501 
REVIEWS. 
ANTI-DARWINIANISM* 
I T very seldom happens in any controversy, that, when a partisan of 
either side comes to speak, he states something which is satisfactory 
to both parties. We should not have expected such a result in the case of 
the debate — not yet extinguished — between the supporters of Mr. Darwin’s 
doctrines and those who oppose them. Yet such has actually occurred. 
M. Flourens, one of the oldest and most renowned of French physiologists, 
has written a work which he calls an “ Examination ” of that treatise, 
which is now classic, — “ The Origin of Species ; ” and in it we observe a 
production which will be hailed with pleasure by both ‘‘Creationists” and 
“ Selectionists.” Such, however, is far from what the author intended. The 
book is written in the most bitter spirit, and is totally devoid of that dis- 
passionate consideration of evidence which should ever be the aim of the 
philosopher. M. Flourens has damaged his own case very seriously, and 
while his party may rejoice that a volume of abuse has been hurled 
against Darwinian speculations, the opposite side may congratulate itself 
that so little has been done to impugn its views, and so much has been 
effected to deteriorate its opponents’ case. 
Of the hundred and seventy pages winch M. Flourens’ book contains, 
but seventy are devoted to a critique of Mr. Darwin’s essay, the remainder 
being absorbed by a loose collection of irrelevant matters ; thus we find 
the following among the headings of the succeeding chapters : — Decaisne’s 
Experiments on the Variability of Species ; Swammerdam, Reaumur, and 
others on the Generation of Insects; Van Beneden on Parasitic Worms ; 
and Pasteur on Spontaneous Generation. The author harps on the old 
string, the non-fecundity of genera, and omits to notice the grander portion 
of the Darwinian theory. He speaks of species as things defined, and yet 
the only definition he gives is that which relates to fecundity. Forgetting 
that species is a purely abstract term, he confounds it with animal form, 
and thus he shows at the very outset an utter inability to appreciate even 
the fundamental principle of the doctrine of “ natural selection.” M. 
Flourens’ argument is this : a new species cannot originate by natural selec- 
tion, because certain animals are not fertile when brought together. Jf new 
species were merely variations of one which had pre-existed, then they should 
be fertile among each other. We reply, we know not what a species is, unless 
* Examen du Livre de M. Darwin sur “ l’Origine des Especes.” Par 
P. Flourens, Professeur au Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, &c. &c. 
Paris : Gamier freres. 1864. 
