monistic theory of 

 nature lies the highest and most comprehen- 

 sive merit of the doctrine of descent, as re- 

 formed by Darwin." (p. 21) "As to the much 

 vaunted design in nature, it is a reality only 

 for those whose views of animal and vegetable 

 life are to the last degree superficial. Any 

 one who has gone deeper into the organization 

 and vital activity of animals and plants, who 

 has made himself familiar with the action and 

 reaction of vital phenomena, and the so-called 

 economy of nature, comes of necessity to the 

 conclusion, that design does not exist, any 

 more than the vaunted goodness of the Crea- 

 tor" (die vielgeruhmte Allgiite des Schopfers). 

 (p. 17) 



