The New York herald., 1920-01-04
Ernst Haeckel Instance of the Queer German Mind

geological formation would have been enough
to upset the whole Darwinian theory and that
has ever been found. We may realize the
overwhelming probability of it's truth which
is true. for positive proof in the nature OF
things is impossible But as rational Neines
nc should accept rational conclusions
No one has produced more corroborative evil
dence of the main tenets Of evolution than
Ernst Haeckel He one of the most pro-
life writer's ever engaged in scientific re-
search his productions amounting to about
fifty works making nearly twenty thousand
pa ges Almost all of them were written in
German and the more popular ones after pass
ing through many editions in the ori-inal. have
been translated into many as fifteen dif-
ferent languages
Probably to every youth during the decade
following adolescence there comes impulse
from outside more or less decisive OF his fu-
ture career either in the domain OF thought
or action. He may not respond, or the impress
sion may remain dormant for years, but never
impulse came to Haeckel in the shape Of Oar
wins theories on the origin OF species which
we're first published in 1870. Already athirs
for knowledge, the young man at once became
converted by the clear logic of the English
SCIENTIST and was thereafter a devoted props-
gandist OF the teachings OF evolution
lie ardent collector Of facts, roam
Ins over a great part OF the known world,
specially the watery depths Of our planet. in
ruest OF geological data. Jena was the head
quarters to which he periodically returned
bringing with him specimens OF his scientific
harvest. which he preserved in a museum Of
evolution. intended TO illustrate connected FAM
lies. the different rooms housing groups most
loosely related. To this museum he devoted
most OF his time in the closing years OF his
lie. after his retirement from his professional
iuties
Hseckels works may be divided into three
classes His 'wanderbilder." published in
l}O5. collection Of reproductions " his oil
paintings and water color landscape display
ing considerable artistic talent aid the plates
Of his "Kunstformen der Natur" showing beau
previous year Among this class of descrip-
i've works are narratives OF his travels IN
foreign lands. especially in the Far East
More important are the records OF 3is re-
~earches into the ,ower forms of animal Iiie'
such as the medusae. the sphonophora. the
keratoss. the radiolars and the monera which
-xhibit Keen powers Of observation.
But his most numerous writings with which
We are especially concerned here. we're HE
speculstive works in which he developed and
enlarged the theories OF Darwin These were
begun at an early peiod and were continued
during the greater part of his active litc. The
first vas his General Morphology published
in 1866 which was revised appeariua o couple
OF years later under the title. Natural History
Of Creation" and achieving instant success II
marked an epoch in the doctrines OF biology.
lie first put forth in Il his famous formula,
"Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny whtch
means that every individuals history is
resume In miniature Of the life Of tho species.
THIS the anabryo is first homogeneous bit