76 
The Presidential Address. 
Prof. Huxley, indeed, became so zealous a champion that he 
diverted on to his own head some of the vials of wrath 
that had been prepared for Mr. Darwin, and by his able 
exposition of the doctrine of development contributed to no 
small extent in securing its firm establishment in our 
country. 9 But while the battle for truth was going on here, 
on the Continent, and more especially in Germany, the new 
doctrines were received and discussed with even greater 
warmth and entliusiam. A school of the most- able 
naturalists rallied round the Darwinian standard, their zeal 
often carrying them beyond the bounds of that prudence and 
caution displayed by their leader. More than once, as 
Darwin told me on one occasion, has he had to privately 
chide his too zealous adherents. Foremost amongst those 
who have taken the greatest part in promulgating and 
contributing to Darwinism in Germany stands the name of 
Prof. Ernst Haeckel, of Jena; and work of the highest order 
of importance has been contributed also by Prof. Carl Vogt, 
Moritz Wagner, Prof. August Weismann, G. Th. Fechner, the 
brothers Fritz and Hermann Muller, Prof. Oscar Schmidt, 
and others ; whilst from the philosophical side the theory has 
been most ably expounded by Frederick Albert Lange. 10 
The rapid spread of the Darwinian theory among those 
most competent to form a true estimate of its value soon 
made itself felt in the field of biological literature, and many 
works of lasting importance to scientific knowledge appeared 
as living witnesses to the vitality of the doctrine. Specialists 
in every department of biology contributed materials, and 
indeed many workers on the Continent became specialists 
with the express object of testing the vitality of the views 
advanced in the ‘ Origin of Species.’ “ From the hour of its 
9 The advocacy of those who—like Prof. Tyndall, W. (now Sir William) 
R. Grove, and the late lamented Prof. W. K. Clifford—spoke from the 
ranks of physical rather than of natural science, did great sendee in 
promoting the cause of evolution among the wider circles of the general 
public. 
10 ‘ Geschichte des Materialismus,’ 3rd ed., 1877, vol. ii. Eng. Trans¬ 
lation by E. Chester Thomas, vol. iii., 1881, chap. iv. 
