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§ 
 

 Haeckel : 
 
 His Life, Work, and Companions. 
 
 nv H. 11. WITTON, SR. 
 liftid hfl\ii-e thii Uttmlttnn Ansoeitifiou May Nth. 1909. 
 
 HAMILlCN PUBLIC LIBRARV 
 
"«""Torj PUBLIC libra:;v 
 APR 2 I 19jb 
 
 C 1 P V I 
 
Haeckel : 
 His Life, Work, and Companions. 
 
 HV H. H, WITTON, SR. 
 Itniil bffore Ihf llamiUoii AnnociiiUoii May t4lh. HKHI. 
 
 F7RNST HEINRICH HAECKEL was bon. at Pols. 
 ^ dam, in the province of BrHmlenhnrg. Prnssia 
 Feljrua.y the i6th, 1814, His birthplace is notalile 
 for its royal palace and sonvenirs of Frederick the Great. 
 From liis yontli np his motto was : "Each minute has its 
 value ; piny or work, but do something." His life was in 
 keeping with his motto. In youth he became a good Greek 
 and Lalin scholar ; an acquirement he founil serviceable 
 when he had to coin names for more than three thousand 
 new species. In token of his learning, and as reward for 
 service, during a long life devoted to .science, Haeckel has 
 had conferred on h.m many medals, degrees and diplomas. 
 Of tlie latter he has rece'v^d nearly a hundred from colleges 
 and universities of renown. 
 
 Haeckel has always deemed himself a child of the 
 nineteenth cenlvry. In that opinion he can hardly be 
 gainsayed, for perhaps no man ever lived in closer.sympathy 
 with the advanced spirit of his age. The science of zoology, 
 to which hi.s life has been devoted, in the times im- 
 mediately preceding our own, stamped on the thoughts and 
 opinions of men an ineffaceable impress. In the si.\teenth 
 and .seventeenth centuries the new light thrown on the 
 world of inorganic matter was hardly more marvellous than 
 was that in the nineteenth cenlury shed on the world of 
 organic life. The doctrine of Copernicus, confirmed a 
 1 
 
IAi:CKi:i,: mS Ml'I' WOHK, and COMPANinNS 
 
 iMMulrecl yt'jirs .ittt-rwards Ir ihe ttlcMope of Galileo, niul 
 acctpled as it was hv tlie rt- asoii of the learned aiul iDinmoii 
 sense* of tlie I'lnltitiule, was no nohlt-r tnnliilintion to a 
 knowledge of the universe ih.'ui was made 1)) tlie hiolojjists 
 of the niiK-teentb century. Hercliel's mhiiht' and _;hrLi;- 
 herd's monads may well exeile in thonghlfnl minds admir- 
 ation and reverence, those liy their ^rnndeur. these by their 
 mintilenej'S ; for hoth make known vast regions of the gnat 
 nniverse wliicli, so far as human records show, were never 
 before mn-eiled to m.»rtal vision. 
 
 Following ♦he wisli of liis father, Haeckel stiiditd 
 medicin- Hnt the bent of his mind was to the study of 
 . oolof^y ; and the woiks of Ooetlie, Alexander Von 
 Humboldt, and Schleidcn. fnrlh;r influenced him in that 
 direction. At that time in Germany a l)and nf notable 
 men, by their skill and invlitslry, did mucli to make 
 biology a new science. Of this group was Von Haer. by 
 birth a Russian, whose ovologital discoveries still keep his 
 name famous. With them also were Schleiden and 
 Schwann, noted for their resi)ective di^t■ovelits in the cell- 
 structure o» v<-getab;^ and animal life ; and Vircliow, who 
 first turned the cell theory to account in pathological inves- 
 tigation. Among others of that hand were Kolliker, the 
 foremost histologist of his day ; and Johaiui Mueller, often 
 referred to as the father of modern physiology. All tliese 
 men were personally known to Hueckel, and several of 
 them were his intimate friends. 
 
 Gegenbaur, the comparative anatomist. In 1S53 told 
 Haeckel that marine life could l)e prcfiiably studied on tlie 
 Mediterranean coast, and fiist kindled in him the desire to 
 visit the Strait of Messina. Johann Mueller, by viitue of 
 his strong personality and professional s-kill, did much to 
 mould the character of Haeckel. For mi ly years Mueller's 
 portrait had a place over Haeckel's de^k ; and he wrote to 
 a friend : *' Whenever I get tirtd I look tit it and gain 
 fresh strength." He went to Heligoland with Mueller on 
 
IIMX'KIU,. MIS I. UK. WORK. AND C()MI'.\N10NS II 
 
 n zoological rxpt'iliiioii. where the I'la-ili r vva.s well pleased 
 with his pupil, especially with his skill iii skelil..iii> the 
 o'ljecu of their sliiilv ; ami predicted for liitii a biilliant 
 fiiliiie. Haeckels Ilelinolaiid trip furnished liiiii with 
 materials for his first zooloKical essay. It was on the ova 
 of certain fishes —the sconilieresoces— and was printed in 
 Mneller's Arc 'ives fo iSjS. In the same volume was 
 started the well known controversy over Virchow's conten- 
 tion that each liiiman Ijody is a slate composed of millions 
 of iiulividiial cells. 
 
 In iSji; Haeckel went to Wnrlzbnrj;, where for three 
 years Virchow directed his studies. A quarter of a century 
 afterwards these two nitn differed as to the valne of free 
 discussion in matters of si ieiice ; but at ".V'urlzburg Haeckel 
 was Virchow's assistant, and felt nothing but admiration 
 for the great pathologist and his doctrine. The burdf.i of 
 Virchow's teaching was Monism, the niiily of created 
 things : and thai as the object of medioal scienc, , man is to 
 be regarded as a member of the higher vertebrates subject 
 to the laws of that class. Haeckel was in his twenty-first 
 year, and then, as in later life, cultivated an earnest rever- 
 e itial spirit. His fellow students lie warntd against tlie 
 evil of .scepticism : and for himself took to heart the sr.yi.ig 
 of Faust : " The whole sorrow of humanity oppresses me. 
 
 Haeckel went with Kolliker in 1856 on a holiday trip 
 to the Riviera. Two or three others, and Mueller himself, 
 were there at the same time ; and together they caught, 
 studied, and made drawings of all sorts of living creatures. 
 Haeckel carried home materials for future work ; and at 
 Berlin, during the following winter, lie prepared for his 
 degree of Doctor, a dissertation on " the tissues of the Cray- 
 fish." He took his degree in medicine in Marc.i, 1858; 
 Ehrenherg, the great microscopisi, presiding on the occa- 
 sion. During the same year lie had a friendly di.scussion 
 with Mueller on the development of the gregaiina ; and, 
 before the 1 :;o-ie of the year, was stricken with grief by news 
 of Mueller's sudden death. 
 
I iiai:lki:i. : iiis i.iii;, wokk, and cc.mi'asions 
 
 It) compliance wit!) his fall.er's wish he then entered 
 on the practice of incilicine. Hut his licart wiis with his 
 zoolo^icnl studies; and to Kain time to follow thtm up. it 
 is said liis hours for consultation were fixed at from five to 
 six o'clock in the niorninK- DuriiiK tne whole year in 
 which he was a medical practitioner, he had but three 
 patients ; not one of whom died iniiler his earnest attention. 
 In the same jear H.^'-^'kel was betrothed to his cousin An.ia 
 Set he. 
 
 From January, I8,sy, to April, 1N60, Haetkel lived and 
 studied in Italy. Theie is an old saw that Italy is charm- 
 ing in books, but one should never ro there. Thai, how- 
 ever, was not Haeckel's experience. On every side he 
 found there abundant means of enjoyment. He was 
 pleased with the Italian people ; and says that the charm- 
 ing scenery of Sicily nearly seduced him to turn landscape 
 painter, lint an artistic temperament is the exclusive 
 privilege of no one class. Here and there one of every 
 class inherits that endowment. Haeckel was b;essed with 
 it. His house is a gallery of water-colois, his own handy- 
 work ; and a number of bis sketches have been published in 
 Germany as "Travel Pictures." His .son, too, has suc- 
 ceeded to his father's skill, and is a professional artist. 
 Much of Haeckel's time was spent at Messina, then so 
 beautiful, .since, alas ! so desolate. To him the sublime 
 beauty of that Strait exceeded that of the Bay of Naples. 
 As one of Kaeckel's biographers says : " That is a land of 
 ancient myths. The Cyclops hanimer their woik in Etna. 
 Scylla and Charybdis lurk in the Strait. In the days of 
 Homer, when the sun of civilization rested on a corner of 
 Asia, a dim Munchausen world was lived there." More- 
 over it was at Mc^•^iua, that by his thorough study of the 
 radiolaria, Haeckel laid the foundation of his fame. 
 
 The radiolaiia are microscopic forms of life encased in 
 shells of rare beauty. The shells are siliceous in substance, 
 have projecting radiating spines, and are pierce<l with 
 
II \i'aki:i. his i.ii'i;, uouk, \ni> oomimmuns 
 
 miiuili.- Ili)lf,, llfoli;;!; wlruli in ",IV llu- ;iMH-l"iiilal iiIlllM«l 
 stiiuliirvli-.', .■iiiMiiiil prolnidf^ li.iii; luiii-liki- ilirvails of ils 
 Jtiilislaiiii-, iift-r liio niamu-r i i tlir miii auimalciili', 
 ni'titioplirys m>i, i-dintnoii in fioli watti. Tlit'y wt-re 
 fir-,t foiiiid l)y I';hniilK.-i|! in llu- N'nrtli Siii. win- calli<l l>y 
 liim |«ilM-islinii, riml were iifn-r" arcN ii-iianifil liy Minllir 
 railii)l:ii Tiny liavc l)t-iii fDiiml in many • . s, anil in a 
 
 fii-,>il «v III- in varions parK (if (lie world, Tli Ilarliniloi"* 
 e.irili, well known to niicrosiopi-iis, has ilii; . abnniiance 
 in many forins, all of wliii li are of txiini>itf liianty. 
 Heforc till- year iHy) Ha-ikil knew hnl little aUinl tlie^e 
 tiny form-, of life ; lint l.y tlie fullowinu year lie had di<- 
 covereil one hnndred and forty-fonr new >picie>. In the 
 Seplenilier of thai ;ear 1- ■ read a paper al>ont thcni at the 
 Scientitk- Conference at Koninnvlinr); ; and in iS(,i he pnl>- 
 
 lished his "oiiOKniph " Die kadmlaii " in a siimptnons 
 
 folio volii ■ of nearly six hnnilred pa^es, with a sceond 
 volume . lhirt\-five descriptive platis, fiom his own 
 heantifnl drawings. 
 
 Study of the radiola'ia occnpitd no small fiactioii of 
 Haeckel's life. The va' of his work is hest seen from 
 his report of these forms ^ life for the iiritish (government. 
 .\s is wel! known, the British ship Challenger, from i,S;2 
 to tH-(>. made a voyage for exploration of the deep .sea. 
 With the hest appliances o<./e was hnmsili' "P from the 
 bottom of the ocean from nearly four hundred places. Some 
 of these spots were moie than a mile below the snrface of 
 the sea. The residts of that voyage are embodied in fifty 
 qnarto volumes, sold at /too. Of these volumes fonr- 
 fiftlis— forty volumes— are Natural Hl.ii.iry reports by men 
 of uni|neslioned ability. Besides some other forms of life 
 brought home by the Challenger, all the radiolaria diedged 
 from the dei sea were entrusted to Haeckel for'exainiua- 
 tion, classificaliou and descripiion He devoted leu yea s 
 to the task. His rejiorl is in luiglisli. It fills twovolniues 
 comprising 2,750 pages, with 140 large plates, Wlieu the 
 
IIAKCKKI.: HIS IJFE, WORK. AND COMPANIONS 
 
 Challenger's collection was submitted to Haecktl, tlie 
 radiolaria included Sio species. Wlien his report was 
 finished, tiie number was 4.318 species, arranged in 739 
 genera. 
 
 It was in that monograph Haeckel first expressed his 
 admiration for Darwin's theory of the origin of species. 
 The ground of that satisfaction was not because the theory 
 itself was new, but for the reason that the mode by which 
 in process of time new species originate was described witli 
 a precision and wealth of illustration before altogether un- 
 kujwn. The belief that plants and animals have been 
 developed from pristine germs, so far from being new, 
 found expression in some of tlie oldest cosmogonits. In 
 point of age it ranks with the earliest speculations of the 
 race. Among other representative men who held that 
 belief may be named Aristotle, Saint Angnsliiif, and 
 Thomas Aquinas. These were great men who influenced 
 the thought of thei. time ages ago. Of a later date were 
 Buffon, Laniark, Geoffroy Saint Hiliare and Erasmus 
 Darwin ; while contemporaneous with Charles Darwin him- 
 self were Wells, Matthews, Chambers and Herbert Spencer, 
 whose essay in the "Leader" in 1852 contrasted the 
 theories of direct creation and evolution of species, in 
 favour of the latter. All these eminent men, with others 
 who might be named, each after his own ideas, held to a 
 theory of the evolution of life in the world. 
 
 To Init few men were these facts so well known as to 
 Haecktl. Yet Darwin had presented his theory with such 
 logical completeness, lucidity and fi.Uness of illustration 
 from all departments of organic life, that Haeckel wrote : 
 " I cannot refrain from expressing the great admiration 
 Darwin's able theory of the origin of species has inspired in 
 me. This is tlie first great attempt to con.struct a scientific 
 physiological theory of the development of organic life, and 
 to prove that the physiological, chemical and physical forces 
 that to day rule in nature, must also have been in the 
 world of vesterdav." 
 
HAKCKKI. : HIS I.IHK, WORK, AND COMPANION'S 7 
 
 Haeckel devoted liiniself to popularizing Darwinism, 
 to defending it against opponents, and to supplementing 
 and extending its doctrine. But lie did more than that. 
 He undertook a restatement of biological science, and 
 revision of zoological classification on the basis of evolution. 
 To that strenuous task he brought rare natural gifts, com- 
 prehensive, precise knowledge: and what was also essential 
 to success, an iron constitution. Bolsche, his biographer 
 .says : " From his splendid physique in early manhood, he 
 won at Leipzig a lanicl crown for the athletic deed of leap- 
 ins; twenty feet." And he humorously adds that the night 
 after the contest the friendly host put a pair of dumb-bells 
 into Haeckel's bed, in case he desired to take another spell 
 of exercise before morning. 
 
 Darwinism and the labours of Haeckel are so inti- 
 mately connected that for a right estimate of his character 
 a summary of thiit theory is relevant and next to indispen- 
 sable. A library would be needed to show the ramifications 
 of Darwin's doctrine. Still a glimpse at the leading facts 
 on which his theory rests, the order in which these facts 
 impressed him, and the chief conclusions he deduced from 
 them may suffice. These may be compres.sed into a few 
 sentences. In his early studies Darwin suspected that 
 .species might be mutable. But, pending due investigation, 
 he suspended judgment. Linnaeus had conferred a boon on 
 science by his use ot combined words denoting genus and 
 species to designate certain differences of organic life. That 
 method admirably served to distinguish the various mem- 
 bers of each family of living things, after the manner that 
 each member of a household is distinguislied by u.se of a 
 conjoint Christian name and surname. Linnaeus, it is said, 
 believed that .someone species of each genus originated from 
 direct creative fiat ; but that kindred species of that genus, 
 other than such an one, were of .secondary origin. But by 
 most of his followers every species was held to be immu- 
 table, and to have been originated by creative fiat. The 
 described species of organic life now exceed half a million ; 
 
H IIAKCKKI, : IIIS I.Il'K, WOKK, AND COMl'ANIONS 
 
 though ill the days of Liiii:acns those known were Iiardlv a 
 twelfth of that niiinlier. 
 
 To many studious men the species of Linnaeus rt pre- 
 sented typical forms of life lirought into lieing by creative 
 fiat ; t'orms of life capable of reprodiiciiiK offspring; in con- 
 tinuous succession, whicli, like themselves, would remain 
 separate, distinct, inimntable, without variation beyond 
 narrow limits. But to those holding such a theory, the 
 remins of fossil extinct organisms seemed aininuilous. 
 Moreover among those extinct fo.ssils weie strange gigantic 
 creatures. In America the megalherinin was fouiul ; the 
 mammoth was found on the coast of Silieria ; and in 
 England icthyosauria weie found. Numerous txplanations 
 regarding the extinction of these monsters wtre given. Sir 
 Anthony Carlisle, a great surgeon in his day, thought they 
 were just sent down from heaven to .see whether earth 
 would support them, A more ihoughlful explanation was 
 that before the flora and fauna known to man, there were 
 long periods of tranquility in the earth's history, each 
 period having its own plants and animals, and each period 
 being followed by a cataslrophy annihilating one set of 
 organic beings, and ushering in a new creation. This was 
 the widely accepted theory of cataclysms, f3\oured to some 
 degree by no le.ss an authority than Cnvier. But eaily in 
 1830 appeared the fir.st volume of Lyell's '■Principles of 
 Geology," a work destined to be a landniaik in the history 
 of science. It was from the first recognized as a dispassion- 
 ate, well reasoned refutation of the catastrophic school of 
 geologists, and a lucid exposition of the doctrine that the 
 geological history of the earth has run a course of unifoim 
 continuous development in conforniily with laws like those 
 now in operation. 
 
 When, in 1831, Darwin, as naturalist on the Beagle, 
 embarkec' for South America on a scientific expedition, he 
 took with him Lyell's newly published volume. And in 
 part from Lyell's reasoning, and in greater part from his 
 
IIAICCKia. : MIS IJl-i:, WdliK, AM) COMPANIONS 9 
 
 own olisfivritions, Darwin, iifler his five \e;<r\ voyaRC, 
 retnint<l to KnHUiiul a loiifirintd nnil'orinitarian in jTeoloRy, 
 DnriiiK his exiieiliiiim Davwiii kept in mind the snhjcct 
 ciesiined to lie his life work- ihe transniiilation of species. 
 In the Pampas he noltd great fossil animals, armonr-clad 
 after the manner of the armadillos, one .species of which is 
 .scarcely a fool lonj; ; and he had .seen in going southwards 
 that closely allied animals replace one another. And soon 
 after his rctnrn home he commenced to compile note-hooks 
 on the same subject. The fir.-t of these books was opened in 
 1837, and facts were collected wholesale, for he soys: " I 
 worked on true Kaconiau piinciples." 
 
 Godwni. in his " Poliiical Justice," puhlislicd in 179,^. 
 pictured an ideal state of society free from crime and nii.sery : 
 and at tlie close of his book he controverted the leaching of 
 Robert Wallace, that ihe advanlnges of such a comnniuity 
 would be nullifitd by ilie excessive population Ihat would 
 ensue. Five years afteiwaids Malihus, in his famous 
 essay, restated the objections of Wallace with greater force. 
 His more comprehensive argument, tersely put, was that 
 popidalion increases in a gecuielriial and means of sidisist- 
 eiice in ati arithmetical ratio : and that vice and crime are 
 liut necessHiy chukson that incieaje of numbers. In the 
 autumn of 1X3S, fifteen months after Darwin began his 
 systematic inquiry, he chanied to read " Maltluis on Popu- 
 lation." He had already learned much as to the struggle 
 for exi>tence going on in the world of life, atid, as he read, 
 the thought .siiuck him that inider such .stress favoumble 
 variations wonhl tend to he preserved, and those unfavour- 
 able to be destroyed. So the reading of Maltlins afforded a 
 provisional iheoiy aiding him to gather in facts, and gave 
 him heart to continue his labours. 
 
 As his mass of facts accumulated, his views took more 
 definite shape. But not till iH^i, when he had worked 
 five yeais. did lie indulge in Ihe .satisfaction of a slight 
 pencil-wiitteu abstract of his theory. Wh.it lie wrote 
 
10 HAECKEI. : HIS LIFE, WORK, AND COMPANIONS 
 
 barely filled thirty-five pages. But a longer sketch soon 
 followed ; and in 1856, after more than nineteen years 
 labour, he yielded to tlie advice of Lyell and began to write 
 out his views " pretty fully.'' Darwin's collection of facts 
 e.st-blislied beyond cavil that organisms of the same species 
 differ, no one being exactly like another ; that these 
 various characteristics tend to go down from generation to 
 generation ; and that more organisms come into the world 
 than there is room for, hence the struggle for life which 
 leads to survival of the fittest. 
 
 Of the particulars leading up to these conclusions 
 regarding variation, heredity, and survival in living organ- 
 isms, all are interesting, many are curious, and one or two 
 should be mentioned. Darwin found that the elephant, 
 though living nearly a hundred y^ars, is the least prolific 
 of animals, having an average of only six yoinig. Yet if 
 that ratio of increase in succeeding generations went on 
 without casualties for 750 years, at the end of that period 
 there would te eighteen millions of elephants living. In 
 the case of flies : the house-fly lays batches of eggs having 
 about 130 eggs in a batch ; and lias five or six batches in a 
 season. In three weeks an egg becomes a fly, itself laying 
 eggs. If all these lived, and half were females, the progeny 
 in one season of a single female fly would be a million cubic 
 feet of flies, reckoning 200,000 flies to a cubic foot. But 
 in fact house-flies vary but little in number from ve.ir to 
 year. The mass perish. Among plants, the hedge-i.iuslard, 
 sisymbrium .sophia, often has in a single plan' three- 
 quarters of a million .seeds. If these, and their products, 
 at the same rate of increase, grew to maturity for three 
 years, the land surface of the globe v.ould not hold them 
 all. But the mass perish by the way-side ; only a few of 
 the fittest survive. 
 
 Hence arose the conclusion that from such selective 
 action of external conditions come permanent varieties of 
 plants and animals ; and the same causes in long periods of 
 
IIAKCKKI. ; HIS I.IFi:. WORK, AND COMPANION'S 11 
 
 lime give rist- to species, and in still longer peiiods to 
 diflciences that are generic. Tlins in Diirwin'sowii words ; 
 " From the war of nature, from famine and death, the most 
 exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, 
 the prodiiLlion of the highest animals directly follows. 
 
 As Darwin made these inductions from his store of 
 facts, an essay came to liim with a request that it might be 
 read before the Linneaii Society. It was sent from the 
 Malay peiiinsnla, where its author, Mr. Alfred Rtissel 
 Wallace, a comparatively young Welsh land surveyor, was 
 making search for natural history treasures, as he had 
 previously done in the valley of the Amazon. The paper 
 was entitled : " The tendency of varieties to depart from 
 their original type ; " and to Darwin's surprise it contained 
 exactly the same theory as his own. The essay was read 
 at the Society in 1858, as its author desired ; and at the 
 instance of Lyell and Hooker, a short paper by Darwin, 
 and a letter a year before written by him to Asa Gray were 
 sent with it. Darwin says that the paper by Mr. Wallace 
 was admirably written ; while his own letter to Gray was 
 not intended for publication, and was therefore but an off- 
 hand statement of his conclusions. Neither at the Society's 
 meeting nor in its journsl did tliese papers attract special 
 notice. Prof. Hanghton was ll.e only nian of note to say 
 ill print a word about tlitni ; and his comment was: 
 " What in thefe papeis islrue is not new, and what is new 
 is not true." 
 
 In the following year, 1859, the "Origin ot cies " 
 was published. If tlie Linnean papers were cool- .eived, 
 •'lewarmlh, friendly and otherwise, which greeted appearance 
 of the complete statement in that book made up for earlier 
 indifference. That work kindled a discussion remarkable 
 for its keenness, duration and maiked ability of the dispu- 
 tants on both sides. Darwin met his earnest opponents 
 with re.spect and digni'.y ; and all ridicule with indifference. 
 For the rest, here it must snfiire to say, when Darwin's 
 
1.' IIAF.CKKI, : HIS I.IFI!, WORK, AND COMl'ANIONS 
 
 worldly task was done, it had been so faillifnilj done that 
 no spot was deemed by his countiynien a filthig resting 
 place for his ashes, but the venerable Abbey, where, near 
 to her great heart, England treasures the memory of her 
 noble.st and dearest sons. By Hooker, Hnxley, Earl 
 Derby, the Dnkes of Argyle of Dcvonsliire, and by 
 others who also loved him, Charles Robert Darwin was 
 borne to his grave in \Vesti..insler Abbey, a grave nliich 
 fittingly is but a few feet from that of Newton, and is 
 marked only by the simple in.scriplion of his name ai;d 
 dates of birth and death. His life is an additional 
 instance that : — 
 
 " Kvery trinli tliat vet 
 In brightness rose mul sorrow set. 
 That time to ripeiiinj^ K'ory nurs't. 
 Was called an idle ilream at first." 
 
 A recent authoritative historian has record; d in the 
 Cambridge McKlern History that Darwin P.rst made effective 
 the idea of evolution which has been applied not only to 
 natural history but " to religion, to philosophy, lo history, 
 to criticism ; and will likely influence the treatment of such 
 subjects in the future even mce than in the past.'' 
 
 Many problems connected with Darwiinsm arose in 
 Hacckel's mind; thougli special zoological woik claimed 
 much of bis attention. In early life the medu>,-t were liis 
 favourite study. In looking back to the days spent with 
 Mueli'.r on the shores of the Mediterranean in 1.S54, he 
 says : " Never .shall I forget the deligiit with which I first 
 gazed on the Medusa; and strove to .sketch their beauty of 
 form and colour." His eulhusiasui is not surprising. In 
 appearance these little creatuies aie like bubldts in the 
 water. Agassiz, who made them a i.pecial study, and 
 wrote a memoir concerning them in his " Contributions to 
 Natural History," mentions that a friend of his asked if 
 they are " organized water ; " and the Professor thought it 
 was an apropos question, admiiahly d( viiptive. In shel- 
 tered bays cf the Atlantic, Agsssiz foui.d them in such 
 
IIAECKEI. : HIS MFK, WORK, AND COMPANIONS 18 
 
 slioaN iliiriii,( summer tliat an oar coiihl nol be clipped into 
 the water wiihotit injury to many. And in a shallow of 
 the Mediterranean it is a sight not to be forgotten to watch 
 their iridescent forms flashing in the stnili)iht below the 
 surface of the sea. Mam of Ihein are bell-shaped, though 
 where the clapper of the bell should be there is found a 
 stomach provided with a mouth. 
 
 Zoologically the medusa; are an order of ocean jelly- 
 fish, of the class hydtozoa. The fresh water polyps, 
 Trcmbley so well described a century and a half ago, are 
 their dwarfed, distant relations ; and the fossil graptolites 
 in the rocks of onr Hamilton escarpment, are .still more 
 di.stafit members of their kindred. Haeckel intenr'-d to 
 describe one family after another of all the medusa; If his 
 scheme was not cicrried to completion, his investigations 
 went further than those of his predecessors who were men 
 of distinction. His work in this field of labour reached 
 over several years His first paper appeared in 1864: and 
 more than two decades afterwards the twenty-eighth 
 volume of the Challenger Reports contained his elaborate 
 memoir on one form of the strange compound social 
 medusai— the syphonophora. 
 
 Haeckel's " System of the Medusa;," with atlasof fine 
 plates, he published in 1879. It was main' technical— a 
 work written by a specialist for specialists— b . p»vertheless 
 had its popular side. Even in the dry work of naming 
 species, the human, imaginative side of Haeckel's nature 
 could not be hidden. One species he named melusina 
 forniosa after the old charming legend of the water-fay who 
 was wedded to the Prince. His first wife died in her 
 twenty ninth year. Her lo.ss wrung from his heart the cry 
 of Goethe: "What are the hopes and pains built up by 
 man the creature of a day!" Among the names in his 
 list is this note: " This specific name of this most benntifnl 
 of the medusae, the desmonema annasclhe, is in memory of 
 Ainia Sethe. the gifted and refined wife to whom the 
 author of this work owes the happiest years of his life. 
 
14 HAECKEI. : HIS UFE, WORK, AND COMTANIONS 
 
 III 1866 Haeckel piiblislied his "General Morphology 
 of Organic Life." A second title added that it wasgrou. ded 
 on the theory of descent proponnded by Charles Darwin. 
 Huxley described the book as " one of the greatest scientific 
 works ever published ; " and years after he had written it 
 Haeckel referred to it as a comprehensive, difficnli work 
 that had found few readers. It could hardly be a popular 
 book. The morphologist concerns himself specially with 
 the outer form and internal structure of living beings. To 
 him we are told "every animal has a something in common 
 with all its fellows ; much with many of them ; more with 
 a few; and usually so much with .several that it diffcs 
 little from them." A morphological classification, the; ■■ 
 fore, is one that groups together living things according to 
 their degrees of likeness and difference in structure. In 
 this work Haeckel, wilh much skill and labour, showed 
 how differences between the higlie.'^t animals and highc-t 
 plants decrease as they are traced back, till the protista, 
 embracing the lowest forms of life in each kingdom of 
 nature, can hardly be distinguished one from the other. 
 
 Haeckel closed tais work in these words: "Our 
 philosophy knows but one Almighty God who domina'cs, 
 without exception, the whole of nature. We .see His 
 activity in all phenomena. The whole inorganic world is 
 .subject to Him, just as much as the organic. The pheno- 
 mena of inorganic nature are just as truly the direct action 
 of the Almighty as is the flowering of the plant, movement 
 of the animal, or the thought of man. We all exist by the 
 grace of God ; the stone as well as the water, the radiol- 
 arian and the pine, the gorilla as well as the Emperor of 
 China. No other conception of God except this, that sees 
 His spirit and force in all natural phenomena is worthy of 
 His all enfolding greatness ; only when we trace all forces 
 and all movements, all forms and all properties of matter to 
 God as the snslainer of all things, do we reach an idea of 
 and reverence for Him that worthily corresponds to His 
 inOnite greatne-ss." 
 
II.\i;CKi;i.: Ills I.Il-IC, WOUK, AND COMPANIONS l.'i 
 
 HaeikersilisciiNsioii of llieKeiura' principles of z(iol<>|;y 
 <iiil 1 Jt, liowevti, divtrl liiiii from iiivtMiKnting speciiil 
 forms of life. The spoiigida liad always attracttil h\» 
 attention. For botanists anil zoologists dnnti^ a long time 
 doubted wlictlier sponges slionld rank as ineinl.ers of tlie 
 animal or vigetable kingdom ; and, moreover, sponges, 
 from their simple strnctiire and plaslic form, Here fitted to 
 throw light on the problem of species. For some time 
 prior to Haeckel's specijl investigation, sponges had been 
 assigned place on the animal border of the protista ; and 
 the animal particles of a living sponge were known o be 
 "a snbac|iieons comnitinity of animal life, in which e.ich 
 tinit takes its statu! by a continiions flowing stream drawing 
 sustenance froni the water as it passes by." F"or five 
 years Haeckel studied the chalk-sponges ; twice taking up 
 abode on the se.-i coast to have specimens for study in 
 their native habitat. His invesligalious showed how next to 
 impossible it is to draw fixed limits for animal species. 
 Varieties of the chalk-sponges he found passed from each 
 other and liack again with such frtquency and with such 
 differences that he humourously said : " You may reckon 
 on one genus and three species ; three genera and twenty- 
 one species ; or thirty-nine geneia with two hundred and 
 eighty one species." His conclusions were that all these 
 forms are transitional and were derived from one ancestral 
 form, the Olyntlpis. 
 
 In the prosecution of his zoological work, Haeckel 
 became a somewhat notable traveller. In early life his 
 sojournings were confiMtd to the shores of the North Sea, 
 and to various parts of the Mediterranean coast. Bnt in 
 later life he studied the coral reefs of the Red Sea, visited 
 the Canary Islands, and made a memorable voyage to 
 Ceylon by way of India. His Eastern trip, though bi:t of 
 six months duration, furnislied matter for a fascinating 
 book, as well as supplying him with materials for long 
 investigation. His main object was to supplement his 
 favourite collections of Mediterranean life w ith the kindred 
 
Ill iiAh'-n:i, : HIS i.ii-i;, wokk, and comimnions 
 
 life of the Indian Occaii towards the equator. In tlint 
 object he succeeded ; though the heat and nioislnre of the 
 tropics made preservation of Ills collections a task wliicli 
 sorely taxed his limited resources. 
 
 For six weeks he lived and worked at the Singhalese 
 fishing village of lielligani, on the south-eastern part of the 
 island. There, cut off from Kuropean associations, and 
 with none Init native coniranions, he roamed the forest in 
 quest of plants and 6nimals, dived with natives to tile 1 ot- 
 tom of the sea for corals, microscopically investigated liis 
 treasures, and with his own hands soldered lliem up in air- 
 tight tin cases for future use. For all this strenuous work 
 in tropical heat, during four months sojourn in Ceylon, he 
 e-scaped witiiont a day's illness. These experiences, related 
 as they are with vivacity and humour, and his notes on the 
 physical geography of the island, and the tropical luxuriance 
 of its fauna and flora, n:ake Haeckel's " Visit to Ce; Ion " 
 a pleasant, edifying book of travel. 
 
 Early in his professional life Haeckel became convinced 
 that accurate knowledge of cell-slruclure was the f( ni da- 
 tion of biological science ; and each frtsh discovery con- 
 iirnied that conviction. Of verltbrales the fertilized germ- 
 cell from which the race is perpetuated, is made np of cell- 
 plasm and nucleus. In each such cell— though a mere 
 .speck- in some particulars like to other cells, there never- 
 theless lurks the potentialities of its race, even, it is said, to 
 the tendency in advanced life to develop special di.sease 
 akin to that endured by its parenls. The nucleus of such 
 a cell contains granular matter, easily stained for mien .s- 
 copic observation, and therefore nanitd chromatin. 
 Recently it has been learned that such chromatin separates 
 into minute bodies known as chrouio?omes ; and to them 
 has been attributed the chief function of heredity. Profes 
 sor Thomson, of Aberdeen, has tabulatfd the actual number 
 of such chromosomes peculiar to sundry species of living 
 things. Forty years ago Haeckel's teaching pointed the 
 
H.m;(k!:i. : itis i.iii;, wukk. ami companions i; 
 
 way to the Inter discovtriin of Sirashcimr, lI.rlHix a"'' 
 their fullowcrs. On these fuels loiiflicliiiK ilitories hnve 
 been I 't tip. Hilt thi siihje.t is ol)Mlire, iitid scitiue 
 moves lit a ra\>h{ pace. Cautious iiieii point oiu ilmt not 
 loiiK ago it was impossible to look thioiiKli solid matter, 
 that (lotjinatisiu is iiiistemlv , ami that " ."cienee commits 
 suicide when it adopts a creed." 
 
 The fiiiversity of Jena, where Haickel has spent 
 forty-eiKht years of his profe.ssiunal life, is iR-aMlifnlly 
 situated in the valley of tlie Saale, about fifty miles fioiii 
 Leipzit;. The town is famed for its places reminisctnt of 
 (jreat Mien. I.iither spent tlie iiinht theie at the Black Bear 
 tavern, now an Hotel, after his isinpe fuin the Wortbuig, 
 near l-j'.sanach, wlieie his uxiin ai:d iis onifil are siill pre- 
 served. It was at J<iia thai Goetl.e wrote Ids "Hermann 
 and Dorothea," and in another spot u bust of Schiller marks 
 the place where he wiole " Wallenstein." The university 
 dates back to the middle of the sixteenth ceiituiy. It was 
 founded as a centre for the new learning of that day ; and 
 has ever since been noled for willingness to grant able men 
 a hearing for all new learning. liesidts many other notable 
 men, Fichle, Hegel, Oken and Schiller, were kctutets at 
 Jena. 
 
 But of all the gilt»d men associated willi this famous 
 seat of learning, il is qne.stionable if llie writingsof anyone 
 of them have been .so widely read, in the same time, as 
 those of Haeckel. A few years since a celebration in his 
 honour was held at Jena, when his marble bust, by Kopf, 
 the Roman sculptor, was prt.sented to him. Profe.-soisand 
 heads of universities in all parts of the world, from America 
 to India, contfibuted to the ttstimonial. At the gathering 
 a list of nis books was given. Apart from contributions to 
 scientific journals, the list showed more than forty volumes, 
 having the aggregate of thirteen thonsand pages. 
 
 His seventieth birthday in 1904 found him in Italy, 
 engaged in 1.: . iie studies. To a Munich journal, 
 
 HAM 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
IS IIARCKRI.; lilS LIPR, WORK, AND COMPANIONS 
 
 whicli broiiglit out on tlie occaMoii n upevM iiiiniljrr in lii» 
 honour, he made this reply : " Cerniany has niori.- learned 
 men than I am. They have read more l.^ooks ilian I have. 
 But .'rom my earliest youth, when i.i my fourth year, I 
 plucked flowers and admired butterflies, I have yielded to 
 my heart's inclination and have incessantly studied one 
 great book— Mature. Thin greatest of all Imoks has taught 
 me to know the trne God. As physician. I saw human life 
 in its heights and depths. In my travels through half the 
 glolw I learned the inexhaustible splendour of the earth ; 
 and with pen and pencil I h.nve lu^nestly striven to repro- 
 duce a part of what I saw, and to reveal it to my fellows." 
 \t the beginning of April. 1909, Hae^kel retired from 
 his professorship at Jena. The leisure of his remaining 
 days he will spend in writing a hist»ry of biology. One ' 
 his pupils becomes his successor. His concluding lecture 
 at the university, on the loth of February last, characteris- 
 tically ended with these words: "I am firmly con-Miced 
 that my successor. Prof. Plate, one of my mo pable 
 
 pupils, will not only fill my place but will snrpas.s 
 
 Some of Haeckel's speculative opinions haw been 
 warmly controverted during his lifetime, and doubtles., will 
 furnish matter for controversy in the da> s to come. Still, 
 apart from that residuum of error inseparable from human 
 knowledge, time, the great arbiter, bids fair to place on the 
 body of his practical teaching its seal of approval. But, 
 however, that may be, the extent and precision of his 
 knowledge excite astonishment, as his lucid method of im- 
 parting that knowledge compels admiration ; while his ideal 
 of duty, and- his exemplification of that ideal in the deeds 
 of daily life, make it doubtful if any amongst us dare ask to 
 be judged by as high a staj.dard. 
 
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