558 The American Naturalist. [June, 
EDITORIAL. 
EDITORS, E, D. COPE AND J. S. KINGSLEY. 
PROFESSOR KARL VOGT, of Geneva, has been lecturing 
the naturalists, in the Revue Scientifique. Like a good blade 
he cuts both ways, for having hewed the theological Agag in 
pieces, he now reminds his fellow-workers that they, too, are no 
better than they ought to be. He quotes, with approval, the 
assertion of a modern author, that “in the early days of science 
the Creator dictated the laws ; later, this function was attributed to 
nature; but now M. M. the naturalists have assumed the duty with 
much enthusiasm.” Prof. Vogt’s polemic is directed against the 
dogma promulgated by Agassiz, and which was then used by 
Haeckel as one of the foundations of the evolution hypothesis, 
that the embryologic and paleontologic records agree. He easily 
finds numerous examples where the earlier and primitive forms of 
life as revealed by paleontologic research do not agree with the 
embryonic stages of living types. He finds this to be true of 
both’ Vertebrata and Invertebrata, and then triumphantly asks, 
“Where is your fundamental biological law ?” 
As Prof. Vogt is no doubt aware, this is no new difficulty so 
far as regards the want of coincidence between the embryologi¢ 
scale and that of living types. It was pointed out by Von Baer, 
the father of embryology. But the coincidences are so many that 
it was plain that’an explanation had to be sought, which, if found, 
would harmonize the discrepancies. As long ago as 1868, in an 
article entitled the “ Origin of Genera,” the senior editor of this 
journal stated that explanation, and the progress of discovery has 
Verified it, so that it is so far matter of common knowledge, that 
it is surprising that Prof. Vogt finds such a mare’s-nest to-day- 
This essay showed the necessary distinction between “ exact” and 
“inexact parallelism,” and the reason for it. ` Haeckel has referred 
the same order of facts to two causes, which he termed “ palin- 
— and “cenogeny.” In “palingeny” the complete phylo- 
genetic record is preserved in the embryology (ontogeny); pai 
“ cænogeny ” that record is not strictly adhered to. Now there are 
‘two kinds of “ inexact parallelism.” One of these is due to “cemO- 
geny,” where the record is not maintained, for various reasons. 
