The _General Morphology_ stands at the parting of two ways. It afforded a programme of an infinite amount of fresh technical research—the elaboration of his studies in detail, of promorphology, of his theory of individuality, and of the phylogenetic system of living things; and the strengthening of the laws of evolution, especially the great biogenetic law. On the other hand, there was the purely philosophic work to be done: the gathering together of the general threads that ran through his work, and the building of a new philosophy of life, based on a new story of creation, from the atom to the moneron, from the moneron to man, and the whole to be comprised and contained in God. In a word, he might proceed in either of two ways from the _Morphology_: he might construct academic zoology afresh, or he might write a work on the new God. When he came home from Lanzarote, the two ways seemed to coincide in front of him; his work had, indeed, opened them out as one. But external circumstances intervened. As things are, it was only his academic colleagues that had any right to the new biology. A new book on God and creation would go out to “the publicans and sinners.” Interest must be lit up amongst the people at large, where there was as yet only the faintest spark. It appeared, moreover, that most of his academic colleagues in 1867 had no wish to enter on the new path he had opened out. A new generation would have to grow up first. The _Morphology_, from which Haeckel on his travels had expected at least a revolution, met at first with an icy silence. There was hardly any discussion of it, and no excitement whatever. Haeckel quickly made up his mind. He must turn in the other direction. Gegenbaur consoles him. He has given too much—twenty dishes instead of one. He must serve up the best part of the work on one dish, and it will be taken. Haeckel agrees with him to some extent, but his heavy technical artillery cannot be simplified so easily as that. The only possible thing to do is to give an extract of it, which will make the broad lines of the system clear. But as soon as that is done, he sees that the extract is still only the general philosophical part of it, and will not appeal to the general public. It was such reflections as these that led to the writing of his _History of Creation_, a popular work.[5] Footnote 5: Translated into English with the above title. Literally, the title is: _The Story of Natural Creation_. The chapters of this work were first delivered orally to students, in the form of lectures, and formed a kind of introduction to morphology. The lectures, retaining their lighter form, were then combined to make the book. It was published in 1868, a small volume in a very primitive garb. The success of the work was unprecedented.