Man's Place in Nature, and Other EssaysHuxley, Thomas Henry
Science
Man's Place in Nature, and Other Essays
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Apes; Ethnology; Human beings -- Origin; Indo-Europeans
This proved too much for the patience of the original authors of the
figure, Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, who, in a note
addressed to the Academy of Amsterdam, of which they were members,
declared themselves to be, though decided opponents of all forms of the
doctrine of progressive development, above all things, lovers of truth:
and that, therefore, at whatever risk of seeming to lend support to
views which they disliked, they felt it their duty to take the first
opportunity of publicly repudiating Professor Owen's misuse of their
authority.
In this note they frankly admitted the justice of the criticisms of M.
Gratiolet, quoted above, and they illustrated, by new and careful
figures, the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus
minor of the Orang. Furthermore, having demonstrated the parts, at one
of the sittings of the Academy, they add, "la présence des parties
contestées y a été universellement reconnue par les anatomistes présents
à la séance. Le seul doute qui soit resté se rapporte au pes Hippocampi
minor.... A l'état frais l'indice du petit pied d'Hippocampe était plus
prononcé que maintenant."
Professor Owen repeated his erroneous assertions at the meeting of the
British Association in 1861, and again, without any obvious necessity,
and without adducing a single new fact or new argument, or being able in
any way to meet the crushing evidence from original dissections of
numerous Apes' brains, which had in the meanwhile been brought forward
by Prof. Rolleston,[33] F.R.S., Mr. Marshall,[34] F.R.S., Mr.
Flower,[35] Mr. Turner,[36] and myself,[37] revived the subject at the
Cambridge meeting of the same body in 1862. Not content with the
tolerably vigorous repudiation which these unprecedented proceedings met
with in Section D, Professor Owen sanctioned the publication of a
version of his own statements, accompanied by a strange
misrepresentation of mine (as may be seen by comparison of the "Times"
report of the discussion), in the "Medical Times" for October 11th,
1862. I subjoin the conclusion of my reply in the same journal for
October 25th.
"If this were a question of opinion, or a question of
interpretation of parts or of terms,--were it even a
question of observation in which the testimony of my own
senses alone was pitted against that of another person, I
should adopt a very different tone in discussing this
matter. I should, in all humility, admit the likelihood of
having myself erred in judgment, failed in knowledge, or
been blinded by prejudice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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