he mere fact of the sex-composition of
qualities the foundation for the existence of these qualities." Here
we have again a piece of pure imagination on the part of our profound
philosopher. On the contrary Darwin says that natural selection has to
do only with the maintenance of variations and not with their origin.
This new supposition however of things which Darwin did not say serves
to assist us to this deep idea of Duehring. "If a principle of
individual variation had been sought in the inner scheme of creation
it would have been an entirely rational idea. For it is natural to
unite the idea of universal generation with that of sex propagation,
and to regard the so-called original creation from the higher point of
view, not as absolutely antagonistic to reproduction but even as
reproduction itself." And the man who could write this is not ashamed
to reproach Hegel with writing jargon.

Let us call a halt to the vexatious and contradictory babble with
which Herr Duehring proclaims his wrath against the advance given to
science by the theory of Darwin. Neither Darwin nor his followers
among the natural scientists have any idea of belittling Lamark's
tremendous services, in fact they are the very people who first
restored his fame. But we are unable to ignore the fact that in the
time of Lamark science was still far from supplied with competent
material to enable it to answer the question of the origin of species
other than in a prophetic or, as it were anticipatory, manner. In
addition to the enormous amount of material in the realm of general,
as well as of that of anatomical, botany and zoology, accumulated
since that time, two entirely new sciences have since come into
existence--the investigation of the development of plant and animal
germs (embryology), and the investigation of the organic survivals in
the earth's crust which still remain. There is a distinct similarity
between the steps in the development of the organic germ to mature
organism, and the successive steps by which plants and animals succeed
each other in the history of the world. It is just this similarity
which has placed the evolution theory on its most secure foundations.
The theory of evolution is however still very young and it is beyond
question that upon further investigation the rigid Darwinian ideas
upon the origin of species will be considerably modified.

But what has the realist philosophy of a positive nature to contribute
with resp