The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-08
FABRE and HIS TEACHING
SCIENTIST WHO WAS
AN AUTHORITY ON INSECT LIFE
WAS AN OPPONENT or DARWIN.
ISM, WHO ENRICHED THE
WORLD WITH MANY NATURAL
TRUTHS.

ISM, WHO ENRICHED THE
WORLD WITH MANY NATURAL
TRUTHS.
Shortly after Darwin's death, in
1882, Fabre (the famors French en-
tomologist who died some time ago.
wrote to friend: Il have made a
rule of never replying to the remarks,
whether favorable or the reverse,
which my writings may evoke. | go
my own gait, Indifferent whether the
gallery applauds or Kisses. To seek
the truth is my only preoccupation.
If some are dissatisfied with the
results of my observations-if their
pet theories are damaged thereby
let them do the work themselves, to
see whether the facts tell another
story. My problem cannot be solved
by polemics; patient study alone can
throw little light on the subject"
Three objections have been brought
against Fabre's scientific work, to-wit,
his tendency to popularize the results
of his investigations, his literary
style, and his opposition to Darwin
ism.
Fabre's antagonism to the theory
Of evolution, writes Rev. e. Frederick,
in the Catholic Northwest Progress, .
was the logical fruit of it's season of
studies and observations extending
over well-nigh a whole century. His
independence of judgment is finely
illustrated by the stand he took
against the theory of spontaneous
generation, exploded later on by his
Industrious contemporary, Louis Pas
teur. This happened in his early days
as an impecunious student, when he
was being examined for a position of
lycee teacher and his opposition to
the then flourishing theory might have
spelled the irrevoeable end of his
academic career. In later years his
friendship with John Stuart Mill, the
English philosopher and economist,
and Charles Darwin himself did in no
way impair his independence. To
understand his attitude of mind we
must to some extent appreciate the
deductive method of modern science.
The venturesome, thought brilliant
hypothesis of psuedo-science must not
be taken for the assured results of
genuine scholarship; facts, well ascer-
tanned, well proven, are the stuff true
science is made of. Facts such as
these were the object of Fabre's life
long Investigations. Speaking as a
scientist only Fabre answers the all
absorbing questions of science: Has
the world been subjected to the
fatalities of evolution from the time
of the first albuminous atom which
coagulated into cell? Or has it
rather been ruled by an intelligence?
For better understanding of
Fabre's scientific mind we must con-
slider first his Interpretation of nature
Nothing is trivial in the majestic
problem of nature" he wrote, 'tour
laboratory aquaria are of less value
than the imprint which the shoe of a
mule has left in the clay, when the
rain has filled the primitive basin,
and life has peopled it with marvels. z
Well equipped in physics, mathe-
matics, and natural sciences he APP
preached the study of the insect
world. Without growing weary or
discouraged, says the editor of lie
Correspondent (Paris) after the re-
cent demise of the great biologist, he
devoted himself to the Intoxicating
mystery of nature, scrutinizing the
lives of the tiniest creatures with an
unequaled faithfulness, tenacity, and
minuteness. At the cost of fatigues
and pains without number, butt for
the jests of the simple, but sustain
ed by the ceaselessly renewed love
OF his labor, he Intercepted these
little guests of plants, Of brambles
and stones and sands. He tore from
them the secret of their acts, the
mystery of their existence, of their
food, Of their amours, and of their
death. And all that he discovered
is so new, so unexpected, that in
beginning to read his Souvenirs one
fels as if magician of science has
opened before one the gates of an
unsupported world. In the face of
such a revelation, the reader, whose
mind has been made conquest of from
the first pages, can do no other than
continue to the end of the work, so
well has this fascinating painter
understood how to render attractive
to every one the study which he pur-
sued to his latest hour.
In the domain of animal psychology
Fabre's greatest achievement is pro-
badly the refutation of the mechanical
theory of the origin of instincts. This
is the way he formulates the problem
of evolution: How does the tiny in
sect acquire its marvellous knowl-
edge? Are it's habits, its apitudes, and
its Industries the indignation of the
infinitely little, acquired by successive
experiences on the hmitless path of
time? No apprentices, no masters,
Fabre replies. The insect Is absolute
ly unconscious of the motive which
makes it act, and consequently incap-
able of profting by the lessons of
experience. To Fabre. the influence
of environing causes is wholly second
airy in the economy of nature. The
hypothesis of evolution he compares
to vast and luminous balloon which