Year: 1873

Two names are reyered by the students Of
Natural History above all others Aristotle ana
Cuvier. And although nearly half century
has passed since "The Father of Comparative
" Anatomy left unfinished his most ambitious
work, such was the space in science filled by
him while living that the regulations OF all
later naturalists are dwarfcd by comparison.
Among those who sat at the feet of Cuvier as
students or cOlaborers in the Jardn dcs
Plantes were many who have since achieved
eminence in anatomical studies Owen and
Mlne-Edwards, Johannes Muller and Rudolf
Wagner; but the youth who of all others
most caught the spirit of the great master
was the Swiss whom we are now proud to
call an American, Louis Agassiz. At the pres
ent day there is no naturalist who adhcres
more tenaciously than Agassiz not only to most
of the broad principles laid down by Cuvier,
but even to many of his minor deductions
which others are inclined to disregard; and as
to the theory of the development OF animal
life by evolution, the position taken by Agas-
siz aud manfully maintained in the face of a
vigorous opposition, is one in which 1t is at
least probable that the teacher would have
justified his disciple. Prof Agassiz stands
to-day as the chief bulwark against the ad-
vancing wave Of Darwinism.


At the opening of the course of lectures be-
fore the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at
Cambridge which The TRIBUNE has brought
before the far wider public of its readers,
there were ntimatOns that Prof Agassiz would
find in these an opportunity to strike some
forcible blows at the development theory.
We were scarcely, however, prepared Tor the
unhesitating straightfOrwardnes5 OF phrase
with which he denOunces the hypothesis In
the later lectures. In the twelfth lecture, not
yet published, he goes a step further than we
believe he has hitherto advanced. He not
only exerts himself in the work of demolition,
he builds up a rampant for his own side. lie
offers a solution of the method and mystery Of
creation; and whatever else may be said Of it,
it must at least be regarded as the absolute
antipodes of the Darwinian theory.


Neither the friends nor the foes OF the hy-
pothesis according to which mankind is de-
rived from the lower animals can afford to
disregard this new element in the contest In
his speech before the Academy of Science at
San Francisco, Agassiz rightly designated this
great question as among the most important
issues of the day. The whole ground,
religious and scientific, must be fought
over inch by inch, in the pulpit at
the lecture desk in our seminarieS OF learn
ing, till one or other party is driven Of
the field. Regarding the Museum lectures as
a contribution to this discussion of the very
highest order of Importance, we have
had our special reports of them carefully
revised in manuscript by Prof. Agassiz
himself. They are profusely illustrated with
drawings taken from specimens in the
Museum by Mr. Blake the scientific artist at
tached to that establishment. Several draw
ings aiding much to a clear comprehension of
the subjects, which in the haste Of weekly
publication and delay on the part of the en-
gravers were omitted from the daily editions
Of THE TRIBUNE, have since been added. An
extra sheet of eight pages, being double
the size of our previous issues of this charlc-
ter, will be issued next Thursday, the 10Th
inst, and will contain in addition to these
lectures an interesting description Of the won
derful fossils discovered by the Yale College
Exploring Expeditions in the Rocky Mountains,
and other novel and entertaining scientific
matter. Wishing to place it within the reach
of everybody, we shall issue this double sheet
as cheaply, relatively, as the single ones
which preceded it, and we anticipate for ii a
popularity equaling if not surprising our pub
lication of Prof. Tyndall's Lectures on Light.


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