New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-17

tent with calling him the owen Of England
I Cuizot. bowling politely. said he was glad to
! find there was Cuvier In England. Not bad
| that, but rather sly" was Owens comment.
| But Professor Huxley. who differed strenuous
! " with owen on points too numerous to men
ton still holds that in the kind OF iabors 10
which both men turned with eagerness and pride.
the Englishman was worthy OF being named
with the Frenchman. lie maintained that the
historian of comparative anatomy ana OF paiae-
anthology will always have to place owen next
to and hardly lower than Cuvier. Not only In
the amount of anatomical fact which he COL
lected but in the general excellence or the
monographs which flowed in such unwearled
succession from his PEN does he rival CuVler'
he holds unique position by reason OF 'he
way in which many Of these memoirs nave
opened up new regions of investigation MS
early memoirs on the anatomy OF the ah'h'o-
poid apes were the starting point OF all ia'er
researches He raised the questions whlch IL
has since been found necessary to answer Inc
same is said by Professor Huxley or owen
Investigations on the monatremes ana mar
supials. on teeth. as summed up In the mono
graph "Odontography" and the artcie ouo"
to,orv" in THE Encyclopaedia Britannica
While these papers and many others indicate
his lines Of anatomical research he began AT
1
series of important contributions to palaeon-
,o,ogv II was his discussion of toxodon paten-
sis especially the remark, Preferable by lls
dentition to the rodentia but with afhnities
TO the pachydermata. and the herpiNoIous
cetacea" that turned the mind of Darwin
toward his theory of the origin or species 1t
was fact of vast Importance that 'oxouoh
occupied an intermediate position pe'"ee"
groups which are now widely separated. ~
all events Darwin felt It to be So IL was ne
who had discovered toXodon, and had sent the
fossil fragments which he gathered to owen
for examination.
Thus Owen. by an acute remark was re-
snonsibIe TO a considerable extent. for theory
which he stubbornly opposed. 1t seems pam
that this opposition on his part was not based
on any preconceptions in favor or the inu'a-
bility Of species The remark on toxodon IL
sufficient to upset that notion. What owen was
determined claim and what Darwin was
hound by heredity as may say, to deny
was the argument Of design. Asa Gray IN
America very sensbly and practically mar
monized his views Of design ana OF natural
selection. 1t requires only few minutes c""'-
parison between Gray's letters TO Darwin anu
the statements of the best recent histories Vi
| philosophy to show that the American pro-
! fessor had a clear anticipation OF the aspec, IN
which Darwin's theory would ne WE'VE" W.
fore the lapse OF a generation. But owen couId
not bridge the chasm which seemed to Gray
only trio,ng cleft He would have thought
1t impossible for him from the Darwinian point
Of view to thrust into an elaborate description
Of the Aye-Aye this sentence: "one hnger
however. on each hand Of that animal has been
ordained to grow in length. but not in thlck-
ness. with the other dgts; 1T remtins as slen-
der as a probe" A Darwnan. even Darwin
himself might have used phrases indicating
purpose and final cause without blushing' pu'
not the word ordained" But owen REQUIRED
| to such word by choice. because he felt more
| thoroughly than most men the inadequacy OF
INV theory TO cover the facts OF nature. The
annea, 10 the Divine plan fitted into his curl
| ously modified Platonism. 1t is to be Imagined
| that not this generation nor the next VIII see II
| profound scientist willing to repeat such
creed as this: Now, however the recognition
| ~ an ideal exemplar for the verebrated ami
| mails proves that the knowledge or such n ne
| ing as man must have existed before man APP
| reared For the Divine mind which planned
| the archetype also foreknew all It's modihca-
| lions To what natural laws or secondary
causes the orderly succession and progression
| of such organic phenomena may have been com
| mitted we are yet ignorant But H. without
derogation OF the Divine power. we may con-
ceive the existence OF such ministers. ana per-
| sonify them by the term Nature. we learn
from the past history Of our globe that she
has advanced with slow and stately steps gulued
| by the archetypal light amidst the wreck Oh
| worlds from the first embodiment OF the Ver'e-
| brate idea under It's old ichthyic vcstment. I'M
| fl il became arrayed in the glorious garb or
| the human form" This may well serve to re-
| mind one Of owens own remark about the IN
auguraI address Of his friend. the Cambridge
professor Of mathematics 81 derived whole
| some lesson from IT," said he; Il could not
comprehend word Of 1t. Ny brain was
! blank"
Rut ~ Owen was triHe mystical In his
| philosophy he showed in his ordpary inter
course with mankind the same insight and
| acuteness which characterized his pracucai
writings Tennyson and his pipe came in for
| one Of these sharp observations after certain
! dinner at which the poet seems to nave pech
! far from amiable "When the ladies retired
our host benevolently sent for the pipe; we
| accoronanied with mild cigarettes the poet.
who then began to unroll-a hedgehog smile.
When he visited Egypt and inspected the I'M
| finished Suez Canal. NJ de Lessops WIN an
| excessively innocent air. handed MIN stone
| with some shells imbedded in II and begged 10
| know what formation 1t belonged TO- La ior-
| nation Lessepsienne," was the quick reply lie
| observed that In lieu Of "A visiting card Bah
bage sent in at one house at least a fragment
| Of q small metal cogwheel with his name on
! 1t In red and the words NO cards. TINS was
supposed TO be a bit OF the famous calculating
machine. He never let popularity or manner
escape him. If he knew 1t. much less chance
| OF seeing with his eyes any abnormal
development Of the human frame. He once
remarked" says his biographer. "apropos OF
violin playing. how much struck he had been
| in examining Ernsts long, bony. muscular
| fingers which the great violinist had obligingly
offered for his inspection" Once at a dinner