At the Deathbed of Darwinism: A Series of PapersDennert, Eberhard
Philosophy
At the Deathbed of Darwinism: A Series of Papers
Dennert, Eberhard
Evolution; Natural selection
On one occasion Huxley expressed his conviction that the pedigree of
the horse as revealed in the geological record furnished demonstrative
evidence for the theory of evolution. The question has been entered
into in detail by Professor Fleischmann in his work, _Die
Descendenstheorie_. In this book the Erlangen professor makes great
capital out of the "trot-horse" (Paradepferd) of Huxley and Haeckel;
and as regards the evolutionary theory, easily claims a verdict of
"not proven." In this connection the moderate statement of Professor
Morgan is noteworthy: "When he (Fleischmann) says there is no absolute
proof that the common plan of structure must be the result of blood
relationship, he is not bringing a fatal argument against the theory of
descent, for no one but an enthusiast sees anything more in the
explanation than a very probable theory that appears to account for the
facts. To demand an absolute proof is to ask for more than any
reasonable advocate of the descent theory claims for it." (Professor
Morgan, as we have already seen, rejects Darwinism, and inclines to the
mutation theory of De Vries.) The vast majority of Darwinians must,
therefore, be classed as "enthusiasts" who are not "reasonable
advocates of the descent theory." For has not Professor Marsh told his
readers that "to doubt evolution is to doubt science?" And similar
assertions have been so frequently made and reiterated by Darwinians
that the claim that Darwinism has become a dogma contains, as Professor
Morgan notes, more truth than the adherents of that school find
pleasant to hear.
More interesting, however, than Huxley's geological pedigree of the
horse is Haeckel's geological pedigree of man. One who reads Haeckel's
_Natural History of Creation_ can hardly escape the impression that
the author had actually seen specimens of each of the twenty-one
ancestral forms of which his pedigree of man is composed. Such,
however, was not the case. Quatrefages, speaking of this wonderful
genealogical tree which Haeckel has drawn up with such scientific
accuracy of description, observes: "The first thing to remark is that
_not one_ of the creatures exhibited in this pedigree has ever been
seen, either living or in fossil. Their existence is based entirely
upon theory." (_Les Emules de Darwin_, ii. _p._ 76). "Man's pedigree as
drawn up by Haeckel," says the distinguished savant, Du Bois-Reymond,
"is worth about as much as is that of Homer's heroes for critical
historians."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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