There is nothing romantic in his career, nor could we seek any element
of the kind in a man of Gegenbaur’s character. But his young and
undecided companion seemed to catch sight of a new ideal as he spoke. He
would complete his medical studies, and then shake himself free of
surgery and hospital. He would take his microscope down South, where the
snowy summit of Etna towered above the orange-trees, and study the
beautiful marine animals by the azure sea and the white houses, in the
orange-laden air, and drink in ideas at the magic fount of these
wonderful animal forms, and live out the lusty, golden years of youth on
the finest coast in Europe. From that moment Haeckel felt a restless
inspiration. He had no idea what it was that he was going to investigate
at Messina; and he certainly did not know when and how he was to get
there. But he continued his medical studies with a vague hope that it
was only preliminary work; that some day he would do what his friend
Gegenbaur had done.
They were very good friends, these two. They were drawn together by the
strong magnetism of two true natures that understood each other to the
golden core, though in other respects they were as different as
possible. Gegenbaur was no enthusiast. His ideal was “to keep cool to
the very heart.” But he was at one with Haeckel in a feeling for a broad
outlook in scientific research. He never shrank from large connections
or vast deductions, as long as they were led up to by a sober and
patient logic. This logical character he afterwards recognised in
Darwin’s idea of evolution, and so the friends once more found
themselves in agreement, and for a long time they were a pair of real
Darwinian Dioscuri. This feeling for moderation and at the same time for
far-reaching logic was combined in Gegenbaur with a certain steady and
unerring independence of character. He made little noise, but he never
swerved from his aim. What he accomplished with all these qualities, in
many other provinces besides Darwinism, cannot be told here. It may be
read in the history of zoology. He had, as far as such a thing was
possible, a restful influence of the most useful character on Haeckel.
If we imagine what Darwinism would have become in the nineteenth century
in the hands of such men as Gegenbaur, without Haeckel, we can
appreciate the difference in temperament between the two men. With
Gegenbaur evolution was always a splendid new technical instrument that
no layman must touch for fear of spoiling it. With Haeckel it became a
devouring wave, that will one day, perhaps, give its name to the
century. In other natures these differences might have led to open
conflict. But Haeckel and Gegenbaur show us that, like so many of our
supposed “differences,” they can at least live together in perfect
accord in the freshest years of life, each bearing fruit in its kind.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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