The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-08-13

Continued from previous issue.)
l soon perceived that almost all the
experts at Berlin-chief amongst them
were the famous microscopic, Ehren-
berg; the anatomist, Reichert; the
zoologist, Peters; the geologist, Bey-
rich-were unanimous in their con-
domination of Darwin. The brilliant
orator Of the Berlin Academy, Emil du
Bois-Reymond, hesitated. He recog-
nized that the theory of evolution was
the only natural solution of the prob
lem of creation; but he laughed at the
application of it as a poor romance,
and declared that the phylogenetic in
quiries into the relationship of the va
rious species had about as much value
as the research of philologists into the
genealogical tree of the Homeric he
roes. The distinguished botanist.
Alexander Braun, stood quite alone in
his full and warm assent to the theory
of evolution. / found comfort and
encouragement with this dear and re-
| spected teacher when l was deeply
moved by the first reading of Oar
wins book, and soon completely con-
verified to his views. In Darwin's great
and harmonious conception of nature,
and his convincing establishment of
evolution, | had an answer to all the
doubts that had beset me since the
beginning of my biological studies.
My famous teacher, Rudolf Virchow,
whom Ihad met at Wurtzburg in 1852,
and was soon associated with in the
most friendly relations as special pu-
pill and admiring assistant, played a
very curious part in this great contro-
versy. | am. think, one of those ell
derby men who have followed Vir-
elbows development, as man and
/ thinker, with the greatest interest dur
/ ing the last fifty years. distinguish
three periods in his psychological met
amorphoses. In the first decade of
mainly at Wurtzburg, he effected the
great reform of medicine that culmi-
mated brilliantly in his cellular path
ology. In the following twenty years
! (1S5S-1S77) he was chiefly occupied
with politics and anthropology. He
was at first favorable to Darwinism
] then skeptical, and finally rejected it.
| His powerful and determined opposi-
| ion to it dates from 1877, when, in his
famous speech on "The Freedom of
| Science in the Modern State" he
struck heavy blow at that freedom.
denounced the theory of evolution as
dangerous to the state, and demanded
! its exclusion from the schools. This
remarkable metamorphosis is so i'm
portant, and has had so much influ-
ence, yet has been so enormously de-
scribed, that / will deal with II some
what fully in the next chapter, espe-
cially as have then to treat one chief
problem, the descent OF man from the
ape. For the moment, | will merely
recall the fact that in Berlin, the me.
tropolis of intelligence" as it has been
called, the theory of evolution, now
/ generally accepted, met with a more
stubborn resistance than in most of
our other leading educational centers,
and that this opposition was due above
all to the powerful authority OF Vir-
chow.
We can only glance briefly here at
the victorious struggle that the idea
Of evolution has conducted in the last
three decades OF the nineteenth cen
fury. The violent resistance that OAR
wlnism encountered nearly every.
where in its early years was paralyzed
towards the end Of the first decade.
IN the year 1S66-1s74 many works
were published in which not only were
the foundations Of the theory sclen.
tihcally strengthened hut IT'S general
! 'ecognition was secured by popular
treatment OF. the subject. made the
first attempt in 1866, in my General
Morphology," to present connectedly
the whole subject Of evolution and
- ~