Evening star., 1923-04-07
The Library Table
~ The BoOkiOver

Persons who are troubled by the
supposed conflict between Christian
ity and evolution aie recommended to
read the little book entitled " Believe
In God and In Evolution" by Dr. VIII
liam w. Keen. The author, who is
eighty-six years Of age. but who
writes with the vigor Of young man
hood, has been a student and teacher
of anatomy and surgery for sixty
two years, and is emeritus professor
of surgery in the Jefferson Medical
College. Philadelphia. The substance
of this book. recently published. was
given as a commencement address
before a theological seminary. The
attitude of the author Is shown by it's
dedication: ITO all sincere seekers
after truth; who revere the Bible as
the word OF God: who revere nature
as the work of God, and who believe
that rightly interpreted they must
surely agree" The author draws
largely on his great knowledge Of
comparative anatomy for his evi-
dence. but also includes other strict
conviction that mans ascent, from
an animal OF low intelligence seems
to be absolutely proved
The ascent of man, in perfectly ordc--
~ sequence, Is far more probable than
that evolution progressed up to the
and that God then made man by a
separate, special creative act"
Exactly what Is the theory OF eyo-
luton and what is its place In the
scientific thought of today? These
questions find very satisfactory an
swers in the new book, Science and
Human Affairs from the Viewpoint
Of Biology" by DR.. Winterton c. Cur
tis. "Organic evolution is" he says,
mot theory of the origin Of men
from monkeys, but is concerned with
the origin and development of all of
the animal and plant bodies which
now exist" The author makes clear
the distinction between organic evo-
luton, which, he says, has been sub
tantiated by evidence that Is now
overwh Ginning" and Darwinism,
meaning natural selection, to whieh
he states the investigation Of recent
years have assigned less Importance"
This we'll written, authoritative and
voted, one-third 10 the history of
science, another third to modern
biology and a final third to the pres
ent and future importance OF science.
In tracing the influence of science
on the development OF mankind, the
authors purpose is to stress its spir-
ttual aspects, In order to point out
the possibilities for the eugenic ad
vancement OF mankind.
y
If the reader is disposed to carry
his present study of evolution farther,
and especially IL he wishes to know
the latest and most reliable judg-
ments on the theory as applied to
man. he should read the new book.
The Evolution Of Man." which con-
sists of a series OF six lectures, given
at Yale University a year ago. all but
two by Yale professors. These lee
lures comprise the following: Prof.
Richard S. Lull. on the antiquity OF
man. giving the paleontolo gical evi-
dence for his evolution: Prof. Harry
B. Ferris. on the natural history OF
man. giving the evidence for evolu-
tion as found in the development and
structure of present-day man; Prof.
George III. Parker OF Harvard. on the
evolution of the nervous system of
man; President James r. Angel. on
the evolution of intelligence; Prof.
Albert G.. Keller, on social evolution.
that is, evolution in the vario4s IN
stitutions of human society, and Prof.
Edwin G.. Conklin of Princeton. on
the trend or future of evolution.
These lectures are thoroughly mod
ern and authoritative and also are
intensely interesting reading.
4 y x
The method of Thomas Hardy and
intimate knowledge of the vast
stretch of farming country north OF
the great lakes in Canada are COM
bined in the novel, Possession, by
the Canadian writer Mazo de Ia
Roche. The characters of Mis- de la
Roche, like those of Hardy, seem to
be products Of the soil and almost
Realistically determined in their life
courses by the soil Possession" is
the story OF the growing responsi-
bility and with 1t the growing en-
| thusiasm which comes to Derek Vale
after he falls heir to the rundown
farm of Grimstone and begins to
SAVIOR the meaning OF possession
He works out his fate with the help
of two womep--the inevitable two
/ boring farmer, and the other an In
dian girl. The minor characters are
as well done as the major ones, and
| include farmers, farm hands, country
preachers and Indians. Vivid pic
lures are given of the strawberry
Y
| farmers resulting from drought and
bad weather.
| In an article on Religion and the
! Younger Generation" in the April
Yale Review, James b. Pratt makes
these comments on the Widespread ig-
! norance of the Bible.
Many a college student today,
ffeel sure, would fail to find anything
| funny in Tom Sawyer's predicament
when before the assembled Sunday
! school he was asked to name the first
| and Goliath. When Mark Twain wrote
| his earlier books, Hebrew kings and
prophets, Christian apostles and
\ martyrs were familiar acquaintances
| Of elementary school children. Many
! Of our recent college graduates know
| as little of them as they do of Greek
| mythology. Not long ago one of the
| students in the course on the history
| Of religions which l have mentioned,
| Informed me Con paper) that the an
| cient Hebrews were fairly moral con-
sidering their times, though, of
| course, they did not have our Ten
| Commandments"
/ Examples of the consumption or IN
digestible food for the express pur-
pose of superinducing wierd litera-
| ture are given in recent letter in
the Manchester Guardian. Tradition
says that Mrs. Ann Radcllne, who
| fourished at the end of the eighteenth
century, was table to produce her un-
canny stories of ghosts and other hor-
rors by eating pork chops just be
| fore going to bed and remembering
| the resulting dreams. Some years
ago II. G. Wells gave as the first step
towards literary production, this reci-
pc: ''It.. is Imperative. If you wish to
at All. that YOU utterly ruin your di-
gestion.", Perhaps Victor Hugo had
the same idea, for according to his