326 THE STRUCTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
mode of effecting the purpose, as the reason which might be assigned for
the great number of bones in the cranium of the chick, viz. to allow the safe
compression of the brain case during the act of exclusion, squares with the
requirements of that act. Such a final purpose is indeed readily perceived
and admitted in regard of the multiplied points of ossification of the skull of
the human fetus, and their relation to safe parturition, but when we find that
the same ossific centers are established, and in similar order, in the skull of
the embryo kangaroo, which is born when an inch in length, and in that of
the callow bird that breaks the brittle egg, we feel the truth of Bacon's
comparison of "final causes" to the Vestal Virgins, and perceive that they
would be barren and unproductive of the fruits we are laboring to attain,
and would yield us no clue to the comprehension of that law of conformity
of which we are in quest (1849, pp. 39-40).Owen and Darwin
The changing and uncertain relationship between Darwin and Owen presents an
intriguing story in Victorian scientific sociology. Darwin's statement in his
autobiography has been frequently quoted: "I often saw Owen, whilst living in
London, and admired him greatly, but was never able to understand his character
and never became intimate with him. After the publication of the Origin of Species
he became my bitter enemy, not owing to any quarrel between us, but as far as I
could judge out of jealousy at its success."
Owen and Darwin first met for professional reasons after Darwin's return on
the Beagle: Darwin had gathered the material (important bones of South American
fossil mammals), and Owen possessed the anatomical skills. Lyell wrote to Owen
on October 26, 1836, inviting him to dinner: "Among others you will meet Mr.
Charles Darwin, whom I believe you have seen, just returned from South America,
where he has labored for zoologists as well as for hammer-bearers" (in Owen,
1894, vol. 1, p. 102). The two men met and liked each other well enough. Darwin
entrusted his Beagle material to his anatomical colleague, and Owen became the
taxonomic author of Toxodon and Darwin's other spectacular finds.
Their later antagonism arose for several reasons, some obvious, others less
clear. Owen could surely be devious, arrogant and unpleasant. Darwin had struck a
blow to the heart of Owen's system by substituting a flesh and blood ancestor, a
concrete beastly thing, for the lovely, abstract, Platonic archetype. But something
deeper and more intellectually honorable than simple jealousy lay at the core of
their growing antipathy.
Owen often enters the false dichotomies of standard histories as a virulent
antievolutionist, the man who whispered into Wilberforce's ear before the famous
debate with T. H. Huxley. If true, simple jealousy might provide an adequate
motive: he who overturns my world, and (implicitly at least) makes me a fool in a
profession I once dominated, can scarcely remain my companion. Darwin
contributed to this impression of Owen as a special creationist