anchester,  N,  H. 


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/\^el 


€t»vu4h<i-f 


THE 


POPTJLAK   SCIENCE 


MONTHLY. 


CONDUCTED   BY  E.   L.   AND    W.   J.    YOUMANS. 


VOL.  XII. 

NOVEMBER,    1877,   TO   APRIL,    1S7S. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.     APPLETON     AND     COMPANY, 

549    &   551    BROADWAY. 

1878. 


Copyright  by 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1878. 


/of3$ 


THE 


POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


NOVEMBER,    1877. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE   LOGIC  OF  SCIENCE. 

By  C.  S.  PEIECE, 

ASSISTANT,    UNITED   STATES   COAST   SURVEY. 

FIRST  PAPER.— THE  FIXATION  OF  BELIEF. 


FEW  persons  care  to  study  logic,  because  everybody  conceives 
himself  to  be  proficient  enough  in  the  art  of  reasoning  already. 
But  I  observe  that  this  satisfaction  is  limited  to  one's  own  ratiocina- 
tion, and  does  not  extend  to  that  of  other  men. 

We  come  to  the  full  possession  of  our  power  of  drawing  infer- 
ences the  last  of  all  our  faculties,  for  it  is  not  so  much  a  natural  gift 
as  a  long  and  difficult  art.  The  history  of  its  practice  would  make  a 
grand  subject  for  a  book.  The  mediaeval  schoolmen,  following  the 
Romans,  made  logic  the  earliest  of  a  boy's  studies  after  grammar,  as 
being  very  easy.  So  it  was,  as  they  understood  it.  Its  fundamental 
principle,  according  to  them,  was,  that  all  knowledge  rests  on  either 
authority  or  reason  ;  but  that  whatever  is  deduced  by  reason  depends 
ultimately  on  a  premise  derived  from  authority.  Accordingly,  as 
soon  as  a  boy  was  perfect  in  the  syllogistic  procedure,  his  intellectual 
kit  of  tools  was  held  to  be  complete. 

To  Roger  Bacon,  that  remarkable  mind  who  in  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century  was  almost  a  scientific  man,  the  schoolmen's  con- 
ception of  reasoning  appeared  only  an  obstacle  to  truth.  He  saw 
that  experience  alone  teaches  anything — a  proposition  which  to  us 
seems  easy  to  understand,  because  a  distinct  conception  of  experience 
has  been  handed  down  to  us  from  former  generations  ;  which  to  him 
also  seemed  perfectly  clear,  because  its  difficulties  had  not  yet  un- 
folded themselves.  Of  all  kinds  of  experience,  the  best,  he  thought, 
was  interior  illumination,  which  teaches  many  things  about  Nature 

VOL.  XII. — 1 


2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

which  the  external  senses  could  never  discover,  such  as  the  transub- 
stantiation  of  bread. 

Four  centuries  later,  the  more  celebrated  Bacon,  in  the  first  book 
of  his  "  Novum  Organum,"  gave  his  clear  account  of  exjDerience  as 
something  which  must  be  open  to  verification  and  reexamination. 
But,  superior  as  Lord  Bacon's  conception  is  to  earlier  notions,  a  mod- 
ern reader  who  is  not  in  awe  of  his  grandiloquence  is  chiefly  struck 
by  the  inadequacy  of  his  view  of  scientific  procedure.  That  we  have 
only  to  make  some  crude  experiments,  to  draw  up  briefs  of  the  re- 
sults in  certain  blank  forms,  to  go  through  these  by  rule,  checking 
off  everything  disproved  and  setting  down  the  alternatives,  and  that 
thus  in  a  few  years  physical  science  would  be  finished  up — what  an 
idea  !     "  He  wrote  on  science  like  a  Lord  Chancellor,"  indeed. 

The  early  scientists,  Copernicus,  Tycho  Brahe,  Kepler,  Galileo, 
and  Gilbert,  had  methods  more  like  those  of  their  modern  brethren. 
Kepler  undertook  to  draw  a  curve  through  the  places  of  Mars  ; '  and 
his  greatest  service  to  science  was  in  impressing  on  men's  minds  that 
this  was  the  thing  to  be  done  if  they  wished  to  improve  astronomy ; 
that  they  were  not  to  content  themselves  with  inquiring  whether 
one  system  of  epicycles  was  better  than  another,  but  that  they  were 
to  sit  down  to  the  figures  and  find  out  what  the  curve,  in  truth,  was. 
He  accomplished  this  by  his  incomparable  energy  and  courage,  blun- 
dering along  in  the  most  inconceivable  way  (to  us),  from  one  irra- 
tional hypothesis  to  another,  until,  after  trying  twenty-two  of  these, 
he  fell,  by  the  mere  exhaustion  of  his  invention,  upon  the  orbit  which 
a  mind  well  furnished  with  the  weapons  of  modern  logic  would  have 
tried  almost  at  the  outset. 

In  the  same  way,  every  work  of  science  great  enough  to  be  re- 
membered for  a  few  generations  affords  some  exemplification  of  the 
defective  state  of  the  art  of  reasoning  of  the  time  when  it  was  writ- 
ten ;  and  each  chief  step  in  science  has  been  a  lesson  in  logic.  It  was 
so  when  Lavoisier  and  his  contemporaries  took  up  the  study  of  chem- 
istry. The  old  chemist's  maxim  had  been,  "  Lege,  lege,  lege,  labora, 
ora,  et  relege"  Lavoisier's  method  was  not  to  read  and  pray,  not  to 
dream  that  some  long  and  complicated  chemical  process  would  have 
a  certain  effect,  to  put  it  into  practice  with  dull  patience,  after  its  in- 
evitable failure  to  dream  that  with  some  modification  it  would  have 
another  result,  and  to  end  by  publishing  the  last  dream  as  a  fact : 
his  way  was  to  carry  his  mind  into  his  laboratory,  and  to  make  of  his 
alembics  and  cucurbits  instruments  of  thought,  giving  a  new  concep- 
tion of  reasoning,  as  something  which  was  to  be  done  with  one's  eyes 
open,  by  manipulating  real  things  instead  of  words  and  fancies. 

The  Darwinian  controversy  is,  in  large  part,  a  question  of  logic. 
Mr.  Darwin  proposed  to  apply  the  statistical  method  to  biology.    The 
same  thing  had  been  done  in  a  widely  different  branch  of  science,  the 
1  Not  quite  so,  but  as  nearly  so  as  can  be  told  in  a  few  words. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.       3 

theory  of  gases.  Though  unable  to  say  what  the  movements  of  any 
particular  molecule  of  a  gas  would  be  on  a  certain  hypothesis  regard- 
ing the  constitution  of  this  class  of  bodies,  Clausius  and  Maxwell 
were  yet  able,  by  the  application  of  the  doctrine  of  probabilities,  to 
predict  that  in  the  long  run  such  and  such  a  proportion  of  the  mole- 
cules would,  under  given  circumstances,  acquire  such  and  such  veloci- 
ties ;  that  there  would  take  place,  every  second,  such  and  such  a  num- 
ber of  collisions,  etc. ;  and  from  these  propositions  were  able  to  deduce 
certain  properties  of  gases,  especially  in  regard  to  tbeir  heat-relations. 
In  like  manner,  Darwin,  while  unable  to  say  what  the  operation  of 
variation  and  natural  selection  in  any  individual  case  will  be,  demon- 
strates that  in  the  long  run  they  will  adapt  animals  to  their  circum- 
stances. Whether  or  not  existing  animal  forms  are  due  to  such  ac- 
tion, or  what  position  the  theory  ought  to  take,  forms  the  subject  of 
a  discussion  in  which  questions  of  fact  and  questions  of  logic  are  curi- 
ously interlaced. 

II. 

The  object  of  reasoning  is  to  find  out,  from  the  consideration  of 
what  we  already  know,  something  else  which  we  do  not  know.  Con- 
sequently, reasoning  is  good  if  it  be  such  as  to  give  a  true  conclusion 
from  true  premises,  and  not  otherwise.  Thus,  the  question  of  its 
validity  is  purely  one  of  fact  and  not  of  thinking.  A  being  the 
premises  and  B  the  conclusion,  the  question  is,  whether  these  facts 
are  really  so  related  that  if  A  is  B  is.  If  so,  the  inference  is  valid; 
if  not,  not.  It  is  not  in  the  least  the  question  whether,  when  the 
premises  are  accepted  by  the  mind,  we  feel  an  impulse  to  accept  the 
conclusion  also.  It  is  true  that  we  do  generally  reason  correctly  by 
nature.  But  that  is  an  accident ;  the  true  conclusion  would  remain 
true  if  we  had  no  impulse  to  accept  it ;  and  the  false  one  would  re- 
main false,  though  we  could  not  resist  the  tendency  to  believe  in  it. 

We  are,  doubtless,  in  the  main  logical  animals,  but  we  are  not 
perfectly  so.  Most  of  us,  for  example,  are  naturally  more  sanguine 
and  hopeful  than  logic  would  justify.  We  seem  to  be  so  constituted 
that  in  the  absence  of  any  facts  to  go  upon  we  are  happy  and  self- 
satisfied;  so  that  the  effect  of  experience  is  continually  to  contract 
our  hopes  and  aspirations.  Yet  a  lifetime  of  the  application  of  this 
corrective  does  not  usually  eradicate  our  sanguine  disposition.  Where 
hope  is  unchecked  by  any  experience,  it  is  likely  that  our  optimism  is 
extravagant.  Logicality  in  regard  to  practical  matters  is  the  most 
useful  quality  an  animal  can  possess,  and  might,  therefore,  result  from 
the  action  of  natural  selection ;  but  outside  of  these  it  is  probably  of 
more  advantage  to  the  animal  to  have  his  mind  filled  with  pleasing 
and  encouraging  visions,  independently  of  their  truth;  and  thus, 
upon  unpractical  subjects,  natural  selection  might  occasion  a  falla- 
cious tendency  of  thought. 


4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

That  which  determines  us,  from  given  premises,  to  draw  one  in- 
ference rather  than  another,  is  some  habit  of  mind,  whether  it  be  con- 
stitutional or  acquired.  The  habit  is  good  or  otherwise,  according  as 
it  produces  true  conclusions  from  true  premises  or  not;  and  an  infer- 
ence is  regarded  as  valid  or  not,  without  reference  to  the  truth  or  fal- 
sity  of  its  conclusion  specially,  but  according  as  the  habit  which 
determines  it  is  such  as  to  produce  true  conclusions  in  general  or  not. 
The  particular  habit  of  mind  which  governs  this  or  that  inference 
may  be  formulated  in  a  proposition  whose  truth  depends  on  the  va- 
lidity of  the  inferences  which  the  habit  determines ;  and  such  a  for- 
mula is  called  a  guiding  principle  of  inference.  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  we  observe  that  a  rotating  disk  of  copper  quickly  comes  to  rest 
when  placed  between  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  and  we  infer  that  this 
will  happen  with  every  disk  of  copper.  The  guiding  principle  is,  that 
what  is  true  of  one  piece  of  copper  is  true  of  another.  Such  a  guid- 
ing principle  with  regard  to  copper  would  be  much  safer  than  with 
regard  to  many  other  substances — brass,  for  example. 

A  book  might  be  written  to  signalize  all  the  most  important  of 
these  guiding  principles  of  reasoning.  It  would  probably  be,  we 
must  confess,  of  no  service  to  a  person  whose  thought  is  directed 
wholly  to  practical  subjects,  and  whose  activity  moves  along  thor- 
oughly-beaten paths.  The  problems  which  present  themselves  to 
such  a  mind  are  matters  of  routine  which  he  has  learned  once  for 
all  to  handle  in  learning  his  business.  But  let  a  man  venture  into  an 
unfamiliar  field,  or  where  his  results  are  not  continually  checked  by 
experience,  and  all  history  shows  that  the  most  masculine  intellect 
will  ofttimes  lose  his  orientation  and  waste  his  efforts  in  directions 
which  bring  him  no  nearer  to  his  goal,  or  even  carry  him  entirely 
astray.  He  is  like  a  ship  in  the  open  sea,  with  no  one  on  board  who 
understands  the  rules  of  navigation.  And  in  such  a  case  some  gen- 
eral study  of  the  guiding  principles  of  reasoning  would  be  sure  to  be 
found  useful. 

The  subject  could  hardly  be  treated,  however,  without  being  first 
limited ;  since  almost  any  fact  may  serve  as  a  guiding  principle. 
But  it  so  happens  that  there  exists  a  division  among  facts,  such  that 
in  one  class  are  all  those  which  are  absolutely  essential  as  guiding 
principles,  while  in  the  others  are  all  which  have  any  other  interest  as 
objects  of  research.  This  division  is  between  those  which  are  neces- 
sarily taken  for  granted  in  asking  whether  a  certain  conclusion  fol- 
lows from  certain  premises,  and  those  which  are  not  implied  in  that 
question.  A  moment's  thought  will  show  that  a  variety  of  facts  are 
already  assumed  when  the  logical  question  is  first  asked.  It  is  im- 
plied, for  instance,  that  there  are  such  states  of  mind  as  doubt  and 
belief — that  a  passage  from  one  to  the  other  is  possible,  the  object  of 
thought  remaining  the  same,  and  that  this  transition  is  subject  to 
some  rules  which  all  minds  are  alike  bound  by.     As  these  are  facts 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.       5 

which  we  must  already  know  before  we  can  have  any  clear  concep- 
tion of  reasoning  at  all,  it  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  any  longer  of 
much  interest  to  inquire  into  their  truth  or  falsity.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  those  rules  of  reasoning  which  are 
deduced  from  the  very  idea  of  the  process  are  the  ones  which  are  the 
most  essential ;  and,  indeed,  that  so  long  as  it  conforms  to  these  it 
will,  at  least,  not  lead  to  false  conclusions  from  true  premises.  In 
point  of  fact,  the  importance  of  what  may  be  deduced  from  the  as- 
sumptions involved  in  the  logical  question  turns  out  to  be  greater 
than  might  be  supposed,  and  this  for  reasons  which  it  is  difficult  to 
exhibit  at  the  outset.  The  only  one  which  I  shall  here  mention  is, 
that  conceptions  which  are  really  products  of  logical  reflection,  with- 
out being  readily  seen  to  be  so,  mingle  with  our  ordinary  thoughts, 
and  are  frequently  the  causes  of  great  confusion.  This  is  the  case, 
for  example,  with  the  conception  of  quality.  A  quality  as  such  is 
never  an  object  of  observation.  We  can  see  that  a  thing  is  blue  or 
green,  but  the  quality  of  being  blue  and  the  quality  of  being  green 
are  not  things  which  we  see ;  they  are  products  of  logical  reflection. 
The  truth  is,  that  common-sense,  or  thought  as  it  first  emerges  above 
the  level  of  the  narrowly  practical,  is  deeply  imbued  with  that  bad 
logical  quality  to  which  the  epithet  metaphysical  is  commonly  applied  ; 
and  nothing  can  clear  it  up  but  a  severe  course  of  logic. 

III. 

"We  generally  know  when  we  wish  to  ask  a  question  and  when  we 
wish  to  pronounce  a  judgment,  for  there  is  a  dissimilarity  between  the 
sensation  of  doubting  and  that  of  believing. 

But  this  is  not  all  which  distinguishes  doubt  from  belief.  There  is 
a  practical  difference.  Our  beliefs  guide  our  desires  and  shape  our 
actions.  The  Assassins,  or  followers  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain, 
used  to  rush  into  death  at  his  least  command,  because  they  believed 
that  obedience  to  him  would  insure  everlasting  felicity.  Had  they 
doubted  this,  they  would  not  have  acted  as  they  did.  So  it  is  with 
every  belief,  according  to  its  degree.  The  feeling  of  believing  is  a 
more  or  less  sure  indication  of  there  being  established  in  our  nature 
some  habit  which  will  determine  our  actions.  Doubt  never  has  such 
an  effect. 

Nor  must  we  overlook  a  third  point  of  difference.  Doubt  is  an  un- 
easy and  dissatisfied  state  from  which  we  struggle  to  free  ourselves 
and  pass  into  the  state  of  belief;  while  the  latter  is  a  calm  and  satis- 
factory state  which  we  do  not  wish  to  avoid,  or  to  change  to  a  belief 
in  anything  else.'  On  the  contrary,  we  cling  tenaciously,  not  merely 
to  believing,  but  to  believing  just  what  we  do  believe. 

1  I  am  not  speaking  of  secondary  effects  occasionally  produced  by  the  interference 
of  other  impulses. 


6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Thus,  both  doubt  and  belief  have  positive  effects  upon  us,  though 
very  different  ones.  Belief  does  not  make  us  act  at  once,  but  puts  us 
into  such  a  condition  that  we  shall  behave  in  a  certain  way,  when  the 
occasion  arises.  Doubt  has  not  the  least  effect  of  this  sort,  but  stim- 
ulates us  to  action  until  it  is  destroyed.  This  reminds  us  of  the  irri- 
tation of  a  nerve  and  the  reflex  action  produced  thereby ;  while  for 
the  analogue  of  belief,  in  the  nervous  system,  we  must  look  to  what 
are  called  nervous  associations — for  example,  to  that  habit  of  the 
nerves  in  consequence  of  which  the  smell  of  a  peach  will  make  the 
mouth  water. 

IV. 

The  irritation  of  doubt  causes  a  struggle  to  attain  a  state  of  belief. 
I  shall  term  this  struggle  inquiry,  though  it  must  be  admitted  that 
this  is  sometimes  not  a  very  apt  designation. 

The  irritation  of  doubt  is  the  only  immediate  motive  for  the  strug- 
gle to  attain  belief.  It  is  certainly  best  for  us  that  our  beliefs  should 
be  such  as  may  truly  guide  our  actions  so  as  to  satisfy  our  desires ; 
and  this  reflection  will  make  us  reject  any  belief  which  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  so  formed  as  to  insure  this  result.  But  it  will  only  do  so 
by  creating  a  doubt  in  the  place  of  that  belief.  With  the  doubt, 
therefore,  the  struo-o-le  begins,  and  with  the  cessation  of  doubt  it  ends. 
Hence,  the  sole  object  of  inquiry  is  the  settlement  of  opinion.  We 
may  fancy  that  this  is  not  enough  for  us,  and  that  we  seek,  not  merely 
an  opinion,  but  a  true  opinion.  But  put  this  fancy  to  the  test,  and  it 
proves  groundless ;  for  as  soon  as  a  firm  belief  is  reached  we  are  en- 
tirely satisfied,  whether  the  belief  be  true  or  false.  And  it  is  clear 
that  nothing  out  of  the  sphere  of  our  knowledge  can  be  our  object,  for 
nothing  which  does  not  affect  the  mind  can  be  the  motive  for  a  mental 
effort.  The  most  that,  can  be  maintained  is,  that  we  seek  for  a  belief 
that  we  shall  think  to  be  true.  But  we  think  each  one  of  our  beliefs 
to  be  true,  and,  indeed,  it  is  mere  tautology  to  say  so. 

That  the  settlement  of  opinion  is  the  sole  end  of  inquiry  is  a  very 
important  proposition.  It  sweeps  away,  at  once,  various  vague  and 
erroneous  conceptions  of  proof.     A  few  of  these  may  be  noticed  here. 

1.  Some  philosophers  have  imagined  that  to  start  an  inquiry  it 
was  only  necessary  to  utter  a  question  or  set  it  down  upon  paper,  and 
have  even  recommended  us  to  begin  our  studies  with  questioning 
everything  !  But  the  mere  putting  of  a  proposition  into  the  interrog- 
ative form  does  not  stimulate  the  mind  to  any  struggle  after  belief. 
There  must  be  a  real  and  living  doubt,  and  without  this  all  discussion 
is  idle. 

2.  It  is  a  very  common  idea  that  a  demonstration  must  rest  on 
some  ultimate  and  absolutely  indubitable  propositions.  These,  ac- 
cording to  one  school,  are  first  principles  of  a  general  nature;  accord- 
ing to  another,  are  first  sensations.     But,  in  point  of  fact,  an  inquiry, 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.      7 

to  have  that  completely  satisfactory  result  called  demonstration,  has 
only  to  start  with  propositions  perfectly  free  from  all  actual  doubt. 
If  the  premises  are  not  in  fact  doubted  at  all,  they  cannot  be  more 
satisfactory  than  they  are. 

3.  Some  people  seem  to  love  to  argue  a  point  after  all  the  world  is 
fully  convinced  of  it.  But  no  further  advance  can  be  made.  When 
doubt  ceases,  mental  action  on  the  subject  comes  to  an  end ;  and,  if  it 
did  go  on,  it  would  be  without  a  purpose. 

V. 

If  the  settlement  of  opinion  is  the  sole  object  of  inquiry,  and  if 
belief  is  of  the  nature  of  a  habit,  why  should  we  not  attain  the  desired 
end,  by  taking  any  answer  to  a  question  which  we  may  fancy,  and 
constantly  reiterating  it  to  ourselves,  dwelling  on  all  which  may  con- 
duce to  that  belief,  and  learning  to  turn  with  contempt  and  hatred 
from  anything  which  might  disturb  it  ?  This  simple  and  direct 
method  is  really  pursued  by  many  men.  I  remember  once  being  en- 
treated not  to  read  a  certain  newspaper  lest  it  might  change  my 
opinion  upon  free-trade.  "Lest  I  might  be  entrapped  by  its  fallacies 
and  misstatements,"  was  the  form  of  expression.  "  You  are  not,"  my 
friend  said,  "  a  special  student  of  political  economy.  You  might, 
therefore,  easily  be  deceived  by  fallacious  arguments  upon  the  subject. 
You  might,  then,  if  you  read  this  paper,  be  led  to  believe  in  protec- 
tion. But  you  admit  that  free-trade  is  the  true  doctrine ;  and  you  do 
not  wish  to  believe  what  is  not  true."  I  have  often  known  this  sys- 
tem to  be  deliberately  adopted.  Still  oftener,  the  instinctive  dislike 
of  an  undecided  state  of  mind,  exaggerated  into  a  vague  dread  of 
doubt,  makes  men  cling  spasmodically  to  the  views  they  already  take. 
The  man  feels  that,  if  he  only  holds  to  his  belief  without  wavering,  it 
will  be  entirely  satisfactory.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  a  steady  and 
immovable  faith  yields  great  peace  of  mind.  It  may,  indeed,  give  rise 
to  inconveniences,  as  if  a  man  should  resolutely  continue  to  believe 
that  fire  would  not  burn  him,  or  that  he  would  be  eternally  damned 
if  he  received  his  ingesta  otherwise  than  through  a  stomach-pump. 
But  then  the  man  who  adopts  this  method  will  not  allow  that  its  in- 
conveniences are  greater  than  its  advantages.  He  will  say,  "  I  hold 
steadfastly  to  the  truth,  and  the  truth  is  always  wholesome."  And  in 
many  cases  it  may  very  well  be  that  the  pleasure  he  derives  from  his 
calm  faith  overbalances  any  inconveniences  resulting  from  its  decep- 
tive character.  Thus,  if  it  be  true  that  death  is  annihilation,  then  the 
man  who  believes  that  he  will  certainly  go  straight  to  heaven  when 
he  dies,  provided  he  have  fulfilled  certain  simple  observances  in  this 
life,  has  a  cheap  pleasure  which  will  not  be  followed  by  the  least  dis- 
appointment. A  similar  consideration  seems  to  have  weight  with 
many  persons  in  religious  topics,  for  we  frequently  hear  it  said,  "  Oh, 


8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

I  could  not  believe  so-and-so,  because  I  should  be  wretched  if  I  did." 
When  an  ostrich  buries  its  head  in  the  sand  as  danger  approaches,  it 
very  likely  takes  the  happiest  course.  It  hides  the  danger,  and  then 
calmly  says  there  is  no  danger ;  and,  if  it  feels  perfectly  sure  there  is 
none,  why  should  it  raise  its  head  to  see  ?  A  man  may  go  through 
life,  systematically  keeping  out  of  view  all  that  might  cause  a  change 
in  his  opinions,  and  if  he  only  succeeds — basing  his  method,  as  he 
does,  on  two  fundamental  psychological  laws — I  do  not  see  what  can 
be  said  against  his  doing  so.  It  would  be  an  egotistical  impertinence 
to  object  that  his  procedure  is  irrational,  for  that  only  amounts  to 
saying  that  his  method  of  settling  belief  is  not  ours.  He  does  not 
propose  to  himself  to  be  rational,  and,  indeed,  will  often  talk  with 
scorn  of  man's  weak  and  illusive  reason.  So  let  him  think  as  he 
pleases. 

But  this  method  of  fixing  belief,  which  may  be  called  the  method 
of  tenacity,  will  be  unable  to  hold  its  ground  in  practice.  The  social 
impulse  is  against  it.  The  man  who  adopts  it  will  find  that  other  men 
think  differently  from  him,  and  it  will  be  apt  to  occur  to  him,  in  some 
saner  moment,  that  their  opinions  are  quite  as  good  as  his  own,  and 
this  will  shake  his  confidence  in  his  belief.  This  conception,  that  an- 
other man's  thought  or  sentiment  may  be  equivalent  to  one's  own,  is 
a  distinctly  new  step,  and  a  highly  important  one.  It  arises  from  an 
impulse  too  strong  in  man  to  be  suppressed,  without  danger  of  destroy- 
ing the  human  species.  Unless  we  make  ourselves  hermits,  we  shall 
necessarily  influence  each  other's  opinions ;  so  that  the  problem  be- 
comes how  to  fix  belief,  not  in  the  individual  merely,  but  in  the  com- 
munity. 

Let  the  will  of  the  state  act,  then,  instead  of  that  of  the  individual. 
Let  an  institution  be  created  which  shall  have  for  its  object  to  keep 
correct  doctrines  before  the  attention  of  the  people,  to  reiterate  them 
perpetually,  and  to  teach  them  to  the  young  ;  having  at  the  same  time 
power  to  prevent  contrary  doctrines  from  being  taught,  advocated, 
or  expressed.  Let  all  possible  causes  of  a  change  of  mind  be  removed 
from  men's  apprehensions.  Let  them  be  kept  ignorant,  lest  they 
should  learn  of  some  reason  to  think  otherwise  than  they  do.  Let 
their  passions  be  enlisted,  so  that  they  may  regard  private  and  unusual 
opinions  with  hatred  and  horror.  Then,  let  all  men  who  reject  the 
established  belief  be  terrified  into  silence.  Let  the  people  turn  out 
and  tar-and-feather  such  men,  or  let  inquisitions  be  made  into  the 
manner  of  thinking  of  suspected  persons,  and,  when  they  are  found 
guilty  of  forbidden  beliefs,  let  them  be  subjected  to  some  signal 
punishment.  When  complete  agreement  could  not  otherwise  be 
reached,  a  general  massacre  of  all  who  have  not  thought  in  a  certain 
way  has  proved  a  very  effective  means  of  settling  opinion  in  a  coun- 
try. If  the  power  to  do  this  be  wanting,  let  a  list  of  opinions  be 
drawn  up,  to  which  no  man  of  the  least  independence  of  thought  can 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.      9 

assent,  and  let  the  faithful  be  required  to  accept  all  these  propositions, 
in  order  to  segregate  them  as  radically  as  possible  from  the  influence 
of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

This  method  has,  from  the  earliest  times,  been  one  of  tbe  chief 
means  of  upholding  correct  theological  and  political  doctrines,  and 
of  preserving  their  universal  or  catholic  charactei-.  In  Rome,  espe- 
cially, it  has  been  practised  from  the  days  of  Numa  Pompilius  to 
those  of  Pius  Nonus.  This  is  the  most  perfect  example  in  history  ; 
but  wherever  there  is  a  priesthood — and  no  religion  has  been  without 
one — this  method  has  been  more  or  less  made  use  of.  Wherever 
there  is  an  aristocracy,  or  a  guild,  or  any  association  of  a  class  of 
men  whose  interests  depend  or  are  supposed  to  depend  on  certain 
propositions,  there  will  be  inevitably  found  some  traces  of  this  natu- 
ral product  of  social  feeling.  Cruelties  always  accompany  this  sys- 
tem ;  and  when  it  is  consistently  carried  out,  they  become  atrocities 
of  the  most  horrible  kind  in  the  eyes  of  any  rational  man.  Nor 
should  this  occasion  surprise,  for  the  officer  of  a  society  does  not  feel 
justified  in  surrendering  the  interests  of  that  society  for  the  sake  of 
mercy,  as  he  might  his  own  private  interests.  It  is  natural,  there- 
fore, that  sympathy  and  fellowship  should  thus  produce  a  most  ruth- 
less power. 

In  judging  this  method  of  fixing  belief,  which  may  be  called  the 
method  of  authority,  we  must,  in  the  first  place,  allow  its  immeasur- 
able mental  and  moral  superiority  to  the  method  of  tenacity.  Its 
success  is  proportionately  greater ;  and,  in  fact,  it  has  over  and  over 
again  worked  the  most  majestic  results.  The  mere  structures  of 
stone  which  it  has  caused  to  be  put  together — in  Siam,  for  example, 
in  Egypt,  and  in  Europe — have  many  of  them  a  sublimity  hardly 
more  than  rivaled  by  the  greatest  works  of  Nature.  And,  except 
the  geological  epochs,  there  are  no  periods  of  time  so  vast  as  those 
which  are  measured  by  some  of  these  organized  faiths.  If  we  scru- 
tinize the  matter  closely,  we  shall  find  that  there  has  not  been  one 
of  their  creeds  which  has  remained  always  the  same  ;  yet  the  change 
is  so  slow  as  to  be  imperceptible  during  one  person's  life,  so  that 
individual  belief  remains  sensibly  fixed.  For  the  mass  of  mankind, 
then,  there  is  perhaps  no  better  method  than  this.  If  it  is  their 
highest  impulse  to  be  intellectual  slaves,  then  slaves  they  ought  to 
remain. 

But  no  institution  can  undertake  to  regulate  opinions  upon  every 
subject.  Only  the  most  important  ones  can  be  attended  to,  and  on 
the  rest  men's  minds  must  be  left  to  the  action  of  natural  causes. 
This  imperfection  will  be  no  source  of  weakness  so  long  as  men  are  in 
such  a  state  of  culture  that  one  opinion  does  not  influence  another — 
that  is,  so  long  as  they  cannot  put  two  and  two  together.  But  in  the 
most  priestridden  states  some  individuals  will  be  found  who  are 
raised  above  that  condition.    These  men  possess  a  wider  sort  of  social 


io  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

feeling ;  they  see  that  men  in  other  countries  and  in  other  ages  have 
held  to  very  different  doctrines  from  those  which  they  themselves 
have  been  brought  up  to  believe ;  and  they  cannot  help  seeing  that  it 
is  the  mere  accident  of  their  having  been  taught  as  they  have,  and 
of  their  having  been  surrounded  with  the  maimers  and  associations 
they  have,  that  has  caused  them  to  believe  as  they  do  and  not  far 
differently.  And  their  candor  cannot  resist  the  reflection  that  there 
is  no  reason  to  rate  their  own  views  at  a  higher  value  than  those 
of  other  nations  and  other  centuries ;  and  this  gives  rise  to  doubts  in 
their  minds. 

They  will  further  perceive  that  such  doubts  as  these  must  exist 
in  their  minds  with  reference  to  every  belief  which  seems  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  caprice  either  of  themselves  or  of  those  who  origi- 
nated the  popular  opinions.  The  willful  adherence  to  a  belief,  and 
the  arbitrary  forcing  of  it  upon  others,  must,  therefore,  both  be  given 
up,  and  a  new  method  of  settling  opinions  must  be  adopted,  wdrich 
shall  not  only  produce  an  impulse  to  believe,  but  shall  also  decide 
what  proposition  it  is  which  is  to  be  believed.  Let  the  action  of  nat- 
ural preferences  be  unimpeded,  then,  and  under  their  influence  let  men, 
conversing  together  and  regarding  matters  in  different  lights,  grad- 
ually develop  beliefs  in  harmony  wdth  natural  causes.  This  method 
resembles  that  by  which  conceptions  of  art  have  been  brought  to  ma- 
turity. The  most  perfect  example  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  history 
of  metaphysical  philosophy.  Systems  of  this  sort  have  not  usually 
rested  upon  any  observed  facts,  at  least  not  in  any  great  degree. 
They  have  been  chiefly  adopted  because  their  fundamental  proposi- 
tions seemed  "  agreeable  to  reason."  This  is  an  apt  expression  ;  it 
does  not  mean  that  which  agrees  with  experience,  but  that  which  we 
find  ourselves  inclined  to  believe.  Plato,  for  example,  finds  it  agree- 
able to  reason  that  the  distances  of  the  celestial  spheres  from  one  an- 
other should  be  proportional  to  the  different  lengths  of  strings  which 
produce  harmonious  chords.  Many  philosophers  have  been  led  to 
their  main  conclusions  by  considerations  like  this  ;  but  this  is  the 
lowest  and  least  developed  form  which  the  method  takes,  for  it  is 
clear  that  another  man  might  find  Kepler's  theory,  that  the  celestial 
spheres  are  proportional  to  the  inscribed  and  circumscribed  spheres 
of  the  different  regular  solids,  more  agreeable  to  his  reason.  But  the 
shock  of  opinions  will  soon  lead  men  to  rest  on  preferences  of  a  far 
more  universal  nature.  Take,  for  example,  the  doctrine  that  man  only 
acts  selfishly — that  is,  from  the  consideration  that  acting  in  one  way 
will  afford  him  more  pleasure  than  acting  in  another.  This  rests  on 
no  fact  in  the  world,  but  it  has  had  a  wide  acceptance  as  being  the 
only  reasonable  theory. 

This  method  is  far  more  intellectual  and  respectable  from  the  point 
of  view  of  reason  than  either  of  the  others  which  wre  have  noticed. 
But  its  failure  has  been  the  most  manifest.      It  makes  of  inquiry 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE,    n 

something  similar  to  the  development  of  taste ;  but  taste,  unfortu- 
nately, is  always  more  or  less  a  matter  of  fashion,  and  accordingly 
metaphysicians  have  never  come  to  any  fixed  agreement,  but  the  pen- 
dulum has  swung  backward  and  forward  between  a  more  material 
and  a  more  spiritual  philosophy,  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  latest. 
And  so  from  this,  which  has  been  called  the  a  priori  method,  we  are 
driven,  in  Lord  Bacon's  phrase,  to  a  true  induction.  We  have  ex- 
amined into  this  a  priori  method  as  something  which  promised  to 
deliver  our  opinions  from  their  accidental  and  capricious  element. 
But  development,  while  it  is  a  process  which  eliminates  the  effect 
of  some  casual  circumstances,  only  magnifies  that  of  others.  This 
method,  therefore,  does  not  differ  in  a  very  essential  way  from  that  of 
authority.  The  government  may  not  have  lifted  its  linger  to  influ- 
ence my  convictions  ;  I  may  have  been  left  outwardly  quite  free  to 
choose,  we  will  say,  between  monogamy  and  polygamy,  and,  appeal- 
ing to  my  conscience  only,  I  may  have  concluded  that  the  latter  prac- 
tice is  in  itself  licentious.  But  when  I  come  to  see  that  the  chief 
obstacle  to  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  a  people  of  as  high  cult- 
ure as  the  Hindoos  has  been  a  conviction  of  the  immorality  of  our 
way  of  treating  women,  I  cannot  help  seeing  that,  though  govern- 
ments do  not  interfere,  sentiments  in  their  development  will  be  very 
greatly  determined  by  accidental  causes.  Now,  there  are  some  peo- 
ple, among  whom  I  must  suppose  that  my  reader  is  to  be  found,  who, 
when  they  see  that  any  belief  of  theirs  is  determined  by  any  circum- 
stance extraneous  to  the  facts,  will  from  that  moment  not  merely 
admit  in  words  that  that  belief  is  doubtful,  but  will  experience  a  real 
doubt  of  it,  so  that  it  ceases  to  be  a  belief. 

To  satisfy  our  doubts,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  that  a  method 
should  be  found  by  which  our  beliefs  may  be  caused  by  nothing  hu- 
man, but  by  some  external  permanency — by  something  upon  which 
our  thinking  has  no  effect.  Some  mystics  imagine  that  they  have 
such  a  method  in  a  private  inspiration  from  on  high.  But  that  is 
only  a  form  of  the  method  of  tenacity,  in  which  the  conception  of 
truth  as  something  public  is  not  yet  developed.  Our  external  perma- 
nency would  not  be  external,  in  our  sense,  if  it  was  restricted  in  its 
influence  to  one  individual.  It  must  be  something  which  affects,  or 
might  affect,  every  man.  And,  though  these  affections  are  necessarily 
as  various  as  are  individual  conditions,  yet  the  method  must  be  such 
that  the  ultimate  conclusion  of  every  man  shall  be  the  same.  Such  is 
the  method  of  science.  Its  fundamental  hypothesis,  restated  in  more 
familiar  language,  is  this  :  There  are  real  things,  whose  characters 
are  entirely  independent  of  our  opinions  about  them  ;  those  realities 
affect  our  senses  according  to  regular  laws,  and,  though  our  sensa- 
tions are  as  different  as  our  relations  to  the  objects,  yet,  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  laws  of  perception,  we  can  ascertain  by  reasoning 
how  things  really  are,  and  any  man,  if  he  have  sufficient  experience 


12  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  reason  enough  about  it,  will  be  led  to  the  one  true  conclusion. 
The  new  conception  here  involved  is  that  of  reality.  It  may  be  asked 
how  I  know  that  there  are  any  realities.  If  this  hypothesis  is  the 
sole  support  of  my  method  of  inquiry,  my  method  of  inquiry  must 
not  be  used  to  support  my  hypothesis.  The  reply  is  this:  1.  If  in- 
vestigation cannot  be  regarded  as  proving  that  there  are  real  things, 
it  at  least  does  not  lead  to  a  contrary  conclusion ;  but  the  method 
and  the  conception  on  which  it  is  based  remain  ever  in  harmony.  No 
doubts  of  the  method,  therefore,  necessarily  arise  from  its  practice, 
as  is  the  case  with  all  the  others.  2.  The  feeling  which  gives  rise  to 
any  method  of  fixing  belief  is  a  dissatisfaction  at  two  repugnant 
propositions.  But  here  already  is  a  vague  concession  that  there  is 
some  one  thing  to  which  a  proposition  should  conform.  Nobody, 
therefore,  can  really  doubt  that  there  are  realities,  or,  if  he  did, 
doubt  would  not  be  a  source  of  dissatisfaction.  The  hypothesis, 
therefore,  is  one  which  every  mind  admits.  So  that  the  social  im- 
pulse does  not  cause  me  to  doubt  it.  3.  Everybody  uses  the  scien- 
tific method  about  a  great  many  things,  and  only  ceases  to  use  it 
when  he  does  not  know  how  to  apply  it.  4.  Experience  of  the  method 
has  not  led  me  to  doubt  it,  but,  on  the  contrary,  scientific  inves- 
tigation has  had  the  most  wonderful  triumphs  in  the  way  of  set- 
tling opinion.  These  afford  the  explanation  of  my  not  doubting  the 
method  or  the  hypothesis  which  it  supposes ;  and  not  having  any 
doubt,  nor  believing  that  anybody  else  whom  I  could  influence  has, 
it  would  be  the  merest  babble  for  me  to  say  more  about  it.  If 
there  be  anybody  with  a  living  doubt  upon  the  subject,  let  him  con- 
sider it. 

To  describe  the  method  of  scientific  investigation  is  the  object  of 
this  series  of  papers.  At  present  I  have  only  room  to  notice  some 
points  of  contrast  between  it  and  other  methods  of  fixing  belief. 

This  is  the  only  one  of  the  four  methods  which  presents  any  dis- 
tinction of  a  right  and  a  wrong  way.  If  I  adopt  the  method  of 
tenacity  and  shut  myself  out  from  all  influences,  whatever  I  think 
necessary  to  doing  this  is  necessary  according  to  that  method. 
So  with  the  method  of  authority :  the  state  may  try  to  put  down 
heresy  by  means  which,  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  seem  very  ill- 
calculated  to  accomplish  its  purposes ;  but  the  only  test  on  that  meth- 
od is  what  the  state  thinks,  so  that  it  cannot  pursue  the  method 
wrongly.  So  with  the  a  priori  method.  The  very  essence  of  it  is  to 
think  as  one  is  inclined  to  think.  All  metaphysicians  will  be  sure  to 
do  that,  however  they  may  be  inclined  to  judge  each  other  to  be  per- 
versely wrong.  The  Hegelian  system  recognizes  every  natural  ten- 
dency of  thought  as  logical,  although  it  be  certain  to  be  abolished  by 
counter-tendencies.  Hegel  thinks  there  is  a  regular  system  in  the 
succession  of  these  tendencies,  in  consequence  of  which,  after  drifting 
one  way  and  the  other  for  a  long  time,  opinion  will  at  last  go  right. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.     13 

And  it  is  true  that  metaphysicians  get  the  right  ideas  at  last ;  Hegel's 
system  of  Nature  represents  tolerably  the  science  of  that  day ;  and 
one  may  be  sure  that  whatever  scientific  investigation  has  put  out  of 
doubt  will  presently  receive  a  priori  demonstration  on  the  part  of 
the  metaphysicians.  But  with  the  scientific  method  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent. I  may  start  with  known  and  observed  facts  to  proceed  to 
the  unknown  ;  and  yet  the  rules  which  I  follow  in  doing  so  may  not 
be  such  as  investigation  would  approve.  The  test  of  whether  I  am 
truly  following  the  method  is  not  an  immediate  appeal  to  my  feelings 
and  purposes,  but,  on  the  contrary,  itself  involves  the  application  of 
the  method.  Hence  it  is  that  bad  reasoning  as  well  as  good  reason- 
ing is  possible ;  and  this  fact  is  the  foundation  of  the  practical  side 
of  logic. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  first  three  methods  of  settling 
opinion  present  no  advantage  whatever  over  the  scientific  method. 
On  the  contrary,  each  has  some  peculiar  convenience  of  its  owrn.  The 
a  priori  method  is  distinguished  for  its  comfortable  conclusions.  It  is 
the  nature  of  the  process  to  adopt  whatever  belief  we  are  inclined  to, 
and  there  are  certain  flatteries  to  the  vanity  of  man  which  we  all  be- 
lieve by  nature,  until  we  are  awakened  from  our  pleasing  dream  by 
some  rough  facts.  The  method  of  authority  will  always  govern  the 
mass  of  mankind ;  and  those  who  wield  the  various  forms  of  organized 
force  in  the  state  will  never  be  convinced  that  dangerous  reasoning 
ought  not  to  be  suppressed  in  some  way.  If  liberty  of  speech  is  to 
be  untrammeled  from  the  grosser  forms  of  constraint,  then  uniformity 
of  opinion  will  be  secured  by  a  moral  terrorism  to  which  the  respect- 
ability of  society  will  give  its  thorough  approval.  Following  the 
method  of  authority  is  the  path  of  peace.  Certain  non-conformities 
are  permitted ;  certain  others  ( considered  unsafe )  are  forbidden. 
These  are  different  in  different  countries  and  in  different  ages ;  but, 
wherever  you  are,  let  it  be  known  that  you  seriously  hold  a  tabooed 
belief,  and  you  may  be  perfectly  sure  of  being  treated  with  a  cruelty 
less  brutal  but  more  refined  than  hunting  you  like  a  wolf.  Thus,  the 
greatest  intellectual  benefactors  of  mankind  have  never  dared,  and 
dare  not  now,  to  utter  the  whole  of  their  thought ;  and  thus  a  shade 
of  prima  facie  doubt  is  cast  upon  every  proposition  which  is  con- 
sidered essential  to  the  security  of  society.  Singularly  enough,  the 
persecution  does  not  all  come  from  without;  but  a  man  torments  him- 
self and  is  oftentimes  most  distressed  at  finding  himself  believing 
propositions  which  he  has  been  brought  up  to  regard  with  aversion. 
The  peaceful  and  sympathetic  man  will,  therefore,  find  it  hard  to  resist 
the  temptation  to  submit  his  opinions  to  authority.  But  most  of  all 
I  admire  the  method  of  tenacity  for  its  strength,  simplicity,  and 
directness.  Men  who  pursue  it  are  distinguished  for  their  decision  of 
character,  which  becomes  very  easy  with  such  a  mental  rule.  They 
do  not  waste  time  in  trying  to  make  up  their  minds  what  they  want, 


i4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

but,  fastening  like  lightning  upon  whatever  alternative  comes  first, 
they  hold  to  it  to  the  end,  whatever  happens,  without  an  instant's 
irresolution.  This  is  one  of  the  splendid  qualities  which  generally 
accompany  brilliant,  unlasting  success.  It  is  impossible  not  to  envy 
the  man  who  can  dismiss  reason,  although  we  know  how  it  must  turn 
out  at  last. 

Such  are  the  advantages  which  the  other  methods  of  settling 
opinion  have  over  scientific  investigation.  A  man  should  consider 
well  of  them;  and  then  he  should  consider  that,  after  all,  he  wishes 
his  opinions  to  coincide  with  the  fact,  and  that  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  results  of  these  three  methods  should  do  so.  To  bring  about  this 
effect  is  the  prerogative  of  the  method  of  science.  Upon  such  con- 
siderations he  has  to  make  his  choice — a  choice  which  is  far  more 
than  the  adoption  of  any  intellectual  opinion,  which  is  one  of  the 
ruling  decisions  of  his  life,  to  which,  when  once  made,  he  is  bound  to 
adhere.  The  force  of  habit  will  sometimes  cause  a  man  to  hold  on  to 
old  beliefs,  after  he  is  in  a  condition  to  see  that  they  have  no  sound 
basis.  But  reflection  upon  the  state  of  the  case  will  overcome  these 
habits,  and  he  ought  to  allow  reflection  its  full  weight.  People  some- 
times shrink  from  doing  this,  having  an  idea  that  beliefs  are  whole- 
some which  they  cannot  help  feeling  rest  on  nothing.  But  let  such 
persons  suppose  an  analogous  though  different  case  from  their  own. 
Let  them  ask  themselves  what  they  would  say  to  a  reformed  Mussul- 
man who  should  hesitate  to  give  up  his  old  notions  in  regard  to  the 
relations  of  the  sexes;  or  to  a  reformed  Catholic  who  should  still 
shrink  from  reading  the  Bible.  "Would  they  not  say  that  these  per- 
sons ought  to  consider  the  matter  fully,  and  clearly  understand  the 
new  doctrine,  and  then  ought  to  embrace  it,  in  its  entirety  ?  But, 
above  all,  let  it  be  considered  that  what  is  more  wholesome  than  any 
particular  belief  is  integrity  of  belief,  and  that  to  avoid  looking  into 
the  support  of  any  belief  from  a  fear  that  it  may  turn  out  rotten  is 
quite  as  immoral  as  it  is  disadvantageous.  The  person  who  confesses 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  truth,  which  is  distinguished  from  false- 
hood simply  by  this,  that  if  acted  on  it  will  carry  us  to  the  point  we 
aim  at  and  not  astray,  and  then,  though  convinced  of  this,  dares  not 
know  the  truth  and  seeks  to  avoid  it,  is  in  a  sorry  state  of  mind 
indeed. 

Yes,  the  other  methods  do  have  their  merits:  a  clear  logical  con- 
science does  cost  something — just  as  any  virtue,  just  as  all  that  we 
cherish,  costs  us  dear.  But  we  should  not  desire  it  to  be  otherwise. 
The  genius  of  a  man's  logical  method  should  be  loved  and  reverenced 
as  his  bride,  whom  he  has  chosen  from  all  the  world.  He  need  not 
contemn  the  others ;  on  the  contrary,  he  may  honor  them  deeply,  and 
in  doing  so  he  only  honors  her  the  more.  But  she  is  the  one  that  he 
has  chosen,  and  he  knows  that  he  was  right  in  making  that  choice. 
And  having  made  it,  he  will  work  and  fight  for  her,  and  will  not  com- 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


x5 


plain  that  there  are  blows  to  take,  hoping  that  there  may  be  as  many 
and  as  hard  to  give,  and  will  strive  to  be  the  worthy  knight  and 
champion  of  her  from  the  blaze  of  whose  splendors  he  draws  his 
inspiration  and  his  courage. 


THE   GKOWTII  OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Br  Professor  E.  H.  THUESTON, 

OF    THE     STEVENS     INSTITUTE     OF    TECHNOLOGY. 


Fig.  1.— The  Grecian  Idea  of  the  Steam-Engine. 

1  This  sketch  is  condensed  from  lectures  originally  written  for  delivery  to  an  audi- 
ence of  engineers  and  mechanics,  at  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  in  the  winter 
of  1871— "72,  and  from  lectures  since  prepared  for  classes  in  the  Department  of  Mechani- 
cal Engineering,  and  revised  to  date.  The  most  novel  portion — referring  to  the  practi- 
cal realization  of  the  "  perfect  steam-engine  " —  is  here  more  fully  developed  than  it  had 
previously  been,  and  the  paper,  as  a  whole,  is  for  the  first  time  here  published.  The 
illustrations  are  principally  from  Stuart  and  Farey,  and  from  the  article  "  Steam-Engine," 
prepared  by  the  writer  of  these  lectures  for  Appletons'  Cyclopaedia,  new  edition. 

Avery  complete  history  of  "The  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine"  has  been  prepared  by 


16  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

I. 

THE   STEAM-ENGINE   AS   A   SIMPLE   MACHINE. 

["  A  machine,  receiving  at  distant  times  and  from  many  hands  new  combi- 
nations and  improvements,  and  becoming  at  last  of  signal  benefit  to  mankind, 
may  be  compared  to  a  rivulet,  swelled  in  its  course  by  tributary  streams  until 
it  rolls  along  a  majestic  river,  enriching  in  its  progress  provinces  and  kingdoms. 
In  retracing  the  current,  too,  from  where  it  mingles  with  the  ocean,  the  pre- 
tensions of  even  ample  subsidiary  streams  are  merged  in  our  admiration  of  the 
master-flood.  But,  as  we  continue  to  ascend,  those  waters  which,  nearer  the 
sea,  would  have  been  disregarded  as  unimportant,  begin  to  rival  in  magnitude, 
and  divide  our  attention  with,  the  parent  stream ;  until,  at  length,  on  our  ap- 
proaching the  fountains  of  the  river,  it  appears  trickling  from  the  rock,  or  ooz- 
ing from  among  the  flowers  of  the  valley.  So,  also,  in  developing  the  rise  of  a 
machine,  a  coarse  instrument  or  a  toy  may  be  recognized  as  the  germ  of  that 
production  of  mechanical  genius  whose  power  and  usefulness  have  stimulated 
our  curiosity  to  mark  its  changes  and  to  trace  its  origin.  The  same  feelings  of 
reverential  gratitude  which  attached  holiness  to  the  spots  whence  mighty  riv- 
ers sprung,  also  clothed  with  divinity,  and  raised  altars  in  honor  of  the  saw, 
the  plough,  the  potter's  wheel,  and  the  loom." — Stuart.] 

[...."  And,  last  of  all,  with  inimitable  power,  and  '  with  whirlwind- 
sound,'  comes  the  potent  agency  of  steam.  In  comparison  with  the  past,  what 
centuries  of  improvement  has  this  single  agent  comprised  in  the  short  compass 
of  fifty  years !  Everywhere  practicable,  everywhere  efficient,  it  has  an  arm  a 
thousand  times  stronger  than  that  of  Hercules,  and  to  which  human  ingenuity 
is  capable  of  fitting  a  thousand  times  as  many  hands  as  belonged  to  Briareus. 
Steam  is  found  in  triumphant  operation  on  the  seas  ;  and,  under  the  influence  of 
its  strong  propulsion,  the  gallant  ship — 

'  Against  the  wind,  against  the  tide, 
Still  steadies  with  an  upright  keel.' 

It  is  on  the  rivers,  and  the  boatman  may  repose  on  his  oars ;  it  is  on  highways, 
and  exerts  itself  along  the  courses  of  land-conveyance ;  it  is  at  the  bottom  of 
mines,  a  thousand  feet  below  the  earth's  surface ;  it  is  in  the  mill,  and  in  the 
workshops  of  the  trades.  It  rows,  it  pumps,  it  excavates,  it  carries,  it  draws, 
it  lifts,  it  hammers,  it  spins,  it  weaves,  it  prints.  It  seems  to  say  to  men,  at 
least  to  the  class  of  artisans :  '  Leave  off  your  manual  labor ;  give  over  your 
bodily  toil ;  bestow  but  your  skill  and  reason  to  the  directing  of  my  power,  and 
I  will  bear  the  toil,  with  no  muscle  to  grow  weary,  no  nerve  to  relax,  no  breast 
to  feel  f aintness ! '  "What  further  improvement  may  still  be  made  in  the  use  of 
this  astonishing  power  it  is  impossible  to  know,  and  it  were  vain  to  conjecture. 
What  we  do  know  is,  that  it  has  most  essentially  altered  the  face  of  affairs,  and 
that  no  visible  limit  yet  appears  beyond  which  its  progress  is  seen  to  be  impos- 
sible."— Daniel  Webster.] 

SECTION  I.    The  Period  of  Speculation.     Hero  to  Worcester, 
b.  c.  200  to  a.  d.  1700. — 1.  The  history  of  the  steam-engine  is 
a  subject  that  interests  greatly  every  intelligent  mind. 

As  Religion  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  the  great  moral  agent  in 

the  same  author,  and  is  about  to  be  published,  finely  illustrated,  in  the  "  International 
Series." 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  i7 

civilizing  the  world,  and  as  Science  is  the  great  intellectual  promoter 
of  civilization,  so  the  steam-engine  is,  in  modern  times,  the  most  im- 
portant physical  agent  in  that  great  work. 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  attempt  to  enumerate  the  benefits 
which  it  has  conferred  upon  the  human  race,  for  such  an  enumeration 
would  include  an  addition  to  every  comfort,  and  the  creation  of  almost 
every  luxury  that  we  now  enjoy. 

"  It  has  increased  the  sum  of  human  happiness,  not  only  by  call- 
ing new  pleasures  into  existence,  but  by  so  cheapening  former  enjoy- 
ments as  to  render  them  attainable  by  those  who  before  could  never 
have  hoped  to  share  them."  ' 

2.  The  wonderful  progress  of  the  present  century  is,  in  a  very, 
great  degree,  due  to  the  invention  and  improvement  of  the  steam-en- 
gine, and  to  the  ingenious  application  of  its  power  to  kinds  of  work 
that  formerly  tasked  the  physical  energies  of  the  human  race.  We 
cannot  examine  the  methods  and  processes  of  any  branch  of  industry 
without  discovering  somewhere  the  assistance  and  support  of  this 
wonderful  machine. 

Relieving  mankind  from  manual  toil,  it  has  left  to  the  intellect 
the  privilege  of  directing  the  power  formerly  absorbed  in  physical 
labor  into  other  and  more  profitable  channels.  The  intelligence  which 
has  thus  conquered  the  powers  of  Nature  now  finds  itself  free  to  do 
brain-work ;  the  force  formerly  utilized  in  the  cai-rying  of  water  and 
the  hewing  of  wood  is  now  expended  in  the  Godlike  work  of  thought. 

What,  then,  can  be  more  interesting  than  to  trace  the  history  of 
the  growth  of  this  wonderful  invention,  the  greatest  among  the  many 
great  creations  of  one  of  God's  most  beneficent  gifts  to  man,  the  power 
of  invention. 

3.  While  following  the  records  and  traditions  of  the  steam-engine, 
I  propose  to  call  to  your  attention  the  fact  that  its  history  illustrates 
the  very  important  truth  that  great  inventions  are  never,  and  great 
discoveries  are  seldom,  the  work  of  any  one  mind. 

Every  great  invention  is  really  an  aggregation  of  minor  inven- 
tions, or  the  final  step  of  a  progression.  It  is  not  usually  a  creation, 
but  a  growth,  as  truly  so  as  is  the  growth  of  the  trees  in  the  forest. 

Hence  the  same  invention  is  frequently  brought  out  in  several 
countries  and  by  several  individuals  simultaneously. 

Frequently,  an  important  invention  is  made  before  the  world  is 
ready  to  receive  it,  and  the  unhappy  inventor  is  taught,  by  his  fail- 
ure, that  it  is  as  unfortunate  to  be  in  advance  of  the  asje  as  to  be 
behind  it. 

Inventions  only  become  successful  when  they  are  not  only  needed, 
but  when  mankind  is  so  far  advanced  in  intelligence  as  to  appreciate 
and  to  express  the  necessity  for  them,  and  at  once  to  make  use  of  them. 

4.  About  a  half-century  ago,  an  able  New  England  writer,  in  a 

1  Dr.  Lardner. 

VOL.  XII. — 2 


18  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

communication  to  an  English  engineering  periodical,  described  the 
new  machinery  which  was  built  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  by  John 
Babcock  and  Robert  L.  Thurston,  for  one  of  the  first  steamboats  that 
ever  ran  between  that  city  and  New  York.  He  prefaced  his  descrip- 
tion with  a  frequently-quoted  remark  to  the  effect  that,  as  Minerva 
sprang,  mature  in  mind,  in  full  stature  of  body,  and  completely  armed, 
from  the  head  of  Jupiter,  so  the  steam-engine  came  forth,  perfect  at 
its  birth,  from  the  brain  of  James  Watt. 

But  we  shall  see,  as  we  examine  the  records  of  its  history,  that, 
although  James  Watt  was  an  inventor,  and  probably  the  greatest  of 
the  inventors  of  the  steam-engine,  he  was  still  but  one  of  the  many 
men  who  have  aided  in  perfecting  it,  and  who  have  now  made  us  so 
familiar  with  its  tremendous  power  and  its  facile  adaptation  to  labor, 
that  we  have  almost  ceased  to  admire  it,  or  to  wTonder  at  this  product 
of  the  workings  of  the  more  admirable  intelligence  that  has  so  far 
perfected  it. 

5.  Twenty-one  centuries  ago,  the  political  power  of  Greece  was 
broken,  although  Grecian  civilization  had  risen  to  its  zenith. 

Rome,  ruder  than  her  polished  neighbor,  was  growing  continually 
stronger,  and  was  rapidly  gaining  territory  by  absorbing  weaker 
states. 

Egypt,  older  in  civilization  than  either  Greece  or  Rome,  fell  but 
two  centuries  later  before  the  assault  of  the  younger  states,  and  be- 
came a  Roman  province.  Her  principal  city  was  at  this  time  Alex- 
andria, founded  by  the  great  soldier  whose  name  it  bears  when  in  the 
full  tide  of  his  prosperity.  It  had  now  become  a  great  and  prosper- 
ous city,  the  centre  of  the  commerce  of  the  world,  the  home  of  stu- 
dents and  of  learned  men,  and  its  population  was  the  wealthiest  and 
most  civilized  of  the  then  known  world. 

It  is  among  the  relics  of  this  ancient  Egyptian  civilization  that  we 
find  the  first  record  of  the  early  history  of  the  steam-engine. 

6.  In  Alexandria,  the  home  of  Euclid,  the  great  geometrician,  and 
possibly  contemporary  with  that  talented  engineer  and  mathematician 
Archimedes,  a  learned  writer,  Hero,  produced  a  manuscript  which  he 
entitled  "  Spiritalia  seu  Pneumatica." 

The  work  is  still  extant,  and  has  been  several  times  republished. 
In  it  are  described  a  number  of  interesting  though  primitive  forms 
of  water  and  heat  engines,  and,  among  the  latter,  that  shown  in  Fig. 
2,1  an  apparatus  moved  by  the  force  of  steam. 

This  earliest  of  steam-engines  consisted  of  a  globe,  a,  suspended 
between  trunnions,  G  i,  through  one  of  which  steam  enters  through 
pipes,  C  M,  F  E,  from  the  boiler,  D,  below. 

The  hollow  bent  arms,  II and  II,  cause  the  vapor  to  issue  in  such  a 
direction  that  the  reaction  produces  a  rotary  movement  of  the  globe, 
just  as  the  rotation  of  reaction  water-wheels  is  produced  by  outflow- 
ing water. 

1  Vide  Woodcraft's  "  Translation  of  Hero." 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


19 


It  is  quite  uncertain  whether  this  machine  was  ever  more  than  a 
toy,  although  it  has  been  supposed  by  some  authorities  that  it  was  act- 
ually used  by  the  Greek  priests  for  the  purpose  of  producing  motion 
of  other  apparatus  in  their  temples. 


Fig.  2.— Hero's  Engine,  b.  c.  200. 


7.  It  seems  sufficiently  remarkable  that,  while  the  power  of  steam 
had  been,  during  all  the  many  centuries  that  man  has  existed  upon  the 
globe,  so  universally  displayed  in  so  many  of  the  phenomena  of  natu- 
ral change,  mankind  lived  almost  up  to  the  Christian  era  without 
making  it  useful  in  giving  motion  even  to  a  toy ;  but  it  must  excite 
still  greater  surprise  that,  from  the  time  of  Hero,  we  meet  with  no  good 
evidence  of  its  application  to  any  practical  use  for  many  hundreds  of 
years. 

Here  and  there,  in  the  pages  of  history  and  in  special  treatises,  we 
find  a  hint  that  the  knowledge  of  the  force  of  steam  is  not  forgotten ; 
but  it  is  not  at  all  to  the  credit  of  biographers  and  of  historians  that 
they  have  devoted  so  little  time  to  the  task  of  seeking  and  recording 
information  relating  to  the  progress  of  this  and  other  important  inven- 
tions and  improvements  in  the  mechanic  arts. 

8.  In  the  year  1825,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Royal  Spanish  Ar- 
chives at  Simancas  furnished  an  account,  which  had  been  there  dis- 
covered, of  an  attempt  made  in  1543,  by  Blasco  de  Garay,  a  Spanish 
navy-officer,  under  Charles  I.,1  to  move  a  ship  by  paddle-wheels,  driven, 
as  was  inferred  from  the  account,  by  a  steam-engine. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  to  how  much  confidence  the  story  is  entitled ; 
but,  if  true,  it  was  the  first  attempt,  so  far  as  is  now  known,  to  make 
steam  useful  in  developing  power  for  practical  purposes.  Nothing  is 
known  of  the  form  of  the  engine  employed,  it  only  having  been  stated 
that  a  "  vessel  of  boiling  water  "  formed  a  part  of  it. 

The  account  is,  however,  in  other  respects,  so  circumstantial  that 
it  has  been  credited  by  many,  but  it  is  looked  upon  as  very  doubtful 
by  the  majority  of  writers  upon  the  subject.     It  was  published  in  1825 

1  Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  was  also  Charles  I.  of  Spain. 


20 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


by  M.  de  Navarrete,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from  Tomas  Gonzales, 
Director  of  the  Royal  Archives  at  Simancas,  Spain. 

9.  In  1601  Giovanni  Battista  della  Porta,  in  bis  work  "Spiritali," 
described  an  apparatus  by  which  the  pressure  of  steam  might  be 
made  to  raise  a  column  of  water,  and  the  method  of  operation  included 
the  application  of  the  condensation  of  steam  to  the  production  of  a 
vacuum  into  which  the  water  would  flow.  He  used  a  separate  boiler. 
Fig.  3  is  copied  from  an  illustration  in  a  later  edition  of  his  work.1 


Fig.  3.— Porta's  Apparatus,  a.  b.  1601. 


10.  In  1615  Salmon  de  Caus,  who  had  been  an  engineer  and  archi- 
tect under  Louis  XIII.  of  France,  and  later  in  the  employ  of  the  Brit- 
ish Prince  of  Wales,  published  a  work  at  Frankfort,  entitled  "  Les 
Raisons  des  Forces  Mouvantes  avec  diverses  machines  tant  utile  que 
plaisantes,"  in  which  he  illustrated  his  proposition,  "  Water  will,  by 
the  aid  of  fire,  mount  higher  than  its  level,"  by  describing  a  machine 
designed  to  raise  water  by  the  expanding  power  of  steam.    (See  Fig.  4.) 

This  consisted  of  a  metal  vessel  partly  filled  with  water,  and  in 
which  a  pipe  was  fitted  leading  nearly  to  the  bottom  and  open  at  the 
top. 

Fire  being  applied,  the  steam,  formed  by  its  elastic  force,  drove 
the  water  out  through  the  vertical  pipe,  raising  it  to  a  height  depend- 
ing upon  either  the  wish  of  the  builder  or  the  strength  of  the  vessel. 

11.  In  1629  Giovanni  Branca,  of  Lovetto,  an  Italian  town,  de- 

1  "  I  Trc  Libri  Spiritali,"  Napoli,  1606. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


21 


scribed,  in  a  work  published  at  Rome,  a  number  of  ingenious  mechani- 
cal contrivances,  among  which  was  a  steam-engine  (Fig.  5),  in  which 
the  steam,  issuing  from  a  boiler,  impinged  upon  the  vanes  of  an  hori- 
zontal wheel. 

This  it  was  proposed  to  apply  to  many  useful  pm-poses. 


Fig.  4.— De  Catts's  Appabatus,  a.  d.  1615. 


12.  In  illustration  of  the  singular  manner  in  which  old  inventions 
disappear  only  to  reappear  in  latter  times,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
this  contrivance  was  brought  forward  quite  recently  by  a  sanguine 
inventor,  who  spent  a  considerable  sum  in  building  what  he  considered 
a  great  improvement  upon  existing  forms  of  steam-engines. 

The  engine  of  Hero  also  has  been  frequently  reinvented,  and,  un- 


22 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


cler  the  designation  of  "  steam  turbine,"  it  has  been  applied  with  some 

satisfactory  effect  to  the  production  of  very  high  velocity  of  rotation. 

13.  We  now  come  to  the  first  instance  in  which  the  expansive 


Fig.  5.— Branca's  Steam-Engine,  a.  d.  1629. 


force  of  steam  is  supposed  to  have  actually  been  applied  to  do  impor- 
tant and  useful  work. 

In  1663,  Edward  Somerset,  second  Marquis  of  Worcester,  published 
a  curious  collection  of  descriptions  of  his  inventions,  couched  in  ob- 


Edwabd  Somerset,  Second  Marquis  of  Worcester. 

scure  and  singular  language,  and  called  a  "  Century  of  the  Names 
and  Scantlings  of  Inventions  by  me  already  practised." 

One  of  these  inventions  is  an  apparatus  for  raising  water  by  steam. 


THE   GROWTH  OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


23 


The  description  was  not  accompanied  by  a  drawing,  but  the  sketch 
here  given  (Fig.  (j),  probably  resembles  his  contrivance  very  closely. 
Steam  is  generated  in  the  boiler  D,  and  thence  is  led  into  the  ves- 
sel A,  already  nearly  filled  with  water.     It  drives  the  water  in  a  jet 
out  through  a  pipe,  7^  or  F'.     The  vessel  A  is  then  shut  off  from  the 


Fig.  6.— Worcester's  Engine,  a.  d.  1650.         Fig.  7.— Wall  of  Raglan  Castle. 


boiler  and  again  filled  "by  suction"  after  the  steam  has  condensed 
through  the  pipe  G,  and  the  operation  is  repeated,  the  vessel  B  being 
used  alternately  with  A. 

The  instruments  of  Porta  and  of  De  Caus  were  "steam  fountains," 
and  were  applied,  if  used  at  all,  merely  for  ornamental  uses. 

That  of  the  Marquis  of  Worcester  was  used  for  the  purpose  of 
elevating  water  for  practical  purposes  at  Vauxhall,  near  London.  It 
was  still  earlier  used  at  the  home  of  Worcester,  Raglan  Castle,  where 
the  openings  cut  in  the  wall  for  its  reception  are  still  to  be  seen,  as  in 
Fig.  7. 

14.  The  separate  boiler,  as  here  used,  constitutes  a  very  impor- 
tant improvement  upon  the  preceding  forms  of  apparatus,  although 
the  idea  was  original  with  Porta. 

The  "  water-commanding  engine,"  as  its  inventor  called  it,  was, 
therefore,  the  first  instance  in  the  history  of  the  steam-engine  in  which 
the  inventor  is  known  to  have  "  reduced  his  invention  to  practice." 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  invention,  important  as  it  was, 
does  not  entitle  the  marquis  to  the  honor  claimed  for  him  by  many 
authorities  of  being  the  inventor  of  the  steam-engine.  Somerset  was 
simply  one  of  those  whose  works  collectively  make  the  steam-engine. 

Section  II.  The  Period  of  Application  of  the  Early  Type  of 
Steam-Engine.     JTorland,  Savery,  and  Desaguliers. — 14.  The  inven- 


24  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

tion  of  the  Marquis  of  Worcester  was  revived  twenty  years  later,  by 
Sir  Samuel  Morland,  but  in  what  form  is  not  now  known. 

In  a  memoir,1  which  he  wrote  upon  the  subject  in  1683,  he  exhib- 
ited a  degree  of  familiarity  with  the  properties  of  steam  that  could 
hardly  have  been  expected  of  any  one  at  that  early  date. 

In  his  manuscript,  now  preserved  in  the  Haarlem  Collection  of  the 
British  Museum,  he  states  the  size  of  the  cylinders  required  in  his 
machine  to  raise  given  quantities  of  water  per  hour,  and  gives  very 
exactly  the  relative  volumes  of  equal  weights  of  water  and  of  steam 
under  atmospheric  pressure. 

He  tells  us  that  one  of  his  engines,  with  a  cylinder  six  feet  in 
diameter  and  twelve  feet  long,  was  capable  of  raising  3,240  pounds 
of  water  through  a  height  of  six  inches,  1,800  times  an  hour. 

15.  From  this  time  forward  the  minds  of  many  mechanicians  were 
earnestly  at  work  on  this  problem — the  raising  of  water  by  aid  of 
steam. 

Hitherto,  although  many  ingenious  toys,  embodying  the  principles 
of  the  steam-engine  separately,  and  sometimes,  to  a  certain  extent, 
collectively,  had  beeu  proposed  and  even  occasionally  constructed, 
the  world  was  only  just  ready  to  profit  by  the  labors  of  inventors  in 
this  direction. 

But,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  English  miners  were 
beginning  to  find  the  greatest  difficulty  in  clearing  their  shafts  of  the 
vast  quantities  of  water  which  they  were  meeting  at  the  considerable 
depths  to  which  they  had  penetrated,  and  it  had  become  a  matter  of 
vital  importance  to  them  to  find  a  more  powerful  aid  in  that  work 
than  was  then  available. 

They  were,  therefore,  by  their  necessities,  stimulated  to  watch  for, 
and  to  be  prepared  promptly  to  take  advantage  of,  such  an  invention 
when  it  should  be  offered  them. 

16.  The  experiments  of  Papin,  and  the  practical  application  of 
known  principles  by  Savery,  placed  the  needed  apparatus  in  their 
hand  s. 

When  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  which  Henry 
IV.  had  guaranteed  protection  to  the  Protestants  of  France,  the  ter- 
rible persecutions  at  once  commenced  by  the  papists  drove  from  the 
kingdom  some  of  its  greatest  men. 

Among  these  was  Denys  Papin,  a  native  of  Blois,  and  a  distin- 
guished philosopher.  He  studied  medicine  at  Paris,  and,  when  ex- 
patriated, went  to  England,  where  he  met  the  celebrated  philosopher 
Boyle,  who  introduced  him  into  the  Royal  Society,  of  which  Papin 
became  a  member,  and  to  whose  "  Transactions  "  he  contributed  sev- 
eral valuable  papers. 

He  invented,  in  1680,  the  "  Digester,"  in  which  substances,  unaf- 

1  "  Elevation  des  Eaux,  par  toutes  Sortes  de  Machine,  reduite  a  la  Mesure,  au  Poids 
et  a  la  Balance." 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


25 


fected  by  water  boiling  under  atmospheric  pressure,  can  be  subjected 
to  the  action  of  water  boiling  under  high  pressure,  and  thus  thoroughly 
"digested,"  or  cooked. 

The  danger  of  bursting  these  vessels  caused  him,  in  1681,  to  in- 


\6\ 


Denys  Papin. 


vent  and  apply  the  lever  safety-valve,1  now  an  indispensable  appur- 
tenance to  every  steam-boiler. 

17.  In  1690  he  constructed  a  working  model  of  an  engine,  consist- 
ing  of  a  steam-cylinder  with  a  piston  which  was  raised  by  steam-press- 
ure, and  which  descended  again  when  the  condensation  of  the  steam 
produced  a  vacuum  beneath  it. 

This  apparatus  the  inventor  proposed  to  use  as  a  motor  for  working 
pumps  and  for  driving  paddle-wheels ;  but  he  never  built  a  successful 
working  machine  on  this  plan,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain ;  and  he  did 
not  then  propose  a  separate  boiler,  but  made  the  same  vessel  serve 
at  once  as  a  boiler,  steam-cylinder,  and  condenser,  evaporating  water 
in  the  cylinder  itself; 2  and,  after  raising  the  piston,  removing  the 
cylinder  from  the  fire,  or  the  fire  from  under  the  cylinder,  to  effect 
condensation  by  the  gradual  loss  of  heat  by  radiation. 

18.  The  most  important  advance  in  actual  construction  was  made 
by  Thomas  Savery. 

The  constant  and  embarrassing  expense,  and  the  engineering  diffi- 
culties presented  by  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  British  mines,  and 

1  Other  forms  of  safety-valve  had  been  previously  used. 

2  "  Recueil  des  diverses  Pieces  touchant  quelques  nouvelles  Machines  et  autres  Sujets 
philosophiques,"  M.  D.  Papiu,  Cassel,  1695. 


26 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


particularly  the  deep  pits  of  Cornwall,  free  from  water,  and  the  failure 
of  every  attempt  previously  made  to  provide  effective  and  economical 
pumping  machinery,  were  noted  by  Savery,  who,  July  25,  1698,  pat- 
ented the  design  of  the  first  engine  which  ever  was  actually  employed 
in  this  work. 


Thomas  Savery. 


A  working  model  was  submitted  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London, 
in  1699, '  and  successful  experiments  were  made  with  it. 

This  engine  is  shown  in  Fig.  8,  as  described  by  Savery  himself  in 
1702,  in  the  "Miner's  Friend." 

L  L  is  the  boiler,  in  which  steam  is  raised,  and  through  the  pipes 
0  0  it  is  alternately  let  into  the  vessels  P  P. 

Suppose  it  to  pass  into  the  left-hand  vessel  first.  The  valve  M 
being  closed  and  r  being  opened,  the  water  contained  in  Pis  driven 
out  and  up  the  pipe  S  to  the  desired  height,  where  it  is  discharged. 

The  valve  r  is  then  closed,  and  also  the  valve  in  the  pipe  0.  The 
valve  M  is  next  opened,  and  condensing  water  is  turned  upon  the  exte- 
rior of  P  by  the  cock  F,  leading  water  from  the  cistern  X.  As  the 
steam  contained  in  P  is  condensed,  forming  a  vacuum,  a  fresh  charge 
of  water  is  driven  by  atmospheric  pressure  up  the  pipe  T. 

Meantime,  steam  from  the  boiler  has  been  let  into  the  right-hand 
vessel  P,  the  cock  W  having  been  first  closed  and  R  opened.  The 
charge  of  water  is  driven  out  through  the  lower  pipe  and  the  cock  R, 
and  up  the  pipe  S  as  before,  while  the  other  vessel  is  refilling  prepara- 
tory to  acting  in  its  turn. 

1  "  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,"  1699. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


27 


The  two  vessels  thus  are  alternately  charged  and  discharged  as 
long  as  is  necessary.  Savery's  method  of  supplying  his  boiler  with 
water  was  at  once  simple  and  ingenious. 

The  small  boiler  D  is  filled  with  water  from  any  convenient  source, 
as  from  the  stand-pipe  S.  A  fire  is  then  built  under  it,  and,  when  the 
pressure  of  steam  in  D  becomes  greater  than  in  the  main  boiler  £,  a 
communication  is  opened  between  their  lower  ends  and  the  water 


Fig.  8.— Savery's  Engine,  a.  d.  1699. 


passes  under  pressure  from  the  smaller  to  the  larger  boiler  which  is 
thus  "fed"  without  interrupting  the  work.  G  and  iVare  gauge-cocks 
by  which  the  height  of  water  in  the  boilers  is  determined,  and  these 
attachments  were  first  adopted  by  Savery. 

19.  Here  we  find,  therefore,  the  first  really  practicable  and  com- 
mercially valuable  steam-engine.  Thomas  Savery  is  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  havinsr  been  the  first  to  introduce  into  s^neral  use  a  machine 
in  which  the  po  wer  of  heat,  acting  through  the  medium  of  steam,  was 
rendered  useful. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Savery,  like  the  marquis  of  Worcester,  and 
like  Porta,  used  a  boiler  separate  from  the  water-reservoir. 

He  added  to  the  "  water-commanding  engine  "  of  the  marquis  the 
system  of  surface  condensation,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  change 
his  vessels  when  it  became  necessary  to  refill  them ;  and  the  secondary 
boiler,  which  enabled  him  to  supply  the  working  boiler  with  water 
without  interrupting  its  action. 

The  machine  was  capable  of  working  uninterruptedly  for  a  period 
of  time  only  limited  by  its  own  endurance. 


22 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Savery  never  fitted  his  boilers  with  the  safety-valve,  although  it 
was  subsequently  used  on  Savery  engines  by  Desaguliers  ;  and  in  deep 
mines  he  was  compelled  to  make  use  of  higher  pressures  than  his 
rudely-constructed  boilers  could  safely  bear. 

The  introduction  of  his  machines  was,  therefore,  greatly  retarded 
by  the  fear,  among  miners,  of  the  explosion  of  his  boilers  ;  in  fact, 
such  explosion  did  occur  on  more  than  one  occasion. 

20.  The  Savery  engine  was  improved,  about  1*716  or  1718,  by  Dr. 
Desaguliers,  who  attached  to  it  Papin's  safety-valve,  and  substituted 
a  jet  injection  from  the  stand-pipe  into  the  "  forcing-vessels  "  for  the 
surface  condensation  of  Savery's  original  arrangement. 

21.  The  Savery  engine,  however,  after  all  improvement  in  design 
and  construction,  though  a  working  and  a  useful  machine,  was  still  a 
very  wasteful  one.  The  steam  from  the  boiler,  passing  into  the  cold, 
wet  water-reservoir  or  forcing-vessel,  was  condensed  in  large  quan- 
tity, and  also  to  a  very  serious  extent,  by  coming  into  actual  contact 
with  the  water  itself. 

Papin,  who  has  already  been  referred  to,  in  1707  proposed1  to 
avoid  this  loss,  to  some  extent  at  least,  by  the  use  of  his  piston,  which 


Fig.  9.— Papin's  Steam-Engine,  a.  d.  1707. 


he  interposed  between  the  steam  and  the  water,  as  in  Fig.  9,  which 
is  copied  from  a  sketch  given  by  Papin  himself. 

This  engine  is,  in  principle,  a  Marquis  of  Worcester  engine,  in 
which  the  piston  E is  introduced  to  separate  the  steam  from  the  water 
which  it  impels,  and  thus  to  reduce  the  amount  of  loss  by  condensa- 
tion. 

This  engine  was  never  constructed,  except  experimentally,  how- 
ever, and  is  principally  of  interest  in  a  history  of  the  steam-engine 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  a  useful  suggestion  to  succeeding  inventors. 

Papin  had,  as  early  as  1698,  abandoned  his  earlier  but  more  ad- 

1  "  Nouvclle  Maniere  de  lever  l'Eau  par  la  Force  de  Feu,  mise  en  Lumiere."  Par 
M.  D.  Papin,  Docteur  en  Medecine,  Professeur  en  Mathematique  a  Cassel,  1707. 


THE  LAW   OF   CONTINUITY.  29 

vanced  project  of  a  piston,  driven  by  steam-pressure  on  one  side, 
assisted  by  a  vacuum  produced  on  the  other ;  and  he  can  only  be 
regarded,  therefore,  as  an  ingenious  and  intelligent  though  unfortu- 
nate projector,  and  not  as  a  successful  inventor,  notwithstanding  his 
acknowledged  ability  and  learning. 


-+*+- 


THE  LAW  OF  CONTINUITY. 

By  GEOEGE  ILES. 

WHEN"  the  details  of  knowledge  had  in  modern  times  accumu- 
lated to  so  great  an  extent  as  to  demand  some  organization 
of  them  into  principles,  thoughtful  men  cast  about  for  some  law 
which  might  serve  to  relate  and  connect  together,  in  part  at  least,  the 
multitude  of  facts  and  theories  which  were  in  an  isolated  and  incohe- 
rent state. 

At  this  important  stage  of  scientific  development,  Galileo  was  the 
first  to  recognize  the  value  of  Plato's  thought  as  to  the  continuous 
action  of  natural  forces.  By  arranging  in  serial  order  the  cases  of 
a  law,  he  showed  that  phenomena  which  might  be  supposed  to  be 
radically  distinct  were  really  due  to  one  cause ;  and  he  said  that, 
where  links  of  connection  were  unknown,  they  should  be  sought  for 
diligently. 

Galileo,  however,  was  too  busy  a  man  to  work  out  many  of  the 
suggestions  of  the  law  of  continuity,  and  it  remained  for  Leibnitz  to 
be  the  first  to  apply  it  extensively  in  the  test  of  physical  theories,  and 
in  the  reduction  of  fragmentary  knowledge  to  order  and  intelligibility. 
He  affirmed  that  nothing  passes  from  one  state  to  another  without 
passing  through  all  intermediate  states,  and  established  the  truth  of 
his  proposition  by  showing  the  absurdity  of  the  contrary.  If  a  change 
were  to  happen  without  the  lapse  of  time,  the  thing  changed  must  be 
in  two  different  conditions  at  the  same  instant,  which  is  manifestly 
impossible. 

From  this  principle,  for  example,  if  it  be  known  that  a  body  at  one 
moment  had  a  temperature  of  20°,  and  at  another  moment  a  tempera- 
ture of  40°,  it  is  certain  that  at  some  intervening  moment  its  tempera- 
ture was  30°.  Although  this  law  is  so  simple  when  stated  as  to  seem 
almost  axiomatic,  yet  its  cases  are  frequently  so  obscure  as  to  have 
caused  much  hesitation  in  its  acceptance  as  a  universal  or  even  a 
widely-operating  law.  Some  of  its  illustrations,  lately  discovered,  are 
among  the  hardest-won  triumphs  of  experimental  skill,  and  have  de- 
manded the  aid  of  the  most  refined  modern  apparatus. 

A  typical  example  of  continuity  has  long  been  familiar  to  students 
of  geometry ;  figures  which  may  differ  so  much  in  graphic  delineation 


3o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

as  the  circle,  the  ellipse,  parabola,  and  hyperbola,  may  be  united  by 
the  insensible  modifi cations  of  surface  afforded  by  the  inclination, 
more  and  more,  of  a  plane  dividing  a  cone  asunder. 

Similarly,  in  mechanics,  the  arc  of  a  vibrating  pendulum  may  be 
gradually  enlarged  by  successive  impacts  until  it  becomes  a  circle. 
The  part  of  a  rotation  differs  generically  from  a  complete  one,  yet  it 
may  approach  infinitely  near  to  it,  and  with  only  such  a  dhTerence  as 
exists  between  one  arc  and  another  slightly  shorter. 

The  works  on  physics  issued  during  the  last  century  abound  with 
distinctions  which  close  and  accurate  investigations  have  since  re- 
moved. Iron  was  once  thought  to  be  the  only  substance  endowable 
with  magnetism ;  now,  not  only  all  the  metals,  but  all  bodies  whatever, 
are  proved  to  present  this  polar  force.  In  like  manner,  with  respect 
to  heat  and  electricity,  conductors  and  non-conductors  were  ranged 
as  two  opposite  classes;  this  disposition  is  still  practically  useful, 
since  most  substances  conduct  either  very  well  or  very  ill ;  but  it  has 
given  way  as  a  precise  statement  of  truth  before  the  demonstration 
that  all  substances  may  be  placed  in  unbroken  order  as  to  conductive 
power.  For,  while  no  material  transmits  either  heat  or  electricity 
without  some  resistance,  that  resistance  is  in  no  case  indefinitely 
great. 

The  transmission  of  light  is  another  property  which  is  not  now 
confined  within  a  narrow  area;  transparency  is  no  longer  attributed 
to  a  few  bodies  only — air,  glass,  and  the  like — it  is  extended  to  matter 
universally,  experiment  and  reason  both  warranting  the  belief  that 
any  substance  whatever,  if  reduced  to  a  sufficiently  thin  film,  would 
be  pervious  to  light.  Gold,  one  of  the  densest  metals,  can  now  be 
deposited  by  electricity  in  such  tenuity  as  to  be  easily  penetrated  by 
the  solar  ray,  and,  although  science  is  unable  to  give  us  any  metal 
but  gold  in  a  translucent  state,  we  know  the  degrees  at  which  such 
light  as  passes  through  every  member  of  the  metallic  catalogue  is  re- 
fracted. This  curious  piece  of  information  has  been  attained  by  ex- 
tending to  the  cases  concerned  a  law,  which,  as  far  as  experiment  has 
gone,  has  been  found  true — namely,  that  the  angle  of  a  ray  polarized 
by  reflection  always  makes  90°  with  the  angle  of  a  refracted  ray. 
Now,  the  particular  angles  at  which  lead,  copper,  and  the  rest,  polar- 
ize light  by  reflection  being  observed,  a  simple  calculation  tells  us 
how  much  deflection  a  beam  may  undergo  in  piercing  metallic  plates. 
This  is  an  instance  of  how  Science  appropriates  territory,  one  might 
deem  ever  to  be  undiscovered,  by  availing  itself  of  the  relationship  of 
laws  binding  all  things  together,  and  interweaving  the  known  and  the 
unknown. 

Chemists  have  taken  their  acids  and  alkalies,  that  were  formerly 
adjudged  as  possessing  qualities  diametrically  opposite,  and  now 
include  them  in  one  catalogue,  no  two  consecutive  members  of  which 
are  much  more  than  distinguishable  in  character.     The  same  order 


THE  LAW   OF   CONTINUITY.  31 

has  also  been  adopted  in  the  electro-chemical  arrangement  of  metals. 
Upon  the  possibility  of  placing  all  bodies  in  a  continuous  list  under 
the  head  of  any  property  whatever — cohesion,  elasticity,  and  so  on — 
the  opinion  is  now  entertained  that  all  matter  is  capable  of  receiving, 
holding,  and  giving  forth,  any  kind  of  force. 

The  varieties  of  force  themselves  have  been  instructively  reduced 
to  a  single  basis — that  of  motion ;  electricity,  gravity,  light,  and  all 
the  rest,  are  at  present  referred  to  the  movement  in  particular  orbits 
and  planes  of  the  ultimate  particles  which  build  up  all  masses.  For 
any  sort  of  force  can  be  converted  by  suitable  means  into  any  other, 
and  all  into  common  mechanical  motion.  Now,  as  transformations  of 
energy  are  incessant  in  Nature — changes  whereby  heat  becomes  elec- 
tricity, electricity  light,  and  light  chemical  action — it  must  be  that 
there  are  intermediate  phases  which  a  body  assumes  while  passing 
from  the  manifestation  of  one  of  these  forces  to  another.  It  must  be 
that  the  ordinary  forms  of  force  just  named,  which  seem  to  be  so 
broadly  marked  off  from  each  other,  must  be  really  united  in  trans- 
mutation by  processes  of  motion  too  unstable  to  be  caught  and  de- 
tained by  our  comparatively  rude  methods  of  detection  and  arrest. 
The  extremes  of  a  series  we  see,  the  links  between  elude  us. 

The  kinds  of  motion  to  which  are  given  names  in  our  works  on 
physics  are,  perhaps,  only  the  stable  varieties  of  an  indefinitely  great 
number.  The  swiftness  of  the  transitions  from  one  stable  form  to  an- 
other may  explain  and  excuse  the  notion  long  held  that  the  different 
kinds  of  force  were  individual  entities,  unrelated  to  each  other. 

Here  one  of  the  chief  lessons  taught  us  by  the  law  of  continuity 
comes  in:  we  are  confronted  by  a  variety  of  seemingly  isolated  forces; 
we  find  them  taking  on  indifferently  one  another's  forms ;  and,  although 
we  know  not  how  they  do  so,  yet  we  can  see  the  danger  of  over-esti- 
mating the  apparent,  while  much  more  may  be  present  though  hidden 
from  our  sight.  The  comprehension  of  all  the  varieties  of  force  under 
the  one  category  of  motion  is  hardly  fraught  with  any  deduction  more 
suggestive  than  that  which  inclines  us  to  acknowledge  that  mere  per- 
manence has  hitherto  unduly  infiuenced  our  ideas  of  what  the  modes 
of  motion  may  be  in  extent  and  diversity.  The  existence  of  electricity 
was  unsuspected,  except  in  the  case  of  rubbed  amber,  until  within  a 
few  generations ;  the  fleeting  character  of  the  force  evading  the  scru- 
tiny of  the  majority  of  the  acutest  investigators  of  Nature  who  have 
lived. 

The  noble  generalization  of  the  conservation  of  energy  affords  an- 
other fact  and  hint  of  much  value.  It  tells  us  of  the  radical  identity 
of  all  sorts  of  force,  whether  as  that  of  the  descending  clock-weight ; 
or  in  a  simple  form  of  much  fixity,  as  that  of  heat ;  or  evanescent  and 
easily  convertible,  as  electricity ;  or  intricate  and  with  many  paths  of 
working,  as  chemical  affinity;  or  beyond  the  reach  of  any  but  vague 
and  general  means  of  examination,  as  the  forces  of  nerve  and  brain. 


32  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Every  one  of  these  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  laws  of  mechanics, 
even  when  the  motions  are  so  exalted  in  degree  and  dignity  as  to  seem 
of  other  stock  than  their  real  parents.  Or,  to  change  the  metaphor, 
the  tortuous  labyrinth  of  the  whole  series  diverges  by  clear  and  con- 
tinuous avenues  from  one  simple  highway,  where  the  elementary  laws 
of  motion  are  visibly  obeyed. 

The  consistences  of  matter,  as  well  as  its  properties,  illustrate  in  a 
remarkable  manner  the  principle  of  continuity.  Sir  William  Herschel 
long  ago  ventured  on  general  grounds  to  predict  that  the  solid,  liquid, 
and  gaseous  states  of  matter  would  be  found  to  shade  off  impercepti- 
bly into  each  other.  Twenty  years  afterward,  the  labors  of  Prof.  An- 
drews, of  Belfast,  proved  the  great  astronomer  right.  By  the  most 
ingenious  appliances,  he  detained  for  convenient  inspection  processes 
of  transition  from  gas  to  liquid,  which,  in  their  ordinary  progress,  co- 
alesce so  abruptly  as  to  seem  instantaneous.  In  some  familiar  cases 
we  can  perceive  changes  of  the  same  kind  going  on;  as,  for  example, 
in  the  melting  of  wax  we  can  follow  the  alteration  from  brittle  hard- 
ness to  plasticity,  and  thence  to  viscosity  and  liquefaction.  From 
facts  such  as  these,  here  very  briefly  indicated,  has  arisen  the  convic- 
tion that  all  matter  can  assume  any  of  the  three  consistences.  Fara- 
day liquefied,  by  cold  and  great  pressure,  several  of  what  had  been 
called  permanent  gases,  and  improvements  in  the  means  of  producing 
pressure  and  cold  will  doubtless  enable  us  in  the  future  to  liquefy  the 
remainder.  Although  the  greatest  heat  we  can  bring  to  bear  on  car- 
bon does  not  fuse  it,  still  the  tendency  of  our  knowledge  is  to  induce 
us  to  believe  that  coal  in  burning  for  a  brief  instant,  too  short  for  ob- 
servation, exists  in  the  liquid  state.  A  second  of  time  is  divisible  into 
millionths  quite  as  perfectly  as  a  geological  cycle. 

The  thread  of  continuity  has,  in  a  variety  of  cases,  been  established 
in  the  laboratory.  No  two  physical  facts  would  seem  to  stand  more 
decidedly  apart  than  chemical  union  and  mechanical  admixture,  yet 
we  find  them  inextricably  joined  when  we  add  sulphuric  acid  and 
water  together.  In  all  possible  percentages  do  these  liquids  chemi- 
cally combine,  and  this  at  variance  with  the  generally-obeyed  law  of 
definite  proportions.  The  same  departure  from  the  usual  rule  also 
obtains  among  other  complex  unions,  and  corroborates  what  first 
principles  affirm — namely,  that  chemical  forces  are  but  intense  and 
involved  mechanical  ones. 

In  the  progress  of  science  there  has  been  much  speculation  as  to 
the  method  by  which  light,  electricity,  and  gravitation,  are  propa- 
gated through  space.  It  is  the  old  question  again,  "  Can  matter  act 
where  it  is  not?"  Newton  found  the  idea  inconceivable,  and  ima- 
gined an  ether  as  the  vehicle  of  motions  between  the  suns  and  planets 
of  the  universe.  This  position  has  been  criticised  by  Mill,  who  says 
that  inconceivableness  is  no  test  of  truth,  and  who  asserts,  with  a  lack 
of  his  usual  caution,  that  scarcely  any  living  thinker  of  eminence  now 


THE  LAW   OF   CONTINUITY.  33 

doubts  that  matter  can  act  where  it  is  not.  What  light  have  recent 
researches  shed  upon  this  interesting  question,  heretofore  little  more 
than  metaphysical  ? 

The  solar  atmosphere  has  been  found  to  extend  to  more  than  half 
a  radius  beyond  its  surface;  at  the  top  of  its  corona,  high  above  the 
hydrogen,  there  are  vast  masses  of  a  gas  which  emits  a  simple,  green 
ray,  not  corresponding  with  that  of  any  known  substance.  In  auro- 
ral displays  on  earth,  in  the  uppermost  regions  of  our  atmosphere,  the 
same  simple  ray  has  been  detected;  whence  it  has  been  supposed  that 
atmospheres  are  not  restrictedly  planetary  nor  solar,  but  continuous 
and  cosmical;  and  that  it  may  be  a  gas  indefinitely  rarefied  that  con- 
veys tQ  us  through  the  depths  of  space  not  only  light-motion,  but  the 
yet  more  inappreciable  tremors  of  electricity  and  gravitation. 

The  ordinary  definitions  of  the  interstellar  ether  are  open  to  the 
objections  urged  by  Mill,  because  of  a  dread  there  seems  to  be  abroad 
of  ascribing  materiality  to  it ;  while  its  infinitesimal  materiality  is  not 
only  within  the  bounds  of  possibility,  but  well  agrees  with  the  facts. 
All  motion  takes  time  ;  light  has  a  measurable  velocity  ;  chemical  ac- 
tion of  the  most  violent  kind  and  even  explosions  are  not  instantane- 
ous. Were  it  otherwise,  the  hypothesis  of  no  medium  or  of  an  imma- 
terial one  might  be  entertained.  Now,  the  decidedness  in  amount  of 
a  body's  weight  as  a  mass,  or  in  its  particles,  has  no  necessary  connec- 
tion with  its  efficiency  as  a  medium  of  motion.  Just  the  reverse:  we 
find  that  as  matter  is  smaller  and  lighter  in  its  ultimate  parts  or  gross 
masses,  the  more  rapidly  can  it  communicate  motion,  and  the  greater 
is  its  capacity  for  motion.  It  is  a  familiar  fact  that,  in  the  use 
of  machinery,  a  small  wheel  can,  proportionately  to  its  weight,  con- 
tain and  transmit  more  motion  than  a  large  one,  the  plain  reason 
of  which  is  that  it  can  be  driven  at  a  higher  peripheral  speed,  its 
smaller  bulk  causing  less  centrifugal  strain  at  the  axis  than  if  it  were 
larger. 

Sound  travels  nearly  four  times  faster  in  hydrogen  than  in  air, 
and  in  quickness  of  elastic  recoil  it  is,  when  compressed,  preferable  to 
air  in  the  same  degree.  Its  extraordinary  chemical  energy,  far  tran- 
scending that  of  denser  gases,  is  a  fact  of  parallel  bearing. 

If  we  can  imagine  a  gas  as  much  thinner  than  hydrogen  as  the 
square  of  light's  velocity  exceeds  the  speed  of  sound  in  hydrogen 
(about  4,000  feet  a  second),  we  have  a  reasonable  presentation  of 
what  the  luminous  medium  may  be — its  marvelous  tenuity  being 
vastly  more  than  compensated  by  the  mobility  of  its  molecules. 
And,  therefore,  the  most  subtile  aeriform  fluid  conceivable  is  of  enor- 
mously more  utility  in  propagating  impulses  from  star  to  star  than 
solid  steel  would  be.  The  ether  of  space  perhaps  sustains  some  such 
relation  to  a  gas  as  a  gas  does  to  a  liquid ;  and  the  current  disputes 
as  to  the  materiality  or  immateriality  of  a  cosmic  medium  recall  very 
suggestively  the  days,  not  very  distant,  when  wise  men  doubted  the 

VOL.   XII. — 3 


34  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

materiality  of  air,  and  the  still  more  recent  times  when  it  was  found 
that  gases  other  than  air  had  existence. 

Some  further  speculations,  enkindled  by  the  green  ray  observed  in 
the  sunshine,  may  be  here  presented  as  relevant  to  the  subject.  Du- 
mas, the  eminent  French  chemist,  sought  by  very  careful  determina- 
tion to  prove  that  all  atomic  weights  were  exact  multiples  of  that  of 
hydrogen.  He  found  them  to  be  multiples  of  a  number  one-fourth  that 
of  hydrogen,  whence  the  tenuous  masses  which  lie  above  the  hydrogen 
on  the  sun's  surface  are  supposed  to  be  one-fourth  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  lightest  gas  we  commonly  know.  And,  as  the  spectrum  it 
yields  is  the  simplest  known  or  even  possible,  it  is  thought  that  this 
new  unit  of  the  atomic  scale  may  be  primal  matter,  and  the  source  of 
all  material  forms.  This  conjecture  is  not  unsupported  by  other  con- 
siderations, for,  in  the  four  kinds  of  stars  regarded  in  the  order  of  their 
brightness  and  heat,  there  is  a  progressively  increasing  variety  of 
gases  as  they  approach  a  lower  temperature — a  suggestion  this  as  to 
the  origin  of  our  sixty-three  so-called  elements  in  chemistry. 

In  domains  above  the  plane  of  physics,  we  can  observe  many 
beautiful  cases  of  the  law  of  continuity.  On  a  window-pane  in  winter 
we  can  notice  structural  forces  beginning  their  work  where  there  has 
been,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  no  structure.  We  may  breathe  on  the 
glass,  and  no  microscope  can  there  reveal  any  definite  direction  in  the 
disposal  of  the  moisture.  Yet,  from  it  a  symmetrical  architecture  of 
frost  slowly  arises.  We  may  take  a  crystal  just  deposited  from  a 
solution,  break  off  a  corner  from  it,  and  replace  it  in  the  liquid  whence 
it  came,  when  the  damage  will  be  accurately  repaired. 

Between  the  inorganic  and  the  organic  kingdoms  of  Nature  the 
old  partition-walls  have  at  many  points  been  removed.  Formic  acid, 
such  as  ants  secrete,  has  been  made  artificially  by  the  synthesis  of  its 
elements ;  and  so  have  other  products,  formerly  regarded  as  purely 
organic.  Prof.  Huxley  maintains  the  opinion  that,  in  the  past,  highly- 
complex  chemical  compounds  have  passed  into  the  state  of  what  he 
calls  protoplasm,  the  simplest  basis  of  organic  life.  The  controversy 
about  spontaneous  generation  is  not  whether  the  organic  is  contained 
and  potential  in  the  inorganic,  but  whether  the  transition  can  be  arti- 
ficially effected  now. 

Plants,  like  the  fly-catcher,  which  closes  on  venturesome  insects 
and  absorbs  their  juices,  show  us  how  powers,  commonly  supposed  to 
be  exclusively  animal,  may  be  shared  by  members  of  the  vegetable 
world.  The  sensitive-plant  has  something  very  like  the  nervous  sys- 
tem which  marks  the  highest  types  of  life,  for  it  not  only  shrinks 
when  rudely  touched,  but  also  when  exposed  to  fumes  of  chloroform. 
In  the  same  direction  points  what  in  plants  generally  seems  to  paral- 
lel instinct  in  animals.  If  a  layer  of  soil  near  the  surface  of  the 
ground  be  unusually  rich  and  moist,  the  rootlets  in  growth  are  spread 
almost  wholly  along  that  layer,  while  in  any  other  case  they  descend. 


THE  LAW   OF   CONTINUITY.  35 

The  tendrils  of  vines  find  points  for  attachment  an  inch  or  two  from 
their  stems ;  in  cellars  and  caverns  the  feeble  sprouts  grow  toward 
the  light  which  they  seem  to  feel  is  their  life. 

Is  not  all  this  conformable  to  the  law  by  which  motion  takes  the 
path  of  least  resistance,  as  in  the  case  of  the  waters  of  a  broken  reser- 
voir descending  to  a  valley  by  the  shortest  channel ;  or  discharges 
of  electricity  harmlessly  betaking  themselves  to  the  earth  through  a 
purposely-exposed  conductor  ? 

Instinct,  especially  in  insects,  borders  on  and  at  times  invades 
the  higher  realm  of  intelligence.  The  shapes  of  birds'-nests,  wax- 
cells,  and  so  on,  are  not  rigidly  invariable,  but  are  always  more  or 
less  adapted  to  circumstances.  Glass  rods  have  been  placed  in  a  bee- 
hive, and  the  little  workers  to  avoid  them  have  sprung  all  sorts  of  but- 
tresses and  arches,  such  probably  as  neither  they  nor  any  of  their  pro- 
genitors ever  undertook  before. 

Natural  history,  in  the  discussions  which  have  recently  shaken 
the  world,  illustrates  how  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  is  the  task  of 
trying  to  draw  lines  of  demarkation,  hard  and  fast,  in  Nature.  The 
arguments  pro  and  con  as  to  what  constitutes  a  true  species  might 
be  gathered  into  a  very  bulky  volume,  and  the  end  of  the  discussion 
is  not  yet. 

The  probability  of  truth,  on  the  side  of  those  naturalists  who  affirm 
the  principle  of  continuity  as  explaining  the  genesis  of  species,  has 
been  strengthened  by  that  principle  being  made  the  basis  of  the  best 
method  of  zoological  classification  yet  produced. 

Profs.  Huxley  and  Haeckel  describe  a  tree  of  life :  the  main  branch- 
es of  it  are  the  great  classes;  the  divergent  limbs,  the  families;  and 
the  minor  branches,  the  species.  The  wide  gaps  between  the  groups 
of  organisms  now  extant  are  in  considerable  measure  bridged  by  re- 
course to  fossils,  and  the  suggestions  of  embryology — which  science 
studies  the  phases  an  animal  passes  through  from  conception  to  birth, 
and  observes  the  affiliations  indicated  in  antenatal  history. 

As  the  gulfs  existing  between  living  things  present  the  most  for- 
midable difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  reception  of  the  principle  of  con- 
tinuity in  its  broadest  claims,  it  may  be  admissible  here  to  present 
some  of  the  explanations  given  by  Lyell  and  others  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  so  many  links  of  genetic  connection  are  missing.  It  is  most 
important  to  a  species  that  it  should  preserve  and  intensify  some 
definite  method  of  subsistence — a  habit  of  diving,  climbing,  swimming, 
digging,  or  of  catching  some  particular  prey,  or  finding  and  living  on 
some  special  plant.  There  is  a  natural  premium  set  upon  some  ex- 
pertness  of  this  kind,  which  we  must  mark  is  very  apt  to  run  in  a  nar- 
row groove ;  and  there  is  a  yet  greater  reward  for  any  new  expertness, 
the  occupying  of  a  new  field  of  animal  possibility,  or  an  adaptation  to 
circumstances  changed  by  the  great  forces  of  Nature — as  in  the  mighty 
revolutions  brought  about  by  astronomical  and  geological  causes. 


3 6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

In  periods  of  transition  we  can  well  imagine  that  an  elasticity  in 
stationary  circumstances,  usually  all  but  dormant  in  an  organism, 
comes  into  play  with  all  its  power;  and  hence  that  the  type  fit  for 
the  new  conditions  is,  comparatively  speaking,  soon  formed  and  fixed. 
We  may  thus  understand  how  it  is  that  a  wide  diversity  among  liv- 
ing forms  has  been  brought  about,  and  why  it  is  that  few  fossils  in- 
termediate between  them  have  been  discovered.  Some  very  striking 
ones  have  been  unearthed,  but  it  would  be  an  unwarrantable  die-res- 
sion  to  describe  them  in  a  paper  of  these  limits. 

The  remote  extremes  which  may  be  joined  together  by  gentle  and 
imperceptible  modifications  are  well  illustrated  in  the  facts  of  ordinary 
growth.  Newton  had  once  to  be  taught  that  two  and  two  make  four, 
yet  from  that  day  to  the  culmination  of  his  powers  there  was  no  ab- 
rupt accession  of  knowledge  or  insight.  He  came  by  steady  advances 
from  the  ignorance  of  a  babe  to  the  full  stature  of  the  first  physical 
philosopher  in  Europe. 

All  this  teaches  us  the  supreme  importance  of  looking  at  things 
in  their  dynamic  as  well  as  in  their  static  aspect ;  of  regarding  the 
mechanics  not  less  earnestly  than  the  geometry  of  Nature.  For  dif- 
ferences in  degree  may  gradually  accumulate  until  they  become  dif- 
ferences in  kind.  We  have  seen  how  various  sources  of  obscurity  may 
veil  processes  of  genesis,  and  lead  any  but  a  minute  and  careful  ob- 
server to  mistake  a  new  form  for  a  new  identity.  We  have  noticed 
how  the  possession  of  qualities  usually  in  extremes  may  conceal  the 
fact  that  the  qualities  are  general — as  in  the  magnet,  which  is  but  an 
exaggerated  case  of  any  mass  whatever. 

We  have  noticed  how  the  vast  differences  in  the  time  required  in 
transmutation  may  tend  to  confuse  the  similarity  of  two  cases  of  a 
law.  The  embrowning  of  a  pine  fence  in  the  course  of  years  is  due  to 
the  same  cause  which  chars  in  a  few  minutes  the  same  wood  when 
used  as  fuel.  We  have  remarked,  also,  the  enormous  differences  in 
the  stability  of  natural  forces :  some  of  them,  as  heat,  are  metamor- 
phosed with  great  difficulty ;  others,  as  electricity,  are  of  very  weak 
permanence ;  and  others,  again,  in  whose  existence  we  have  good 
reasons  to  believe,  are  too  evanescent  to  be  detected  by  the  keenest 
scrutiny. 

It  has  also  appeared  that  mere  complexity  of  resultant  lines,  as 
simple  forces  interact,  may  yield  the  erroneous  supposition  that  new 
and  higher  causes  than  the  real  ones  have  come  into  action. 

It  has  been  briefly  stated  how  diverse  properties  merge  into  one 
another,  and  various  consistencies  overpass  the  bounds  of  common 
definition  ;  and,  leaving  the  region  of  fact  for  that  of  speculation,  it 
has  been  shown  how  the  principle  of  continuity  may  account  for  the 
genesis  of  our  chemical  elements,  and  the  transfer  of  impulses  across 
the  diameter  of  the  heavens. 

All  these  facts,  probabilities,  and  suggestions,  lead  to  the  convic- 


MODERN   TROGLODYTES.  37 

tion  that  continuity  is  a  universal  law ;  that  it  prevails  everywhere, 
and  has  prevailed  throughout  all  time ;  that  its  present  innumerable 
and  intricate  threads  have  been  spun  forth  from  the  simplest  conceiv- 
able state  of  matter  and  motion,  which  from  the  beginning  have  been 
subject  to  a  uniform  code  of  law — a  code  of  law  growing  more  com- 
plicated with  time  by  the  interaction  and  mutual  influence  of  primi- 
tive principles. 

The  study  of  continuity  presents  many  results  very  pertinent  to 
the  great  question,  "  How  has  Nature  assumed  the  infinite  beautiful 
forms  which  engage  our  attention  and  admiration  to-day?"  The 
probabilities  in  favor  of  the  solution  offered  by  the  evolution  theory 
are  much  enhanced  when  we  consider  how  insignificant  in  area,  and 
transient  in  operation,  are  many  of  the  bridges  connecting  together 
the  islands  and  continents  of  forces  and  life. 

As  we  trace  out  with  great  pains  the  unbroken  links  stretching 
between  the  most  diverse  facts  and  appearances,  links  which  a  cursory 
view  would  never  discover,  we  find  that  that  theory  which  supposes  a 
community  of  origin  and  descent  for  all  that  now  is,  has  a  remarkable 
body  of  evidence  adducible  in  its  favor. 

That  Nature  has  arrived  at  its  present  state  by  the  continuous 
action  of  forces  such  as  are  now  at  work  around  us,  has  become  so 
widely-prevalent  a  conviction  that  Mill  said,  speaking  of  the  inclusion 
of  special  laws  in  general  ones  convergently,  that  the  question  Sci- 
ence now  asks  is,  "  What  are  the  fewest  and  simplest  assumptions 
which,  being  granted,  the  existing  order  of  Nature  would  follow?" 


MODERN    TEOGLODYTES. 

By  FELIX  L.   OSWALD,  M.  D. 

THE  Troglodytes  or  Cave-dwellers  of  ancient  Nubia  belonged  to 
a  tribe  which  seems  to  have  formed  an  intermediate  link  between 
the  Semitic  and  Ethiopian  races,  but  which  has  become  entirely  ex- 
tinct before  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Between  Sidi 
Elgor  and  Port  Er-nassid  (the  ancient  Berenice),  on  the  shores  of  the 
Red  Sea,  Dr.  Brehm  examined  many  of  the  limestone-caverns  which 
were  the  favorite  haunts  of  these  singular  beings,  and  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  distinguishing  the  bones  of  the  Coptic  and  Arabian  burial- 
places  from  the  Troglodyte  skeletons,  which  could  be  recognized  by 
their  demi-simian  skulls,  their  attenuated  brachial  and  femoral  bones, 
and  especially  their  narrow  chests. 

These  peculiarities  Dr.  Brehm  ascribes  to  the  unnatural  habits  of 
the  wretched  cave-men,  who,  from  cowardice  or  constitutional  sloth, 
passed  the  greater  part  of  their  existence  in  the  penetralia  of  their 


3 8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

foul  burrows,  while  their  neighbors  preferred  a  manlier  way  of  secur- 
ing themselves  against  enemies  and  wild  beasts,  and  saved  themselves 
from  the  glow  of  the  midsummer  sun  by  cultivating  shade-trees. 
"Herodotus  speaks  of  persecutions,"  the  doctor  remarks,  "  but  this 
fixed  custom  of  theirs  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  vicious  habit, 
strengthened  by  hereditary  transmission,  quite  as  much  as  to  neces- 
sity, for  men  can  become  fond  of  vitiated  air,  as  they  contract  a  pas- 
sion for  fermented  drink  or  decayed  food." 

It  seems  really  so,  if  we  reflect  on  the  hereditary  perversity  of 
millions  of  Europeans  and  North  American  citizens,  who  in  the  midst 
of  social  security,  and  without  the  excuse  of  the  persecuted  Nubians, 
insist  on  secluding  themselves  and  their  children  in  the  foul  atmos- 
phere of  tenement-houses,  factories,  and  workshops,  which  might  just 
as  cheaply  be  supplied  with  pure  as  with  warm  air. 

The  air  we  breathe,  which  a  great  English  physician  calls  gaseous 
food,  may  become  impure  to  the  degree  of  being  indigestible  to  our 
lungs  and  utterly  unfit  for  the  performance  of  functions  which  are 
quite  as  important  as  those  of  our  solid  and  fluid  victuals.  Dull 
headaches,  nausea,  loss  of  appetite  and  of  the  sense  of  smell,  and  the 
sadness  produced  by  the  unsatisfied  hunger  after  oxygen,  are  only 
incidental  and  secondary  evils ;  the  great  principal  curse  of  the  trog- 
lodyte-habit is  its  influence  on  the  respiratory  organs.  In  1853,  when 
Hanover  and  other  parts  of  Northern  Germany  were  visited  by  a  very 
malignant  kind  of  small-pox,  the  great  anatomist  Langenbeck  tried 
to  discover  "  the  peculiarity  of  organic  structure  which  disposes  one 
man  to  catch  the  disease  while  his  neighbor  escapes  ....  I  have  cut 
up  more  human  bodies  than  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain  with  all  his 
accomplices,"  he  writes  from  Gottingen  in  his  semi-annual  report, 
"  and,  speaking  only  of  my  primary  object,  I  must  confess  that  I  am 
no  wiser  than  before.  But,  though  the  mystery  of  small-pox  has 
eluded  my  search,  my  labors  have  not  been  in  vain ;  they  have  re- 
vealed to  me  something  else — the  origin  of  consumption.  I  am  sure 
now  of  what  I  suspected  long  ago,  viz.,  that  pulmonary  diseases  have 
very  little  to  do  with  intemperance  or  with  erotic  excesses,  and  much 
less  with  cold  weather,  but  are  nearly  exclusively  (if  we  except  tuber- 
culous tendencies  inherited  from  both  parents,  I  say  quite  exclusively) 
produced  by  the  breathing  of  foul  air.  The  lungs  of  all  persons, 
minors  included,  who  had  worked  for  some  years  in  close  workshops 
and  dusty  factories,  showed  the  germs  of  the  fatal  disease,  while  con- 
firmed inebriates,  who  had  passed  their  days  in  open  air,  had  pre- 
served their  respiratory  organs  intact,  whatever  inroads  their  ex- 
cesses had  made  on  the  rest  of  their  system.  If  I  should  go  into 
practice  and  undertake  the  cure  of  a  consumptive,  I  should  begin  by 
driving  him  out  into  the  Deister  (a  densely-wooded  mountain-range  of 
Hanover),  and  prevent  him  from  entering  a  house  for  a  year  or  two." 

The  ablest  pathologists  of  the  present  time  incline  to  the  same 


MODERN   TROGLODYTES.  39 

view.  "  There  is  a  cure  for  consumption,"  says  Dio  Lewis,  "  though 
I  doubt  it'  it  will  ever  become  popular.  Even  in  its  advanced  stages 
the  disease  may  be  arrested  by  roughing  it  /  I  mean  by  adopting 
savage  habits,  and  living  out-doors  altogether,  and  in  all  kinds  of 
weather." 

That  low  temperature  in  open  air  does  not  injure  our  lungs  has 
been  recognized  even  by  old-school  physicians,  who  now  send  their 
patients  to  Minnesota  and  Northern  Michigan  quite  as  often  as  to 
Florida;  and  is  conclusively  proved  by  the  fact  that  of  all  nations  of 
the  earth,  next  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Senegal  highlands,  the  Nor- 
wegians, Icelanders,  and  Yakuts  of  Northern  Siberia,  enjoy  the  most 
perfect  immunity  from  tubercular  diseases.  Dry  and  intensely  cold 
air  preserves  decaying  organic  tissue  by  arresting  decomposition,  and 
it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  how  the  most  effective  remedy  came  to 
be  suspected  of  being  the  cause  of  tuberculosis,  unless  we  remember 
that,  where  fuel  is  accessible,  the  disciple  of  civilization  rarely  fails  to 
take  refuge  from  excessive  cold  in  its  opposite  extreme — an  over- 
heated artificial  atmosphere — and  thus  comes  to  connect  severe  win- 
ters with  the  idea  of  pectoral  complaints. 

There  is  a  rather  numerous  class  of  beasts  whose  lungs  seem 
able  to  adapt  themselves  to  an  atmosphere  almost  devoid  of  oxygen, 
but  the  human  animal  and  the  Quadrumana  do  not  belong  to  that 
class.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte-Baudin,  who  was  connected  with  the 
scientific  stall* of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  as  their  "menagerie-doctor" 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  never  omitted  to  dissect  his  deceased 
patients  before  turning  them  over  to  the  taxidermist,  and  invariably 
found  that  all  monkeys  had  succumbed  to  some  variety  of  phthisis, 
while  the  lungs  of  the  badgers,  bears,  and  foxes,  were  perfectly  sound. 
The  three  last-named  animals  are  natural  cave-dwellers,  and  have 
been  provided  wi£h  organs  especially  contrived  to  resist  the  effluvia 
of  their  burrows ;  while  the  Simice,  like  man,  are  open-air  creatures? 
whose  proper  atmosphere  is  the  cordial  air  of  woodlands. 

Among  the  natives  of  Senegambia  pulmonary  affections  are  not 
only  nearly  but  absolutely  unknown ;  yet  a  single  year  passed  in  the  over- 
crowded man-pens  and  steerage-hells  of  the  slave-trader  often  sufficed 
to  develop  the  disease  in  that  most  virulent  form  known  as  galloping 
consumption;  and  the  brutal  planters  of  the  Spanish  Antilles  made  a 
rule  of  never  buying  an  imported  negro  before  they  had  "tested  his 
wind,"  i.  e.,  trotted  him  up-hill  and  watched  his  respirations.  If  he 
proved  to  be  "  a  roarer,"  as  turfmen  term  it,  they  knew  that  the  dun- 
geon had  done  its  work  and  discounted  his  value  accordingly.  "  If  a 
perfectly  sound  man  is  imprisoned  for  life,"  says  Baron  d'Arblay,  the 
Belgian  philanthropist,  "  his  lungs,  as  a  rule,  will  first  show  symptoms 
of  disease,  and  shorten  his  misery  by  a  hectic  decline,  unless  he  should 
commit  suicide." 

Our  home  statistics  show  that  the  percentage  of  deaths  by  con- 


4o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

sumption  in  each  State  bears  an  exact  proportion  to  the  greater  or 
smaller  number  of  inhabitants  who  follow  in-door  occupations,  and 
is  highest  in  the  factory  districts  of  New  England  and  the  crowded  cit- 
ies of  our  central  States.  In  Great  Britain  the  rate  increases  with  the 
latitude,  and  attains  its  maximum  height  in  Glasgow,  where,  as  Sir 
Charles  Brodie  remarks,  windows  are  opened  only  one  day  for  every 
two  in  Birmingham,  and  every  three  and  a  half  in  London  ;  but  going 
farther  north  the  percentage  suddenly  sinks  from  twenty-three  to 
eleven,  and  even  to  six,  if  we  cross  the  fifty-seventh  parallel,  which 
marks  the  boundary  between  the  manufacturing  counties  of  Central 
Scotland  and  the  pastoral  regions  of  the  north. 

It  is  distressingly  probable,  then,  to  say  the  least,  that  consump- 
tion, that  most  fearful  scourge  of  the  human  race,  is  not  a  "  mysteri- 
ous dispensation  of  Providence,"  nor  a  "  product  of  our  outrageous 
climate,"  but  the  direct  consequence  of  an  outrageous  violation  of 
the  physical  laws  of  God.  Dyspepsia  (for  which  also  open-air  exer- 
cise is  the  only  remedy),  hypochondria,  and  not  only  obstruction  but 
destruction  of  the  sense  of  smell — "knowledge  from  one  entrance 
quite  shut  out" — will  all  be  pronounced  mere  trifles  by  any  one  who 
has  witnessed  the  protracted  agony  of  the  Luft-Noth,  as  the  Ger- 
mans call  it  with  horrid  directness — the  frantic,  ineffectual  strusrele 
for  life-air.  Dr.  Haller  thought  that,  if  God  punishes  suicide,  he  would 
make  an  exception  in  favor  of  consumptives;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that,  without  the  merit  of  martyrdom,  the  victim  of  the  cruel  dis- 
ease endures  worse  than  ever  Eastern  despot  or  grand-Inquisitor 
could  inflict  on  the  objects  of  his  wrath,  because  the  same  amount  of 
torture  in  any  other  form  would  induce  speedier  death. 

But  not  only  the  punishments  but  also  the  warnings  of  Nature 
are  proportioned  to  the  magnitude  of  each  offense  against  her  laws. 
Injurious  substances  are  repulsive  to  our  taste,  incipient  exhaustion 
warns  us  by  a  feeling  of  hunger  or  weariness,  and  every  strain  on  our 
frame  that  threatens  us  with  rupture  or  dislocation  announces  the 
danger  by  an  unmistakable  appeal  to  our  sensorium.  How,  then, 
can  it  be  reconciled  with  the  immutable  laws  of  life  that  the  great- 
est bane  of  our  physical  organism  overcomes  us  so  unawares  that 
consumption  is  proverbially  referred  to  as  the  insidious  disease? 
Should  it  really  be  possible  that  Nature  has  failed  to  provide  any 
alarm-signals  against  a  danger  like  this  ?  The  truth  is,  that  none 
of  her  protests  are  more  pathetic  or  more  persistent  than  those  di- 
rected against  the  habit  that  is  fraught  with  such  pernicious  conse- 
quences to  our  respiratory  organs. 

It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  victims  of  our  numerous  dietetic 
abuses  have  become  initiated  to  these  vices  at  such  an  early  period 
of  their  lives  that  they  have  forgotten  the  time  when  the  taste  of  tea 
and  alcohol  seemed  bitter,  or  the  smell  of  tobacco  produced  nausea  ; 
but  I  am  certain  that  no  man  gifted  with  a  moderate  share  of  memory, 


MODERN   TROGLODYTES.  41 

who  has  grown  up  in  the  pest  atmosphere  of  our  city  tenements, 
school-rooms,  and  workshops,  can  forget  the  passionate  yearnings  of 
his  childhood  for  the  free  air  of  the  woods  and  mountains;  the  wild 
outcry  of  his  instinct  against  the  process  that  inoculated  him  with 
the  seeds  of  death,  and  stunted  the  development  of  his  most  vital 
faculties.  The  remorselessness  of  the  pagan  Chinese,  who  smother 
the  life-spark  of  their  infants  in  the  swift  embrace  of  the  river-god,  is 
mercy  itself  compared  to  the  cruelty  of  Christian  parents  who  suffo- 
cate their  children  by  the  slow  process  of  stinting  their  life-air,  through 
years  and  years  of  confinement  in  dungeons  to  which  an  enlightened 
community  would  not  even  consign  their  malefactors. 

Honest  Jean  Paul  relates  that  he  used  to  secure  a  seat  in  a  certain 
corner  of  an  overcrowded  village  schoolhouse,  where  a  knot-hole  in 
the  wall  established  a  communication  with  the  outer  world.  Through 
this  orifice  he  imbibed  comfort  and  inspiration  as  from  a  flask,  but 
conceived  conscientions  scruples  against  the  practice,  as  he  never 
could  indulge  without  becoming  conscious  of  a  temptation  to  aban- 
don his  old  parents  and  his  home,  and  join  a  troop  of  wood-cutters  or 
gypsies,  not  from  any  vagrant  tendencies,  or  want  of  dutiful  sentiments, 
but  from  an  almost  irresistible  desire  to  make  the  luxury  of  fresh  air 
a  permanent  blessing.  "  I  knew  they  would  charge  me  with  black 
ingratitude,  if  I  should  run  away,"  he  says.  "  Good  God  1  how  I 
longed  to  prove  my  affection  by  working  for  them  in  wind  and  weath- 
er, fetching  in  cord-wood  from  the  woods  and  splitting  it  into  the 
nicest,  handiest  pieces,  carrying  messages  over  the  snow-covered 
mountains  and  be  back  in  half  the  time  any  one  else  could  make  the 
trip — do  anything  that  would  save  me — not  from  my  books,  but  from 
that  glowing  Moloch  of  a  big  stove,  and  that  stifling,  soul-stifling 
smell  of  our  dungeon !  " 

Even  to  the  most  inveterate  believer  in  natural  depravity  this 
might  suggest  a  doubt  whether  the  repugnance  of  children  to  study 
may  not  be  founded  on  a  physical  virtue  rather  than  on  moral  per- 
verseness.  To  whatever  is  really  beneficent  we  are  commonly  drawn 
by  natural  attraction,  and  whatever  appears  violently  repulsive  to 
youthful  minds  may  be  justly  suspected  of  containing  more  of  evil 
than  of  good.  The  very  disciple  of  Socrates  who  used  to  run  six- 
teen miles  a  day  to  hear  the  dpiarog  larpov  (best  of  physicians),  would 
have  hesitated  to  purchase  physic  for  his  soul  at  the  price  of  physical 
health;  and  we  cannot  blame  our  children  for  being  unable  to  recon- 
cile the  precepts  they  hear  with  those  they  feel,  and  giving  way  now 
and  then  to  the  more  consistent  and  more  logical  prompter. 

The  farmer's  boy  may  look  forward  to  each  afternoon  and  each 
summer  vacation  as  a  refreshing  interlude,  and  to  the  last  term  of 
his  school-years  as  the  last  act  of  the  tragedy;  but  in  cities  the  end 
of  the  school-room  bondage  is  too  often  the  beginning  of  the  endless 
slavery  which  awaits  the  young  apprentice  of  the  workshops,  facto- 


42  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ries,  and  counting-houses.  In  Northwestern  Europe  and  the  Eastern 
States  of  North  America,  eleven  million  human  beings,  a  fourth  of 
that  number  minors,  are  performing  their  daily  toil  in  an  atmosphere 
that  saps  the  vigor  of  their  souls  and  bodies  more  effectually  than  a 
diet  of  potatoes  and  water  could  do  it  in  the  same  time.  A  full  third 
of  the  cotton-spinners  of  Lancashire  and  Massachusetts  are  girls  and 
boys  in  their  teens !  They  do  not  complain  to  a  stranger,  unless  he 
should  be  able  to  interpret  the  language  of  their  haggard  faces  and 
weary  eyes;  but  no  one  who  has  fathomed  the  depth  of  their  misery 
will  charge  me  with  exaggeration  if  I  say  that,  to  the  vast  majority  of 
the  unfortunates,  loss  of  feeling  and  of  reason  would  be  a  blessing. 
What  do  they  feel  but  unsatisfied  hunger  in  a  hundred  forms,  and 
what  can  reason  tell  them  but  that  they  have  been  defrauded  of  their 
birthright  to  happiness;  that  not  only  their  opportunity  but  their  ca- 
pacity for  enjoyment  is  ebbing  away ;  and  that,  whatever  after-years 
may  bring,  their  life  has  been  robbed  as  a  day  of  its  morning  or  a 
year  of  its  spring-time  ? 

The  opium-habit  may  be  acquired  in  less  than  half  a  year,  and  the 
natural  repugnance  to  alcohol  and  tobacco  is  generally  overcome  after 
four  or  five  trials ;  but  the  factory-slave  has  to  pass  through  ten  or 
fifteen  years  of  continual  struggle  against  his  physical  conscience, 
before  the  voice  of  instinct  at  last  becomes  silent,  and  the  painful 
longing  for  out-door  life  gives  way  to  that  anaesthesia  by  which  Na- 
ture palliates  evils  for  which  she  has  no  remedy.  In  more  advanced 
years  the  habit  becomes  confirmed,  and  we  find  old  habitues'  who 
actually  enjoy  the  effluvia  of  their  prisons,  and  dread  cold  air  and 
"drafts"  as  they  would  a  messenger  of  death.  They  avoid  cold  in- 
stead of  impurity,  just  as  tipplers  on  a  warm  day  imagine  that  they 
would  "  catch  their  death  "  by  a  draught  from  a  cool  fountain,  but 
never  hesitate  to  swallow  the  monstrous  mixtures  of  the  liquor-vender. 

Rousseau  expresses  a  belief  that  any  man,  who  has  preserved  his 
native  temperance  for  the  first  twenty-five  years,  will  afterward  be 
pretty  nearly  proof  against  temptation,  because  very  unnatural  habits 
can  only  be  acquired  while  our  tastes  have  the  pliancy  of  immaturity, 
and  I  think  the  same  holds  good  of  the  troglodyte-habit :  no  one  who 
has  passed  twenty  or  twenty -five  years  in  open  air  can  be  bribed  very 
easily  to  exchange  oxygen  for  miasma. 

Shamyl-ben-Hacldin,  the  Circassian  hero  chieftain,  who  was  capt- 
ured by  the  Russians  in  the  winter  of  1864,  was  carried  to  Novgorod 
and  imprisoned  in  an  apartment  of  the  city  armory,  which  resembled 
a  comfortable  bedchamber  rather  than  a  dungeon,  and  was  otherwise 
treated  with  more  kindness  than  the  Russians  are  wont  to  show  their 
prisoners,  as  the  Government  hoped  to  use  his  influence  for  political 
purposes.  But  a  week  after  his  arrival  in  Novgorod  the  captive  moun- 
taineer demanded  an  interview  with  the  commander  of  the  armory, 
and  offered  to  resign  his  liberal  rations  and  subsist  on  bread  and  cab- 


MODERN   TROGLODYTES.  43 

bage-soup  like  the  private  soldiers  of  his  guard,  and  also  to  surrender 
some  valuables  he  had  concealed  on  his  person,  on  condition  that  they 
would  permit  him  to  sleep  in  open  air.  One  more  week  of  such  nausea 
and  headache  as  the  confinement  in  a  closed  room  had  caused  him, 
would  force  him  to  commit  suicide,  he  said,  and,  if  his  request  was 
refused,  God  would  charge  the  guilt  of  the  deed  on  his  tormentors. 
After  taking  due  precautions  against  all  possibility  of  escape,  they 
permitted  him  to  sleep  on  the  platform  in  front  of  the  guard-house; 
and  Colonel  Darapski,  the  commander  of  the  city,  informed  his  govern- 
ment in  the  following  spring  that  the  health  and  general  behavior 
of  his  prisoner  were  excellent,  but  he  had  slept  in  open  air  every  one 
of  the  last  kundi'ed  nights,  with  no  other  covering  but  his  own  worn- 
out  mantle,  and  a  woollen  cap  he  had  purchased  from  a  soldier  of  the 
guard  to  keep  his  turban  from  getting  soiled  by  mud  and  rain. 

General  Sam  Houston,  the  liberator  of  Texas,  who  had  exiled  him- 
self from  his  native  State  in  early  manhood,  and  passed  long  years, 
not  as  a  captive,  but  as  a  voluntary  companion  of  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
was  ever  afterward  unable  to  prolong  his  presence  in  a  crowded  hall 
or  ill-ventilated  room  beyond  ten  or  twelve  minutes,  and  described 
his  sensation  on  entering  such  a  locality  as  one  of  "uneasiness, increas- 
ing to  positive  alarm,  such  as  a  mouse  may  be  supposed  to  feel  under 
an  air-pump." 

The  cause  of  this  uneasiness  is  less  mysterious  than  our  nature's 
wonderful  power  of  adaptation  that  can  help  us  ever  to  overcome  it. 
The  elementary  changes  in  the  human  body  are  going  on  with  such 
rapidity  that  the  waste  of  tissue  and  organic  fluids  is  only  partially 
retrieved  by  the  digestible  part  of  the  substances  which  we  feed 
to  the  abdominal  department  of  our  laboratory  twice  or  thrice  in 
twenty-four  hours,  The  difference  is  made  up  by  the  labors  of  the 
upper  or  pectoral  department,  which  renews  its  supply  of  raw  mate- 
rial independently,  or  even  in  spite  of  our  will,  twenty  times  per 
minute,  or  70,000  times  in  twenty-four  hours !  With  every  breath 
we  draw  we  take  into  our  lungs  about  one  pint  of  air,  so  that  the 
quantity  of  gaseous  food  thus  consumed  by  the  body  amounts  in  a 
day  to  675  cubic  feet.  T'ne  truth,  then,  is  that  eating  and  drinking 
may  be  considered  as  secondary  or  supplementary  functions  in  the 
complicated  process  performed  by  that  living  engine  called  the  animal 
body,  while  the  more  important  task  falls  to  the  share  of  the  lungs. 
The  stomach  may  suspend  its  labors  entirely  for  twenty-four  hours 
without  serious  detriment  to  the  system,  and  for  two  or  three  days 
without  endangering  life,  while  the  work  of  respiration  cannot  be 
interrupted  for  six  minutes  without  fatal  consequences. 

The  first  object  of  respiration  is  to  introduce  elements  needed  in 
the  preparation  of  blood,  the  second  to  remove  gaseous  carbon  and 
other  secretions  of  the  air-cells.  The  deleterious  consequences,  there- 
fore, of  breathing  the  same  air  over  and  over  again  arise  not  only 


44  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

from  the  exhaustion  of  oxygen,  but  also  from  the  circumstance  that 
the  confined  atmosphere  may  become  azotized  or  surcharged  with 
carbon  to  the  limit  of  its  absorbing  powers,  just  as  water,  after  being 
saturated  with  certain  percents  of  salt  or  sugar,  refuses  to  dissolve  any 
further  additions.  The  act  of  reinspiring  air,  which  has  already  been 
subjected  to  the  process  of  pulmonary  digestion,  is  thus  precisely  anal- 
ogous to  the  act  of  a  famished  animal  devouring  its  own  feces,  and  if 
performed  habitually  cannot  fail  to  be  attended  with  equally  ruinous 
consequences.  Corruption  of  the  alimentary  ducts  would  surely  ensue 
in  the  latter  (supposed)  case,  putrefaction  of  the  respiratory  organs 
does  follow  in  the  other.  Working-men  employed  in  localities  whose 
azotized  atmosphere  is  loaded  besides  with  particles  of  flying  cotton- 
fibre,  metallic  dust,  or  fatty  vapors,  inspire  substances  which  are  just 
as  indigestible  to  their  lungs  as  mercury  and  alcohol  are  to  their 
stomachs,  and  like  these  cause  a  rapid  deterioration  of  the  tissues  in 
proximity  to  which  they  are  deposited. 

The  only  wonder,  then,  is  how  Nature  can  resist  outrages  of  this 
kind  for  any  length  of  time  ;  and  it  is  a  curious  reflection  to  think 
what  amounts  of  hardship  of  the  primitive  sort,  such  as  hunger, 
fatigue,  cold,  heat,  deprivation  of  sleep,  etc.,  a  healthy  savage  might 
accustom  himself  to,  if  he  tried  as  hard  as  the  poor  children  of  civili- 
zation try  to  wean  themselves  from  their  hunger  after  life-air  ! 

Can  necessity  be — we  will  not  say  an  excuse,  but — an  explanation 
of  such  systematic  self-ruin  ?  We  must  utterly  refuse  to  believe  it. 
Wherever  men  barter  life  for  bread,  there  is  a  violent  presumption  that 
they  do  not  know  what  they  are  doing ;  for  against  recognized  health- 
destroyers  even  the  poorest  of  the  poor  will  rebel  with  a  prompitude 
that  vindicates  the  dignity  of  human  nature  under  the  most  abject 
conditions  of  bondage.  Let  a  railroad  contractor  be  caught  in  the 
trick  of  adulterating  his  flour  with  chalk  or  his  sugar  with  alum,  and 
see  how  quickly  his  navvies  will  leave  him  ;  or  observe  how  firmly 
reckless  Jack  Tar  insists  on  his  anti-scorbutic  raspberry-vinegar! 
Miners  have  left  a  colliery  en  masse,  because  the  owner  shirked  his 
duty  of  providing  safety-lamps;  and  the  very  negro  slaves  of  a  South 
Carolina  plantation  attempted  the  life  of  their  master,  who  stinted 
their  allowance  of  quinine  brandy  which  his  father  had  issued  them  to 
counteract  the  miasmatic  tendencies  of  the  rice-swamp. 

Neither  is  it  possible  to  suppose  that  want  of  hygienic  education 
can  be  the  orisjin  of  such  ignorance  ;  for  Nature  does  not  wait  for  the 
scientist  to  inform  her  children  on  questions  of  such  importance.  All 
normal  things  are  good,  all  evil  is  abnormal;  vice  is  a  consequence  of 
ignorance  only  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  result  of  perverse  education,  and  the 
troglodyte-habit  is  the  direct  offspring  of  mediaeval  monachism.  Un- 
til after  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  habitual  in-door  life 
between  closed  walls  was  known  only  as  the  worst  form  of  punish- 
ment.    Though  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  familiar  with  the  maim- 


MODERN   TROGLODYTES.  45 

fact  lire  of  glass,  they  never  used  it  to  obstruct  their  windows  ;  in  all 
the  temples,  palaces,  and  dwelling-houses  of  antiquity,  the  apertures 
provided  to  admit  light  admitted  fresh  air  at  the  same  time.  The 
tuguria  of  the  Roman  peasants  were  simply  arbors ;  and  the  domiciles 
of  our  hardy  Saxon  forefathers  resembled  the  log-cabins  of  Eastern 
Tennessee — rough-hewed  logs  laid  crosswise,  with  liberal  interspaces 
that  serve  as  windows  on  all  sides  except  that  opposed  to  the  prevail- 
ing wind,  north  or  northwest,  where  they  are  stopped  with  moss. 

Men  had  to  be  utterly  divorced  from  Nature  before  they  could  pre- 
fer the  hot  stench  of  their  dungeons  to  the  cool  breezes  of  heaven,  but 
our  system  of  ethics  has  proved  itself  equal  to  the  task.  For  eighteen 
hundred  years  our  spiritual  guides  have  taught  us  to  consider  Nature 
and  everything  natural  as  wholly  evil,  and  to  substitute  therefor  the 
supernatural  and  the  artificial,  in  physical  as  well  as  in  moral  life.  The 
natural  sciences  of  antiquity  they  superseded  by  the  artificial  dogma, 
suppressed  investigation  to  foster  belief,  substituted  love  of  death  for 
love  of  life,  celibacy  for  marriage,  the  twilight  of  their  gloomy  vaults 
for  the  sunshine  of  the  Chaldean  mountains,  and  their  dull  religious 
"  exercises  "  for  the  joyous  games  of  the palwstra.  This  system  taught 
us  that  the  love  of  sport  and  out-door  pastimes  is  wicked,  that  the  flesh 
has  to  be  "  crucified  "  and  the  buoyant  spirit  crushed  to  make  it  accept- 
able to  God  ;  that  all  earthly  joys  are  vain ;  nay,  that  the  earth  itself  is 
a  vale  of  tears,  and  the  heaven  of  the  Hebrew  fanatic  our  proper  home. 

"The  monastic  recluse,"  says  Ulric  Hutten,  "closes  every  aper- 
ture of  his  narrow  cell  on  his  return  from  midnight  prayers,  for  fear 
that  the  nightingale's  song  might  intrude  upon  his  devotions,  or  the 
morning  wind  visit  him  with  the  fragrance  and  the  greeting  of  the 
hill  forests,  and  divert  his  mind  to  earthly  things  from  things  spiritual. 
He  dreads  a  devil  wherever  the  Nature-loving  Greeks  worshiped  a 
god."  These  narrow  cells,  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  the 
churches  whose  painted  windows  excluded  not  only  the  air  but  the 
very  light  of  heaven,  the  prison-like  convent-schools  and  the  general 
control  exercised  by  the  Christian  priests  over  the  domestic  life  of  their 
parishioners,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  habit  which,  like  everything  un- 
healthy, became  a  second  nature  in  old  habitues,  and  gave  birth  to  that 
brood  of  absurd  chimeras  which,  under  the  name  of  "  salutary  precau- 
tions," inspire  us  with  fear  of  the  night  air,  of  "  cold  draughts,"  of 
morning  dews,  and  of  March  winds. 

I  have  often  thought  that  mistrust  in  our  instincts  would  be  the 
most  appropriate  word  for  a  root  of  evil  which  has  produced  a  more 
-  plentiful  crop  of  misery  in  modern  times  than  all  the  sensual  excesses 
and  ferocious  passions  of  our  forefathers  taken  together.  What  a  dis- 
mal ignorance  of  the  symbolic  language  by  which  Nature  expresses  her 
will  is  implied  by  the  idea  that  the  sweet  breath  of  the  summer  night 
which  addresses  itself  to  our  senses  like  a  blessing  from  heaven  could 
be  injurious  !     Yet  nine  out  of  ten  guests  in  an  overheated  ballroom 


46  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

or  travelers  in  a  crowded  stage-coach  will  protest  if  one  of  their  num- 
ber ventures  to  open  a  window  after  sundown,  no  matter  how  glori- 
ous the  night  or  how  oppressive  the  effluvia  of  the  closed  apartment. 
Pious  men  they  may  be,  and  most  anxious  to  distinguish  good  from 
evil,  but  they  never  suspect  that  God's  revelations  are  written  in  an- 
other language  than  that  of  the  Hebrew  dogmatist.  Here,  as  else- 
where, men  suppress  their  instincts  instead  of  their  artificial  cravings. 
If  we  have  learned  to  interpret  the  fact  that  a  child  whose  mind  is  not 
yet  biased  by  any  hearsays  is  sure  to  prefer  pure  and  cold  air  to  the 
miasmatic  "  comfort "  of  a  close  room,  the  troglodyte-habit  will  dis- 
appear, as  intemperance  will  vanish  if  we  recognize  the  significance  of 
that  other  fact — that  to  every  beginner  the  taste  of  alcohol  is  repul- 
sive, and  that  only  the  tenth  or  twelfth  dosis  of  the  obnoxious  sub- 
stance begins  to  be  relished;  just  as  the  Russian  stage-conductor 
relishes  the  atmosphere  of  his  ambulant  dungeon,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  feelings  of  horror  on  the  first  trip. 

If  ever  we  recognize  a  truth  which  was  familiar  enough  to  the  an- 
cients, but  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  for  the  last  ten  or  twelve 
centuries,  viz.,  that  our  noses  were  given  us  for  some  practical  pur- 
pose, the  architecture  of  our  dwellings,  our  factories,  school-rooms,  and 
places  of  worship,  will  be  speedily  corrected ;  and  even  the  builder  of 
an  immigrant-ship  will  find  a  way  to  modify  that  floating  Black  Hole 
of  Calcutta  called  the  steerage.  Prisons,  too,  will  be  modeled  after 
another  plan.  Our  right  to  diet  our  criminals  on  the  ineffable  mixt- 
ure of  odors  which  they  are  now  obliged  to  accept  as  air  depends 
on  the  settlement  of  the  question  whether  the  object  of  punishment  is 
reform  or  revenge  ?  In  the  latter  case  the  means  answer  the  purpose 
with  a  vengeance  indeed  :  in  the  first  case  there  is  no  more  excuse  for 
saturating  the  lungs  of  a  prisoner  with  the  seeds  of  tuberculosis  than 
there  would  be  for  feeding  him  on  trichinae  or  inoculating  him  with 
the  leprosy-virus. 

The  exegesis  of  consumption  very  nearly  justifies  Michelet's  para- 
dox— that  the  greatest  evils  might  be  easiest  avoided.  "  There  is  no 
excuse  for  famine,"  says  Varnhagen  von  Ense;  "we  could  all  live  in 
clover  if  we  did  not  misapply  a  large  portion  of  our  arable  land  to  the 
production  of  tobacco,  opium,  and  other  poisonous  weeds,  and  send 
ship-loads  of  our  breadstuffs  to  the  distillery.  I  am  sure  that  if  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  soil  furnished  us  mountains  of  grain 
and  rivers  of  honey,  we  would  still  manage  to  use  it  up  in  the  manu- 
facture of  intoxicating  poisons,  and  complain  of  hunger  as  before.  If 
any  one  should  doubt  this,  let  him  reflect  on  the  fact  that,  while  we  are 
surrounded  by  a  respirable  atmosphere  of  more  than  800,000,000  cubic 
miles,  civilization  has  contrived  a  famine  of  air!  " 


THE  SYSTEM   OF  SIEIUS.  47 

THE    SYSTEM    OF    SIRIITS,1 

AND    SOLAR    SYSTEMS    DIFFERENT    FROM    OURS. 
By  CAMILLE  FLAMMARION. 

EACH  of  the  stars  which  glitter  in  the  depths  of  space  is  a  volu- 
minous and  massive  sun  like  that  which  gives  light  to  our 
earth.  Distance  alone  reduces  them  to  the  appearance  of  fixed  points. 
If  we  could  approach  any  one  of  them  we  should  experience  the  same 
impression  as  in  passing  from  Neptune  to  the  sun ;  the  star  would 
increase  in  size  as  we  should  approach  it ;  it  would  soon  exhibit  a  cir- 
cular disk  and  continue  to  increase  its  proportions  until  they  would 
be  as  large  as  the  sun  ;  finally,  this  luminous  disk,  continuing  to  in- 
crease in  consequence  of  our  approach,  would  expand  and  present 
itself  as  a  fiery  furnace  filling  the  entire  heavens — a  colossal  blaze, 
under  which  we  would  be  reduced  to  nothing,  melted  like  wax,  vapor 
ized  like  a  drop  of  water  dropped  on  red-hot  iron  !  Such  is  every  star 
in  the  heavens. 

Each  sun  in  space  has  its  special  sphere  of  attraction,  a  sphere 
which  extends  to  the  limit  of  neutralization  by  another.  This  attrac- 
tion diminishes  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  square  of  the  distances, 
but  never  becomes  absolutely  nothing.  At  the  distance  of  Neptune 
the  solar  attraction  is  900  times  less  than  at  the  distance  of  the 
earth.  While  the  earth  if  it  were  stopped  in  its  course  would  fall 
toward  the  sun  294  hundred-thousandths  of  a  metre  during  the  first 
second  of  time,  Neptune  would  fall  only  327  hundred-millionths  of  a 
metre  in  the  same  time.  At  the  aphelion  distance  of  the  comet  of 
1680  the  fall  toward  the  sun  is  only  the  minute  distance  of  416  hun- 
dred-billionths  of  a  metre  during  the  first  second  of  time.  This  at- 
traction continues  thus  to  decrease  as  the  distance  increases.  But,  at 
the  same  time,  if  a  body  moves  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the  neigh- 
boring stars,  it  begins  immediately  to  receive  its  influence.  The  star 
nearest  us  is  at  a  distance  210,000  times  greater  than  that  which  sep- 
arates the  earth  from  the  sun,  or  eight  trillions  of  leagues;  it  is  the 
star  Alpha  Centauri,  a  brilliant  double  star  whose  orbit  and  mass  I 
have  calculated.  This  mass  is  equal  to  the  half  of  that  of  the  sun ; 
it  happens  that  if  one  could  travel  from  the  sun  to  this  star  a  point 
would  be  reached  where  the  attraction  of  the  two  would  neutralize 
each  other;  this  point  is  three-quarters  of  the  distance  which  sepa- 
rates us,  that  is,  six  trillions  of  leagues  from  our  sun,  or,  what  is  the 
same,  two  trillions  of  leagues  from  Alpha  Centauri,  the  whole  distance 
being  eight  trillions.  At  that  point,  a  celestial  body,  a  comet,  would 
hesitate  as  to  which  course  to  pursue,  would  weigh  nothing,  would 
1  Translated  from  the  French  by  P.  A.  Towne. 


48  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

stop  in  its  flight ;  but  the  feeblest  outward  influence  would  be  felt, 
throwing  it  either  into  the  sphere  of  attraction  of  our  sun  or  into  that 
of  Alpha  Centauri. 

This  sun  called  Centaurus  is  located  in  the  southern  sky,  near  the 
antarctic  pole.  It  appears  to  us  in  the  form  of  a  bright  star  of  the 
first  magnitude.  The  sun  nearest  to  us,  next  after  this,  is  situated  in 
the  northern  sky,  in  the  constellation  Cygnus,  or  the  Swan.  It  is 
famous  as  61  Cygni.  Its  distance  is  400,000  times  the  radius  of  the 
earth's  orbit,  or  about  fifteen  trillions  of  leagues.  I  have  often  observed 
this  star :  it  is  just  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  to  the  telescope  it  is 
double,  as  the  preceding,  only  its  components  do  not  move  around 
each  other,  a  conclusion  which  has  much  surprised  me,  although  ar- 
rived at  by  comparing  all  the  observations  made  during  the  last  hun- 
dred years  ;  its  mass,  therefore,  cannot  be  determined.  But,  however 
that  may  be,  the  fact  which  should  impress  us  is  that  the  distances 
which  separate  the  suns  of  the  universe  are  reckoned  not  by  millions, 
nor  by  billions,  but  by  trillions  of  leagues. 

The  most  brilliant  star  of  our  sky,  Sirius,  is  a  sun  whose  volume, 
judging  from  its  light,  should  be  2,600  times  larger  than  that  of  our 
sun.  Its  distance  is  about  897,000  times  thirty-seven  millions,  that  is 
about  thirty-three  trillions  of  leagues. 

Let  us  mention  again  among  "  our  neighbors  "  the  sixty-second  of 
Ophiuchus,  situated  near  the  equator.  I  have  calculated  that  it  weighs 
about  three  times  as  much  as  our  sun,  that  is,  900,000  times  more 
than  the  earth.  Its  distance  is  1,400,000  times  the  semi-diameter  of 
the  earth's  orbit,  that  is,  fifty-four  trillions  of  leagues. 

Astronomers,  since  the  time  of  Kepler,  agree  in  admitting  that 
each  of  the  countless  suns  that  fill  infinite  space  is  the  centre  of  a  sys- 
tem analogous  to  the  planetary  system  of  which  we  form  a  part. 
Each  of  these  suns  that  we  see  in  the  sky  shows  to  us  a  luminous  fire- 
side around  which  other  human  families  are  gathered.  Our  eyes  are 
too  feeble  to  see  these  unknown  planets.  The  most,  powerful  of  our 
telescopes  do  not  yet  reach  down  to  these  depths.  But  Nature  con- 
cerns itself  neither  with  our  eyes  nor  with  our  telescopes,  and  so,  be- 
yond the  boundaries  that  stop  the  flight  of  our  tired  conceptions,  she 
continues  to  display  her  boundless  and  magnificent  works. 

However,  the  hour  has  come  when  these  planetary  systems  different 
from  ours  cease  to  slumber  in  the  domain  of  hypothesis.  In  spite  of 
the  telescope,  celestial  mechanics  have  already  revealed  the  existence 
of  obscure  stars,  invisible  in  the  rays  of  these  distant  suns,  but  which 
affect  them  in  their  proper  movements  across  immensity  ;  and  already 
powerful  telescopes  have  contemporaneously  recognized  several  among 
the  stars  known  before  to  exist  only  in  hypothesis. 

One  of  the  most  splendid  conquests  of  sidereal  astronomy  has  been 
the  discovery  of  the  system  of  Sirius,  made  some  fifteen  years  since. 
For  a  long  time,  from  careful  measures  of  its  position,  it  has  been 


THE   SYSTEM    OF  SIRIUS.  49 

remarked  that  this  brilliant  star  is  slowly  moving  in  space,  like  all 
the  other  stars,  but  that  its  proper  movement  is  not  uniform  ;  and 
Bessel  announced,  thirty  years  ago,  that  at  some  time  there  would  be 
discovered,  without  doubt,  a  world  of  its  system  moving  around  it 
and  disturbing  it  in  its  progress.  This  discovery  was  made  in  1862. 
The  companion  of  Sirius  was  then  almost  exactly  on  the  eastern  side, 
quite  small,  and  buried  in  the  rays  of  the  star.  Since  that  year  it  has 
been  constantly  watched  by  the  aid  of  powerful  instruments,  and  it  is 
seen  to  slowly  gravitate  around  the  Sirian  sun. 

But  this  companion  certainly  does  not  follow  the  theoretic  orbit 
calculated  to  correspond  to  the  perturbations  noted  in  the  proper 
movement  of  the  brilliant  star.  Differences  more  and  more  marked 
are  shown  between  the  calculated  ellipse  and  the  observed  ellipse. 
The  following  is  the  orbit  calculated  by  the  German  astronomer  Au- 
wers  in  1864  to  correspond  with  recognized  perturbations  : 

Passage  by  lower  apsis 1793.890 

Annual  movement 70.28475 

Period years       49.418 

Eccentricity 0.6010 

The  last  orbit  calculated  by  Auwers,  placed  in  the  form  of  the 
orbits  of  double  stars,  and  given  as  definitive,  is  the  following : 

Perihelion  passage 1843.275 

Longitude  of  node 61°. 57, 8 

Angle  between  node  and  perihelion 18^.54,5 

Inclination 47°. 8,7 

Eccentricity 0.6148 

Semi-major  axis 7". 331 

Period years  49.399 

From  these  elements,  the  limits  of  distance  ought  to  be  2.31"  at 
302.5°  in  1841,  and  11.23"  at  71.7°  in  1770,  and  the  ephemeris  is— 


1862 

85°.4 
79°.9 
75°.0 
70°.3 

10".10 
10".78 
ll'.lo 
11  ".20 

1874 

65°.0 
62°.l 
58°  4 
54°.2 

10".95 

1865. 

1876 

10".59 

1868 

1880 

10".05 

1871. 

9".33 

But,  in  making  out  my  "  Catalogue  of  Double  Stars  in  Movement,"  I 
have  found  that  all  the  observations  on  the  satellite  of  Sirius  give  the 
following  means  for  each  year  since  its  discovery  : 


1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 


84° 

.6 

82° 

_2 

79° 

.0 

76° 

.7 

75° 

.0 

73° 

.9 

70° 

.4 

72° 

.3 

10".08 
9  ".84 
10"  33 
1D".56 
10".61 
10".39 
11".18 
10".92 


1870. 
1871. 
1872, 
1873. 
1874 
In  75. 
1876. 
1877. 


65°.0 
63°.0 
61°.3 

62°.7 
58°.5 
55°.5 
55°.2 
51°.0 


12".06 
11". 79 
11  ".34 
11  ".33 
11".18 
11".30 
11".51 
11  ".40 


VOL.    XII. — 4 


50  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Pardon  these  figures  !  But  they  form  the  basis  of  the  reasonings 
which  constitute  the  groundwork  of  this  article,  and  it  is  essential  to 
consider  them  in  order  to  know  on  what  to  rely  in  discussing  the  sys- 
tem of  Sirius.  In  comparing  these  last  numbers  with  those  of  the 
preceding  ephemeris,  we  see  at  the  first  glance  that  the  angle  dimin- 
ishes more  rapidly  than  had  been  announced,  while  the  distance  has 
continued  to  increase  since  1870  instead  of  having  attained  its  maxi- 
mum on  that  year,  as  the  orbit  of  Auwers  indicated.  It  is  still  fur- 
ther shown  by  the  diagram  I  have  constructed  that  the  arc  of  the 
observed  orbit  crosses  the  calculated  orbit  about  1668  and  is  pro- 
jected outside  of  it,  pursuing  a  wholly  different  curve  which  must  be 
larger  than  the  orbit  traced  and  less  eccentric. 

If  the  observed  motion  were  the  mean  motion,  the  revolution  of 
the  satellite  would  be  accomplished  in  a  period  of  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  years.  But  the  arc  passed  is  yet  too  small  to  allow 
any  positive  conclusion,  and,  as  the  observed  perturbations  of  Sirius 
demand  a  period  of  forty-nine  years,  Ave  are  brought  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  observed  companion  continues  to  accelerate  its  motion 
and  will  be  found  in  the  west  of  Sirius  in  1892,  or  else  there  is  another 
body  causing  perturbation  nearer  Sirius,  and  moving  more  rapidly. 

We  should  reserve  all  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  existence  of 
these  other  satellites,  as  well  as  all  difference  of  period  between  the 
observed  orbit  and  the  calculated  orbit;  but  the  inevitable  conclusion 
is,  that  the  observed  positions  do  not  correspond  with  those  of  the 
ephemeris,  and  that  the  orbit  thence  resulting  differs  from  the  calcu- 
lated orbit. 

By  the  aid  of  all  the  observations  I  have  constructed  the  figure, 
which  shows  the  movement  of  the  observed  planet  from  1862  to  1877. 
The  central  disk  represents  Sirius  ;  the  four  cardinal  points  are  indi- 
cated by  dotted  lines  ;  the  proper  movement  of  Sirius  in  space  is 
marked  by  the  large  arrow,  whose  length  corresponds  exactly  to  this 
movement  during  ten  years  (the  figure  is  drawn  to  the  precise  scale 
often  millimetres  for  a  second).  If  the  small  star  discovered  in  1862 
to  the  east  of  Sirius  did  not  belong  to  it,  if  it  was  situated  in  the 
depths  of  space  far  beyond,  it  would  have  remained  fixed,  and  Sirius 
would  have  moved  from  it  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrow. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  it  belongs  to  Sirius,  accompanies  that  sun  in  its 
progress  as  the  earth  accompanies  its  sun,  and  turns  around  it  in  an 
elliptic  orbit.  It  has  yet  traversed,  from  1862  to  1877,  only  the  line 
marked  on  the  future — a  curve  not  lomr  enouech  to  enable  us  to  calcu- 
late  the  remainder  of  its  orbit.  As  it  is  seen,  this  star  is  quite  small 
by  the  side  of  Sirius,  but  still  larger  than  Jupiter  relatively  to  our  sun. 
Is  it  an  immense  planet,  totally  opaque  and  shining  only  by  reflection 
of  the  light  of  Sirius?  This  is  not  probable;  it  must  still  be  self- 
luminous  just  as  our  own  earth  was  during  so  many  ages.  It  does 
not  correspond  exactly  to  the  observed  perturbations,  a  fact  which 


THE  SYSTEM   OF  SIRIUS. 


5' 


52  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

proves  that  the  system  of  Sirius  certainly  contains  other  worlds  yet 
unseen.  Our  lamented  friend  Goldschmidt  believed  he  saw  three 
other  planets.  Thus,  in  conclusion,  we  have  a  solar  system,  outside 
of  our  own,  as  an  object  of  study. 

We  know  a  great  number  of  stars  which  are  accompanied  by 
smaller  stars  moving  around  them  like  the  earth  around  the  sun. 
These  systems,  which  are  now  numbered  by  hundreds,  have  been  so 
carefully  observed  that  we  have  been  able  to  calculate  the  orbits  and 
periods  of  the  planets,  brilliant  or  opaque,  which  compose  them. 

It  is,  then,  no  longer  on  mere  hypothesis  that  we  can  speak  of  solar 
systems  other  than  our  own,  but  with  certainty,  since  we  already 
know  a  great  number,  of  every  order  and  of  every  nature.  Single  stars 
should  be  considered  as  suns  analogous  to  our  own,  surrounded  by 
planetary  worlds.  Double  stars,  of  which  the  second  star  is  quite 
small,  should  be  placed  in  the  same  class,  for  this  second  star  may  be 
an  opaque  planet  reflecting  only  the  light  of  the  large  one,  or  a  planet 
still  giving  out  heat  and  light.  Double  stars  of  which  the  two  com- 
ponents give  the  same  brightness  are  combinations  of  two  suns  around 
each  of  which  may  gravitate  planets  invisible  from  this  distance; 
these  are  worlds  absolutely  different  from  those  of  our  system,  for 
they  are  lighted  up  by  two  suns,  sometimes  simultaneous,  sometimes 
successive,  of  different  magnitudes,  according  to  the  distances  of  these 
planets  from  each  of  them  ;  and  they  have  double  years  of  which  the 
winter  is  warmed  by  a  supplementary  sun,  and  double  days  of  which 
the  nights  are  illuminated,  not  only  by  moons  of  different  colors,  but 
also  by  a  new  sun,  a  sun  of  night ! 

Those  brilliant  points  which  sparkle  in  the  midnight  sky,  and 
which  have,  during  so  many  ages,  remained  as  mysteries  in  the  imagi- 
nation of  our  fathers,  are  therefore  veritable  suns,  immense  and  mighty, 
governing,  in  the  parts  of  space  lighted  by  their  splendor,  systems 
different  from  that  of  which  we  form  a  part.  The  sky  is  no  longer  a 
gloomy  desert;  its  ancient  solitudes  have  become  regions  peopled 
like  those  in  which  the  earth  is  located  ;  obscurity,  silence,  death, 
which  reigned  in  these  far-off  distances,  have  given  place  to  light,  to 
motion,  to  life;  thousands  and  millions  of  suns  pour  in  vast  waves 
into  space  the  energy,  the  heat,  and  the  diverse  undulations,  which 
emanate  from  their  fires.  All  these  movements  follow  each  other, 
interfere,  contend,  or  harmonize,  in  the  maintenance  and  incessant 
development  of  universal  life. 


THE  DIFFERENCES    OF   THINGS.  53 

THE  DIFFEKENCES   OF  THINGS. 

Br  JOHN   W.  SAXON. 

COULD  a  man  do  himself  up  into  a  mathematical  point  and  throw 
himself  into  the  middle  of  infinite  empty  space,  wherever  that 
is,  he  would  be  surprised  at  the  flatness  of  life  under  such  circum- 
stances. Infinite  empty  space  is  absolute  sameness.  It  is,  so  fur  as  I 
have  traveled  the  field  of  mental  possibilities,  the  only  specimen  of 
the  thinkable  or  the  unthinkable  of  which  we  can  say,  "  It  is  all 
alike." 

Should  we  melt  up  the  matter  which  is  supposed  to  be  scattered 
throughout  infinite  space,  and  then,  by  increased  heat,  turn  it  into 
gas,  and  expand  it  till  all  the  systems  of  the  universe  became  one 
infinitely-extended  and  equally-distributed  universe  of  intermingled 
gases,  we  should  have  about  as  little  variety  as  in  the  case  of  empty 
space. 

Having  unshackled  the  universe,  and  brought  chaos  back  again, 
having  secured  a  condition  somewhat  like  that  in  which  the  advocates 
of  the  nebular  theory  suppose  it  to  have  been,  consider  what  a  dull 
time  we  should  have  if  we  were  unable  to  find  some  little  nook  outside 
of  infinite  space,  and,  as  a  result,  be  obliged  to  amuse  ourselves  with 
such  monotonous  surroundings !  It  would  be  as  wearisome  as  star- 
ing day  after  day  at  a  blank  wall  without  so  much  as  a  rain-streak 
on  it. 

But  Nature  seems  to  have  understood  that  variety  is  not  only 
"  the  spice  of  life,"  but  life  itself;  and  no  sooner  does  she  get  in  hand 
her  raw  material,  than  she  sets  herself  to  the  work  of  creating  differ- 
ences. True,  some  astronomers  reject  the  nebular  theory;  but,  if  not 
true,  it  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  great 
work  of  Nature  to  multiply  differences.  For  instance,  there  was  a 
time  or  an  eternity  in  which  Nature  turned  out  her  first  owl,  just  as 
the  first  patent  Yankee  washing-machine  must  have  had  its  day.  But 
the  inventors  of  the  owl  and  of  the  washing-machine  have  gone  on  dif- 
ferentiating with  unlike  results.  Most  of  the  washing-machines  are 
at  rest.  The  fittest  even  scarcely  survives.  The  owls  are  hooting  still 
in  varieties  uncounted,  and  if,  here  and  there,  a  specimen,  discouraged 
and  disgusted  with  the  "modern  improvements"  of  the  Cainozoic 
period,  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  laid  himself  away  with  the  old  saurians 
— his  Darwinian  ancestors — he  now  finds  himself  resurrected,  his 
bones  neatly  wired  togelher,  and  the  human  owls  hooting  over  him 
still.  Like  the  immortal  Webster,  he  "still  lives"  as  a  witness  of 
Nature's  wonderful  resources  as  a  differentiator — a  difference-maker. 

But  let  us  look  further  into  Nature's  method  of  creating  varieties. 
Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  eternity,  Nature  began  to  put  the  uni- 


54  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

verse  in  order.  She  at  once  began  to  make  distinctions  by  getting 
her  material  together,  and  turning  out  worlds.  It  was  the  first  step. 
Leaving  other  worlds  to  themselves,  watch  the  progress  of  affairs  at 
home.  As  soon  as  the  first  flurry  is  over,  Nature  settles  down  to  the 
creation  of  differences.  She  puts  the  solid  earth  as  a  foundation,  and 
piles  the  hot  atmosphere  above  it ;  then  she  takes  the  water  from  the 
atmosphere,  and  we  have  air,  earth,  and  water.  With  these  she  gets 
up  some  low  forms  of  life.  But,  as  she  has  only  begun  her  work,  she 
makes  very  little  difference  between  the  opposite  ends  of  these  forms. 
One  end  of  a  worm  is  so  much  like  the  other  end  that  you  may  cut 
him  in  two,  and  one  part  putting  on  a  tail  and  the  other  a  head,  you 
will  in  a  short  time  have  two  very  respectable  worms.  From  these 
low  forms,  which  carry  as  much  life  in  one  end  as  in  the  other,  Nature 
goes  on  differentiating,  till  at  last  we  find  her  getting  up  forms  whose 
parts  are  so  widely  different  that  each  has  its  own  work  to  do,  and 
one  part  cannot  be  substituted  for  another.  A  man  losing  any  organ 
is  imperfect ;  and  many  of  his  organs  are  such  that  the  loss  of  one  of 
them  requires  that  he  should  go  back  into  Nature's  melting-pot,  and 
be  moulded  over  again  into  a  new  form  of  lite — a  Rhode  Island  pippin 
it  may  be,  as  good  Roger  Williams  was.  There  is  no  record  of  any 
surgeon's  having  cut  a  man  in  two,  and  having  made  two  men  of  the 
pieces.  Nature  is  not  content  with  multiplying  species  alone.  She 
shows  the  same  love  for  difference  in  varieties,  and  even  in  indi- 
viduals, so  that,  as  we  are  often  told,  there  are  no  two  peas  exactly 
alike. 

The  utilitarian  may  ask  :  "  But  what  is  the  need  of  all  this  variety  ? 
Why  not  have  all  peas  alike?"  This  brings  me  to  the  important  part 
of  my  essay ;  for,  whimsical  as  some  of  my  notions  may  appear  to 
others,  the  conclusion  to  which  I  hope  to  bring  my  readers  is  to  me  a 
source  of  moral  rest : 

1.  Relation  of  Difference  to  Consciousness. — How  is  it  that  we 
gain  a  knowledge  of  the  external  world  whereby  we  become  conscious 
intelligences  ?  Simply  by  a  perception  of  differences.  What  would 
follow  were  there  no  difference  in  color  or  shade  ?  Go  into  a  dark 
cellar  with  an  extinguished  candle  to  find  a  black  cat  that  is  not 
there.  I  know  black  is  said  to  be  no  color,  but  it  answers  as  an  illus- 
tration. Your  eyes  are  wider  open  than  when  above-ground  in  broad 
daylight,  looking  for  a  white  cat  that  is  there.  Things  being  "  all  of 
a  color,"  as  common  people  remark  when  left  in  the  dark,  you  are  for 
the  time  as  blind  as  the  eyeless  fish.  Were  white  light  put  in  the 
place  of  darkness,  and  each  object  to  reflect  it  with  absolute  sameness, 
you  would  be  just  as  unable  to  distinguish  between  objects,  or  between 
an  object  and  its  background.  Were  the  black  cat  there  eating  a 
white  rabbit,  the  cat  having  become  white  you  could  not  tell  where 
cat  left  off  and  rabbit  began  ;  neither  could  you  tell  where  cat  and 
rabbit  ended  and  cellar-floor  began.     Everything  would  be  of  a  piece. 


THE  DIFFERENCES    OF  THINGS. 

You  could  make  out  nothing,  though  you  had  as  many  eyes  as  the 
"  deviPs-darning-needle  "  of  our  boyhood,  and  each  eye  were  "  in  fine 
frenzy  rolling."  Call,  now,  that  cellar  the  universe,  and  then  see  if 
you  can  show  cause  why  we  may  not  consider  the  sense  of  sight  as 
practically  gone,  and  all  knowledge  that  comes  through  sight  a  scaled 
book ;  ay,  more,  that  nothing  would  be  left  to  give  us  a  hint  that  such 
knowledge  could  possibly  exist. 

How  is  it  that  we  receive  knowledge  through  the  ear  ?  By  noting 
the  difference  between  sounds,  and  between  sound  and  silence.  But, 
if  there  were  no  difference,  there  could  be  no  hearino-.  If  ^e  had 
always  listened  only  to  a  single  tone,  varying  neither  in  pitch  nor 
force,  we  should  not  be  aware  of  the  sense  of  hearing.  "We  should  be 
as  one  born  deaf.  It  is  the  difference  of  sounds  that  gives  us  through 
the  ear  knowledge  and  harmony. 

As  with  the  senses  named,  so  with  smell,  taste,  and  touch.  Did 
all  substances  affect  these  senses  in  exactly  the  same  way,  however 
acute  those  senses,  we  should  not  be  aware  of  their  existence.  Ask 
any  one  what  is  the  smell  of  pure  air,  and  he  will  tell  you,  "  No 
smell."  But  how  do  we  know  that  to  be  the  case  ?  As  it  has  always 
been  in  contact  with  our  smelling-nerves,  we  cannot  judge  of  its  odor. 
A  dweller  in  Jupiter  coming  to  visit  his  mundane  cousins  might,  when 
he  struck  our  atmosphere,  expand  his  nostrils,  as  one  sniffs  the  air 
when  he  all  at  once  smells  something  very  nice,  or  he  might  turn  up 
his  Jovian  nose,  as  though  he  smelt  something  very  bad.  It  is  an 
open  question  whether  or  not  the  atmosphere  is  odorless,  or,  as  a  lay- 
man would  put  it,  whether  it  smells  the  same  as  empty  space.  Could 
an  intelligent  man  be  put  under  an  exhausted  receiver,  get  the  smell 
of  a  perfect  vacuum,  and  survive  to  tell  about  it,  he  might  throw  some 
light  on  the  question. 

To  sum  up  my  reasoning,  it  comes  to  this:  Were  the  universe  one 
of  sameness,  instead  of  the  universe  of  differences  that  it  is,  we  should 
be  unconscious  of  any  external  world,  or  of  our  own  existence,  no  mat- 
ter though  we  were  the  best-born  specimens  of  the  scientific  stirpi- 
culturist.  In  fact,  we  should  be  an  army  of  negations.  I  am  aware 
there  is  something  a  little  queer  in  the  logic  of  this  paragraph,  but 
yet  there  is  a  great  deal  of  sound  logic  in  it  after  putting  aside  the 
"queer,"  which  will,  however,  pass  current  with  all  except  professional 
detectives. 

2.  Relation  to  Knowledge. — What  is  knowledge  ?  Only  a  percep- 
tion of  differences.  How  is  a  knowledge  of  natural  history,  for  in- 
stance, obtained  ?  Simply  by  finding  out  differences.  In  this  way 
child  and  philosopher  classify  the  horse  and  the  ox.  Progress  in 
knowledge  is  possible  in  proportion — 1.  To  objective  differences ;  and, 
2.  To  perceptive  ability.  Take  botany.  It  is  easy  to  classify  those 
plants  which  have  obvious  differences  into  genera;  but,  when  we  come 
to  the  classification  of  sub-species,  the  wTork  is  more  difficult.     A  stu- 


5 6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

pid  child  can  tell  a  piece  of  Boston  brown-bread  from  a  ginger-snap  ; 
but  he  cannot  always  tell  whether  his  bread  is  spread  with  Orange 
County  butter  or  oleomargarine. 

Again,  one  man  is  color-blind,  and  in  a  knowledge  of  colors  can 
make  little  progress.  As  an  engineer,  he  would  mistake  a  green  for 
a  red  light ;  as  a  paint-mixer,  he  would  be  a  failure ;  and,  as  a  matcher 
of  dress-goods,  he  would  be  little  troubled  by  the  sweet  creatures  to 
whom  he  belonged.  Another  man  can  distinguish  not  only  the  seven 
colors  of  the  rainbow,  but  many  shades  of  each.  The  progress  of 
these  two  men  in  all  knowledge  resting  upon  color  must  differ  widely. 
As  in  this,  so  in  all  departments  of  education:  the  man  who  is  skillful 
in  detecting  differences  holds  the  key  to  knowledge. 

3.  Relation  to  Happiness. — The  wise  and  the  good  of  all  religions 
and  the  philosophers  of  every  school  are  puzzled  over  what  they  term 
the  evils  of  life.  Assiiming  the  Creator  to  be  wise,  good,  and  omnip- 
otent,  they  wonder  that  he  should  allow  these  evils.  They  cannot 
understand  the  problem  of  pain  and  misery  which  meets  them  at 
every  turn,  and  importunes  for  a  solution.  Why  should  there  be  any 
condition  but  happiness  ? 

The  philosophers  best  satisfied  with  the  present  order  of  things  are 
those  whom  I  shall  name  the  protoplasmics.  Denying  the  existence 
.of  a  personal  God,  and  falling  back  upon  protoplasm  as  a  substitute, 
they  think  that,  taking  into  account  the  humble  character  of  their 
protoplasmic  god,  he  has  done  remarkably  well.  They  are  therefore 
very  hopeful  in  their  evolution  theory,  and  in  this  respect  have  the 
advantage  of  their  more  orthodox  brethren.  They  look  upon  creation 
with  much  the  same  feeling  as  that  with  which  we  look  upon  the  first 
house  built  from  cellar-drain  to  chimney-top  by  a  self-made  artisan. 
As  a  house  pure  and  simple,  it  may  be  a  failure,  but  as  a  self-made 
artisan's  first  attempt  it  is  a  wonderful  success. 

The  great  army  of  reformers,  each  in  his  way  anxious  to  show 
himself  the  savior  of  the  world,  is  but  another  proof  of  this  widely- 
spread  belief  that  the  world  is  in  a  very  bad  fix. 

That  this  problem  of  evil  is  as  old  as  the  race  is  shown  in  the 
golden-age  idea,  whether  it  comes  up  in  the  Hebrew  religion  with  its 
Garden  of  Eden,  or  in  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Komans. 
The  explanation  is,  perhaps,  this  :  Man  clothes  his  god  with  the  high- 
est attributes  he  finds  in  himself.  These  qualities  he  magnifies,  and 
joins  to  them  infinite  power.  Seeing  that  the  world  is  evil,  and,  con- 
scious of  evil  tendencies  in  himself,  he  finds  his  way  out  of  the  dilem- 
ma by  asserting  that  there  wras  once  a  golden  age,  the  condition  of 
the  universe  as  it  came  from  the  hand  of  its  Maker,  and  that  all  the 
evil  that  has  crept  into  it  has  come  from  man  alone.  Thus  he  solves 
the  problem  of  evil,  and  saves  the  character  of  his  god.  We  must 
admit  that  the  theory  shows  a  good  degree  of  charity,  humility,  and 
losnc.     It  would  be  a  still  better  scheme  if  in  it  there  could  be  found 


THE  DIFFERENCES    OF  THINGS.  57 

a  place  for  charity  toward  the  poor  devil  whom  as  yet  neither  charity 
nor  logic  can  dispose  of. 

But  there  are  other  philosophers,  among  whom  I  count  myself— I 
say  it  in  all  modesty,  it  runs  in  our  family— who  are  not  satisfied  with 
any  of  these   explanations,  and  very  naturally  ask:  "Is  the  world  a 
failure?     Is  it  not  a  very  good  world?     Is  it  not,  in  fact,  as  good  as 
it  can  be  ?     Were  the  united  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  race  supple- 
mented with  omnipotence  and   allowed  to  reconstruct  the  universe, 
could  they  improve  upon  the  world  as  it  is?     Are  these,  that  we  name 
so,  evils,  or  is  it  that  we  have   failed  to  find  out  their  character  and 
use?"     I  purpose  to  answer  these  questions  by  applying  to  them  the 
Law  of  Difference,  which  I  conceive  to  be  the  panacea  for  the  ills  of 
life.     Keep  in  mind  that,  as  all  knowledge  comes  to  us  as  the  result  of 
the  different,  so  do  all  emotions  of  pain  or  of  pleasure.     Every  quality 
that  is  thinkable  implies  its  opposite,  or  at  least  its  different  in  de- 
gree.   Happiness  and  misery  are  only  relative  terms.    Absolute  happi- 
ness cannot  exist  any  more  than  a  magnetic  needle  with  only  one  pole. 
The  sick  man  who  rises  for  the  first  time  for  weeks  from  a  bed  of  pain 
and  is  led  out  into  the  sunshine  is  very  happy;  while  the  strong  man 
who  has  not  known  sickness  for  years  is  unhappy  from  some  slight  in- 
disposition which  scarcely  interferes  with  his  daily  work.     \\  hy  this 
difference  ?     Simply  from  the  contrast  with  the  previous   condition. 
He  who  would  enjoy  must  suffer.     The  lives  of  some  people  pass  so 
smoothly  that  we  count  them  happy.     They  are  simply  in  the  posses- 
sion of  something  whose  value  they  have  never  known,  hence  it  is  to 
them  worthless.     If  you  want  to  know  the  full  value  of  a  clear  con- 
science you  must  go  through  the  hands  of  remorse.     If  you  want  to 
know  the  comfort  of  owning  two  shirts  at  a  time,  you  must  know  the 
discomfort  of  owning  no  shirt  at  a  time.     Whence  comes  the  pleasure 
we  feel  from  our  progress  in  knowledge  ?     From  the  difference  between 
the  knowing  and  the  not  knowing  of  anything.     Take  the  happiness 
that  comes  from  social  position  in  life.     It  arises  from  the  fact  that 
we  are  higher  up  than  some  one  else.     Bring  all  to  the  same  level 
and  it  would  be  enough  to  make  an  angel  weep  to  see  how  much  hap- 
piness some  people  wrould  lose.     Many  would  be  bankrupt.     Take  the 
tramps  and  vagabonds  out  of  society,  and  the  whole  fabric  would  be 
cut  down  one  story ;  for,  to  change  the  figure,  they  put  one  more  round 
into  the  ladder — it  matters  not  that  it  is  at  the  bottom — and  give  the 
climber  a  chance  to  go  one  round  higher.     It  is  the  length  of  the  lad- 
der that  counts,  no  matter  where  the  bottom  is  placed.     What  are 
wealth  and  poverty?     Only  relative  terms.     There  is  none  so  rich  as 
the  poor  boy  who  has  just  received  his  first  dollar  after  a  week  of  hard 
work.     We  waste  a  great  deal  of  pity  on  those  who  are  born  in  the 
humbler  ranks  of  life.     It  is  my  impression  that,  on  the  Avhole,  it  is 
better  to  be  born  poor,  and  work  your  way  up  to  wealth  and  honor, 
than  to  have  wealth  and  honor  thrust  upon  you  at  birth,  even  though 
retained  through  life. 


58  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Nature  has  done  much  to  create  differences,  and  human  egotism 
has  come  in  to  second  the  efforts  of  Nature,  and  supplement  her 
work  hy  getting  up  differences  in  our  favor  where  no  such  thing  in 
point  of  fact  exists.  B  may  be  a  fool,  but  thinks  himself  wiser  than 
C,  who  is  in  truth  far  wiser  than  B.  C  thinks  himself  much  wiser 
than  he  really  is,  and  in  comparing  himself  with  B  gets  the  full  benefit 
of  the  real  difference,  with  a  large  surplus  from  the  inflation.  Thus 
are  both  men  made  happy.  Indeed,  should  you  take  each  man's  esti- 
mate of  himself,  you  might,  to  find  a  fool,  be  obliged  to  do  as  Dioge- 
nes did  to  find  an  honest  man.  But,  if  you  should  take  each  man's 
opinion  of  other  men's  abilities,  the  fools  would  outnumber  the  wise 
men  ten  to  one,  that  one  being  himself.  Alas  !  what  should  we  philos- 
ophers do  were  there  no  simple  souls  whereby  to  measure  our  colossal 
intellects  ?  Thank  God  for  wise  men,  but  thank  God  for  fools  !  Every 
fool  as  well  as  every  knave  has  done  a  great. deal  for  human  happi- 
ness. Woe  is  the  day  when  fools  and  knaves  shall  be  no  more  !  O 
stirpiculturist,  stay  thy  hand,  and  leave  us  still  a  background  to  the 
great  picture  of  life  !  And  thank  God  for  egotism,  which  enables  us 
to  make  so  much  out  of  so  little.  It  was  not  the  philosopher  that 
"  Oh'd  !  "  when  the  poet  wrote : 

"  Oh,  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursels  as  ithers  see  us !  " 

He  was  wiser  who  wrote — 

"  Where  ignorance  is  bliss  'tis  folly  to  be  wise." 

It  will  be  a  black-letter  day  when  we  find  ourselves  out.  Why  not 
let  us  go  on,  each  one  thinking  himself  the  biggest  toad  in  the  pud- 
dle, and  being  happy  ?  Why  not  let  us  still  have  the  difference  in  our 
favor,  since  it  is  so  cheap  a  happiness,  and  withal  so  innocent? 

Those  who  agree  with  me  thus  far  may  yet  ask :  "  But  is  not  the 
number  as  well  as  the  degree  of  differences  too  great  ?  Has  not  Na- 
ture rather  overdone  the  thing  when  she  gets  up  a  hell-bender"  {vide 
Webster  and  the  Aquarium),  "or  gives  us  not  only  an  Apollo  whom  we 
admire,  but  a  leper  whom  we  loathe?"  Why,  my  dear  sir,  after  all 
the  orthodox  animals  were  made — though  I  don't  know  where  you 
would  draw  the  line  between  the  regulars  and  the  irregulars — you  and 
I  both  could  find  much  pleasure  in  looking  at  a  hell-bender,  and  he  no 
doubt  finds  far  more  pleasure  in  being  a  hell-bender  than  in  being  no- 
body. However  many  forms  we  may  have  seen,  we  still  want  to  see 
something  different.  Yes,  but  how  about  the  miserable,  suffering 
leper?  How  about  these  extremes  of  wretchedness ?  Something  in 
the  way  of  music  may  be  got  up  from  the  eight  simple  tones  of  a 
simple  octave.  If  you  are  to  have  music  worth  hearing,  you  must 
extend  the  scale  through  the  octave  above  and  the  octave  below ;  but, 
if  you  would  have  music  with  all  its  pathos,  power,  and  sublimity, 
you  must  make  use  of  all  the  octaves  that  are  at  the  command  of  the 


THE  DIFFERENCES    OF  THINGS. 


59 


orchestra,  from  the  low  thunder  of  the  big  Boston  organ  to  the  shrillest 
wail  of  the  Cremona  fiddle.  Nor  do  you  want  the  major  chords  alone, 
you  must  have  the  minor  tones,  and  discords,  even.  Can  you  spare 
the  lowest  octave  from  the  big  organ  ?  If  so,  you  bring  the  extremes 
an  octave  nearer,  and  so  far  restrict  the  range  of  the  instrument,  and 
by  repeating  the  removal  of  the  lowest  notes  you  would  at  lasttind  it 
impossible  to  play  even  the  thinnest  of  tunes.  So  with  human  society. 
As  you  bring  the  extremes  together,  you  take  from  life  that  which 
makes  life  worth  having.  The  extremes  in  deep-water  oyster  society 
are  very  near  each  other,  but  each  member  of  tbat  society  is  only  an 
oyster. 

But  how  about  the  reformers  ?  If  things  are  all  right  as  they  are, 
why  try  to  change  them?  My  dear,  short-sighted  brother,  the  re- 
former can  do  no  harm.  He  is  a  benefactor.  He  is  only  helping 
Nature  out.  He  may  cut  off  now  and  then  a  low  note,  but  by  adding 
two  high  ones  he  widens  the  range  of  the  instrument.  Society  as  a 
whole  advances,  but  its  extremes  are  probably  farther  apart  than  ever 
before.  Moreover,  if  we  take  the  world  as  a  whole,  we  can  still  better 
understand  the  value  of  the  reformer.  Compare  unreformed  Africa, 
with  its  cannibalism  and  slow  travel,  with  America,  the  land  of  the 
Grahamite  and  the  home  of  the  telegraph,  and  see  if  the  various  re- 
formers have  not  made  it  a  glorious  thing  to  be  a  Caucasian  !  Every 
step  in  the  moral  world  secured  by  the  reformers  makes  greater  the 
distance  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  moral  ladder.  The  day 
of  the  Inquisition  and  witch-burning  has  gone  by;  but  the  history  of 
them  still  remains.  We  have  only  to  read  the  old  records,  to  find  out 
what  nice  folks  we  are  at  the  present  day.  I  admit  the  conceit  of 
some  of  these  troublesome  people,  who  believe  they  have  a  mission; 
but  they  are  a  necessary  and  important  variety  of  the  race.  It  is 
very  plain  that  this  world  is  the  proper  stamping-ground  of  the  re- 
former. 

Hence,  variety  is  a  necessity  of  life.  The  man  that  lives  upon  one 
kind  of  food  only  must  deteriorate  in  body  ;  the  student  who  gives  all 
his  thought  to  one  idea,  will  become  crotchety ;  while  the  devotee  to  a 
single  phase  of  religion  will  in  time  be  a  bigot,  which  is  but  another 
name  for  monomaniac.  Sameness  is  the  border-land  of  insanity. 
Have  you  ever  been  "possessed"  by  a  whimsical  idea,  or  a  bit  of 
poetry  that  would  give  you  no  let-up?  If  so,  you  can  form  some 
notion  of  the  lunatic  who  was  haunted  with  the  idea  that  he  carried 
in  his  stomach  the  twelve  Apostles  !  There  is  many  a  man  living  a 
life  of  excessive  toil  or  of  idleness,  of  so  fixed  a  routine  that  he  is  par- 
tially insane.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  every  man  to  so  arrange  his  life 
as  to  bring  into  it  a  good  degree  of  variety  if  he  would  secure  physi- 
cal, mental,  and  moral  health.  In  this  particular,  division  of  labor 
often  works  mischief  to  the  individual,  however  advantageous  it  may 
be  to  the  community.     Imagine  the  stupidity  that  must  creep  over 


60  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  mind  of  a  man  who  spends  year  after  year  pointing  pins  !  It  may 
be  well  to  inquire  as  to  whether  or  not  the  social  and  business  frame- 
work of  society  is  not  doing  much  to  reduce  some  of  its  members  to  a 
state  little  better  than  monomania. 

To  enforce  the  lesson  taught  by  the  Law  of  Differences  we  will 
pass  by  a  million  years,  while  I  give  the  reader  a  picture  of  the  recon- 
structed universe.  It  had  been  reformed  to  that  degree  that  the  wild- 
est dream  of  the  idealist  had  been  realized.  Desiring  to  have  one 
more  look  at  the  old  homestead,  I  came  back  from  spirit-land,  was 
"  materialized,"  and  once  more  walked  the  solid  earth  as  wTas  my  wont 
a  million  years  before.  I  need  not  say  I  was  not  quite  up  to  the 
times.  The  first  thing  I  noticed  was  that  my  physical  geography  was 
all  at  fault.  There  were  no  burning  sands,  no  icy  wastes,  no  earth- 
quake, no  tornado,  no  flood,  no  drought.  The  whole  earth  from  pole 
to  pole  was  on  the  golden-age  pattern.  In  this  respect,  desire 
was  satisfied.  For  centuries  no  one  had  been  heard  to  complain  of 
any  imperfection.  All  was  lovely.  To  me,  with  a  recollection  of 
what  I  had  suffered  in  my  youth  in  cold  and  barren  New  England — 
ten  in  the  family,  and  all  big  eaters — the  change  was  delightful.  But 
what  was  my  surprise  not  to  find  a  single  soul  to  share  my  pleasure  ! 
When  I  talked  to  those  I  met  of  their  beautiful  world,  I  spoke  in 
an  unknown  tongue.  I  might  as  well  have  tried  to  convince  Jones, 
the  druggist,  that  pure  air  was  as  fragrant  as  the  odors  which  blew 
from  Araby  the  blest,  or  any  other  Araby.  Jones  would  have  told 
me,  "  I  have  had  air  in  my  nose  for  fifty  years,  and,  if  there  is  any 
smell  in  it,  don't  you  suppose  I  should  have  found  it  out  in  that 
time  ?  "  They  were  as  stolid  as  marble,  and  as  unenthusiastic  as  a 
proper  woman  who  never  felt  the  slightest  twinge  of  hope,  fear,  love, 
hate,  or  anything  else,  except  propriety.  "  It  is  strange,"  said  I, 
"  that  no  one  understands  what  I  feel.  .  .  .  Well,"  I  thought,  "they 
have  never  known  anything  different,  and  as  a  result  they  do  not 
know  this." 

I  was  no  less  agreeably  surprised  at  the  men  and  women  whom  I 
found  peopling  the  globe.  The  stirpiculturist  had  finished  his  work 
and  gone  home.  There  was  not  a  physical  deformity  of  any  kind 
among  the  millions  that  walked  the  earth.  All  were  brought  up  to 
the  highest  type  of  physical  beauty.  There  was  not  a  woman  I  met 
with  whom  I  did  not  instantly  fall  in  love,  though  it  was  like  Cali- 
ban falling  in  love  with  the  houris.  Every  man  was  an  Apollo,  and 
every  woman  a  Venus.  But  I  was  surprised  to  see  them  so  blind  to 
each  other's  charms.  The  men  were  the  slowest  of  slow  lovers;  the 
women  as  responsive  as  lay-figures.  "Ah  !  well,"  I  sighed,  "  they  never 
saw  in  man  or  in  woman  anything  but  beauty,  and  now  they  see  not 
that."  It  seemed  that  a  sight  of  me,  which  some  of  them  could  not  en- 
dure without  a  shudder,  had  begun  to  awaken  in  them  a  new  sense  of 
which  the  stirpiculturist  had  robbed  them — a  sense  of  the  beautiful. 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD.  61 

Being  by  nature  benevolent,  and  inheriting  a  missionary  spirit,  it  did 
me  good  to  think  that  I  was  serving  so  useful  a  purpose,  and  starting 
a  mission  for  the  conversion  of  these  heathen  in  aesthetics.  With  a 
force  that  almost  took  away  my  breath,  it  came  to  me  that  we  owe  a 
great  debt  to  the  deformeu,  the  hideous,  and  the  wicked ;  that  those, 
the  morally  hideous,  wdioni  society  hunts  down  as  its  worst  enemies, 
spend  their  lives  in  serving  the  very  class  that  seeks  to  destroy  them. 
Then,  too,  the  goodness  and  holiness  of  the  reconstructed  world ! 
There  were  met  with  only  those  with  whom,  having  been  so  well  gen- 
erated for  a  thousand  years,  regeneration  was  impossible.  A  long 
line  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  saints  were  the  ancestors  of  the 
race.  "  What  a  perfect  heaven  S  "  I  said  to  them.  But  I  found  upon 
their  faces  only  a  gingerbread-rabbit  expression.  Such  words  as 
heaven  and  hell  conveyed  to  them  no  more  idea  than  green  or  red 
conveys  to  a  blind  man.  I  was  in  despair  at  such  a  lack  of  appre- 
ciation. Here  was  practically  the  heaven  upon  earth  which  the  race 
had  worked  for,  prayed  for,  agonized  for ;  and,  now  that  it  had  come, 
no  one  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  or  even  to  know  of  its  existence.  It  is 
truly  a  misfortune  to  be  born  in  and  always  to  live  in  heaven.  The 
eternal  Law  of  Differences  holds  us  fast.  Hell  is  a  necessity,  which 
must  be  as  deep  as  heaven  is  high.  The  world  was  better  as  it  was 
before  the  reconstructed  got  hold  of  it.  Give  us  back  the  iron  age  ! 
All  is  not  gold  that  glitters.  My  prayer  was  answered,  and  I  found 
myself  once  more  in  this  world  of  sin  and  holiness,  joy  and  sorrow — 
in  a  word,  back  in  this  world  of  differences. 


-♦••♦- 


MAN  AND   THE   GLACIAL  PEEIOD. 

By  THOMAS  BELT,  F.  G.  S. 

CONCERNING  the  Glacial  period,  geologists  hold  the  most  varied 
opinions,  both  with  regard  to  its  origin  and  to  the  mode  of  ac- 
tion of  the  ice.  Thus  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  geological  record  we 
tread  on  uncertain  ground,  and  every  guide  points  to  a  different  path. 
The  relation  that  palaeolithic  man  bore  to  the  great  ice  age  might 
seem  to  be  of  easier  solution  ;  but  even  this  question  is  unsettled,  and 
a  subject  of  controversy  and  doubt.  Prof.  Prestwich  is  believed  by 
many  to  have  proved  that  palaeolithic  man  was  post-glacial.  Messrs. 
Croll  and  Geikie  unre  that  there  were  two  or  more  glacial  periods  in 
post-tertiary  times,  and  that  he  nourished  in  a  mild  interglacial  pe- 
riod. I,  on  the  contrary,  have  been  gradually  forced  to  conclude 
that,  in  the  British  Isles,  all  the  remains  in  caves  and  valley-gravels 
referred  to  palaeolithic  man  are  preglacial,  in  the  sense  that  they  are 


62  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  earlier  date  than  the  glaciation  of  the  districts  in  which  they  are 
found. 

I  propose  to  state  briefly  some  of  the  general  arguments  that  have 
influenced  my  opinion,  and  then  to  deal  with  the  special  question  of 
the  age  of  the  deposits  at  Hoxne,  which  the  advocates  of  the  post- 
glacial theory  put  forward  as  being  undoubtedly  in  their  favor. 

Let  us  first  take  into  consideration  the  age  of  the  beds  containing 
the  remains  of  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  and  their  com- 
panions, with  which  the  palaeolithic  implements  are  so  often  found. 
Wherever,  in  Europe,  the  relation  of  these  beds  to  the  bowlder-clay 
can  be  clearly  seen,  they  are  of  distinctly  older  age.  Thus,  in  Russia, 
Sir  Roderick  I.  Murchison  has  recorded  the  discovery  of  the  bones  of 
the  mammoth  and  woolly  rhinoceros,  near  Moscow,  in  reddish  clay 
covered  with  erratic  blocks,  on  the  plains  thirteen  miles  distant  from 
the  river.1  And  if  we  follow  the  northern  drift  southward  from  Mos- 
cow, as  I  have  done,  we  find  it  gradually  changes  from  clay  with  bowl- 
ders to  the  clay  without  bowlders  that  covers  the  southern  plains. 
Around  the  sea  of  Azov,  cliffs  of  this  glacial  clay,  one  hundred  feet 
high,  can  be  followed  continuously  for  miles,  and  its  junction  below 
■with  the  older  beds  is  sharply  defined.  It  rests  on  a  fresh-water  de- 
posit containing  shells  of  species  of  Unto,  Cyclas,  and  Paludina,  and 
at  this  horizon  fragments  of  the  tusks  and  bones  of  the  mammoth  are 
abundant,  and  are  always  undoubtedly  older  than  the  glacial  clay. 
In  a  similar  position  the  same  remains  have  been  found  at  Odessa  and 
other  places  in  the  south  of  Russia. 

Nor  has  the  theory  of  the  post-glacial  age  of  the  remains  of  the 
mammoth  remained  unchallenged  by  eminent  geologists  in  England. 
Prof.  Phillips2  and  Mr.  Godwin  Austen3  long  ago  recorded  their  con- 
viction that  they  belonged  to  an  earlier  period  than  the  deposition  of 
the  bowlder-clay,  and  that  when  they  occur  in  newer  beds  they  have 
been  derived  from  an  older  formation.  The  remains  are  so  plentiful 
in  the  caves  of  the  north  of  England  that  it  is  certain  that  the  mam- 
moth and  rhinoceros  were  abundant.  Yet  nowhere  in  the  glaciated 
parts  of  the  country  have  the  bones  been  found  excepting  where  pre- 
served from  the  action  of  the  ice  in  caverns  and  fissures. 

Thus,  in  tracing  the  limits  of  the  northern  ice  on  the  eastern  side 
of  England,  I  have  found  that  Durham  and  Northumberland  were 
probably  completely  overflowed  by  it,  excepting  the  upper  parts  of 
the  Cheviots,  as  pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Richard  Howse.  The  ice 
streamed  through  from  the  west,  around  the  southern  and  northern 
flanks  of  the  Cheviots,  down  the  valleys  of  the  Tyne  and  the  Tweed, 
and  when  approaching  the  eastern  coast  was  deflected  to  the  south  by 
the  great  mass  of  ice  that  occupied  and  was  flownng  down  the  bed  of 

1  "  ftoolosry  of  Russia  in  Europe,"  p.  650. 

2  "  Geology  of  Yorkshire,"  1820,  vol.  i.,  pp.  18,  52. 

3  "British  Association  Reports,"  1863,  p.. 68. 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD.  63 

the  German  Ocean.  In  Yorkshire  the  ice  from  the  west  was  held 
back  by  the  Pennine  Chain,  and  did  not  coalesce  with  the  German 
Ocean  glacier,  but  stopped  short,  somewhere  about  an  irregular  line 
drawn  from  Keighley,  northeastward  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tees. 
The  German  Ocean  glacier  only,  as  it  were,  grazed  the  high  land  bor- 
dering the  coast  until  it  reached  the  northern  shores  of  Norfolk  that 
stood  out  across  its  track.  A  large  portion  of  Yorkshire  was  thus 
never  glaciated  by  land-ice,  and  in  this  area  remains  of  the  great  ex- 
tinct mammals  have  been  found  in  and  below  the  lowland  gravels,  as 
at  Leeds  and  Market  Weighton ;  but  when  we  pass  northwestward 
into  the  country  where  the  stria?  on  the  rock-surfaces  bear  witness  to 
the  passage  of  land-ice,  no  such  remains  are  found,  excepting  in  cav- 
erns and  fissures  of  the  old  rocks. 

The  northwestern  side  of  England  is  much  more  glaciated  than 
the  northeastern,  and  the  mammalian  remains  have  only  been  found 
where  preserved  in  caves.  The  ice  filling  the  Irish  Sea  reached  to  a 
height  of  2,000  feet  on  the  western  flank  of  the  Pennine  Chain. 
Probably  reenforced  from  the  westward  it  continued,  in  scarcely  de- 
creasing thickness,  across  the  whole  of  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  and 
passed  over  into  the  drainage  area  of  the  Severn,  down  which  valley 
it  appears  to  have  flowed  for  some  distance.  As  soon  as  we  get 
beyond  its  influence  we  again  meet  with  mammalian  remains  in  the 
lowland  gravels,  and  in  most  of  the  southern  valleys  they  are  abun- 
dant. 

If  the  mammoth  and  its  associates  roamed  as  far  as  the  north  of 
England,  and  even  into  Scotland,  after  the  Glacial  period,  their  re- 
mains ought  to  be  found  in  the  valley-gravels  of  the  glaciated  dis- 
tricts. They  are,  however,  absent ;  and  if  Ave  should  be  led  to  infer 
from  this  that  they  lived  before  the  glaciation  of  the  country,  and 
accept  the  conclusion  of  Prof.  Phillips  and  Mr.  Godwin  Austen  that 
the  mammoth  and  the  wroolly  rhinoceros  lived  before  and  not  after 
the  Glacial  period  in  Great  Britain,  we  can  scarcely  refrain  from  going 
further  than  these  geologists  and  concluding  that  the  makers  of  the 
palaeolithic  implements  were  also  preglacial.  For  no  geological  in- 
ference seems  based  upon  sounder  evidence  than  that  palaeolithic  man 
was  contemporaneous  with  the  mammoth  and  its  associates.  The  im- 
plements of  the  one  and  the  bones  of  the  others  are  found  together  in 
the  same  stratum  of  the  cave-earth,  and  in  all  the  numerous  caverns 
that  have  been  searched  in  England  and  Wales  there  is  no  record  of 
palaeolithic  implements  being  found  at  a  higher  horizon  ;  when  flint 
weapons  do  so  occur  they  are  invariably  of  the  neolithic  type.  If 
geological  evidence  of  contemporaneity  is  of  any  value,  the  occupation 
of  the  caves  by  palaeolithic  man  ceased  at  the  same  time  as  the  great 
mammals  disappeared. 

Let  us  look  at  the  question  from  another  point  of  view.  In  the 
south  of  England  the  remains  of  the  mammoth  are  abundant  in  the 


64  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

valley-gravels.  They  are  found  mixed  through  them,  or  more  com- 
monly at  their  base.  Palaeolithic  implements  are  found  in  the  same 
position,  though  usually  in  gravel  higher  up  on  the  slopes  of  the  val- 
leys. When  found  in  the  gravel,  the  bones  are  broken  and  worn,  and 
the  flint  implements  have  their  angles  rounded  more  or  less  as  if  by 
rolling.  When,  as  has  happened  in  a  few  cases,  the  bones  and  imple- 
ments have  been  found  below  the  gravels,  they  have  betn  uninjured 
and  unworn.  Mr.  Godwin  Austen  noticed  the  occurrence  of  bones  of 
the  mammoth  in  an  old  forest-bed  beneath  the  valley-gravels,  at 
Peasemarsh,  in  Surrey,  uninjured  and  lying  together,  while  in  the 
overlying  gravel  the  teeth  of  the  mammoth  were  found  singly  and 
rolled.1  And  Colonel  Lane  Fox  has  recorded  the  discovery  of  flint 
implements  at  Acton  in  seams  of  white  sand,  nine  feet  from  the  sur- 
face, beneath  deposits  of  giavel  and  brick-earth.2  Their  edges  were 
as  sharp  as  if  just  flaked  off  a  core  of  flint ;  while  those  found  in  the 
gravel,  on  the  contrary,  have  their  edges  worn  and  rounded  just  like 
those  of  the  subangular  pebbles  of  which  the  gravel  is  principally 
composed. 

The  position  and  the  state  of  preservation  of  the  bones  and  imple- 
ments are  such  as  might  be  expected  if  they  had  been  deposited  on 
an  old  land-surface  before  the  outspread  of  the  gravels,  when  the  con- 
figuration of  the  country  was  much  the  same  as  now ;  and  I  have  sug- 
gested that  the  occurrence  of  the  implements,  generally  higher  up  the 
slopes  of  the  valleys  than  the  mammalian  remains,  is  due  to  palaeo- 
lithic man  having  frequented  more  elevated  and  drier  localities  than 
the  great  mammals.  I  have  urged  that  the  outspread  of  the  gravels 
was  due,  as  formerly  supposed  by  Sedgewick,  De  la  Beche,  and  Mur- 
chison,  to  the  action  of  a  great  flood  or  debacle.  I  have  advanced  the 
theory  that  that  debacle  was  caused  by  the  breaking  away  of  a  bar- 
rier of  ice  that  blocked  up  the  English  Channel,  and  with  it  nil  the 
drainage  of  Northern  Europe,  causing  .an  immense  lake  of  fresh  or 
brackish  water  that  was  thus  suddenly  and  tumultuously  discharged.3 

This  great  flood  occurred,  according  to  my  theory,  before  the  cul- 
mination of  the  Glacial  period,  and  was  primarily  due  to  ice  filling  the 
bed  of  the  North  Atlantic  as  far  south  on  the  European  side  as  lati- 
tude 49°.  If  the  gravels  in  and  below  which  the  rude  flint  imple- 
ments and  the  remains  of  the  extinct  mammals  are  found,  were  thus 
spread  out,  it  follows  that  they  were  preglacial  in  the  sense  that  they 
lived  before  the  principal  glaciation  of  the  country. 

We  have  seen  that,  in  the  north,  such  an  excellent  geologist  as 
the  late  Prof.  Phillips  had  arrived  at  this  conclusion  with  regard  to 
the  age  of  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  and  the  hippopota- 

1  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geologiccd  Society,  vol.  vii.,  p.  2S8. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  xxviii.,  p.  456. 

3  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  April,  1875.      Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological 
Society,  vol.  xxxii.,  p.  84. 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD.  65 

mus;  and,  in  the  south,  Mr.  Godwin  Austen,  from  a  study  of  the  same 
remains  in  the  valley-gravels.  Direct  evidence  of  great  value  lias  heen 
added  by  Mr.  Tiddiman  in  his  reports  on  the  exploration  of  the  Vic- 
toria Cave,  at  Settle.  He  has  shown  that  the  cave-deposits  lie  be- 
neath glacial  clay,  and,  among  the  other  remains,  a  human  hbula  has 
been  found.1  In  the  Cefn  Cave,  in  Denbighshire,  Mr.  Mackintosh  has 
also  determined  that  the  mammalian  remains  lie  in  and  below  a  gla- 
cial clay.2 

All  the  lines  of  inquiry  thus  far  pursued  in  this  paper  point  to  the 
preglacial  age  of  the  remains  in  question,  and  some  of  the  facts  are 
directly  opposed  to  the  post-glacial  theory.  How,  then,  is  it  that  the 
great  majority  of  geologists  write  as  if  it  had  been  clearly  proved  that 
palaeolithic  man  was  of  post-glacial  age  ?  Principally  because  it  is  be- 
lieved that  Prof.  Prestwich  has  proved  that  at  Hoxne,  in  Suffolk,  the 
implements  and  bones  are  found  in  deposits  distinctly  overlying 
bowlder-clay.  This  is  spoken  of  as  if  it  were  a  truism  in  most  general 
treatises  on  geology ; 3  and  both  in  Europe  and  America  the  presump- 
tion is  appealed  to  as  being  conclusive  with  regard  to  the  age  of  the 
remains.  The  general  opinion  held  is  concisely  given  in  the  statement 
by  Mr.  John  Evans  in  his  presidential  address  to  the  Geological  So- 
ciety last  year,  that,  at  Hoxne,  "  the  implement-bearing  beds  repose 
in  a  trough  cut  out  in  the  upper  glacial  bowlder-clay,  which  itself  rests 
on  middle  glacial  sands  and  gravels."  4 

This  opinion  of  the  age  of  the  Hoxne  deposits  is  founded  on  the 
elaborate  memoir  by  Prof.  Prestwich,  published  in  the  "  Philosophical 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,"  for  1860.  In  this  treatise  the 
author  gives  a  diagram  showing  the  deposits  in  question  lying  in  a 
trough  cut  out  in  the  bowlder-clay.  Though  this  section  is  confessed- 
ly only  theoretical,  it  was  accepted  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  others  as 
an  actual  one,  and  afterward  the  author  himself  wrote  as  if  he  had 
proved  his  theory  to  be  true,5  which  he  may  well  be  excused  for  hav. 
ing  done,  when  it  had  been  accepted  by  so  many  eminent  geologists. 

The  writings  of  Prof.  Prestwich  are  admirable  in  this,  as  in  other 
respects,  that,  although  he  indulges  in  wide-reaching  theories,  he  in- 
variably gives  the  evidence  on  which  they  are  founded.  Thus,  in  the 
memoir  in  question,  in  addition  to  the  theoretical  diagram  he  gives 
another,  showing  the  actual  facts  observed,  and  also  careful  details  of 
the  various  sections  observed  by  him.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to 
check  his  theory  by  his  facts,  and  in  the  present  paper  I  shall  do  so, 

1  Nature,  vol.  ix.,  p.  14.     "  British  Association  Reports,"  for  1873,  1874,  1875. 

2  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,  vol.  xxxii.,  p.  91. 

3  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  "  Antiquity  of  Man,"  p.  166.  J.  Geikie,  "  Great  Ice  Age,"  p.  474. 
J.  Croll,  "  Climate  and  Time,"  p.  241.  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  "Cave-Hunting,"  p.  410. 
Jukes's  "  Students'  Manual  of  Geology,"  p.  736. 

4  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,  vol.  xxxi.,  p.  74. 

5  "  Philosophical  Transactions,"  1864,  p.  253. 

VOL.  XII. 5 


66  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  also  give  the  results  of  my  own  examination  of  the  Hoxne  dis- 
trict. 

Mr.  John  Frere,  so  long  ago  as  the  first  year  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, communicated  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  an  "Account  of 
Flint  Weapons  discovered  at  Hoxne,  in  Suffolk."  1  He  stated  that 
they  were  found  in  great  numbers  in  a  bed  of  gravel,  which  was  over- 
laid by  one  foot  of  sand  with  shells,  and  containing  the  jawbone  and 
teeth  of  an  enormous  animal ;  the  sand  being  again  covered  by  seven 
and  a  half  feet  of  brick-clay.  Mr.  Frere  noticed  that  the  strata  lay 
horizontally,  and  had  been  denuded  to  form  the  present  valley,  and 
therefore  concluded  that  they  belonged  to  a  period  when  the  configu- 
ration of  the  surface  was  different  from  what  it  is  now,  and  he  consid- 
ered that  their  antiquity  was  possibly  "even  beyond  that  of  the  pres- 
ent world."  The  manner  in  which  the  flint  implements  lay,  and  their 
great  abundance,  led  Mr.  Frere  to  conclude  that  a  manufactory  of 
them  had  been  carried  on  at  the  place  where  he  found  them. 

The  discovery  does  not  appear  to  have  excited  any  attention  at 
the  time,  and  for  more  than  half  a  century  remained  unnoticed.  In 
1859,  when  the  discovery  of  flint  implements  in  the  valley  of  the 
Somme,  in  France,  in  association  with  the  remains  of  the  mammoth 
and  other  extinct  mammals,  had  at  last  aroused  the  attention  of  geolo- 
gists, Mr.  Frere's  memoir  was  brought  by  Mr.  John  Evans  before  the 
notice  of  Mr.  Prestwich,  who  had  just  returned  from  Amiens.  He 
soon  after  visited  Hoxne,  and  carefully  examined  into  the  facts  of  the 
case.  He  found  that  the  bed  of  brick-clay  was  still  being  worked, 
and  that  flint  implements  were  occasionally,  though  rarely,  turned  up ; 
and  on  a  subsequent  visit  with  Mr.  Evans  they  succeeded  in  disinter- 
ring one  themselves. 

The  valleys  of  the  Waveney  and  its  tributaries  are  bounded  by 
low  hills  of  gravel  and  bowlder-clay.  The  bed-rock  is  not  seen  in  any 
of  the  sections  exposed,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  chalk.  Tlie  gravels 
and  sands  (the  middle  glacial  sands  and  gravels  of  Mr.  Searles  Wood, 
Jr.)  are  exposed  in  many  gravel-pits  on  both  sides  of  the  Waveney. 
They  are  sometimes  capped  by  the  upper  bowlder-clay  ;  at  others,  by 
a  more  sandy  bed  with  stones  (the  "  trail "  of  Mr.  Fisher),  which  in 
some  of  the  sections  graduates  into  the  upper  bowlder-clny,  of  which 
I  believe  it  to  be  the  modified  representative.  One  of  the  deepest 
sections  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Waveney  is  near  the  road  from  Hiss 
to  Harleston,  at  Billingford,  where  the  series  of  beds  shown  in  Fig.  1 
are  exposed. 

Mr.  Fisher  some  time  ago  called  attention  to  the  great  importance 
of  the  upper  bed,  or  "trail,"  in  the  study  of  the  glacial  beds,2  but  it 
has  not  yet  received  the  notice  it  deserves.  It  is  the  most  persistent 
of  all  the  beds  in  the  southeastern  counties,  and  can  be  traced,  in  al- 

1  "  Arclioeologia,''  1800,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  206. 

8  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,  vol.  xxii.,  p.  553. 


MAN  AND    THE    GLACIAL   PERIOD. 


67 


most  every  section,  from  Norfolk  into  Surrey.  It  is  everywhere  seen 
in  the  Thames  Valley  lying  on  the  top  of  the  lowland  gravels,  and  is 
shown*  in  great  perfection  in  the  long  section  now  (March,  1876)  ex- 
posed between  Acton  and  Hanwell,  on  the  Great  Western  Railway. 


Fig.  1.— Scale  twelve  feet  to  oneinch.  1.  Sandy  clay,  or  "trail.''  with  patches  of  sand  (S)  and  scat- 
tered flints,  mostly  in  nests,  at  the  irregular  base  of  the  deposit.  3.  Sands  and  grave),  false- 
bedded  with  lenticular  beds  of  sand  (S),  and  in  the  lowest  seams  rounded  pebbles  of  chalk. 

It  generally,  if  not  always,  rests  upon  an  irregular  surface  of  the  beds 
below  it,  and  contains  stones  derived  from  some  other  source. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  Waveney,  at  Syleham,  there  are  good 
sections  on  both  sides  of  the  turnpike,  and  these  exhibit  similar  false- 
bedded  sands  and  gravels,  which  are,  however,  covered  by  the  upper 
bowlder-clay  instead  of  by  "  trail."     Fig.  2  shows  a  section  exposed 


Fig.  2  —Brown  howlder-clav.  with  many  whole  flints,  and  with  angular  patches  of  red  sand  (B\ 
marly  clay  with  small  stones  (A),  and  red  bowlder-clay  (  C).  3.  Sands  aud  subangular  flint, 
gravel  with  rounded  pebble  of  quartz,  and  (in  the  lowest  seams)  of  chalk. 

on  the  south  side  of  the  turnpike.  A  little  farther  west,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  turnpike,  is  another  gravel-pit,  showing  a  similar  succes- 
sion, but  with  the  beds  of  sand  and  gravel  strongly  false-bedded.  In 
all  these  sections  small  pebbles  of  chalk  are  very  abundant  in  the 
lowest  beds.  The  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  upper  bowlder-clay 
is  the  numerous  angular  patches  of  material  quite  different  from  the 
matrix  of  brown  clay.  The  angular  patches  of  red  sand  are  very  pe- 
culiar and  difficult  to  explain. 

In  a  large  gravel-pit  a  little  north  of  Oakley  Church  there  is  a  long 


68  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

section  exposed,  and  in  it  the  upper  bowlder-clay,  similar  to  that  shown 
in  Fig.  2,  at  one  end  of  the  pit,  gradually  changes  into  a  sandy  loam 
with  stones  and  angular  patches  of  sand,  not  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  deposit  named  "trail"  in  Fig.  1. 

At  Hoxne  itself,  on  the  east  side  of  Gold  Brook,  there  is  a  gravel- 
pit  showing  seams  of  gravel  and  sand  exactly  similar  to  that  at  Syle- 
ham,  but  surmounted  by  sandy  "  trail "  instead  of  by  bowlder-clay.  The 
gravel  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  other,  being  composed  like 
it  of  subangular  flint-pebbles  with  rounded  ones  of  quartz  and  quart- 
zite,  and  with  many  small  pebbles  of  chalk  in  the  lowest  seams.     Not- 
withstanding this  great  similarity,  Mr.  Prestwich  considers  the  beds 
at  Hoxne  to  have  been  formed   by  river-action  in  post-glacial  times  ; 
while  those  at  Syleham,  being  capped  by  bowlder-clay,  he  of  necessity 
classifies  as  middle  glacial.     Yet  I  could  find  no  difference  whatever 
in  their  appearance  or  composition.     In  both  the  pebbles  are  mostly 
small  and  subangular,  with  some  rounded  ones  of  quartz  and  quartzite. 
Both  contain  many  small  pebbles  of  chalk  in  their  lowest  seams,  and 
both  are  false-bedded.     That  one  is  covered  with  bowlder-clay  and  the 
other  by  sandy  "  trail "  does  not  suffice  to  prove  them  of  different  age, 
for  at  the  Oakley  gravel-pit  we  can  trace  the  same  gravels  from  one 
end,  where  the  bowlder-clay  overlies  them,  to  the  other,  where  the 
"trail"  does  so.     The  middle  sands  and  gravels  are  generally  sup- 
posed by  geologists  to  be  marine,  and  it  is  incredible  that  deposits  due 
to  such  different  agencies  as  that  of  the  waves  of  the  ocean  beating  on 
a  beach  and  that  of  a  flooded  river  should  be  absolutely  identical  in 
appearance  and  composition.     But  nowhere  is  either  the  ocean  or  any 
river  known  to  be  forming  deposits  of  subangular  pebbles,  excepting 
where  they  are  cutting  into  preexisting  beds  of  the  middle  glacial  series. 
Both  in  sea  and  in  river  beaches  the  pebbles  are  smoothly  rounded,  and 
not,  as  in  the  gravels  under  consideration,  broken  and  subangular. 
Even  when  we  find  in  the  latter  rounded  pebbles  of  tertiary  age  there  is 
often  a  piece  chipped  out  of  them  as  if  they  had  been  dashed  violent- 
ly together.     I  have  had  a  large  number  of  the  pebbles  from  the  gravel 
at  Ealing  counted,  and  find  that  over  eighty  per  cent,  are  broken  or 
subangular.     I  ask  where,  in  the  whole  world,  is  such  a  deposit  being 
formed  by  existing  agencies  ?     Surely,  if  ordinary  floods  would  pro- 
duce them,  they  have  had  plenty  of  opportunities  of  doing  so  during 
the  past  pluvial  year ;  yet  where,  on  the  banks  of  any  of  our  rivers, 
have  the  great  floods  left  deposits  even  approaching  in  character  to 
those  that  geologists  confidently  ascribe  to  river-action  ?     That  they 
wrere  caused  by  a  great  flood  I  fully  believe,  though  not  by  that  of  any 
river,  but  by  one  that  swept  over  the  whole  country,  driving  a  huge 
mass  of  gravel  and  sand,  and  leaving  them  mantling  both  hills  and 
valleys,  holding  or  covering  up  the  remains  of  palaeolithic  man  and  the 
great  mammals  that  had  lived  before  the  waters  wrere  pent  up  by  the 
Atlantic  glacier. 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD. 


69 


A  little  above  Hoxne,  on  the  left  side  of  the  stream  called  the 
Gold  Brook,  is  the  Hoxne  clay-pit.  The  clay  is  excavated  along  the 
slope  of  the  shallow  valley  through  which  the  brook  runs.  The  road 
to  Eye  skirts  the  hill-side,  having  to  the  west  the  park  of  Sir  Edward 
Kerrison ;  and  to  the  east,  between  it  and  the  stream,  a  narrow  strip 


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of  land  from  which  the  clay  has  been  dug.  The  old  workers  had 
commenced  near  the  village  of  Hoxne,  and  as  they  gradually  exhaust- 
ed the  clay  up  to  the  road  they  moved  farther  southward,  and  the 
point  at  which  it  is  now  excavated  is  probably  at  least  a  quarter  of  a 


7° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


mile  distant  from  that  where  Mr.  Frere  made  Ids  discoveries  in  1800. 
The  pit  has  now  been  worked  up  to  some  farm-buildings  that  inter- 
fere with  its  progress  southward,  and  to  get  clay  they  have  now 
crossed  the  road  into  the  park,  and  thus  made  a  most  important  ad- 
dition to  the  section  laid  open. 

I  have  in  the  accompanying  plate  given  three  sections  of  the 
ground.  The  first  shows  the  theoretical  relation  of  the  beds  accord- 
ing to  Prof.  Prestwich  ;  the  second  exhibits  the  facts  actually  ob- 
served by  Prof.  Prestwich  and  myself;  and  the  third  is  a  theoretical 
section  showing  the  relation  that  the  beds  hold  to  each  other  accord- 
ing to  my  own  views.  We  shall  in  the  first  place  confine  our  atten- 
tion to  the  second  section  (Fig.  4),  showing  the  facts  actually  observed. 


SoTT 


<?:  ■  \  ■  '0%  ^j«lgLfL^; '  "^  ■' 


Fig.  fi. — 1.  "Trail,"  three  feet.  6' and  6.  Bowlder-clay,  chalky  in  upper  part:  a  slight  line  of  divis- 
ion between  it  and  the  lower  part,  which  is  principally  composed  of  crushed  Kituiueridg-e  clay  with 
pieces  of  chalk. 

On  the  east  side  of  Gold  Brook  a  cutting  has  been  made  into  the 
bank,  and  a  thick  bed  of  bowlder-clay  is  exposed.  At  the  point  A  in 
general  section  the  beds  are  shown,  as  in  Fig.  6.  Near  the  line  of 
division  the  upper  and  more  chalky  clay  contains  many  large  flints 
and  transported  bowlders.  Some  of  these  are  smoothed,  and  strongly 
scratched  and  grooved.  Two  scratched  blocks  of  septaria  that  I  saw 
measured  one  and  a  half  foot  across.  This  bowlder-clny,  both  in 
its  upper  and  lower  division,  is  very  distinct  in  appearance  and  com- 
position from  that  lying  above  the  gravels,  as  seen  in  other  sections. 
Lower  down  toward  the  brook  a  seam  of  false-bedded  sandy  gravel 
comes  in  between  the  bowlder-clay  and  the  "  trail,"  and  represents,  I 
think,  the  gravels  of  Figs.  1  and  2. 

Crossing  the  brook  and  ascending  the  opposite  slope,  we  have,  at 
the  points  C  and  D  of  general  section,  typical  sections  of  the  clay-, 
pit,  as  shown  in  Fig.  7.  The  clay  (4  in  section)  is  called  "  red-brick 
earth  "  by  the  workmen,  because  it  burns  to  a  red  color ;  while  the 
lower,  dark-colored  clay  (7  in  section)  is  called  "  white-brick  earth," 
because  it  burns  to  a  white  color.  The  bottom  of  the  latter  bed  has 
not  been  reached,  although  Prof.  Prestwich  had  a  boring  put  down 
into  it  to  a  depth  of  seventeen  feet.  It  is  full  of  vegetable  matter, 
and  I  found  numerous  pieces  of  wood  in  it.  The  men  pointed  out  to 
me  the  gravel-seams  (5  in  section),  as  the  horizon  at  which  flint  imple- 
ments had  been  found  ;  but,  shortly  before  Prof.  Prestwich  visited  the 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD. 


7i 


pit,  two  specimens  had  been  taken  from  the  lower  part  of  the  clay  (4 
in  section).  There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  they  were  found 
by  Mr.  Frere  in  the  gravel  below  the  "  red-brick  earth,"  as  he  says 
that  "  they  lay  in  great  numbers  at  the  depth  of  about  twelve  feet  in 


Fig.  7.— 1.  Sandy  "  trail"  with  flint-pebbles.  4.  Yellowish-brown  clay,  unstratified  at  top  and  graduating 
downward  into  obscurely  stratified  chalky  clay — ten  feet.  5.  Two  thin  bands  of  small  chalky  gravel, 
separated  by  eight  inches  of  loam.  7.  Dark  calcareous  clay,  with  fragments  of  wood  and  other  vege- 
tation. 

a  stratified  soil,  which  was  dug  into  for  the  purpose  of  raising  clay 
for  bricks.  Under  a  foot  and  a  half  of  vegetable  earth  was  clay  seven 
and  a  half  feet  thick,  and  beneath  this  one  foot  of  sand  with  shells, 
and  under  this  two  feet  of  gravel,  in  which  the  shaped  flints  were 
found  generally  at  the  rate  of  five  or  six  in  a  square  yard.  The  man- 
ner in  which  the  flint  implements  lay  wovdd  lead  to  the  persuasion 
that  it  was  a  place  of  their  manufacture,  and  not  of  their  accidental 
deposit.  Their  numbers  were  so  great  that  the  man  who  carried  on 
the  brickwork  told  me  that,  before  he  was  aware  of  their  being  ob- 
jects of  curiosity,  he  had  emptied  baskets  full  of  them  into  the  ruts 
of  the  adjoining  road." 

As  I  have  already  mentioned,  the  place  at  which  the  clay  is  now 
excavated  is  some  distance  from  that  where  Mr.  Frere  found  the 
implements,  and  they  are  now  very  seldom  met  with — so  seldom, 
that  none  of  the  men  working  at  the  clay-pit  when  I  was  there  had 
ever  seen  one. 

To  the  west  of  the  road,  in  the  pit  that  has  been  opened  in  Sir  Ed- 
ward Kerrison's  park,  a  section  of  the  beds  has  been  exposed  at  the 
point  marked  Eva.  general  section,  as  shown  in  Fig.  8.  The  most  re- 
markable feature  in  the  section  is  the  occurrence  of  the  upper  clay  (2 
in  section),  containing  angular  patches  of  red  sand,  like  that  seen  in 
the  "upper  bowlder-clay "  of  other  parts  of  the  district.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that,  if  this  section  had  been  open  when  Prof.  Prestwich 
examined  the  deposits,  he  would  have  been  led  to  modify  his  opinion 
respecting  the  relation  of  the  deposits  to  the  Glacial  period.  I  myself 
believe  this  clay  to  be  the  upper  bowlder-clay,  and  the  sand  with  peb- 
bles below  it  to  be  the  "  middle  glacial  sands  and  gravels." 

To  trace  the  "red-brick  earth"  (4  in  section)  down  toward  the 
lower  bowlder-clay,  I  set  some  men  to  work,  and  had  a  shaft  sunk — at 


72 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  point  marked  B  in  general  section — to  a  depth  of  seventeen  feet 
from  the  top  of  the  surface-soil,  and  obtained  the  section  shown  in 
Fig.  9.  The  most  noticeable  feature  in  this  section  is  the  thickening 
out  of  the  false-bedded  sands  and  gravels,  their  resemblance  to  the 
middle  glacial  series,  and  the  absence  of  the  "white-brick  earth  "  (7  in 
section).  In  a  pit  a  little  east  of  this,  Prof.  Prestwich  and  Mr.  John 
Evans  found  a  flint  implement  in  the  gravel-bed  (3  in  section). 


Fie.  8. — 1.  Sandy  "trail"  with  flints  graduating  downward  into  sand,  filling  pipes  in  clay  below. 
2.  Unstratifled  yellow  clay,  containing  isolated  angular  patches  of  reddish  sand.  3.  'Whitish 
sand  with  a  few  scattered  pebbles,  sometimes  changing  into  reddish  sand,  like  that  of  the 
patches  in  the  clay  above.  4.  Yellowish-brown  clay  Ol  red-brick  earth"),  unstratifled  at  top 
and  graduating  downward  into  laminated  calcareous  clay. 


I  have  now  given  all  the  facts  at  present  known  respecting  the  re- 
lation of  these  beds  to  the  Glacial  period,  and  I  proceed  to  the  consid- 
eration of  Prof.  Prestwich's  theoretical  views,  as  shown  in  the  general 
section  (Fig.  3).  In  the  first  place,  Prof.  Prestwich  identifies  the  bowl- 
der-clay seen  in  the  pit  on  the  east  side  of  the  brook  as  the  upper 
bowlder-clay.  As  I  have  already  mentioned,  it  in  no  respect  resem- 
bles the  clay  seen  in  other  sections  above  the  false-bedded  sands  and 
gravel,  and  the  existence  of  the  middle  glacial  beds  below  this  par- 
ticular deposit  is  entirely  theoretical.  Prof.  Prestwich  makes  these 
sands  and  gravel  to  pass  under  the  brick-clays;  and  I  feel  confident 
it  will  astonish  many  of  those  who  appeal  to  this  section,  as  proof  of 
the  post-glacial  age  of  palaeolithic  man,  to  learn  that  they  have  never 
been  seen  in  this  position,  and  that  their  presence  is  an  assumption 
only.  The  "  red-brick  earth  "  ought,  according  to  Prof.  Prestwich's 
views,  to  thin  out  eastward,  and  the  dark  clays  or  "red-brick  earth" 
to  crop  up  to  the  surface  from  underneath  it.  Instead  of  this,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  8,  at  the  point  B  in  general  section,  the  "  red-brick 
earth  "  follows  down  the  slope  of  the  hill,  and  is  not  underlaid  at  all 
at  that  point  by  the  dark  clays.  I  do  not,  however,  attach  much  im- 
portance to  this,  as  the  "  red-brick  earth  "  might  mantle  the  hill, 
overlapping  the  edge  of  the  dark  clays,  and  yet  Prof.  Prestwich's 
general  idea  of  the  relation  of  the  latter  to  the  glacial  beds  be  correct. 
What  I  do  wish  to  point  out  is,  that  that  relation  is  not  proved  by 
any  of  the  facts  known,  and  that  an  entirely  different  interpretation 


MAN  AND    THE   GLACIAL   PERIOD. 


73 


is  not  only  possible,  but  more  probable.  That  other  interpretation  I 
have  indicated  in  the  general  section  (Fig.  5),  in  which  all  the  facts 
observed  are  incorporated.  I  consider  that  the  dark  clay  with  vege- 
table remains  and  bones  of  the  large  extinct  mammals  is  preglacial, 
in  the  sense  that  it  is  older  than  any  of  the  glacial  beds  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  gravel  below  the  "redbrick  earth,"  in  which  Mr.  Frere 
found  the  flint  implements,  is  probably  of  the  same  age,  or  that  of 
the  overlying  gravel  (5  in  Figs.  4  and  5).  That  the  implements,  and 
also  fragments  of  bones  and  wood,  should  be  occasionally  found  in 
the  overlying  deposits,  is  what  might  be  expected,  as  they  were  in 
great  measure  formed  by  the  denudation  of  the  older  ones.  The  "  red- 
brick earth  "  (4  in  section)  is,  I  believe,  a  true  glacial  clay,  belonging 
to  the  latter  part  of  the  first  European  lake.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact 
that,  all  over  Northern  Europe,  the  glacial  clays  burn  to  a  red  color — 
a  point  not  without  significance  writh  regard  to  the  red  beds  of  Per- 


6 


Fig.  9.— 1.  Sandy  "trail "  with  flints— three  feet.  3.  False-bedded  sand  and  subanguhr  gravel-^fonr 
feet  six  inches.  4.  "Red-brick  earth,"  yellow  and  unstratifled  at  top,  graduating  downward 
into  gray,  laminated,  calcareous  clay  ;  shells  of  Bithinia  tentaculata  and  Limnea  palustris  abuu- 
dant  at  it?  base,  where  there  is  about  six  inches  of  sandy  clay— four  feet  six  inches.  6.  Clay 
similar  at  top  to  the  lower  part  of  the  "  red-brick  earth,"  but  with  more  chalk-grains,  gradual- 
ly more  chalky  downward,  and  with  stones  like  the  upper  portion  of  the  lower  bowlder-clay  at 
poiut.il  iu  geueral  section. 


mian  or  Triassic  age.  The  false-bedded  sands  and  gravels  (3  in  Figs. 
4  and  5)  belong,  I  think,  to  the  middle  glacial  series,  and  the  clay  (2 
in  Figs.  4  and  5)  is,  I  think,  the  upper  bowlder-clay.  These  views  are 
only  theoretical,  but  I  claim  that  they  are  based  upon  as  sound  a 
foundation,  and  are  as  much  in  accordance  with  the  facts  of  the  case, 
as  those  generally  received. 

Another  interpretation  is  tenable,  namely,  that  the  lower  bowlder- 
clay  underlies  the  brick-clays,  and  that  the  upper  bowlder-clay  over- 
lies them,  while  they  themselves  belong  to  a  warm  interglacial  period, 
as  held  by  Messrs.  Croll  and  Geikie.  I  do  not  agree  with  this  opinion, 
as  I  can  nowhere  find  any  evidence  of  a  warm  interglacial  period,  and 
am  unwilling:  to  believe  that  there  were  more  post-tertiary  glacial 
periods  than  one,  when  one  will  explain  all  the  phenomena  ;  but  if  it 
wex-e  to  turn  out  that  the  lower  bowlder-clay  does  exist  beneath  the 
brick-clays  at  Hoxne,  it  would  be  one  of  the  strongest  facts  in  its 
favor  yet  brought  forward. 


74  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

I  now  come  to  the  real  point  and  object  of  this  paper.  We  have 
in  England,  at  Hoxne,  one  of  the  finest  opportunities  known  to  exist 
anywhere  in  Europe  of  determining  the  true  relation  that  the  beds 
containing  remains  of  palaeolithic  man  and  the  great  extinct  Mam- 
malia bear  to  the  Glacial  period  ;  yet  we  have  been  content  for  more 
than  a  dozen  years  to  allow  the  age  of  the  beds  that  underlie  these 
deposits  to  remain  a  conjecture,  and  to  accept  a  theory  instead  of  as- 
certaining what  are  the  true  facts  of  the  case.  The  geological  world 
has  been  taught  to  believe  that  a  question  was  settled  that  is  not 
settled.  We  do  know  the  age  of  the  Hoxne  deposits :  they  may,  as 
held  by  Prof.  Prestwich,  be  post-glacial ;  or  they  may,  as  held  by 
Messrs.  Croll  and  Geikie,  be  interglacial ;  or,  lastly,  they  may,  as  I 
hold,  be  preglacial. 

It  is  not  creditable  that  this  uncertainty  should  remain  when  it 
can  easily  be  cleared  up.  A  few  shafts  or  bore-holes  put  down  would 
soon  determine  whether  or  not  glacial  beds  underlie  the  dark  clays  of 
the  brick-pit,  or  sands  and  gravel  underlie  the  bowlder-clay  on  the 
other  side  of  the  brook.  Excavations  should  also  be  made  around  the 
spot  where  Mr.  Frere  made  his  discoveries,  to  ascertain  the  exact  posi- 
tion in  which  the  flint  implements  were  found  so  abundantly.  I  feel 
satisfied  that,  if  Sir  Edward  Kerrison,  to  wThom  the  property  belongs, 
were  applied  to  by  any  of  our  learned  societies,  he  would  willingly 
allow  the  necessary  excavations  to  be  made.  Probably  the  expendi- 
ture of  two  hundred  pounds  wrould  be  amply  sufficient,  and  I  submit 
that  it  is  a  work  that  should  be  undertaken  by  the  Royal  Society  or 
the  British  Association,  who  make  grants  for  scientific  incpiiry. — 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science. 


EFFECTS   OF  STUDY  ON   THE   EYESIGHT.1 

By  WARD   McLEAN. 

A  POPULAR  error  has  long  existed  as  to  the  real  character  of 
short-sightedness  ;  and  even  medical  men  have  to  some  extent 
participated  in  it.  It  is  not  an  indication  of  strength  of  vision.  It  is 
a  disease,  always  inconvenient,  and  sometimes  dangerous.     Its  char- 

1  The  circumstance  that  one  of  the  children  of  the  writer  is  temporarily  withdrawn 
from  school  because  of  injury  to  his  sight  contracted  in  study,  has  led  him  to  look  into 
this  subject,  and  this  paper  is  the  result.  The  startling  extent,  the  rapid  increase,  and 
the  serious  character,  of  these  visual  defects  in  our  schools,  and  the  fact  that  the  greater 
part  of  them  originated  there,  and  might  have  been  prevented,  should  awaken  universal 
interest,  that  the  proper  remedies  may  be  applied  to  arrest  the  evil  as  speedily  and  effect- 
ually as  possible. 

The  writer  having  submitted  this  paper  to  Dr.  David  Webster,  of  this  city,  takes  this 
occasion  to.  acknowledge,  with  great  pleasure,  his  obligation  to  him  for  important  sugges- 
tions. 


EFFECTS    OF  STUDY   ON   THE  EYESIGHT.        7S 

acter,  cause,  and  progress,  have  enlisted  the  earnest  attention  of  the 
most  eminent  oculists,  especially  during  the  last  decade.  The  move- 
ment received  its  first  impulse  from  a  suggestion  of  Prof.  Donders, 
made  in  1864.  It  originated,  therefore,  at  the  very  fountain-head  of 
influence  and  authority  in  ophthalmology  ;  for  Donders  was  one  of 
the  three  men  who  led  in  what  is  now  styled  "  The  Great  Reforma- 
tion," wrought  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  the  treatment  of  defects 
and  diseases  of  the  eye.  To  illustrate  the  character  of  this  change, 
Dr.  Agnew,  of  New  York,  in  his  analysis  of  1,065  cases  of  asthenopia 
(weak  sight),  thus  describes  the  standard  treatment  for  this  disease 
only  thirty  years  ago  : 

"  Blisters,  mercury,  low  diet,  tartar-emetic,  bloodletting,  applications  of  irri- 
tating alkaloids,  such  as  veratria,  to  the  eircuni-ocular  parts,  and  setons,  were 
freely  employed.  Sometimes  the  sufferers  were  so  subdued  or  silenced  by  the 
treatment  that  they  ceased  to  complain  of  their  eyes,  preferring  to  endure  the 
ills  they  had,  rather  than  to  endure  those  which  the  attempts  to  relieve  their  as- 
thenopia led  them  to.  So  common  was  this  treatment,"  he  continues,  "  that 
more  than  one  clever  irregular  practitioner  made  his  fame  and  fortune  in  put- 
ting the  exhausted  subjects  of  it  under  hygienic  rules,  and  giving  them  new  life 
and  hope  by  a  generous  dietary  and  free  out-of-door  life  ;  thus  showing  how  so- 
called  quackery  is  often  the  natural  offspring  of  our  ignorance." 

The  suggestion  of  Prof.  Donders  is  found  in  his  work,  "Accommo- 
dation and  Refraction  of  the  Eye,"  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  It,  would  be  of  great  importance  to  possess  accurate  statistics  of  the  near- 
sight  and  far-sight  occurring  at  a  given  time  in  a  particular  category  of  men,  es- 
pecially, fur  example,  among  the  students  of  a  university,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
compare  them  witli  the  results  of  repeated  investigations  at  subsequent  periods. 
If  it  were  thus  found— and  I  can  scarcely  doubt  that  it  would  be  so — that  near- 
sight  is  progressive  in  cultivated  society,  this  would  be  a  very  serious  phenom- 
enon, and  we  should  earnestly  think  of  means  of  arresting  this  progression.  Not 
only  is  the  near-sighted  person  not  in  a  condition  to  discharge  all  civil  duties, 
not  only  is  he  limited  in  the  choice  of  his  position  in  society,  but  in  the  higher 
degrees  near-sight  leads  to  disturbance  of  the  power  of  vision,  and  threatens  its 
subject  with  incurable  blindness." 

About  two  years  after  this,  Dr.  Cohn,  of  Breslau,  published  the 
startling  result  of  his  investigations,  which  had  taken  the  form  of  an 
inquiry  into  the  effects  of  study  on  the  eyesight.  Similar  investiga- 
tions followed  in  various  parts  of  Europe. 

A  like  movement  is  progressing  in  this  country,  which  was  initi- 
ated by  Dr.  Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  of  New  York.  Under  his  auspices, 
examinations  have  been  made  in  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Cincin- 
nati. Dr.  Edward  G.  Loring,  Jr.,  and  Dr.  Peter  A.  Callan,  of  New 
York;  Dr.  Lucien  Howe,  of  Buffalo;  and  Dr.  Hasket  Derby,  of  Bos- 
ton, have  reported  investigations  in  the  same  direction. 

In  some  of  these  investigations  the  suggestion  of  Donders  has 
been  literally  followed  ;  while  in  most  of  them  the  effect  of  several 


76  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

successive  examinations  of  "  a  particular  category  of  men  "  has  been 
sought  to  be  realized  by  one  examination  of  several  classes  of  stu- 
dents in  the  various  stages  of  advancement  in  study. 

In  the  thirty-three  schools  of  Breslau,  including  its  university, 
Dr.  Cohn  examined  10,060  pupils  of  all  grades,  and  found  that  1,004 
of  the  number,  distributed  among  all  the  schools,  were  near-sighted  ; 
and  that  only  twenty-eight  of  these  had  near-sighted  parents.  Of 
the  children  who  were  yet  in  their  first  half-year  of  school-life,  only 
0.4  per  cent,  were  near-sighted.  Thence,  upward,  through  seven  bien- 
nial grades,  the  percentage  increased  till  it  reached  63.6  per  cent,  of 
those  who  had  been  fourteen  years  at  school.  The  disease  was  found 
also  to  be  progressive  in  degree. 

Results  bearing  a  striking  correspondence  with  these  have  since 
been  reported  by  various  eminent  European  oculists,  chiefly  the  fol- 
lowing :  Of  4,358  examinations  by  Dr.  Erismann,  of  St.  Petersburg, 
in  1871 ;  of  1,058  by  Dr.  Reusse,  of  Vienna,  in  1872,  '73,  '75  ;  of  3,036 
by  Dr.  Conrad,  of  Konigsberg,  in  1874-'75  ;  and  of  1,846  by  Dr. 
Pfliiger,  of  Lucerne,  in  1876. 

The  interest  excited  by  these  reports  was  not  confined  to  European 
circles.  But  the  conditions  of  school-life  in  this  country  were  believed 
to  be  so  much  more  favorable  than  in  Europe,  that  these  deplorable 
statistics,  it  was  thought,  could  have  no  parallel  here.  Nevertheless, 
the  examinations  which  have  been  made,  as  wTe  shall  show,  furnish 
occasion  for  the  deepest  solicitude. 

In  New  York  the  examinations  were  made  by  Dr.  W.  Cheatham  ; 
in  Brooklyn,  by  Drs.  Pro ut  and  Matthewson;  and  in  Cincinnati,  by 
Drs.  Ayers  and  E.  Williams.  They  had  been  furnished  by  Dr.  Agnew 
with  elaborate  tables  or  forms,  arranged  like  Cohn's,  which  they  re- 
turned  to  him  filled  for  summing  up  and  comparison.  In  this  he  was 
assisted  by  Dr.  Webster.     The  results  are  as  follows  : 

New  York  College,  549  students :  introductory  class — near-sighted,  twenty- 
nine  per  cent. ;  freshman  class,  forty  per  cent. ;  sophomore  class,  thirty-five 
per  cent.  ;  junior,  fifty-three  per  cent. ;  senior,  thirty-seven  per  cent. 

Brooklyn  Polytechnic,  300  students :  Academic  Department,  ten  per  cent. ; 
collegiate,  twenty-eight  per  cent. 

Cincinnati,  630  students  :  district  schools,  ten  per  cent. ;  intermediate,  four- 
teen per  cent. ;  normal  high,  sixteen  per  cent. 

This  report  was  read  by  Dr.  Webster  before  the  Social  Science 
Congress  at  Detroit  in  1875,  and  again  by  Dr.  Agnew  at  the  Medical 
Congress  in  Philadelphia,  September,  1876.  In  the  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  latter  body,  for  the  Medical  Record,  October  14th,  it 
is  stated  that  "the  section  unanimously  recommended  to  the  Con- 
gress that  the  paper  be  published,  with  the  statistical  tables  in  full." 
Nevertheless,  the  paper  has  not  yet  been  printed  ;  but  some  of  its 
conclusions  may  be  found  in  the  JSIedical  Record,  January  20th. 

In  February  last,  Dr.  Lucien  Howe  was  appointed,  by  the  Buffalo 


EFFECTS    OF   STUDY    ON   THE   EYESIGHT.  77 

Medical  Association,  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  effects  of  study 
upon  the  eyes  of  pupils  of  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo.  In  March 
he  reported  that  he  had  examined  1,003  scholars,  of  whom  he  found 
twenty  per  cent,  to  be  near-sighted,  and  twelve  per  cent,  over  sighted; 
that  not  a  single  case  of  near-sight  was  found  among  the  children  six 
years  old  and  under ;  but  that  at  seven  years  of  age  five  per  cent, 
had  acquired  near-sight ;  at  eleven  there  were  eleven  per  cent.  ;  at 
thirteen  there  were  nineteen  per  cent.  ;  and  at  eighteen  twenty-six 
per  cent.  Among  those  who  had  continued  in  the  schools  beyond 
the  a<Te  of  twenty-one  years,  he  found  no  less  than  forty-three  per 
cent,  with  near-sight.  He  says  that  Dr.  Agnew  had  sent  him  blanks 
for  the  name,  age,  sex,  and  height ;  for  the  exact  size  of  desks  and 
seats ;  also,  for  each  room,  the  color  of  the  walls,  number  of  windows, 
and  whether  to  the  right,  left,  front,  or  rear;  the  number  of  square 
feet  in  each  window,  and  the  distance  of  adjoining  buildings  which 
mi.j;ht  obstruct  the  light.  Also,  for  methods  of  teaching  by  large  ob- 
jects, the  hours  of  study,  number  of  recesses,  methods  of  heating  and 
ventilation,  and  for  the  cubic  feet  of  air  to  each  individual.  The 
greatest  care  was  exercised  to  record :  1.  The  precise  condition  of 
the  pupils'  vision,  whether  healthy  or  not ;  and,  if  abnormal,  to  what 
degree.  2.  The  usual  position  of  the  body  when  studying.  3.  Illu- 
mination of  the  school-room.  4.  The  relaxation  given  to  the  eye 
alone,  or  to  the  whole  body.  6.  The  general  hygienic  surroundings 
of  the  pupil. 

He  then  describes  the  process  of  individual  examination:  Haifa 
dozen  scholars  at  a  time  were  sent  into  a  class-room,  on  one  of  the 
walls  of  which  had  been  hung  a  card  of  letters  known  to  oculists  as 
"  Snellen's  test-types."  The  scholars  were  placed  at  a  distance  of 
twenty  feet  from  these  letters,  and  asked  to  read  the  lowest  line, 
the  letters  being  f -inch  Gothic.  Those  who  can  pass  this  test  are  not 
near-sighted,  Then  there  is  held  before  the  eye  of  each  a  weak  con- 
vex glass,  such  as  old  people  are  accustomed  to  wear.  If  he  cannot 
see  so  well  as  without  it,  lie  is  not  far-sighted.1  In  some  cases  of  un- 
usually imperfect  vision,  the  ophthalmoscope  was  employed. 

During  the  summer  of  1876,  Dr.  E.  G.  Loring,  Jr.,  of  New  York, 
assisted  by  Dr.  R.  H.  Derby,  examined  the  sight  of  2,000  pupils  of 
the  Twelfth  Street  public  school  and  the  normal  school  in  Sixty-sixth 
Street,  New  York.  Their  ages  ranged  from  six  to  twenty-one  years. 
As  in  the  other  examinations  cited,  myopia  was  found  to  affect  a 
very  small  percentage  of  the  pupils  in  their  first  year,  and  to  increase 
yearly  and  largely  thereafter,  to  the  close  of  school  life ;  and  that 
the  average  degree  of  near-sight  increases  with  the  age  up  to  twenty- 
seven  years.  His  report  was  read  before  the  Medical  Congress  in 
Philadelphia,  in  September,  1876. 

In  the  fall  of  1875,  Dr.  Hasket  Derby,  of  Boston,  commenced  a 

1  These  are  approximate  tests. 


78  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

series  of  examinations  at  Amherst  College,  with  the  purpose  of  noting 
the  progress  of  near-sight  in  the  same  class  and  in  the  same  individu- 
als. The  freshman  and  sophomore  classes — 1,880  and  1,879 — were 
required  to  report  to  him ;  and  twenty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  former 
and  twenty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  latter  were  found  to  be  near-sighted. 
In  the  fall  of  1876  they  were  again  examined,  when  the  disease  was 
found  to  have  progressed  in  one-half  the  number  of  those  previously 
found  to  be  myopic.  In  January,  1877,  he  examined  the  eyes  of  122 
volunteers  from  the  freshman  class  of  Harvard  College — a  little 
more  than  half  the  class — of  whom  29.5  per  cent,  were  found  to  be 
near-sighted.  Of  these,  twenty-two  per  cent,  had  supposed  their  sight 
to  be  normal.     He  describes  his  blank-printed  forms  as — 

"  filled  in  with  the  name  and  age  of  each  individual,  the  state  of  each  of  his 
eyes  as  separately  tested  by  glasses  and  the  ophthalmoscope,  the  amount  of  his 
vision,  and  remarks  on  his  previous  history  and  family  peculiarities  in  this  re- 
gard.    Blanks  are  left  for  a  similar  examination  at  the  close  of  the  senior  year." 

In  his  report  to  President  Eliot,'  he  urges  the  advantages  to  the 
student  of — 

"  reliable  information  at  the  outset  of  his  collegiate  career  as  to  the  state  of 
his  eyes,  their  availability  for  study,  and  the  course  he  must  pursue  to  maintain 
their  integrity,  or  keep  existing  evils  from  increasing.  At  the  termination  of 
his  undergraduate  course  he  learns  the  effect  of  his  four  years  of  study,  and  is 
thereby  enabled  to  form  or  modify  his  future  plans." 

His  report  closes  with  an  illustration  of  the  development  of  near- 
sight  in  a  person  born  free  from  it,  but  inheriting  a  strong  tendency 
to  it.  During  nine  years — from  the  age  of  ten  to  nineteen — sugges- 
tions several  times  offered  with  regard  to  rest  and  treatment  having 
been  unheeded,  a  progressive  change  had  occurred,  ranging  from  per- 
fect soundness  in  one  eye,  and  a  very  slight  degree — represented  by 
"  0.75  " — of  near-sight  in  the  other,  to  a  high  degree  of  near-sight,  rep- 
resented by  "5.50"  in  each.  If  advice  and  warning  are  still  unheed- 
ed, he  thinks  "  an  amount  of  structural  change  may  be  brought  about 
incompatible  with  the  integrity  of  the  eye  through  life." 

But  while  it  appears  to  be  conceded  that  near-sight  is  of  infre- 
quent occurrence  among  the  illiterate  classes,  the  question  is  a  very 
natural  one,  "Have  examinations  been  made,  for  comparison,  of  the 
eyes  of  any  classes  of  young  persons  other  than  those  engaged  in 
study?"  Dr.  Cohn  examined  the  eyes  of  many  peasant-children,  liv- 
ing in  a  state  of  comparative  simplicity,  and  having  little  or  no  occa- 
sion to  tax  or  strain  the  sight,  and  found  that  hardly  two  in  a  hundred 
of  them  were  near-sighted.  Examinations  have  been  made  also  of 
the  sight  of  young  factory-operatives  in  large  manufacturing  towns 
in  Europe,  and  the  results  exhibit  a  low  percentage  of  myopia,  corre- 
sponding to  that  of  the  peasant-children  here  cited.     Dr.  Howe  says : 

1  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  March  22,  1877. 


EFFECTS    OF  STUDY   OX    THE  EYESIGHT.  79 

"  Of  213  cases  of  eye-disease  seen  during  the  last  year  among  the  paupers  of 
Buffalo,  the  record  shows  only  three  and  one-half  per  cent,  to  have  been  near- 
sighted." 

Donders  remarked  this  difference  between  his  private  patients — 
representing  the  wealthy  and  cultivated  class — and  his  hospital  pa- 
tients :  that  while  over-sight  was  distributed  between  the  two  classes 
in  nearly  equal  proportion,  near-sight  occurred  much  more  frequently 
among  his  private  patients. 

The  investigations  of  Dr.  Peter  A.  Callan  belong  in  this  category, 
with  a  qualification.  He  examined  the  sight  of  457  colored-school 
pupils,  aged  from  five  to  nineteen  years,  of  the  New  York  public 
schools,  Nos.  3  and  4,  and  he  found  but  2.6  per  cent,  of  them  near- 
sighted. This  field  was  selected  because  it  was  thought  to  furnish 
the  nearest  approach  to  the  normal  eye  to  be  found  in  this  locality. 
The  Southern  freedmen,  he  thinks,  would  afford  the  best  possible 
field  for  this  special  line  of  investigation.  As  a  class,  the  colored 
people  of  New  York,  prior  to  this  generation,  had  very  limited  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  the  occupations  which  tax  the  sight,  like  en- 
graving, etc.,  have  never  been  known  among  them.  But  as  these 
457  subjects  are  now  receiving  the  best  school-training  that  the  city 
affords,  the  superior  condition  of  their  sight  must  be  referred  to  their 
freedom  from  hereditary  tendency  to  myopia.  The  conscientious 
painstaking  and  thoroughness  of  Dr.  Callan's  work,  as  exhibited  in 
his  report,  are  manifest  and  noteworthy. 

The  uniform  drift  of  results  in  all  the  examinations  here  referred 
to,  and  relating  to  over  26,000  individuals,  may  be  regarded  as  suf- 
ficiently establishing  the  following  propositions: 

1.  That,  as  a  rule,  near-sight  originates  in  school-life. 

2.  That  a  large  percentage  of  the  scholars  are  thus  afflicted — the 
percentage  progressing  with  the  stage  of  advancement  in  study. 

3.  That  near-sight  is  progressive  in  degree,  according  to  the  length 
of  school-experience. 

But,  though  the  demonstration  of  these  points  is  now  complete, 
further  and  successive  examinations  will  still  be  useful  to  determine 
the  improvement  consequent  upon  the  adoption  of  means  to  that  end, 
and  to  furnish  a  standard  of  comparison  between  different  schools  in 
respect  to  material  or  methods,  or  both — that  is,  first,  in  respect  to 
arrangement  of  building,  amount  and  direction  of  light,  character  and 
position  of  desks,  seats,  etc. ;  and,  second,  in  respect  to  methods  of 
teaching,  especially  in  the  earlier  years,  and  generally  to  the  intelli- 
gent observance  and  enforcement  by  the  teachers  of  hygienic  condi- 
tions. Dr.  Howe's  report  is  interesting  in  this  feature,  showing 
that  "in  schools  where  the  hygienic  conditions  relating  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  pupils  and  the  amount  of  light  are  disregarded,  the  pro- 
portion of  near-sighted  pupils  grows  larger;  and  conversely,  where 
these  relations  are  observed,  the  number  diminishes  ;  "  and  he  gives 


80  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

numerical  rank  "  from  an  ophthalmic  point  of  view"  to  the  different 
schools  examined  by  him. 

Here  arise  two  questions  :  1.  Can  near-sight  he  cured  ?  2.  Can  it 
he  prevented  ? 

All  authorities  agree  that  it  is  incurable,  and  all  agree  that  it  may 
be  prevented. 

How? 

The  answer  to  this  may  be  made  more  satisfactory  if  first  we 
rapidly  sketch  a  few  well-known  physiological  facts,  and  get  an  un- 
derstanding, approximately  correct  at  least,  of  what  near-sight  is,  and 
what  causes  it.  Incidentally  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  some 
of  the  methods  and  appliances  for  detecting  both  near-sight  and  over- 
sight. 

When  we  see  any  object  clearly,  it  is  because  the  rays  of  light  re- 
flected or  radiated  from  it  enter  the  eye  and  produce  a  perfect  picture 
of  the  object  upon  the  retina.  But  the  perfection  of  the  picture  de- 
pends upon  the  distance,  size,  and  illumination  of  the  object  relatively 
to  the  powers  and  condition  of  the  eye.  The  distance  determines  the 
angle  at  which  the  rays  enter  the  eye.  Whatever  this  angle,  the 
rays  must  converge  upon  the  retina,  or  the  picture  will  be  defective. 
This  convergence  it  is  the  office  of  the  lens  to  effect.  From  remote 
objects  the  rays  are  parallel,  or  nearly  so.  These,  passing  through 
the  lens,  are  converged  by  it  upon  the  retina.  As  the  distance  di- 
minishes, rays  entering  the  eye  from  any  given  point  of  the  object  be- 
come more  and  more  divergent.  Now,  unless  there  be  a  correspond- 
ing increase  in  the  convexity  of  the  lens,  these  divergent  rays  will 
not  be  focalized  at  the  same  point  as  were  the  parallel  rays ;  because, 
with  the  same  power  of  lens,  the  focal  distance  must  increase  as  the 
rays  diverge;  they  will  not,  therefore,  have  converged  when  they 
reach  the  retina.  A  perfect  picture  will  not  be  formed,  and  distinct 
vision  will  not  be  realized.  But  a  change  does  take  place  in  the  lens 
corresponding  to  the  change  in  the  angle  of  the  rays  which  enter  the 
eye.  As  they  diverge,  its  convexity  increases.  This  is  effected  by 
the  contraction  of  a  muscle  called,  sometimes,  the  muscle  of  accommo- 
dation, which  encircles  the  lens.  Thus,  the  point  of  convergence  is 
maintained  upon  the  retina,  in  spite  of  the  varying  angle  of  the  en- 
tering rays. 

The  normal  location  of  the  retina  is  that  point  at  which  parallel 
rays  are  converged,  the  lens  being  at  rest.  But  if  the  eyeball  loses 
its  normal  shape,  and  becomes  elongated  in  the  direction  of  its  visual 
axis,  the  retina  is  thereby  set  back  beyond  the  focal  point.  Conver- 
gence may  be  effected  within  the  normal  distance,  but  never  beyond 
it ;  for,  while  the  lens  may  become  changed  from  its  passive  state  to 
one  of  greater  convexity,  it  cannot  assume  a  convexity  less  than  that 
of  its  passive  state.  Consequently,  when  the  eyeball  becomes  elon- 
gated from  front  to  back,  the  convergence  will  be  at  a  point  in  front 


EFFECTS    OF  STUDY   ON   THE  EYESIGHT.         81 

of  instead  of  xipon,  the  retina.  This  is  near-sight,  as  it  may  he  rec- 
ognized hy  ohject-tests  or  trial-glasses.  But  near-sight  is  sometimes 
simulated.  This  is  caused  hy  a  spasmodic  action  of  the  muscle  of  ac- 
commodation. To  determine  absolutely,  therefore,  whether  or  not  the 
eyeball  has  taken  this  abnormal  shape,  or  whether  the  apparent  near- 
sight  is  due  to  this  spasmodic  action  of  the  focalizing  muscle,  the 
oculist  must  paralyze  that  muscle.  He  does  this  by  a  simple  and, 
in  his  hands,  a  harmless  application  of  a  weak  solution  of  sulphate  of 
atropia.1  Then  the  object-tests  and  trial-glasses  will  determine  the 
question  with  certainty.  But,  if  it  be  impracticable  to  apply  the 
atropia,  then  the  ophthalmoscope  2  must  be  resorted  to,  as  offering 
the  nearest  approach  to  certainty  of  results  when  the  accommodating- 
muscle  cannot  be  paralyzed,  because  its  contraction  is  not  very  likely 
to  occur  under  the  operation  of  that  instrument.  Thus  provided,  the 
oculist  proceeds  to  examine  the  interior  of  the  eye,  and,  his  own  eye 
being  normal,  and  his  own  accommodation  relaxed,  if  he  sees  the 
retina  of  the  examined  eye  perfectly,  he  pronounces  the  refraction  to 
be  correct ;  or,  technically,  the  eye  is  emmetropic.  But,  if  he  finds  the 
retina  is  not  clearly  visible,  there  being  no  opacity  of  the  refracting 
media,  he  knows  it  can  only  be  because  the  rays  reflected  from  the 
ophthalmoscope  have  not  converged  upon  it.  Assuming  it  to  be  a 
case  of  anterior  convergence,  he  interposes  a  concave  glass,  which 
lengthens  the  focus  and  removes  the  point  of  convergence  back  upon 
the  retina.  Thereupon  he  pronounces  the  ej  e  near-sighted  ;  or,  techni- 
cally, myopic,  of  a  degree  indicated  by  the  strength  of  the  glass. 

JVear-sight,  then,  is  that  condition  ofihe  eye  in  which  the  rays  from 
distant  objects  reach  the  retina  after  convergence. 

On  the  other  hand,  if,  instead  of  the  eyeball  becoming  elongated, 
it  is  flattened,  then  the  visual  axis  is  too  short ;  that  is,  the  retina  is 
brought  too  near  the  lens,  which  consequently  requires  the  contrac- 
tion of  the  accommodating  muscle  to  focalize  the  parallel  rays  upon 
the  retina ;  whereas,  had  the  eye  been  normal,  the  lens  would  have 
performed  this  function  while  in  a  state  of  rest,  and  would  have  re- 
quired the  contraction  only  for  divergent  rays. 

1  Though  this  is  frequently  done  with  individual  patients,  yet  schools  have  generally 
objected  to  it.  Dr.  Cohn  enjoyed  an  exceptional  opportunity  to  examine  the  eyes  of  240 
scholars  after  the  application  of  sulphate  of  atropia.  Dr.  Callan's  colored  subjects,  he 
relates,  refused  to  permit  this  application.  Therefore,  wishing  "  to  place  the  results  of 
his  examination  beyond  dispute  "  in  point  of  accuracy,  he  adopted  the  alternative  course, 
and  "  kept  both  of  his  own  eyes  under  the  influence  of  a  four-grain  solution  of  sulphate 
of  atropia,  applied  three  times  daily  during  a  period  of  five  weeks,  so  that  the  accommo- 
dation was  completely  paralyzed  for  that  length  of  time."  Sometimes  the  examining 
oculist  has  acquired  the  power  to  perfectly  relax  his  accommodation  at  will.  But  the 
relaxation  of  the  accommodation  of  the  subject,  as  well  as  that  of  the  examiner,  is  essen- 
tial to  entire  accuracy. 

2  A  small  mirror  with  a  hole  in  the  centre.  The  mirror  is  held  close  to  the  patient's 
eye,  so  as  to  reflect  into  it  the  light  of  a  gas-jet  back  of  him.  The  oculist  then  places 
his  eve  close  to  the  hole,  and  looks  into  fhe  illuminated  interior  of  the  eyeball. 

vot,.  xii. — G 


82  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

This  condition  is  known  as  over-sight,1  technically,  hypermetropic.. 
When  it  exists  in  a  degree  beyond  the  adjustability  of  the  len^,  it 
may  be  recognized  by  object-tests  and  trial-glasses ;  but  in  less  de- 
grees it  may  escape  detection  by  these  means,  because  of  the  accom- 
modating action  of  the  lens.  As  in  the  case  of  near-sight,  therefore, 
atropia  must  be  employed  for  its  exact  observation. 

Over-sight  may,  then,  be  defined  as  that  condition  of  the  eye  in  ichich 
parallel  rays,  passively  transmitted  by  the  lens,  reach  the  retina  before 
convergence,  because  of  the  shortened  axis. 

While  the  subjects  of  this  malformation  are  numerous,  some  in- 
vestigators finding  them  even  to  exceed  largely  those  of  the  opposite 
condition,2  and  while  the  eyes  so  malformed  are  usually  not  dis- 
eased, as  in  myopia,  yet  numerous  local  and  general  disturbances 
are  found  to  exist  in  very  many  of  the  cases.  These  are  the  result 
of  over-use,  or  straining  of  the  muscle  of  accommodation.  A  special 
interest  has  recently  been  excited  in  reference  to  them  by  an  ad- 
dress of  Dr.  George  T.  Stevens,  of  Albany,  read  last  December  be- 
fore the  Albany  Institute,3  in  which  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect 
is  claimed  to  have  been  established  by  the  author,  between  certain 
visual  defects,  particularly  over-sight,  and  such  functional  nervous 
affections  as  neuralgia,  the  more  common  forms  of  headache,  epilepsy, 
St.  Vitus's  dance,  hysteria,  and  insanity.  About  six  months  previ- 
ously he  had  presented  this  theory  to  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  but  he  then  limited  its  application  to  St.  Vitus's  dance. 
These  views  were  "  new  and  unexpected  to  the  profession,"  and  were 
controverted  by  Dr.  Charles  S.  Bull,  of  New  York,  in  a  paper  read 
before  the  New  York  Medical  Journal  Association,  in  April  last.4 
He  reports  thirty-one  cases  of  St.  Vitus's  dance  in  his  own  recent 
practice,  in  which  special  attention  was  given  to  the  discovery  of  any 
such  relation  as  Dr.  Stevens  affirms  to  exist.  Fifteen  of  the  thirty-one 
had  correct  and  sixteen  had  defective  vision  (over-sight).  Of  the 
latter  only  five  could  be  induced  to  purchase  and  wear  the  necessary 
correcting  glasses.  But  in  these  five  cases  there  should  have  been 
some  improvement,  at  least,  in  the  nervous  symptoms  consequent 
upon  their  wearing  the  glasses  ;  this  being,  by  the  admission  of  Dr. 

1  This  is  not  a  disease,  like  near-sight,  but  a  condition  ;  and  it  is  not  acquired,  but  is 
congenital,  always.  It  is  also  called  far-sight  and  long-sight ;  but  it  is  thus  liable  to  be 
confused  with  an  acquired  condition — producing  a  similar  result,  as  in  the  sight  of  old 
people — which  is  not  a  flattening  of  the  eyeball  itself,  nor  of  the  cornea  and  the  lens,  but 
it  is  an  impairment  of  the  power  of  accommodation  due  to  the  hardening  of  the  lens, 
which  usually  occurs  at  about  the  age  of  forty-five  years,  and  is  often  called  old  sight, 
but  is  technically  known  as  presbyopia. 

2  See  "  A  Preliminary  Analysis  of  1,060  Cases  of  Asthenopia  occurring  in  the  Practice 
of  C.  R.  Agnew,  M.  D.,"  which  shows  hypermetropia  359  to  myopia  121,  or  nearly  three 
to  one. 

3  New  York  Medical  Journal  for  June. 

4  Medical  Record,  June  2d. 


EFFECTS    OF  STUDY   ON   THE  EYESIGHT.         83 

Stevens  himself,  "  the  crucial  test  "  of  the  correctness  of  his  theory. 
Yet  no  such  result  icas  observed.  Nevertheless,  in  his  later  essay, 
he  insists  that  "  correction  of  the  eyes  of  the  patients  does  relieve 
their  nervous  symptoms.  .  .  .  This  is  no  place,"  he  says,  before  the 
Albany  Institute,  "  to  relate  cures  in  medical  practice ;  but,  after  a 
sufficiently  extended  and  careful  series  of  observations,  continued  dur- 
ing more  than  four  years,  I  can  safely  prophesy  that  this  principle 
will  be  found  of  more  universal  application,  and  more  successful  in 
its  workings,  than  any  which  has  been  advanced  for  the  mitigation  of 
this  class  of  affections." 

The  distressing  confusion  and  disappointment  resulting  from  the 
unbalanced  action,  in  the  over-sighted  eye,  between  the  arrangement 
for  adjusting  the  lens  and  that  for  converging  the  eyeballs,  is  very 
clearly  explained  by  Dr.  Stevens  in  the  same  paper.  Referring  to  its 
effect  upon  school-children  he  says  : 

"  How  often  do  we  see  children  of  our  schools,  frequently  the  brightest  and 
most  ambitious  of  their  class,  struggling  with  irritable  nerves,  at  a  disadvantage 
in  their  studies,  laying  the  seeds  of  future  trouble,  and  often,  as  the  time  comes 
for  selecting  a  pursuit  in  life,  forced  to  abandon  a  chosen  course  of  studies,  be- 
cause the  confinement  at  such  work  is  too  great  a  strain  upon  them !  I  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  these  children,  who  from  this  single  peculiarity  are 
placed  at  so  serious  a  disadvantage  in  the  struggle  for  life,  shall  find  the  relief 
that  science  is  ready  to  afford  them,  and  which  would  remove  the  weight  that 
would  otherwise  prove  a  serious  hinderance  in  their  course." 

Resuming  now  the  consideration  of  near-sight,  we  proceed  to  sug- 
gest some  of  its  principal  causes,  as  follows  : 

1.  Too  early  use  by  school-children  of  books,  slates,  and  writing- 
paper,  or  copy-books,  when  blackboards  and  models  would  be  better. 
Type  and  script  letters  and  figures,  and  their  primary  combinations, 
at  least,  should  never  be  taught  from  books,  but  from  large  and  per- 
fectly-formed models,  printed  on  cards  and  hung  on  the  wall.  When 
the  eye  and  the  memory  are  sufficiently  trained  to  easily  recognize 
and  name  each  letter  and  figure  at  sight,  and  when  some  knowledge 
has  been  gained  of  the  power  of  letters  and  figures  in  combination, 
then  the  same  forms  in  books  will  be  at  once  familiar  as  old  acquaint- 
ances, and  may  be  studied  without  straining  the  sight.  To  train  the 
hand  without  straining  the  sight  presents  a  greater  practical  difficulty. 
In  the  large  schools,  of  course,  all  the  children  cannot  go  to  the  black- 
board. But  a  considerable  practice  in  drawing  large  lines  and  simple 
objects  on  good-sized  slates,  in  a  sort  of  free-hand  style,  should  pre- 
cede the  formation  of  letters  and  figures;  and,  when  these  are  begun, 
they  should  be  made  of  generous  size.  A  correct  position,  meanwhile, 
should  be  an  imperative  requirement ;  and,  until  it  becomes  habitual 
and  easy,  good  work  should  be  held  to  be  of  secondary  importance. 
Hard  slate-pencils  and  greasy  slate-surfaces  should  not  be  permitted ; 
both  should  be  subject  to  systematic  inspection. 


8 4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

2.  Ignorance  or  laxity  on  the  part  of  parents  and  primary  teachers, 
in  permitting  faulty  positions  of  the  head,  body,  and  book,  during 
reading,  study,  and  writing ;  and  in  not  seeking  early  to  secure  the 
intelligent  cooperation  of  the  pupil  by  simple  and  appropriate  physi- 
ological instruction. 

3.  A  prolonged  and  steady  looking  at  an  object  or  at  objects  near 
the  eye,  though  at  proper  distance,  without  rest  or  frequent  change 
of  the  visual  focus,  as  in  long  and  absorbed  novel-reading,  intense 
study,  or  persistent  diligence  in  needlework. 

4.  The  practice  of  reading  or  othei-wise  using  the  sight  at  too  short 
range.  This  results  in  part  from  insufficient  light;  or  from  its  faulty 
direction,  so  that  the  hand  or  body  throws  a  shadow  on  the  page;  or  so 
that  the  direct  rays  fall  upon  the  eye,  causing  undue  contraction  of  the 
pupil,  while  the  page  is  in  shadow.  It  results  also  from  improperly 
graded  desks,  from  small  and  poor  type  and  inferior  printing-ink,  and 
from  faulty  color  and  quality  of  printing-paper;  also  from  pale  writ- 
ing-ink— pale  when  used — and  from  the  substitution  of  the  lead-pencil 
for  the  pen,  especially  in  the  evening. 

5.  A  prone  or  forward  position  of  the  head  too  long  maintained,  or 
frequently  repeated,  and  becoming  a  habit.  This  results  from  reading 
or  studying  with  the  book  in  the  lap,  and  from  the  use  of  desks  not 
graded  to  the  height  of  the  pupil.  Dr.  Howe  reports  pupils  varying 
eighteen  inches  in  height  seated  at  the  same  grade  of  desks.  The 
distance  of  the  eye  from  the  page  should  not  be  less  than  twelve  nor 
more  than  eighteen  inches.  Having  the  desks  set  too  far  from  the 
seats  also  induces  this  faulty  position.  The  front  of  the  desk  should 
overlap  the  seat  one  or  two  inches. 

Donders  says,1  "  In  the  hygiene  of  myopia  the  very  first  point  is 
to  guard  against  working  in  a  stooping  position."  He  favors  high, 
sloping  desks,  and  indicates  "  rectilinear  drawing  on  a  flat  surface  " 
as  a  class  of  work  which  is  especially  objectionable. 

6.  Since  a  vitiated  atmosphere  is  a  frequent  feature  of  the  school- 
room, it  may  not  be  amiss  to  add  here  that  the  effect  of  bad  air  is 
indirectly  to  injure,  if  not  to  destroy,  the  sight. 

7.  Allowing  a  sun-glare  on  the  page  while  reading;  also  transi- 
tions from  cloud-shadow  to  sunshine. 

S.  Reading  and  studying  in  railroad-cars  is  known  to  be  a  fruitful 
source  of  injury. 

9.  But  insufficient  light,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  cause,  pro- 
duces disease  of  the  eye  and  derangement  of  the  vision.  This  is  not 
confined  to  the  schools.  Sadly  frequent  as  it  is  found  to  be  there,  it 
is  believed  to  be  yet  oftener  illustrated  at  home,  both  by  daylight  and 
in  the  evening,  in  preparation  for  the  school  and  otherwise.  Artificial 
illumination  is  faulty  at  best,  but,  even  in  the  most  favored  homes,  the 
elder  group  is  apt  to  monopolize  the  shaded  drop-light  or  student- 

1  "  Accommodation  and  Refraction,"  p.  419. 


EFFECTS    OF  STUDY   ON   THE  EYESIGHT.         85 

lamp,  while  the  schoolboy  with  his  text-books  is  found  somewhere  in 
the  outer  circle. 

Twilight-reading  is  much  practised,  and  is  especially  pernicious — 
that  is,  prolonging  the  study  or  reading  after  daylight  has  begun  to 
decline.  The  change  is  so  stealthy  that,  when  the  interest  is  excited, 
and  the  mind  absorbed,  the  growing  darkness  is  unheeded  or  unob- 
served, till  serious  mischief  is  done. 

A  curious  and  interesting  case  of  injury  to  the  sight  by  study  is 
that  of  Prof.  John  Nott,  late  of  Union  College,  Schenectady.  Over 
thirty  years  ago  his  sight  was  permanently  destroyed  for  all  literary 
purposes,  "  by  attempting,"  as  he  says  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  writer 
of  this,  "  too  much  study  without  thought  of  the  necessity  of  care  for 
the  eyes."  How  many  are  following  after  him  !  In  the  same  letter 
he  thus  describes  his  case  as  diagnosed  by  Dr.  Alexander,  of  London, 
who  alone  of  all  whom  he  consulted  was  able  to  afford  him  even  tem- 
porary and  partial  relief:  "Thirty-six  very  small  glands  in  the  eyelids 
make  oil  for  the  eye,  the  same  as  oil  for  your  lamp.  When  these 
glands  become  dry,  reading  is  impossible,  although  in  other  respects 
the  eye  may  be  perfect.  This  was  my  disease — no  oil  was  supplied  to 
the  eye."  He  makes  or  implies  this  noteworthy  suggestion,  which  is 
hereby  commended  to  authors,  publishers,  and  school-boards:  that  a 
brief  and  appropriate  caution  be  conspicuously  printed  or  pasted  in 
the  front  of  every  school  and  college  text-booh,  by  authority  of  commis- 
sioners, superintendent,  trustees,  or  faculty.  Something  like  the  fol- 
lowing would  perhaps  realize  his  idea  : 

Caution". — Reader,  your  eyesight  is  worth  more  to  you  than  any 
information  you  are  likely  to  gain  from  this  book,  however  valuable 
that  may  be.     You  are  therefore  earnestly  cautioned — 

1.  To  be  sure  that  you  have  sufficient  light,  and  that  your  position 
be  such  that  you  not  only  avoid  the  direct  rays  upon  your  eyes,  but 
that  you  also  avoid  the  angle  of  reflection.  In  writing,  the  light 
should  be  received  over  the  left  shoulder. 

2.  That  you  avoid  a  stooping  position  and  a  forward  inclination 
of  the  head.     Hold  the  boak  up.     Sit  erect  also  when  you  write. 

3.  That  at  brief  intervals  you  rest  the  eyes  by  looking  off  and 
away  from  the  book  for  a  few  moments. 

And  you  are  further  cautioned  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  books 
and  papers  printed  in  small  type,  and  especially  such  as  are  poorly 
printed ;  also  to  avoid  straining  or  overtaxing  the  sight  in  any  way. 

Boys  may  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  great  importance  of  thor- 
oughly cleansing  the  eyes  with  soft,  pure  water  both  morning  and 
evening. ' 

To  many  readers  it  would  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  consider  how 
each  of  the  practices  and  conditions  we  have  pointed  out  as  producing 


86  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

near-sight  tends  to  effect  the  elongation  of  the  visual  axis.  But  while 
there  might  be  no  disagreement  among  oculists  as  to  the  fact  that 
the  practices  and  conditions  named  do  thus  tend,  there  may  not  be  a 
consonance  so  general  as  to  the  precise  process  in  every  case  A  few 
general  suggestions,  however,  are  submitted  : 

1.  The  rationale  of  the  effect  of  the  premature  use  of  books,  etc., 
during  the  more  plastic  condition  of  the  eye  is  sufficiently  obvious. 

2.  A  prolonged  tension  of  the  sight  lessens  the  muscular  elasticity. 

3.  The  contraction  and  consequent  thickening  of  the  muscles  which 
pull  the  two  eyes  inward,  so  as  to  focalize  the  sight  upon  a  near  ob- 
ject, causes  a  side-pressure,  and  a  corresponding  transverse  or  length- 
wise protrusion.  The  nearer  the  object,  the  stronger  must  be  this 
action  of  the  muscles,  and  the  more  marked  the  effect. 

4.  The  prone  position  of  the  head  causes  the  blood  to  settle  in  the 
eyeballs,  increasing  the  tension  of  the  fluids,  exciting  inflammation 
and  consequent  softening  of  the  coatings,  and  resulting  in  permanent 
distention. 

The  attentive  reader  cannot  have  failed  to  observe  that  we  have 
enumerated  causes  of  injury  to  the  eyes  from  study,  other  than  those 
which  produce  near-sight.  Of  these,  only  one  seems  to  require  refer- 
ence— the  effect  of  bad  air  in  the  school-room. 

Dr.  Loring  read  a  paper  in  February  last  before  the  Medico-Legal 
Society  of  New  York,  answering  four  questions  relating  to  the  care 
of  the  eyesight,  which  had  been  submitted  to  him  by  that  Society. 
The  first  of  the  series  inquires  the  effect  of  bad  air  on  the  sight.1 
His  reply,  given  at  some  length,  supports  the  statement  herein  made. 

In  a  recent  conversation  with  the  writer,  Dr.  Loring  advocated 
examinations  of  the  sight  of  all  children  when  they  first  enter  school, 
and  at  such  subsequent  stages  of  their  education  as  might  seem  de- 
sirable. The  position  of  a  child's  seat  relatively  to  the  blackboard, 
etc.,  would  often  be  governed  by  such  an  examination.  He  thought, 
too,  that  glasses  would  be  recommended  in  some  cases  by  the  examin- 
ing oculist — a  permanent  official  he  would  have  him  to  be — and  that, 
if  necessary,  they  should  be  furnished  at  the  public  expense,  or  out  of 
some  special  fund ;  the  glasses  to  be  worn  during  school-hours  at  least, 
if  not  continuously.  He  related  the  circumstance  of  a  lad  having 
been  recently  brought  to  him  by  his  father  from  the  West.  An  ex- 
amination verified  the  boy's  statement  that  he  could  see  to  read  usu- 
ally very  well ;  but  that  sometimes,  in  a  moment,  his  sight  would  be  so 
affected  that  reading  became  impossible.  This  had  led  to  his  repeated 
punishment  at  school,  his  averment  of  inability  not  being  credited  by 
his  teacher. 

1  Medical  Record,  April  14th. 


THE   GIGANTIC  MOA-BIRD. 


THE  GIGANTIC  MOA-BIKD. 

THE  extinction  of  many  animals  that  are  known  to  have  former]}' 
existed  on  the  earth  is  a  subject  which  cannot  very  easily  be  ex- 
plained, while  the  number  of  them  is  greater  than  at  first  sight  would 
be  supposed.  Various  species  no  doubt  undergo  gradual  extinction 
by  changes  which  deprive  them  of  their  accustomed  food  ;  but  others 
seem  to  die  out  from  unknown  causes.  During  the  historic  period  a 
considerable  number  of  animals  have  been  swept  off  the  British  Islands, 
among  which  are  the  bear,  the  wolf,  the  Irish  elk,  etc.  In  America, 
during  the  comparatively  short  period  of  its  history,  various  species 
have  vanished,  and  others  are  following  them.  The  beaver,  formerly 
so  generally  spread  over  the  whole  of  that  country,  is  now  only  to  be 
found  in  remote  regions.  The  deer  and  the  moose  are  disappearing 
in  the  same  manner.  The  bison  is  very  much  diminished  in  numbers, 
and  must  ere  long  be  extirpated.  The  mastodon,  a  creature  of  enor- 
mous bulk,  has  totally  disappeared,  although,  along  with  the  skeletons 
of  them  which  have  been  discovered,  there  are  evidences  of  their  hav- 
ing lived  on  food  derived  from  plants  which  are  still  existing.  In 
other  parts  of  the  world,  the  dodo  and  the  moa  have  perished  within 
the  last  few  centuries  ;  and  the  apteryx  is  undergoing  the  same  fate. 

The  moa  or  diuornis  was  a  huge  bird,  of  which  the  remains  are 
plentifully  found  in  New  Zealand. 
Within  recent  historic  times,  this 
colony  was  tenanted,  to  the  al- 
most entire  exclusion  of  mam- 
malia, by  countless  numbers  of 
gigantic  wingless  birds  of  various 
genera  and  species,  the  Dinornis 
gigantea,  the  largest,  attaining  a 
size  nearly  thrice  that  of  a  full- 
grown  ostrich.  From  traditious 
which  are  current  among  the  Ma- 
oris, they  were  fat,  stupid,  indo- 
lent birds,  living  in  forests  and 
feeding  on  vegetables ;  while  the 
name  moa  seems  to  have  been 
given  to  them  from  their  peculiar 
cry.      Since    remains    have   been 

found  in  great  plenty,  the  investigation  of  this  singular  bird  is  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  students  of  natural  history. 

It  is  to  the  Rev.  Richard  Taylor  that  the  first  discovery  of  moa 
remains  is  due,  which  he  thus  describes : 

"  In  the  beginning  of  1839  I  took  my  first  journey  in  New  Zealand  to  Poverty 
Bay  with  the  Rev.  W.  Williams,  Bishop  of  Waiapu.     "When  we  reached  Waiapu, 


DINOENI9  GIGANTEA. 


88  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

near  the  East  Cape,  we  took  up  our  abode  in  a  native  house,  and  there  I  noticed 
the  fragment  of  a  large  hone  stuck  in  the  ceiling.  I  took  it  down,  supposing  at 
first  that  it  was  human ;  but,  when  I  saw  its  cancellated  structure,  I  handed  it 
over  to  my  companion,  who  had  been  brought  up  to  the  medical  profession,  ask- 
ing him  if  he  did  not  think  it  was  a  bird's  bone.  He  laughed  at  the  idea,  and 
said,  '  What  kind  of  a  bird  could  there  be  to  have  so  large  a  bone? '  I  pointed 
out  its  structure,  and,  when  the  natives  came,  requested  him  to  ask  them  what 
it  belonged  to.  They  said  it  was  a  bone  of  the  tarepo,  a  very  large  bird,  that  lived 
on  the  top  of  Hikurangi,  the  highest  mountain  on  the  east  coast,  and  that  they 
made  their  largest  fish-hooks  from  its  bones.  I  then  inquired  whether  the  bird 
was  still  to  be  met  with ;  and  was  told  that  there  was  one  of  an  immense  size 
which  lived  in  a  cave,  and  was  guarded  by  a  large  lizard,  and  that  the  bird  was 
always  standing  on  one  kg.  The  chief  readily  gave  me  the  bone  for  a  little 
tobacco ;  and  I  afterward  sent  it  to  Prof.  Owen  by  Sir  Everard  Home  in  1839  ; 
and  I  think  I  may  justly  claim  to  have  been  the  first  discoverer  of  the  inoa." 

Mr.  Taylor  continued  his  inquiries  among  the  natives,  who  informed 
him  that  the  moa  was  quite  as  large  as  a  horse;  that  these  birds  had 
nests  made  of  the  refuse  of  fern-root,  on  which  they  fed;  and  that 
they  used  to  conceal  themselves  in  the  veronica-thickets,  from  which, 
by  setting  them  on  fire,  the  natives  drove  them  out,  and  killed  them; 
hence  originated  the  Maori  saying,  "  The  veronica  was  the  tree  which 
roasted  the  moa."  The  natives  further  mentioned  that  when  a  moa- 
hunt  was  to  take  place  notice  was  given  inviting  all  to  the  battue. 
The  party  then  spread  out  to  inclose  as  large  a  space  as  possible,  and 
drive  the  birds  from  their  haunts ;  then,  gradually  contracting  the 
line  as  they  approached  some  lake,  they  at  last  rushed  forward  with 
loud  yells,  and  drove  the  frightened  birds  into  the  water,  where  they 
could  be  easily  approached  in  canoes  and  dispatched  without  their 
being  able  to  make  any  resistance.  These  moa-hunts  must  thus  have 
been  very  destructive  ;  as,  from  the  number  of  men  employed,  and  the 
traces  of  long  lines  of  ovens  in  which  the  natives  cooked  the  birds,  and 
the  large  quantity  of  egg-shells  found  on  the  western  shores  of  New 
Zealand,  a  clear  proof  is  given  that  these  birds  were  eagerly  sought 
for  and  feasted  upon.  Thus  the  poor  moas  had  very  little  chance  of 
continuing  their  race. 

From  a  very  interesting  communication  of  the  Rev.  W.  Williams, 
dated  May  17,  1872,  it  would  appear  that  the  moa  may  not  yet  be 
entirely  extirpated.     He  remarks  : 

"  Within  the  past  few  days  I  have  obtained  a  piece  of  information  worthy  of 
notice.  Happening  to  speak  to  an  American  about  these  bones,  he  told  me  that 
the  bird  is  still  in  existence  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cloudy  Bay,  in  Cook's  Strait. 
He  said  that  the  natives  there  had  mentioned  to  an  Englishman,  belonging  to  a 
whaling-party,  that  there  was  a  bird  of  extraordinary  size  to  be  seen  only  at 
night  on  the  side  of  a  hill  near  the  place  ;  and  that  he  with  a  native  and  a  second 
Englishman  went  to  the  spot ;  that  after  waiting  some  time  they  saw  the  creat- 
ure at  a  little  distance,  which  they  describe  as  being  about  fourteen  or  sixteen 
feet  high.     One  of  the  men  proposed  to  go  nearer  and  shoot ;  but  his  companion 


THE   GIGANTIC  MOA-BIRD.  89 

was  so  exceedingly  terrified,  or  perhaps  both  of  them,  that  they  were  satisfied 
with  looking  at  the  bird  ;  when  after  a  little  time  it  took  the  alarm  and  strode 
off  up  the  side  of  the  mountain." 

In  the  Greymouth  Weekly  Argus,  published  in  New  Zealand  in 
18  70,  there  appeared  a  letter  signed  R.  K.  M.  Smythe,  Browning's 
Pass,  Otago,  describing  in  a  very  detailed  manner  the  capture  of  two 
living  moas,  a  female  eight  feet  high,  and  a  younger  one  three  feet 
shorter.  The  writer  finishes  his  account  of  their  capture  by  remark- 
ing that  he  has  little  doubt  that  he  will  be  able  to  bring  them  both 
alive  to  Christchurch.  It  is  therefore  to  be  hoped  that  living  repre- 
sentatives of  the  genus  Dinornis  still  survive.  Feathers  of  the  bird 
have  been  also  found  in  a  state  of  preservation  sufficiently  good  to 
show  that  they  possessed  an  after-shaft  of  a  large  size ;  and  at  the 
same  time  tradition  and  the  condition  in  which  the  bones  are  found, 
retaining  much  of  their  animal  matter,  tend  to  show  how  lately  the 
bird  formed  part  of  the  existing  fauna  of  the  country.  If  the  letter 
be  genuine,  it  cannot  be  long  before  ornithologists,  of  whom  there  are 
several  of  no  mean  repute  in  New  Zealand,  will  be  able  to  satisfy 
themselves  on  the  subject. 

An  additional  reason  for  supposing  that  these  magnificent  birds 
existed  not  long  ago  is  found  in  the  fact  that  specimens  of  their  eggs 
have  been  preserved.  In  the  volcanic  sand  of  New  Zealand,  Mr. 
Walter  Mantell  found  a  gigantic  egg,  of  the  magnitude  of  which  he 
gives  us  a  familiar  idea  by  saying  that  his  hat  would  have  been  just 
large  enough  to  have  served  as  an  egg-cup  for  it.  This  egg  must  have 
been  one  of  a  dinornis  or  a  palapteryx,  and,  although  its  dimensions 
are  considerably  greater  than  the  egg  of  the  ostrich,  still  it  is  smaller 
than  might  have  been  expected  from  a  bird  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
feet  high.  It  is  well  known  that  the  egg  of  the  New  Zealand  apteryx, 
to  which  the  moa  bears  a  very  close  affinity,  is  one  of  dimensions  that 
are  quite  surprising  in  proportion  to  the  bulk  of  the  bird.  The  apteryx 
is  about  as  big  as  a  turkey,  standing  two  feet  in  height ;  but  its  egg- 
measures  four  inches  ten  lines  by  three  inches  two  lines  in  the  re- 
spective diameters.  To  bear  the  same  ratio  to  the  bird  as  this,  the 
egg  of  the  Dinornis  gigantea  would  be  of  the  incredible  length  of 
two  feet  and  a  half,  by  a  breadth  of  one  and  three-quarters  ! 

In  the  museum  at  York  there  is  a  complete  skeleton  of  a  moa, 
which,  besides  feathers,  has  the  integuments  of  the  feet  partly  pre- 
served ;  from  which  it  is  evident  that  the  toes  were  covered  with 
small  hexagonal  scales.  A  specimen  has  also  been  sent  by  Dr.  Haast, 
of  New  Zealand,  to  Prof.  Milne-Edwards,  which  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  at  Paris. —  Chambers's  Journal. 


9o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


TO  THE   "KING  NEBULA." 

By  J.  L.   STODDARD. 

O  PALLID  spectre  of  the  midnight  skies ! 
"Whose  phantom  features  in  the  dome  of  Night 
Elude  the  keenest  gaze  of  wistful  eyes 

Till  amplest  lenses  aid  the  failing  sight, 
On  heaven's  blue  sea  the  farthest  isle  of  fire, 
From  thee,  whose  glories  it  would  fain  admire, 
Must  vision,  baffled,  in  despair  retire ! 

What  art  thou,  ghostly  visitant  of  flame  ? 

Wouldst  thou  'neath  closer  scrutiny  dissolve 
In  myriad  suns  that  constellations  frame, 

Round  which  life-freighted  satellites  revolve, 
Like  those  unnumbered  orbs  which  nightly  creep 
In  dim  procession  o'er  the  azure  steep, 
As  white-winged  caravans  the  desert  sweep  ? 

Or  art  thou  still  an  incandescent  mass, 
Acquiring  form  as  hostile  forces  urge, 

Through  whose  vast,  length  a  million  lightnings  pass 
As  to  and  fro  its  fiery  billows  surge — 

Whose  glowing  atoms,  whirled  in  ceaseless  strife 

Where  now  chaotic  anarchy  is  rife, 

Shall  yet  become  the  fair  abodes  of  life  ? 

We  know  not;  for  the  faint,  exhausted  rays 

Which  hither  on  Light's  winged  coursers  come, 

From  fires  which  ages  since  first  lit  their  blaze, 

One  instant  gleam,  then  perish,  spent  and  dumb  ! 

How  strange  the  thought  that,  whatsoe'er  we  learn, 

Our  tiny  globe  no  answer  can  return, 

Since  with  but  dull,  reflected  beams  we  burn ! 

Yet  this  we  know  :  yon  ring  of  spectral  light, 

Whose  distance  thrills  the  soul  with  solemn  awe, 

Can  ne'er  escape  in  its  majestic  might 
The  firm  control  of  omnipresent  law. 

This  mote  descending  to  its  bounden  place, 

Those  suns  whose  radiance  we  can  scarcely  trace, 

Alike  obey  the  Power  pervading  space 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SERVE  TITS.  91 

SKETCH  OF  MICHAEL  SERVETUS.' 

By  M.  MAUEIS. 

THE  publication  of  an  elaborate  life  of  Servetus  in  English  at  the 
present  time  will  be  welcome  to  many  readers,  who  at  present 
know  little  more  of  the  man  than  that  he  was  burned  at  the  stake  at 
Geneva,  at  the  instigation  of  John  Calvin,  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  The  progress  of  the  world  from  polytheism  to  mono- 
theism has  had  many  tragic  passages,  but  perhaps  the  most  unique 
was  this  roasting  alive  of  the  Unitarian  Servetus  with  green  wood  by 
a  leader  of  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

Dr.  Willis,  the  author  of  the  work,  had  edited  an  edition  of  the 
writings  of  William  Harvey,  accompanied  by  a  biography  of  the 
great  demonstrator  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  His  researches 
into  this  interesting  subject  led  him  to  investigate  the  claims  of  Ser- 
vetus to  a  share  in  this  grand  discovery,  when  it  was  established  that 
he  was  "  the  first  who  proclaimed  the  true  way  in.  which  the  blood 
from  the  right  reaches  the  left  chambers  of  the  heart  by  passing 
through  the  lungs,  and  even  hinted  at  its  further  course  by  the  ar- 
teries to  the  body  at  large."  His  study  of  the  subject  deepened 
the  interest  of  Dr.  Willis  in  the  character  of  Servetus,  not  only  as  a 
physiologist,  but  as  a  philosopher  and  scholar ;  as  a  practical  physi- 
cian, freed  from  the  fetters  of  mediaeval  routine ;  an  eminent  geogra- 
pher and  astronomer,  and  a  liberal  Biblical  critic  in  days  when  criti- 
cism, as  we  understand  the  term,  was  unimagined. 

Servetus  was  a  Spaniard,  born  at  Villanueva,  in  Aragon,  in  150f, 
of  an  old  family  in  independent  circumstances.  He  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Saragossa  when  about  fourteen  years  old,  and  there  per- 
fected himself  in  the  study  of  the  classics,  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
tongues,  as  well  as  in  the  ethics  of  Aristotle,  scholastic  philosophy, 
mathematics,  astronomy,  and  geography.  From  Saragossa  he  ap- 
pears to  have  passed  to  the  law-school  of  Toulouse,  but  theology  had 
more  attractions  for  him  than  law.  A  rational  exposition  of  God's 
revelation  of  himself  in  Nature  seems  to  have  been  a  craving  in  the 
ardent  and  religious  temperament  of  the  thoughtful  young  Spaniard. 
While  at  Toulouse  he  read  the  Bible,  the  writings  of  Luther,  the  ra- 
tional theology  of  Rymund  de  Sabunde,  and  the  works  of  Erasmus. 
The  effect  of  these  studies  was  that,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  had 
already  framed  a  theological  system  of  his  own,  far  in  advance  of  the 
ideas  of  his  time.  Leaving  Toulouse,  Servetus  entered  the  service  of 
Juan  Quintana,  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  confessor  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  whose  coronation  he  attended  in  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  also 

1  "  Servetus  and  Calvin :  A  Study  of  an  Important  Epoch  in  the  Early  History  of  the 
Reformation."     By  R.  Willis,  M.  D.     541  pages.     London  :  Henry  S.  King  &  Co. 


92  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  which  closely  followed  it.  Servetus  was  in 
sympathy  with  the  Reformers  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  and,  in 
fact,  came  into  conflict  with  them,  because  he  did  not  think  they 
were  sufficiently  rational  and  thorough-going,  and  what  he  saw  of  the 
pomp  and  tyranny  of  princes  and  bishops  was  not  calculated  to  quiet 
the  spirit  of  protest  that  early  took  a  powerful  hold  upon  his  mind. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  writes:  "For  my  own  part.  I  neither  agree 
nor  disagree  in  every  particular  wTith  either  Catholics  or  Reformers. 
It  would  be  easy  enough,  indeed,  to  judge  dispassionately  of  every- 
thing, were  we  but  suffered  without  molestation  by  the  churches 
freely  to  speak  our  minds ;  the  older  exponents  of  doctrine,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  recommendation  of  St.  Paul,  giving  place  to  younger 
men,  and  these,  in  their  turn,  making  way  for  teachers  of  the  clay, 
who  had  aught  to  impart  that  has  been  revealed  to  them.  But  our 
doctors  now  contend  for  nothing  but  power.  The  Lord  confound  all 
tyrants  of  the  Church  !     Amen." 

With  such  views,  and  a  constitutional  temperament  that  knew  no 
fear,  and  led  him  to  the  free  expression  of  his  opinions,  he  was,  of 
course,  soon  dismissed  from  the  service  of  QuiDtana.  He  then  threw 
himself,  body  and  soul,  into  the  study  of  theology,  and  in  1530  Ave 
find  him  at  Basle,  Switzerland,  disputing  with  CEcolampadius  and 
other  theologians  on  the  consubstantiality  and  coeternity  of  the  Son 
with  the  Father,  and  other  points  in  connection  with  the  idea  of  the 
Trinity  then  prevailing  among  Catholics  as  well  as  Reformers.  Being 
unable  to  make  his  views  acceptable  to  the  Reformer  of  Basle,  he 
proceeded  to  Strasburg  to  propound  his  docrines  to  Martin  Bucer  and 
W.  F.  Capito,  but  with  no  better  results.  Meanwhile,  he  had  not 
been  otherwise  idle;  he  had  written  a  book  in  which  his  new  opinions 
concerning  Christianity  were  fully  explained,  and  he  resolved  upon 
having  it  printed,  to  make  the  world  judge  between  him  and  the 
other  Reformers.  He  was  in  Germany,  the  land  of  free  thought,  as 
he  imagined,  and  among  men  who  had  thought  freely:  why  should 
he  not  avail  himself  of  the  same  right  ?  The  names  of  Luther,  Calvin, 
etc.,  appeared  on  the  title-pages  of  their  works:  why  should  his  name 
be  withheld  from  the  world?  Accordingly,  the  "Seven  Books  on 
Mistaken  Conceptions  of  the  Trinity"  appeared  with  the  author's 
full  family  name,  and  the  name  of  the  country  that  called  him  son. 

As  he  appears  in  this  book,  Servetus  may  be  considered  as  the 
founder  of  the  doctrine  of  real  monotheism,  as  it  was  possible  to  con- 
ceive it  in  the  sixteenth  century.  We  are  sorry  to  be  unable  to  give 
more  than  a  passing  notice  of  the  chief  points  discussed  in  this  work. 
He  believed  in  a  kind  of  Trinity,  but  modal  and  formal,  not  real  and 
personal  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word.  "God  cannot  be  conceived 
as  divisible,"  he  says;  he  acknowledges  a  Son  of  God  and  a  Holy 
Ghost,  finding  them  in  the  Scriptures,  no  word  of  which  he  would 
overlook,  though   putting   his   own    interpretation    on  all  they  say. 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SERVETUS.  93 

"The  word  Trinity,"  he  writes,  "is  not  to  be  found  in  Scriptures. 
The  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  no  more  than  so  many  forms  or 
aspects  of  Deity.  ...  To  believe,"  he  continues,  "  suffices,  it  is  said 
(to  salvation)  ;  but  what  folly  to  believe  aught  that  cannot  be  under- 
stood, that  is  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  that  may  even 
be  looked  on  as  blasphemous !  Can  it  be  that  mere  confusion  of 
mind  is  to  be  deemed  an  adequate  object  of  faith  ?  "  Speaking  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Servetus  forgot  what  is  due  to  a  subject  that  has  en- 
gaged the  serious  thoughts  of  so  many  pious  and  learned  men.  He 
saw  some  portions  of  the  Catholic  Christian  dogma  so  unreasonable 
as  to  be  unable  to  refrain  from  ridiculing  them.  Yet  the  idea  of  God 
to  which  Servetus  had  attained  is  unquestionably  pure  and  grand — 
the  only  one,  in  fact,  as  we  see  the  subject,  that  can  be  reasonably 
held  by  a  true  idealist.  He  also  deals  heavy  blows  at  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith,  the  leading  feature  of  Luther's  theology,  in 
terms  neither  complimentary  nor  respectful  to  its  author;  nor  less 
roughly  dealt  with  is  the  leading  Calvinistic  theory  of  predestination 
and  election. 

The  book  seems  to  have  caused  a  considerable  stir  both  in  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  to  have  found  proselytes  in  Italy,  and  to  have 
been  read  by  every  one  of  liberal  education.  Some  of  the  antagonistic 
Reformers  themselves  could  not  forbear  being  strongly  impressed  with 
it.  (Ecolampadius,  writing  to  Martin  Bucer,  July  18,  1531,  says: 
"Read  the  book,  and  tell  me  what  you  think  of  it;  as  the  writer  does 
not  acknowledge  the  coeternity  of  the  Son,  I  can  in  no  wise  approve 
of  it  as  a  whole,  although  it  contains  much  that  is  good."  Melanch- 
thon  writes  to  a  friend,  "  I  read  Servetus  a  great  deal."  He  does 
not  agree  with  the  author,  but  "  I  have  little  doubt,"  he  continues, 
"  that  great  controversies  will  one  day  arise  on  this  subject  as  well  as 
on  the  distinction  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ." 

"The  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,"  Dr.  Willis  says,  "went 
little  way  in  freeing  the  religion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  from  the  accre- 
tions which  metaphysical  subtilty,  superstition,  and  ignorance  of  the 
laws  of  Nature,  had  gathered  around  it  in  the  course  of  ages.  Their 
business,  as  they  apprehended  it,  was  to  reform  the  Church — the  task 
Servetus  had  set  himself,  in  the  end,  was  to  reform  relic/ion,  with  little 
thought  of  a  church,  in  any  sense  as  it  was  conceived  in  his  clay  either 
by  papists  or  Protestants."  How  could  a  book  in  this  direction  be 
welcome  to  the  Reformers  ?  It  was  too  far  in  advance  of  their  ideas; 
Servetus's  dialectics  were  too  stringent,  and  his  arguments  too  conclu- 
sive against  them. 

After  writing  a  splendid  letter  to  (Ecolampadius,  for  which  we 
regret  to  have  no  room,  he  quitted  Switzerland,  whither  he  had  re- 
turned after  the  publication  of  his  book  at  Hagenau  ;  and  here  he 
seems  to  have  again  taken  up  his  quarters  for  some  weeks  or  months, 
to  write  and  superintend  the  printing  of  the  "  Two  Dialogues  on  the 


94  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Trinity."  Under  color  of  modifying  some  of  the  views  enunciated  in 
his  first  work,  he  now  cast  the  concluding  anathema  against  all  tyrants 
of  the  Church,  as  a  parting  shot,  and  off  he  went  to  France,  reaching 
Paris  toward  the  end  of  1532. 

If  Switzerland  and  Germany  "  were  too  hot  for  him,"  Roman  Cath- 
olic France  would  have  proved  still  hotter;  hut  during  the  time  he 
lived  in  that  country  he  never  made  himself  known  save  as  "  Monsieur 
Michel  Villeneuve,"  from  the  town  of  his  nativity.  He  entered  as  a 
student  of  mathematics  and  physics  at  one  of  the  colleges  of  Paris, 
and  lived  very  quietly.  At  a  later  period  he  took  his  degree  of  M.  A. 
in  the  University  of  Paris. 

But  the  study  of  mathematics  had  soon  to  be  abandoned  for  present 
means  of  subsistence.  After  a  short  stay  at  Avignon  and  Orleans, 
Villeneuve  betook  himself  to  Lyons,  then  a  great  centre  of  learning. 
There  he  seems  to  have  found  ready  employment  as  reader  and  cor- 
rector of  the  press,  first,  and  afterward  as  editor  in  the  celebrated 
printing-establishment  of  Trechscl  Brothers.  Among  the  works  he 
edited  for  them,  the  "  Geography  of  Ptolemy,"  enriched  by  extensive 
comments  from  him,  can  by  no  means  be  overlooked,  connected  as  it  is 
with  the  charges  imputed  to  its  editor,  later  on,  in  his  trial  at  Geneva. 

The  reading-room  of  the  printers  of  Lyons,  and  the  acquaintance 
Servetus  formed  there  with  the  great  physician  and  naturalist,  Dr. 
Champier,  brought  the  former  back  from  the  empyrean  of  metaphysics 
to  the  earth,  and  put  him  in  the  way  of  becoming  the  geographer, 
astrologian,  Biblical  critic,  physiologist,  and  physician,  with  whom 
we  are  made  familiar  in  his  subsequent  life  and  writings.  With  the 
money  he  had  saved  in  the  two  years  spent  with  Trechsel,  he  went 
back  to  Paris  (1536),  and  gave  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine.  He 
became  at  once  associated  with  scientists  as  distinguished  as  Andreas 
Vesalius,  the  creator  of  modern  anatomy,  and  Joannes  Guinterus  ; 
and  in  a  singularly  short  time  he  obtained  the  degree  of  M.  D.  With 
the  stimulus  of  necessity  upon  him,  for  he  was  poor,  and  the  excite- 
ment of  ambition,  with  which  he  was  largely  endowed,  as  he  found  it 
hard  to  earn  a  living  by  his  profession,  Servetus  appeared  before  the 
world  as  lecturer  on  geography  and  astrology — which  then  embraced 
the  true  doctrine  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  as  well  as  the  false  one  of 
their  influence  on  the  life  of  man  ;  and  in  this  capacity  he  achieved  an 
enormous  success.  Next  he  came  forward  in  connection  with  his  pro- 
fession by  writing  a  book  on  "  Medicinal  Sirups  and  their  Use,"  thus 
winning  fame  also  as  a  physician.  A  fiery  struggle  was  going  on 
during  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  between  the  Averrho- 
ists  and  the  Galenists.  Like  his  initiator  into  medical  matters,  Dr. 
Champier,  Servetus  was  himself  a  Galenist ;  but  in  this  character,  too, 
he  showed  the  independence  of  his  nature,  by  having  open  eyes  for  any 
truth  which  the  Arabian  writers  and  their  followers  might  present. 

Servetus's  fate  on  starting  in  life  was  opposition.     Through  supe- 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SERVE  TVS.  95 

rior  endowment  and  culture,  lie  found  himself  antagonistic  to  almost 
all  around  him ;  his  convictions  were  deep,  and  the  haughtiness  and 
violence  of  his  disposition  made  it  impossible  to  suppress  them.  The 
physician,  therefore,  met  the  fate  of  the  theologian.  It  seems  that  he 
had  gone  out  of  the  way,  in  his  lectures,  to  accuse  his  fellows  of 
ignorance,  at  least,  of  astronomy.  The  doctors  of  the  faculty  retali- 
ated by  denouncing  him  from  their  chairs  as  an  impostor  and  a  wind- 
bag. Servetus  then  wrote  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  laid  hare  the  sore 
places  in  the  characters  of  his  adversaries,  even  holding  them  up,  in 
their  ignorance,  as  the  pests  of  society.  His  intentions  being  made 
known,  the  Senate  of  the  University  and  the  Parliament  of  Paris  were 
petitioned  to  forbid  the  publication  of  the  pamphlet ;  hut  Servetus 
outwitted  them — before  the  day  of  citation  came,  the  dreaded  pam- 
phlet was  distributed  to  the  public.  The  faculty  of  medicine  had  him 
summoned  before  the  inquisitor  of  the  king  as  an  enemy  of  the  Church, 
on  the  score  of  heresy,  implied  in  the  practice  of  judicial  astrology. 
So  thoroughly,  however,  did  he  satisfy  the  inquisitor  that  he  was  a 
good  Christian,  that  he  left  the  court  with  flying  colors,  absolved 
even  of  all  suspicion  of  heresy.  The  doctors,  however,  in  the  end, 
won  the  day.  The  award  of  the  Parliament  ordered  Michael  Villano- 
vanus  to  call  in  his  pamphlet  and  deposit  the  copies  in  the  court ;  to 
pay  all  honor  to  the  faculty  and  its  members  ;  and  he  was  expressly 
forbidden  to  appear  in  public  or  in  any  other  way  as  a  professor  of 
astrology. 

Villeneuve  now  moved  to  Charlieu,  near  Lyons,  where  he  resumed 
the  practice  of  medicine.  While  at  Charlieu  (1539),  having  attained 
his  thirtieth  year,  according  to  the  religious  tenets  he  professed,  he 
had  himself  baptized. 

Pierre  Paumier,  one  of  his  Paris  admirers  and  friends,  and  now 
Archbishop  of  Vienne,  hearing  of  his  whereabouts,  invited  him  to  quit 
the  narrow  field  of  his  practice  for  a  wider  one.  Villeneuve  accepted, 
and  for  the  next  twelve  years  he  lived  in  Vienne,  under  the  immediate 
patronage  of  the  eminent  prelate. 

Besides  practising  medicine,  he  resumed  his  connection  with  the 
publishers  of  Lyons,  and  among  other  works  edited  the  Latin  Bible 
for  Trechsel,  with  comments  of  his  own.  From  his  long  studies  in 
the  Scriptures  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  while  the  usual 
prophetical  bearing  ascribed  to  the  Old  Testament  was  ever  to  he  kept 
in  view,  the  text  had  a  primary,  literal,  and  immediate  reference  to 
the  age  in  which  it  was  composed  and  to  personages,  events,  and  cir- 
cumstances, among  which  the  writers  lived ;  and,  according  to  this 
plan,  he  carried  out  the  work.  Yet  Spinoza,  Astruc,  and  others,  who 
lived  a  century  latei-,  are  called  the  founders  of  the  modern  school  of 
Biblical  exegesis,  and  Servetus  is  not  even  named  as  a  Biblical  critic 
and  expositor  ! 

We  have  now  arrived  at  a  momentous  event  in  the  life  of  Servetus 


96  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

— his  theological  correspondence  with  John  Calvin.  It  seems  to  have 
been  entered  upon  at  the  suggestion  of  John  Frelon,  one  of  the  Lyons 
publishers. 

Servetus  has  been  accused  of  having  provoked  the  Genevese  Re- 
former by  addressing  him  in  a  style  calculated  to  wound,  if  not  to 
insult,  him  ;  and  the  character  of  the  man  gives  likelihood  to  the 
charge.     But,  had  Calvin's  letters  been  preserved,  we  doubt  whether 
the  accusation  would  hold  good ;  we  know  for  a  certainty  that  the 
great  Reformer  applied  very  freely  the  lowest  epithets  to  his  oppo- 
nents— "  rascal,  dog,  ass,  and  swine,  being  found  of  constant  occur- 
rence among  them — had  there  been  any  stronger  than  scoundrel  and 
blasphemer,  they  would  have  been  hurled  at  Servetus."     Calvin's  own 
letter  to  Frelon,  their  go-between,  throws  a  great  light  on  the  subject. 
Among  other  things,  he  writes :  "  I  have  been  led  to  write  to  him 
more  sharply  than  is  my  wont,  being  minded  to  take  him  down  a  lit- 
tle in  his  presumption  ;  and,  I  assure  you,  there  is  no  lesson  he  needs 
so  much  to  learn  as  humility."     At  any  rate,  Villeneuve  approached 
the  Reformer,  at  first,  as  one  seeking  aid  and  information  from  another 
presumed  most  capable  of  giving  both.     Calvin  replied  in  a  concise, 
dogmatic  way  which,  indeed,  could  not  satisfy  a  mind  as  thoroughly 
made  up  as  that  of  Servetus.     Moreover,  the  Reformer  soon  grew 
weary  of  the  correspondence,  so  that  Frelon  had  to  interpose  in  be- 
half of  the  Spaniard  in  order  to  make  the  former  answer  his  letters. 
Nor  is  this  all :  thinking  he  might  escape  further  molestation,  Calvin 
referred  Servetus  to  his  book,  "  Institutions  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
as  though  he  had  been  a  schoolboy  who  had  entered  upon  a  discussion 
with  the  Reformer,  with  no  knowledge  of  his  doctrines.     Villeneuve 
now  became  his  critic.    The  copy  of  the  "  Institutions  "  was  sent  back, 
copiously  annotated  in  the  margin.     There  was  hardly  a  proposition 
in  the  text  that  was  not  taken  to  pieces  by  him  and  found  untenable 
on  the  ground  of  Scriptures  and  patristic  authority,  and  this  he  did 
with  the  freedom  of  expression  in  which  Villeneuve  indulged.     Calvin, 
in  writing  to  a  friend,  indignantly  says,  "There  is  hardly  a  page  that 
is  not  defiled  by  his  vomit."     "  The  liberties  taken  with  the  '  Institu- 
tions,'"Dr.  Willis  says,  "were  looked  on  as  a  crowning  personal 
insult  by  Calvin ;  and  reading,  as  we  do,  the  nature  of  the  man,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  conclude  that  it  was  this  offense,  superadded  to  the 
letters,  which  put  such  rancor  into  his  soul  as  made  him  think  of  the 
life  of  his  critic  as  no  more  than  a  fair  forfeit  for  the  offense  done." 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  correspondence  was  soon  dropped  by  Calvin, 
but  not  so  by  Servetus,  who  seemingly  could  not  bear  his  opponent's 
neglect;  over  thirty  letters  of  his,  embracing  a  period  of  more  than 
two  years,  are  still  extant. 

Servetus  meanwhile  had  prepared  another  book,  "  Christianismi 
Restitutio"  (The  Restoration  of  Christianity) '  with  which  he  intended 

1  The  "  Christianismi   Restitutio  "  of  Servetus  is  or.e  of  the  rarest  books  in  the  world. 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SERVE TUS.  97 

to  bring  religion  back  to  more  winning  simplicity  and  purity.  Hav- 
ing made  a  MS.  copy  of  it,  he  sent  it  to  Calvin,  requesting  an  opinion 
on  its  merits.  It  was  on  its  reception  that,  writing  to  his  friend  Farel, 
Calvin  made  use  of  the  following  language :  "  Servetus  wrote  to  me 
lately,  and  besides  his  letter  sent  me  a  great  volume  full  of  his  ravings, 
telling  me  with  audacious  arrogance  that  I  should  there  find  things 
stupendous  and  unheard  of  until  now.  He  offers  to  come  hither  if  I 
approve  ;  but  I  will  not  pledge  my  faith  to  him  :  for,  did  he  come,  if  I 
have  any  authority  here,  I  should  never  suffer  him  to  go  away  alive." 
"We  see  already  by  what  feeling  Calvin  was  animated :  he  hates  the 
man  who  did  not  acknowledge  his  superiority,  as  he  was  accustomed  to 
see  others  do,  and  who  dared  to  criticise  his  opinions.  Not  only  did 
he  not  even  condescend  to  offer  any  strictures  upon  Servetus's  work, 
but  he  never  sent  back  the  MS.,  although  repeatedly  asked  for  it. 

Servetus,  who  had  kept  another  copy  for  himself,  determined  to 
have  the  book  printed  anonymously.  Arrangements  were  made  with 
Balthasar  Arnoullet,  printer  at  Vienne,  and,  as  secrecy  was  of  capi- 
tal importance,  a  small  house  away  from  the  known  printing-establish- 
ment was  taken;  type,  cases,  and  a  press,  were  there  set  up,  and  in  a 
period  of  between  three  and  four  months  an  edition  of  1,000  copies 
was  successfully  worked  off.  The  whole  impression  was  then  made 
up  into  bales  of  100  copies  each,  and  confided  to  friends  at  Lyons, 
Frankfort,  etc.,  for  safe-keeping,  until  the  moment  of  putting  them  in 
the  market  abroad  had  come. 

The  book  on  "  The  Restoration  of  Christianity  "  comprises  a  series 
of  disquisitions  on  the  speculative  and  practical  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity as  apprehended  by  the  author ;  thirty  of  the  letters  he  had 
written  to  Calvin  ;  and  other  writings  of  minor  importance.  It  is  in 
this  book  that  Servetus  shows  himself  the  most  far-sighted  physiologist 
of  his  age,  by  anticipating  the  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood. 

Through  Frelon  a  copy  of  the  book,  "  hot  from  the  press,"  was 
especially  addressed  to  "  Monsieur  Johann  Calvin,  minister  of  Geneva." 
We  leave  for  the  reader  to  imagine  what  additional  anger  must  now 
have  entered  the  Reformer's  heart,  when,  besides  the  offensive  and,  as 
he  regarded  it,  heretical  matter  of  the  book,  he  found  the  letters 
written  to  him  made  public,  himself  publicly  schooled,  his  most 
cherished  doctrines  proclaimed  derogatory  to  God,  and  some  of  them 
as  barring  the  gates  of  heaven  !  What  the  reader,  perhaps,  could  not 
imagine  is,  that  the  "high-minded"  man  who  had  emphatically  de- 
nounced the  "  right  of  the  sword  "  in  dealing  with  heresy,  was  now 
ready  to  become  instrumental  in  having  it  applied  to  Servetus.  He 
became  the  denunciator  of  Servetus  to  the  Catholic  authorities  of 
Vienne  ;  he  betrayed  friendship  and  trust  by  furnishing  them  with 

Of  the  thousand  copies  printed,  two  only  are  now  known  to  survive :  one  amon<r  the  treas- 
ures of  the  National  Library  of  Paris,  the  other  among  these  of  the  Imperial  Library 
of  Vienna. 

VOL.  XII. — 7 


98  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  documents  (letters  and  leaves  from  the  printed  book  as  well  as 
the  MS.  copy  which  he  had  kept)  that  would  bring  about  his  convic- 
tion, and  consequently  his  death.  And  this  was  not  done  openly. 
Calvin  sent  the  wanted  information  through  a  convert  to  the  Reform, 
a  young  man  by  the  name  of  William  Trie.  Did  not  the  style  of 
Trie's  letters  and  the  documents  show  plainly  the  part  played  by  the 
Reformer  in  the  treason,  he  might  be  easily  absolved  from  the  charge 
— so  cautiously  had  he  worked  to  keep  his  treachery  a  mystery.  Ser- 
vetus  was  arrested  and  tried  ;  he  only  avoided  being  burned  alive  by 
making  good  his  escape  from  prison  (April  17,  1553),  in  which  he 
seems  to  have  been  aided  by  some  devoted  friend.  All  the  books, 
however,  that  could  be  found,  were  seized  and  burned,  together  with 
his  effigy. 

Escaped  from  the  prison  of  Vienne,  after  rambling  some  wreeks 
through  Southern  France,  he  fled  to  Geneva.  His  choice  of  this  place 
can  hardly  be  accounted  for.  Perhaps,  though  he  knew  that  Calvin 
had  been  his  denunciator,  it  never  entered  his  mind  that  the  Reformer 
would  now  take  the  knife  in  hand  himself.  In  the  early  morning  of 
some  day  after  the  middle  of  July,  he  entered  Geneva  and  put  up  at  a 
small  hostelry  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  where  he  seems  to  have  lived 
very  privately  for  nearly  a  month.  On  Sunday,  August  13th,  he  vent- 
ured imprudently  to  show  himself  at  the  evening  service  of  a  neigh- 
boring church.  Being  recognized,  Calvin  was  informed  of  his  pres- 
ence, and  without  a  moment's  delay  he  again  denounced  him,  and 
demanded  his  arrest.  Servetus  was  at  once  thrown  into  the  common 
jail  of  the  town. 

According  to  the  laws  of  Geneva,  grounds  for  an  arrest  on  a  crim- 
inal charge  were  to  be  delivered  within  twenty-four  hours  thereafter. 
Calvin  worked  all  night,  and  thirty-eight  articles  drawn  from  the 
"  Christianismi  Restitutio  "  were  in  due  time  presented  in  support  of 
the  charge.  Another  law  prescribed  that  criminal  charges  should  be 
made  by  some  one  w7ho  avowed  himself  aggrieved,  and  was  contented 
to  go  to  prison  with  the  party  he  accused,  the  law  of  retaliation  dis- 
posing of  him  in  case  his  charges  were  not  made  good;  and  Calvin 
complied  with  this  law,  too,  by  means  of  a  substitute.  His  cook, 
Nicolas  La  Fontaine,  was  the  man  who  now  came  forth  as  "  person- 
ally aggrieved  by,"  and  prosecutor  of,  Michael  Servetus ! 

The  main  charges  against  the  Spaniard  were  :  his  having  troubled 
the  churches  of  Germany,  about  twenty-four  years  previously,  with  his 
heresies  and  with  an  execrably  heretical  book,  by  which  he  had  in- 
fected many  ;  having  continued  to  spread  poison  abroad  with  his 
"  Comments  to  the  Bible,"  the  "  Geography  of  Ptolemy,"  and  lately 
with  his  "  Restoration  of  Christianity  ;  "  having  blasphemed  against 
the  Trinity,  the  Sonship  of  Christ,  his  consubstantiality  with  the 
Father,  and  proclaimed  infant  baptism  a  diabolic  invention  ;  having 
escaped  from  the  prison  of  Vienne  ;   and,  finally,  "  of  having  in  his 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SEE  VET  US. 


99 


printed  books  made  use  of  scurrilous  and  blaspliemous  terms  of  re- 
proach in  speaking  of  Monsieur  John  Calvin  and  his  doctrines." 

Servetus's  reply  in  his  preliminary  interrogatory  was :  that  he  was 
not  conscious  of  having  caused  any  trouble  to  the  churches  of  Ger- 
many, and  defied  any  one  to  prove  it;  that  he  was  unaware  that  the 
book  he  owned  to  have  had  printed  at  Hagenau  had  produced  any 
evil ;  that  it  was  true  he  had  commented  on  the  above-mentioned 
books,  but  he  had  said  nothing  in  them  that  was  not  the  truth  ; 
and  in  the  book  lately  printed  he  did  not  believe  that  he  blasphemed, 
but  if  it  were  shown  that  he  had  said  anything  amiss,  he  was  ready 
to  amend  it ;  that  in  the  book  he  wrote  on  the  Trinity  he  had  fol- 
lowed the  teaching  of  the  doctors  who  lived  immediately  after  Christ 
and  the  apostles ;  that  previous  to  the  Council  of  Nicrea  no  doctor  of 
the  Church  had  used  the  word  Trinity ;  that  his  strong  language 
against  the  Trinity,  as  apprehended  by  the  modern  doctors,  was  sug- 
gested by  the  belief  that  the  unity  of  God  was  by  them  denied  or  an- 
nulled; that  as  regards  infant  baptism  it  was  his  belief  that  none 
should  be  baptized  who  had  not  attained  the  years  of  discretion  ;  but 
he  added,  as  ever,  that  if  he  were  shown  to  be  mistaken,  he  was  ready 
to  submit  to  correction  ;  that  Calvin  had  no  right  to  complain  of  the 
respondent's  abusive  language,  as  he  had  been  himself  publicly  abused 
by  Calvin :  he  had  but  retaliated,  and  shown  him  from  his  writings 
that  he  was  mistaken  in  many  things. 

On  August  loth  the  council  was  formally  installed  as  a  court  of 
criminal  judicature,  and  the  trial  commenced ;  the  answers  of  the 
prisoner  to  the  articles  being  generally  in  the  terms  of  his  previous 
examination.  The  court  closed  the  meeting  with  making  good  a 
petition  of  Nicolas  La  Fontaine  to  be  discharged  from  prison,  Servetus 
himself  having  giveu  sufficient  prima-facie  evidence  of  his  guilt.  Bail 
was,  however,  required ;  and  this  was  immediately  forthcoming  in  the 
person  of  Monsieur  Antoine  Calvin,  brother  of  the  Reformer.  The 
chef  de  cuisine  was  discharged,  while  Servetus  was  remanded  to  jail. 
About  this  time,  in  a  letter  to  his  bosom  friend  Farel,  after  relating 
the  events  of  Servetus's  arrest  and  of  the  proceedings  against  him, 
Calvin  wrote,  "  I  hope  the  sentence  will  be  capital  at  least." 

It  would  be  most  interesting  to  follow  this  unprecedented  sham- 
trial  in  all  its  details,  as  Dr.  Willis  has  done  ;  but  want  of  space  limits 
us  to  mere  outlines  of  it.  The  party  of  free  thought,  or  Libertines, 
showing  sympathy  for  the  prisoner,  the  trial  assumed  the  character  of 
a  struggle  between  the  two  factions  in  Geneva.  It  was  necessary  for 
Calvin  to  nip  in  the  bud  the  new  growth  of  rebellion  against  his 
authority;  and,  throwing  aside  disguise,  he  now  came  forward  aa 
prosecutor  of  Servetus.  The  Spaniard's  opinions  differed  so  obviously 
from  all  they  had  ever  been  led  to  believe,  that  it  was  easy  for  Calvin 
to  satisfy  the  majority  of  the  judges  of  Servetus's  culpability  on  theo- 
logical ^rounds.     It  seems,  however,  that  a  feeling  in  favor  of  the 


ioo  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

prisoner  prevailed  in  the  court ;  the  Swiss  churches,  which  on  a  simi- 
lar occasion  had  decided  against  Calvin,  were  appealed  to  for  advice, 
and  the  proceedings  were  postponed.  It  is  pitiful  to  see  how  Calvin 
had  set  his  heart  on  the  condemnation  of  Servetus.  He  interfered  with 
the  course  of  justice  by  threatening  the  weakest  among  the  judges, 
by  stirring  the  feelings  of  his  party  in  the  council ;  he  denounced  and 
vilified  his  opponent  from  the  pulpit  in  no  measured  terms,  exposing 
his  opinions  in  their  most  glaring  and  repulsive  aspects  ;  lie  tampered 
with  the  ministers  of  the  Swiss  churches  ;  he  formulated  new  and  more 
elaborate  articles  of  accusation,  and  to  these,  besides  his  own,  had  the 
signatures  of  thirteen  of  his  fellow-ministers  appended — in  one  word, 
he  left  no  stone  unturned  to  wreak  his  revenge.  He  wanted  Servetus's 
death  !  The  arguments  and  authorities  piled  against  him  by  Calvin 
were  so  many,  and  the  proceedings  became  so  intricate,  that  Servetus 
was  forced  to  request  that  he  might  be  furnished  with  books,  and  have 
pen,  ink,  and  paper,  supplied,  in  which  to  epitomize  his  defense.  The 
jailer  was  directed  to  give  him  the  books  he  wanted,  and  a  single  sheet 
of  paper ! 

On  this  "famous"  sheet,  Servetus,  after  demonstrating  that  civil 
tribunals  are  incompetent  to  decide  on  questions  bearing  on  religion 
only,  and  that  heretics  were  either  to  be  brought  to  reason  by  argu- 
ment, or  punished  by  banishment,  and  not  by  prison,  concludes : 

"Secondly,  my  lords,  I  entreat  you  to  consider  that  I  have  committed  no 
offense  within  your  territory ;  neither,  indeed,  have  I  been  guilty  of  any  else- 
where :  I  have  never  been  seditious,  and  am  no  disturber  of  the  peace.  During 
all  the  time  I  passed  in  Germany,  I  never  spoke  on  such  subjects"  (his  theological 
views),  "save  with  (Ecolampadius,  Bucer,  and  Capito;  neither  in  France  did  I 
ever  enter  on  them  with  any  one.  I  have  always  disavowed  the  opinions  of 
the  Anabaptists,  seditious  against  the  magistrate,  and  preaching  community  of 
goods.  Wherefore,  as  I  have  been  guilty  of  no  sort  of  sedition,  but  have  only 
brought  up  for  discussion  certain  ancient  doctrines  of  the  Church,  I  think  I  ought 
not  to  be  detained  a  prisoner,  and  made  the  subject  of  a  criminal  prosecution. 

"  In  conclusion,  my  lords,  inasmuch  as  I  am  a  stranger,  ignorant  of  the  cus- 
toms of  this  country,  not  knowing  either  how  to  speak  or  to  comport  myself  in 
the  circumstances  under  which  I  am  placed,  I  humbly  beseech  you  to  assign  me 
an  advocate  to  speak  for  me  in  my  defense." 

If  a  shadowT  of  justice  had  ruled  the  trial,  this  petition  would  have 
met  with  success  ;  but  the  court  took  no  notice  of  it.  "  Skilled  in  lying 
as  he  is,"  said  the  attorney-general,  Calvin's  tool,  "there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  now  demand  an  advocate." 

After  the  sitting  of  September  1st,  in  compliance  with  a  wish  pre- 
viously expressed  by  the  court,  Calvin,  surrounded  by  a  staff  of  min- 
isters, proceeded  to  the  jail  to  visit  the  prisoner.  Calvin  having  then 
opened  upon  him  with  a  bigoted  lecture,  the  consequences  are  easily 
imagined:  the  interview' ended  as  it  could  only  end — with  increased 
irritation  on  both  sides.  From  this  time  (and  we  cannot  but  excuse 
the  man),  Servetus  became  more  intemperate  and  aggressive  on  Cal- 


SKETCH   OF  MICHAEL   SERVETUS.  101 

vin ;  not  only  indisposed  to  yield  one  jot  or  tittle,  but  negligent  also 
of  opportunities  to  defend  his  conclusions.  Perhaps  he  knew  it  was 
useless  to  argue,  for,  as  a  Spanish  proverb  says,  "No  man  is  so  deaf 
as  he  who  will  not  hear."  Perhaps  Perrin  and  Berthelier,  the  leaders 
of  the  Libertines,  too,  had  fed  his  brain  with  false  hopes  and  promises. 
The  trial  was  now  interrupted  through  differences  between  Calvin 
and  the  city  fathers  about  municipal  affairs.  On  September  loth 
Servetus  wrote  to  the  council  a  letter,  from  which  we  quote  the  first 
paragraph : 

"  My  most  Honored  Lords  :  I  humbly  entreat  of  you  to  put  an  end  to  these 
great  delays,  or  to  exonerate  me  of  the  criminal  charge.  You  must  see  that 
Calvin  is  at  his  wit's  end,  and  knows  not  what  more  to  say,  but  for  his  pleasure 
would  have  me  rot  here  in  prison.  The  lice  eat  me  up  alive ;  my  breeches  are 
in  rags,  and  I  have  no  change — no  doublet,  and  but  a  single  shirt  in  tatters.  I 
have  also  demanded  to  have  a  counsel  assigned  me.  This  woidd  have  been  granted 
me  in  my  native  country;  and  here  I  am  a  stranger,  and  ignorant  of  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  land.  Yet  you  have  given  counsel  to  my  accuser,1  refusing 
it  to  me." 

On  the  22d  of  September,  perhaps  instigated  by  Berthelier,  Serve- 
tus took  a  bold  step :  he  accused  Calvin  as  his  calumniator,  and  asked 
him  to  be  declared  subject  to  the  law  of  retaliation ;  but  the  council 
took  no  more  notice  of  this  than  they  had  of  the  previous  petition.  The 
appeal  to  the  churches  of  Switzerland  caused  another  pause  in  the 
proceedings,  and  Michael  Servetus,  October  10th,  forwarded  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  the  council : 

"  Most  Noble  Lords  :  It  is  now  about  three  weeks  since  I  petitioned  for  an 
audience,  and  still  I  have  no  reply.  I  entreat  you  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ 
not  to  refuse  me  that  you  would  grant  to  a  Turk,  when  I  ask  for  justice  at  your 
hands.  As  to  what  you  may  have  commanded  to  be  done  for  me  in  the  way  of 
cleanliness,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  nothing  has  been  done,  and  that  I  am  in 
a  more  filthy  plight  than  ever.  In  addition,  I  suffer  terribly  from  the  cold,  and 
from  colic,  and  my  rupture,  which  causes  me  miseries  of  other  kinds,  I  should 
feel  shame  in  writing  about  more  particularly.  It  is  very  cruel  that  I  am 
neither  allowed  to  speak  nor  to  have  my  most  pressing  wants  supplied;  for  the 
love  of  God,  sirs,  in  pity  or  in  duty,  give  orders  in  my  behalf !  ': 

This  appeal  of  the  prisoner,  as  far  as  his  needs  were  concerned, 
met  with  an  immediate  response ;  but  the  audience  was  never  granted. 
The  answers  of  the  Swiss  churches  arrived  at  last,  and  as  Calvin  had 
been  their  inspirer,  and  they  had  been  taken  in  concert,  they  unani- 
mously condemned  Servetus's  theological  views.  On  the  20th  of  Oc- 
tober the  council  solemnly  assembled  and  condemned  Servetus  to  be 
burned  alive  with  his  books ;  the  sentence  to  be  carried  into  effect  on 
the  morrow !  In  a  letter  to  Farel,  alluding  to  the  vain  attempts  made 
by  Perrin,  the  first  syndic,  by  delay  and  entreaty,  to  save  the  pris- 
oner's life,  Calvin  speaks  of  the  merciful  man  by  the  nickname  under 
1  Germain  Colladon  was  introduced  as  counsel  for  Mcolas  La  Fontaine,  and  continued 
all  through  the  trial  as  Calvin's  champion. 


102  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

which  he  was  wont  to  characterize  his  great  Libertine  opponent,  and 

says  : 

"  Our  comical  Caesar  (Perrin),  having  feigned  illness  for  three  days,  mounted 
the  tribune  at  length,  with  a  view  to  aid  the  '  wicked  scoundrel '  to  escape  pun- 
ishment. Nor  did  he  blush  to  demand  that  the  cause  might  be  remitted  to  the 
Council  of  the  Two  Hundred.  But  in  vain  ;  all  was  refused,  the  prisoner  was 
condemned,  and  to-morrow  he  will  suffer  death." 

The  sentence  was  imparted  to  Servetns  in  the  early  morning  of 
the  following  day — his  last.  Encouraged  by  the  Libertines,  and 
knowing  himself  guilty  of  no  intentional  blasphemy,  he  had  never 
thought  it  possible  that  he  would  be  condemned  to  death.  He  was 
at  first  as  if  struck  dumb  by  the  intelligence.  He  did  but  groan  and 
sigh,  as  though  his  heart  would  burst,  and  cry,  in  his  native  language, 
"  Misericordia  ! "  Having  by  degrees  recovered  self-possession,  he 
requested  to  see  Calvin.  Accompanied  by  two  councilors,  Calvin 
entered  the  prison  and  asked  what  he  wanted  of  him.  Servetus  had 
the  heroic  virtue  to  ask  pardon  of  him — the  man  who  had  brought 
him  to  his  death !  Hard  to  say :  the  intolerant  despot  of  Geneva, 
devoid  of  all  humanity,  had  not  a  word  of  mercy  for  his  victim,  when 
a  word  of  his  would  have  saved  him  ! 

An  hour  before  noon  of  October  27, 1553,  Servetus  was  taken  from 
his  jail  to  receive  his  sentence  from  my  lords  the  councilors  and 
justices  of  Geneva.  The  tribunal,  in  conformity  with  custom,  assem- 
bled before  the  porch  of  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  and  received  the  prisoner, 
all  standing.  The  proper  officer  then  proceeded  to  recapitulate  the 
heads  of  the  process  against  him,  "Michael  Servetus,  of  Villanova,  in 
the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  in  Spain,"  in  which  he  is  charged — 

"First,  with  having,  between  twenty -three  and  twenty -four  years  ago,  caused 
to  be  printed  at  Hagenau,  in  Germany,  a  book  against  the  Holy  Trinity,  full  of 
blasphemies,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the  churches  of  Germany,  the  book  having 
been  condemned  by  all  their  doctors,  and  he,  the  writer,  forced  to  fly  that  coun- 
try. Item.  "With  having,  in  spite  of  this,  not  only  persisted  in  his  errors  and 
infected  many  with  them,  but  with  having  lately  had  another  book  clandestinely 
printed  at  Vienne,  in  Dauphiny,  filled  with  the  like  heresies  and  execrable  blas- 
phemies against  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Son  of  God,  the  baptism  of  infants,  and 
other  sacred  doctrines,  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  religion.  Item.  "With 
having  in  the  said  book  called  all  who  believe  in  a  Trinity,  tritheists,  and  even 
atheists,  and  the  Trinity  itself  a  demon  or  monster  having  three  heads.  Item. 
With  having  blasphemed  horribly,  and  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the  Son 
of  God  from  all  eternity,  but  only  became  so  from  his  incarnation;  that  he  is 
not  the  son  of  David  according  to  the  flesh,  but  was  created  of  the  substance 
of  God,  having  received  three  of  his  constituent  elements  from  God.  and  one 
only  from  the  Virgin  Mary,  whereby  he  wickedly  proposed  to  abolish  the  true 
and  entire  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ.  Item.  With  declaring  the  baptism  of 
infants  to  be  sorcery  and  a  diabolical  invention.  Item.  "With  having  uttered 
other  blasphemies,  with  which  the  book  in  question  is  full,  all  alike  against  the 
majesty  of  God,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  ruin  of  many  poor 
souls,  betrayed  and  desolated  by  such  detestable  doctrines.     Item.  With  having, 


SKETCH    OF  MICHAEL    SERVETUS.  103 

full  of  malice,  entitled  the  said  book,  though  crammed  with  heresies,  against 
the  holy  evangelical  doctrine,  '  Christianismi  Restitutio  ' — '  The  Restoration  of 
Christianity  ' — the  better  to  deceive  and  seduce  poor,  ignorant  folks,  poisoning 
them  all  the  while  they  fancied  they  were  sitting  in  the  shadow  of  sound  doc- 
trine. Item.  With  attacking  our  faith  by  letters  as  well  as  by  his  book,  and 
saying  to  one  of  the  ministers  of  this  city  that  our  holy  evangelical  doctrine 
is  a  religion  without  faith,  and,  indeed,  without  God,  we  having  a  Cerberus 
with  three  heads  for  our  God.  Item.  For  having  perfidiously  broken  and  escaped 
from  the  prison  of  Vienne,  where  he  had  been  confined  because  of  the  wicked 
and  abominable  opinions  confessed  in  his  book.  Item.  For  continuing  obstinate 
in  his  opinions,  not  only  against  the  true  Christian  religion,  but  as  an  arrogant 
innovator  and  inventor  of  heresies  against  popery,  which  led  to  his  being  burned 
in  effigy  at  Vienne,  along  with  five  bales  of  his  books.  Item.  And  in  addition 
to  all  of  which,  being  confined  in  the  jail  of  this  city,  he  has  not  ceased  mali- 
ciously to  persist  in  the  aforesaid  wicked  and  detestable  errors,  attempting  to 
maintain  them,  with  calumnious  abuse  of  all  true  Christians,  faithful  followers 
of  the  immaculate  Christian  religion,  calling  them  tritheists,  atheists,  and  sor- 
cerers, in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  made  to  him  in  Germany,  as  said,  and  in 
contempt  of  the  reprehensions  and  corrections  he  has  received,  and  the  im- 
prisonment he  has  undergone  as  well  here  as  elsewhere. 

"  Now  we,  the  syndics  and  judges  in  criminal  cases  within  this  city,  having 
reviewed  the  process  carried  on  before  us,  at  the  instance  of  our  lieutenant 
having  charge  of  such  cases,  against  thee,  Michael  Servetus,  of  Villanova,  in 
the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  in  Spain,  whereby  guided,  and  by  the  voluntary  con- 
fessions made  before  us,  many  times  repeated,  as  well  as  by  thy  books  pro- 
duced before  us,  we  decree  and  determine  that  thou,  Michael  Servetus,  hast, 
for  a  long  time,  promulgated  false  and  heretical  doctrine,  and,  rejecting  all 
remonstrance  and  correction,  hast  maliciously,  perversely,  and  obstinately,  con- 
tinued disseminating  and  divulging,  even  by  the  printing  of  books,  blasphemies 
against  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  a  word,  against  the 
whole  foundations  of  the  Christian  religion,  thereby  seeking  to  create  schism 
and  trouble  in  the  Church  of  God,  many  souls,  members  of  which,  may  have 
been  ruined  and  lost — horrible  and  dreadful  thing,  scandalous  and  contaminating 
in  thee,  thou,  having  no  shame  nor  horror  in  setting  thyself  up  in  all  against 
the  Divine  Majesty  and  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  having  further  taken  pains  to 
infect,  and  given  thyself  up  obstinately  to  continue  infecting,  the  world  with 
thy  heresies  and  stinking  heretical  poison— case  and  crime  of  heresy  grievous 
and  detestable,  deserving  of  severe  corporal  punishment. 

"  These  and  other  just  causes  moving  us,  desiring  to  purge  the  Church  of 
God  of  such  infection,  and  to  cut  off  from  it  so  rotten  a  member,  we,  sitting 
as  a  judicial  tribunal  in  the  seat  of  our  ancestors,  with  the  entire  assent  of 
the  General  Council  of  the  state,  and  our  fellow-citizens,  calling  on  the  name 
of  God  to  deliver  true  judgment,  having  the  Holy  Scriptures  before  us,  and 
saying,  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  we  now  pronounce 
our  final  sentence,  and  condemn  thee,  Michael  Servetus,  to  be  bound  and  taken 
to  Champel,  and  there  bound  to  a  stake,  to  be  burned  alive,  along  with  thy 
books,  printed  as  well  as  written  by  thy  hand,  until  thy  body  be  reduced  to 
ashes.  So  shall  thy  days  end,  and  thou  be  made  an  example  to  others  who 
would  do  as  thou  hast  done.  And  we  command  you,  our  lieutenant,  to  see 
this  our  sentence  carried  forthwith  into  execution." 

The  staff,  according  to  custom,  was  then  broken  over  the  prisoner, 


104  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  there  was  silence  for  a  moment.  The  terrible  sentence  pro- 
nounced, the  silence  that  followed  was  first  broken  by  Servetus;  not 
to  sue  for  mercy,  for  he  knew  there  was  no  appeal,  but  to  entreat  that 
the  manner  of  carrying  it  out  might  be  commuted  for  one  less  dread- 
ful. "  He  feared,"  he  said,  "  that,  through  excess  of  pain,  he  might 
prove  faithless  to  himself,  and  belie  the  convictions  of  his  life.  If  he 
had  erred,  it  was  in  ignorance  ;  he  was  so  constituted,  mentally  and 
morally,  as  to  desire  the  glory  of  God,  and  had  always  striven  to 
abide  by  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures."  His  appeal  to  the  hu- 
manity of  the  judges,  however,  met  with  no  response.  He  prayed 
God  to  forgive  his  enemies  and  persecutors,  and  then  exclaimed  :  "  O 
God,  save  my  soul !  O  Jesus,  Son  of  the  Eternal  God,  have  compas- 
sion upon  me ! "  From  the  H6tel-de-Ville  he  was  taken  to  Champel. 
While  on  the  way  thither,  Farel,  the  minister  who  accompanied  him, 
tried  to  wring  from  him  an  avowal  of  his  error,  and  the  prayer,  "Jesus, 
thou  Eternal  Son  of  God  !  "  The  unhappy  Servetus,  with  a  martyr's 
faith,  only  replied  in  broken  invocation,  "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  the 
Eternal  God,  have  compassion  upon  me  !  " 

"  When  he  came  in  sight  of  the  fatal  pile,  the  -wretched  Servetus  prostrated 
himself  on  the  ground,  and  for  a  while  was  absorbed  in  prayer.  Rising  and 
advancing  a  few  steps,  he  found  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  by 
whom  he  was  made  to  sit  on  a  block,  his  feet  just  reaching  the  ground.  His 
body  was  then  bound  to  the  stake  behind  him  by  several  turns  of  an  iron  chain, 
while  his  neck  was  secured  in  like  manner  by  the  coils  of  a  hempen  rope.  Ilis 
two  books — the  one  in  manuscript  sent  to  Calvin  in  confidence  six  or  eigbt 
years  before  for  his  strictures,  and  a  copy  of  the  one  lately  printed  at  Vienne — 
were  then  fastened  to  his  waist,  and  his  head  was  encircled  in  mockery  with  a 
chaplet  of  straw  and  green  twigs  bestrewed  with  brimstone.  The  deadly  torch 
was  then  applied  to  the  fagots  and  flashed  in  his  face;  and  the  brimstone 
catching,  and  the  flames  rising,  wrung  from  the  victim  such  a  cry  of  anguish  as 
struck  terror  into  the  surrounding  crowd.  After  this  he  was  bravely  silent ; 
but  the  wood  being  purposely  green,  a  long  half-hour  elapsed  before  he  ceased 
to  show  signs  of  life  and  suffering.  Immediately  before  giving  up  the  ghost, 
with  a  last  expiring  effort,  he  cried  aloud,  'Jesus,  thou  Son  of  the  Eternal  God, 
have  compassion  upon  me ! '  All  was  then  hushed  save  the  crackling  of  the 
green  wood;  and  by-and-by  there  remained  no  more  of  what  had  been  Michael 
Servetus  but  a  charred  and  blackened  trunk,  and  a  handful  of  ashes." 

Thus  perished  a  noble  man  of  whom  his  age  was  not  worthy — the 
victim  of  murderous  religious  bigotry.  But  the  crime  that  had  been 
committed  shocked  the  humanity  of  Geneva,  even  in  that  dark  period, 
and,  before  the  year  was  out,  Calvin  was  driven  to  self-defense,  and 
displayed  the  remorseless  traits  of  his  character  by  libeling  the  man 
whom  he  had  slain.  It  is  said  that,  in  this  persecution  unto  death,  he 
oidy  manifested  the  spirit  of  his  age,  and  must  be  judged  by  that 
standard.  While  this  may  be  true,  it  is  also  happily  true  that  in  the 
lapse  of  centuries  better  standards  have  arisen,  by  which  the  character 
of  Calvin  will  be  given  over  to  execration,  while  that  of  Servetus  will 
be  increasingly  honored  as  that  of  an  heroic  Christian  martyr. 


CORRESP  ONDENCE. 


105 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


"THE   TIDES." 

To  the  Ed~.or  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

SIR :  Returning  a  day  or  two  ago  to  Co- 
lumbus at  the  end  of  our  vacation,  I 
last  night  took  up  the  September  number  of 
The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  Therein 
is  a  letter  from  Evanston,  Illinois,  in  which 
some  of  Prof.  Schneider's  mistakes,  in  his 
article  on  "  The  Tides,"  are  pointed  out. 
Two  or  three  years  ago  Mr.  Schneider  caused 
his  explanation  of  the  tides  to  be  printed  in 
a  little  periodical  used  extensively  by  Ohio 
teachers — I  refer  to  Notes  and  Queries,  Sa- 
lem, Ohio.     The  errors  of  fact  and  philoso- 


in  which  there  is  proof  (?)  that  an  inscribed 
polygon  of  twelve  sides  is  exactly  equal  to 
the  circle  which  contains  the  polygon — i.  e., 
circumscribes  the  polygon.  Had  this  new 
philosophy  been  put  forth  in  the  ordinary 
newspapers  of  the  day,  no  notice  would 
have  been  taken  of  it.  On  page  2*76,  July 
number  of  The  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
we  find  the  following :  "  The  earth  will  then 
feel  a  centrifugal  force  on  her  side  farthest 
from  the  moon,  and  equal  to  the  centripetal 
force  felt  on  her  side  facing  the  moon. 
These  two  equal  forces,  acting  in  opposite 
directions,"    etc.      On    page  2*79:    "This 


Fig.  1. 


phy  were  then  pointed  out  in  that  journal. 
And,  inasmuch  as  Prof.  Carhart  has  abun- 
dantly exposed  Mr.  Schneider's  mistakes,  I 
content  myself  with  showing  a  single  point. 
The  whole  article  on  "  The  tides  "  is  a  bundle 
of  absurdities,  mistakes  of  fact  and  philos- 
ophy, and  errors  of  figures  in  regard  to 
quantity.  Mr.  Schneider,  knowing  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  the  theory  of  the  tides,  as 


o- 


force  [centrifugal]  acts  in  a  line  tangent  to 
the  earth's  orbit."  Then  the  centripetal 
force  must  also  act  parallel  to  the  "tangent 
to  the  earth's  orbit ;  "  and  so,  whether  you 
are  a  mathematician  or  not,  you  can  easily 
see  that  things  are  going  on  at  loose  ends, 
if  they  act  in  this  way.  (See  Fig.  1.)  Did  you 
ever  elsewhere  see,  or  hear  either,  of  such  a 
centripetal  or  such  a  centrifugal  force  ? 


Fig.  2. 


understood  and  explained  for  the  last  two 
hundred  years,  has  concocted  a  mass  of 
nonsense  which  is  set  out  as  the  only  ra- 
tional theory.  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that 
the  New  York  gentleman  who  advised  you 
to  print  the  article  was  playing  a  practical 
joke  on  Mr.  Schneider,  or  else  he  belongs  to 
that  order  of  city  mathematicians  who  rec- 
ommended Benson's    "  Geometry,"  a  work 


Again,  on  pa<re  276  :  "  This  large  amount 
of  centrifugal  force  is  produced  by  axial 
rotation,  by  revolution  round  the  sun,  and 
by  revolution  round  the  centre  of  gravity 
[between  the  earth  and  the  moon]  already 
named." 

Let  us  see:  the  contrifugal  force,  in  con- 
nection with  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis,  is  uniform  all  around  the  equator 


io6 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


— consequently  it  cannot  have  any  part  in 
producing  a  tide  at  one  side  of  the  earth 
merely.     This  must  be  ruled  out. 

Let  us  take  up  the  last  item  of  the  three. 
C(Fig.  2)  is  the  centre  of  gravity  between  the 
moon  and  the  earth,  about  3,000  miles  from 
the  earth's  centre,  and  1,000  from  the  sur- 
face. Now,  the  centrifugal  force  is  always 
proportional  to  the  distance  from  the  centre 
of  motion,  other  things  being  equal  (see 
any  work  on  mechanics).  Then  the  force 
at  D  is  seven  times  as  great  as  the  force  at 
A,  for  it  is  seven  times  as  far  from  C. 
Therefore  the  tide  at  D  will  be  seven  times 
as  high  as  that  at  A.  Do  your  New  York 
tides  play  such  tricks  ? 

It  is  also  easy  to  show  that  the  first 
item  of  the  three  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
tides.  So  in  that  sentence  there  are  three 
bald-faced  absurdities ;  and  in  fact  there 
are  about  as  many  such  as  there  are  sen- 
tences in  the  whole  article.  A  hundred 
pages  of  manuscript  are  not  sufficient  to 
show  them  all  up. 

Take  the  next  two  sentences  following 
the  preceding,  viz.  :  "  The  direction  of  these 
three  forces  is  in  the  same  line.  The  mo- 
tion of  this  part  of  her  surface,  which  is  in 
this  line  of  direction,  is  therefore  the  most 
rapid;  consequently  the  centrifugal  force 
felt  here  is  also  the  greatest." 

Scan  this  closely,  and  you  will  find  what 
the  logicians  call  a  vicious  circle  in  the  rea- 
soning. R.  W.  McFarland, 
Professor  of  Mathematics,  etc.,  Ohio 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  September  12, 1S77. 


THE  PRESENT  STAGNATION  OF  TRADE. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

The  discussion  of  the  present  econom- 
ical problem,  the  depression  of  profits  and 
wages,  which  the  article  of  Prof.  Bonamy 
Price  ("One  per  Cent,")  initiated,  ought  to 
be  continued,  and  facts  and  opinions  ought 
freely  to  be  contributed  toward  a  full  un- 
derstanding of  the  subject. 

Prof.  Price  writes  from  the  money-cen- 
tre, and  reflects  the  state  of  enlightened 
opinion  as  influenced  by  his  surroundings. 
The  money  accumulated  there  represents 
saving-;,  and  he  very  naturally  and  very 
truly  finds  fault  with  our  extravagance. 

Next  comes  Mr.  Bunce,  in  the  July  num- 
ber ("Over-Consumption  or  Over-Produc- 
tion  '?  "),  giving  the  views  as  held  in  a  man- 
ufacturing  centre;  he  admits  over-produe- 
tion  and  advises  restriction. 

This,  the  distributive  (or  trade)  centre, 
New  York,  will  not  submit  to  ;  and  Mr. 
Leland,  in  the  August  number,  exposes  the 
fallacy  of  some  of  Mr.  Bunce's  reasoning. 
Without  wishing  to  imply  that  these  writ- 
ers did  not  intend   to  present  the  question 


in  its  total  aspect,  yet  they  are  viewing  it 
through  the  glass  of  their  surroundings ; 
and,  if  I  now  add  the  opinion  which  is  held 
in  an  agricultural  region,  the  next  writer 
will  include  this  and  make  his  exposition 
more  comprehensive. 

We  in  the  agricultural  districts  deny 
that  there  is  over-production  in  our  line,  or 
stagnation  of  trade  in  our  articles.  The  facts 
are,  that  with  three  very  good  harvests  and 
several  average  ones  previously,  we  have  not 
produced  more  than  has  been  consumed. 
At  the  end  of  June,  when  the  present 
abundant  wheat-harvest  was  begun,  there 
was  not  old  wheat  sufficient  for  a  month's 
home  supply  in  the  Western  granary.  The 
new  wheat  was  hurried  from  the  threshing- 
machine  to  the  mill  and  ground  immedi- 
ately, to  fill  the  regular  orders  for  the  Bos- 
ton, New  York,  and  Philadelphia  markets. 
Evidently,  there  has  been  no  over-produc- 
tion in  wheat  or  in  corn.  We  have  readily 
sold  all  our  beef-cattle,  our  sheep  and  swine, 
our  wool,  fruit,  and  dairy  products.  The 
production  of  all  these  has  met  the  demand, 
and  we  have  realized  fair  prices. 

And,  as  a  natural  consequence,  there 
has  been  no  stagnation  nor  depression  in 
our  trade.  Our  farmers  and  small  town 
and  village  mechanics,  and  our  small  retail 
stores,  have  had  all  the  necessaries  of  life 
in  abundance,  and  not  a  few  of  the  comforts. 
Mortgages  have  been  lifted,  improvements 
have  been  made,  surplus  cash  is  in  all  our 
savings-banks  at  four  per  cent,  or  less  in- 
terest to  the  depositors.  Our  trade  centres, 
doing  the  honest  business  of  first  -  hand 
traffic,  are  prospering. 

All  through  our  country,  farms  and 
fisheries  have  not  produced  more  grain, 
meat,  or  wool,  than  has  been  consumed 
from  one  harvest  to  another.  But  we  have 
produced  more  cotton  than  can  be  worn 
out  from  one  year  to  another.  Our  mines 
have  yielded  more  iron,  in  many  places 
more  coal,  than  is  wanted ;  much  less  iron 
is  now  required  for  trades-tools,  machinery, 
and  railroading,  than  at  that  not  far-distant 
period  when  a  great  deal  was  consumed  in 
building  new  roads  and  erecting  new  ma- 
chinery where  there  had  been  none  before. 
Mines  are  bringing  up  more  silver  than  can 
be  usefully  employed ;  hence  it  is  being 
hoarded,  and  its  price  must  sink. 

The  cotton  and  the  iron  are  forced  up- 
on the  converting  trades,  in  which  so  many 
mill-hands  and  factory-operatives  are  em- 
ployed. The  raw  material  in  excess  be- 
comes cheaper.  The  converted  products, 
the  articles  manufactured  for  consumption, 
are  in  excess,  and,  forcing  themselves  upon 
the  market,  reduce  prices,  as  well  their  own 
as  the  price  of  the  labor  that  produced 
and  distributed  them.  And,  as  a  last  con- 
sequence, these  products  are  glutting  the 
shelves  of  the  merchants'  warerooms,  di- 
minishing the  profits  of  the   carrier   and 


CORRESP  ONDENCE. 


ic7 


merchant  to  a  trifle,  and  ending  in  bank- 
ruptcy and  strikes. 

If  all  our  cotton-mills  and  their  depend- 
encies, all  our  iron  industries,  and  some 
others,  were  to  suspend,  we  should  not  ex- 
haust the  supply  on  hand  of  their  fabrics 
for  quite  a  number  of  years. 

To  sum  up — 

1.  There  is  do  over-production  of  grain 
and  meat. 

2.  There  is  a  great  surplus  of  textile, 
iron,  and  similar  fabrics. 

Hence,  there  is  a  one-sided  over-produc- 
tion, a  one-sided  depression  of  prices  for 
labor  and  for  fabrics ;  and,  on  the  other 
side,  a  normal  prosperity  and  attending  ac- 
cumulation of  savings. 

The  problem  for  relief  at  once  presents 
itself  in  the  question  whether  a  change  of 
occupation  of  a  considerable  number  of  fac- 
tory-operatives, mechanics,  and  forward- 
ers, from  the  trades  to  agriculture,  would 
afford  the  remedy  and  reestablish  the  equi- 
librium. 

The  farmer,  even  at  the  most  Western 
frontier,  has  always  a  sufficiency  of  food 
raised  by  himself,  and  generally  a  surplus, 
adequate  for  furnishing  his  family  some 
comforts,  and  always  independence. 

If  a  large  majority  of  the  weavers  and 
machine-workers  of  to-day  were  to  become 
agriculturists,  they  would  become  consum- 
ers instead  of  producers  of  the  very  arti- 
cles which  are  now  made  in  excess ;  and, 
while  the  price  of  the  articles  might  not  be 
advanced,  those  that  made  them  would  have 
full  and  steady,  instead  of  interrupted  and 
uncertain,  employment — a  double  gaiu  on 
the  present  disturbed  state. 

No  legislative  or  government  interfer- 
ence is  needed  or  desirable.  The  adjust- 
ment of  the  disturbed  equilibrium  in  the 
productions  will  work  itself  out  as  soon  as 
the  true  causes  of  the  "  stagnation  in  trade  " 
are  clearly  understood. 

A  case  in  point  will  illustrate.  In  a  small 
county  town,  the  trade-centre  of  a  good 
farming  district,  the  retail  stores  had  done 
a  very  profitable  business  up  to  about  1874. 
As  a  natural  consequence,  many  persons 
with  a  small  capital  had  engaged  in  this 
line ;  finally  their  sales  diminished,  profits 
declined,  because  their  number  had  in- 
creased beyond  the  former  ratio  between 
stores  and  customers.  A  few  of  them 
looked  about  for  other  occupations.  One 
engaged  in  tanning,  which  was  a  good  field  ; 
another  started  a  custom  grist-mill,  for 
which  there  was  a  demand  ;  another  opened 
a  pork-packing  establishment;  another  went 
into  farming  on  a  large  scale.  Here,  the 
overcrowding  with  its  attendant  evils  was 
understood  as  the  cause  of  the  decline  in 
trade ;  the  enterprising  members  of  the 
profession  left  it  for  occupations  that  pay 
better,  and  the  equilibrium  has  been  rees- 
tablished. 


All  efforts  at  relief  from  the  dull  times 
must  lie  in  the  same  direction.  A  large 
number  of  our  mill-hands  and  factory-oper- 
atives must  take  to  farming,  must,  raise 
themselves  the  food  for  their  families,  and 
some  to  exchange  for  comforts  which  their 
fields  and  herds  cannot  directly  give. 

The  old  mill-hands  ought  not  to  attempt 
the  change ;  but  the  young  and  middle-aged 
ought,  and  escape  from  their  "  bondage  "  in 
the  East  to  the  free  fields  of  our  wide  West- 
ern country.  F.  A.  Nitcuy. 
Jefferson  Citt,  Missouri. 


THE  GEEAT   EAILEOAD-STEIXE   OF  187T. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

The  loss  from  peculation  in  the  manage- 
ment of  railways  has  probably  been  exag- 
gerated ;  these  important  institutions  have, 
in  the  main,  been  conducted  on  business 
principles,  with  an  eye  to  dividends.  Those 
in  control  have  aimed — with  success,  until 
recently — to  secure  competent  and  willing 
aid,  and  the  esprit  de  corps  so  essential  in 
great  enterprises.  But  managers  aud  men 
are  alike  the  victims  of  a  train  of  circum- 
stances foreseen  only  by  a  few  political 
economists.  The  plain  fact  is,  that  the 
railroad  system  finds  itself  in  the  brunt  of 
a  movement  that  has  been  long  approach- 
ing culmination.  Multitudes  of  our  native 
youth,  seduced  by  the  supposed  attractions 
and  opportunities  of  the  city,  and  swarms 
of  the  poorer  immigrants,  have  precipitated 
the  catastrophe,  by  swelling  the  already 
overcrowded  centres  of  population — have 
added  to  the  number  to  be  fed,  by  decimat- 
ing the  army  of  producers — have  lowered 
the  price  of  labor,  by  increasing  the  num- 
ber of  applicants.  Reduction  of  extrava- 
gant salaries  and  other  "leaks"  is  to  be 
commended,  but  will  not,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
effect  any  material  increase  of  wages  for  a 
Ions  time  to  come,  and  that  from  no  indis- 
position on  the  part  of  managers,  but  from 
ccmses  beyond  their  control. 

Populations  have  been  passing  through 
the  throes  of  greater  social  transitions  than 
were  ever  before  crowded  into  a  century, 
and  a  vast  amount  of  inconvenience  was  and 
is  inevitable.  The  immense  industries  cre- 
ated by  labor-saving  machinery  have,  in 
not  a  few  instances,  outrun  the  present  de- 
mand, and  hence — too  often — an  advancing 
throng  of  aspirants  has  found  itself  con- 
fronted with  another  throng  in  disorderly  re- 
treat :  the  result  is  a  fierce  struggle  for  ex- 
istence, in  which  reason  exercises  but  a 
feeble  sway. 

Nature  and  Providence  are  inexorable, 
and  take  no  thought  for  the  individual  in- 
truder in  their  track.  These  forces  are  now 
apparently  engaged  in  starving  the  surplus 
humanity  back  into  the  cornfields. 


io8 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


But  he  is  a  sorry  physician  who  is  con- 
tent with  a  diagnosis  of  the  disease,  and 
prescribes  no  preventive,  or  even  remedy ; 
and  as  in  the  corporeal  body,  so  in  the  body 
corporate — the  best  remedy  is  that  which 
operates  through  natural  forces :  let  us  see  if 
such  cannot  be  made  available.  Cannot  this 
drift  cityward  be  checked,  or  even  turned 
backward,  by  rendering  farm-life  more  at- 
tractive to  young  men  ?     For  example  : 

Instead  of  isolated  homesteads,  often 
miles  asunder,  why  not  dedicate  a  central 
space  for  a  good,  old-fashioned  Saxon 
"common,"  which  might  hold  the  school, 
the  church,  the  park,  and  other  amenities 
of  civilization,  and  be  surrounded  by  the 
dwellings   of   the   settlement?     And   why 


cannot  parents,  instead  of  placing  their 
sons  in  dusty  city  offices,  or  behind  ignoble 
counters,  enable  these  young  men — with 
the  aid  of  competent  experts,  where  neces- 
sary— to  establish  such  settlements  ?  Might 
not  education  in  such  a  community,  by  em- 
bracing the  study  of  natural  objects,  applied 
science,  and  the  practice  of  handicrafts, 
convert  material  that  now  evolves  into 
boors,  "  hoodlums,"  or  "  counter-hoppers," 
into  interested  (because  intelligent)  and  oc- 
cupied producers,  for  whom  rural  life  and 
scenes  would  possess  attractions  superior  to 
the  vulgar  dissipations  of  the  faubourg  and 
the  feverish  competitions  of  trade? 

G.  H.  Kxight. 
Cincinnati,  August  10,  1STT. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


NARROWNESS  AMONG  MEN  OF  SCIENCE. 

r~T  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  .that 
-*-  all  the  influences  exerted  on  the 
mind  by  scientific  study  are  necessa- 
rily of  a  widening  or  liberalizing  char- 
acter. There  is  an  immense  amount 
of  legitimate  scientific  work  that  does 
not  tend  to  produce  any  such  effect, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  has  a  narrowing 
and  cramping  influence  upon  the  intel- 
lect. The  intense  and  prolonged  con- 
centration of  thought  upon  special  in- 
quiries, when  it  becomes  a  habit,  ex- 
cludes that  breadth  of  view  which  can 
only  be  attained  by  contemplating  sub- 
jects in  their  wide  relations.  Absorp- 
tion in  detail  is  inevitably  unfavorable 
to  the  grasp  of  principles,  so  that  the 
mere  specialist  is  never  a  philosopher. 
Of  course,  all  strong  scientific  men 
must  be  more  or  less  specialists,  must 
limit  themselves  to  restricted  portions 
of  the  scientific  field ;  but  in  such  minds 
the  narrowing  influences  of  particular 
studies  are  counteracted  by  keeping  up 
an  interest  in  various  subjects,  and  the 
comprehensive  results  of  research. 
There  are  many  scientific  workers, 
however,  who  fail  to  do  this,  who  lose 
themselves  in  their  own  narrow  de- 
partments, and  become,  not  only  in- 
appreciative  of  the  grand  connections 
of  scientific  truth,  but  contemptuous  of 


the  higher  work  of  scientific  generali- 
zation. They  applaud  observation  and 
experiment,  and  the  accumulation  of 
isolated  facts,  and  stigmatize  as  mere 
theorizers  those  who  labor  to  organize 
these  facts  and  observations  into  ra- 
tional systems.  It  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected, nor  is  it  desirable,  that  all  sci- 
entific workers  should  be  philosophical 
thinkers,  but  there  is  great  need  that 
many  of  them  should  cultivate  a  more 
liberal  spirit  in  this  respect,  and  recog- 
nize that  the  systematic  study  of  the 
relations  of  the  sciences  is  as  much  a 
legitimate  specialty  as  the  working 
out  of  their  separate  and  disconnected 
facts. 

There  is  another  respect  in  which  a 
large  class  of  scientific  men  exhibit  a 
narrowness  of  feeling  that  is  far  from 
commendable.  They  cherish  but  little 
sympathy  with  the  work  of  diffusing 
science,  and  take  frequent  occasion  to 
disparage  the  motives  and  character  of 
those  of  their  brethren  who  devote 
themselves  to  this  kind  of  labor.  We 
are  glad  to  notice  that  the  Saturday 
Review  administers  a  just  rebuke  to 
these  illiberal  and  censorious  gentle- 
men. Commenting  upon  President 
Thomson's  address  before  the  British 
Association,  that  journal  remarks: 

"  It  is  a  thankless  office  to  have  to  re- 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


109 


cord,  as  we  are  now  compelled  to  do,  that 
this  time  the  impression  was  not  a  very 
favorable  one.  In  one  word,  the  president's 
discourse  was  much  too  technical  for  the 
occasion  and  the  audience.  It  would  be  un- 
generous to  cast  any  personal  responsibility 
for  this  result  on  the  eminent  specialist  who 
was  chosen  for  the  office.  The  gift  of  inter- 
preting the  results  of  highly-special  re- 
searches for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not 
prepared  beforehand  by  special  knowledge 
is  by  no  means  a  common  one — in  fact,  it  is 
itself  a  specialty  which  very  few  have  mas- 
tered ;  for  which  reason  people  who  are 
anxious  to  parade  themselves  as  amateurs 
in  science  are  much  in  the  habit  of  cheapen- 
ing it.  The  notion  that  Prof.  Huxley  and 
Prof.  Tyndall  are  mere  popularizers — be- 
cause, forsooth,  they  can  expound  as  well  as 
discover — has  almost  attained  the  rank  of  a 
vulgar  error.  Some  remarks  to  that  effect 
were  heard  at  this  very  meeting  in  the 
Guildhall  of  Plymouth.  Those  who  imag- 
ine that  such  remarks  give  them  a  scientif- 
ic air  may  be  assured  that  there  is  no  more 
certain  stamp  of  a  narrow  and  superficial 
habit  of  mind.  However,  we  cannot  all  go 
to  Corinth ;  a  specialist,  however  eminent, 
has  not  necessarily  the  gift  of  large  and  lu- 
cid exposition,  and  if  he  has  not,  the  temp- 
tation to  take  refuge  in  the  technical  details 
of  his  own  province  is  almost  irresistible." 

The  pettiness  and  jealousy  here  rep- 
robated is  by  no  means  confined  to 
England  ;  it  has  become  a  sort  of  cant 
among  many  reputable  scientific  men 
in  the  United  States.  The  contemptu- 
ous remarks  often  made  of  the  efforts 
of  such  men  as  Huxley  and  Tyndall  to 
make  science  acceptable  to  the  public 
are  not  always  inspired  by  envy  ;  they 
betray  a  very  low  estimate,  often  tinged 
with  scorn,  of  all  efforts  to  reduce  sci- 
ence to  a  form  acceptable  to  common 
people.  We  have  had  occasion  repeat- 
edly to  call  attention  to  the  paradox 
that,  in  this  country,  eminent  for  its 
popular  institutions  and  its  popular 
education,  scientific  men  are  in  less 
hearty  sympathy  with  the  work  of 
popularizing  scientific  education  than 
they  are  in  England.  The  American 
Scientific  Association  has  persistently 
declined  to  take  any  interest  in  the 
question,  while  the  British  Association, 


upon  which  it  was  modeled,  has  done 
much  to  encourage  and  promote  this 
kind  of  effort.  Although  our  teachers 
and  boards  of  education  have  often  and 
urgently  called  for  assistance  in  organ- 
izing courses  of  study  in  which  science 
should  receive  increasing  attention,  and 
be  more  methodically  and  efficiently 
cultivated,  we  are  not  aware  that  any 
authoritative  body  of  American  scien- 
tists has  ever  troubled  itself  to  offer  ad- 
vice or  respond  to  such  appeals. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  certain  validity 
in  the  reply  that  scientific  bodies  are 
organized  for  other  purposes,  and  that, 
as  Agassiz  used  to  put  it,  "it  is  their 
office  to  create  science,  and  not  to  dis- 
tribute it — the  latter  function  being  the 
office  of  our  educational  system."  But 
if  our  system  fail  of  its  duty  in  this  par- 
ticular, it  is  certainly  incumbent  on 
those  influential  bodies,  who  have  the 
interests  of  science  in  charge,  to  exert 
such  an  influence  upon  the  schools  as 
shall  tend  to  secure  the  object,  and,  fail- 
ing to  do  this,  they  are  chargeable  with 
a  culpable  indifference  toward  the  work 
of  making  science  common  and  popular. 
The  plea  that  scientific  men  are  absorbed 
in  investigations,  and  have  little  time 
to  give  to  these  outside  considerations, 
is  quite  sufficient  to  excuse  a  simple 
non-participation  in  such  work ;  but 
there  is  abundant  reason  to  think  that 
the  plea  is  often  an  uncandid  pretext, 
and  that  the  disinclination  to  act  is  due 
to  narrow  and  petty  prejudices  upon 
the  subject. 

The  indifference  of  many  scientific 
men  to  the  work  of  popularizing  science, 
and  their  ill-concealed  disdain  of  those 
who  succeed  in  it,  are  no  doubt  largely 
due  to  their  incapacity  to  share  in  it. 
We  have,  unfortunately,  but  few  scien- 
tific men  with  sufficient  literary  train- 
ing to  write  with  elegance  or  lecture 
with  eloquence  upon  topics  which  they 
may  nevertheless  thoroughly  under- 
stand, and  the  number  of  scientific  pro- 
fessors who  fail  in  exposition  before 
the  public,  and  even  before  their  col- 


1  io 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


lege  classes,  is  unfortunately  large.  The 
art  of  vivid,  effective  presentation  by 
language  is  so  difficult  that,  unless  a 
man  has  a  genius  in  this  way,  it  requires 
great  labor  to  attain  even  a  moderate 
excellence  in  it,  and  when  attained  there 
is  no  doubt  a  presumption  that  it  is  at 
the  expense  of  more  solid  things.  Yet 
there  is  no  reason  why  men  of  real  sci- 
ence should  not  be  able  to  arrive  at 
much  greater  proficiency  as  literary  ar- 
tists than  is  customary  with  them,  if 
they  would  cultivate  more  liberal  views 
of  the  importance  of  popular  work.  At 
all  events,  if  our  scientific  men  will  not 
be  at  the  pains  to  train  themselves  in 
the  art  of  attractive  popular  exposition, 
and  will  be  content  to  write  and  speak 
in  the  bald,  technical,  involved,  and  re- 
pulsive style  which  is  so  common  with 
many,  let  them  not  reproach  others 
for  setting  a  higher  value  upon  the  ac- 
complishments of  the  successful  public 
teacher. 


"We  have  spoken  in  the  foregoing 
article  of  the  propensity  of  certain  sci- 
entific men  to  magnify  facts  and  depre- 
ciate theories.  This  is  not  only  an 
evidence  of  narrowness,  but  of  igno- 
rance, for  facts  are  of  no  value  without 
theories.  They  are  good  for  nothing 
until  explained,  or  brought  by  reason 
into  relation  with  other  facts,  so  that 
some  step  is  taken  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  law.  It  is  this  connection 
of  science  with  methods  of  thought, 
and  its  value  as  a  means  of  arriving  at 
the  best  methods,  that  give  it  its  claim 
upon  the  attention  of  all  intelligent 
men.  The  demand  for  its  popular  rec- 
ognition, and  its  prominent  place  in 
education,  rests  far  less  upon  its  service 
in  the  grosser  utilities  of  life  than  on  its 
influence  upon  the  higher  intellectual 
operations.  Science  being  tested  and 
verified,  clearly  reasoned  and  demon- 
strated truth  just  to  the  degree  in  which 
it  is  matured,  it  must  stand  in  the  most 
intimate    relations  with    those    logical 


processes  which  have  for  their  object 
the  establishment  of  truth.  Logic,  of 
course,  grew  up  into  a  system  before 
the  sciences  were  developed ;  but  it 
was  a  partial  and  imperfect  logic.  Fol- 
lowing the  modern  developments  of  sci- 
ence, growing  out  of  them,  and  seri- 
ously influenced  by  all  their  great  steps 
of  advance,  we  have  a  body  of  logical 
and  philosophical  disquisitions  that  are 
presented  by  such  men  as  Herschel, 
Whewell,  Mill,  and  Jevons,  who  deal 
with  the  mental  operations  involved  in 
the  investigation  of  truth,  in  the  full 
light  of  modern  scientific  experience. 
Yet  this  interesting  field  of  thought 
must  be  regarded  as  only  fairly  opened, 
and  the  works  of  the  eminent  gentle- 
men referred  to,  though  permanently 
valuable,  are  no  doubt  much  in  the  na- 
ture of  preliminary  inquiries,  to  be  yet 
carried  out  more  thoroughly,  and  re- 
duced to  greater  unity  and  harmony. 
Impressed  with  the  importance  of  this 
great  phase  of  the  intellectual  work  of 
the  age,  which  it  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing objects  of  TnE  Popular  Science 
Monthly  to  promote,  it  has  been  our 
good-fortune  to  secure  the  services  of 
an  independent  thinker  and  able  writer, 
who  will  contribute  to  our  pages  a 
series  of  articles  under  the  general  title 
of  "Illustrations  of  the  Logic  of  Sci- 
ence." The  author  has  already  attained 
an  honorable  eminence  in  the  world  of 
science  by  the  promulgation  of  advanced 
views  of  logical  method,  and  he  will 
reduce  these  views  to  a  more  systematic 
and  popular  form  in  the  papers  now  to 
be  published.  ¥e  call  attention  to  the 
first  essay  of  this  series  in  the  present 
number,  which,  though  but  introduc- 
tory, may  be  taken  as  foreshadowing 
the  interest  of  the  discussions  that  are 
to  follow. 


It  will  hardly  be  necessary  to  invite 
the  reader's  attention  to  an  article,  to 
be  also  followed  by  others,  on  "  The 
Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine.'1     That 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


1 11 


revolutionary  machine,  which  is  so  in- 
timately interwoven  with  the  develop- 
ment of  civilization,  is  itself  a  part  of 
that  development,  and  as  much  a  prod- 
uct of  evolution  as  an  oak  a  thousand 
years  old.  The  interesting  story  of  its 
unfolding  from  early  germs,  through 
long  and  laborious  experiments,  to  the 
complete  integration  of  the  mechanism, 
will  be  told  by  Prof.  Thurston  in  suc- 
cessive papers,  which  will  be  freely  and 
elegantly  illustrated.  The  accompany- 
ing "portrait-gallery"  of  the  great  in- 
ventors who  have  contributed  to  this 
grand  mechanical  achievement  will  be 
the  finest  and  fullest  afforded  by  the 
historic  literature  of  the  subject. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 

The  Holy  Roman  Empire.  By  James 
Bryce,  D.  C.  L.,  Regius  Professor  of 
Civil  Law  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 
12mo.  Pp.  4*79.  Few  York  :  Macmil- 
lan  &  Co.     1877.     Price,  $2. 

The  Holy  Roman  Empire  dates  from  the 
year  800  a.  d,  when  a  king  of  the  Franks 
was  crowned  Emperor  of  the  Romans  by 
Leo  III. ;  and  it  is  on  the  inner  nature  of 
this  empire,  as  the  most  signal  instance  of 
the  fusion  of  Roman  and  Teutonic  elements 
in  modern  civilization,  that  the  author 
dwells,  treating  of  the  influence  which  it 
exercised  over  the  minds  of  men,  and  the 
causes  that  gave  it  power ;  speaking  less  of 
events  than  of  principles,  and  describing 
the  empire,  not  as  a  state,  but  as  an  insti- 
tution created  by  and  embodying  a  won- 
derful system  of  ideas.  The  forms  which 
the  empire  took,  in  the  several  stages  of  its 
growth,  are  briefly  sketched.  A  glance  is 
taken  at  the  condition  of  the  Roman  world 
in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  in  order 
to  make  clear  out  of  what  elements  the  im- 
perial system  was  formed. 

Expiring  antiquity  had  bequeathed  to 
the  ages  that  followed  two  great  ideas — a 
world-monarchy  and  a  world-religion.  The 
Roman  dominion,  giving  to  many  nations  a 
common  speech  and  law,  broke  down  the 
differences  of  race  and  nationality — when 
foreigner  and  enemy  were  synonymous 
terms — and  made  citizens  of  them  irrespec- 


tive of  their  religious  beliefs,  which  were 
purely  local  and  national.  For  these,  Chris- 
tianity substituted  the  belief  in  one  God, 
and  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God  en- 
forced the  unity  of  man  ;  and  there  was 
thus  formed  a  community  of  the  faithful — 
a  holy  empire — designed  to  gather  all  men 
into  its  bosom.  Thus  the  Holy  Roman 
Church  and  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  were 
one  and  the  same  thing  in  two  aspects. 
As  divine  and  eternal,  its  head  was  the 
pope,  to  whom  souls  were  intrusted  ;  as  hu- 
man and  temporal,  the  emperor,  commis- 
sioned to  rule  over  men's  bodies  and  acts. 

Chapters  are  devoted  to  the  subjects  "  Im- 
perial Titles  and  Pretensions ;  "  "  Changes 
in  the  Germanic  Constitution  ;  "  "  The  Em- 
pire as  an  International  Power ;  "  "  The 
City  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  "  "  Effects 
of  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  on  the 
Empire;"  its  last  phases  and  end  in  1806 
by  the  abdication  of  Francis  II.,  1,006  years 
after  Leo  the  pope  had  crowned  the  Frank- 
ish  king.  A  supplementary  chapter  is 
added  on  "  The  New  Germanic  Empire,"  and 
an  appendix  of  notes  on  "  Imperial  Titles 
and  Ceremonies."  To  the  whole  is  prefixed 
a  "  Chronological  Table  of  Emperors  and 
Popes,"  and  "  Dates  of  Important  Events 
in  the  History  of  the  Empire." 

The  treatment  and  style  of  the  work  are 
judicial  and  scholarly,  and  the  book  will 
doubtless  be  a  standard  one  on  the  subjects 
of  which  it  speaks.  It  has  been  remarkably 
well  received  on  all  sides,  having  already 
passed  through  seven  editions. 

The  Physiology  of  Mixd.  Being  the  First 
Part  of  a  Third  Edition,  revised,  en- 
larged,  and  in  great  part  rewritten,  of 
"  The  Physiology  and  Pathology  of 
Mind."  By  Henry  Maudsley,  M.  D. 
Pp.  547.  New  York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
1877.     Price,  $2. 

Ten  years  ago,  Dr.  Maudsley  issued  a 
large,  well-elaborated  volume  under  the 
title  of  "The  Physiology  and  Pathology  of 
Mind."  It  was  well  received,  and  a  second 
edition  was  called  for,  which  has  been  now 
for  some  time  out  of  print.  After  several 
years'  further  study  of  the  subject,  and 
availing  himself  of  the  great  activity  of 
investigation  in  this  branch  during  the  last 
decade,  Dr.  Maudsley  has  revised  his  work, 
and  so  extended  it  that  it  became  desirable 


112 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


to  make  it  into  two  volumes  instead  of  one. 
That  which  was  the  first  part  now  appears 
as  a  separate  volume,  confined  to  the  physi- 
ology of  mind ;  and  will  be  followed  by  its 
sequel,  or  companion-work,  as  a  separate 
treatise  on  mental  pathology.  It  is  an  ex- 
cellent thing  on  every  account  to  divide  the 
original  work  in  this  way,  for,  although  the 
subjects  are  most  intimately  connected,  they 
can  be  just  as  well  studied  together  now  as 
before,  while  there  will  unquestionably  be 
many  who  will  care  chiefly  for  but  one  of 
the  volumes.  That  now  issued  has  an  inter- 
est for  all  students  of  the  philosophy  of 
mind,  while  the  one  following  will  more 
directly  concern  the  medical  profession. 
"  The  Physiology  of  Mind  "  by  Dr.  Mauds- 
ley  is  a  very  engaging  volume  to  read,  as  it 
is  a  fresh  and  vigorous  statement  of  the 
doctrines  of  a  growing  scientific  school  on 
a  subject  of  transcendent  moment,  and,  be- 
sides many  new  facts  and  important  views 
brought  out  in  the  text,  is  enriched  by  in- 
structive notes  and  quotations  from  author- 
itative writers  upon  physiology  and  psy- 
chology, and  by  illustrative  cases  which 
add  materially  to  the  interest  of  the  book. 
We  have  room  for  but  one  of  these,  show- 
ing the  manner  in  which  the  loss  of  one 
sense  is  followed  by  an  extension  or  in- 
crease of  function  of  those  which  remain : 

"Many  years  ago  application  was  made  to 
Dr.  Howe,  of  the  Massachusetts  Asylum  for  the 
Blind,  by  a  locksmith  for  the  '  loan '  of  a  blind 
boy,  as  he  said,  who  had  quick  ears  and  a  silent 
mouth.  On  giving  satisfactory  answers  he  got 
his  loan.  He  wanted  a  boy  to  help  him  open  a 
new  and  complicated  lock.  An  inventor  exhib- 
ited a  locked  safe  and  the  key,  saying  that  there 
was  money  within,  which  should  be  given  to 
whoever  could  open  the  lock  without  deranging 
it.  The  peculiarity  of  the  lock  was,  that  it  had 
ten  bolts,  which,  from  all  that  could  be  ascer- 
tained,seemed  exactly  alike, but  in  reality  one  of 
them  was  an  inch  longer  than  the  others,  so  that, 
when  all  were  thrown  forward,  that  one  alone 
held  the  door  closed.  The  key  would  lift  any 
of  the  ten  holts;  hut  in  order  to  open  the  safe 
it  must  be  applied  to  the  long  bolt,  and  to  that 
only,  and  that  one  must  he  lifted  and  turned 
back  in  order  to  open  the  lock;  hut  if  any  other 
of  the  ten  were  lifted  and  turned  back  ever  so 
little,  it  deranged  the  combination,  and  the  lock 
could  only  be  opened  by  a  peculiar  instrument. 
The  object,  then,  was  to  ascertain  which  of  the 
ten  was  thrown  forward  without  turning  back 
any  other  one. 

"  The  mechanic  lifted  each  bolt  carefully  with 
the  key,  and  lot  it  fall,  but  without  trying  to 
throw  it  back;  and  he  then  tried  to  ascertain 


if  in  falling  it  made  any  peculiar  noise  ;  for  he 
inferred  that,  as  the  only  one  which  held  the 
door  was  an  inch  longer  thau  the  others,  it  must 
fall  with  a  slightly  greater  force  ;  but  the  differ- 
ence was  too  slight  for  his  ear.  He  took  the 
blind  lad,  and  asked  him  to  listen  carefully  to 
the  sound  which  each  bolt  made  as  he  lifted  and 
let  it  fall.  Alter  listening  to  each  intently,  the 
lad  said  the  sixth  one  struck  a  little  the  loudest. 
The  mechanic  lifted  and  let  each  one  fall  care- 
fully several  times,  and  each  time  the  boy  in- 
sisted that  the  sixth  bolt  sounded  the  loudest. 
Upon  this  the  mechanic  lilted  and  turned  back 
the  sixth,  and  the  lock  was  opened  without  the 
combination  being  deranged." 

No  library  of  mental  philosophy  will  be 
complete  without  this  book,  and  no  liberal 
student  of  the  subject  can  refrain  from  giv- 
ing it  his  serious  and  critical  attention. 

A  Practical  Treatise  on  Lightning-Pro- 
tection. By  Henry  W.  Spang.  12mo. 
Pp.  180.  With  Illustrations.  Philadel- 
phia :  Claxton,  Remsen  &  Haffelfinger. 
1811.     Price,  $1.50. 

The  above  book  contains  the  result  of 
the  author's  observation  and  study  on  the 
subject  of  lightning-protection  during  an 
eighteen  years'  experience  in  the  telegraph- 
business.  After  an  introductory  course  of 
experiment  with  artificial  lightning,  and  an 
explanation  of  the  principal  known  facts 
relating  to  the  electricity  of  the  earth  and 
atmosphere,  the  author  proceeds  to  show 
that  few  of  the  lightning-rods  or  conduct- 
ors now  erected  can  be  relied  upon  for 
an  easy  passage  of  heavy  lightning-dis- 
charges, and  goes  on  to  prove  that  the  metal 
roof  and  rain-pipes  of  a  building  can  be 
made  a  better  protection  at  a  reduced  ex- 
pense. Explicit  directions  then  follow  for 
the  protection  of  buildings  of  every  descrip- 
tion, ships,  oil-tanks,  steam-boilers,  bridges, 
telegraph-poles,  etc. 

Notes  upon  the  Lithology  of  the  Adiron- 
dack. By  Albert  R.  Leeds.  Pp.  35. 
From  the  American  Chemist. 

Prof.  Leeds  does  not  assume  to  present 
a  complete  lithology  of  the  Adirondack  re 
gion,  but  limits  himself  to  giving  an  outline 
of  the  work  already  done  in  that  field  :  a 
description  of  the  rocks  so  far  collected  by 
himself;  analyses  of  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant typical  rocks  and  minerals  ;  results 
of  microscopic  study  of  rock-sections  ;  and, 
finally,  inferences  drawn  from  these  prem- 
ises. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


113 


Jaiires-Bericht  des  Naturhistorisciien 
Vereins  yon  Wisconsin.  18*76— '77. 
Milwaukee  :  C.  Dorfliuger,  printer. 

Tins  Annual  Report  of  the  Natural  His- 
tory Association  of  Wisconsin  shows  a  grati- 
fying increase  in  the  number  of  members, 
and  in  the  specimens  contained  in  the  va- 
rious cabinets  of  natural  history.  The  as- 
sociation embraces  a  section  for  zoology, 
one  each  for  botany,  mineralogy,  geology, 
and  ethnology,  and  the  cabinets  of  each  of 
these  sections  received  during  the  year  a 
large  number  of  additional  specimens.  The 
list  of  active  members  embraces  over  200 
names. 

Relative  Ages  of  the  Sun  and  Certain  of 
the  Fixed  Stars.  By  Prof.  D.  Kirk- 
wood.     Pp.  4. 

From  the  facts  considered  in  this  essay 
by  Prof.  Kirkwood,  it  appears  to  follow  that 
—  1.  The  solar  system  has  not  existed  over 
twenty  or  thirty  million  years ;  2.  That  our 
solar  system  is  more  advanced  in  its  physi- 
cal history  than  the  larger  component  of  the 
double  star  Alpha  Centauri;  3.  That  61 
Cygni  has  reached  a  greater  degree  of  con- 
densation than  the  sun ;  and,  4.  The  com- 
panion of  Sirius  has  reached  a  greater  state 
of  maturity  than  the  sun,  while  the  contrary 
seems  to  be  true  in  regard  to  the  principal 
star. 

The  Locust- Plague  in  the  United  States. 
By  C.  V.  Riley,  M.  A.,  Ph.  D.  Pp.  236. 
With  numerous  Illustrations  and  Col- 
ored Maps.  Chicago :  Rand,  McNally 
&  Co.     Price,  $1.25. 

We  have  here  the  fruit  of  the  author's 
long-continued  studies  of  the  haunts  and 
habits  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust,  as 
published  from  time  to  time  in  the  "  Ento- 
mological Reports  of  Missouri "  and  in  sun- 
dry periodicals.  The  subject  of  the  book  is 
one  that  possesses  a  lively  interest  for  farm- 
ers over  a  wide  area  of  our  Western  States 
and  Territories.  Prof.  Riley's  object  in  pub- 
lishing in  a  separate  volume  all  the  infor- 
mation he  has  been  able  to  acquire  with 
regard  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust  is  a 
practical  one  —  namely,  to  acquaint  the 
farmer  with  the  means  of  counteracting 
this  plague — hence  he,  as  far  as  possible, 
avoids  technicalities,  and  writes  in  a  style 
easily  intelligible  to  the  popular  mind. 
vol.  xii. — 8 


Compendium  of  Facts  and  Events.  Com- 
piled by  E.  Emery.  Pp.  490.  Peoria, 
111. :  Transcript  print.     Price,  $3. 

This  very  convenient  volume  represents 
an  enormous  expenditure  of  labor  in  collect- 
ing statistical  information  in  regard  to  "  al- 
most everything  of  interest  to  man."  The 
matter  is  gathered  in  every  instance  from 
the  most  authentic  sources,  and  is  presented 
to  the  reader  in  the  smallest  possible  com- 
pass. The  work  is  one  of  permanent  value. 
It  is  full  of  useful  information  for  men  in 
every  walk  of  life,  as  the  farmer,  the  me- 
chanic, the  merchant,  the  publicist,  the 
schoolmaster,  the  man  of  letters,  etc. 

Peters's  General  History  of  Connecticut. 
Edited  by  Samuel  Jarvis  McCormick. 
Pp.  285.  New  York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Price,  $1.50. 

It  was  in  this  volume  that  publication 
was  first  made  to  the  outside  world  of  the 
so-called  "  Blue-Laws  "  of  Connecticut.  Of 
these  laws  the  author  says  that  they  were 
"never  suffered  to  be  printed."  He  does 
not  profess  to  do  more  than  to  give  "  a 
sketch  "  of  some  of  them,  so  as  to  exhibit 
the  spirit  which  pervades  the  whole.  What 
that  spirit  was  can  be  seen  from  a  few  of 
the  prohibitions  of  the  code,  for  instance  : 
"  No  one  shall  run  on  the  Sabbath-day,  or 
walk  in  his  garden  or  elsewhere,  except  rev- 
erently to  and  from  meeting.  No  woman 
shall  kiss  her  child  on  the  Sabbath  or  fast- 
ing-day. No  one  shall  read  common-prayer, 
keep  Christmas  or  Saints-days,  make  minced- 
pies,  dance,  play  cards,  or  play  on  any  in- 
strument of  music,  except  the  drum,  trum- 
pet, and  Jew's-harp.  No  food  or  lodging 
shall  be  afforded  to  a  Quaker,  Adamite,  or 
other  heretic."  The  authenticity  of  these 
laws  has  been  called  in  question,  and  re- 
cently Mr.  J.  H.  Trumbull  published  a  work 
designed  to  show  that  the  "False  Blue- 
Laws  "  were  invented  by  Dr.  Peters.  The 
object  of  the  editor  in  republishing  the  work 
is  to  make  the  public  acquainted  with  the 
side  of  the  question  opposed  to  that  of  Mr. 
Trumbull,  and  to  confirm,  as  far  as  possible, 
by  contemporary  testimony,  the  truthfulness 
of  Dr.  Peters's  summary  of  the  Puritanic 
legislation  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven. 
But,  quite  apart  from  this  question,  the 
work  is  one  of  real  value,  and  well  worthy 
the  honor  of  republication. 


ii4 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Weighing  and  Measuring.  By  H.  W. 
Chisholm.  Pp.  192.  London  :  Mac- 
millan.     Price,  $1.50. 

The  author  of  this  little  treatise,  after 
defining  weight  and  measure,  devotes  a 
chapter  to  "Ancient  Standards  of  Weight 
and  Measure,"  in  which  it  is  shown  that  ac- 
curate standards  were  totally  unknown  to 
the  ancients,  and  in  particular  that  the 
standards  of  ancient  Egypt  were  not  based 
on  the  earth's  dimensions.  The  history  of 
English  standard  units  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures is  then  given  with  considerable  minute- 
ness ;  next  follows  a  chapter  on  the  metric 
system  ;  finally,  there  is  a  chaper  on 
"  Weighing  and  Measuring  Instruments, 
and  their  Scientific  Use." 

The  Bible  of  Humanity.  By  Jules  Mi- 
chelet.  Translated  by  Vincenzo  Calfa. 
New  York  :  J.  W.  Bouton.  Pp.  347. 
Price,  $3. 

This  book  is  not,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  its  title,  a  scripture  which  would  be 
acceptable  to  the  followers  of  Comte,  nor 
would  it  answer  as  a  foundation  on  which 
to  build  any  creed.  It  is  one  of  a  class — 
compilations  of  moral,  religious,  and  ethical 
teachings  from  various  sources,  with  com- 
ments and  extensions  by  the  compiler,  and 
bearing  the  impress  of  his  ideas,  which  in 
the  case  of  M.  Michclet  are  quite  peculiar. 
It  is  rather  more  reverent  and  refined  than 
John  Stewart's  "  Bible  of  Nature,"  but  it  is 
an  equally  great  misuse  of  words  to  call  it 
a  Bible. 

The  literature  and  art  of  India,  Persia, 
and  Greece,  "the  three  hearths  of  light," 
and  of  Egypt,  "the  monument  of  death," 
have  inspired  the  greater  part  of  the  work. 
Of  course,  it  is  erotic ;  the  commentary  on 
the  "  Song  of  Songs,"  though  rather  free, 
presents  that  drama  in  a  wonderfully  bold 
and  vivid  way  ;  and  Chapters  VI.,  VII.,  and 
VIII.,  which  treat  of  woman,  are  marked  by 
the  unhealthy  exaltation  which  appears  in 
all  of  Michelet's  later  works,  seeming,  as 
the  writer  of  the  biographical  sketch  says, 
"to  have  been  written  under  the  influence 
of  an  uninterrupted  honey-moon." 

It  aims  to  be  epigrammatic,  abounds  in 
italics  and  exclamation-points,  and  offers  a 
rich  field  for  phrase-hunters.  It  is  among 
these  and  rather  sentimental  transcenden- 
talists  that  t!i"  book  will  find  its  reader-. 


Lectures  and  Essays.  By  Virgil  W. 
Blanchard,  M.  D.  New  York  :  Blanch- 
ard  Food-Cure  Company.  Pp.  67.  Price, 
10  cents. 

These  so-called  essays  are  papers  osten- 
sibly on  physiological  subjects,  but  are 
really  written  to  puff  a  lot  of  preparations 
sold  by  the  author,  who  styles  himself  the 
"originator  of  the  food-cure  system."  They 
are  written  in  the  style  which  characterizes 
that  class  of  literature — various  diseases  are 
described,  embellished  with  sensational  hor- 
rors, which  may  be  avoided  and  cured  by 
the  use  of  the  food-remedies.  While  Pavy, 
Frankland,  and  other  able  investigators,  are 
becoming  more  and  more  wary  in  their 
statements  as  to  the  way  in  which  food  is 
assimilated,  and  are  beginning  to  question 
positions  that  have  heretofore  been  gen- 
erally accepted,  Dr.  Blanchard  dogmati- 
cally asserts  his  ability  to  furnish  specific 
material  which  shall  go  directly  to  the  de- 
fective spot  in  the  system,  and  set  about 
the  work  of  repairing  the  wasted  tissues 
and  disorganized  nerve  and  brain  cells  with- 
out delay. 

It  is  probably  useless  to  expose  the 
fallacies  of  this  sort  of  trash  ;  so  long  as 
people  are  content  to  remain  in  ignorance 
of  hygienic  rules,  and  ignore  the  laws  of 
waste  and  supply,  the  platitudes  of  these 
venders  will  have  readers,  and  their  nos- 
trums find  sale: 


A  Partial  Synopsis  of  the  Fishes  of  Upper 
Georgia:  with  Supplementary  Papers 
on  Fishes  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Indiana.  By  David  Star  Jordan,  M.  D. 
Salem,  Mass.     Pp.  70. 

In  a  recent  notice  of  Commissioner 
Baird's  Report  on  Food  Fishes,  we  ex- 
pressed a  hope  that  a  systematic  list  of  the 
fishes  of  American  waters,  with  descrip- 
tions, and  an  account  of  habitat,  seasons, 
etc.,  would  some  time  be  made. 

The  papers  included  in  the  pamphlet 
before  us  are  valuable  contributions  to  such 
a  work.  Over  the  area  indicated  in  the 
title  the  fishes  have  been  catalogued  and 
described  with  scientific  accuracy,  the  locali- 
ties, relative  abundance,  and  common  names, 
are  given,  while  the  synonyms  of  their  no- 
menclature receive  due  attention.  No  at- 
tempt is  made  to  give  any  account  of  the 
seasons,   habits,    or   manner   of    breeding, 


P  OP  ULAR  MIS  CELL  ANY. 


115 


which  would  be  of  most  interest  to  the  lay 
reader ;  but  this  would,  perhaps,  be  too 
much  to  expect  of  the  scientific  worker 
attempting  to  cover  so  much  ground. 

The  Metallurgical  Review.  Vol.  I.,  No. 
1,  September.  Published  monthly  by 
David  Williams,  83  Reade  Street,  New 
York.  Price,  $5  per  year.  Single  copy, 
50  cents. 

The  projectors  of  this  periodical  are  of 
the  opinion  that  the  metallurgical  industries 
have  become  sufficiently  important  to  have 
a  current  literature  of  their  own,  and  intend 
that  this  Review  shall  be  a  vehicle  for  dis- 
cussions on  purely  scientific  topics,  which 
are  too  abstruse  for  newspapers,  and  are 
given  to  the  public  but  slowly  through  the 
medium  of  books. 

This  first  number  gives  promise  that 
the  publication  will  have  an  immediate  and 
permanent  value.  It  contains,  among  others, 
essays  on  the  "  Mechanical  Treatment  of 
Metals,"  by  Prof.  R.  H.  Thurston;  "Studies 
of  Elemental  Iron,  and  its  Modifications," 
by  Prof.  Henry  Wurtz  ;  "  New  Iron  Dis- 
trict of  Ohio,"  by  E.  C.  Pechin;  and  a  mis- 
cellany of  short  articles  of  metallurgical  in- 
terest. It  is  finely  printed  in  large,  clear 
type,  on  excellent  paper,  with  ample  mar- 
gins, presenting  a  most  creditable  appear- 
ance. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Publishers'  Trade  List  Annual  (1877).  New 
York:  Publishers'1  Weekly  print.    Price,  $1.50. 

Free-Thin  kins  and  Plain  Speaking.  By  Les- 
lie Stephen.  New  York  :  Putnam's  Sons.  Pp. 
362.    Price,  $2.50. 

Volumetric  Analysis.  By  Dr.  Emil  Fleischer. 
London  and  New  York:  Macinillan  &  Co.  Pp. 
294.    Price,  $2.50. 

Method  of  Least  Squares.  By  M.  Merriman. 
Same  publishers.    Pp.  207.    Price,  $2.50. 

Egypt  as  it  is.  By  J.  C.  McCoan.  New  York: 
Holt'&  Co.    Pp.  226.     With  Map.    Price,  $3.75. 

Engineering  Construction.  By  J.  E.  Shields, 
C.  E.  "New  York:  Van  Nostrand.  Pp.  138. 
Price,  $1.50. 

Guide  to  Ridge  Hill  Farms.  Boston  :  Getch- 
ell  Brothers  print.     Pp.  156. 

The  Complete  Preacher.  Also,  The  Metropol- 
itan Pulpit.  .Monthly.  New  Yerk  :  Religious 
Newspaper  Agency.    $2  per  year. 

Spiritual  Sciences;  Revelation  of  God;  Christ- 
mas and  New- Year's-Day ;  Good  Friday:  Bibli- 
cal Theology  ;  Ascension-Day  and  Whitsuntide. 
All  by  "Kuklos."  London /Published  by  John 
Harris,  Kilburn  Square. 

Fur -bearing    Animals.     Bv  Elliott    Cones 
Washington  :  Government  Printing-Office.    Pp. 
318.    With  Plates. 

Weather  Reports  for  May.  1874.  Washing- 
ton: Government  Printing-office.    Pp.  190. 


The  nidatsa  Indians.  By  W.  Matthews. 
Washington:  Government  Printing-Office.  Pp. 
246. 

Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  Colo- 
rado and  Adjacent  Territory  (1875).  By  F.  V. 
Hayden.  Washington:  Government  Printing- 
Office.    Pp.  834.    Willi  Maps  and  Plates. 

Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology. 
By  W.  H.  Dall  and  George  Gibbs  (Powell's  Sur- 
vey of  the  Territories).  Washington:  Govern- 
ment Printing-Office.    Pp.861.    With  Plates. 

The  Geyser  Basins  of  the  Yellowstone  Park. 
By  I.  B.  Comstock.  From  the  '•  Proceedings  of 
the  American  Association."    Pp.  8. 

Results  of  Ilypertrophied  Tonsils.  By  A.  W. 
Calhoun,  M.  D.  Atlanta:  Dickson  print.  Pp.  12. 

Canadian  Reciprocity.  Pp.  16.  Also,  The 
Hard  Times.  Pp.  12.  Philadelphia :  American 
Iron  and  Steel  Association. 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Public  Health 
Association.  New  York  :  Uurd  &  Houghton. 
Pp.  249.     Price,  $4. 

Positivist  Prayer.  By  J.  Lonchampt.  Go- 
shen, N.  Y. :  Independent  Republican  print. 
Pp.  32. 

Civilization  and  the  Duration  of  Life.  By 
C.  T.  Lewis.  Cambridge  :  The  Riverside  Press. 
Pp.  11. 

Anthropoidea.  Pp.  8.  Sketch  of  Cuvier. 
Pp.  8.  Hunterian  Oration.  Pp.  7.  By  Dr.  A.  J. 
Howe,  of  Cincinnati. 

Bulletin  of  the  Survey  of  the  Territories 
(Hayden's).  Vol.  III.,  No.  4.  Washington: 
Government  Printing-Office.    Pp.  120. 

Bulletin  of  the  United  States  National  Mu- 
seum, Nos.  7,  8,  and  9.  Washington:  Govern- 
ment Printing-Office. 

Report  of  New  York  Meteorological  Obser- 
vatory (1876).  New  York:  Brown  print.  Pp. 
105.    With  Charts. 

Organic  Acids  in  Examination  of  Minerals. 
By  H.  C.  Bolton.  New  York:  Gregory  Bros, 
print.    Pp.  36.    With  Plate. 

Fifteen-Cent  Dinners.  By  Juliet  Corson. 
New  York:  Published  lor  gratuitous  distribu- 
tion.   Pp.39. 

The  Kindergarten  Messenger.  Vol.  I.,  Nos. 
9  and  10.    Price,  $1  per  year. 

Both's  Method  for  treating  Tubercular  Con- 
sumption. New  York:  Cherouuy  &  Kienle 
print.    Pp.  20. 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

"  A  New  Type  of  Steam-Eiigine."— Prof. 

R.  II.  Thurston  read  a  paper  at  the  Nash- 
ville meeting  of  the  American  Association 
on  "A  New  Type  of  Steam-Engine,"  a 
report  of  which  we  find  in  the  American 
Manufacturer.  The  author  first  gave  a 
history  of  the  steam-engine  from  Hero's 
time  ;  then  he  discussed  the  modern  type  of 
steam-engine,  pointing  out  its  shortcomings  ; 
finally  he  proposed  a  new  type,  designed  to 
prevent  loss  of  heat-energy.  There  are,  he 
observed,  only  two  possible  methods  of  util- 
izing the  full  heat-energy:  the  first  is  by 
enormous  expansion,  cooling  the  steam  till 
it  is  all  condensed  into  water  and  till  all 
the  heat  is  even  taken  out  of  that  water, 


u6 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


but  this  ho  shows  to  be  impracticable ; 
the  other  method  is  to  use  part  of  the 
power  of  the  engine  to  pump  back  the  dis- 
charged steam,  containing  as  it  does  some 
water  condensed  from  the  steam,  into  the 
boiler.  This  latter  method  is  theoretically 
practical,  and  the  purely  mechanical  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  its  realization  are  by 
no  means  insuperable. 

As  the  steam  in  the  cylinder  of  an  en- 
gine expands,  doing  work,  part  of  it  con- 
denses. The  difference  between  the  heat- 
energy  of  the  steam  at  the  beginning  of  the 
stroke,  and  that  of  the  steam  and  water  at 
the  end  of  the  stroke,  is  equal  to  the  heat- 
equivalent  of  the  mechanical  work  done  by 
the  steam.  The  change  of  mechanical  con- 
dition which  the  steam  undergoes  during 
the  stroke — namely,  its  conversion  into 
water — renders  it  possible  that  the  mingled 
steam  and  water  remaining  in  the  cylinder 
at  the  end  of  the  stroke  may  be  forced 
back  into  the  boiler  with  a  less  expenditure 
of  mechanical  energy  than  the  steam  gave 
out  during  the  stroke. 

The  Telephone  anticipated. — As  is  the 

case  with  all  great  inventions,  the  tele- 
phone is  now  said  to  be  nothing  new ;  its 
principle  was  known  long  ago,  and  even  ex- 
emplified in  practice.  Many  are  the  claim- 
ants of  priority  in  solving  the  problem  of 
the  transmission  of  articulate  sound  to  great 
distances,  but  we  know  of  none  whose  case  is 

stronger  than  that  of  "  Monsieur  Ch.  B ," 

who  appears  to  have  solved  the  problem  as 
early  as  1857.  In  the  Count  du  Moncefs 
"Expose  des  Applications  de  l'Eleetricite," 
published  twenty  years  ago,  occurs  the  fol- 
lowing passage  (translated  in  Nature) : 

"After  the  marvelous  telegraphs  which  are 
able  to  reproduce  at  a  distance  writing  of  this 
or  that  individual,  and  designs  more  or  less  com- 
plicated, it  seemed  impossible,  said  M.  B , 

to  advance  further  in  the  regions  of  the  mar- 
velous. Nevertheless,  essaying  to  do  something 
more,  I  asked,  for  example,  if  speech  itself 
would  not  be  capable  of  transmission  by  elec- 
tricity ;  in  a  word,  if  one  would  not  be  able  to 
speak  at  Vienna  and  be  heard  at  Paris.  The 
tiling  is  practicable.  This  is  how:  Sounds,  it 
is  known,  are  formed  by  vibrations  and  carried 
to  the  car  by  these  same  vibrations,  which  are 
reproduced  by  the  intermediate  media.  But  the 
intensity  of  these  vibrations  diminishes  very 
rapidly  with  the  distance,  from  which  it  follows, 
even  in  the  employment  of  speaking-trumpets, 
tubes,  and  of  acoustical  horns,  the  limits  which 


cannot  be  surpassed  are  very  restricted.  Im- 
agine that  one  speaks  near  a  mobile  plate,  flexible 
enough  not  to  lose  any  of  the  vibrations  produced 
by  the  voice;  that  this  plate  establishes  and  inter- 
rupts successively  the  communication  with  a  bat- 
tery. Ton  would  be  able  to  have  at  a  distance 
another  plate  which  would  execute  at  the  same 
time  the  same  vibrations.  It  is  true  that  the  in- 
tensity of  the  sounds  produced  would  be  variable 
at  the  point  of  departure,  where  the  plate  is  vi- 
brated by  the  voice,  and  constant  at  the  point  of 
arrival,  where  it  is  vibrated  by  electricity.  But 
it  is  demonstrable  that  this  would  not  alter 
the  sounds.  ...  In  any  case,  it  is  impossible  to 
demonstrate  that  the  electric  transmission  of 
sounds  is  impossible.  ...  An  electric  battery, 
two  vibrating  plates,  and  a  metallic  wire,  will 
suffice." 

The  Slaves  of  Ants.— The  subjugation  of 
other  insects  by  various  species  of  ants  is 
a  familiar  fact  of  natural  history  ;  it  is  less 
usual  to  see  two  or  more  species  thus  sub- 
jugated.     Prof.    Leidy,    in   some   remarks 
made   at   a  meeting  of   the  Academy  of 
Natural  Science  of  Philadelphia,  recounts 
his  observations  on  a  colony  of  yellow  ants 
{Formica  fiava),  which  had  three  different 
insects  in  their  service,  namely,  a  species 
of  Aphis,  a  Coccus,  and  the  larva  of  an  in- 
sect, probably  coleopterous.     The  aphides, 
he  tells  us,  were  kept  in  two  separate  herds, 
and  these  were  separated  from  a  herd  of 
cocci.     The  larva  was  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  the  former  herds.     In  another  and  larger 
colony  of  yellow  ants  there  was  a  herd  of 
aphides  which  occupied  the  under-part  of 
one  margin  of  the  stone  under  which  the 
ants  had  their  nest;    the  surface  occupied 
by  these  aphides  was  about  ten  inches  long: 
and  three-fourths  of  an  inch  broad.      The 
same  colony  also  possessed  a  separate  herd 
of  cocci,  closely  crowded,  and  occupying  al- 
most a  square  inch  of  space.     Both  aphides 
and  cocci,  with  few  exceptions,  adhered  to 
the  under-surface  of  the  stone,  and  were 
not  attached  to  the  roots.     They  appeared 
to  be  carefully  attended  by  the  ants,  which 
surrounded  them.     The  larva,  too,  was  care- 
fully attended  by  the  ants,  which  were  fre- 
quently  observed  to  stroke  it  with   their 
antennae.     The  aphides  and  cocci  were  all 
in  good  condition,  but  without  visible  means 
of  subsistence,  excepting  the  neighboring 
grass-roots    partially    extending    into    the 
earth  beneath  the  stones,  to  which  they 
probably  were  at  times  transferred  by  their 
masters. 


P  OP  ULAR  MIS  CELL  ANY. 


117 


Obituary. — We  have  to  record  the  death 
of  the  astronomer  Leverrier,  which  took 
place  at  Paris  on  September  23d.  Leverrier 
was  born  in  1811.  Early  in  life  he  evinced 
great  aptitude  for  chemical  research,  but 
his  natural  bent  lay  rather  in  the  direction 
of  the  mathematical  sciences.  On  being 
appointed  to  a  position  in  the  Polytechnic 
School,  he  devoted  himself  with  great  ardor 
to  the  study  of  the  great  problems  of  specu- 
lative astronomy,  and  soon  earned  high  dis- 
tinction by  sundry  memoirs.  He  was  elected 
member  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences 
in  1846,  and  during  the  same  year  he  made 
the  great  astronomical  discovery  of  his  life 
— that  of  the  planet  Neptune.  In  1849  he 
entered  political  life  as  a  deputy  in  the 
Legislative  Assembly ;  under  the  Empire  he 
was  a  senator,  and  for  some  time  Inspector- 
General  of  Public  Instruction.  In  1853  he 
was  appointed  Director  of  the  Paris  Obser- 
vatory, and  so  continued  till  1870,  when  he 
resigned.  He  was  reappointed  in  1872,  and 
held  the  position  till  his  death.  That  sad 
event  was  no  doubt  hastened  by  the  effects 
of  mental  overwork  in  his  search  for  an 
intra-Mercurial  planet. 

TriE  death  is  announced  of  J.  P.  Gassiot, 
F.  R.  S.,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age. 
Mr.  Gassiot  was  a  merchant  of  London,  but 
devoted  his  leisure  to  scientific  research. 
In  1838  he  was  an  active  member  of  an 
electrical  society,  and  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life  devoted  himself  specially  to  the 
study  of  electrical  phenomena.  He  was  the 
author  of  several  papers  contributed  to  the 
"Philosophical  Transactions  "  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London.  He  was  a  munificent 
patron  of  science,  and  a  helper  of  scientific 
men. 

British  Association  Papers. — In  his  pres- 
idential address  in  Section  D  of  the  British 
Association,  Dr.  J.  Gwyn  Jeffreys  vehe- 
mently attacked  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
which  he  declared  to  be  simply  a  "  product 
of  imagination.  ...  I  cannot,"  he  said, 
"identify  a  single  species  of  the  Cretaceous 
Mollusca  as  now  living  or  recent.  All  of 
them  are  evidently  tropical  forms.  This 
question  of  identity  depends,  however,  on 
the  capability  of  hereditary  persistence 
which  some  species  possess ;  and  although 


a  certain  degree  of  modification  may  be 
caused  by  an  alteration  of  conditions  in  the 
course  of  incalculable  ages,  our  knowledge 
is  not  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  do  more 
than  vaguely  speculate,  and  surely  not  to 
take  for  granted  the  transmutation  of  species. 
We  have  no  proof  of  anything  of  the  kind. 
Devolution  or  succession  appears  to  be  the 
law  of  Nature ;  evolution  (in  its  modern  in- 
terpretation) may  be  regarded  as  the  prod- 
uct of  human  imagination.  I  am  not  a  be- 
liever in  the  fixity  of  species,  nor  in  their 
periodical  extinction  and  replacement  by 
other  species.  The  notorious  imperfection 
of  the  geological  record  ought  to  warn  us 
against  such  hasty  theorization.  We  can- 
not conceive  the  extent  of  this  imperfection. 
Not  merely  are  our  means  of  geological  in- 
formation restricted  to  those  outer  layers 
of  the  earth  which  are  within  our  sight, 
but  nearly  three-fourths  of  its  surface  is  in- 
accessible to  us,  so  long  as  it  is  covered  by 
the  sea.  Were  this  not  the  case  we  might 
have  some  chance  of  discovering  a  few  of 
the  missing  links  which  would  connect  the 
former  with  the  existing  fauna  and  flora. 
It  is  impossible  even  to  guess  what  strata 
underlie  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  or  where 
the  latter  attained  its  present  position  rela- 
tively to  that  of  the  land.  The  materials  of 
the  sea-bed  have  been  used  over  and  over 
again  in  the  formation  of  the  earth's  crust, 
and  the  future  history  of  our  globe  will  to 
the  end  of  time  repeat  the  past." 

Miss  A.  W.  Buckland,  in  a  paper  on 
"The  Stimulants  of  Ancient  and  Modern 
Savages,"  said  that  the  use  of  stimulants  is 
almost  universal.  Among  the  lowest  races 
the  form  of  stimulant  employed  is  now, 
as  in  ages  past,  some  sort  of  root  or  leaf 
chewed  for  its  strengthening  and  invigorat- 
ing properties,  such  as  the  pitberry,  recent- 
ly discovered  in  use  among  nations  in  Cen- 
tral Australia,  and  the  coca-leaf  among  the 
Indians  of  South  America ;  but  no  sooner 
did  the  nations  advance  to  the  agricultural 
stage  than  they  began  to  make  fermented 
drinks  from  the  roots  of  grains  cultivated 
for  food.  Hence  the  beer  of  Egypt,  which 
probably  found  its  way  with  the  wheat  and 
barley  of  that  land  to  the  Swiss  lake-dwell- 
ings, and  over  a  great  part  of  Europe,  hav- 
ing been  evidently  known  in  Greece   and 


1 18 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Rome  at  a  very  early  period,  while  a  similar 
liquor  still  forms  the  chief  beverage  of  all 
•African  nations,  being  now,  as  formerly  in 
Egypt,  fermented  by  means  of  plants.  In 
China  and  Japan  rice  was  and  is  used  to 
make  wine  or  beer  instead  of  wheat  or  bar- 
ley or  American  maize.  The  sour  milk  or 
koumiss  of  the  pastoral  tribes  of  Central 
Asia,  and  the  mead  of  the  ancient  Scandi- 
navians, both  reappear  among  the  Kaffirs 
of  South  Africa.  Palm-wine  is  used  wher- 
ever palms  flourish,  but  wine  of  the  juice 
of  the  grape,  although  known  in  very  ancient 
times,  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  the 
civilized  races  of  Western  Asia  and  Egypt, 
extending  later  to  Greece  and  Rome.  The 
multitude  of  wines  described  by  Pliny  were, 
however,  in  almost  all  cases  flavored  with 
herbs  or  garden-plants  for  medicinal  pur- 
poses. The  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
the  history  of  fermented  beverages,  as  re- 
corded by  travelers,  are,  that  the  earliest 
stimulants  were  simply  leaves  and  roots 
chosen  by  animal  instinct,  chewed,  and 
found  by  experience  to  produce  exhilara- 
tion and  strength.  The  art  of  distillation, 
though  probably  known  early  in  the  Chris- 
tian era,  is  comparatively  modern,  and  was 
certainly  unknown  to  savage  races  until 
"  fire-water  "  was  introduced,  to  their  serious 
detriment,  by  Europeans. 

In  a  paper  on  the  "  Shifting  of  the  Earth's 
Axis,"  Mr.  A.  W.  Waters  pointed  out  how 
the  unequal  distribution  of  land  and  sea 
might  be  an  agent  for  preventing  the  move- 
ments of  elevation  and  depression  of  the 
land  in  one  part  of  the  globe  balancing 
those  in  another,  and  also  showed  how  simi- 
lar movements  in  various  localities  would 
differently  affect  the  pole.  Any  movement, 
such  as  submarine  elevation,  which  dis- 
places water,  would  spread  it  over  the 
oceanic  area ;  and  the  effect  of  this  would, 
with  the  present  configuration,  be  the  same 
as  if  about  one-twelfth  of  the  weight  had 
been  added  in  the  northern  hemisphere  along 
east  longitude  45°  44',  namely,  in  a  line  pass- 
ing by  the  entrance  of  the  White  Sea,  over 
the  Caucasus,  and  through  the  middle  of 
Madagascar.  As  every  submarine  move- 
ment would  create  a  force  acting  in  this 
direction,  there  seems  reasonable  ground 
for  thinking  that  the  tendency  would  be  for 


the  shifting  of  the  axis  to  take  place  near 
this  line. 

Simultaneous  Contrast  of   Colors. — An 

incident  in  the  life  of  Henry  IV.  of  France 
finds  its  explanation  in  an  experiment  made 
by  Chevreul.  While  yet  Prince  of  Navarre, 
Henry  IV.  was  playing  dice  with  two  cour- 
tiers a  few  days  before  the  massacre  of  »St.- 
Bartholomew's-day.  They  saw,  or  thought 
they  saw,  on  the  dice  spots  of  blood  ;  and 
the  party  broke  up  in  alarm.  The  phenom- 
enon is  explained  by  Chevreul  by  the  law 
of  simultaneous  contrast  of  colors,  and  he 
illustrates  this  by  experiment  as  follows : 
Seat  yourself  in  a  room  so  as  to  receive  on 
the  right  side  the  sun's  rays  at  an  angle  of 
20°  to  25°,  the  left  eye  being  closed.  On  a 
table  covered  with  gray  paper  and  under 
diffuse  light  place  two  hen's-feathers,  one 
black  and  the  other  white,  distant  0.6 
to  0.8  metre  from  the  eye.  After  about 
two  minutes,  with  the  right  eye  in  the  sun's 
beams,  the  dark  feather  appears  red  and 
the  white  one  emerald-green.  After  a  few 
seconds  the  black  feather  of  red  color 
seems  edged  with  green  and  the  white 
feather  seems  of  a  rosy  color.  Now  close 
the  right  eye  and  open  the  left.  The  black 
feather  will  be  black  and  the  white  one 
white.  The  effect  is  evidently  due  to  inso- 
lation :  the  black  feather  appears  red  be- 
cause it  reflects  much  less  light  than  the 
white  feather.  From  the  law  of  simultane- 
ous contrast  of  colors,  the  insolated  eye 
seeing  the  green  by  white  light,  the  black 
feather  must  appear  of  the  complementary 
color  of  green,  which  is  red. 

Constitution  of  the  Nebulae. — Mr.  E.  J. 

Stone,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Royal  So- 
ciety, London,  attempts  to  reconcile  Hug- 
gins's  discovery  of  bright  lines  in  the  spectra 
of  nebula;  with  the  old  view  that  nebulae  are 
irresolvable  stellar  clusters.  The  sun,  he 
remarks,  is  known  to  be  surrounded  by  a 
gaseous  envelope  of  very  considerable  ex- 
tent. Similar  envelopes  must  surround  the 
stars  generally.  Each  star,  if  isolated, 
would  be  surrounded  with  its  own  gaseous 
envelope.  These  gaseous  envelopes  might, 
in  the  case  of  a  cluster,  form  over  the 
whole,  or  a  part,  of  the  cluster  a  continuous 
mass  of  gas.    So  long  as  such  a  cluster  was 


P  OP  ULAR   MIS  CELL  A  NT. 


119 


within  a  certain  distance  from  us,  the  light 
from  the  stellar  masses  would  predominate 
over  that  of  the  gaseous  envelope.  The 
spectrum  would,  therefore,  be  an  ordinary 
stellar  spectrum.  Suppose  such  a  cluster 
to  be  removed  farther  and  farther  from  us, 
the  light  from  each  star  would  be  diminished 
in  proportion  of  the  inverse  square  of  the 
distance  ;  but  such  would  not  be  the  case 
with  the  light  from  the  enveloping  surface 
formed  by  the  gaseous  envelopes.  The  light 
from  this  envelope  received  on  a  slit  in  the  fo- 
cus of  an  object-glass  would  be  sensibly  con- 
stant because  the  contributing  area  would 
be  increased  in  the  same  proportion  that  the 
light  from  each  part  is  diminished.  The 
result  would  be  that,  at  some  definite  dis- 
tance, and  all  greater  distances,  the  prepon- 
derating light  received  from  such  a  cluster 
would  be  derived  from  the  gaseous  enve- 
lopes and  not  from  the  isolated  stellar 
masses.  The  spectrum  of  the  cluster 
would,  therefore,  become  a  linear  one,  like 
that  from  the  gaseous  surroundings  of  our 
own  sun. 

Duration  of  the  Flight  of  Bees. — To  de- 
termine the  length  of  time  that  bees  can  con- 
tinue to  fly  about,  Dbnhoff  took  some  of  those 
insects  from  a  hive,  just  as  they  came  out  of 
the  entrance-hole,  and  placed  them  under  a 
glass  bell  at  a  temperature  of  66°  Fahr. 
First  they  ran  hastily  up  and  down  the 
sides  of  the  glass,  and  flew  about  in  the 
jar.  Their  movements  grew  gradually  slow- 
er, and  after  forty-five  minutes  they  all  sat 
quietly  together,  or  moved  very  slowly  and 
clumsily,  and  were  unable  to  fly.  On  being 
allowed  to  crawl  upon  a  pencil,  and  then 
thrown  off,  they  fell  down  perpendicularly 
without  moving  their  wings.  On  killing  one 
or  two,  the  honey-bags  were  found  to  be 
empty.  The  author  then  fed  the  others 
with  a  sugar  solution,  and  after  three  or 
four  minutes  threw  some  of  them  into  the 
air.  They  were  now  able  to  use  their  wings 
a  little.  A  minute  or  two  later  they  ap- 
peared to  be  as  lively  as  ever.  The  author 
remarks  that  if  the  temperature  is  under 
66°  Fahr.  the  bees  lose  the  power  of  flying 
even  sooner,  and  recover  it  more  slowly. 
With  higher  temperatures  the  power  re- 
turns sooner.  Donhoff's  conclusion  from 
these  observations  is  that  the  bee  "  loses 


the  power  of  flying  because  it  does  not  pos- 
sess the  necessary  strength  to  be  converted 
into  muscular  action,  and  that  this  strength 
returns  to  its  system  because  in  sugar  it 
finds  the  necessary  vital  support." 

Singing -Flames  and  Inaudible  Vibra- 
tions.— "  Singing-flames  "  are  known  to  be 
sensitive  to  the  faintest  sounds,  provided 
the  rate  of  vibration  of  the  latter  is  suffi- 
ciently high.  But  are  they  equally  sensi- 
ble to  vibrations  that  are  so  rapid  as  to 
be  inaudible  ?  This  question  has  been 
studied  by  Prof.  W.  F.  Barrett,  and  the 
results  of  his  experiments,  as  stated  by 
him  in  a  communication  to  Nature,  will 
be  read  with  interest.  Prof.  Barrett  em- 
ployed a  flame  produced  by  coal-gas  con- 
tained in  a  holder  under  a  pressure  of 
ten  inches  of  water,  and  issuing  from  a 
steatite  jet  having  a  circular  orifice  of  0.04 
inch  diameter ;  the  height  of  the  flame  when 
undisturbed  was  just  two  feet,  but  it  fell  to 
seven  inches  under  the  feeblest  hiss  or  the 
clink  of  two  coins.  On  sounding  the  low- 
est note  of  a  "  Galton  whistle,"  little  effect 
was  produced  on  the  flame ;  a  shrill  dog- 
whistle  produced  a  slight  forking,  but  that 
was  all.  Raising  the  pitch  of  the  Galton 
whistle,  the  flame  became  more  and  more 
agitated,  until  when  Prof.  Barrett  had  near- 
ly reached  the  upper  limit  of  audibility  of 
the  left  ear,  and  had  gone  quite  beyond  the 
limit  of  the  right,  the  flame  was  still  more 
violently  agitated.  Raising  the  pitch  still 
higher,  till  he  had  quite  ceased  to  hear  any 
sound,  he  was  astonished  to  observe  the 
profound  effect  produced  on  the  flame.  At 
every  inaudible  puff  of  the  whistle  it  would 
fall  fully  sixteen  inches,  and  give  its  char- 
acteristic roar,  at  the  same  time  losing  its 
luminosity,  and,  when  viewed  in  a  revolving 
mirror,  presenting  a  multitude  of  ragged  im- 
ages, with  torn  sides  and  flickering  tongues. 
Nor  was  this  effect  sensibly  diminished  by 
a  distance  of  some  twenty  feet  from  the 
flame ;  even  at  fifty  feet  the  effect  was  very 
pronounced. 

Fun«tions  of  the  Ccrebellnm. — The  re- 
searches and  experiments  of  Flourens  have 
been  considered  conclusive  as  to  the  co- 
ordinative  function  of  the  cerebellum  in 
animal  movements.     That  eminent  physiol- 


120 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ogist  removed  the  cerebellum  from  pigeons 
in  successive  slices,  and  found  that,  on  cut- 
ting away  the  superficial  layers  of  the  organ, 
there  appeared  only  a  slight  feebleness  and 
want  of  harmony  in  the  movements ;  but 
that  when  the  deepest  layers  were  removed 
the  animal  lost  completely  the  power  of 
standing,  walking,  leaping,  or  flying.  Voli- 
tion and  sensation  remained ;  the  power  of 
executing  movements  remained ;  but  the 
power  of  coordinating  those  movements 
into  regular  and  combined  actions  was  lost. 
Flourens's  experiments  have  been  again  and 
again  repeated,  always  with  the  same  re- 
sults. But  now  the  subject  has  been  in- 
vestigated anew  by  Ovsiaunikoflf,  whose 
conclusion  is  that,  even  though  the  entire 
cerebellum  be  cut  out,  the  faculty  of  coor- 
dination still  remains.  In  one  of  his  ex- 
periments a  rabbit  remained  alive  during 
two  whole  weeks  after  all  the  upper  half  of 
the  cerebellum  was  cut  out,  nor  did  it  lose 
its  faculty  of  coordinating  its  movements  af- 
ter all  the  cerebellum  was  cut  out  until  an 
effusion  of  blood  produced  this  result. 

Appearance  and  Habits  of  the  Andaman 
Islanders. — The  natives  of  the  Andaman  Isl- 
ands are  described  by  Surgeon-Major  Hod- 
der,  of  the  British  Army,  as  not  exactly  pre- 
possessing in  appearance,  though  not  de- 
formed and  hideous,  as  has  been  stated. 
In  height  they  vary  from  four  feet  nine 
inches  to  five  feet  one  inch;  they  are  ex- 
tremely black,  more  so  than  the  African 
negro,  and  some  of  them  have  "  a  dull, 
leaden  hue,  like  that  of  a  black-leaded 
stove."  They  are  fond  of  dancing,  have 
a  strong  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  are  exceed- 
ingly passionate,  are  easily  aroused  by  tri- 
fles, and  then  "  their  appearance  becomes 
diabolical."  The  men  go  entirely  naked, 
and  the  women  nearly  so.  They  cover  their 
bodies  with  rod  earth,  and,  as  ornaments, 
wear  strings  of  their  ancestors'  bones  round 
their  necks,  or  a  skull  slung  in  a  basket 
over  their  shoulders.  They  are  tattooed 
all  over  their  bodies  ;  their  heads  are  shav- 
en, with  the  exception  of  a  narrow  streak 
from  the  crown  to  the  nape  of  the  neck. 
They  rarely  have  eyebrows,  beard,  mus- 
tache, whisker-;,  or  eyelashes.  They  are 
very  fond  of  liquor  and  smoking  ;  are 
short-lived  and  not  healthy,  not  many  pass- 


ing forty  years  of  age.  Their  language 
consists  of  few  words,  harsh  and  explosive, 
and  chiefly  monosyllabic.  Almost  their 
only  amusement  is  dancing  to  a  monoto- 
nous chant  and  the  music  of  a  rough  skin 
drum,  played  by  stamping  with  the  feet. 
Their  courtship  and  marriage  usages  are 
very  simple.  The  male  candidate  for  matri- 
mony eats  a  sort  of  ray-fish,  which  gives 
him  the  appellation  of  "goo-mo" — bachelor 
desirous  of  marrying.  The  marriageable 
girls  wear  a  certain  kind  of  flower.  The 
ceremony  consists  in  the  pair  about  to  be 
married  sitting  down,  apart  from  the  others, 
and  staring  at  one  another  in  silence  ;  tow- 
ard evening  the  girl's  father  or  guardian 
joins  the  hands  of  the  pair ;  they  then  re- 
tire, and  live  alone  in  the  jungle  for  some 
days.  The  only  manufactures  of  the  island- 
ers are  canoes,  bows,  arrows,  spears,  and 
nets.  Of  late  years  "  homes  "  have  been 
established  for  the  Andamanese,  consisting 
of  large  bamboo  sheds,  in  which  those  who 
come  in  from  the  jungle  put  up,  coming  and 
going  at  will.  They  seem,  however,  to  pre- 
fer the  jungle,  and  the  attempts  made  to 
cultivate  their  acquaintance  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  very  successful. 

The  Ancient  Rnins  of  Colorado. — A  cor- 
respondent of  the  "Worcester  Spy  writes  as 
follows  of  certain  highly  interesting  dis- 
coveries recently  made  by  the  Geographical 
and  Geological  Survey  of  the  Territories 
conducted  by  Dr.  Hayden : 

"Prof.  Hayden  has  given  Southwestern 
Colorado  a  new  interest,  by  discovering  and 
describing  the  ancient  ruins  in  that  section 
and  in  Southeastern  Utah.  The  fertile  val- 
ley of  the  Animas  was  densely  inhabited  and 
highly  cultivated  by  an  enlightened  race  of 
people  centuries  ago.  The  ruins  of  the 
houses,  corrals,  towns,  fortifications,  ditches, 
pottery-ware,  drawings,  non-interpretable 
writings,  etc.,  show  that  many  arts  were 
cultivated  by  these  prehistoric  people  which 
are  now  entirely  lost.  Their  houses  were 
built  of  almost  every  kind  of  stone,  from 
small  bowlders  to  the  finest  sandstone. 

"  The  finest  of  these  ruins,  and  the  near- 
est perfect,  are  situated  about  thirty-five 
miles  below  Animas  City,  in  a  large  valley 
fifteen  miles  long  by  seven  wide,  on  the 
west   side   of  the   river.     This   valley  has 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


121 


been  covered  with  buildings  of  every  size, 
the  two  largest  being  300  by  6,000  feet, 
and  about  300  feet  apart.     They  are  built 
of  small  blocks  of  sandstone,  laid  in  adobe 
mud,  the  outside  walls  being  four  feet  and 
the  inside  walls  from  a  foot  and  a  half  to 
three  feet  thick.     In  the  lower  story  are 
found  port-holes  a  foot  square.     There  are 
rooms  now  left,  and  walls  for  about  four 
stories  high  are  still  standing.     About  the 
second  story,  on  the  west  side,  there  was 
once   a   balcony  along  the  length  of  the 
building.     No  signs  of  a  door  are  visible  in 
the  outer  walls,  and  the  ingress  must  have 
been  from  the  top,  in  the  inside  there  being 
passages  from  room  to  room.    Most  of  them 
are  small,  from  eight  by  ten  to  twelve  by 
fourteen  feet,  the  doors  being  two  by  four 
feet.     The  arches  over  the  doors  and  port- 
holes are  made  of  small  cedar  poles  two 
inches   wide,  placed  across,  on  which  the 
masonry  is  placed.     The  sleepers  support- 
ing  the   floors  are  of  cedar,  about   eight 
inches  thick,  and  from  twenty  to  fifty  feet 
long,  and  about  three  feet  apart.     A  layer 
of  small   round   poles   was   placed   across 
the   sleepers,  then   a  layer  of  thinly-split 
cedar  sticks,  then  about  three  inches  of 
earth,   then    a    layer   of    cedar-bark,    then 
another  layer  of  dirt,  then  a  carpet  of  some 
kind  of  coarse  grass.     The  rooms  that  have 
been  protected  from   exposure   are  white- 
washed, and  the  walls  are  ornamented  with 
drawings   and  writings.     In  one  of  these 
rooms  the  impression  of  a  hand  dipped  in 
whitewash,  on  a  joist,  is  as  plain  as  if  it 
had  been  done  only  yesterday.     In  another 
room  there  are  drawings  of  tarantulas,  cen- 
tipedes, horses,  and  men. 

"  In  some  of  the  rooms  have  been  found 
human  bones,  bones  of  sheep,  corn-cobs, 
goods,  raw-hides,  and  all  colors  and  varie- 
ties of  pottery  -  ware.  These  two  large 
buildings  are  exactly  the  same  in  every  re- 
spect. Portions  of  the  buildings  plainly 
show  that  they  were  destroyed  by  fire,  the 
timbers  being  burned  off  and  the  roofs 
caved  in,  leaving  the  lower  rooms  entirely 
protected.  The  rock  that  these  buildings 
were  built  of  must  have  been  brought  a 
long  way,  as  nothing  to  compare  with  it 
can  be  found  within  a  radius  of  twenty 
miles.  All  the  timber  used  is  cedar,  and 
has  been  brought  at  least  twenty-five  miles. 
Old   ditches  and  roads  are  to  be  seen  in 


every  direction.  The  Navajo  Indians  say, 
in  regard  to  these  ruins,  that  their  fore- 
fathers came  there  five  old  men's  ages  ago 
(500  years),  and  that  these  ruin-  were  here 
and  the  same  then  as  now,  and  there  is  no 
record  whatever  of  their  origin." 

Political  Economy  in  Law-Schools. — M. 

Waddington,  the  French  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  has  issued  a  decree  making  the 
study  of  political  economy  one  of  the  sub- 
jects of  examination  for  the  degree  of  licen- 
tiate in  all  the  schools  of  law.  The  innova- 
tion does  not  seem  to  give  unmixed  satis- 
faction to  the  French  lawyers,  who  have  at 
all  times  treated  this  science  with  contempt. 
The  basis  of  the  teaching  of  law,  says  their 
organ,  is  the  text  of  the  law;  political 
economy  is  no  branch  of  the  law — it  has 
no  texts — it  is  not  positive  science — and  is 
at  most  a  conjectural  art,  or  kind  of  litera- 
ture, less  amusing  than  others  ;  and  to  re- 
quire that  men  desiring  to  become  magis- 
trates and  advocates  should  pass  an  exam- 
ination in  the  theories  of  Malthus,  Adam 
Smith,  and  Say,  is  absurd.  The  claims  of 
economic  science  will,  of  course,  find  plenty 
of  defenders  ;  and  indeed  it  would  appear, 
in  view  of  the  complications  and  contentions 
which  have  arisen  from  the  pending  nego- 
tiation of  a  commercial  treaty  between 
France  and  England,  that  it  might  be  well 
to  have  a  knowledge  of  economic  principles 
made  imperative  somewhere. 

A  New  Remedy  for  Wakefulness. — To 

those  whose  brains  will  not  subside  when 
the  time  for  rest  has  arrived,  Dr.  John  L. 
Cook,  of  Henderson,  Kentucky,  proposes  a 
very  simple  method  of  securing  prompt  and 
refreshing  sleep  without  the  aid  of  drugs. 
When  the  mind  is  active,  the  circulation  in 
the  brain  is  correspondingly  active;  we 
breathe  more  frequently,  and  the  movements 
of  the  heart  are  more  rapid  and  vigorous. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  the  mind  is  at  rest, 
as  in  healthy  sleep,  the  circulation  in  the 
brain  is  notably  diminished,  the  heart-beats 
are  less  rapid  and  forcible,  and  the  breath- 
ing is  perceptibly  slower.  In  the  wakeful 
state  the  mind,  as  a  rule,  is  intensely  occu- 
pied, whence  we  may  infer  an  increased 
amount  of  blood  in  the  brain.  Dr.  Cook's 
suggestion  is  to  withdraw  a  portion  of  this 
from  the  head,  or  lower  the  brain-circula- 


122 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


tion,  by  taking  deep  and  slow  inspirations — 
say  twelve  or  fifteen  a  minute.  By  this 
means  the  action  of  the  heart  will  become 
slower  and  feebler,  less  blood  is  thrown  into 
the  brain,  and  very  soon  a  quiet  feeling, 
ending  in  sleep,  is  induced.  As  by  a  slight 
effort  of  the  will  any  one  may  try  this,  we 
leave  the  question  of  its  value  to  the  test 
of  actual  experiment. 

A  New  Optif.il  Experiment. — Mr.  Wil- 
liam Terrill  offers  in  Nature  a  new  lecture- 
experiment  for  proving  the  compound  na- 
ture of  white  light.  This  method  is  to  ar- 
range seven  lanterns  so  as  to  project  their 
several  circles  of  light  side  by  side  on  a 
white  screen,  then  to  color  each  circle  by 
introducing  slides  of  glass  stained  to  imi- 
tate the  seven  colors  of  the  spectrum  (the 
proper  intensity  of  color  being  found  by 
trial);  in  this  way  are  produced  seven  cir- 
cles on  the  screen,  colored  from  red  to  vio- 
let, and  arranged  side  by  side.  Then  by 
turning  the  several  lanterns,  so  that  the  pro- 
jected circles  exactly  overlap  each  other, 
one  circle  of  white  light  is  obtained,  prov- 
ing that  the  seven  colors  together  make 
white  light.  The  same  effect  can  be  pro- 
duced with  five  colors  only,  if  properly  se- 
lected ;  and  even  two,  the  ordinary  cobalt- 
blue  and  deep  orange,  will  nearly  do.  If 
these  two  be  made  to  partially  overlap,  the 
effect  is  very  striking. 

Dalliuger's  Stndies  of  Minute  Animal 
Forms. — The  Rev.  W.  H.  Dallinger,  whose 
researches  into  the  origin  and  development 
of  minute  life-forms  have  earned  for  him  a 
distinguished  plnce  in  the  world  of  science, 
in  a  communication  to  the  Royal  Institution 
of  Great  Britain,  gives  a  brief  historical 
sketch  of  his  labors  in  this  field.  Ten 
years  ago  Mr.  Dallinger  determined  to  work 
out,  by  actual  microscopic  observation,  the 
life-history  of  some  of  the  lowly  and  minute 
organisms  which  occur  in  putrid  infusions. 
After  four  years  of  preparation,  he  com- 
menced his  wink  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
Drysdale,  the  plan  needing  two  observers. 
Each  set  of  observations  was  made  con- 
tinuous, so  that  nothing  should  have  to 
be  inferred.  Very  high  powers  were  em- 
ployed, and  the  largest  adult  objects  ex- 
amined were  tbW  of  an  inch,  the  smallest 


40W     Six  forms  altogether  were  selected, 
and  their  whole  history  was  worked  out. 
At  first  it  was  supposed  that  reproduction 
by  fission  was  the  usual  method,  but  pro- 
longed research  showed  that  spores  were 
produced.      These   were   so   small   that  a 
magnifying  power  of  5,000  diameters  was 
needed  to  see  them  as  they  began  to  grow. 
The  glairy  fluid  from  which  they  developed 
seemed  at  first  homogeneous,  and  it  was 
only  when  growth  set  in  that  the  spores 
became  visible.     All  that  could  be  learned 
about  the  origin  of  the  glairy  fluid  was,  that 
a  monad  larger  than  usual,  and  with  a  gran- 
ulated   aspect    toward    the  flagellate  end, 
would  seize  on  one  in  the  ordinary  condi- 
tion ;  the  two  would  swim  about  together  till 
the  larger  absorbed  the  smaller,  and  the  two 
were  fused  together.  A  motionless  spheroid- 
al glossy  speck  was  then  all  that  could  be 
seen.     This  speck  was  found  to  be  a  sac, 
and,  after  remaining  still  from  ten  to  thirty- 
six  hours,  it   burst,  and    the  glairy   fluid 
flowed  out.     The  young  spores  that  came 
into  view  in  this  were  watched  through  to 
the  adult  condition.     Bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject of   spontaneous  generation,  this  fact 
was  learned,  that,  while  a  temperature  of 
140°  Fahr.  was  sufficient  to  cause  the  death 
of  adults,  the  spores  were  able  to  grow  even 
after  having  been  heated  to  800°  Fahr.  for 
ten  minutes.     That  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  spontaneous  generation  of  monads  seems 
to  Mr.  Dallinger  quite  clear;  and  he  is  sat- 
isfied that,  when  bacteria  are  studied  after 
the  same  manner,  the   same  law   will   be 
found  to  hold  good  with  them. 

Influence   of  the  Environment. — As   a 

striking  instance  of  the  transformation  ef- 
fected in  a  race  by  changed  conditions  of 
life,  Das  Ausland  quotes,  from  Khanikoff 's 
"Memoir  on  the  Ethnography  of  Persia," 
some  observations  on  a  colony  of  Wiirtem- 
bergers  which  in  1816  settled  in  the  trans- 
Caucasus  country,  near  Tiflis.  The  original 
colonists,  we  are  informed,  were  "singularly 
ugly,"  with  broad,  square  countenances, 
blond  or  red  hair,  and  blue  eyes.  The  sec- 
ond generation  showed  some  improvement ; 
black  hair  and  black  eyes  were  no  longer 
rare.  The  third  generation  was  so  entirely 
altered  that  their  Wiirtemberg  descent  was 
no  longer  visible,  for  now  black  hair  and 


P  OP  ULAR  MIS  CELL  ANY 


123 


black  eyes  were  the  rule,  the  face  had 
gained  in  length,  and  the  bodily  habit, 
while  nothing  was  lost  in  point  of  stature, 
was  more  slender  and  graceful.  As  the 
chastity  of  the  women  is  not  to  be  disputed, 
and  as  the  colonists  intermarry  only  among 
themselves — Khanikoff  found  only  one  case 
of  a  Wiirtemberger  marrying  a  Georgian 
woman — the  change  in  the  race-characters 
can  be  attributed  only  to  the  influence  of 
environment. 

Extirpation   of  Injurious    Insects. — A 

special  meeting  of  the  London  Society  of 
Arts  was  held  a  few  weeks  ago,  to  discuss 
measures  for  the  extirpation  of  injurious 
insects.  The  paper  for  the  occasion  was 
by  Andrew  Murray,  F.  L.  S.,  who  advocated 
government  interference  as  being  indispen- 
sably necessary  in  the  war  against  insect 
pests.  He  spoke  of  three  principal  modes 
of  counteracting  the  ravages  of  insects,  the 
first  being  county  or  district  rotation  of 
cropping.  Most  vegetable-feeding  insects 
subsist  on  one  kind  of  plant,  as  wheat,  rye, 
potatoes,  etc.,  and,  if  we  take  away  their 
special  pabulum,  the  race  dies  out.  This 
we  do  by  rotation  of  crops.  The  next 
means  of  extirpation  recommended  by  Mr. 
Murray  was  burning  the  nidus  in  which 
the  insect,  in  whatever  stage,  passes  the 
winter ;  or  using  some  substance,  as  Paris- 
green,  hellebore,  etc.  There  remains  the 
last  refuge  of  all  invaded  countries,  namely, 
destroying  the  resources  of  the  country  be- 
fore the  invaders,  so  that  they  may  perish 
for  the  want  of  food.  This,  Mr.  Murray 
said,  can  rarely  be  necessary,  but  it  would 
be,  he  thought,  the  proper  course  to  follow, 
should  the  Colorado  beetle  gain  a  footing 
in  England.  The  larvas  of  the  beetle  would 
probably  first  appear  in  some  potato-field 
near  Cork,  or  Londonderry,  Liverpool,  or 
Glasgow ;  the  instant  this  is  perceived,  the 
vines  of  the  potatoes  should  be  cut  to  the 
ground,  and  Paris-green  scattered  over  the 
field. 

Recent  Observations  of  Stomach-Diges- 
tion.— A  man  in  Paris,  having  an  imperme- 
able stricture  of  the  gullet,  was  saved,  by 
the  operation  of  gastrotomy,  from  death  by 
starvation.  The  patient's  gullet  i3  so  com- 
pletely blocked  that  when  a  small  quantity 


of  potassium  ferrocyanide  in  solution  is 
swallowed,  no  trace  of  the  salt  can  be  de- 
tected in  the  stomach;  hence  the  gastric 
juice  is  absolutely  free  from  any  admixture 
of  saliva.  The  food  is  reduced  to  a  pulp 
and  injected  by  a  syringe  into  the  artificial 
opening  in  the  abdominal  wall ;  it  remains 
in  the  stomach  for  three  or  four  hours  ;  when 
milk  is  introduced,  it  disappears  in  from  one 
and  a  half  to  two  hours.  The  chyme  does  not 
pass  gradually,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  into 
the  small  intestine :  during  the  first  three 
hours  after  its  introduction  into  the  stomach 
its  volume  does  not  appear  to  diminish  ;  then 
within  about  fifteen  minutes,  the  entire  mass 
is  driven  through  the  pyloric  orifice.  At 
the  end  of  four  hours  the  stomach  is  near- 
ly always  empty,  but  hunger  does  not  begin 
to  be  felt  till  two  hours  later.  The  mean 
acidity  of  the  gastric  juice,  whether  pure 
or  mixed  with  food,  is  equivalent  to  about 
1.7  grain  of  hydrochloric  acid  per  1,000, 
never  falling  below  0.5,  or  rising  above  3.2 
grammes.  The  quantity  of  liquid  present 
does  not  seem  to  exert  any  influence  on  the 
degree  of  its  acidity,  which  is  augmented 
by  wine  and  alcohol,  and  lessened  by  cane- 
sugar.  The  gastric  juice  is  more  acid  while 
digestion  is  going  on  than  during  the  inter- 
vals of  the  process ;  its  acidity  seems  always 
to  be  increased  as  digestion  is  drawing  to  a 
close. 

Contents  of  a  Utah  Mound.— In  the  vi- 
cinity of  Payson,  Utah  Territory,  are  six 
mounds,  covering  a  total  area  of  about 
twenty  acres  of  ground.  One  of  these 
mounds  was  opened  last  year,  and  the  dis- 
coveries then  made  are  recorded  in  a  letter 
published  in  the  Eureka  (Nevada)  Sentinel. 
First  a  skeleton  of  a  man  was  found,  which 
measured  six  feet  six  inches  in  length. 
In  the  right  hand  was  a  huge  iron  weapon, 
but  this  crumbled  to  pieces  in  handling. 
There  was  also  found  a  stone  pipe,  the  stem 
of  which  was  inserted  between  the  teeth  of 
the.  skeleton.  Near  by  was  found  another 
skeleton,  not  quite  so  large,  supposed  to  be 
that  of  a  woman.  "  Close  by,"  writes  the 
correspondent  of  the  Sentinel,  ''the  floor 
was  covered  with  a  hard  cement,  to  all  ap- 
pearances a  part  of  the  solid  rock,  which, 
after  patient  labor  and  exhaustive  work,  we 
succeeded  in  penetrating,  and  found  it  was 


124 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


but  the  corner  of  a  box  similarly  construct- 
ed, in  which  we  found  about  three  pints 
of  wheat-kernels,  most  of  which  dissolved 
when  brought  in  contact  with  the  light  and 
air.  A  few  of  the  kernels  found  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  heap  looked  bright,  and  retained 
their  freshness  on  >>»ing  exposed.  These 
were  carefully  presened,  and  last  spring 
planted  and  grew  nicely,  though  the  field-in- 
sects seemed  determined  to  devour  it.  We 
raised  four  and  a  half  pounds  of  heads  from 
these  few  grains.  The  wheat  is  unlike  any 
other  raised  in  this  country,  and  produces 
a  large  yield.  It  is  of  the  club  variety — 
the  heads  are  very  long,  and  hold  very 
large  grains.  .  .  .  We  find  houses  in  all  the 
mounds,"  he  continues,  "  the  rooms  of  which 
are  as  perfect  as  the  day  they  were  built. 
All  the  apartments  are  nicely  plastered, 
some  in  white,  others  in  a  red  color ;  crock- 
ery-ware, cooking-utensils,  vases — many  of 
a  pattern  similar  to  the  present  age — are 
also  found.  Upon  one  large  stone  jug  or 
vase  can  be  traced  a  perfect  delineation  of 
the  mountains  near  here  for  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles.  We  have  found  several  mill- 
stones, used  in  grinding  corn,  and  plenty  of 
charred  corn-cobs,  with  kernels  not  unlike 
what  we  know  as  yellow  dent-corn.  We 
judge  from  our  observations  that  these  an- 
cient dwellers  of  our  country  followed  agri- 
culture for  a  livelihood,  and  had  many  of 
the  arts  and  sciences  known  to  us,  as  we 
found  moulds  made  of  clay  for  the  casting 
of  different  implements,  needles  made  of 
deer-horns,  and  lasts  made  of  stone,  and 
which  were  in  good  shape.  We  also  find 
many  trinkets,  such  as  white  stone  beads 
and  marbles ;  also  small  squares  of  polished 
stones,  resembling  dominos." 

The  Origin  of  Mineral  Oils. — Mendelejeff, 

in  a  communication  to  the  Russian  Chem- 
ical Society,  questions  the  current  view  as 
to  the  origin  of  mineral  oils,  namely,  that 
they  are  the  products  of  the  decomposition 
of  the  fossil  remains  of  organisms,  and  pro- 
poses a  theory  of  his  own.  He  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  possibility  of  the  interior  of  our 
globe  containing  metallic  masses  of  vast  ex- 
tent. If  iron  be  the  prevailing  metal,  and 
if  it  occur  in  combination  with  carbon,  we 
have  the  material  from  which  we  can  con- 
ceive the  mineral  oils  to  have  been  derived. 


Contact  with  water  at  a  high  temperature, 
and  under  great  pressure,  brought  about  by 
the  upheaval  or  disruption  of  any  of  the 
overlying  sedimentary  strata,  would  result 
in  the  formation  of  metallic  oxides  and  sat- 
urated hydro-carbons.  The  latter,  permeat- 
ing the  porous  sandstones  of  higher  levels, 
condense  there,  or,  by  undergoing  further 
change,  become  the  marsh-gas  of  the  "  gas- 
wells,"  or  are  converted  into  unsaturated 
hydro-carbons.  The  invariable  association 
of  salt-water  with  mineral  oil  is  not  without 
its  bearing  on  this  interesting  question.  If 
the  view  recently  advanced  by  Steenstrup 
that  the  curious  metallic  masses  discovered 
by  Nordenskjold  in  Greenland,  and  generally 
held  to  be  meteoric  iron,  be  correct,  and  they 
are  erupted  matter  and  not  of  cosmical  ori- 
gin, their  composition,  which  analysis  has 
shown  to  be  in  a  considerable  degree  carbide 
of  iron,  approaches  nearly  that  of  the  ma- 
terial assumed  by  Mendelejeff  as  the  source 
of  the  oil. 

A  Low  Mammalian  Brain. — At  a  meeting 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  as  we 
learn  from  The  American  Nalurcdist,  Prof. 
Cope  exhibited  a  cast  of  the  brain-cavity  of 
a  species  of  Coryphodon  from  New  Mexico. 
This,  according  to  Prof.  Cope,  is  the  lowest 
and  most  reptilian  type  of  mammalian  brain 
so  far  discovered,  inasmuch  as  the  diameter 
of  the  hemispheres  does  not  exceed  that  of 
the  medulla,  which  itself  is  as  wide  as  the 
cerebellum.  The  latter  is  small  and  flat. 
The  middle  brain  is  the  largest  division, 
much  exceeding  the  hemispheres  in  size, 
being  especially  protuberant  laterally.  The 
hemispheres  contract  anteriorly  into  the  very 
stout  peduncles  of  the  olfactory  lobes. 
These  continue  undivided  to  an  unusual 
length,  and  terminate  in  a  large  bulbus, 
which  is  at  first  grooved  above  and  then 
bifurcates  at  the  extremity.  The  length  of 
the  hemispheres  is  fa  that  of  the  cranium, 
and  their  united  bulk  sV  that  of  the  hemi- 
spheres of  a  tapir  of  the  same  size.  Their 
surface  is  not  convoluted,  and  there  is  no 
trace  of  a  Sylvian  fissure.  The  region  of 
the  pons  Varolii  is  very  wide  and  exhibits  a 
continuation  of  the  anterior  pyramids.  The 
large  size  of  the  middle  brain  and  olfactory 
lobes  gives  the  brain  as  much  the  appear- 
ance of  that  of  a  lizard  as  of  a  mammal. 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY 


125 


The  Late  Eruption  of  Manna  Loa. — The 
Rev.  Titus  Coan  gives,  in  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Science,  a  vivid  description  of  the 
latest  eruption  of  Mokua-weo-weo,  the  ter- 
minal crater  of  Mauna  Loa,  Hawaii.  The 
eruption  commenced  between  nine  and  ten 
in  the  evening  of  February  14,  1877,  with 
great  splendor.  The  summit  of  the  moun- 
tain appeared  as  though  melted,  and  the 
heavens  seemed  on  fire.  Vast  masses  of 
illumined  steam,  like  columns  of  flaming 
gas,  were  shot  upward  to  a  height  of  14,000 
to  17,000  feet,  and  then  spread  out  into  a 
great  fiery  cloud.  This  continued  through 
the  night.  In  the  morning  the  mountain 
was  hidden  by  thick  clouds,  and  the  only 
symptoms  of  volcanic  action  were  an  occa- 
sional thud  and  a  smoky  atmosphere.  Mo- 
kua-weo-weo had  entered  into  a  state  of  in- 
activity, but  soon  "  a  remarkable  bubbling 
was  seen  in  the  sea  about  three  miles  south 
of  Kealakekua,  and  a  mile  from  the  shore. 
Approaching  the  boiling  pot,  it  was  found 
emitting  steam,  and  throwing  up  pumice 
and  light  scoria.  This  boiling,"  continues 
Mr.  Coan,  whose  communication  is  dated 
Hilo,  March  17th,  "  was  active  when  we 
last  heard.  It  is  in  deep  water.  On  the 
island  new  fissures  have  been  opened  in  the 
pahoihoi,  which  extend  up  to  the  higher 
lands,  indicating  the  course  of  a  subterra- 
nean lava-stream,  that  terminated  in  a  sub- 
marine eruption — a  new  feature  in  our  mod- 
ern volcanic  phenomena.  About  the  time 
of  this  eruption  beneath  the  sea,  a  tidal  or 
earthquake  wave  of  considerable  force  was 
observed  along  the  coast  of  Kona." 

Extraordinary  Development  of  the  Sense 
of  Smell. — Dr.  Maudsley,  in  his  "Physiology 
of  Mind,"  noticed  elsewhere,  speaking  of 
the  loss  of  one  sense  being  followed  by  a 
notable  increase  in  the  functions  of  those 
which  remain,  in  consequence  of  the  great- 
er attention  given  to  them,  cites  the  follow- 
ing instances  as  related  by  Dr.  Howe  in  the 
"  Forty-third  Report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Asylum  for  the  Blind :  "  Julia  Brace,  a  deaf 
and  blind  mute,  a  pupil  of  the  American 
Asylum,  had  a  fine  physical  organization 
ami  highly-nervous  temperament.  In  her 
blindness  and  stillness  her  main  occupation 
was  the  exercise  of  her  remaining  senses 
of  smell,  touch,  and  taste,  so  that  through 


them  she  might  get  knowledge  of  all  that 
was  going  on  around  her.  Smell,  however, 
seemed  to  be  the  sense  on  which  she  most 
relied.  She  smelled  at  everything  which 
she  could  bring  within  range  of  the  sense ; 
and  she  came  to  perceive-  odors  utterly  in- 
sensible to  other  pe-^ms.  When  she  met 
a  person  whom  she  had  met  before  she  in- 
stantly recognized  nun  by  the  smell  of  his 
hand  or  glove.  If  it  were  a  stranger  she 
smelled  his  hand,  and  the  impression  was 
so  strong  that  she  could  recognize  him  long 
after  by  again  smelling  his  hand,  or  even 
his  glove,  if  just  taken  off.  She  knew  all 
her  acquaintances  by  the  odor  of  their 
hands.  She  was  employed  in  sorting  the 
clothes  of  the  pupils  after  they  came  from 
the  wash,  and  could  distinguish  those  of 
each  friend.  If  half  a  dozen  strangers 
should  throw  each  one  his  glove  into  a 
hat,  and  they  were  shaken  up,  she  would 
take  one  glove,  smell  it,  then  smell  the 
hand  of  each  person,  and  unerringly  assign 
each  glove  to  its  owner.  If  among  the  vis- 
itors there  were  a  brother  and  sister,  she 
could  pick  out  the  gloves  by  a  similarity  of 
smell,  but  could  not  distinguish  the  one 
from  the  other.  This  case  furnishes  a 
strong  argument  in  support  of  the  conject- 
ure that  a  dog  removed  to  a  distant  place 
finds  its  way  home  by  following  backward 
a  train  of  smells  which  he  has  experienced. 

Mr.  Boyd  Davfkins  on  Mnsenm  Reform. 

— Writing,  in  Nature,  of  the  need  of  muse- 
um reform,  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  recognizes 
the  existence  of  a  "  collecting  instinct " — a 
desire  to  accumulate  whatever  strikes  the 
fancy — and  this  instinct  he  declares  to  be 
almost  universal  among  mankind,  wiiatever 
their  stage  of  intellectual  development.  The 
collections  which  result  from  this  instinct 
bear  the  stamp  of  the  individual  who  makes 
them.  They  are  "museum  units"  which, 
like  molecules,  have  a  tendency  to  coalesce 
into  bodies  of  greater  or  less  size,  and  thus 
constitute  museums.  The  organization  of 
the  latter  is  of  high  or  low  type,  according 
as  the  units  keep  or  lose  the  stamp  of  the 
individual,  and  have  been  moulded  into  one 
living  whole,  or  are  dissociated.  They  are 
highly  organized  and  valuable  if  the  parts 
are  duly  subordinated  to  each  other  and 
brought  into  a  living  relationship;  they  are 


126 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


lowly  organized  and  comparatively  worth- 
less if  they  remain  as  mere  assemblages  of 
units  placed  side  by  side  without  organic 
connection  and  without  a  common  life.  Mr. 
Boyd  Dawkins  regards  most  of  the  provin- 
cial museums  in  England  as  belonging  to 
this  lower  type.  His  description  of  one  or 
two  of  these  collections  is  amusing  enough, 
and  worthy  of  being  quoted  entire ;  perhaps 
it  will  apply  to  some  lauded  collections  to 
be  found  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  "  In 
one  instance  which  occurs  to  me,"  writes 
Mr.  Dawkins,  "  you  see  a  huge  plaster-cast 
of  a  heathen  divinity  surrounded  by  fossils, 
stuffed  crocodiles,  minerals,  and  models  of 
various  articles,  such  as  Chinese  junks.  In 
another,  a  museum  unit  takes  the  form  of  a 
glass  case  containing  a  fragment  of  a  human 
skull  and  a  piece  of  oat-cake,  labeled  '  frag- 
ment of  human  skull  very  much  like  a  piece 
of  oat-cake.'  In  a  third  wax  models  are  ex- 
hibited of  a  pound  weight  of  veal,  pork, 
and  mutton-chops,  codfish,  turnips,  potatoes, 
carrots,  and  parsnips,  which  must  have  cost 
the  value  of  the  originals  many  times  over, 
with  labels  explaining  their  chemical  consti- 
tution, and  how  much  flesh  and  fat  they 
will  make."  Museums  of  this  low  type 
"  constitute  a  serious  blot  on  our  education- 
al system,  since  they  are  worse  than  useless 
for  purposes  of  teaching." 

Size  of  Medicinal  Doses. — One  of  the 

papers  read  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  was  on  "  The 
Effects  of  Remedies  in  Small  Doses."  The 
author  of  this  paper,  Dr.  John  Morris,  held 
that — 1.  The  true  physiological  effect  of 
remedies  might  best  be  obtained  by  the  ad- 
ministration of  small  doses  frequently  re- 
peated ;  2.  That  medicines  thus  given  are 
cumulative  in  their  operation ;  3.  That  the 
effect  of  remedies  is  greatly  increased  by 
combination,  the  manner  of  preparation, 
time  and  mode  of  administration,  etc. ;  4. 
That  large  doses  of  medicine  frequently  act 
as  irritants  ;  that  they  produce  an  abnormal 
state  of  the  blood,  as  was  evidenced  by  such 
conditions  as  narcotism,  alcoholism,  iodism, 
ergotism,  bromidism,  etc. ;  5.  That  more 
special  attention  should  be  given  at  the 
bedside  to  the  influence  of  remedial  agents, 
to  the  end  that  greater  certainty  may  be 
attained  in  the  prescriptions. 


Denationalizing  Science.— Sir  C.  Wyville 

Thomson  having  called  to  his  assistance,  in 
working  up  the  Challenger  collections,  a  few 
foreign  naturalists  of  eminence,  Dr.  P.  Mar- 
tin Duncan,  President  of  the  Geological  So- 
ciety, gives  vent  to  his  "  feelings  of  disap- 
pointment "  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Wyville,  and 
asserts  that  "a  very  large  section"  of  British 
naturalists  are  in  like  manner  pained  by  the 
way  in  which  English  workers  have  been 
passed  over.     Sir  Wyville  Thomson  makes 
a  dignified  reply,  in  which  he  states  that  his 
endeavor  had  been  to  select  first  those  who 
were  generally   regarded   as   authorities  in 
special  branches ;  and,  second,  those  who 
could  do  the  work  assigned  them  within  the 
allotted  time.     Where  Englishmen  fulfilled 
these  conditions,  Englishmen  were  chosen, 
because  in  that  way  a  good  deal  of  risk  was 
avoided,  in  sending  portions  of  the  collec- 
tions abroad.     "  Except  for  this  considera- 
tion" (i.  e.,  that  of  avoiding  risk  of  losing 
collections),  writes  Sir  Wyville,  "  I  confess 
I  saw  and  see  no  objection,  but  rather  the 
reverse,    to   making  a  great  work  of  this 
kind   somewhat   more   catholic."      Having 
thus  mildly  rebuked  the  rather  despicable 
nationalism  of  Dr.  Duncan,  Sir  Wyville  gives 
a   list   of  the  naturalists  employed  in  the 
work.     It  contains  twenty-two   names,  all 
of  them  names  of  Englishmen,  with  six  ex- 
ceptions.    He  then  begs  the  pardon  of  the 
Englishmen  (if  such  there  be)  more  eminent 
than  Haeckel,  A.  Agassiz,  Oscar  Schmidt, 
Lyman,  Gunther,  and  Claus,  in  their  respec- 
tive specialties  of  Radiolarians,  Echinoidea, 
Sponges,  Ophiuridea,  Fishes,  and  Crustacea, 
but  whom  he  has  overlooked  in  favor  of 
these  foreigners.      Notice  has  been  taken 
of  Dr.  Duncan's  letter  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  scientific  men  in  England,  and  a 
manifesto  has  been  published  deprecating 
national  jealousies  in  science.     This  paper 
has   received   the   signatures  of  Sir  J.  D. 
Hooker,  Prof.  Huxley,  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter, 
Mr.  Darwin,  Mr.  St.  George  Mivart,  and  many 
ether   representative   scientific  men.      Na- 
ture, in  giving  an  account  of  this  very  un- 
pleasant affair,  calls  attention  to  the  catholic 
spirit   manifested   by  the  directors  of  the 
United  States  Gulf  Stream  Expedition,  who 
distributed  their  materials  for   description 
among  sixteen   naturalists,   of  whom  only 
four  were  Americans. 


NOTES. 


127 


NOTES. 

It  has  been  found  by  Lechartier  and 
Bellamy  that  zinc  is  constantly  present  in 
appreciable  quantities  in  the  liver  of  the 
human  subject  and  of  many  lower  animals. 
It  also  occurs  in  hen's-eggs,  in  wheat,  bar- 
ley, and  other  grains.  These  facts  are  of 
interest  for  forensic  medicine. 

Ir  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  following  lu- 
cid "  directions  for  the  formation  of  the 
letter  ra"  are  not  a  fair  sample  of  the  kind 
of  instruction  given  in  public  schools 
throughout  the  United  States :  "  The  letter  n 
is  one  space  in  height,  three  spaces  in 
width  ;  commence  on  the  ruled  line  with  a 
left  curve,  ascending  one  space,  joined  by 
an  upper  turn  to  a  slanting  straight  line, 
descending  to  the  ruled  line  joined  angu- 
larly to  a  left  curve,  ascending  one  space, 
joined  by  an  upper  turn  to  a  slanting  line, 
descending  to  the  rule  joined  by  a  base, 
turn  to  a  right  curve  ascending  one  space." 

Land  that  has  been  flooded  by  the  sea 
is  generally  barren  for  years  afterward. 
According  to  a  German  chemist  the  cause 
of  this  barrenness  is  the  presence  of  an 
excess  of  chlorine  salts ;  such  land  has  a 
tendency  to  remain  damp,  and  there  is  a 
formation  of  ferrous  sulphate,  which  is 
highly  injurious  to  plants.  The  land  should 
be  drained  as  quickly  as  possible,  sown  with 
grass  or  clover,  and  allowed  to  rest. 

La  Nature  cites  the  great  age  of  an 
orange-tree  in  the  gardens  of  the  Versailles 
Palace  as  an  illustration  of  the  longevity  of 
that  species  of  plants.  This  ancient  tree, 
known  as  the  "  Grand-Connetable  de  Fran- 
cois I.,"  and  also  as  the  "  Grand-Bourbon," 
has  now  stood  more  than  four  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  It  is  sprung  from  some  seed 
of  the  bitter-orange  sown  in  a  plant-pot, 
at  t!i3  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 
by  Eleanor  of  Castile,  wife  of  Charles  III., 
King  of  Navarre.  Several  plants  were 
produced  from  the  same  lot  of  seeds,  and 
they  were  all  kept  in  one  box  at  Pampe- 
luna  till  1499.  In  1684,  more  than  two 
hundred  years  after  being  first  grown  from 
the  seed,  these  orange-trees  were  taken  to 
Versailles.  The  "Grand-Connetable"  is 
in  all  probability  the  oldest  orange-tree  in 
existence;  it  is  still  in  a  very  healthy  state, 
and  does  not  appear  to  suffer  from  the  ef- 
fects of  age. 

The  coal  of  the  Placer  Mountains  coal- 
mines in  Arizona  Territory  possesses,  ac- 
cording to  Prof.  Raymond,  the  hardness, 
specific  gravity,  fixed  carbon,  and  volatile 
matter,  of  anthracite ;  it  ignites  with  diffi- 
culty, but  burns  with  intense  heat.  The 
supply  is  declared  to  be  "inexhaustible." 


A  correspondent  of  the  Bulletin  of  the 
Kuttall  Ornithological  Club  narrates  in  that 
journal  an  instance  of  the  persistency  of  a 
house-wren  in  nest-building.  The  nozzle  of 
a  pump  in  daily  use  was  repeatedly  found  to 
be  obstructed  with  sticks,  which  on  investi- 
gation proved  to  be  nest-building  material 
taken  in  by  a  wren.  One  morning  the  bird 
was  allowed  to  carry  on  its  work  for  two 
hours,  and  then  he  had  filled  the  pump  so 
full  that  water  could  not  be  obtained  until 
a  part  of  the  sticks  had  been  removed.  The 
nest  was  three  times  destroyed  before  the 
bird  abandoned  his  wrork. 

The  belief  that  fish  is  specially  adapted 
to  feed  the  brain,  and  that  fish-eaters  are 
therefore  more  intellectual  than  the  average, 
does  not  find  much  favor  with  Dr.  Beard. 
He  says  that  this  "  delusion  is  so  utterly  op- 
posed to  chemistry,  to  physiology,  to  history, 
and  to  common  observation,  that  it  is  very 
naturally  almost  universally  accepted  by  the 
American  people.  It  was  started,"  he  adds, 
"  by  the  late  Prof.  Agassiz,  who  impulsively, 
and  without  previous  consideration,  appar- 
ently, as  was  his  wont  at  times,  made  a 
statement  to  that  effect  before  a  committee 
on  fisheries  of  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
ture. The  statement  was  so  novel,  so  one- 
sided, and  so  untrue,  that  it  spread  like  the 
blue-glass  delusion,  and  has  become  the  ac- 
cepted creed  of  the  nation." 

On  the  question  whether  birds  hiber- 
nate, we  have  received  from  Mr.  L.  S.  Ab- 
bott, of  Reading,  Michigan,  a  communication 
in  which  he  states  an  observation  made  by 
himself,  which  goes  to  show  that  at  least 
some  birds  do  hibernate.  While  living  in  the 
backwoods  of  Ohio,  our  correspondent  often 
noticed  the  swallows  toward  evening  cir- 
cling around  the  top  of  a  sycamore-tree,  in 
the  hollow  of  which  they  would  soon  dis- 
appear. To  determine  whether  the  birds 
remained  within  the  tree  during  the  winter, 
Mr.  Abbott  had  the  tree  cut  down  some  time 
after  the  beginning  of  the  cold  season.  The 
swallows  were  found  within,  clinging  to  the 
shell  of  the  tree,  stiff,  motionless,  and  to  all 
appearance  in  a  state  of  suspended  anima- 
tion. The  tree  was  hollow  from  the  ground 
up,  and  the  swallows  were  attached  to  the 
shell  along  its  whole  length. 

A  singular  instance  of  heredity  is  re- 
corded in  a  note  from  M.  Martinet  to  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences.  In  1 871  several 
chickens  on  a  farm  held  by  the  author  were 
affected  with  polydaetylism,  having  a  super- 
numerary claw.  This  had  been  transmitted 
to  them  by  a  five-clawed  cock  raised  on 
the  same  farm  a  year  or  two  before.  The 
type  was  propagated  rapidly  until  in  18*73 
an  epidemic  ravaged  the  poultry-yard.  At 
present,  without  any  selection,  this  variety 
is  very  numerous ;  it  has  been  propagated 


128 


TEE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


among  neighboring  farms  through  the  ex- 
change of  eggs  by  the  farmers ;  if  nothing 
interrupts  its  progressive  increase,  it  prom- 
ises ere  long  to  be  predominant.  The  pecu- 
liarity was  not  so  perfect  at  first  as  it  is 
now;  the  modification  has  been  going  on 
progressively. 

A  square  metre  of  the  wall  of  a  surgi- 
cal ward  in  the  Paris  Hospital  la  Pitie  was 
washed — an  operation  that  had  not  been 
performed  during  two  years  previously — 
and  the  liquid  wrung  out  of  the  sponge  was 
immediately  examined.  It  contained  micro- 
cocci in  abundance,  some  micro-bacteria, 
epithelial  cells,  pus-globules,  and  ovoid  bod- 
ies of  unknown  nature.  The  sponge  used 
was  new,  and  had  been  washed  in  distilled 
water. 

Ernst  Haeberlein,  to  whom  the  world 
of  science  is  indebted  for  the  discovery  of 
the  first  Archaeopteryx,  has  now  discovered 
another  and  more  perfect  specimen  of  the 
same  curious  reptile-like  bird.  As  we  learn 
from  Die  Natur,  the  new  Archaeopteryx 
has  a  head,  which  was  wanting  in  the  first 
individual  discovered.  Hence  the  hitherto 
undecided  point  whether  the  animal  had 
the  head  of  a  bird  or  of  a  reptile  can  now 
be  determined. 

A  Norwegian  engineer,  Meinerk,  has 
invented  an  ice-breaker  for  keeping  far 
northern  harbors  open  through  the  winter. 
The  machine,  as  briefly  described  in  the 
Moniieur  Industriel  Beige,  is  in  form  like  a 
ploughshare,  and  is  driven  by  two  engines. 
Two  centrifugal  pumps  throw  a  stream  of 
water  on  the  fragments  of  ice  as  they  re- 
treat behind  the  vessel,  and  drive  them  back 
into  the  channel  made  by  the  plough.  In 
summer  the  plough  may  be  converted  into 
a  powerful  dredge. 

In  a  case  of  poisoning  by  colored  stock- 
ings which  is  recorded  in  the  Lancet,  the 
patient  suffered  a  severe  itching  of  the  feet 
with  great  pain,  "  like  penkniyes  darting 
into  the  feet  and  legs."  The  cuticle  was 
raised  in  several  places  on  the  soles  and 
sides  of  the  feet,  and  there  was  a  discharge 
of  fetid  pus.  Chemical  analysis  proved  that 
the  stockings  worn  by  the  patient  had  been 
colored  with  coralline,  which  is  known  to 
produce  poisonous  effects  on  the  skin. 

The  following  "  death-notice "  is  trans- 
lated literally  from  a  Zurich  newspaper: 

"I  communicate  to  all  my  friends  and 
acquaintances  the  sad  news  that  at  3  p.  m. 
to-morrow  I  shall  incinerate,  according  to 
all  the  rules  of  art,  my  late  mother-in-law, 
who  has  fallen  asleep  with  faith  in  her  Lord. 
The  funeral-urn  will  be  placed  near  the  fur- 
nace. 

"  The  profoundly  afflicted  son-in-law, 
"  Prandolf-Lichtler. 
"Zurich.  August  3</." 


A  new  malady  of  the  grape-vine  has 
made  its  appearance  in  Switzerland,  where 
it  has  already  done  considerable  damage  in 
the  vineyards.  It  is  known  as  blanc  de  la 
viffne,  or  white-sickness  of  the  vine,  and  is 
caused  by  the  development  of  a  mycelium 
which  overspreads  every  part  of  the  dis- 
eased vine.  Recent  researches,  says  La 
Nature,  show  that  the  cause  of  this  infec- 
tion resides  in  the  props  used  for  support- 
ing the  vines ;  the  germs  of  the  parasite 
find  a  shelter  in  the  cracks  of  the  wood. 
They  may  be  destroyed  by  saturating  the 
props  with  a  solution  of  copper  sulphate. 

In  presenting  to  Mr.  Walter  Weldon  the 
Lavoisier  medal  of  the  French  Society  for 
encouraging  National  Industry,  Prof.  Lamy 
stated  that,  at  the  date  of  the  introduction 
of  Mr.  Weldon's  invention  seven  or  eight 
years  ago,  the  total  bleaching-powder  made 
in  the  world  was  only  55,000  tons  per  an- 
num, whereas  now  it  is  over  150,000  tons  ; 
and  of  this  fully  90  per  cent,  is  made  by 
the  Weldon  process.  Py  this  process  every 
sheet  of  white  paper  and  every  yard  of  calico 
made  in  the  world  have  been  cheapened. 

The  city  of  Dunkirk,  New  York,  pos- 
sesses a  Microscopical  Society  which,  with 
a  small  membership  and  very  slender  re- 
sources, has  already  earned  a  name  in  the 
world  of  science.  At  a  meeting  of  this  so- 
ciety held  jn  the  early  part  of  summer,  Dr. 
George  E.  Elackham  and  Dr.  C.  P.  Ailing 
were  reelected  respectively  president  and 
secretary  of  the  society. 

The  gorilla  of  the  Perl  in  Aquarium  is 
now  at  the  Westminster  Aquarium,  Lon- 
don, "  on  a  visit."  His  face  is  by  Mr. 
Puckland  pronounced  tb  be  very  human, 
but  as  black  as  ebony;  the  nose  is  snub, 
the  lips  thick  and  heavy.  During  sleep, 
as  we  are  informed  by  Mr.  Puckland,  "  a 
pleasant  smile  every  now  and  then  lights 
up  the  countenance  "  of  the  animal. 

Prof.  Parlatore,  the  eminent  botanist, 
and  for  some  time  Director  of  the  Museum 
of  Natural  History  at  Florence,  died  sud- 
denly on  Sunday,  September  9th. 

A  new  use  has  been  found  for  dynamite, 
in  the  slaughter-house.  Experiments  made 
at  Dudley,  England,  show  that  a  small  quan- 
tity of  dynamite — a  thimbleful — placed  on 
the  forehead  of  an  animal  and  exploded,  in- 
stantly causes  death.  In  one  experiment, 
two  large  horses  and  a  donkey,  unfit  for 
work,  were  placed  in  a  line  about  half  a 
yard  apart,  the  donkey  being  in  the  middle. 
A  small  primer  of  dynamite,  with  electric 
fuse  attached,  was  placed  on  the  forehead 
of  each,  and  fastened  by  a  string  under  the 
jaw.  The  wires  were  then  coupled  in  cir- 
cuit and  attached  to  the  electric  machine. 
The  three  charges  were  exploded  simulta- 
neously, the  animals  falling  dead  instantly 
without  a  struggle. 


W.   J.   MACQUORN    EANKINE. 


THE 


POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


DECEMBER,    1877. 


THE  GKOWTH  OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE.1 

Br  Professor  B.  H.  THUESTON, 

OF    THE    STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY. 
II. 

THE   STEAM-ENGINE  AS  A  TRAIN  OF  MECHANISM. 

SECTION  III.  '  The  Period  of  Development.  Newcomen  and 
Watt,  a.  d.  1700  to  a.  d.  1800.— 22.  The  evident  defects  of  Sa- 
very's  engine,  its  extravagant  consumption  of  fuel,  the  inconvenient 
necessity  of  placing  it  near  the  bottom  of  the  mine  to  be  drained,  and 
of  putting  in  several  for  successive  lifts  where  the  depth  was  consid- 
erable, and,  especially,  the  risk  which  its  use  with  high  pressures  in- 
volved even  in  its  best  form,  considerably  retarded  its  introduction, 
and  it  came  into  use  very  slowly,  notwithstanding  its  superiority  in 
economic  efficiency  over  horse-power. 

23.  The  first  important  step  taken  toward  remedying  these  de- 
fects was  by  Thomas  Newcomen  and  John  Cawley,  or  Calley,  two 
mechanics  of  the  town  of  Dartmouth,  Devonshire,  England,  who  pro- 
duced what  has  been  known  as  the  Atmosj)heric  or  Newcomen  En- 
gine. 

Newcomen  was  a  blacksmith,  and  Cawley  a  glazier  and  plumber. 

It  has  been  stated  that  a  visit  to  Cornwall,  where  they  witnessed 
the  working  of  a  Savery  engine,  first  turned  their  attention. to  the 
subject ;  but  a  friend  of  Savery  has  stated  that  Newcomen  was  as 
early  with  his  general  plans  as  Savery. 

After  somediscussion  with  Cawley,  Newcomen  entered  into  corre- 
spondence with  Dr.  Hooke,  proposing  a  steam-engine,  to  consist  of  a 

1  An  abstract  of  "  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine,"  to  be  published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

VOL.   XII. — 9 


13° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


steam-cylinder  containing  a  piston  similar  to  those  of  HJuyg  hens'1  s  and 
PapirCs  engines,  and  driving  a  separate  pump,  similar  to  those  gen- 
erally in  use  where  water  was  raised  by  horse  or  wind  power. 

Dr.  Hooke  advised  and  argued  strongly  against  their  plan ;  but, 
fortunately,  the  obstinate  belief  of  the  unlearned  mechanics  was  not 


Fig.  10.— The  Newcomen  Engine,  as  improved  by  Smeaton,  1775. 


overpowered  by  the  disquisitions  of  their  distinguished  correspondent, 
and  Newcomen  and  Cawley  attempted  an  engine  on  their  peculiar 
plan. 

This  succeeded  so  well  as  to  induce  them  to  continue  their  labors, 
and  in  1705  to  patent ' — in  combination  with  Savery,  who  held  the 
right  of  surface  condensation,  and  who  induced  them  to  allow  him  an 
interest  with  them — an  engine  combining  a  steam-cylinder  and  piston, 
surface  condensation,  and  a  separate  boiler  and  separate  pumps. 

J  It  has  been  denied  that  a  patent  was  issued  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  Savery 
claimed  and  received  an  interest  in  the  new  engine. 


THE    GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


1 3i 


24.  In  the  atmospheric  engine  as  first  designed,  the  slow  process 
of  condensation  by  the  application  of  the  condensing  water  to  the 
exterior  of  the  cylinder  to  produce  the  vacuum  caused  the  strokes  of 
the  engine  to  take  place  at  very  long  intervals.  An  improvement 
was,  however,  soon  effected,  which  immensely  increased  this  rapidity 
of  condensation.  A  jet  of  water  was  thrown  directly  into  the  cylin- 
der, thus  effecting  for  the  Newcomen  engine  just  what  Desaguliers 
had  previously   done   for  the  Sa- 

very  engine.  As  thus  improved, 
the  Newcomen  engine  is  shown 
in  Fig.  11. 

Here  d  is  the  boiler.  Steam 
passes  from  it  through  the  cock  </, 
and  up  into  the  cylinder  a,  equi- 
librating the  pressure  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  allowing  the  heavy 
pump-rod  k  to  fall,  and,  by  its 
greater  weight,  acting  through  the 
beam  i  ?',  to  raise  the  piston  s  to 
the  position  shown. 

The  cock  d  being  shut,  f  is 
then  opened,  and  a  jet  of  water 
from  the  reservoir  g  enters  the 
cylinder,  producing  a  vacuum  by 
the  condensation  of  the  steam. 
The  pressure  of  the  air  above  the  piston  now  forces  it  down,  again 
raising  the  pump-rods,  and  thus  the  engine  works  on  indefinitely. 

The  pipe  h  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  upper  side  of 
the  piston  covered  with  water,  to  prevent  air-leaks — a  device  of  New- 
comen. 

Two  gauge-cocks,  c,  c,  and  a  safety-valve,  JV,  are  represented  in 
the  figure,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  latter  is  quite  different  from 
the  now  usual  form.  Here,  the  pressure  used  was  hardly  greater  than 
that  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  weight  of  the  valve  itself  was  ordina- 
rily sufficient  to  keep  it  down.  The  rod  m  was  intended  to  carry  a 
counter-weight  when  needed. 

The  condensing  water,  together  with  the  water  of  condensation, 
flows  off  through  the  open  pipe  j>>.  Newcomen's  first  engine  made  six 
or  eight  strokes  a  minute ;  the  later  and  improved  engines  made  ten 
or  twelve. 

25.  The  steam-engine  has  now  assumed  a  form  that  somewhat  re- 
sembles the  modern  machine. 

An  important  defect  still  existed  in  the  necessity  of  keeping  an 
attendant  by  the  engine  to  open  and  shut  the  cocks.  A  bright  boy, 
however,  Humphrey  Potter,  to  whom  was  assigned  this  duty  on  a 
Newcomen  engine  in   1713,  contrived  what  he  called  a  scoggan — a 


Fig.  11.— Newcomen's  Engine,  a.  d.  1705. 


132 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


catch  rigged  with  a  cord  from  the  beam  overhead — which  performed 
the  work  for  him. 

The  hoy,  thus  making  the  operation  of  the  valve-gear  automatic, 
increased  the  speed  of  the  engine  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  strokes  a  min- 
ute, and  gave  it  a  regularity  and 
certainty  of  action  that  could  only 
be  obtained  by  such  an  adjust- 
ment of  its  valves. 

This  ingenious  young  mechanic 
afterward  became  a  skillful  work- 
man, and  an  excellent  engineer, 
and  went  abroad  on  the  Conti- 
nent, where  he  erected  several  fine 
engines. 

26.  Potter's  rude  valve  -  gear 
was  soon  improved  by  Henry 
Beighton,  and  the  new  device  was 
applied  to  an  engine  which  that 
talented  engineer  erected  at  New- 
castle-on-Tyne  in  1718,  in  which 
engine  he  substituted  substantial 
materials  for  Potter's  unmechani- 
cal  arrangement  of  cords,  as  seen 
in  Fig.  12. 

In  this  sketch,  r  is  a  plug-tree,  plug-rod,  or  plug-frame,  as  it  is 
variously  called,  suspended  from  the  great  beam  with  which  it  rises 
and  falls,  bringing  the  pins  p  and  k,  at  the  proper  moment,  in  contact 
with  the  handles  h  k  and  nnof  the  valves,  moving  them  in  the 
proper  direction  and  to  the  proper  extent.  A  lever  safety-valve  is 
here  used,  at  the  suggestion  (it  is  said)  of  Desaguliers. 

The  piston  was  packed  with  leather  or  with  rope,  and  lubricated 
with  tallow. 

27.  Further  improvements  were  effected  in  the  Newcomen  engine 
by  several  engineers,  and  particularly  by  Smeaton,  and  it  soon  came 
into  quite  extensive  use  in  all  of  the  mining  districts  of  Great  Britain, 
and  it  also  became  generally  known  upon  the  Continent  of  Europe. 

Its  greater  economy  of  fuel  as  compared  with  the  Savery  engine 
in  its  best  form,  its  greater  safety — a  consequence  of  the  low  steam- 
pressure  adopted — and  its  greater  working  capacity,  gave  it  such 
manifest  superiority  that  its  adoption  took  place  quite  rapidly,  and 
it  continued  in  general  use  in  some  districts  where  fuel  was  cheap 
up  to  a  very  recent  date.  Some  of  these  engines  are  even  now  in 
existence. 

From  about  1758  to  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  the  "Watt  en- 
gine, this  was  the  machine  in  almost  universal  use  for  raising  large 
quantities  of  water. 


Fig.  13.— Beighton's  Valve-Gear,  a.  d.  1718. 


THE   GROWTH  OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


>33 


28.  The  success  of  the  Newcomen  engine  naturally  attracted  the 
attention  of  mechanics,  and  of  scientific  men  as  well,  to  the  possibility 
of  making  other  applications  of  steam-power. 

The  greatest  men  of  the  time  gave  much  attention  to  the  subject ; 
but,  until  James  Watt  began  the  work  that  has  made  him  famous, 
nothing  more  was  done  than  to  improve  the  proportions  and  to 
slightly  alter  the  details  of  the  Newcomen  and  Cawley  engine,  even 
by  such  skillful  engineers  as  Brindley  and  Smeaton. 

Of  the  personal  history  of  the  earlier  inventors  and  improvers  of 
the  steam-engine  very  little  is  known  ;  but  that  of  Watt  has  been 
fully  traced. 

29.  This  great  man  was  born  at  Greenock,  then  a  little  Scotch 
fishing-village,  but  now  a  considerable  and  a  busy  town,  which  annu- 


James  Watt. 


ally  launches  upon  the  waters  of  the  Clyde  a  fleet  of  steamships 
whose  engines  are  probably,  in  the  aggregate,  far  more  powerful  than 
were  all  the  engines  in  the  world  at  the  date  of  Watt's  birth — January 
19,  1736. 

He  was  a  bright  boy,  but  exceedingly  delicate  in  health,  and  quite 
unable  to  attend  school  regularly,  or  to  apply  himself  closely  to  either 
study  or  play. 

His  early  education  was  given  by  his  parents,  who  were  respecta- 
ble and  intelligent  people,  and  the  tools  borrowed  from  his  father's 
carpenter's-bench  served  at  once  to  amuse  him  and  to  give  him  a  dex- 
terity and  familiarity  with  their  use  that  must  undoubtedly  have  been 
of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  after-life. 

M.  Arago,  the    eminent  French  philosopher,  who  wrote  one  of 


134  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  earliest  and  most  interesting  biographies  of  Watt,  relates  an- 
ecdotes of  him  which,  if  correct,  illustrate  well  the  thoughtfulness 
and  the  intelligence,  as  well  as  the  mechanical  bent,  of  the  boy's 
mind. 

He  is  said,  at  the  age  of  six  years,  to  have  occupied  himself  during 
leisure  hours  with  the  solution  of  geometrical  problems,  and  Arao-o 
discovers  in  a  story,  in  which  he  is  described  as  experimenting  with 
the  tea-kettle,  his  earliest  investigations  of  the  nature  and  properties 
of  steam. 

When  finally  sent  to  the  village-school,  his  ill-health  prevented 
his  making  rapid  progress,  and  it  was  only  when  more  than  fourteen 
years  of  age  that  he  began  to  show  that  he  was  capable  of  taking  the 
lead  in  his  class,  and  to  exhibit  his  ability  in  the  study  particularly  of 
mathematics.  His  spare  time  was  principally  spent  in  sketching  with 
his  pencil,  in  carving,  and  in  working  at  the  bench,  both  in  wood  and 
metal.  His  favorite  work  seemed  to  be  the  repairing  of  nautical  in- 
struments. 

In  boyhood,  as  in  after-life,  he  was  a  diligent  reader,  and  he 
seemed  to  find  something  to  interest  him  in  every  book  that  came 
into  his  hands. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  Watt  was  sent  to  Glasgow,  there  to  reside 
with  his  mother's  relatives,  and  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  mathematical- 
instrument  maker.  The  mechanic  with  whom  he  was  placed  was  soon 
found  too  indolent,  or  was  otherwise  incapable  of  giving  much  aid  in 
the  project ;  and  Dr.  Dick,  of  the  University  of  Glasgow,  with  whom 
Watt  became  acquainted,  advised  him  to  go  to  London. 

Accordingly,  he  set  out  in  June,  1755,  for  the  metropolis,  where, 
on  his  arrival,  he  arranged  with  Mr.  John  Morgan,  in  Cornhill,  to 
work  for  a  year  at  his  chosen  business,  receiving  as  compensation 
twenty  guineas.  At  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  compelled  by  serious 
ill-health  to  return  home. 

30.  Having  become  restored  to  health,  he  went  again  to  Glasgow, 
in  1756,  with  the  intention  of  pursuing  his  calling  there.  But  not 
being  the  son  of  a  burgess,  and  not  having  served  his  apprenticeship 
in  the  town,  he  was  forbidden  by  the  guilds,  or  trades-unions,  to  open 
a  shop  in  Glasgow.  Dr.  Dick  came  to  his  aid,  and  employed  him  to 
repair  some  apparatus  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  the  college ;  and 
he  was  finally  allowed  the  use  of  three  rooms  in  the  university-build- 
ing, its  authorities  not  being  under  the  municipal  rule. 

He  remained  here  until  1760,  when,  the  trades  no  longer  object* 
ing,  he  took  a  shop  in  the  city,  and  in  1761  moved  again  into  a 
shop  on  the  north  side  of  the  Trongate,  where  he  earned  a  scanty 
living  without  molestation,  still  keeping  up  his  connection  with  the 
college. 

He  spent  much  of  his  leisure  time,  of  which  he  had  more  than 
was  desirable,  in  making  philosojmical  experiments,  and  in  the  manu- 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


J35 


facture  of  musical  instruments,  making  himself  familiar  with  the  sci- 
ences, and  devising  improvements  in  the  construction  of  organs. 

His  reading  was  still  very  desultory;  but  the  introduction  of  the 
Newcomen  engine  in  the  neighborhood  of  Glasgow,  and  the  presence 
of  a  model  in  the  college  collections,  which  model  was  placed  in  his 
hands  in  1763  for  repairs,  led  him  to  study  the  history  of  the  steam- 
engine,  and  to  conduct  for  himself  an  experimental  research  into  the 
properties  of  steam,  using  a  set  of  improvised  apparatus. 

31.  The  Newcomen  model,  as  it  happened,  had  a  boiler,  which, 
although  made  to  a  scale  from  engines  in  actual  use,  was  quite  in- 
capable of  furnishing  steam  enough  to  work  the  engine. 

It  was  about  nine  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  steam-cylinder  was 
two  inches  in  diameter,  and  of  six  inches  stroke  of  piston,  arranged  as 
in  Fig.  13. 

This  is  a  picture  of  the  most 
carefully-preserved  treasure  in  the 
collections  of  the  University  of 
Glasgow.  Watt  at  once  noticed 
the  defect  referred  to,  and  imme- 
diately sought  first  the  cause  and 
then  the  remedy. 

32.  He  soon  concluded  that  the 
sources  of  loss  of  heat  in  the  New- 
comen engine — which  loss  would 
be  greatly  exaggerated  in  a  small 
model — were :  first,  the  dissipation 
of  heat  by  the  cylinder  itself,  which 
was  of  brass,  and  was  both  a  good 
conductor  and  a  good  radiator ; 
secondly,  the  loss  of  heat  conse- 
quent upon  the  necessity  of  cool- 
ing down  the  cylinder  at  every 
stroke  in  producing  the  vacuum  ; 
and,  finally,  a  loss  of  power  was 
due  to  the  existence  of  vapor  be- 
neath the  piston,  the  presence  of  which  vapor  was  a  consequence  of 
the  imperfect  method  of  condensation  which  characterizes  the  New- 
comen engine. 

He  first  made  a  cylinder  of  non-conducting  material — wood  soaked 
in  oil  and  then  baked — and  found  a  decided  advantage  in  the  econ- 
omy of  steam  thus  secured. 

He  then  conducted  a  series  of  experiments  upon  the  temperature 
and  pressure  of  steam  at  such  points  in  the  scale  as  he  could  readily 
reach,  and,  constructing  a  curve  with  his  results,  the  abscissas  repre- 
senting temperatures,  and  the  pressures  being  represented  by  the 
ordinates,  he  ran  the  curve  backward  until  he  had  obtained  approxi- 


Fig.  13.— The  Newcomen  Model. 


i36  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

mate  measures  of  temperatures  less  than  212°,  and  of  pressures  less 
than  atmospheric. 

He  thus  discovered  that,  with  the  amount  of  injection-water  used 
in  the  Newcomen  engine,  bringing  the  temperature  of  the  interior,  as 
he  found,  down  to  from  140°  to  175°  Fahr.,  a  very  considerable  back- 
pressure would  be  met  with. 

Continuing  his  research  still  further,  he  measured  the  amount  of 
steam  used  at  each  stroke ;  and,  comparing  it  with  the  quantity  that 
would  just  fill  the  cylinder,  he  found  that  at  least  three-fourths  was 
wasted. 

The  quantity  of  cold  water  necessary  to  produce  condensation  of 
a  given  weight  of  steam  was  next  determined,  and  he  found  that  one 
pound  of  steam  contained  enough  heat  to  raise  about  six  pounds  of 
cold  water,  as  used  for  condensation,  from  the  temperature  of  52° 
Fahr.  to  the  boiling-point ;  and,  going  still  further,  he  found  that  he 
was  compelled  to  use,  at  each  stroke  of  the  Newcomen  engine,  four 
times  as  much  injection-water  as  should  suffice  to  condense  a  cylinder 
full  of  steam.  Thus  was  confirmed  his  previous  conclusion  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  heat  supplied  to  the  engine  was  wasted. 

His  experiments  having  revealed  to  him  the  now  well-known  fact 
of  the  existence  of  latent  heat,  he  went  to  his  friend  Dr.  Black,  of 
the  university,  with  this  intelligence;  and  the  latter  then  informed 
him  of  the  Theory  of  Latent  Heat  which  had  but  a  short  time  earlier 
been  discovered  by  Dr.  Black  himself. 

33.  Watt  had  now,  therefore,  determined  by  his  own  researches, 
as  he  himself  enumerates  them,1  the  following  facts: 

(1.)  The  capacities  for  heat  of  iron,  copper,  and  of  some  sorts  of 
wood,  as  compared  with  water. 

(2.)  The  bulk  of  steam  compared  with  that  of  water. 

(3.)  The  quantity  of  water  evaporated  in  a  certain  boiler  by  a 
pound  of  coal. 

(4.)  The  elasticities  of  steam,  at  various  temperatures  greater  than 
that  of  boiling  water,  and  an  approximation  to  the  law  which  it  fol- 
lows at  other  temperatures. 

(5.)  How  much  water,  in  the  form  of  steam,  was  required,  at 
every  stroke,  by  a  small  NewTcomen  engine,  with  a  wooden  cylinder 
six  inches  in  diameter  and  twelve  inches  stroke. 

(6.)  The  quantity  of  cold  water  required,  at  every  stroke,  to  con- 
dense the  steam  in  that  cylinder,  so  as  to  give  it  a  working  power  of 
about  seven  pounds  on  the  square  inch. 

34.  After  these  well-devised  and  truly  scientific  investigations, 
Watt  was  enabled  to  enter  upon  his  work  of  improving  the  steam- 
engine  with  an  intelligent  understanding  of  its  existing  defects,  and 
with  a  knowledge  of  their  cause. 

It  was  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  in  the  spring  of  1765,  that  he  de- 

1  Robinson's  "  Mechanical  Philosophy,"  edited  by  Brewster. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


!37 


vised  bis  first  and  his  greatest  invention — the  separate  condenser. 
His  object  in  using  it  was,  as  be  says  himself,  to  keep  the  cylinder  as 
hot  as  the  steam  that  entered  it.  He  was  therefore  the  first  to  appre- 
hend and  to  state  a  problem  which  the  modern  engineer  is  still  vainly 
endeavoring  completely  to  solve. 

Watt  was,  at  this  time,  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  Having  taken 
this  first  step  and  made  such  a  radical  improvement,  the  success  of 
the  invention  was  no  sooner  determined  than  others  followed  in 
rapid  succession  as  consequences  of  the  exigencies  arising  from  the 
first  radical  change  in  the  old  Newcomen  engine. 

But  in  the  working  out  of  the  forms  and  proportions  of  details  in 
the  new  engine,  even  Watt's  powerful  mind,  with  its  stores  of  hap- 
pily-combined scientific  and  practical  information,  was  occupied  for 
years. 

35.  In  attaching  the  separate  con- 
denser, he  first  tried  surface  condensa- 
tion, as  in  Fig.  14,  which  is  a  sketch  of 
his  first  model ;  but  this  not  succeeding 
well,  he  substituted  the  jet.  Some  pro- 
vision became  at  once  necessary  for 
preventing  the  filling  of  the  condenser 
with  water. 

Watt  at  first  intended  adopting  the 
same  expedient  which  worked  satisfac- 
torily with  the  less  effective  condensa- 
tion of  Newcomen's  engine,  i.  e.,  lead- 
ing a  pipe  from  the  condenser  to  a  depth 
greater  than  the  height  of  the  column  of 
water  which  could  be  counterbalanced 

by  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere ;  but  he  subsequently  employed  the 
air-pump,  which  relieves  the  condenser,  not  only  of  the  water,  but  of 
the  air  which  also  usually  collects  in  considerable  volume,  and  vitiates 
the  vacuum. 

He  next  substituted  oil  and  tallow  for  the  water  previously  used 
in  lubrication  of  the  piston  and  keeping  it  steam-tight,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  cooling  of  the  cylinder  incident  to  the  use  of  water. 

Still  another  cause  of  refrigeration  of  the  cylinder,  and  consequent 
waste  of  power  in  its  operation,  was  seen  to  be  the  entrance  of  the 
atmosphere,  which  came  in  at  the  top  and  followed  the  piston  down 
the  cylinder  at  each  stroke. 

This  the  inventor  concluded  to  prevent  by  covering  the  top  of  the 
cylinder,  and  allowing  the  piston-rod  to  play  through  a  "  stuffing-box," 
which  device  had  I0112;  been  known  to  mechanics.  He  accordingly  not 
only  covered  the  top,  but  surrounded  the  whole  cylinder  with  an 
external  casing  or  "  steam-jacket,"  and  allowed  the  steam  from  the 
boiler  to  pass  around  the  steam-cylinder  and  to  press  upon  the  upper 


Fig.  14.— Watt's  First  Model,  1765. 


i38 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


surface  of  the  piston  where  its  pressure  was  readily  variable,  and 

therefore  more   manageable   than  that  of  the  atmosphere.     It   also, 

besides  keeping  the  cylinder  hot, 

could  do  comparatively  little  harm 

should  it  leak  by  the  piston,  as  it 

might  be  condensed  and  readily 

disposed  of. 

36.  This  completed  the  change 
of  the  "  atmospheric  engine "  of 
Newcomen  into  the  steam-engine 
of  James  Watt.  The  engine  as  im- 
proved is  shown  in  Fig.  15,  which 
represents  the  engine  as  pat- 
ented in  April,  1769.  Watt's  lirst 
engine  was  erected  with  the  pecu- 
niary aid  of  Dr.  Roebuck,  the  les- 
sor of  a  coal-mine  on  the  estate  of 
the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  at  Kinneil, 
near  Borrowstounness.  This  en- 
gine, which  was  put  up  at  the 
mine,  had  a  steam-cylinder  eigh- 
teen inches  in  diameter. 

In  the  figure,  the  steam  passes 
from  the  boiler  through  the  pipe  d 


Fig.  15.— Watt's  Pumping-Engine,  a.  d.  1769. 


and  the  valve  c  to  the  cylinder  casing,  or  steam-jacket,  Y  Y,  and 
above  the  piston  b,  which  it  follows  in  its  descent  in  the  cylinder  a, 
the  valve /being  at  this  time  open  to  allow  the  exhaust  to  pass  into 
the  condenser  h. 

The  piston  now  being  at  the  lower  end  of  the  cylinder,  and  the 
pump-rods  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  beam  y  thus  raised,  and  the 
pumps  filled  with  water,  the  valves  c  and  f  close,  while  e  opens, 
allowing  the  steam  which  remains  above  the  piston  to  flow  be- 
neath it,  until,  the  pressure  becoming  equal  above  and  below  by 
the  weight  of  the  pump,  it  is  rapidly  drawn  to  the  top  of  the  cylin- 
der, while  the  steam  is  displaced  above,  passing  to  the  underside  of 
the  piston. 

Now  the  valve  e  is  closed,  and  c  and/  are  again  opened,  and  the 
down-stroke  is  repeated  as  before.  The  water  and  air  entering  the 
condenser  are  removed,  at  each  stroke,  by  the  air-pump  i,  which 
communicates  with  the  condenser  by  the  passage  s.  The  pump  q 
supplies  condensing-water,  and  the  pump  A  takes  away  a  part  of  the 
water  of  condensation,  which  is  thrown  by  the  air-pump  into  the 
"  hot  well  "  k,  and  with  it  supplies  the  boiler.  The  valves  are  moved 
by  valve-gear  very  similar  to  Beighton's,  by  the  pins  m  m  in  the 
"  plug-frame  "  or  "  tappet-rod  "  n  n. 

The  engine  is  mounted  upon  a  substantial  foundation,  B  B.     F'y$> 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


!39 


an  opening,  out  of  which,  before  starting  the  engine,  the  air  is  driven 
from  the  cylinder  and  condenser. 

37.  In  the  building  and  erection  of  his  engines,  Watt  had  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  finding  skillful  workmen  to  make  the  parts  with 
accuracy,  to  fit  them  with  skill,  and  to  erect  them  properly  when 
once  finished. 

The  fact  that  both  Newcomen  and  Watt  found  such  serious  trou- 
ble indicates  that,  even  had  the  engine  been  designed  earlier,  it  is 
quite  unlikely  that  the  world  Avould  have  seen  the  steam-engine  a 
success  until  this  period,  when  mechanics  were  just  acquiring  the 
skill  requisite  for  its  construction.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
at  all  certain  that,  had  the  mechanics  of  an  earlier  period  been  as 
skillful  and  as  well  educated  in  the  manual  niceties  of  their  busi- 
ness, the  steam-engine  might  not  have  been  much  earlier  brought 
into  use. 

In  the  time  of  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  it  would  have  probably 
been  found  impossible  to  obtain  workmen  to  construct  the  steam- 
engine  of  Watt,  had  it  been  then  invented.  Indeed,  Watt,  upon  one 
occasion,  congratulated  himself  that  one  of  his  steam-cylinders  only 
lacked  three-eighths  of  an  inch  of  being  truly  cylindrical. 

38.  Pecuniary  misfortunes  soon  deprived  Watt  of  the  assistance 


v\ 


of  his  friend  and  partner  Dr.  Roebuck,  but  in  1773  he  became  con- 
nected with  an  intelligent,  energetic,  and  wealthy  manufacturer  of 
Birmingham,  Matthew  Boulton.     Thenceforward,  the  establishment 


140 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


of  Boulton  &  Watt,  at  Soho,  near  Birmingham,  for  a  long  time  fur- 
nished the  greater  proportion  of  all  the  steam-engines  made  in  the 
world. 

In  the  new  firm,  Boulton  took  charge  of  the  general  business,  and 
Watt  superintended  the  design,  construction,  and  erection,  of  their  en- 
gines. Boulton's  business  capacity,  with  Watt's  wonderful  mechanical 
ability;  Boulton's  physical  health,  and  his  vigor  and  courage,  offset- 
ting Watt's  feeble  health  and  depression  of  spirits  ;  and,  more  than 
all,  Boulton's  pecuniary  resources,  both  in  his  own  purse  and  in  the 
wealth  of  his  friends,  enabled  the  firm  to  conquer  all  difficulties, 
whether  in  finance,  in  litigation,  or  in  engineering. 

39.  Watt  had,  before  meeting  Boulton,  conceived  the  idea  of 
economizing  some  of  that  power  the  loss  of  which  was  so  plainly 
indicated  by  the  violent  rush  of  the  exhaust  steam  into  the  con- 
denser, and  had  described  the  advantages  that  would  follow  the  use 
of  steam  expansively,  by  means  of  a  "  cut-off,"  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Small, 
of  Birmingham,  dated  Glasgow,  May,  1769.  He  had  also  planned  a 
"  compound  engine." 

This  invention  of  the  expansion  of  steam,  which,  in  importance, 
was  hardly  exceeded  by  any  other  improvement  of  the  steam-engine, 
was  adopted  at  Soho  in  1776,  but  the  patent  was  not  obtained  until 
1782. 


Pig.  16.— Watt's  Steam-Engine,  a.  d.  1780. 


During  this  interval,  Watt  invented  the  crank  and  fly-wheel,  but, 
as  the  former  had  been  first  patented  by  Wasborough,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  obtained  a  knowledge  of  it  from  workmen  employed 
by  Watt,  the  latter  patented  several  other  methods  of  producing 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


141 


rotary  motions,  .and  temporarily  adopted  that  known  as  the  "  sun-and- 
planet  wheels,"  subsequently  using  the  crank. 

The  adaptation  of  the  steam-engine  to  the  production  of  rotary 
motion  was  soon  succeeded  by  the  introduction  of  the  Double-Act- 
ing  Engine,  the  Fly-ball  Governor,  the  Counter,  the  Steam-Engine 
Indicator,  and  other  minor  but  valuable  improvements,  which  were 
the  final  steps  by  which  the  Watt  steam-engine  became  applicable  to 
driving  mills,  to  use  on  railroads,  to  steam-navigation,  and  to  the 
countless  purposes  by  which  it  has  become,  as  it  has  already  been  de- 
nominated, the  great  material  agent  of  civilization. 

40.  Fig.  16  represents  the  Watt  Double-Acting  engine.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  it  differs  from  the  Single- Acting  engine  in  having  steam- 
valves,  B  B,  and  exhaust-valves,  E  E,  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder, 
thus  enabling  the  steam  to  act  on  each  side  of  the  piston  alternately, 
and  practically  doubling  the  power  of  the  engine. 

The  end  of  the  beam  opposite  to  the  cylinder  is  usually  connected 
with  a  crank-shaft. 


Watt's  Workshop  at  Home. 


41.  At  this  point,  the  history  of  the  steam-engine  becomes  the 
story  of  its  applications  in  several  different  directions,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  are  the  raising  of  water,  which  has  hitherto  been  its 
only  application ;  the  propulsion  of  carriages,  as  in  the  locomotive- 
the  driving  of  mills  and  machinery ;  and  steam-navigation. 


engine ; 


142 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Here  we  take  leave  of  James  Watt,  of  whom  a  French  author1 
says,  "  The  part  which  he  played,  in  the  mechanical  application  of  the 
power  of  steam,  can  only  be  compared  to  that  of  Newton  in  astron- 
omy, and  of  Shakespeare  in  poetry." 

Retiring  from  the  firm  in  the  first  year  of  the  present  century, 
Watt  remained  quietly  on  his  estate  at  Heathfield.  He  fitted  up  a 
little  workshop  in  his  house,  and  there  spent  nearly  all  his  time,  in- 
venting, designing,  and  constructing  ingenious  machines  for  special 
purposes.  He  died  peacefully,  full  of  years  and  great  in  fame,  August 
25,  1819, 

Since  the  time  of  Watt,  improvements  have  been  principally  in 
matters  of  mere  detail,  and  in  the  extension  of  the  range  of  application 
of  the  steam-engine. 

42.  To  complete  the  history  of  its  application  to  raising  water, 
the  succeeding  figures  are  given  as  exhibiting  the  principal  forms  of 
pumping-engine  as  now  constructed. 


Fig.  17.— The  Cornish  Pdmping-Engine,  1877. 


Fig.  17  represents  the  Cornish  pumping-engine,  which,  in  spite  of 
its  great  weight  and  high  cost,  is  still  much  used. 

It  will  be  seen  that  it  is  the  engine  of  James  Watt  in  all  its  gen- 
eral features. 

1  "Traite  dcs  Machines  a  Vapeur,"  E.  M.  Bataille,  Paris,  1847. 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  143 

It  is  single-acting,  and  has  a  steam-jacket  and  a  plug-rod  valve- 
gear,  J  K.  The  improvements  are  principally  in  the  form  and  pro- 
portions of  its  parts,  and  in  its  adaptation  to  high  steam  and  "  short 
'  cut-off.' " 

A  is  the  steam-cylinder,  B  C  the  piston  and  rod,  D  the  beam,  and 
i?the  pump-rod.  The  condenser  is  seen  at  G,  and  the  air-pump  at  II. 
The  steam-cylinder  is  "  steam-jacketed,"  and  is  surrounded  by  a  cas- 
ing, 0,  composed  of  brickwork  or  other  non-conducting  material. 
Steam  is  first  admitted  above  the  piston,  driving  it  rapidly  downward 
and  raising. the  pump-rod.  At  an  early  point  in  the  stroke  the  admis- 
sion of  steam  is  checked  by  the  sudden  closing  of  the  induction-valve, 
and  the  stroke  is  completed  under  the  action  of  expanding  steam 
assisted  by  the  inertia  of  the  heavy  parts  already  in  motion.  The 
necessary  weight  and  inertia  are  afforded  in  many  cases,  wrhere  the 
engine  is  applied  to  the  pumping  of  deep  mines,  by  the  immensely 
long  and  heavy  pump-rods.  Where  this  weight  is  too  great,  it  is 
counterbalanced;  and  where,  as  when  used  for  the  water-supply  of 
cities,  too  small,  weights  are  added.  When  the  stroke  is  completed, 
the  "equilibrium-valve"  is  opened,  and  the  steam  passes  from  above 
to  the  space  below  the  piston,  and,  an  equilibrium  of  pressure  being 
thus  produced,  the  pump-rods  descend,  forcing  the  water  from  the 
pumps  and  raising  the  steam-piston.  The  absence  of  the  crank  or 
other  device  wrhich  might  determine  absolutely  the  length  of  stroke 
compels  a  very  careful  adjustment  of  steam  admission  to  the  amount 
of  load.  Should  the  stroke  be  allowed  to  exceed  the  proper  length, 
and  should  dauger  thus  arise  of  the  piston  striking  the  cylinder- 
heads,  the  movement  is  checked  by  buffer-beams.  The  regulation 
is  effected  by  a  "  cataract,"  a  kind  of  hydraulic  governor,  consisting 
of  a  plunger-pump  with  a  reservoir  attached.  The  plunger  is  raised 
by  the  engine,  and  then  automatically  detached.  It  falls  with  greater 
or  less  rapidity,  its  velocity  being  determined  by  the  size  of  the  educ- 
tion orifice,  which  is  adjustable  by  hand.  When  the  plunger  reaches 
the  bottom  of  the  pump-barrel,  it  disengages  a  catch,  a  weight  is 
allowed  to  act  upon  the  steam-valve,  opening  it,  and  the  engine  is 
caused  to  make  a  stroke.  When  the  outlet  of  the  cataract  is  nearly 
closed,  the  engine  stands  still  a  considerable  time  while  the  plunger 
is  descending,  and  the  strokes  succeed  each  other  at  long  intervals. 
When  the  opening  is  greater,  the  cataract  acts  more  rapidly,  and  the 
engine  works  faster.  This  has  been  regarded  until  recently  as  the 
mos't  economical  of  pumping-engines,  and  it  is  still  generally  used  in 
Europe  in  freeing  mines  of  water. 

43.  Fig.  18  represents  a  lighter,  cheaper,  and  almost  equally  effec- 
tive machine,  known  as  the  Bull  Cornish  or  Direct- Acting  Cornish 
engine.  It  was  first  designed  by  the  competitor  of  Watt,  by  whose 
name  it  is  known.  As  is  seen  by  reference  to  the  engraving,  its 
cylinder  a  is  directly  above  the  pump-rods  c,  d,  (/,  and  is  carried  on 


144 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


cross-beams,  b  b.  The  air-pump  m  I  o  p,  the  tank  n,  and  valve-gear 
q  r  s,  are  quite  similar  to  those  of  the  beam  Cornish  engine.  The  bal- 
ance-beam is  seen  at  h  i. 


Fig.  18.— Bull's  Coenish  Engine,  1T98. 

Fig.  19  represents  another  form  of 
pumping-engine  which  belongs  to  the 
class  known  as  the  "compound"  or 
"  two-cylinder  "  engine. 
This  class  of  engines,  in  which  the  steam  exhausted  from  one 
cylinder  is  further  expanded  in  the  second,  was  first  introduced  by 
Hornblower,  in  1781,  and  was  patented,  in  combination  with  the  Watt 
condenser,  by  Woolf,  at  a  later  date  (1804),  with  a  view  to  adopting 
high  steam  and  considerable  expansion. 

The  Woolf  engine  was  to  some  extent  adopted,  but  was  not  suc- 
cessful in  competing  with  Watt  engines  where  the  latter  were  well 
built,  and,  like  Hornblower's  engine,  was  soon  given  up. 

The  compound  engine  has  come  up  again  within  a  few  years,  and, 
with  what  is  now  considered  high  steam  and  considerable  expansion, 
and  designed  with  more  intelligent  reference  to  the  requirements  of 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE.  145 

economy  in  working  steam  in  this  manner,  it  seems  gradually  dis- 
placing all  other  forms  of  engine. 


"""•somwA  \  ■=-— 

Fig.  19.— Hornblower's  Compound  Engine,  1781. 

44.  An  example  of  this  form  of  pumping-engine,  and  one  which  is 
a  favorite  with  many  engineers,  is  the  beam  and  crank  engine  (Fig. 


Fig.  20.— Compound  Pumping-Engine,  1800. 


20),  C  D,E  F,  with  double  cylinder,  A,  B,  working  the  "combined 
bucket  and  plunger,"  or  double-acting  pump,  J.    In  its  cylinders  steam 

VOL.  XII. 10 


146 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


is  usually  expanded  from  four  to  eight  times.     The  Leavitt  compound 
en  seine  is  shown  in  Fig-.  21. 


Fig.  21.— Leavitt's  Pumping-Engine,  18T5. 


In  this  engine  the  lower  ends,  A,  7?,  of  the  two  cylinders  are 
brought  close  together  under  the  centre  of  the  beam,  thus  shortening 


.■ 

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■ 

■■;..    ■.    ■  ■■:■   ■  ■.   .  ■■  ■      ■ 

;>.\v> >■■■  WX X-;- . ■  .•■  W»  ■:-:  WXi-  ;->N>:s\v 
■:■■:    ■:-.   ■:-.  v:W   :   .    . I  ■  .    -■•  ■   : :-.    -: 

v--^w-  Vvv .■■>;■■  SSN^--:-;--: :■■■-■  ;«  .-:-* 
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■.■■,-:■..''■  -:■..      ■    .;.  ■■ 


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■ 

.... 
^  ■»■•■■■   ■■    ■:■•■:■■■■•:■:     .■  ___       ■  ■  ■■■    ■  ■•--■-  w  :■■:.;■.  :-:-.■  ..<■■,-■.■:■       ■   —  -  - -■- K   -  ■■■■      sn^SS^"" 


■ 


Fig.  22.— The  Woktiiington  Compound  Pumping-Engine,  1870. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


H7 


the  steam-passages  between  them,  permitting  a  symmetrical  distribu- 
tion of  strain,  and  the  use  of  the  usual  general  type  of  beam-engine. 
A  readily-adjustable  valve-gear  is  attached,  and  its  cut-off  gives  an 
expansion  of  about  ten  times,  the  boiler  steam-pressure  being  about 
eighty  pounds  per  square  inch.  The  cylinders  are  steam-jacketed, 
and  very  thoroughly  clothed  with  a  non-conducting  felting  and  lag- 
ging. This  engine  has  given  the  best  economical  results  yet  reported 
in  this  country,  attaining  a  "  duty"  on  a  test-trial  of  more  than  100,- 
000,000  pounds  of  water  raised  one  foot  high  by  each  100  pounds  of 
fuel  burned. 

Still  another  recent  form  of  steam  pumping-engine,  noted  for  its 
cheapness  combined  with  efficiency,  is  that  of  Worthington  (Fig.  22), 
in  which  two  pairs  of  steam  cylinders,  A,  _Z?,  are  placed  side  by  side, 
each  pair  driving  a  pump-plunger,  JF1,  attached  to  its  piston-rod,  and 
each  having  its  valve-gear,  H  i,  M  iV,  actuated  by  the  movement  of 
the  piston  of  the  other.  The  cylinders  together  form  a  compound 
engine ;   the  steam  exhausted  from  the  smaller,  A,  passing  into  the 


.lilii'inillillr^feljS^l 


Tome  of  James  Watt,  Handswokth  Church,  1819. 


larger,  B,  where  it  is  further  expanded.  The  valve-gear  of  this  en- 
gine is  peculiarly  well  adapted  to  this  type  of  engine.  There  is  no 
fly-wheel,  and  the  motion  of  each  of  the  two  independent  engines, 
which  together  form  the  pair,  is  controlled  by  its  neighbor,  the  valve- 
gear  of  the  one  being  moved  by  the  piston  of  the  other.  This  ingen- 
ious combination  permits  each  piston  to  move  from  end  to  end  of  its 
cylinder,  holds  it  stationary  an  instant  while  the  pump-cylinders  be- 


148  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

come  completely  filled  and  their  valves  closed,  and  then  sets  it  in  mo- 
tion on  the  return-stroke.  Thus  the  pistons  move  alternately.  These 
engines  have  given  a  very  high  duty.  The  condenser  is  seen  at  C,  and 
the  air-pump  is  at  D,  the  latter  being  worked  from  the  bell-crank  lever 
H  by  means  of  links,  Z,  K.  The  steam-valves,  Q,  JR,  are  balanced. 
V  ~P"are  the  water-induction  valves,  and  T  T  those  on  the  eduction- 
side. 

Here  we  leave  the  steam-engine  as  applied  to  raising  water.  We 
have  invariably  noticed,  in  the  forms  of  engines  so  used,  that  a  con- 
denser forms  a  part  of  the  apparatus. 

We  will  next  briefly  trace  the  history  of  that  now  familiar  form 
of  engine  in  which  the  steam,  having  done  its  work,  is  discharged 
directly  into  the  atmosphere. 


-*♦-♦- 


STAR    OK    STAR-MIST. 

By   EICIIARD   A.    PKOCTOR. 

A  REMARKABLE  discovery  has  been  made  by  the  astronomers 
of  Lord  Lindsay's  observatory  at  Dunecht — a  discovery  the  true 
meaning  of  which  is  not  as  yet  fully  perceived.  It  may  be  remem- 
bered that  some  nine  months  ago  a  new  star,  as  it  was  called,  made 
its  appearance  in  the  constellation  Cygnus.1  This  object  shone  out 
where  before  no  star  had  been  known  to  astronomers — not  merely,  be 
it  noticed,  where  there  was  no  visible  star,  but  where  none  was  re- 
corded even  in  lists  like  Argelander's  "  Durchmusterung,"  containing 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  telescopic  stars.  It  was  not,  however,  alto- 
gether impossible  that  some  small  star  within  moderate  telescopic 
range  had  existed  in  the  spot  where  the  new  star  shone  out,  and  that 
in  some  way  this  small  star  had  escaped  observation.  This  seemed 
the  more  likely  because  the  new  star  had  appeared  in  a  part  of  the 
heavens  very  rich  indeed  in  telescopic  stars  ;  at  any  rate,  astronomers 
had  reason  to  believe  that  they  would  be  readily  able  to  determine 
the  question  with  a  high  degree  of  probability  by  watching  the  star 
as  it  gradually  faded  out  of  view.  For  a  "  new  star  "  which  had 
shone  out  in  the  constellation  of  the  Northern  Crown  in  May,  1866, 
and  had  been  identified  with  a  tenth-magnitude  star  in  Argelander's 
list,  had  gradually  faded  out  of  view,  and,  growing  yet  fainter,  had 
sunk  through  one  telescopic  magnitude  after  another  until  it  shone 
again  as  a  tenth-magnitude  star  only.  Since  that  star  had  resumed 
its  former  lustre,  or  rather  its  former  faintness,  it  seemed  not  unrea- 
sonable to  conclude  that  so  also  would  the  star  in  Cygnus.  We  shall 
presently  see  how  far  this  expectation  was  from  being  fulfilled. 

1  See  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xi.,  p.  59. 


STAR    OR   STAR-MIST. 


149 


During  its  time  of  greatest  observed  brilliancy  the  new  star  in  the 
Swan  was  very  carefully  watched  by  spectroscopists.  The  results 
were  in  many  respects  interesting.  The  star  in  the  Crown  had  shown 
the  bright  lines  of  hydrogen,  superposed  upon  a  faint  rainbow-tinted 
spectrum,  which  was  understood  to  signify  that  around  a  real,  though 
probably  a  small,  sun,  some  outburst  of  glowing  hydrogen  had  taken 
place,  the  chief  part  of  the  star's  new  light  being  due  to  this  outburst. 
The  same  bright  hydrogen  lines  were  seen  also  in  the  case  of  the  star 
in  Cygnus.  But  in  addition  to  them  other  bright  lines  were  seen, 
which  seemed  to  be  identical  with  those  belonging  to  the  solar  sierra 
(or,  as  many  astronomers  unclassically  call  it,  the  chromosphere)  and 
corona.  This,  at  least,  was  the  opinion  of  M.  Cornu,  of  the  Paris  Ob- 
servatory. Herr  Vogel,  who  began  his  observations  on  December  5th, 
when  the  star  was  between  the  fourth  and  fifth  magnitude,  and  con- 
tinued them  to  March  10th,  when  the  star  had  sunk  below  the  eighth 
magnitude,  does  not  agree  on  this  point  with  M.  Cornu,  since  aline  not 
agreeing  with  any  known  line  in  the  spectrum  of  the  sun's  sierra  was 
clearly  visible  from  the  beginning  in  the  spectrum  of  the  new  star. 
But  the  most  interesting  point  in  connection  with  Vogel's  observa- 
tions, confirmed  also  by  Mr.  Copeland,  at  the  Dunecht  Observatory, 
and  by  Mr.  Backhouse,  of  Sunderland,  was  this  :  that,  as  the  new  star 
died  out,  not  only  did  the  rainbow-tinted  background  of  the  spectrum 
fade  gradually  out  of  view,  but  the  relative  lightness  of  the  bright 
lines  steadily  changed.  At  last,  on  March  10th,  very  little  was  left  of 
the  spectrum  which  Cornu  and  Vogel  had  seen  in  December.  The 
blue  and  violet  portion  of  the  spectrum  had  faded  entirely  from  view, 
a  dark  gap  had  appeared  in  the  green,  and  a  very  broad,  dark  band 
in  the  blue.  Of  the  bright  lines  two  only  remained.  One,  the  F  line 
of  hydrogen,  in  the  green-blue,  which  had  been  singularly  conspicuous 
last  December,  was  now  faint.  The  other,  in  the  green,  which  had 
been  faint  in  December,  was  now  very  bright— in  fact,  nearly  the 
whole  lio-ht  of  the  star  seemed  at  this  time  to  come  from  this  bright 

line. 

Now,  the  changes  which  had  thus  far  taken  place  were  altogether 
unlike  those  which  had  been  noticed  in  the  case  of  the  new  star  in  the 
Northern  Crown.  As  that  star  faded  from  view  the  bright  lines  in- 
dicative of  glowing  hvdrogen  died  out,  and  only  the  ordinary  stellar 
spectrum  remained.  In  the  case  of  the  star  in  Cygnus  the  part  of  the 
spectrum  corresponding  to  stellar  light— that  is  to  say,  the  rainbow- 
tinted  streak  crossed  by  dark  lines— faded  gradually  from  view,  and 
bright  lines  only  were  left,  at  least  as  conspicuous  parts  of  the  star's 
spectrum.  This  body,  then,  did  not  seem  to  be  returning  to  the  stel- 
lar condition  at  all,  but  actually  fading  out  into  a  nebula.  Not  only 
so,  but  the  lines  which  still  remained  conspicuous  last  March  were 
lines  known  to  belong  to  the  so-called  gaseous  nebulae.  One  of  them, 
that  which  had  been  the  faintest,  but  was  now  the  brightest,  corre- 


i5o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

sponded  to  the  nitrogen  line  of  the  nebular  spectrum  ;  the  other,  which 
was  still  conspicuous,  though  faint,  corresponded  to  the  hydrogen  line 

of  nebulas. 

That  however,  was  by  no  means  the  closing  chapter  of  this  sin- 
gular history.  Vogel  seems  to  have  ceased  from  observing  the  star's 
spectrum,  strangely  enough,  at  the  very  time  when  the  most  remark- 
able part  of  the  process  of  change  seemed  to  be  approaching.  At  the 
Dunecht  Observatory  also,  through  pressure  of  work  relating  to  Mars, 
no  observations  were  made  for  nearly  half  a  year.  But,  on  September 
3d,  Lord  Lindsay's  15-inch  refractor  was  turned  on  the  star.  In  the 
telescope  a  star  was  still  shining,  but  with  a  faint  blue  color,  utterly 
unlike  that  of  the  orb  which  had  shone  out  so  conspicuously  last  No- 
vember. Under  spectroscopic  examination,  however,  the  blue  star 
was  found  to  be  no  star  at  all,  if  we  are  to  regard  those  orbs  only  as 
stars  which  present  a  spectrum  in  some  degree  analogous  to  that  of 
our  own  sun.  We  regard  Sirius  as  a  sun,  though  in  his  spectrum  the 
lines  of  hydrogen  are  abnormally  strong ;  and,  passing  over  the  class 
of  stars  more  closely  resembling  our  sun,  we  regard  as  a  true  star  the 
orange  orb,  Betelgeux,  though  the  lines  of  hydrogen  are  wanting  in 
its  spectrum  ;  nor  do  we  reject  from  among  the  suns  those  stars  which, 
like  Gamma  of  Cassiopeia,  show  the  lines  of  hydrogen  bright  upon  a 
fainter  rainbow-tinted  spectrum.  There  is  yet  another  order  of  stars 
— those  whose  spectrum  presents  bright  bands  with  faintly  lustrous 
internals,  which,  again,  we  regard  as  true  suns,  though  they  differ 
doubtless  notably  from  our  own.  But  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
regarding  all  the  star  cloudlets,  whether  consisting  of  multitudinous 
stars,  like  the  clusters,  or  of  luminous  star-mist,  as  differing  toto  coelo 
from  the  sun  and  from  all  his  fellow-stars.  The  clusters,  indeed,  sdve 
a  spectrum  resembling  the  sun's,  and  we  regard  them  as  different  only 
because  of  their  clustering  condition.  But  the  nebulas  which  Sir  W. 
Herschel  regarded  as  consisting  entirely  of  luminous  vapor,  and  which 
spectroscopic  analysis  lias  proved  to  be  so  constituted,  we  have  re- 
garded not  merely  as  different  because  of  the  structure  and  arrange- 
ment of  their  component  parts,  but  as  differing  altogether  in  constitu- 
tion. Now,  the  object  seen  as  a  faint  blue  star  showed  the  same  spec- 
trum as  these  gaseous  nebulas,  or  rather  as  the  very  faintest  of  these 
nebulas.  For  most  of  them  show  three  bright  lines,  and  one  or  two 
even  show  four  bright  lines  ;  only  the  faintest  shine  with  absolutely 
monochromatic  or  one-tint  light.  The  star  in  Cygnus  now  shines  like 
these  faintest  of  the  gaseous  nebulas — that  is,  with  a  light  which,  un- 
der spectroscopic  analysis,  presents  only  one  bright  line. 

The  words  in  which  Lord  Lindsay  announced  this  remarkable  dis- 
covery are  these  :  "  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  this  star  has  changed 
into  a  planetary  nebula  of  small  angular  diameter,''''  though,  he  goes 
on  to  say,  "  such  a  result  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  nebular  hy- 
pothesis."    On  this  last  point  I  venture  to  express  dissent  from  Lord 


STAR    OR   STAR-MIST.  i5I 

Lindsay's  opinion,  which  is  in  any  case  a  somewhat  bold  inference 
from  a  single  observation.  Assuredly  the  discovery  just  made  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  a  certain  argument,  derived  from  the  gaseity  of 
nebulae,  in  favor  of  the  gaseous  hypothesis  of  Laplace— an  argument 
which  had  always  appeared  to  the  present  writer  insufficiently  estab- 
lished. But  the  nebular  hypothesis,  regarded  not  merely  in  the  form 
suggested  by  Laplace  (in  which  form  it  was  utterly  inconsistent  with 
physical  facts  now  known),  but  in  the  wider  sense  which  would  simply 
present  our  solar  system  in  the  remote  past  as  in  a  nebular  state,  with- 
out defining  its  nebulosity  as  due  either  to  gaseity  on  the  one  hand, 
or  to  a  mixed  meteoric  and  cometic  constitution  on  the  other,  has 
most  certainly  not  received  a  shock,  but  rather  receives  strong  sup- 
port, from  Mr.  Copeland's  observation.  A  theory  of  the  evolution  of 
the  solar  system,  advocated  by  me  during  the  last  seven  years,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  solar  system  had  its  origin  in  meteoric  and  cometic 
aggregation,  requires  that  during  the  long  ages  through  which  the 
process  of  development  continued  there  should  be  occasional  outbursts 
of  light  and  heat  in  moderate  degree  from  the  rest  of  the  system,  even 
to  its  outskirts.  That  intense  heat  imagined  by  Laplace  as  pervad- 
ing the  entire  gaseous  mass,  extendiug  originally  far  beyond  the  path 
of  the  remotest  planet  of  our  system,  would  require,  indeed  (if  it  were 
a  physical  possibility  in  other  ways),  that  the  spectrum  of  a  develop- 
ing solar  system  should  be  uniformly  that  of  gaseity  for  millions  on 
millions  of  years.  If  it  had  been  found  or  could  be  proved  that  the 
gaseous  nebulae  are  in  a  state  of  intense  heat,  Laplace's  gaseous  hy- 
pothesis would  have  had  one  powerful  argument  in  its  favor.  This 
argument  has  been  strongly  urged  by  those  who  have  taken  that 
special  view  of  the  gaseous  nebulae  which  the  recent  discovery  shows 
to  be  erroneous.  But  those  who  have  maintained,  as  I  have,  that  in 
the  gaseous  nebulae  we  probably  "  see  vast  systems  of  comets  travel- 
ing in  extensive  orbits  around  nuclear  stars,"  will  find  confirmation, 
not  disproof,  in  the  discovery  lately  made,  especially  when  considered 
in  combination  with  the  circumstance  that  Prof.  Wright,  of  Yale,  has 
found  the  cometic  spectrum  to  be  emitted  by  meteoric  masses  exposed 
to  moderate  heat;  while,  under  slight  changes  of  condition,  the  co- 
metic spectrum  of  bright  carbon  bands  appears  to  give  place  to  the 
nebular  bright-line  spectrum. 

However,  speculation  apart,  we  have  in  the  discovery  just  made  a 
most  important  fact  for  our  guidance— the  fact,  namely,  that  a  body 
which  to  ordinary  observation  has  been  in  all  respects  like  the  star  in 
the  CrowTn,  and  even  under  spectroscopic  observation  shone  for  a 
while  with  true  stellar  light,  has  dwindled  into  a  nebula  giving  the 
spectrum  which  has  heretofore  been  regarded  as  indicative  of  ordinary 
gaseity. — English  Mechanic. 


152  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


LANGUAGE   AND  THE  ENGLISH  CIVIL  SERVICE.1 

Br  ALEXANDER  BAIN, 

PROFESSOR  OF   LOGIC   IN  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   ABERDEEN. 

THE  system  of*  competitive  examinations  for  the  public  service,  of 
which  I  have  laid  before  the  section  a  brief  history  compiled 
from  the  reports,  is  one  of  those  radical  innovations  that  may  ulti- 
mately lead  to  great  consequences.  For  the  present,  however,  it 
leads  to  many  debates.  Not  merely  does  the  working  out  of  the 
scheme  involve  conflicting  views,  but  there  is  still  great  hesitation  in 
many  quarters  as  to  whether  the  innovation  is  to  be  productive  of 
good  or  of  evil.  The  report  of  the  Playfair  Commission,  and  the 
more  recent  report  relative  to  the  changes  in  the  India  Civil  Service 
regulations,  indicate  pretty  broadly  the  doubts  that  still  cleave  to 
many  minds  on  the  whole  question.  It  is  enough  to  refer  to  the  views 
of  Sir  Arthur  Helps,  Mr.  W.  R.  Greg,  and  Dr.  Farr,  expressed  to  the 
Playfair  Commission,  as  decidedly  adverse  to  the  competitive  system. 
The  authorities  cited  in  the  report  on  the  India  examinations  scarcely 
go  the  length  of  total  condemnation ;  but  many  acquiesce  only  be- 
cause there  is  no  hope  of  a  reversal. 

The  question  of  the  expediency  of  the  system  as  a  whole  is  not 
well  suited  to  a  sectional  discussion.  We  shall  be  much  better  em- 
ployed in  adverting  to  some  of  those  details  in  the  conduct  of  the 
examinations  that  have  a  bearing  on  the  whole  education  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  on  the  Civil  Service  itself.  It  was  very  well,  at 
first  starting,  for  the  commissioners  to  be  guided,  in  their  choice  of 
subjects  and  in  assigning  values  to  those  subjects,  by  the  received 
branches  of  education  in  the  schools  and  colleges.  But,  sooner  or 
later,  these  subjects  must  be  discussed  on  their  intrinsic  merits  for 
the  ends  in  view. 

I  shall  occupy  the  present  paper  with  the  consideration  of  two 
departments  in  the  examination  programme — the  one  relating  to  the 
physical  or  natural  sciences,3  the  other  relating  to  languages. 

This  second  topic  is  one  of  very  serious  import.  It  concerns  the 
Civil  Service  competitions  only  as  a  part  of  our  whole  scheme  of  edu- 
cation. I  mean  the  position  of  languages  in  our  examinations.  While 
the  vast  field  of  natural  science  is  rolled  up  in  one  heading,  with  a 
total  of  1,000  marks,  our  Civil  Service  scheme  presents  a  row  of  five 
languages  besides  our  own — two  ancient  and  three  modern — with  an 
aggregate  value  of  2,G25  marks.     The  India  scheme  has,  in  addition, 


1  From  advance-sheets  of  a  paper  entitled  "  The  Civil  Service  Examination  Scheme 
considered  with  Reference — 1.  To  Sciences ;  and,  2.  To  Languages,"  read  at  the  recent 
meeting  of  the  Social  Science  Congress  in  Aberdeen,  Scotland. 

2  This  part  of  the  address  is  omitted  for  want  of  space. 


LANGUAGE  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CIVIL  SERVICE.  153 

Sanskrit  and  Arabic,  at  500  marks  each ;  the  reasons  of  this  prescrip- 
tion being,  however,  not  the  same  as  for  the  foreooino-. 

The  place  of  language  in  education  is  not  confined  to  the  question 
as  between  the  ancient  and  the  modern  languages.  There  is  a  wider 
inquiry  as  to  the  place  of  languages  as  a  whole.  In  pursuing  this 
inquiry,  we  may  begin  with  certain  things  that  are  obvious  and  in- 
contestable. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  apparent  that  if  a  man  is  sent  to  hold  in- 
tercourse with  the  people  of  a  foreign  nation,  he  must  be  able  to  un- 
derstand and  to  speak  the  language  of  that  nation.  Our  India  civil 
servants  are,  on  that  ground,  required  to  master  the  Hindoo  spoken 
dialects. 

In  the  next  place,  if  a  certain  range  of  information  that  you  find 
indispensable  is  locked  up  in  a  foreign  language,  you  are  obliged  to 
learn  the  language.  If,  in  course  of  time,  all  this  information  is  trans- 
ferred to  our  native  tongue,  the  necessity  apparently  ceases.  These 
two  extreme  suppositions  will  be  allowed  at  once.  There  may,  how- 
ever, be  an  indefinite  number  of  intermediate  stages:  the  information 
may  be  partially  translated ;  and  it  will  then  be  a  question  whether 
the  trouble  of  learning  the  language  should  be  incurred  for  the  sake 
of  the  untranslated  part.  Or,  it  may  be  wholly  translated;  but  view- 
ing the  necessary  defects,  even  of  good  translations,  if  the  subject- 
matter  be  supremely  important,  some  people  will  think  it  worth  while 
to  learn  the  language  in  order  to  obtain  the  knowledge  in  its  greatest 
purity  and  precisions.  This  is  a  situation  that  admits  of  no  certain 
rule.  Our  clergy  are  expected  to  know  the  original  languages  of  the 
Bible,  notwithstanding  the  abundance  of  translations,  many  of  which 
must  be  far  superior  in  worth  and  authority  to  the  judgment  of  a 
merely  ordinary  proficient  in  Hebrew  and  Greek. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  the  classical  languages  are  no 
longer  the  exclusive  depository  of  any  kind  of  valuable  information, 
as  they  were  two  or  three  centuries  ago ;  yet  they  are  still  continued 
in  the  schools  as  if  they  possessed  their  original  function  unabated. 
We  do  not  speak  in  them,  nor  listen  to  them  spoken,  nor  write  in 
them,  nor  read  in  them,  for  obtaining  information.  Why,  then,  are 
they  kept  up?  Many  reasons  are  given,  as  you  know.  There  is  an 
endeavor  to  show  that,  even  in  their  original  function,  they  are  not 
quite  effete.  Certain  professions  are  said  to  rely  upon  them  for  some 
points  of  information  not  fully  communicated  by  the  medium  of  Eng- 
lish. Such  is  the  rather  indirect  example  of  the  clergy  with  Greek. 
So  it  is  said  that  law  is  not  thoroughly  understood  without  Latin,  be- 
cause the  great  source  of  law,  the  Roman  code,  is  written  in  Latin, 
and  is  in  many  points  untranslatable.  Further,  it  is  contended  that 
Greek  philosophy  cannot  be  fully  mastered  without  a  knowledge  of 
the  language  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  But  an  argument  that  is  re- 
duced to  these  examples  must  be  near  its  vanishing-point.     Not  one 


i54  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  the  cases  stands  a  rigorous  scrutiny,  and  they  are  not  relied  upon 
as  the  main  justification  of  the  continuance  of  classics.  A  new  line 
of  defense  is  opened  up  that  was  not  at  all  present  to  the  minds  of 
sixteenth-century  scholars.  We  are  told  of  numerous  indirect  and 
secondary  advantages  of  cultivating  language  in  general  and  the 
classic  languages  in  particular,  which  make  the  acquisition  a  reward- 
ing labor,  even  without  one  particle  of  the  primary  use.  But  for 
these  secondary  advantages,  languages  could  have  no  claim  to  ap- 
pear, with  such  enormous  values,  in  the  Civil  Service  scheme. 

My  purpose  requires  me  to  advert  to  these  alleged  secondary  uses 
of  language — not,  however,  for  the  purpose  of  counter-arguing  them, 
but  rather  to  indicate  what  seems  to  me  the  true  mode  of  bringing 
them  to  the  proof. 

The  most  usual  phraseology  for  describing  the  indirect  benefit  of 
languages  is  that  they  supply  a  training  to  the  powers  of  the  mind; 
that,  if  not  information,  they  are  culture;  that  they  react  upon  our 
mastery  of  our  own  language,  and  so  on.  It  is  quite  necessary,  how- 
ever, to  find  terms  more  definite  and  tangible  than  the  slippery  words 
"  culture  "  and  "  training ; "  we  must  know  in  precise  language  what 
particular  powers  or  aptitudes  are  increased  by  the  study  of  a  foreign 
language.  Nevertheless,  the  conclusions  set  forth  in  this  paper  do 
not  require  me  to  work  out  an  exhaustive  review  of  these  advantages. 
It  is  enough  to  give  as  many  as  will  serve  for  examples. 

Now,  it  must  be  freely  admitted,  as  a  possible  case,  that  a  prac- 
tice introduced,  in  the  first  instance,  for  a  particular  purpose,  may  be 
found  applicable  to  many  other  purposes ;  so  much  so  that,  ceasing 
to  be  employed  for  the  original  use,  this  practice  may  be  kept  up  for 
the  sake  of  the  after-uses.  For  example,  clothing  was  no  doubt  pri- 
marily contrived  for  warmth  ;  but  it  is  not  now  confined  to  that — dec- 
oration or  ornament,  distinction  of  sexes,  ranks,  and  offices,  modesty 
— are  also  attained  by  means  of  clothes.  This  example  is  a  suggestive 
one.  We  have  only  to  suppose  ourselves  migrating  to  some  African 
climate,  where  clothing  for  warmth  is  absolutely  dispensed  with. 
We  should  not  on  that  account  adopt  literal  nudity — we  should  still 
desire  to  maintain  those  other  advantages.  The  artistic  decoration 
of  the  person  would  continue  to  be  thought  of;  and,  as  no  amount  of 
painting  and  tattooing,  with  strings  of  beads  superadded,  would  an- 
swer to  our  ideal  of  personal  elegance,  we  should  have  recourse  to 
some  light,  filmy  textures,  that  would  allow  the  displays  of  drapery, 
colors,  and  design,  and  show  off  the  poetry  of  motion ;  we  should  also 
indicate  the  personal  differences  that  we  were  accustomed  to  show  by 
vesture.  But  now  comes  the  point  of  the  moral:  we  should  not  main- 
tain our  close,  heavy  fabrics,  our  great-coats,  shawls,  and  cloaks. 
These  would  cease  with  the  need  for  them.  Perhaps  the  first  emi- 
grants could  keep  up  the  prejudice  for  their  warm  things,  but  not  so 
their  successors. 


LANGUAGE  AND   THE  ENGLISH  CIVIL  SERVICE.    155 

Well,  then,  suppose  the  extreme  case  of  a  foreign  language  that 
is  entirely  and  avowedly  superseded  as  regards  communication  and 
interpretation  of  thoughts,  but  still  furnishing  so  many  valuable  aids 
to  mental  improvement  that  we  keep  it  up  for  the  sake  of  these.  As 
we  are  not  to  see,  speak,  or  read  the  language,  we  do  not  need  abso- 
lutely to  know  the  meaning  of  every  word ;  we  may,  perhaps,  dis- 
pense with  much  of  the  technicality  of  its  grammar.  The  vocables 
and  the  grammar  would  be  kept  up  exactly  so  far  as  to  serve  the 
other  purposes,  and  no  further.  The  teacher  would  have  in  view  the 
secondary  uses  alone.  Supposing  the  language  related  to  our  own  by 
derivation  of  words,  and  that  this  was  what  we  put  stress  upon,  then 
the  derivation  would  always  be  uppermost  in  the  teacher's  thoughts. 
If  it  were  to  illustrate  universal  grammar  and  philology,  this  would 
be  brought  out  to  the  neglect  of  translation. 

I  have  made  an  imaginary  supposition  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
real  case.  The  classical,  or  language,  teacher  is  assumed  to  be  fully 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  primary  use  of  the  languages  is  as  good 
as  defunct;  and  that  he  is  continued  in  office  because  of  certain 
clearly-assigned  secondary  uses,  but  for  which  he  would  be  suspended 
entirely.  Some  of  the  secondary  uses  present  to  his  mind,  at  all 
events  one  of  those  that  are  put  forward  in  argument,  is  that  a  for- 
eign language,  and  especially  Latin,  conduces  to  good  composition  in 
our  own  language.  And  as  we  do  compose  in  our  own  language,  and 
never  compose  in  Latin,  the  teacher  is  bound  to  think  mainly  of  the 
English  part  of  the  task:  to  see  that  the  pupils  succeed  in  the  English 
translation,  whether  they  succeed  in  the  other  or  not.  They  may  be 
left  in  a  state  of  considerable  ignorance  of  good  Latin  forms — igno- 
rance will  never  expose  them — but  any  defects  in  their  English  ex- 
pression will  be  sure  to  be  disclosed.  Again,  it  is  said  that  universal 
grammar  or  philology  is  taught  upon  the  basis  of  a  foreign  language. 
Is  this  object,  in  point  of  fact,  present  to  the  mind  of  every  teacher, 
and  brought  forward,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  power  of  reading 
and  writing,  which,  by  the  supposition,  is  never  to  be  wanted  ?  Fur- 
ther, the  Latin  grammar  is  said  to  be  a  logical  discipline.  Is  this, 
too,  kept  in  view  as  a  predominating  end  ?  Once  more,  it  is  declared 
that  through  the  classics  we  attain  the  highest  cultivation  of  taste, 
by  seeing  models  of  unparalleled  literary  form.  Be  it  so ;  is  this 
habitually  attended  to  in  the  teaching  of  these  languages  ? 

I  believe  I  am  safe  in  saying  that,  while  these  various  secondary 
advantages  are  put  forward  in  the  polemic  as  to  the  value  of  lan- 
guages, the  teaching  practice  is  not  in  full  consistency  therewith. 
Even  when  in  word  the  supporters  of  classics  put  forward  the  sec- 
ondary uses,  in  deed  they  belie  themselves.  Excellence  in  teaching 
is  held  by  them  to  consist,  in  the  first  instance,  in  the  power  of  accu- 
rate interpretation,  as  if  that  obsolete  use  were  still  the  use.  If  a 
teacher  does  this  well,  he  is  reckoned  a  good  teacher,  although  he 


156  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

does  little  or  nothing  for  the  other  ends,  which,  in  argument,  are 
treated  as  the  reason  of  his  existence.  Indeed,  this  is  the  kind  of 
teaching  that  is  alone  to  be  expected  from  the  ordinary  teacher ;  all 
the  other  ends  are  more  difficult  than  simple  word-teaching.  Even 
when  English  composition,  logic,  and  taste,  are  taught  in  the  most  di- 
rect way,  they  are  more  difficult  than  the  simple  teaching  of  a  foreign 
language  for  purposes  of  interpretation  ;  but  when  tacked  on  as  ac- 
cessories to  instruction  in  a  language,  they  are  still  more  troublesome 
to  impart.  A  teacher  of  rare  excellence  may  help  his  pupils  in  Eng- 
lish style,  in  philology,  in  logic,  and  in  taste ;  but  the  mass  of  teachers 
can  do  very  little  in  any  of  those  directions.  They  are  never  found 
fault  with  merely  because  their  teaching  does  not  rise  to  the  height 
of  the  great  arguments  that  justify  their  vocation;  they  would  be 
found  fault  with  if  their  pupils  were  supposed  to  have  made  little  way 
in  that  first  function  of  language  which  is  never  to  be  called  into 
exercise. 

I  do  not  rest  satisfied  with  quoting  the  palpable  inconsistency  be- 
tween the  practice  of  the  teacher  and  the  polemic  of  the  defender  of 
languages.  I  believe,  further,  that  it  is  not  expedient  to  carry  on  so 
many  different  acquisitions  together.  If  you  want  to  teach  thorough 
English  you  need  to  arrange  a  course  of  English,  allot  a  definite  time 
to  it,  and  follow  it  with  undivided  attention  during  that  time.  If  you 
wish  to  teach  philology,  provide  a  systematic  scheme,  or  text-book 
of  philology,  and  bring  together  all  the  most  select  illustrations  from 
languages  generally.  So  for  logic  and  for  taste :  these  subjects  are 
far  too  serious  to  be  imparted  in  passing  allusions  while  the  pupil  is 
engaged  in  struggling  with  enigmatic  difficulties.  They  need  a  place 
in  the  programme  to  themselves;  and,  when  so  provided  for,  the 
small  dropping  contributions  of  the  language-teacher  may  easily  be 
dispensed  with. 

The  argument  for  languages  may,  no  doubt,  take  a  bolder  flight, 
and  maintain  that  the  teacher  does  not  need  to  turn  aside  from  his 
plain  path  to  secure  these  secondary  ends — now  the  only  valuable 
ends.  The  contention  may  be  that  in  the  close  and  rigorous  atten- 
tion to  mere  interpretation,  just  as  if  interpretation  were  still  the  liv- 
ing use,  these  other  purposes  are  inevitably  secured — good  English, 
universal  grammar,  logic,  ta^te,  etc.  I  think,  however,  that  is  too  far 
from  the  fact  to  be  very  confidently  maintained.  Of  course,  were  it 
correct,  the  teacher  should  never  have  departed  from  it,  as  the  best 
teachers  continually  do,  and  glory  in  doing. 

On  the  face  of  the  thing,  it  must  seem  an  unworkable  position  to 
surrender  the  value  of  a  language,  as  a  language,  and  keep  it  up  for 
something  else.  The  teaching  must  always  be  guided  by  the  original, 
although  defunct,  use.  This  is  the  natural,  the  easy  course  to  follow; 
for  the  mass  of  teachers  at  all  times  it  is  the  broad  way.  Whatever 
the  necessities  of  argument  may  drive  a  man  to  say,  yet  in  his  teach- 


LANGUAGE  AND   THE  ENGLISH  CIVIL  SERVICE.    157 

ing  he  cannot  help  postulating  to  himself,  as  an  indispensable  fiction, 
that  his  pupils  are  some  clay  or  other  to  hear,  to  read,  to  speak,  or  to 
write,  the  language. 

The  intense  conservatism  in  the  matter  of  languages,  the  alacrity 
to  prescribe  languages  on  all  sides,  without  inquiring  whether  they 
are  likely  to  be  turned  to  account,  may  be  referred  to  various  causes. 
For  one  thing,  the  remark  may  seem  ungracious  and  invidious  that 
many  minds,  not  always  of  the  highest  force,  are  absorbed  and  in- 
toxicated by  languages.  But  apart  from  this  they  are,  by  compari- 
son, easy  to  teach  and  easy  to  examine  upon.  Now,  if  there  is  any 
motive  in  education  more  powerful  than  another,  it  is  ease  in  the 
work  itself.  We  are  all,  without  exception,  copyists  of  that  Irish 
celebrity  who,  when  he  came  to  a  good  bit  of  road,  paced  it  to  and 
fro  a  number  of  times  before  going  forward  on  the  rougher  footing. 

So  far  I  may  seem  to  be  arguing  against  the  teaching  of  language 
at  all,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  languages  expressively  called  dead.  I  am 
not,  however,  pressing  this  point  further  than  as  an  illustration.  I  do 
not  ask  any  one  to  give  an  opinion  against  classics  as  a  subject  of  in- 
struction ;  although,  undoubtedly,  if  this  opinion  were  prevalent,  my 
principal  task  would  be  very  much  lightened.  I  have  merely  ana- 
lyzed the  utilities  ascribed  to  the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  with 
a  view  to  settling  their  place  in  competitive  examinations. 

My  thesis,  then,  is  that  languages  are  not  a  proper  subject  for 
competition  with  a  view  to  professional  appointments.  The  explana- 
tion falls  under  two  heads  : 

In  the  first  place,  there  are  certain  avocations  where  a  foreign 
language  must  be  known,  because  it  has  to  be  used  in  actual  business. 
Such  are  the  Indian  spoken  languages.  Now,  it  is  clear  that  in  such 
cases  the  knowledge  of  the  language,  as  being  a  sine  qua  non,  must 
be  made  imperative.  This,  however,  as  I  think,  is  not  a  case  for  com- 
petition, but  for  a  sufficient  pass.  There  is  a  certain  pitch  of  attain- 
ment that  is  desirable  even  at  first  entering  the  service;  no  one 
should  fall  below  this,  and  to  rise  much  above  it  cannot  matter  a 
great  deal.  At  all  events,  I  think  the  measure  should  be  absolute  and 
not  relative.  I  would  not  give  a  man  merit  in  a  competition  because 
another  man  happens  to  be  worse  than  himself  in  a  matter  that  all 
must  know ;  both  the  men  may  be  absolutely  bad. 

It  may  be  the  case  that  certain  languages  are  so  admirably  con- 
structed and  so  full  of  beauties  that  to  study  them  is  a  liberal  educa- 
tion in  itself.  But  this  does  not  necessarily  hold  of  every  language 
that  an  official  of  the  British  Empire  may  happen  to  need.  It  does 
not  apply  to  the  Indian  tongues,  nor  to  Chinese,  nor,  I  should  sup- 
pose, to  the  Feejee  dialects.  The  only  human  faculty  that  is  tested  and 
brought  into  play  in  these  acquisitions  is  the  commonest  kind  of  mem- 
ory exercised  for  a  certain  time.  The  value  to  the  service  of  the  man 
that  can  excel  in  spoken  languages  does  not  lie  in  his  superior  admin- 


i58  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

istrative  ability,  but  in  his  being  sooner  fitted  for  actual  duty.  Un- 
doubtedly, if  two  men  go  out  to  Calcutta  so  unequal  in  their  knowl- 
edge of  native  languages,  or  in  the  preparation  for  that  knowledge, 
that  one  can  begin  work  in  six  months,  while  the  other  takes  nine, 
there  is  an  important  difference  between  them.  But  what  is  the  ob- 
vious mode  of  rewarding  the  differences?  Not,  I  should  think,  by 
pronouncing  one  a  higher  man  in  the  scale  of  the  competition,  but  by 
giving  him  some  money-prize  in  proportion  to  the  redemption  of  his 
time  for  official  work. 

Now,  as  regards  the  second  kind  of  languages,  those  that  are  sup- 
posed to  carry  with  them  all  the  valuable  indirect  consequences  that 
we  have  just  reviewed.  There  are  in  the  Civil  Service  scheme  five 
such  languages — the  two  ancient,  and  three  modern.  They  are  kept 
there,  not  because  they  are  ever  to  be  read  or  spoken  in  the  service, 
but  because  they  exercise  some  magical  efficacy  in  elevating  the 
whole  tone  of  the  human  intellect. 

If  I  were  discussing  the  Indian  Civil  Service  in  its  own  special- 
ties, I  would  deprecate  the  introduction  of  extraneous  languages  into 
the  competition  for  this  reason,  that  the  service  itself  taxes  the  verbal 
powers  more  than  any  other  service.  I  do  not  think  that  Lord  Ma- 
caulay  and  his  colleagues  had  this  circumstance  fully  in  view.  Ma- 
caulay  was  himself  a  glutton  for  language ;  and,  while  in  India,  read  a 
great  quantity  of  Latin  and  Greek.  But  he  was  exempted  from  the 
ordinary  lot  of  the  Indian  civil  servant ;  he  had  no  native  languages 
to  acquire  and  to  use.  If  a  man  both  speaks  and  writes  in  good  Eng- 
lish, and  converses  familiarly  in  several  Oriental  dialects,  his  lan- 
guage-memory is  sufficiently  well  taxed,  and  if  he  carries  with  him 
one  European  language  besides,  it  is  as  much  as  belongs  to  the  fitness 
of  things  in  that  department. 

My  proposal,  then,  goes  the  length  of  excluding  all  these  five  cul- 
tivated languages  from  the  competition,  notwithstanding  the  influence 
that  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  as  general  culture.  In  supporting 
it,  I  shall  assume  that  everything  that  can  be  said  in  their  favor  is 
true  to  the  letter;  that  they  assist  us  in  our  language,  that  they  cul- 
tivate logic  and  taste,  that  they  exemplify  universal  grammar,  and  so 
on.  All  that  my  purpose  requires  is  to  affirm  that  the  same  good 
ends  may  be  attained  in  other  ways ;  that  Latin,  Greek,  etc.,  are  but 
one  of  several  instruments  for  instructing  us  in  English  composition, 
reasoning,  taste,  and  so  on.  My  contention,  then,  is  that  the  ends 
themselves  are  to  be  looked  to,-  and  not  the  means  or  instruments, 
since  these  are  very  various.  English  composition  is,  of  course,  a 
valuable  end,  whether  got  through  the  study  of  Latin,  or  through  the 
study  of  English  authors  themselves,  or  through  the  inspiration  of 
natural  genius.  "Whatever  amount  of  skill  and  attainment  a  candi- 
date can  show  in  this  department  should  be  valued  in  the  examina- 
tion for  English  :  and  all  the  good  that  Latin  has  done  for  him  would 


LANGUAGE  AND   THE  ENGLISH  CIVIL  SERVICE.    i59 

thus  be  entered  to  Lis  credit.  If,  then,  the  study  of  Latin  is  found 
the  best  means  of  securing  good  marks  in  English,  it  will  be  pursued 
on  that  account ;  if  the  candidate  is  able  to  discover  other  less  labori- 
ous ways'of  attaining  the  end,  he  will  prefer  these  ways. 

The  same  applies  to  all  the  other  secondary  ends  of  language. 
Let  them  be  valued  in  their  own  departments.  Let  the  improvement 
of  the  reasoning  faculty  be  counted  wherever  that  is  shown  in  the  ex- 
amination. Good  reasoning  powers  will  evince  themselves  in  many 
places,  and  will  have  their  reward. 

The  principle  is  a  plain  and  obvious  one.  It  is  the  payment  for 
results,  without  inquiring  into  the  means.  There  are  certain  extreme 
cases  where  the  means  are  not  improperly  coupled  with  the  results  in 
the  final  examination ;  and  these  are  illustrations  of  the  principle. 
Thus,  in  passing  a  candidate  for  the  medical  profession,  the  final  end 
is  his  or  her  knowledge  of  diseases  and  their  remedies.  As  it  is 
admitted,  however,  that  there  are  certain  indispensable  preparatory 
studies — anatomy,  physiology,  and  materia  medica — such  studies  are 
made  part  of  the  examination,  because  they  contribute  to  the  testing 
for  the  final  end. 

The  argument  is  not  complete  until  we  survey  another  branch  of 
the  subject  of  examination  in  languages.  It  will  be  observed  in  the 
wording  of  the  programme  that  each  separate  language  is  coupled 
with  "literature  and  history."  It  is  the  language,  literature,  and  his- 
tory, of  Rome,  Greece,  etc.  And  the  examination-questions  show  the 
exact  scope  of  these  adjuncts,  and  also  the  values  attached  to  them, 
as  compared  with  the  language  by  itself. 

Let  us  consider  this  matter  a  little.  Take  history  first,  as  being 
the  least  involved.  Greece  and  Rome  have  both  a  certain  lasting  im- 
portance attaching  to  their  history  and  institutions;  and  these,  ac- 
cordingly, are  a  useful  study.  Of  course,  the  extant  writings  arc  the 
chief  groundwork  of  our  knowledge  of  these,  and  must  be  read.  But 
at  the  present  day  all  that  can  be  extracted  from  the  originals  is  pre- 
sented to  the  student  in  English  books  ;  and  to  these  he  is  exclusively 
referred  for  this  part  of  his  knowledge.  In  the  small  portion  of 
original  texts  that  a  pupil  at  school  or  college  toils  through,  he 
necessarily  gets  a  few  of  the  historical  facts  at  first  hand,  but  he 
could  much  more  easily  get  these  few  where  he  gets  the  rest,  in  the 
English  compilations.  Admitting,  then,  that  the  history  and  institu- 
tions of  Greece  and  Rome  constitute  a  valuable  education,  it  is  in  our 
power  to  secure  it  independently  of  the  original  tongues. 

The  other  branch— literature— is  not  so  easily  disposed  of.  In 
fact,  the  separating  of  the  literature  from  the  language,  you  will  say, 
is  a  self-evident  absurdity.  That,  however,  only  shows  that  you  have 
not  looked  carefully  into  examination-papers.  I  am  not  concerned 
with  what  the  a  priori  imagination  may  suppose  to  be  literature,  but 
with  the  actual  questions  put  by  examiners  under  that  name.     I  find 


i6o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

that  such  questions  are,  generally  speaking,  very  few,  perhaps  one  or 
two  in  a  long  paper,  and  nearly  all  pertain  to  the  outworks  of  litera- 
ture, so  to  speak.  Here  is  the  Latin  literature  of  one  paper:  In 
what  special  branch  of  literature  were  the  Romans  independent  of 
the  Greeks  ?  Mention  the  principal  writers  in  it,  with  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  each.  Who  was  the  first  to  employ  the  hexameter 
in  Latin  poetry,  and  in  what  poem?  To  what  language  is  Latin  most 
nearly  related,  and  what  is  the  cause  of  their  great  resemblance  ? 
The  Greek  literature  of  the  same  examination  involves  these  points : 
The  Aristophanic  estimate  of  Euripides,  with  criticisms  on  its  taste 
and  justice  (for  which,  however,  an  historical  subject  is  given  as  an 
alternative) ;  the  Greek  chorus,  and  choric  metres.  Now,  such  an  ex- 
amination is,  in  the  first  place,  a  most  meagre  view  of  literature :  it 
does  not  necessarily  exercise  the  faculty  of  critical  discernment.  In 
the  next  place,  it  is  chiefly  a  matter  of  compilation  from  English 
sources  ;  the  actual  readings  of  the  candidate  in  Greek  and  Latin 
would  be  of  little  account  in  the  matter.  Of  course,  the  choric  me- 
tres could  not  be  described  without  some  knowledge  of  Greek,  but 
the  matter  is  of  very  trifling  importance  in  an  educational  point  of 
view.  Generally  speaking,  the  questions  in  literature,  which  in  num- 
ber bear  no  proportion  to  histoi'ical  questions,  are  such  as  might  be 
included  under  history,  as  the  department  of  the  history  of  literature. 

The  distribution  of  the  750  marks  allotted  respectively  to  Latin 
and  to  Greek,  in  the  present  scheme,  is  this :  There  are  three  papers — 
two  are  occupied  exclusively  with  translation.  The  third  is  language, 
literature,  and  history :  the  language  means  purely  grammatical  ques- 
tions; so  that  583  marks  are  given  for  the  language  proper.  The  re- 
maining number,  167,  should  be  allotted  equally  between  literature 
and  history ;  but  history  has  always  the  lion's  share,  and  is,  in  fact, 
the  only  part  of  the  whole  examination  that  has,  to  my  mind,  any 
real  worth.  It  is  generally  a  very  searching  view  of  important  insti- 
tutions and  events,  together  with  what  may  be  called  their  philosophy. 
Now,  the  reform  that  seems  to  me  to  be  wanted  is  to  strike  out  every- 
thing else  from  the  examination.  At  the  same  time,  I  should  like  to 
see  the  experiment  of  a  real  literary  examination,  such  as  did  not 
necessarily  imply  a  knowledge  of  the  originals. 

It  is  interesting  to  turn  to  the  examination  in  modern  languages, 
wdiere  the  ancient  scheme  is  copied,  by  appending  literature  and  his- 
tory. Here  the  literature  is  decidedly  more  prominent  and  thorough. 
There  is  also  a  fair  paper  of  history  questions.  What  strikes  us,  how- 
ever, in  this,  is  a  slavish  adherence  to  the  form,  without  the  reality,  of 
the  ancient  situation.  We  have  independent  histories  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  but  scarcely  of  Germany,  France,  and  Italy.  Instead  of  par- 
titioning modern  European  history  among  the  language-examiners 
for  English,  French,  German,  Italian,  it  would  be  better  to  relieve 
them  of  history  altogether,  and  place  the  subject  as  a  whole  in  the 


LANGUAGE  AND   THE  ENGLISH  CIVIL  SERVICE.    16 1 

bands  of  a  distinct  examiner.  I  would  still  allow  merit  for  a  literary 
examination  in  French,  German,  and  Italian,  but  would  strike  off  the 
languages,  and  let  the  candidate  get  up  the  literature  as  he  chose. 
The  basis  of  a  candidate's  literary  knowledge,  and  his  first  introduc- 
tion to  literature,  ought  to  be  his  own  language ;  but  he  may  extend 
his  discrimination  and  his  power  by  other  literatures,  either  in  trans- 
lations or  in  originals,  as  he  pleases ;  but  the  examination,  as  before, 
should  test  the  discrimination  and  the  power,  and  not  the  vocabulary, 
of  the  languages  themselves. 

In  order  to  do  full  justice  to  classical  antiquity,  I  would  allow  the 
present  markings  to  continue,  at  the  rate  of  500  for  political  institu- 
tions and  history,  and  250  for  literature.  Some  day  this  will  be 
thought  too  much ;  but  political  philosophy  or  sociology  may  become 
more  systematic  'than  at  present,  and  history  questions  will  then  take 
a  different  form. 

In  like  manner,  I  would  abolish  the  language-examination  in 
modern  languages,  and  give  250  marks  for  the  literature  of  each  of 
the  three  modern  languages— French,  German,  Italian.  The  history 
would  be  taken  as  modern  history,  with  an  adequate  total  value. 

The  objections  to  this  proposal  will  mainly  revolve  themselves 
into  its  revolutionary  character.  The  remark  will  at  once  be  made 
that  the  classical  languages  would  cease  to  be  taught,  and  even  the 
modern  languages  discouraged.  The  meaning  of  this  I  take  to  be, 
that,  if  such  teaching  is  judged  solely  by  its  fruits,  it  must  necessarily 
be  condemned. 

The  only  way  to  fence  this  unpalatable  conclusion  is  to  maintain 
that  the  results  could  not  be  fully  tested  in  an  examination  as  sug- 
gested. Some  of  these  are  so  fine,  impalpable,  and  spiritual  in  their 
texture,  that  they  cannot  be  seized  by  any  questions  that  can  be  put, 
and  would  be  dropped  out  if  the  present  system  were  changed.  But 
results  so  untraceable  cannot  be  proved  to  exist  at  all. 

So  far  from  the  results  being  missed  by  disusing  the  exercises  of 
translation,  one  might  contend  that  they  would  only  begin  to  be  ap- 
preciated fairly  when  the  whole  stress  of  the  examination  is  put  upon 
them.  If  an  examiner  sets  a  paper  in  Roman  law,  containing  long 
Latin  extracts  to  be  translated,  he  is  starving  the  examination  in  law 
by  substituting  for  it  an  examination  in  Latin.  Whatever  knowledge 
of  Latin  terminology  is  necessary  to  the  knowledge  of  law  should  be 
required,  and  no  more.  So,  it  is  not  an  examination  in  Aristotle  to 
require  long  translations  from  the  Greek;  only  by  dispensing  with  all 
this  does  the  main  subject  receive  proper  attention. 

If  the  properly  literary  part  of  the  present  examinations  were 
much  of  a  reality,  there  woidd  be  a  nice  discussion  as  to  the  amount 
of  literary  tact  that  could  be  imparted  in  connection  with  a  foreign 
language,  as  translated  or  translatable.  But  I  have  made  an  ample 
concession,  when  I  propose  that  the  trial  should  be  made  of  examin- 

VOL.    XII. — 11 


i6z  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ing  in  literature  in  this  fashion;  and  I  do  not  see  any  difficulty  be- 
yond  the  initial  repugnance  of  the  professors  of  languages  to  be  em- 
ployed in  this  task,  and  the  fear,  on  the  part  of  candidates,  that  undue 
stress  might  be  placed  on  points  that  need  a  knowledge  of  originals. 

I  will  conclude  with  a  remark  on  the  apparent  tendency  of  the 
wide  options  in  the  commissioners'  scheme.  No  one  subject  is  obli- 
gatory ;  and  the  choice  is  so  wide  that  by  a  very  narrow  range  of 
acquirements  a  man  may  sometimes  succeed.  No  doubt,  as  a  rule,  it 
requires  a  considerable  mixture  of  subjects :  both  sciences  and  litera- 
ture have  to  be  included.  But  I  find  the  case  of  a  man  entering  the 
India  service  by  force  of  languages  alone,  which  I  cannot  but  think  a 
miscarriage.  Then  the  very  high  marks  assigned  to  mathematics 
allow  a  man  to  win  with  no  other  science,  and  no  other  culture,  but  a 
middling  examination  in  English.  To  those  that  think  so  highly  of 
foreign  languages,  this  must  seem  a  much  greater  anomaly  than  it 
does  to  me.  I  would  prefer,  however,  that  such  a  candidate  had  trav- 
ersed a  wider  field  of  science,  instead  of  excelling  in  high  mathemat- 
ics alone. 

There  are,  I  should  say,  three  great  regions  of  study  that  should 
be  fairly  represented  by  every  successful  candidate.  The  first  is  the 
sciences  as  a  whole,  in  the  form  and  order  that  I  have  suggested.  The 
second  is  English  composition,  in  which  successful  men  in  the  India 
competition  sometimes  show  a  cipher.  The  third  is  what  I  may  call 
loosely  the  humanities,  meaning  the  department  of  institutions  and 
history,  with  perhaps  literature :  to  be  computed  in  any  of  the  regions 
of  ancient  and  modern  history.  In  every  one  of  these  three  depart- 
ments I  would  fix  a  minimum  below  which  the  candidate  must  not 
fall. 


ON  THE  COMPARATIVE  STUPIDITY  OF  POLITICIANS.1 

WE  owe  an  apology  to  a  very  respectable  class  of  persons  for 
the  apparent,  but  we  trust  only  apparent,  and  certainly  invol- 
untary, discourtesy  of  the  thesis  to  which  we  invite  attention.  The 
late  Mr.  Mill,  in  a  well-known  passage,  called  the  Conservatives  the 
stupid  party.  We  do  not  call  them  so,  nor  their  opponents.  All  we 
venture  to  assert  of  both  is,  that  in  a  universe  of  graduated  intelli- 
gence they  are  not  highest  in  the  scale.  The  great  majority  of  even 
prominent  politicians  have  just  the  gifts  which  make  a  man  conspicu- 
ous in  a  town-council  or  a  board  of  guardians  :  physical  energy,  moral 
persistency,  and  ideas  on  a  level  with  those  of  their  fellows.  Miss 
Martineau,  in  her  very  candid  "  Autobiography,"  has  recorded  her 
sense  of  the  mental  and  moral  inferiority  of  the  political  men  with 

1  Condensed  from  Frascr's  Magazine. 


COMPARATIVE  STUPIDITY   OF  POLITICIANS.    163 

whom,  during  her  period  of  lionizing  in  London,  she  was  brought 
into  contact,  as  compared  with  the  men  of  letters,  and  still  more  with 
the  men  of  science,  whose  acquaintance  she  made.  She  observed  in 
the  politicians  a  much  lower  type  of  mind  and  character,  expressing 
itself  even  in  a  certain  vulgarity  of  manners,  the  lowest  point  being 
reached  in  all  these  particulars  by  the  Whig  aristocracy  of  the  day. 

In  the  long  prevalence  of  an  aristocratic  monopoly,  diminished 
now,  but  not  altogether  done  away  with,  and  subsisting  still  in  its 
effects  even  more  powerfully  than  in  itself,  one  of  the  special  causes 
of  the  comparative  stupidity  of  politicians  in  England  may  be  dis- 
cerned. But  the  evil  is  inherent  in  the  very  conditions  of  what 
are  called  practical  politics.  The  real  development  of  mind  is  to 
be  sought  in  what  Mr.  Arnold  calls  its  disinterested  play  in  science 
and  art.  Discipline  in  the  methods  of  research  after  truth,  famil- 
iarity with  the  highest  conceptions  of  the  universe,  delight  in  the 
most  perfect  forms  of  expression,  whether  they  take  the  shape  of  lit- 
erature or  of  the  plastic  and  imitative  arts,  these  are  the  feeders  and 
purifiers  of  the  mind.  The  artist,  including  the  author  as  well  as 
the  sculptor,  the  painter,  and  the  actor,  and  the  man  of  science,  live, 
so  far  as  they  are  true  to  their  work,  in  the  society  of  Nature  and  of 
its  great  interpreters.  They  are  constantly  in  the  presence  of  their 
betters.  The  statesman  lives  habitually  in  the  society  of  county  and 
borough  members ;  or,  if  we  restrict  our  view  to  the  intimate  associa- 
tions of  the  cabinet,  of  men  little,  if  at  all,  above  these  intellectually. 
In  other  words,  the  finest  mind  is  habitually  in  the  presence  of  its  in- 
feriors, whose  ideas  and  impulses  are  to  it  what  his  daily  beer  was  to 
Mr.  Justice  Maule,  the  instrumentality  with  which  he  brought  him- 
self down  to  the  level  of  his  work.  He  must  think  their  thoughts 
and  speak  their  language.  To  be  over  their  heads,  to  be,  as  a  dex- 
terous politician  said  of  a  great  philosopher,  too  clever  for  the  House 
of  Commons,  to  have  nobler  and  farther-reaching  conceptions  than 
they,  is  to  commit  the  sin  for  which  there  is  no  parliamentary  for- 
giveness. It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  House  of  Commons  is  wiser 
than  any  single  member;  a  saying  which,  according  as  it  is  inter- 
preted, is  either  an  absurdity  or  a  truism.  It  may  mean,  what  is  in- 
disputable, that  the  whole  is  greater  than  the  part,  or,  what  is  im- 
possible, that  the  average  is  higher  than  the  elements  which  raise  it. 
The  House  of  Commons  can  only  be  wiser  than  some  particular  mem- 
ber by  following  the  guidance  of  some  other  member  who,  on  that 
particular  occasion,  is  wiser  than  he;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  wiser  than 
one  of  its  less  wise  members.  The  saying,  however,  is  intended  to 
affirm  the  position  that  intellectual  superiority  is  not  the  truest  guide 
in  politics,  or,  in  other  words,  that  politicians,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
successful,  are  comparatively  stupid,  a  position  which  we  are  far  from 
disputing.  On  the  contrary,  we  affirm  it  as  a  truth  of  observation 
and  experience,  and  are  at  the  present  moment  doing  our  best  to  ac- 


164  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

count  for  it.  As  regards  the  proposition  itself,  it  means  simply  that 
the  House  of  Commons  knows  its  own  mind,  such  as  it  is,  and,  what- 
ever the  worth  of  that  knowledge,  better  than  any  single  member  of 
it ;  and  as  a  rule  the  average  member  who  is  in  sympathy  with  it  will 
interpret  it  better  than  the  member  of  much  higher  powers  who  is 
above  its  level.  But  it  is  only  wiser  than  its  wisest  members  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  field  may  be  said  to  be  wiser  than  the  farmer,  or 
the  ocean  than  the  navigator ;  that  is  to  say,  in  no  intelligible  sense 
at  all.  Like  Nature,  if  it  is  to  be  commanded  it  must  be  obeyed,  and 
the  necessity  of  understanding  it  is,  by  confusion  of  thought,  taken 
for  its  understanding  of  itself. 

The  inferior  society  in  which  politicians  live,  inferior  in  intelli- 
gence and  cultivation,  and  the  necessity  of  adapting  their  own 
thoughts  and  aims  to  those  of  the  ordinary  minds  and  characters 
they  have  to  influence,  brings  about  the  decline  and  deterioration  of 
men  of  originally  fine  endowments.  It  either  prevents  these  qualities 
from  developing,  or  stunts  them  where  they  have  a  certain  degree  of 
growth.  Their  "nature  is  subdued  to  what  it  works  in,  like  the 
dyer's  hand."  This  evil  is  in  part  qualified  by  another.  It  is  chiefly 
the  second-rate  order  of  minds  and  characters  that  betake  themselves 
now  to  politics  in  England — minds  already  on  the  level  to  which 
superiority  needs  to  be  reduced  before  it  can  be  effective.  For  this 
reason,  probably,  whenever  an  occasion  demands  a  hero  in  politics,  he 
has  been  seldom  found  in  the  walks  of  professional  statesmanship. 
The  national  crisis  which  asks  for  a  deliverer  finds  him  not  among 
those  who  have  been  deteriorated  and  dwarfed  by  the  ordinary  work 
and  associations  of  politics,  but  in  a  man  who  has  lived  among  nobler 
ideas  and  associations,  and  cultivated  a  larger  and  more  liberal  na- 
ture. The  practice  of  affairs  is,  no  doubt,  a  discipline  of  some  value ; 
but  nearly  everything  depends  on  what  the  affairs  are.  To  manage 
the  House  of  Commons,  to  get  bills  through  committee,  to  administer 
a  public  office,  does  not  seem  usually  to  be  good  training  for  very 
difficult  business.  When  a  considerable  emergency  occurs  there  is 
almost  invariably  a  breakdown  of  the  departments.  The  true  dis- 
cipline of  public  business  is  to  teach  men  readiness  in  action  and  fer- 
tility in  resources.  Its  ordinary  effect  is  to  harden  them  in  routine, 
which  suits  poorly  enough  even  the  common  round  and  the  daily  task 
of  business,  and  which  is  a  hinderance,  and  which  may  be  ruin  when 
necessities,  transcending  precedents  and  rules  of  office,  have  to  be 
encountered.  The  fact  is,  that  the  training  of  affairs,  invaluable  as  it 
is,  seldom  bears  its  proper  fruit,  unless  the  affairs  are  a  man's  own,  or 
when  the  consequences  of  failure  are  sure  to  come  upon  him  in  a 
rapid  and  crushing  manner.  The  merchant  or  capitalist,  whose  vent- 
ures depend  upon  his  personal  vigilance;  the  engineer,  who  has  to 
deal  with  overwhelming  physical  forces ;  the  military  commander, 
who  has  to  contend  at  once  with  the  not  always  benevolent  neutral- 


COMPARATIVE  STUPIDITY   OF  POLITICIANS.    165 

ity  of  Nature  and  the  watchfulness  of  human  enemies,  canuot  afford 
to  take  things  easily.  Action  is  forced  upon  them ;  they  must  either 
succeed  or  conspicuously  fail.  In  politics,  usually,  the  state  of  things 
is  entirely  different.  The  demand  is  rarely  made  for  heroic  measures; 
the  prudence  which  is  taught  is  that  rather  which  shuns  difficulty  and 
dreads  failure,  than  that  blending  of  caution  and  audacity  which  finds 
in  the  way  of  seeming  danger  the  true  path  of  safety.  The  educa- 
tion of  practice  in  parliamentary  politics  is,  therefore,  for  the  most 
part,  an  education  in  the  arts  of  inaction,  evasion,  and  delay.  The 
blame  of  doing  nothing  is  usually  less  than  the  blame  of  doing  amiss. 
A  great  writer,  whose  instinctive  sagacity  was  often  wiser  than  the 
elaborated  reflections  of  more  painful  thinkers,  embodied  the  char- 
acteristic weakness  of  political  training  in  England  when  he  made 
"  How  not  to  do  it "  the  aim  of  our  statesmen.  Lord  Melbourne's 
"  Can't  you  leave  it  alone  ?  "  gave  expression  to  the  same  paralysis  of 
action  in  excessive  caution  and  prudence.  Politics  of  this  sort  will 
attract  feeble  minds  and  characters,  or  will  enfeeble  those  naturally 
stronger.  The  oratory  which  they  foster  will  be  that  of  mystification, 
amusement,  and  excitement.  Acquaintance  with  political  philosophy 
or  economic  science  will  be  felt  to  be  wholly  superfluous.  Even  that 
empirical  knowledge  of  his  age  and  country,  and  of  the  assembly  in 
and  through  which  he  rules,  which  are  essential  to  every  practical 
statesman,  will  be  little  more  than  the  charlatan's  or  demagogue's  ac- 
quaintance with  the  foibles  and  passions  of  popular  sentiment  and 
opinion.  The  admiral  who  boasted  that  he  brought  his  ships  home 
uninjured  from  seas  in  which  he  had  not  encountered  the  enemy,  and 
the  Frenchman  whose  achievement  it  was  to  have  kept  himself  alive 
during  the  French  Revolution,  represent  the  prevalent  aims  of  modern 
statesmanship.  A  ministry  exists  to  keep  itself  in  existence ;  if  the 
ship,  without  going  anywhere  or  doing  anything,  can  be  kept  afloat, 
that  is  held  to  be  all  that  can  be  required.  This  faineant  policy  does 
not  require  any  high  range  of  intellect.  Men  of  the  first  order  will 
seek  careers  which  afford  ampler  scope  to  capacity.  If  they  betake 
themselves  to  public  life,  which  affords  them  no  opportunity  of  great 
public  work,  there  is  danger  of  their  devoting  their  energies  to  their 
own  private  and  personal  ends ;  or,  merely  to  establish  a  character 
for  "  honesty "  will  often  prove  enough  to  repose  on.  A  picture,  a 
statue,  or  a  poem,  does  not  receive  additional  value  from  the  fact  that 
its  author  is  a  very  pleasant  and  straightforward  sort  of  fellow ;  but 
"  honest  Jack  Althorp's  "  statesmanship  rested  entirely  on  this  basis 
of  character;  and  a  late  parliamentary  leader  has  been  commended 
on  the  ground  that  "  there  is  not  the  making  of  a  lie  in  him."  A 
career  in  which  character  may  be  a  substitute  for  capacity  must,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  be  pursued  on  a  lower  intellectual  level  than 
those  in  which  intelligence  and  cultivation  and  general  or  special 
knowledge  are  absolutely  essential. 


166  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

The  natural  and  almost  necessary  inferiority  of  politicians  as  a 
class  is  compatible  with  the  unsurpassed  intellectual  and  moral  great- 
ness of  statesmanship  of  the  highest  class.  Men  are  not  wanting  in 
the  history  of  any  country,  least  of  all  in  that  of  ours,  and  they  have 
representatives  among  us  now,  who  have  found  or  made  work  for 
themselves  to  do  which  taxes  the  very  highest  gifts,  and  in  the  doing 
of  which  the  very  humblest  and  most  commonplace  allies  and  instru- 
ments acquire  a  sort  of  transfiguration.  Their  appearance  and  exer- 
tions mark  the  high-water  point  in  the  national  life,  an  epoch  of  brief 
but  fruitful  work,  an  epoch  of  civil  heroism.  But  the  languor  comes 
after  the  exertion ;  and  in  such  a  period  of  languor  we  seem  now  to 
be  plunged.  Even  the  men  who  counted  for  much  when  they  fol- 
lowed a  great  leader  become  mere  ciphers  when  the  figure  which 
stood  at  their  head  is  removed. 

Apart  from  these  singular  cases  of  moral  and  intellectual  ascen- 
dency, the  gifts  which  make  a  parliamentary  leader  are  just  those 
which  make  a  man  popular  in  society.  The  cheerful  animal  spirits 
and  vigorous  gayety  of  temperament  which  characterized  Lord  Pal- 
merston,  or  the  amusing  qualities  of  a  public  entertainer  which 
marked  Charles  Townshend  (not  to  seek  for  living  illustrations),  are 
what  it  most  relishes — the  qualities  which  make  a  first-rate  host  in  a 
country-house,  or  an  amusing  diner-out  in  town. 


THE  LARYNGOSCOPE  AND  EHLTOSCOPE. 

HOW  THE   AIR-PASSAGES  ARE   EXPLORED. 
By  F.  SEEGEE,  M.  D. 

FROM  the  above  names,  most  persons  of  average  culture  would  at 
once  infer  that  they  are  instruments  for  exploring  the  larynx 
and  nose,  and  yet  but  few  would  suspect  what  simple  little  instru- 
ments they  are — merely  bits  of  looking-glass  set  in  a  frame  and  at- 
tached to  a  handle.  But,  when  they  give  the  matter  a  little  further 
investigation,  they  are  surprised  at  the  greatness  of  the  benefits 
which  have  already  been  reaped  by  mankind  from  the  discovery  of 
these  self-same  little  instruments.  They  will  learn  that  only  a  few 
years  ago  physicians  were  absolutely  in  the  dark  when  applied  to  by 
those  afflicted  with  disease  of  the  throat ;  and  that  where  then  all  was 
darkness,  there  now  is  clear  light,  thanks  to  the  zeal  and  scientific  de- 
votion of  Prof.  Tiirck,  of  the  University  of  Vienna,  who  in  1857  was 
the  first  to  successfully  use  the  laryngoscope  as  a  means  of  deter- 
mining the  nature  of  a  disease  in  the  throat  of  a  patient  then  in  the 


THE  LARYNGOSCOPE  AND   RHINOSCOPE.        167 

wards  of  the  General  Hospital  of  Vienna,  of  which  latter  Tiirck  was  the 
physician-in-chief.  Justice  and  the  truth  of  history,  however,  require 
that  we  should  not  omit  mentioning  the  experiments  and  efforts  of 
Senn,  of  Geneva  (1827)  ;  Babington,  of  London  (1829)  ;  Belloc,  of 
Paris  (1837);  Baumes,  of  Lyons  (1838);  Liston,  of  London  (1840);  of 
Warden  (1844)  ;  and,  finally,  of  Manuel  Garcia,  a  singing-teacher,  of 
London.  With  the  exception  of  the  last,  all  of  the  experimenters  had 
been  disappointed  in  their  efforts  to  devise  an  instrument  sufficiently 
suitable  and  generally  practical.  Their  experiments  all  lacked  that 
essential  practical  element  which  made  the  subsequent  labors  of  Tiirck 
and  Czermak  the  solid  basis  for  the  grand  superstructure  which  has 
grown  up  since  their  time.  While  Prof.  Tiirck  at  Vienna,  and  Prof. 
Czermak,  of  the  University  of  Krakau,  the  latter  having  become 
interested  by  Prof.  Tiirck  in  the  experiments,  wTere  thus  developing 
the  practical  application  of  the  laryngeal  mirror  {KehXkopffragen- 
spiegel,  as  Tiirck  named  it),  Garcia,  the  now  justly  famous  Spanish 
tenor  and  singing  maestro,  and  father  of  the  gifted  songstress,  Mali- 
bran,  was  at  the  very  same  time  experimenting  in  London,  but  with 
totally  different  purposes.  The  object  which  Tiirck  and  Czermak 
had  in  view  was  to  make  the  laryngoscope  available  as  an  adjunct  and 
aid  to  the  art  and  practice  of  medicine,  or,  in  other  words,  as  a  means 
of  diagnosis  in  disease  of  the  throat.  Garcia,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
prompted  by  a  desire  to  observe  the  actions  of  the  vocal  cords  and 
larynx  when  producing  tones  and  sounds.  His  observations  were 
published  in  the  Boyal  Philosophical  Magazine  and  Journal  of 
Science  (vol.  x.,  1855),  and  they  constitute  the  first  physiological  rec- 
ords of  the  human  voice  as  based  upon  observations  in  the  living 
subject.  It  is  interesting  at  this  date  to  turn  to  his  remarks  and  to 
note  the  thoroughness  therein  displayed.  The  curious  may  refer  to 
Madame  Seder's  "  The  Voice  in  Singing,"  or  to  the  writer's  transla- 
tion of  Sieber's  "Art  of  Singing."  It  is  but  proper  to  add  that 
although  Tiirck  and  Garcia  were  thus  experimenting  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  neither,  however,  knew  of  the  other  nor  of  his  efforts. 
Garcia  accomplished  his  aim  by  standing  with  his  back  to  the  sun 
and  catching  its  rays  upon  a  looking-glass  held  in  his  left  hand,  which 
he  then  reflected  into  his  opened  mouth.  Next  he  carried  a  dentist's 
mirror  to  the  back  of  his  mouth  ;  and  the  sun's  light  which,  in  the  first 
instance,  was  reflected  from  the  mirror  in  the  hand,  being  in  turn 
reflected  upon  the  dentist's  mirror,  served  to  illuminate  the  larynx 
below,  and  thus  caused  its  picture  to  become  visible  in  the  dentist's 
mirror.  Tiirck  also  used  the  sun's  rays,  but  in  a  more  direct  manner, 
viz.,  without  previous  reflection.  Prof.  Czermak,  as  already  remarked, 
soon  became  interested  in  Turck's  experiments,  and,  borrowing  some 
of  Turck's  mirrors,  repeated  the  experiments.  His  labors  resulted  in 
a  yet  further  and  most  brilliant  development  of  the  subject,  by  his 
introduction  of  a  powerful  artificial  light,  thus  making  us  independent 


168  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  sunlight,  and  enabling  an   examination  to  be  made  at  any  time  of 
the  day  or  night. 

For  the  clearer  comprehension  of  the  reader,  I  here  introduce  cut 
No.  1,  which  depicts  the  laryngoscope,  or  laryngeal  mirror.  At  the 
left  end  we  see  the  mirror,  which  is  set  in  a  silver  frame  and  back ; 
this  in  turn  is  attached  to  a  metal  stem,  and  the  stem  itself  is  set  in  a 
wooden  handle,  which  latter  is  merely  a  matter  of  convenience  by 
which  the  physician  is  enabled  to  handle  it  with  more  ease  and  facil- 

Stem.  nandle. 


.TIEMANN  &CQ.NY. 

Mirror. 


Fig.  1. 


ity.  The  mirror  is  made  of  various  sizes,  from  that  of  a  cent  to 
that  of  a  silver  half-dollar,  and  is  so  attached  to  the  stem  as  to 
describe  an  angle  of  120°  to  125°. 

Prior  to  the  discovery  of  the  laryngoscope,  the  great  obstacle  to 
the  diagnosis  and  comprehension  of  disease  of  the  larynx  lay  in  the 
fact  that  this  organ  was  so  placed  as  to  be  at  an  almost  direct  angle 
to  the  line  of  vision.  If  we  look  into  the  mouth  of  another  person, 
we  see  the  back  of  the  mouth  ;  but  if  we  wish  to  see  the  larynx,  or 
organ  of  tone  and  voice,  we  are  unable  to  do  it,  even  though  its  posi- 
tion is  just  back  of  and  below  the  root  of  the  tongue.  And,  even 
though  we  press  down  the  tongue,  we  derive  no  aid.  Nor  are  we 
enlightened  by  symptoms  of  pain  or  discomfort  in  the  throat,  for 
these  are  not  only  insufficient,  but  may  be  absolutely  deceptive.  A 
patient  may  complain  of  aches  and  pains,  and  may  imagine  them  in 
the  larynx,  and  all  the  while  the  organ  be  in  a  perfectly  sound  state  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand  again,  grave  forms  of  throat-disease  may  exist, 
and  with  so  little  of  actual  pain  as  to  cause  the  victim  hardly  any 
uneasiness.  The  revolution  in  this  department  of  the  medical  art  may 
perhaps  be  best  illustrated  when  I  refer  to  the  fact  that  ere  the  intro- 
duction of  the  laryngeal  mirror,  barely  twenty  years  ago,  there  were 
but  two  or  three  forms  of  laryngeal  disease  recognized  or  treated  of 
in  the  text-books  on  the  practice  of  medicine.  At  the  present  time, 
the  study  of  the  numerous  and  varied  diseases  of  this  wonderful  little 
organ,  the  larynx,  has  made  such  strides  that  laryngology  has,  like 
ophthalmology,  otology,  and  gynaecology,  demanded  and  received 
recognition  as  a  separate  and  distinct  department  of  medical  prac- 
tice, and  has  its  special  practitioners  in  almost  every  city  of  size 
and  population.  "Whereas,  formerly,  the  two  or  three  recognized 
forms  of  throat-disease  were  dismissed  in  a  scant  dozen  of  pages  in 
the  medical  text-works,  we  now  have  exhaustive  and  elaborate  trea- 
tises  in  all  of  the  great  languages  of  the  civilized  world.     Twenty 


THE  LARYNGOSCOPE  AND   RHINOSCOPE.        169 

years  ago  inflammation,  laryngeal  phthisis,  or,  popularly  speaking, 
throat -consumption,  and  CEdema,  constituted  the  three  recognized 
forms  of  throat-affection  ;  but,  in  eight  years  from  the  first  practical 
application  of  this  instrument,  the  revolution  was  such  that  separate 
treatises  described  and  treated  of  forty  and  more  varieties  of  disease, 
such  as  acute  laryngitis  and  the  various  acute  affections ;  simple 
chronic  laryngitis,  chronic  ulcerative  laryngitis;  of  six  or  seven  forms 
-of  inflammation  of  special  parts  of  the  larynx ;  of  tubercular  and 
syphilitic  laryngitis,  oedema,  abscess,  etc.  Next  we  find  descriptions 
of  the  diseases  which  attack  the  laryngeal  cartilages  or  framework 
of  the  larynx,  as  perichondritis  and  chondritis.  Then  follow  nervous 
forms  of  derangement,  and  then  paralytic  forms  of  difficulty.  In  the 
first  we  have  conditions  of  nervous  exaltation,  such  as  spasmodic 
coughs,  spasms,  etc.  Under  the  second  head  we  have  paralytic  affec- 
tions of  the  vocal  cords  and  laryngeal  muscles.  These  paralytic 
difficulties  of  the  larynx  may  exist  in  the  larynx  without  much  or 
even  any  impairment  of  the  general  health.  Then  we  have  anaemia 
or  impoverished  blood-supply,  and  finally  the  varied  forms  of  tumors 
and  morbid  growths,  cancerous,  syphilitic,  etc.  I  might  prolong  this 
list  yet  further,  and  even  dwell  at  length  upon  the  many  and  ingen- 
ious instruments  for  operating  within  the  larynx,  but  to  do  so  would 
be  to  exceed  the  limits  of  my  article. 

The  rhinoscopic  mirror,  or  rhinoscope,  is  practically  but  a  laryn- 
geal mirror  of  a  smaller  size.  The  stem  and  handle  are  the  same,  and 
attached  in  the  same  manner,  at  about  the  same  angle,  but  there  is 
the  difference  of  a  much  smaller  size  as  compared  to  the  laryngo- 
scope, the  mirror  being  usually  about  the  size  of  a  silver  three-cent 
piece.  Its  use  is  to  enable  us  to  see  the  back  or  inner  parts  of  the 
nose  (posterior  nares),  and  the  upper  part  of  the  pharynx  or  vault  of 
the  back  of  the  mouth.  Its  discovery,  which  occurred  soon  after  that 
of  the  laryngoscope,  is  due  to  the  patience  and  genius  of  Czermak, 
and  was  a  direct  result  of  the  discovery  of  the  laryngeal  mirror. 
The  parts  which  it  enables  us  to  see  are  hidden  behind  and  above 
the  palate,  and  the  office  of  the  rhinoscopic  mirror  is  simply  to  so 
reflect  the  light  as  to  illuminate  these  parts,  and  in  turn  enable 
their  image  to  become  visible  in  the  mirror.  In  the  first  instance  the 
little  mirror  is  placed  at  the  back  of  the  opened  mouth  of  the  patient. 
At  the  same  time  a  powerful  and  clear  light  from  an  illuminating 
apparatus  is  directed  into  the  patient's  mouth,  and  the  rays  striking 
upon  the  mirror  are  so  reflected  upward  and  forward  as  to  illuminate 
the  parts  we  seek  to  examine,  and  these  are  then,  as  just  remarked, 
made  visible  in  the  mirror.  And  in  this  principle  lies  the  entire  secret 
of  the  art  of  making  a  laryngoscopic  or  rhinoscopic  examination.  It 
is  simply  a  dexterous  management  of  mirrors  to  secure  proper  reflec- 
tion of  light,  and  the  consequent  illumination  and  examination  of  hid- 
den recesses. 


170 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


The  rhinoscope  also  enables  us  to  examine  the  nasal  or  pharyn- 
geal orifices  of  the  Eustachian  tubes.  These  latter  are  passages  lead- 
ing from  the  inner  side  of  the  drum  of  the  ear,  and  opening,  as 
already  indicated,  at  a  point  situated  in  the  posterior  nasal  parts. 
It  is  not  the  province  of  this  article  to  enter  into  minute  or  pre- 
cise detail,  and  therefore  we  shall  merely  add  that  these  tubes 
bear  a  very  important  relation  to  the  faculty  of  hearing.  If  the 
nasal  orifices  of  these  tubes  become  swollen  by  disease,  or  choked 
with  diseased  mucus,  greater  or  less  impairment  of  the  hearing-power 
results.  Consequently,  the  rhinoscope  has  rendered  no  small  service 
to  us  for  determining  causes  of  deafness,  and  of  curing  them,  which 
formerly  were  but  guessed  at  or  remained  unknown. 

But  to  make  the  laryngeal  and  rhinal  mirrors  available,  the  artifi- 
cial illumination  of  these  parts  is  necessary.  To  depend  upon  the  sun's 
rays,  as  was  the  case  with  the  original  experiments,  was  too  uncer- 
tain. Czermak,as  we  have  seen,  substituted  artificial  light,  and  thus 
enabled  an  examination  to  be  made  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night. 
Tobold,  of  Berlin,  after  a  time,  brought  forward  an  apparatus  which 
is  depicted  in  the  following  cut,  and  which  embodied  the  most  perfect 
apparatus  of  the  time.  The  cut  also  shows  us  the  position  of  the 
patient  and  of  the  examiner. 

As  introduced  by  him,  it  consisted  of  a  common  stucly-lamp :  a 


Fig.  2. 


is  a  brass  tube,  or  light-condenser,  in  which  are  convex  lenses,  c,  d,  g. 
The  lenses  c  and  d,  it  will  be  observed,  are  close  together,  while  the 
third,  ff,  is  at  the  distal  extremity  of  this  brass  tube.  At/  this  brass 
tube  can  be  unscrewed,   thus  enabling  the  cleansing  of  the  lenses. 


THE  LARYNGOSCOPE  AND  RHINOSCOPY. 


171 


The  lens  g  can  also  be  removed  at  h.  m  is  a  brass  arm  having  three 
joints,  and  fastened  to  the  lamp.  At  the  extremity  of  this  arm  is  a 
perforated  knob,  s,  through  which  the  handle  of  the  reflector,  i,  is 
passed,  and  which  is  fastened  by  a  screw.  At  o  is  a  single  charniere 
joint,  which  permits  of  the  forward  or  backward  motion  of  the 
reflector — the  illuminating  agent  being  oil.  By  substituting  gas 
burned  through  an  Argand  burner,  and  fed  from  any  ordinary  burner, 
the  apparatus  has  been  made  more  available,  and  better  light  obtained. 
The  following  cut  represents  the  improved  apparatus  as  now  made. 


Fig.  3. 


It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  changes.  Suffice  it  that  by 
these  the  apparatus  has  been  made  much  more  ready  and  simple  in 
management,  and  less  liable  to  derangement  of  focus  at  important 
moments  when  a  steady  light  is  needed  for  intra-laryngeal  operations. 
It  is  here  that  we  should  call  a  brief  attention  to  the  vast  strides 
which,  under  the  influence  of  the  laryngoscope,  have  been  effected  in 
the  operative  procedures  upon  this  organ.  All  of  these  are  now  made 
by  means  of  instruments  curved  at  a  direct  angle  to  the  line  of  vision, 
and  in  none  of  these  operations  does  the  operator  directly  see  the 


i72  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

objective  point.  His  operations  are  all  made  under  the  guidance  of 
the  imao-e  which  he  sees  reflected  in  the  laryngeal  mirror,  and  are 
comparatively  bloodless  and  accompanied  by  little  or  no  pain. 

A  laryngoscopic  examination  is  made  as  follows  :  In  the  second 
cut  we  see  the  positions  of  the  examiner  and  patient.  The  patient 
opens  his  mouth  as  widely  as  possible,  and  at  the  same  time  protrudes 
his  tongue.  The  examiner,  then,  with  a  small  napkin  takes  the  pro- 
truded tongue  between  his  thumb  and  forefinger,  thus  gently  steady- 
ing it  and  preventing  its  slipping  back  into  the  mouth.  The  object 
in  thus  protruding  the  tongue  is  to  enlarge  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  as 
much  as  possible.  The  laryngeal  mirror  is  next  warmed  either  over  the 
chimney  of  the  illuminator  or  in  some  warm  water,  so  as  to  prevent 
its  becoming  obscured  or  dimmed  by  the  breath.  It  is  then  quickly 
and  dexterously  carried  to  the  back  of  the  mouth.  A  bungling  man- 
ner of  doing  this,  by  causing  great  irritation  of  sensitive  parts  of  the 
mouth,  causes  gagging  and  even  vomiting,  and,  this  once  excited, 
all  further  examination  is  either  very  difficult  or  impossible  at  this 
sitting.  It  is  not  to  be  taken  for  granted,  however,  that  examinations 
can  readily  be  made  in  all  cases,  nor  even  in  the  larger  majority 
of  the  patients.  With  many  there  is  no  trouble,  but  there  are  also 
quite  a  number  of  patients  whose  throats  are  so  irritable  from  disease 
as  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  the  laryngoscope.  In  other  cases 
the  patient's  tongue  has  an  almost  irresistible  tendency  to  keep  rising 
up  toward  the  roof  of  the  mouth  and  thus  obstruct  the  view.  En- 
largement of  the  tonsils  according  to  the  degree  of  their  enlarge- 
ment makes  an  examination  either  very  difficult,  or  else,  if  so  much 
enlarged  that  they  meet  and  almost  close  up  the  throat,  makes  it 
impossible  until  the  enlargement  has  been  reduced.  For  the  over- 
coming of  mere  irritability  of  the  throat  or  fauces  when  this  per- 
tains to  a  degree  sufficient  to  be  troublesome,  vai'ious  means  have 
been  resorted  to,  to  produce  local  anaesthesia  of  the  fauces.  A  piece 
of  ice  held  in  the  mouth,  the  water  being  swallowed,  is  one  plan. 
Another  is  to  drop  twenty  drops  of  chloroform  on  a  handkerchief 
and  let  the  patient  inhale  it  for  a  minute.  With  most  cases  of 
irritable  throat  this  is  quite  sufficient,  and  without  at  all  rendering  the 
patient  drowsy  or  uncomfortable.  Bromide  of  potash  has  been  used, 
but  has  not  given  satisfaction  practically. 

The  examiner,  having  avoided  touching  the  back  of  the  tongue 
and  of  the  pharynx  with  the  mirror,  carries  it,  as  already  said,  to  the 
back  of  the  mouth  to  an  oblique  position  below  the  soft  palate  and 
with  the  uvula  or  "  drop  "  of  the  palate  at  its  back.  The  rays  of  light 
from  the  illuminating  apparatus,  striking  the  laryngeal  mirror,  are 
then  reflected  in  a  downward  direction  and  light  up  the  parts  (the 
larynx)  below.  These,  being  illuminated,  are  in  return  depicted 
upon  the  laryngeal  mirror  above.  The  process  may  be  compared  to 
that  of  the  management  of  toilet-mirrors  to  enable  us  to  see  the  back 


THE  LARYNGOSCOPE  AND   RHINOSCOPE.        173 

of  the  head.  In  the  latter  proceeding  it  is  not  the  back  of  the  head 
which  we  see,  but,  as  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  merely  its  reflec- 
tion in  the  mirror. 

And  at  this  point  we  should  remark  that,  while  the  laryngeal 
examination  to  one  versed  in  the  art  is  comparatively  easy,  the 
rhinoscopic  examination,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  very  difficult  matter, 
and  calls  into  play  no  small  amount  of  skill  and  ingenuity.  The  rea- 
sons for  this  are  mainly  because  of  the  unruliness  of  most  palates, 
which  have  a  tendency  to  bob  up  and  down  in  a  very  provoking 
manner.  We  shall  not  dwell  further  upon  this  point,  but  briefly  add 
a  few  remarks  as  to  what  this  instrument  has  clone  for  us.  Where 
we  can  apply  it  we  are  no  longer  in  the  dark  as  to  whether  a  case  of 
disease  is  that  of  a  chronic  catarrh,  nasal  tumor,  simple  inflammation, 
swelling,  or  ulceration.  In  our  climate,  in  which  diseases  of  the  nasal 
cavities,  and  particularly  catarrh,  are  so  prevalent  that  it  has  been 
estimated  that  10,000,000  of  our  people  have  the  disease  called 
catarrh  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  every  advance  by  which  we  are 
enabled  the  more  successfully  to  combat  these  complaints  is  of  gen- 
eral interest  and  importance.  How  potent  our  climate  is  in  causing 
catarrh  is  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Charles  Dickens,  who  contracted 
it  so  rapidly  and  severely  as  to  necessitate  his  abandoning  many  en- 
gagements and  compel  his  flight  from  this  country.  Interesting  is 
the  fact,  which  Darwin  records  in  his  "  Descent  of  Man,"  that  the 
Cebus  azarce,  a  species  of  Paraguayan  monkey,  is  liable  to  catarrh 
with  all  of  the  symptoms  found  in  his  more  human  relatives,  and 
which  when  often  recurrent  leads  in  them  to  consumption. 

The  higher  animals,  like  man,  are  endowed  with  an  organ  of  voice 
and  sound,  but  man  alone  has  the  supreme  gift  and  faculty  of  express- 
ing!; the  ideas  and  thoughts  which  his  intellectual  endowments  aud 
powers  give  rise  to,  or,  plainly  speaking,  he  alone  has  an  articulate 
language  equal  to  the  expression  of  most  of  his  feelings  and  senti- 
ments. How  wonderful,  then,  it  becomes  to  us  when  we  study  the 
little  organ  which  has  the  great  task  of  placing  man  in  direct  com- 
munication with  his  fellow-beings  !  And  how  wonderfully  this  little 
organ  modulates  its  tones  in  accordance  with  the  varying  degrees  of 
emotion  and  earnestness  !  And  when  we  consider  that  each  voice  has 
its  own  peculiarities  and  characteristics  which  distinguish  it  from  all 
others,  our  interest  deepens.  And  yet  there  is  little  or  in  fact  no  dif- 
ference in  the  mechanism  of  the  various  kinds  of  voice,  the  variations 
in  pitch  being  due  chiefly  to  the  greater  length  of  the  vocal  cords 
in  the  low-pitched  voices  and  to  their  shortness  in  the  high  voices. 
Tone,  whether  in  speech  or  song,  is  simply  a  result  of  the  action  of  a 
volume  of  air  in  a  quantity  which  is  regulated  by  the  will  of  the  speaker 
or  singer,  which,  coming  up  from  the  lungs  through  the  windpipe, 
passes  up  through  the  larynx,  where  it  causes  the  elastic  vocal  cords 
to  be  put  upon  the  stretch  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  according  as 


i74  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  intended  note  is  high  or  low,  to  vibrate,  and  thus  is  produced  the 
tone  which  upon  its  entrance  into  the  pharyngeal  cavity  and  mouth 
becomes  articulated,  and  the  sound  of  which  is  variously  and  essen- 
tially modified  according  to  the  varying  peculiarities  of  structure  and 
formation  of  the  larynx,  pharynx,  and  mouth.  It  is  also  changed  or 
modulated  according  as  the  various  parts  of  the  mouth,  tongue,  pal- 
ate, teeth,  and  lips,  assume  different  positions.  Cultivation  of  the 
voice  also  impresses  its  stamp.  The  tone-waves,  as  they  rush  out  of 
the  open  mouth,  communicate  their  vibrations  to  the  air,  which  con- 
ducts the  sound  onward  until  it  reaches  our  ears,  provided  we  are 
within  the  reach  of  these  atmospheric  vibrations.  The  difference 
between  a  cultivated  voice  or  note  is  soon  detected  in  the  purity  and 
regularity  with  which  its  sounds  reach  us  as  compared  to  the  harsh, 
irregular,  discordant  waves  impelled  by  one  not  so  cultivated.  Jo- 
hannes Mtiller  places  the  extreme  range  of  the  human  voice  at  four 
octaves,  but  it  is  quite  seldom  that  the  range  exceeds  two  and  a 
half  octaves.  In  some  phenomenal  voices,  like  those  of  the  gifted 
Parepa-Rosa,  Peschka-Leutner,  Mara,  Farinelli,  and  other  great  sing- 
ers, we  meet  with  astounding  range  and  power.  Parepa-Rosa  had 
a  voice  ranging  full  three  octaves,  from  sol2  to  sol3 ;  and  Flint,  the 
learned  and  indefatigable  physiologist,  tells  that  at  the  World's  Mu- 
sical Festival  at  Boston,  in  1869,  she  gave  the  most  astounding  exhi- 
bitions of  the  wonders  which  this  little  organ,  the  larynx,  is  capable 
of.  In  some  of  the  solos  by  Madame  Rosa,  accompanied  by  a  chorus 
of  12,000  with  an  orchestra  of  more  than  a  thousand,  and  largely 
composed  of  brass  instruments,  Prof.  Flint  distinctly  heard  the 
pure  and  just  notes  of  this  remarkable  soprano,  standing  alone,  as 
it  were,  against  the  entire  choral  and  instrumental  force ;  and  this 
in  an  immense  building  containing  an  audience  of  40,000  persons ! 
Mara's  voice  had  compass,  with  equal  fullness  of  tone,  of  three  oc- 
taves, and  she  possessed  such  power  of  musical  utterance  that  she 
imitated  the  most  difficult  passages  of  the  violin  and  flute  with  per- 
fect facility.  Farinelli  on  one  occasion  competed  with  a  trumpeter, 
who  accompanied  him  in  an  aria.  After  both  had  several  times  dwelt 
on  notes  in  which  each  sought  to  excel  the  other,  they  prolonged  a 
note  with  a  double  trill  in  thirds,  which  they  continued  until  both 
seemed  exhausted.  At  last  the  trumpeter  gave  up,  entirely  out  of 
breath,  while  Farinelli,  without  taking  breath,  prolonged  the  note 
with  renewed  volume  of  sound,  trilling  and  ending  finally  with  the 
most  difficult  roulades. 

But  these  wonderful  displays  of  the  power  of  the  larynx  must  not 
be  ascribed  entirely  to  the  intensity  of  the  tone,  but  are  in  no  small 
measure  due  to  the  absolute  mathematical  equality  of  the  sonorous 
vibrations  and  the  comparative  absence  of  discordant  waves.  By  the 
degree  of  tension  of  the  vocal  cords  which  is  required  for  the  pitch 
of  a  prescribed  tone,  and  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  greater  in  the 


DR.  DRAPER'S  LECTURE    ON  EVOLUTION.        i75 

higher  and  less  in  the  lower  notes,  the  muscles  of  the  larynx  really 
become  the  determining  forces  of  the  ability  to  sing,  and  a  great  deal 
depends  upon  securing  for  them  the  necessary  practice,  as  for  instance 
for  the  execution  of  rapid  successions  of  tones.  And  herein  lies  the 
difference  in  the  voices  of  singers,  the  purity  of  the  tone  depending 
upon  the  accuracy  with  which  they  put  the  vocal  cords  upon  the 
stretch,  while  in  those  whose  tones  are  impure  and  faulty,  the  difficulty 
lies  in  their  inability  to  give  the  requisite  tension,  and  of  course  the 
muscles  take  part  in  the  shortcoming.  A  correct  idea  of  the  sound, 
height,  and  depth,  of  the  tone  which  the  singer  intends  to  communi- 
cate, enables  him  to  strike  the  correct  tension  as  by  intuition,  and 
carries  him  along  its  continuance,  and  through  its  purity  of  modula- 
tion, until  it  has  ceased. 


DR.  DRAPER'S   LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.1 

ITS  ORIGIN,  PROGRESS,  AND  CONSEQUENCES. 

WHEN,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  year,  I  received  a  request 
to  deliver  before  this  Institute  a  lecture  on  the  subject  of  Evo- 
lution, I  was  at  first  disposed  to  excuse  myself.  Holding  religious 
views  which,  perhaps,  in  many  respects  are  not  in  accordance  with 
those  that  have  commended  themselves  to  you,  I  was  reluctant  to 
present  for  your  consideration  a  topic  which,  though  it  is  in  truth 
purely  scientific,  is  yet  connected  with  some  of  the  most  important 
and  imposing  theological  dogmas.  Whatever  conclusion  is  eventu- 
ally reached  respecting  it  will  have  an  influence  on  them.  But  there 
was  that  liberality  of  sentiment  in  your  letter — that  earnest  desire  for 
the  ascertainment  of  truth — that  I  cast  aside  these  hesitations,  and 
am  now  here  in  obedience  to  your  wishes. 

Not  that  I  can  do  justice  in  an  hour  to  so  great  a  subject,  the 
literature  of  which  ranges  through  many  centuries.  It  is  no  new- 
fangled romance,  as  some  would  have  us  believe.  It  comes  to  us 
from  a  venerable  antiquity.  The  theorems  it  expresses,  and  indeed 
on  which  it  is  based,  have  long  ago  been  clearly  known. 

Considering  the  shortness  of  the  time  allotted  me,  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  the  subject,  the  special  character  of  this  audience,  and  the 
nature  of  your  request,  I  perceive  that  it  is  not  an  elaborate  exposi- 
tion of  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the  theory  of  evolution  that  I  must 

1  The  ministers  of  the  Unitarian  Church  have  recently  held  a  meeting  of  their  Insti- 
tute at  Springfield,  Massachusetts.  They  had  requested  Dr.  John  W.  Draper  to  deliver 
before  them  a  lecture  on  the  subject  of  Evolution.  This  accordingly  was  done  on  Thurs- 
day, October  11th.  Some  passages  omitted  in  the  lecture  for  want  of  time  are  here  in- 
troduced. 


i76  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

give,  but  a  reference  to  those  facts  connected  with  it  that  are  of  chief 
interest  to  you.  I  must  bear  in  mind  that  this  is  an  institute  of  cler- 
gymen seeking  information  on  a  topic  which  they  consider  to  have  a 
bearing  on  their  pursuits,  and  that  it  is  from  a  corresponding  point 
of  view  that  I  must  present  it. 

Two  explanations  have  been  introduced  to  account  for  the  origin 
of  the  assemblage  of  organic  beings,  plant  and  animal,  that  surround 
us.  These  are  conveniently  designated  as  the  hypothesis  of  Creation 
and  that  of  Evolution. 

The  hypothesis  of  Creation  asserts  that  Almighty  God  called 
into  sudden  existence,  according  to  his  good  pleasure,  the  different 
types  of  life  that  we  see.  This  hypothesis  has  an  ecclesiastical  form, 
that  the  world,  with  all  its  various  animals  and  plants,  was  created 
about  six  thousand  years  ago.  The  work  was  completed  in  six  days, 
and  was  perfect,  needing  no  improvement.  At  the  close  of  each  day 
the  Almighty  surveyed  what  he  had  done,  and  pronounced  it  very 
good.  He  brought  all  the  animals  thus  made  before  Adam  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  to  receive  their  names.  There  was  nothing  more 
necessary,  and  on  the  seventh  day  he  rested. 

The  hypothesis  of  Evolution  asserts  that  from  one  or  a  few  origi- 
nal organisms  all  those  that  we  see  have  been  derived,  by  a  process 
of  evolving  or  development.  It  will  not  admit  that  there  has  been  any 
intervention  of  the  divine  power. 

The  former  of  these  hypotheses  considers  each  species  as  indepen- 
dent of  all  the  others;  the  second  considers  them  as  inter-related. 
Creation  reposes  on  the  arbitrary  act  of  God :  Evolution  on  the  uni- 
versal reign  of  law. 

The  hypothesis  of  Evolution  in  its  scientific  form  presents  three 
factors:  1.  Heredity;  2.  Environment;  3.  Adaptation.  By  heredity 
is  meant  the  tendency  manifested  by  an  organism  to  develop  in  the 
likeness  of  its  progenitor.  By  environment,  the  sum  total  of  the  phys- 
ical conditions  by  which  the  developing  organism  is  surrounded — the 
ambient  world.  By  adaptation,  the  disposition  so  to  modify  as  to  bring 
an  organism  and  its  environment  into  harmony.  This  may  be  accom- 
plished either  by  progression  or  retrogression. 

As  to  the  origin  of  organisms,  it  withholds,  for  the  present,  any 
definite  expression.  There  are,  however,  many  naturalists  who  in- 
cline to  believe  in  spontaneous  generation.  In  its  most  improved  form 
it  occupies  itself  with  two  classes  of  problems,  the  direct  and  the  in- 
verse, considering  in  the  former  the  effect  of  the  environment  on  the 
organism,  and  in  the  latter  deducing  from  the  organism  the  nature  of 
the  environment.  Thus  Schleiden  gathers  from  the  structure  of  the 
stems  of  certain  pine-trees  the  distribution  of  climates  at  the  time  of 
their  growth;  and  the  ancient  geographical  connections  of  Madagas- 
car and  of  Australia  may  be  thus  ascertained  from  their  fauna. 


DR.  DRAPER'S   LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        177 

After  a  very  long  and  exhaustive  survey  of  the  plants  and  animals 
of  his  own  locality,  and  of  all  that  the  power  and  favor  of  Alexander 
the  Great  enabled  him  to  inspect,  this  is  the  result  to  which  Aristotle, 
the  prince  of  ancient  Greek  naturalists,  came.  In  the  eighth  book  of 
his  "  History  of  Animals,"  when  speaking  of  the  chain  of  living  things, 
he  says  :  "  Nature  passes  so  gradually  from  inanimate  to  animate 
things,  that  from  their  continuity  the  boundary  between  them  is  in- 
distinct. The  race  of  plants  succeeds  immediately  that  of  inanimate 
objects,  and  these  differ  from  each  other  in  the  proportion  of  life  in 
which  they  participate ;  for,  compared  with  minerals,  plants  appear 
to  possess  life,  though  when  compared  with  animals  they  appear  in- 
animate. The  change  from  plants  to  animals  is  gradual ;  a  person 
might  question  to  which  of  these  classes  some  marine  objects  belong." 
Aristotle  referred  the  primitive  organisms  to  spontaneous  generation. 

In  the  Museum  of  Alexandria  the  views  of  Aristotle  were  greatly 
expanded.  There  it  was  discovered  that  animated  Nature  presents 
something  more  than  a  mere  connection  ;  that  each  link  of  Aristotle's 
chain,  if  such  a  phraseology  must  be  continued,  was  the  descendant  of 
its  predecessor,  the  progenitor  of  its  successor.  The  idea  now  lost  its 
mechanical  aspect  and  assumed  a  physiological  one. 

We  remark  an  important  extension  of  this  view  after  the  conquest 
of  Alexandria  by  the  Arabians.  If  we  compare  the  order  of  affiliation 
in  successive  points,  it  obviously  presents  a  new  fact — progress ;  and 
not  progress  only,  but  progress  from  the  imperfect  to  the  more  per- 
fect. This  view  included  lifeless  as  well  as  living  Nature.  A  practi- 
cal application  of  it  arose,  to  which  the  designation  Alchemy  was 
given.  There  is  an  unceasing  progression,  in  which  all  things  take 
part,  to  a  better  and  nobler  state.  In  this  slow  development  Nature 
has  no  need  to  hasten ;  she  has  eternity  to  work  in.  Thus,  in  the  min- 
eral world, base  and  unworthy  metals,  such  as  lead  and  tin,  are  slowly 
on  their  way  to  perfection.  They  reach  their  goal  on  turning  into 
gold.  It  is,  then,  for  us  to  ascertain  the  favoring  conditions,  and,  by 
imitating  or  increasing  them,  to  hasten  on  the  work. 

The  literature  of  those  ages  is  pervaded  with  the  idea  of  the 
mutability  of  everything— a  proneness  of  all  living  beings  to  suffer 
transmutation,  with  changes  in  the  environment,  or  in  the  physical 
conditions  to  which  they  are  exposed  ;  and  thus  arises  a  slow  but  con- 
tinuous procession,  in  the  unceasing  lapse  of  time,  to  the  beautiful  and 
good.  We  meet  with  this  in  both  the  serious  philosophical  works 
of  the  Mohammedans,  and  in  their  lighter  compositions  of  romance. 
They  wrote  books  on  the  production  of  animals  both  by  generation 
and  putrefaction.  They  thought  that  in  the  germ  there  exists  a  latent 
force  tending  to  evolve  it.  Ibn  Roschd  says :  "  There  are,  as  respects 
the  origin  of  living  beings,  two  opposite  theories.  Some  explain 
their  existence  by  development,  others  by  creation.  The  latter  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Christians,  as  well  as  of  our  Motacallemin."     Abubacer 

VOL.    XII. 12 


i78  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

accepts  the  reality  of  spontaneous  generation  by  means  of  putrefac- 
tion and  the  action  of  the  sun.  These  philosophers  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  dogma  of  creation  is  an  impossibility,  an  absurd 
opinion,  only  fit  for  the  vulgar  who  will  believe  anything.  According 
to  these  elevated  views,  living  beings  are  merely  a  movement  of  mat- 
ter under  the  influence  of  heat.  Man  himself  is  like  the  flame  of  a 
lamp,  a  form  or  shape  through  which  material  substance  is  passing, 
receiving  supplies,  dismissing  wastes,  and  evolving  force.  As  regards 
transmutation,  Al  Khazini  says  that  an  animal  passes  through  succes- 
sive stages  of  development,  but  we  must  not  suppose  that  naturalists 
mean  to  say  that  "  man  was  once  a  bull,  and  was  changed  into  an  ass, 
and  afterward  into  a  horse,  and  after  that  into  an  ape,  and  finally  be- 
came a  man." 

Arabian  philosophers  had  therefore  speculated  on  spontaneous 
generation,  and  the  conditions  necessary  for  its  occurrence ;  on  the 
development  of  a  germ  by  the  latent  force  it  contains ;  on  the  trans- 
mutation of  species ;  and  the  production  of  the  animal  series.  They 
had  rejected  the  theory  of  creation,  and  adopted  that  of  evolution. 
They  had  gained  ideas  respecting  the  unceasing  dominion  of  law,  but 
at  these  they  had  arrived  through  their  doctrine  of  emanation  and 
absorption,  rather  than  from  an  investigation  of  visible  Nature.  In 
the  religious  revolt  against  philosophy  that  took  place  toward  the 
twelfth  century,  these  ideas  were  exterminated  and  never  again  ap- 
peared in  Islam. 

If  the  doctrine  of  the  government  of  the  world  by  law  was  thus 
held  in  detestation  by  Islam,  it  was  still  more  bitterly  refused  by 
Christendom,  in  which  the  possibility  of  changing  the  divine  pur- 
poses was  carried  to  its  extreme  by  the  invocation  of  angels  and  saints, 
and  great  gains  accrued  to  the  Church  through  its  supposed  influence 
in  procuring  these  miraculous  interventions.  The  Papal  Government 
was  no  more  disposed  to  tolerate  universal  and  irreversible  law  than 
its  Paynim  antagonist  had  been.  The  Inquisition  had  been  invented 
and  set  at  work.  It  speedily  put  an  end,  not  only  in  the  south  of 
France,  but  all  over  Europe,  to  everything  supposed  to  be  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  orthodox  faith,  by  instituting  a  reign  of  terror. 

The  Reign  of  Terror  in  revolutionary  France  lasted  but  a  few 
months ;  the  atrocities  of  the  Commune  at  the  close  of  the  Franco- 
German  War  only  a  few  days  ;  but  the  Reign  of  Terror  in  Christen- 
dom has  continued  from  the  thirteenth  century  with  declining  en- 
ergy to  our  times.  Its  object  has  been  the  forcible  subjugation  of 
thought. 

The  Mohammedans  had  thus  brought  the  theory  of  evolution  up  to 
that  point  at  which,  for  any  further  advance,  clear  views  of  the  opera- 
tion of  law  in  the  government  of  the  world  were  necessary.  In  their 
speculations  in  this  particular  they  had  been  guided  by  theological 


DR.  DRAPER'S  LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        179 

considerations.  These  were  now  to  be  replaced  by  others  of  a  more 
definite  and  solid  kind,  derived  from  physical  science. 

The  starting-point  of  Christendom  in  the  theory  of  evolution,  for 
the  Mohammedans  had  now  ceased  to  philosophize,  was  the  publica- 
tion by  Copernicus  of  the  book  "  De  Revolutionibus  Orbium  Celes- 
tium."  In  this  the  Pythagorean  view  of  the  emplacement  of  the  solar 
system  was  revived.  The  way  for  this  restoration  had  been  prepared 
by  such  books  as  that  of  Cusa  "  On  Learned  Ignorance."  He  conceived 
of  -the  universe  as  a  vast  organism,  the  life  of  which  is  the  breath  of 
God,  and  which  has  neither  centre  nor  circumference,  but  is  infinite 
as  its  maker.  Such  views  were  largely  prevalent  in  Italy,  at  that 
time  the  focus  of  infidelity,  and  there  Copernicus  had  been.  His  work 
was  followed  by  Kepler's  great  discovery  of  the  three  laws  that  bear 
his  name. 

After  the  invention  of  printing,  the  "Index  Expurgatorius  "  of  pro- 
hibited books  had  become  essentially  necessary  to  the  religious  Reign 
of  Terror,  and  for  the  stifling  of  the  intellectual  development  of  man. 
The  Papal  Government,  accordingly,  established  the  Congregation  of 
that  Index. 

It  was  very  plain  that  the  tendency  of  Kepler's  discoveries  was 
to  confirm  the  dominating  influence  of  law  in  the  solar  system,  as  well 
as  to  destroy  geocentric  and  anthropocentric  theories.  It  was,  there- 
fore, adverse  to  the  Italian  theological  views,  and  to  the  current  reli- 
gious practices.  Kepler  had  published  an  epitome  of  the  Copernican 
theory.  This,  as  also  the  book  itself  of  Copernicus,  was  placed  in 
the  Index,  and  forbidden  to  be  read. 

The  Reformation  came.  It  did  not  much  change  the  matter.  It 
insisted  on  the  Mosaic  views,  and  would  tolerate  no  natural  science 
that  did  not  accord  with  them.  Nevertheless,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  political  power  it  shortly  gathered,  Newton's  "  Principia  "  was 
safely  published.  The  two  great  powers  into  which  Christendom 
was  divided  held  each  other  in  check.  The  sectarian  divisions  fast 
springing  up  in  Protestantism  found  occupation  in  their  contentions 
with  each  other.  The  bearing  which  Newton's  book  had  upon  those 
already  condemned  consisted  chiefly  in  this  — it  gave  indisputable 
reasons  that  Kepler's  laws  are  a  mathematical  necessity.  For  the 
finger  of  Providence  it  substituted  mechanical  force.  And  thus  the 
Reign  of  Law,  that  great  essential  to  the  theory  of  evolution,  was 
solidly  established. 

But  not  alone  did  the  discoveries  of  physical  astronomy  lead  to 
these  views.  If  the  heavens  were  observed,  the  earth,  also,  was  exam- 
ined. There  could  no  longer  be  any  doubt  that  fossil  remains  were 
the  relics  of  beings  that  were  once  alive,  as  Xenophanes  in  the  old 
times,  and  Da  Vinci  and  Palissy  more  recently,  had  affirmed— not 
mere  hisus  naturce  ;  that  the  earth's  strata  were  not  all  of  the  same 
age ;  that  in  the  oldest  no  fossils  could  be  found ;  that  there  had  been 


180  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

a  time  when  there  was  no  life  on  the  earth  ;  that  of  the  strata  some 
are  of  marine,  some  of  fresh-water  formation  ;  that  they  are  often  in- 
tercalated like  leaves  in  a  book,  and  therefore  cannot  be  referred  to 
any  single  cataclysm  such  as  the  deluge. 

From  considerations  connected  with  the  primary  rocks,  Leibnitz 
(1680)  had  inferred  that  the  earth  was  once  at  a  far  higher  tempera- 
ture than  now,  and  in  fact  must  have  been  in  an  ignited  state ;  that 
it  had  undergone  a  gradual  cooling.  Werner  subsequently  introduced 
the  Neptunic  theory,  and  Hutton  the  Plutonic.  These  cosmographi- 
cal  theories  were,  however,  of  less  importance  than  what  was  clone  in 
paleontology.  It  was  discovered  that  while  similar  fossil  remains  ex- 
tend over  vast  horizontal  surfaces,  different  fossils  are  found  to  suc- 
ceed each  other  very  rapidly  when  a  vertical  examination  is  made. 
There  is  a  geological  as  well  as  a  geographical  distribution  of  plants 
and  animals — geological  as  to  time,  geographical  as  to  surface. 

In  the  works  of  Maillet  (1748),  and  again  in  those  of  Buffon,  the 
old  doctrine  of  evolution  reappears.  A  more  formal  presentment  was, 
however,  made  by  Lamarck  in  his  "  Philosophic  zoologique,"  pub- 
lished in  1809.  He  advocated  the  doctrine  of  descent,  and  announced 
the  propositions  now  known  as  Darwinism.  According  to  him,  organic 
forms  originated  by  spontaneous  generation,  the  simplest  coming  first, 
and  the  complex  being  evolved  from  them.  Variations  and  transmu- 
tations occur  through  external  influences,  the  environment  modifying 
the  organism,  and  as  these  in  the  lapse  of  time  become  essential  dif- 
ferences, new  species  arise.  Moreover,  wants  experienced  cause  the 
will  to  develop  new  organs  by  the  modification  of  previously-existing 
ones,  and  these  are  transmitted  by  heredity  or  generation.  Organ- 
isms are  developed  out  of  one  another;  so  far  from  being  permanent, 
they  have  only  a  temporary  existence. 

Though  an  organism  tends  to  be  like  its  progenitor,  it  will  undergo 
changes  by  the  use  or  disuse  of  its  parts ;  by  the  former  it  is  devel- 
oped, by  the  latter  deteriorated.  The  changes  produced  thus,  or  by 
the  environment,  always  have  been,  and  always  will  be,  continuous, 
not  catastrophic. 

Lamarck  recognized  the  struggle  of  each  against  all.  He  saw 
plainly  the  influence  of  heredity,  and  understood  the  relation  of  envi- 
ronment and  adaptation.  He  defined  in  the  clearest  manner  the  doc- 
trine of  transmutation  and  theory  of  descent.  According  to  him,  if 
time  enough  be  allowed,  any  modification  may  take  place. 

So  far  from  meeting  with  acceptance,  the  ideas  of  Lamarck  brought 
upon  him  ridicule  and  obloquy.  He  was  as  much  misrepresented  as 
in  former  times  the  Arabian  Nature-philosophers  had  been.  The  great 
influence  of  Cuvier,  who  had  made  himself  a  champion  of  the  doctrine 
of  permanence  of  species,  caused  Lamarck's  views  to  be  silently  ig- 
nored, or,  if  by  chance  they  were  referred  to,  denounced.     They  were 


DR.  DRAPER'' S  LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        181 

condemned  as  morally  reprehensible  and  theologically  dangerous.  In 
this,  the  authority  of  Cuvier  in  regard  to  evolution  acted  as  the  au- 
thority of  Newton  had  done  in  regard  to  the  undulatory  theory  of 
light. 

In  like  manner  the  views  of  Oken  met  with  resistance,  especially 
his  deduction  that  the  highest  animals  are  the  result  of  development, 
not  of  creation.  Man,  he  significantly  says,  has  been  developed,  not 
created.  He  conceived  all  Nature  to  be  in  a  process  of  evolution.  His 
demonstration,  that  the  bones  of  the  skull  are  only  vertebral  modifi- 
cations, however,  reconciled  many  persons  to  a  more  favorable  opinion 
of  his  hypothesis  of  development. 

Geofiroy  St.-Hilaire  (1828)  did  not  doubt  that  animals  now  living 
are  descended  by  an  unbroken  succession  from  extinct  ones,  by  trans- 
formation from  form  to  form;  that  different  species  are  degenerations 
of  the  same  type,  being  due  to  the  influence  of  the  environment 
(monde  ambiant).  He  thus  became  the  opponent  of  Cuvier,  and  did 
very  much  to  break  down  the  influence  of  that  zoologist.  In  these 
variations  he  considered  that  the  organism  is  passive,  differing  in 
this  from  Lamarck,  who  thought  it  active.  His  views  of  the  influence 
of  the  environment  were  very  precise :  thus  he  thought  that  birds 
arose  from  reptiles,  through  the  diminution  of  carbonic  acid  and  in- 
crease of  oxygen  in  the  air,  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  coal ;  the 
activity  of  the  animal  circulation  becoming  greater,  and  the  reptile 
scales  being  transformed  into  the  feathers  of  the  bird.  As  is  now 
known,  this  was  substantially  a  correct  interpretation. 

Though  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution  were  thus  thor- 
oughly understood,  the  control  of  heredity,  the  influence  of  environ- 
ment, the  modeling  by  adaptation,  public  attention  failed  to  be  drawn 
to  it  until  1844,  when  there  was  published  in  England  an  anonymous 
book  under  the  title  of  the  "  Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History  of  Cre- 
ation." In  this  the  author  set  forth  Lamarck's  views,  and  the  work, 
being  clearly  and  attractively  composed,  passed  through  a  great  many 
editions.  Very  fortunately,  it  may  be  said,  it  accepted  some  unsub- 
stantiated facts  and  contained  some  physical  mistakes.  These  tempted 
many  skillful  and  bitter  criticisms  of  hostile  theologians.  The  reviews 
and  journals  were  filled  with  their  attacks  and  answers  to  them. 
Thus,  happily,  the  whole  subject  was  brought  into  such  prominence 
that  it  could  be  withdrawn  into  obscurity  no  more. 

In  the  discussions  of  this  book  the  author  made  use  of  a  most  im- 
portant anatomical  discovery,  that  even  in  the  case  of  the  highest 
species,  man  himself,  the  embryo  does  not  simply  grow  or  increase  in 
size,  but  passes  in  succession  through  a  series  of  forms,  which,  ex- 
amined from  epoch  to  epoch,  are  totally  dissimilar.  It  had  been  the 
vulgar  opinion  that  after  the  first  moment  of  conception  all  the  parts 
of  the  animal  that  is  to  be  are  present,  and  that  they  simply  grow. 
The  human  embryo,  according  to  this,  reaches  birth  very  much  in  the 


i8z  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

same  way  that  the  infant  passes  from  birth  to  manhood.  That  was, 
I  say,  the  vulgar  opinion,  but,  in  laying  before  our  eyes  the  develop- 
ment of  the  individual,  God  has  given  us  a  revelation  of  the  course 
of  life  by  the  world. 

The  evolutionary  history  of  animals  establishes  that  there  is  not 
this  homogeneousness  of  development,  but  that  the  higher  pass 
through  the  forms  of  the  lower;  that  the  mammal,  for  instance, 
passes  through  stages  at  which  the  lower  vertebrates  remain  fixed. 
All  are  therefore  pursuing  a  journey  along  the  same  road,  though 
some  may  travel  to  a  longer,  some  to  a  shorter,  distance.  There  is 
thus  a  parallelism  between  individual  and  race  development ;  a  close 
connection  between  the  phases  of  development  in  the  individual  and 
in  the  species. 

The  type  of  each  animal  is  from  the  first  as  it  were  imbedded  in 
the  embryo  and  controls  its  evolvement.  The  embryo  never  makes 
any  attempt  to  change  from  one  type  to  another,  but  sometimes  the 
tendency  to  a  form  and  not  the  form  itself  is  transmitted. 

The  parallelism  that  exists  between  the  career  of  the  individual 
and  the  career  of  the  race  reappears  in  the  life  of  the  world.  There  is 
a  resemblance — indeed  more  than  a  resemblance — between  the  succes- 
sive forms  through  which  man  himself  in  his  prenatal  life  has  passed, 
and  those  that  have  appeared  in  myriads  of  ages  in  the  biography  of 
the  earth.  Common-sense  revolts  against  the  idea  that  these  trans- 
formations are  in  the  individual  due  to  divine  intervention.  In  that, 
and  in  the  case  of  the  earth,  they  must  be  due  to  natural  law. 

In  the  year  1859  there  was  published  by  Mr.  Darwin  a  work  on 
"The  Origin  of  Species  by  Means  of  Natural  Selection,  or  the  Preser- 
vation of  Favored  Races  in  the  Struggle  for  Life." 

In  this,  and  in  other  subsequent  works,  it  is  shown  that  the  indi- 
viduals of  each  species  tend  to  increase  in  a  very  rapid  ratio — an  in- 
crease more  rapid  than  that  of  their  means  of  subsistence.  Each  has, 
therefore,  to  contend  with  his  competitors ;  and  hence  all  must  exhibit 
"  a  struggle  for  existence." 

CTCT 

But  modifications  are  incessantly  taking  place  in  the  form  and 
characteristics  of  individuals,  giving  to  some  an  advantage,  to  some 
a  disadvantage,  as  compared  with  their  competitors.  Hence,  the  for- 
mer will  prevail,  the  latter  will  succumb  in  the  struggle.  This  in 
the  language  of  the  hypothesis  is  formulated  "  the  survival  of  the 
fittest." 

And  as  the  pigeon-fancier  or  other  person  who  devotes  himself  to 
the  breeding  of  animals  can  produce  any  form  he  wishes  by  selecting 
its  progenitors  and  pairing  them  together,  exercising  thus  artificial 
selection,  so  if  any  of  the  chance-forms  that  have  arisen  should  be 
better  adapted  than  others  for  perpetuation,  they  will  be  perpetuated, 
or  Nature  may  be  said  to  have  made  a  selection.  Hence  the  term 
"natural  selection,"  which  has  been  made  to  designate  this  hypothesis. 


DR.  DRAPER'S  LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        183 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  phrase  "  natural  selection  "  has  been 
introduced.  It  is  very  unscientific,  very  inferior  to  the  old  expression 
adaptation.  It  implies  a  personification  of  Nature.  It  is  anthropo- 
morphic. But  Nature  never  selects,  never  accepts  or  rejects,  knows 
nothing  about  duties,  nothing  about  fitness  or  unfitness.  Nature 
simply  obeys  laws. 

Natural  selection  is  thus  supposed  to  perpetuate  an  organism 
after  adaptation  to  its  environment  has  taken  place.  The  change 
implied  by  adaptation  must  precede  it.  It  should  be  regarded  rather 
as  a  metaphorical  expression  than  a  scientific  statement  of  an  actual 
physical  event. 

Darwinism,  therefore,  does  not  touch  the  great  question  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  variation  of  organisms  arises.  It  only  teaches  how 
such  variations  are  perpetuated. 

The  publication  of  Humboldt's  "Essay  on  the  Geography  of 
Plants"  (1805)  first  formally  drew  the  attention  of  botanists  to  the 
connection  between  the  distribution  of  plants  and  the  distribution  of 
heat  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  As  an  advance  is  made  from  the 
equator  toward  the  pole  in  either  hemisphere,  the  mean  annual  tem- 
perature declines,  and  in  succession  a  series  of  vegetable  zones  is 
encountered,  merging  gradually  into  each  other,  though  each,  where 
best  marked,  is  perfectly  distinguished  from  its  successor.  In  the 
tropics  there  are  the  palms  which  give  so  striking  a  characteristic  to 
the  landscape,  the  broad-leaved  bananas,  and  great  climbing  plants 
throwing  themselves  from  stem  to  stem  like  the  rigging  of  a  ship. 
Next  follows  a  zone  of  evergreen  woods,  in  which  the  orange  and 
citron  come  to  perfection.  Beyond  this,  another  of  deciduous  trees, 
the  oak,  the  chestnut,  and  the  fruit-trees  of  our  orchards.  Here  the 
great  climbers  of  the  tropics  are  replaced  by  the  hop  and  the  ivy. 
Still  farther  is  a  belt  of  conifers,  firs,  larches,  pines,  and  other  needle- 
leaved  trees ;  and  these  lead  through  a  range  of  birches,  becoming 
more  and  more  stunted,  to  a  region  of  mosses  and  saxifrages,  but 
which  at  length  has  no  tree  nor  shrub;  and  finally,  as  the  perpet- 
ual polar  ices  are  reached,  the  red-snow  alga  is  the  last  trace  of  vege- 
table organization. 

A  similar  series  of  facts  had  long  previously  been  observed  by 
Tournefort  in  an  ascent  of  Mount  Ararat.  The  distribution  of  vege- 
tation from  the  base  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  bears  a  general  resem- 
blance to  the  distribution  from  the  base  to  the  polar  regions.  These 
facts  were  generalized  by  subsequent  observers.  It  was  established 
that  there  exists  an  analogy  between  horizontal  distribution  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe,  and  vertical  distribution  at  different  altitudes 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Even  in  the  tropics,  if  a  mountain  be 
sufficiently  high,  a  short  ascent  suffices  to  carry  us  from  the  charac- 
teristic endogenous  growths  at  its  foot  through  a  zone  of  evergreens 


i84  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

into  one  of  deciduous  trees,  and  this  again  into  one  of  conifers,  the 
vegetation  declining  through  mosses  and  lichens  as  we  reach  the 
region  of  perpetual  snow. 

In  these  cases  of  horizontal  and  vertical  distribution  which  thus 
present  such  a  striking  botanical  resemblance,  there  is  likewise  so 
clear  a  meteorological  analogy  that  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  con- 
clusion that  the  distribution  of  plants  depends  very  largely  on  the 
distribution  of  heat.  And,  indeed,  what  better  illustration  of  the  in- 
fluence of  heat  could  we  have  than  this,  that  by  artificially  adjusting 
the  temperature  of  hot-houses  we  can  cause  any  plant  to  grow  in  any 
latitude  ? 

But  temperature  alone  does  not  determine  the  distribution  of 
plants.  If  it  did,  we  should  find  the  same  species  in  the  same  isother- 
mal zones.  Throughout  the  old  continent,  with  the  exception  of  the 
torrid  zone,  heaths  abound ;  but  in  America  not  a  single  heath  occurs. 
In  the  New  World,  through  forty  degrees  on  each  side  of  the  equator, 
the  cactus  tribe  flourishes ;  in  the  Old  not  a  single  cactus  is  to  be  seen 
— the  spurges  there  replace  them.  So,  again,  in  Australia,  the  forests 
present  a  melancholy,  a  shadeless  character,  from  their  casuarinas, 
acacias,  eucalypti,  whereas,  if  temperature  alone  were  concerned,  they 
should  offer  the  same  aspect  as  the  forests  of  North  America  and 
Europe. 

As  regards  animals  the  same  remark  may  be  made.  In  the  tem- 
perate zone,  eastward  beyond  the  Caspian,  there  are  men  whose  com- 
plexion is  yellow ;  in  Europe  the  complexion  is  white ;  the  American 
Indian  is  red.  Asia  has  its  Tibet  bear,  Europe  its  brown  bear,  North 
America  its  black  bear.  The  European  stag  finds  in  America  its 
analogue  in  the  wapiti,  its  Asiatic  in  the  musk-deer.  The  wild-ox  of 
Lithuania  differs  from  the  North  American  buffalo,  and  this,  again, 
from  the  Mongolian  yak.  The  llama  in  America  replaces  the  camel 
of  Asia,  the  puma  replaces  the  lion.  Brazil  has  had  in  times  long 
past  representatives  of  its  existing  sloths  and  armadillos.  Aus- 
tralia, which  has  isothermal  zones  like  those  of  other  continents,  has 
no  apes  or  monkeys,  no  cats  or  tigers,  no  wolves  or  bears,  hyenas, 
horses,  squirrels,  rabbits ;  no  woodpeckers  or  pheasants.  Instead  of 
them  it  has  the  kangaroo,  wombat,  ornithorhynchus,  cockatoos,  and 
lories,  nowhere  else  found. 

Then,  though  heat  is  a  dominating  influence  in  the  distribution  of 
plants  and  animals,  it  is  by  no  means  the  only  one.  There  are  also 
other  conditions,  such  as  the  supply  of  water,  the  composition  of  the 
soil,  the  access  of  light,  etc.  It  has  been  found  convenient  to  group 
all  these  together,  and  to  speak  of  them,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
under  a  single  designation,  "  The  Environment." 

Change  in  the  environment,  and  change  in  its  organisms,  go  hand- 
in-hand.  Should  the  warmth  of  the  tropics  be  diffused  into  the  polar 
circle,   a  tropical   vegetation    would   replace  the   vanishing   snows. 


DR.   DRAPER'S  LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        185 

Should  the  ices  of  the  poles  spread  over  the  temperate  region,  the 
reindeer  would  accompany  their  invading  edge. 

While  the  environment  thus  influences  the  organism,  the  organism 
reacting  influences  the  environment.  The  most  striking  instance  of 
this,  perhaps,  will  be  found  on  comparing  the  constitution  of  the  at- 
mosphere before  and  since  the  Carboniferous  epoch.  Prior  to  that 
epoch,  all  the  myriads  of  tons  of  coaly  substance  now  inclosed  in  the 
strata  of  the  earth  existed  as  carbonic  acid  in  the  air.  By  the  agen- 
cy of  the  sunlight  acting  on  the  leaves  of  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of 
those  times,  this  noxious  gas  was  gradually  removed,  and  replaced 
by  an  equivalent  volume  of  oxygen.  A  hot-blooded,  quickly-respiring 
animal  could  not  possibly  exist  in  an  atmosphere  laden  with  carbonic 
acid.  Anterior  to  the  coal  deposit,  the  fauna  was  cold-blooded  and 
slow-respiring.  The  flora  thus  changed  the  aerial  environment,  and 
this,  in  its  turn,  reacting,  changed  the  fauna. 

It  is  on  all  sides  admitted  that  plants  tend  by  their  removal  of 
carbonic  acid  from  the  air,  replacing  it  by  oxygen,  to  compensate  for 
the  disturbance  occasioned  by  animals.  In  this  way,  through  very 
many  centuries,  the  same  percentage  constitution  of  the  atmosphere 
is  maintained,  the  sum  total  of  vegetable  being  automatically  ad- 
justed to  the  sum  total  of  animal  life — automatically,  and  not  by  any 
interference  of  Providence— a  fact  of  great  value  in  its  connection 
with  the  theory  of  evolution.  For,  if  we  admit  what  has  been  con- 
clusively established  by  direct  experiment,  that  plants  would  grow 
more  luxuriantly  in  an  atmosphere  somewhat  richer  in  carbonic  acid 
than  the  existing  one,  we  may  see  how  upon  this  condition  depends  a 
principle  of  conservation,  which  must  forever  retain  the  air  at  its 
present  constitution,  no  matter  how  animal  life  may  vary. 

Cuvier  speaks  of  the  inferior  organisms  as  furnishing  us  with  a 
series  of  experiments  made  by  the  hand  of  Nature,  an  idea  often 
quoted  and  often  admired,  but  which,  perhaps,  is  scarcely  consistent 
with  enlarged  conceptions  of  the  system  of  the  world.  An  organism, 
no  matter  how  high  or  low,  is  not  in  an  attitude  of  isolation.  It  is 
connected  by  intimate  bonds  with  those  above  and  those  beneath.  It 
is  no  product  of  an  experimental  attempt,  which,  either  on  the  part  of 
Nature  or  otherwise,  has  ended  in  failure  or  only  partial  success. 

The  organic  series— an  expression  full  of  significance  and  full  of 
truth  implies  the  interconnection  of  all  organic  forms— the  organic  se- 
ries is  not  the  result  of  numberless  creative  blunders,  abortive  attempts 
or  freaks  of  Nature.  It  presents  a  far  nobler  aspect.  Every  member 
of  it,  even  the  humblest  plant,  is  perfect  in  itself.  From  a  common 
origin,  or  simple  cell,  all  have  arisen ;  there  is  no  perceptible  micro- 
scopic difference  between  the  primordial  vesicle  which  is  to  produce 
the  lowest  plant,  and  that  which  is  to  produce  the  highest,  but  the 
one,  under  the  favoring  circumstances  to  which  it  has  been  exposed, 


186  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

has  continued  in  the  march  of  development,  while  the  career  of  the 
other  has  been  stopped  at  an  earlier  point.  The  organic  aspect,  at 
last  assumed,  is  the  representation  of  the  physical  agencies  that  have 
been  at  work — the  environment.  Had  these  for  any  reason  varied, 
that  variation  would  at  once  have  been  expressed  in  the  resulting 
form,  which  is,  therefore,  actually  a  geometrical  embodiment  of  the 
antecedent  physical  conditions.  For  what  reason  is  an  offspring  like 
its  parent,  except  that  it  has  been  exposed  during  development  to  the 
same  conditions  as  was  its  parent.  Comparative  physiology  is  not  a 
fortuitous  collection  of  experiments.  Our  noblest  conception  of  it  is 
the  conception  we  have  of  analytical  geometry.  Each  member  of  the 
organic  series  is  an  embodied  result  of  a  discussion  of  the  equation  of 
life  for  one  special  case. 

It  was  a  felicitous  thought  of  Descartes  that  we  may  represent  a 
geometrical  form  in  an  algebraic  equation,  and,  by  the  proper  consid- 
eration and  discussion  of  such  an  expression,  determine  and  delineate 
all  the  peculiarities  of  such  a  form ;  that  here  it  should  become  con- 
cave, there  convex ;  here  it  should  run  out  to  infinity,  there  have  a 
cusp.  The  equation  determines  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  form,  and 
enables  us  to  construct  it.  In  like  manner,  all  living  and  lifeless 
forms  are  related ;  an  increase  in  the  value  of  one  condition  carries  de- 
velopment forward  in  one  direction ;  an  increase  in  the  value  of  an- 
other condition  determines  development  in  another  way,  and  these 
variations  give  rise  in  their  succession  to  the  whole  organic  series. 

Nature  ever  geometrizes  and  ever  materializes.  Every  organism 
is  the  result  of  the  development  of  a  vesicle,  under  given  conclusions, 
carried  out  into  material  execution.  It  is  the  incarnation,  the  embodi- 
ment, the  lasting  register  of  physical  influences,  the  daughter  of  the 
environment. 

Let  us  now  rapidly  survey  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in 
the  earth's  organisms : 

In  the  earliest,  or  Primordial  period,  there  existed  of  plants  only 
water-organisms —tangled  sea-weeds.  Then  in  the  following,  the  Pri- 
mary, came  the  more  perfect  cryptogams,  such  as  ferns.  Then  fol- 
lowed, in  the  Secondary,  pine-forests.  In  the  Coal  period  the  phane- 
rogamia  developed  out  of  the  more  perfect  cryptogamia.  Not  until 
the  Chalk  did  the  higher  corolliflorae  appear.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
Tertiary  the  earth  had  sufficiently  cooled  at  the  poles,  climate-zones 
were  produced,  and  the  land  was  covered  with  leaved  forests.  Flow- 
erless  plants  had  been  succeeded  by  flowering  ones,  the  latter  first 
without  a  distinct  corolla,  and  then  by  those  with  one  ;  and  of  these, 
first  the  lower  and  then  the  higher. 

Turning  to  the  order  of  succession  of  animal  life — of  the  Pri- 
mordial, the  forms  are  skull-less ;  then  in  the  following,  the  Primary, 
came  fishes,  first  those  with  the  heterocercal  tail,  as  in  the  embryos  of 


BR.  DRAPER'S  LECTURE    ON  EVOLUTION.        187 

existing  ones.  In  the  Secondary,  reptiles,  and  out  of  them  birds,  were 
developed ;  the  decreasing  amount  of  carbonic  acid  and  the  increas- 
ing amount  of  oxygen  permitting  that  change.  Of  birds,  the  earli- 
est had  a  long,  lizard-like  tail,  composed  of  thin  vertebrae,  to  every 
one  of  which  were  attached  strong,  rudder-like  feathers  in  pairs.  The 
same  formation  of  the  tail  part  of  the  vertebral  column  still  occurs 
transiently  in  the  embryos  of  later  birds.  The  transition  from  the 
reptile  to  the  bird  is  manifested  by  some  of  the  latter  having  teeth 
set  in  one  order  in  grooves,  in  another  in  distinct  sockets.  Among 
mammals  as  among  fishes  the  imperfect  appeared  first.  About  the 
middle  of  the  Mesolithic  period,  out  of  a  branch  of  the  cloacal  animals 
the  marsupials  were  evolved  ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  Tertiary 
the  placentals  were  developed  out  of  the  marsupials.  The  latter  were 
at  one  time  distributed  over  the  whole  earth ;  now  they  are  fast 
approaching  extinction.  In  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  not  a  single  mem- 
ber of  the  group  remains.  The  cloacal  animals,  the  marsupials,  the 
placentals,  stand  therefore  in  an  order  of  succession. 

Such  has  been  the  order  of  evolution  in  Europe.  For  its  order  in 
America  I  may  refer  you  to  the  recent  admirable  address  of  Prof. 
Marsh  before  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence. The  general  conclusions  at  which  we  arrive  in  one  case  are 
substantiated  in  the  other. 

In  accordance  with  his  descent,  the  cloacal  structure  exists  in 
man  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  embryonic  life.  The  separation  into 
two  openings  takes  place  about  the  twelfth  week  of  his  uterine  de- 
velopment. Shall  we  not,  therefore,  infer  from  the  evidence  of  his 
embryonic  forms  that  he  has  been  developed  step  by  step  out  of  the 
lower  vertebrates  ? 

In  the  early  stages  of  their  evolution,  amphibia,  reptiles,  birds, 
cannot  be  distinguished.  The  first  steps  of  development  in  all  verte- 
brates are  identical.  Man  passes  now  through  the  same  series  of 
transmutations  which  his  animal  predecessors  passed  through  in  im- 
mense spaces  of  time,  long  ago.  The  progress  he  makes  in  the  lapse 
of  a  few  days  in  the  darkness  of  the  womb  is  the  same  that  has  been 
followed  by  the  procession  of  animated  Nature  in  the  lapse  of  myri- 
ads of  centuries  in  the  daylight  of  the  world. 

From  a  comparison  of  their  studies  embryologists  and  paleontol- 
ogists unite  in  the  conclusion  that  individual  development  is  a  rapid 
repetition  of  race-development,  and  that  the  paleontological  move- 
ment is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  embryonic.  The  connecting  links 
supposed  to  be  missing  in  the  former  may  be  sought  for  in  the  latter. 
Individual  development,  paleontological  development,  and  compara- 
tive anatomy,  through  their  combined  evidence  guide  us  to  a  deduc- 
tion of  the  genealogy  of  any  organism.  The  dominion  of  law  is 
everywhere  manifest.  The  capricious  intrusion  of  a  supernatural 
agency  has  never  yet  occurred. 


188  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Each  of  the  geological  periods  has  its  dominating  representative 
type  of  life.  Perhaps  it  may  he  asked :  "  How  can  we  be  satisfied  that 
the  members  of  this  long  series  are  strictly  the  successive  descendants 
by  evolution  from  older  forms,  and  in  their  turn  the  progenitors  of  the 
later  ?  How  do  we  know  that  they  have  not  been  introduced  by  sud- 
den creations,  and  removed  by  sudden  extinctions  ?  "  Simply  for  this 
reason  :  The  new  groups  make  their  appearance  while  yet  their  pred- 
ecessors are  in  full  vigor.  They  come  under  an  imperfect  model 
which  very  gradually  improves.  Evolution  implies  such  lapses  of 
time.     Creation  is  a  sudden  affair. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  offered  by  two  of  the  most  im- 
posing types  of  life,  the  reptile  and  the  mammal.  The  former  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  Secondary,  the  latter  of  the  Tertiary  period.  In 
the  Secondary,  when  reptile  life  was  at  its  culmination,  there  were 
reptiles  flying  in  the  air,  swimming  on  or  in  the  sea,  crawling  on  the 
land,  or  climbing  the  trees.  After  this  type  of  life  had  reached  its 
culmination,  and  extinction  began  to  set  in,  that  process  went  for- 
ward in  a  gradual  and  orderly  way.  The  flying  lizards  were  the  first 
to  disappear,  then  those  of  the  sea ;  they  now  have  scarcely  any  rep- 
resentative left.  The  fluviatile  and  terrestrial  ones,  though  greatly 
diminished  both  in  numbers  and  size,  still  maintain  a  struggle  for 
life;  but  the  complete  dying  out  of  animated  forms,  though  irre- 
sistible, requires  for  its  completion  countless  centuries. 

While  reptile  life  was  in  full  vigor,  mammal  life  was  introduced. 
It  came  under  the  lowest  forms,  the  imperfect  orders  appearing  first. 

What  does  this  coexistence  of  two  different  forms  of  life,  through 
immense  lapses  of  time — the  one  declining  and  on  its  way  to  disap- 
pearance, the  other  marching  forward  to  increase — what  does  this 
overlapping  mean  ?  Not  sudden  creation,  but  slow  development. 
The  environment  is  slowly  becoming  unsuitable  to  the  one,  and  slow- 
ly becoming  suitable  to  the  other. 

If  time  permitted,  I  would  ask  your  close  attention  to  rudimentary 
organs,  for  they  illustrate  strikingly  the  theory  of  evolution.  They 
are  organs  existing  in  an  apparently  undeveloped  and  useless  condi- 
tion, such,  for  instance,  as  the  incisor  teeth  in  the  midbone  of  the 
upper  jaw  in  embryos  of  common  cattle,  the  rudimentary  wings  of  the 
penguin  and  dodo,  the  mamma?  of  the  male  mammalian,  the  subcuta- 
neous feet  of  certain  snakes.  In  the  embryos  of  whales  teeth  are  found 
in  the  jaw,  precisely  as  we  find  them  at  birth  in  the  human  infant.  In 
the  latter  instance,  we  think  we  see  a  wise  provision  and  foresight  of 
Nature,  which  does  not  give  to  man  these  masticatory  organs  before 
the  time  they  are  wanted.  But  what  are  we  to  make  of  the  parallel 
case  of  the  whale?  Shut  up  as  these  rudimentary  teeth  are  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  jaw,  never  to  be  developed  and  never  to  be  used,  does 
not  that  look  something  like  a  useless  work?     And  why  has  Nature, 


DR.  DRAPER'S  LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        189 

in  the  case  of  certain  snakes,  placed  under  the  skin  bony  representa- 
tives of  the  extremities,  the  movements  of  those  animals  being  by  the 
use  of  the  ribs,  and  feet  never  being  wanted? 

We  may  also  turn  to  the  vegetable  world,  and  there  we  find  rudi- 
mentary organs,  excesses  and  deficiences  of  development.  As  Trevi- 
ranus  says,  adaptation  to  the  surrounding  world  may  be  shaped  either 
by  gradual  development  or  by  degeneration,  which  is  equally  effec- 
tive. The  same  organ  may  be  expanded  into  a  compound  leaf,  or  de- 
generated into  a  scale.  Development  can  turn  a  reptile  into  a  bird ; 
degeneration  can  turn  it  into  a  serpent.  Any  flower  may  be  regarded 
as  a  transformed  branch — that  which  might  have  evolved  into  a  leaf 
turns  indifferently,  as  circumstances  may  direct,  into  a  sepal,  a  petal, 
or  a  stamen. 

Rudimentary  organs  come  into  existence  as  part  of  a  general  plan. 
They  are  the  manifestation  of  heredity  in  the  type  of  life  of  the  ani- 
mals or  plants  in  which  they  occur.  They  prove  that  the  form  has 
been  developing,  not  teleologically,  or  for  a  purpose,  but  in  obedience 
to  law. 

Now  I  have  answered,  and  I  know  how  imperfectly,  your  ques- 
tion, "  How  does  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  force  itself  upon  the  stu- 
dent of  modern  science?"  by  relating  how  it  has  forced  itself  upon 
me,  for  my  life  has  been  spent  in  such  studies,  and  it  is  by  meditating 
on  facts  like  those  I  have  here  exposed  that  this  hypothesis  now  stands 
before  me  as  one  of  the  verities  of  Nature. 

In  doing  this  I  have  opened  before  you  a  page  of  the  book  of 
Nature — that  book  which  dates  from  eternity  and  embraces  infini- 
tude. It  reveals  millions  of  suns  and  worlds  of  surpassing  glory. 
Among  its  most  insignificant  pages  are  the  vast  rock-strata  of  the 
earth.  We  have  been  looking  at  some  of  them.  No  Council  of  La- 
odicea,  no  Tridentine  Council,  is  wanted  to  indorse  its  authenticity, 
nothing  to  assure  us  that  it  has  never  been  tampered  with  by  any 
guild  of  men,  to  perpetuate  their  influence,  secure  their  profits,  or 
otherwise  promote  their  ends. 

Then  it  is  for  us  to  study  it  as  best  we  may,  and  to  obey  its 
guidance,  no  matter  whither  it  may  lead  us. 

And  this  brings  me  face  to  face  with  the  third  division  of  my  sub- 
ject. I  have  spoken  of  the  origin  and  the  progress  of  the  hypothe- 
sis of  evolution,  and  should  now  consider  the  consequences  of  ac- 
cepting it.  Here  it  is  only  a  word  or  two  that  time  permits,  and 
very  few  words  must  suffice.  I  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  the  con- 
sequences from  your  point  of  view  to  which  I  must  allude.  Should  I 
speak  of  the  manner  in  which  scientific  thought  is  affected,  should  I 
dwell  on  the  influence  this  theory  is  exerting  on  general  knowledge, 
I  should  be  carried  altogether  beyond  the  limits  of  the  present  hour. 

The  consequences  !     What  are  they,  then,  to  you  ?     Nobler  views 


190 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


of  this  grand  universe  of  which  we  form  a  part,  nobler  views  of  the 
manner  in  which  it  has  been  developed  in  past  times  to  its  present 
state,  nobler  views  of  the  laws  by  which  it  is  now  maintained,  nobler 
expectations  as  to  its  future.  We  stand  in  presence  of  the  un- 
shackled, as  to  Force ;  of  the  immeasurable,  as  to  Space ;  of  the  un- 
limited, as  to  Time.  Above  all,  our  conceptions  of  the  unchange- 
able purposes,  the  awful  majesty  of  the  Supreme  Being,  become 
more  vivid.  We  realize  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said,  "With  Him 
there  is  no  variableness,  no  shadow  of  turning."  Need  I  say  any- 
thing more  in  commending  the  doctrine  of  evolution  to  you  ? 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  the  warning  of  history.  The  heaviest  blow 
the  Holy  Scriptures  have  ever  received  was  inflicted  by  no  infidel,  but 
by  ecclesiastical  authority  itself.  When  the  works  of  Copernicus  and 
of  Kepler  were  put  in  the  Index  of  prohibited  books,  the  system  of 
the  former  was  declared,  by  what  called  itself  the  Christian  Church, 
to  be  "  that  false  Pythagorean  system,  utterly  contrary  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures."  But  the  truth  of  the  Copernican  system  is  now  estab- 
lished. 

There  are  persons  who  declare  of  the  hypothesis  of  evolution,  as 
was  formerly  declared  of  the  hypothesis  of  Copernicus,  "  It  is  utterly 
contrary  to  the  Holy  Scriptures."  It  is  for  you  to  examine  whether 
this  be  so,  and,  if  so,  to  find  a  means  of  reconciliation.  Let  us  not  be 
led  astray  by  the  clamors  of  those  who,  not  seeking  the  truth  and  not 
caring  about  it,  are  only  championing  their  sectr  or  attempting  the 
perpetuation  of  their  own  profits. 

My  friends,  let  me  plead  with  you.  Don't  reject  the  theory  of 
evolution.  There  is  no  thought  of  modern  times  that  more  magnifies 
the  unutterable  glory  of  Almighty  God  !  Remember,  I  beseech  you, 
what  was  said  by  one  of  old  times  :  "  Ye  men  of  Israel,  take  heed  to 
yourselves  what  ye  intend  to  do.  And  now  I  say  unto  you,  if  this 
counsel  be  of  men  it  will  come  to  naught ;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye 
cannot  overthrow  it,  lest  haply  ye  be  found  to  be  fighting  against 
God" — shall  I  continue  the  quotation?  — "  and  to  him  they  all 
agreed !  " 

We  often  hear  it  affirmed  that  our  a^e  is  becoming  more  and  more 
irreligious,  and  that  men  wantonly  reject  sacred  things  of  which  their 
ancestors  approved.  But  I  think  we  may  profitably  inquire  whether 
very  much  of  this  is  not  due  to  the  profound  changes  that  are  taking 
place  in  our  conceptions  of  the  Supreme  Being  ?  Things  and  acts 
which  at  one  time  men  attributed  to  him  without  hesitation,  they  can 
attribute  to  him  no  more.  They  have  learned  to  demand  of  every 
dogma,  "  Is  it  derogatory  to  the  awful  majesty  of  God  ?  " 

These  modifications  of  opinion  have  had  no  little  to  do  with  the 
progress  of  the  subject  we  have  been  considering.  Let  us  ever  bear 
in  mind  that  the  doctrine  of  evolution  has  for  its  foundation  not  the 
admisssion  of  incessant  divine  interventions,  but  a  recognition  of  the 


DR.  DRAPERS   LECTURE   ON  EVOLUTION.        191 

original,  the  immutable  fiat  of  God.  In  whatever  direction  we  com- 
mune with  Nature,  the  dominion  of  universal,  of  everlasting  law  con- 
fronts us. 

The  establishment  of  the  theory  of  evolution  has  not  been  due  to 
any  one  science,  but  is  attributable  to  the  conjoint  movement  of  all. 
It  is  due  to  the  irresistible  advance  of  human  knowledge.  To  refer  it 
to  geology  alone,  as  is  often  done,  is  altogether  a  mistake.  It  was  not 
possible  that  Astronomy  should  fail  to  maintain  her  grand  position. 
She  took  the  lead  in  the  intellectual  revolution  which  marks  the  close 
of  the  middle  ages.  Single-handed  and  alone,  she  fought  and  won  the 
great  battles  of  the  globular  form  of  the  earth,  the  central  sun,  the 
plurality  of  Avorlds.  It  cost  her  the  blood  of  some  of  her  leaders. 
For  some  there  wag  the  fagot,  the  rack,  the  prison-cell,  the  scourge. 
But  they  departed  from  their  tormentors,  rejoicing  that  they  were 
accounted  worthy  to  suffer  even  death  in  this  cause.  And  now  she 
found  stepping-stones  for  herself  in  the  trackless  infinitude  of  space, 
and  beckoned  her  comrade  sciences  to  come  and  share  with  her  the 
glorious  view  she  had  gained  of  the  majesty  of  the  universe.  Anato- 
my, both  human  and  comparative,  paleontology,  chemistry,  physi- 
ology, microscopy,  even  philosophical  history,  have  given  their  aid. 
Wherever  any  one  science  has  made  a  marked  advance,  its  movement 
has  been  covered  by  some  of  the  others,  and  the  ground  thus  occu- 
pied secured.  As  matters  now  stand,  all  are  well  to  the  front — the 
entire  line  is  dressed. 

It  often  takes  many  victories  to  establish  one  conquest.  Knowl- 
edge, fresh  from  so  many  triumphs,  unfalteringly  continues  her  move- 
ment on  the  works  of  Superstition  and  Ignorance. 

Now,  in  parting,  let  us  bear  this  in  mind:  So  great  is  the  intellect- 
ual advance  men  have  made,  that  questions  which  at  one  time  divided 
Christendom  into  sects  are  now  far  in  the  rear.  Those  which  once 
separated  good  men  socially,  are  passing  out  of  sight.  They  are  re- 
placed by  others  of  a  very  different  order.  Among  such,  one  of  sur- 
passing importance  confronts  us — the  eternal  reign  of  law.  Let  us 
bear  in  mind  what  the  theory  of  evolution  so  loudly  proclaims :  "  We 
are  what  we  are,  because  the  universe  is  what  it  is."  If  it  acts  upon 
us,  we  react  upon  it.  Our  conception  of  the  sphere  of  being  we 
occupy  is  enlarging,  and  we  are  thus  brought  into  close  relationship 
with  all  that  is  beautiful  on  earth,  all  that  is  magnificent  in  the 
heavens. 

Then  let  us  reverently  commune  with  Nature.  Let  us  try  to  raise 
our  eyes  from  the  varying  phenomena  of  the  world,  to  the  solemn 
grandeur  of  that  silent,  that  imperishable  reign  of  law  that  governs 
all  those  changes ;  let  each  of  us  earnestly  address  to  himself  the  re- 
monstrance of  "  The  Minstrel :  " 

"  Oh!  how  canst  thou  renounce  the  boundless  store 
Of  charms  that  Nature  to  her  votary  yields, 


i92  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

The  warbling  woodland,  the  resounding  shore, 
The  gloom  of  groves,  the  garniture  of  fields, 
All  that  the  genial  ray  of  morning  gilds, 
And  all  that  echoes  to  the  song  of  even, 
All  that  the  mountain's  sheltering  bosom  shields, 
And  all  the  dread  magnificence  of  heaven — 
Oh!  how  canst  thou  renounce,  and  hope  to  be  forgiven?" 


THE  GREAT  BENGAL  CYCLONE   OF  1876.1     ■ 

By  CAEL  DAMBECK. 

~VT~0  more  convincing  proof  could,  perhaps,  be  given  of  the  head- 
-L\|  long  pace  of  our  modern  life,  or  of  the  thoughtlessness  of  our 
age,  than  the  fact  that,  though  we  still  hear  of  the  earthquake  at  Lis- 
bon, hardly  a  word  is  said  of  the  fearfully  destructive  cyclone  which, 
on  the  31st  of  October,  1876,  swept  over  the  Delta  of  the  Ganges. 
Even  in  the  queen's  last  speech  from  the  throne,  there  is  not  so  much 
as  a  simple  mention  of  that  disastrous  event,  whereby  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  British  subjects  in  India  were  destroyed.  The  after-effects 
of  the  cyclone  in  themselves  constituted  a  fearful  calamity,  for  thou- 
sands are  still 2  dying  of  disease  and  hunger — evils  the  seeds  of  which 
had  been  sown  in  October. 

Cyclones  usually  occur  toward  the  end  of  spring  and  in  the  fall — 
from  April  to  June,  and  from  September  till  November — the  periods 
of  the  change  of  direction  in  the  monsoons.  By  far  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  cyclones  occur  at  the  cessation  of  the  southwest  and  the 
setting  in  of  the  northeast  monsoons  in  the  fall:  out  of  eighty-eight 
observed  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  forty-nine  occurred  in  the  fall  and  only 
twenty-nine  in  the  spring.  The  former,  almost  without  an  exception, 
came  from  a  point  lying  somewhat  to  the  north  of  latitude  15°  north, 
in  the  bay  of  Bengal ;  while  the  latter  had  their  rise  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Andaman  Islands.  The  whole  east  coast  of  India  is 
exposed  to  the  fury  of  these  storms,  and  from  Ceylon  to  Chittagong 
there  is  hardly  a  point  on  the  coast  that  has  not  more  or  less  fre- 
quently felt  the  power  of  the  cyclones,  though  the  localities  which 
suffer  most  are  the  low-lying  portions  of  the  coast,  more  particularly 
when  they  are  situated  in  a  bight  or  in  an  angle,  for  wind  and  water 
are  there  brought  into  violent  conflict.  One  of  the  earliest  cylones  of 
which  authentic  accounts  are  extant  occurred  in  1789,  at  an  unusual 
season  of  the  year — December.  Furthermore,  it  was  attended  by 
three  enormous  storm-waves,  which  flooded  the  coast  at   Coringa, 

1  Translated  from  the  German,  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  M. 
5  May,  1877,  when  this  article  was  written. 


THE   GREAT  BENGAL    CYCLONE    OF  1876.  193 

near  the  mouth  of  the  Godavary,  destroying  nearly  the  entire  town 
with  its  30,000  inhabitants,  and  driving  far  inland  the  ships  which  lay 
at  anchor  in  the  bay.  In  1839  the  same  locality  was  visited  by 
another  cyclone,  which  was  nearly  as  destructive  as  the  preceding. 
The  coast  of  Madras  and  of  Coromandel  has  again  and  again  been 
the  theatre  of  cyclones,  though  here  the  wave  is  not  so  destructive 
in  its  effects  as  elsewhere,  owing  to  the  situation  and  the  formation 
of  the  coast.  In  Madras  the  cyclone  usually  appears  to  expend  its 
fury  on  the  many  ships  at  anchor  in  the  roads,  and  on  the  buildings 
on  the  land,  as  was  the  case  in  the  years  1773,  1783,  and  1872.  As 
on  October  15,  1783,  so  on  the  1st  and  2d  of  May,  1872,  an  enormous 
amount  of  shipping  was  lost.  In  the  latter  case  the  greater  part  of 
the  vessels  might  have  put  out  to  sea,  if  the  officer  of  the  port  had 
been  at  his  station  and  given  warning  in  time.  The  destruction  of 
life  and  property  caused  by  the  wind  and  rain,  as  also  by  the  swell  of 
the  sea,  was  very  considerable.  Another  cyclone  which  on  October 
15  and  16,  1874,  swept  the  inland  districts  of  Midnapore  and  Bur- 
deran,  claimed  but  few  victims  comparatively :  in  Midnapore  only 
about  3,000  persons  lost  their  lives,  while  in  Burderan  there  were  but 
a  few  fatal  casualties.  Of  all  the  coasts  of  India  the  mouths  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Hooghly  appear  to  have  suffered  oftenest  and  most 
severely  from  this  catastrophe,  for  there  wind  and  water  are,  as  it 
were,  "  forced  into  one  sack." 

Thus  the  country  situated  about  the  mouth  of  the  former  river 
was,  on  October  31,  1831,  overflowed  by  a  storm-wave  to  a  distance 
of  150  miles  from  the  coast,  and  300  native  villages  with  their  10,000 
inhabitants  were  destroyed ;  and  it  was  visited  a  second  and  a  third 
time  by  cyclones  on  October  7,1832,  and  September  21,  1839.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly  on  the  21st  of  October,  1833,  some  10,000 
lives  were  lost  in  a  storm-wave,  and  on  May  21st  of  the  same  year, 
near  Coringa,  600  villages,  with  50,000  souls,  were  swept  away.  In 
the  last-named  case  the  wave  rose  nine  feet  higher  than  the  high- 
est point  ever  before  observed,  and  the  barometer  suddenly  fell  all  of 
two  inches.  During  the  cyclone  of  October  5,  1864,  at  Calcutta, 
1,500  square  miles  of  country  was  overflowed,  though  the  banks  of  the 
Hooghly  and  its  tributaries,  and  the  shores  of  the  islands  in  the 
mouth  of  the  stream,  were  protected  by  dikes  eight  to  ten  feet  high. 
But  even  though  these  dikes  had  been  sufficiently  strong  to  resist 
the  pressure  of  the  water,  still  they  were  far  from  being  sufficiently 
high.  On  this  occasion  the  storm-wave  rose  sixteen  and  a  half  feet 
over  the  water-mark  of  the  spring-tide,  and  twenty-seven  feet  above 
the  mean  level  of  the  sea;  still,  it  attained  this  height  only  because  it 
entered  the  river  at  about  high  water.  The  wave  was  noticed  as  far  as 
Mehurpore,  on  the  Matabangha,  It  caused  the  loss  of  50,000  human 
lives,  but  the  destruction  of  life  would  have  been  far  greater  had  the 
cyclone  occurred  at  night,  and  had  the  people,  as  at  Bacarganch  been 

TOL.  XII. — 13 


i94  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

surprised  in  their  sleep.  While  this  wave  was  ascending  the  Hooghly, 
and  spreading  over  the  neighboring  districts,  a  portion  of  the  same 
wave  seems  to  have  struck  the  coast  near  Chittagong,  and,  having 
swept  along  the  same,  to  have  overflowed  the  islands  of  Shahabazpore 
and  Hattia  from  the  rear.  And  this  is  the  cause  of  the  fearful  devas- 
tation it  wrought,  for  we  shall  not  err  if  we  suppose  waves  coming 
from  two  opposite  directions  to  have  met  at  these  islands  The  num- 
ber of  human  victims  in  the  catastrophe  of  1864  was  nearly  doubled 
in  consequence  of  the  diseases  produced  by  the  multitude  of  unburied 
dead  bodies,  and  which  carried  off  30,000  souls.  Hardly  four  weeks 
after  the  Hooghly  catastrophe  of  1864,  namely,  on  November  5th,  the 
coast  at  Masulipatam,  on  the  Kistnah — a  locality  specially  adapted  for 
concentrating  the  force  of  the  storm-wave  and  intensifying  its  pow- 
ers of  destruction — was  overflowed  and  35,000  lives  were  lost.  Three 
years  later,  on  November  1, 1867,  the  Calcutta  district  was  again  vis- 
ited ;  but,  fortunately,  on  this  occasion  only  1,000  lives  were  lost, 
though  30,000  huts  of  the  natives  were  swept  away.  But  of  all  the 
disasters  of  this  kind  which  have  occurred  prior  to  1876,  that  of  June 
6,  1822,  was  the  most  appalling  and  destructive,  and  the  only  one  to 
be  compared  with  that  of  last  October.  As  is  shown  by  Beveridge 
in  his  recently -published  work  on  Bacarganch,  the  cyclone  had  a 
very  wide  track,  extending  far  inland  on  the  east,  and  beyond  Cal- 
cutta to  the  west.  The  wave  which  overflowed  the  mouths  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  adjoining  coasts  fortunately  appeared  early  in  the 
evening,  and  the  people  were  somewhat  prepared  for  it ;  neverthe- 
less, 100,000  human  beings  lost  their  lives,  and  an  equal  number 
of  cattle,  and  the  damage  otherwise  exceeded  1,000,000  rupees. 

Concerning  the  latest  deplorable  catastrophe,  we  possess  the  fol- 
lowing data:  Down  to  11  p.  m.  there  was  no  sign  of  impending 
danger;  before  midnight  the  storm  burst  suddenly,  and  without 
warning,  surprising  the  people  in  their  beds  and  dwellings.  Three 
storm-waves  swept  over  an  area  of  3,000  square  miles,  containing  a 
population  of  1,000,000  souls.  In  a  few  minutes,  215,000  human 
beings  were  swept  off  by  the  waters,  and  there  perished.  This  esti- 
mate, however,  is  probably  far  too  low;  for  nearly  all  the  officials 
from  whom  authentic  information  might  have  been  obtained  them- 
selves perished  in  the  flood,  and  many  villages  are  known  to  have 
lost  seventy  per  cent,  of  their  inhabitants.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
gravest  calamity  ever  caused  by  water.  Three  great  islands,  and  in- 
numerable small  ones,  were  entirely  swept  by  the  flood,  as  also  the 
mainland,  over  an  area  of  five  or  six  miles  in  length  by  about  four 
miles  in  width.  These  islands  all  lie  near  the  mouth  of  the  Meghna, 
a  river  formed  by  the  union  of  the  Ganges  with  the  Brahmapootra. 
The  largest  of  the  islands — Dakhin  Shahabazpore — is  800  miles  in 
circumference,  and  had  240,000  inhabitants,  while  the  other  two 
great  islands— Hattia  and  Sundney — had  in  all  about  100,000  inhabi- 


THE   GREAT  BENGAL    CYCLONE   OF  1876.  195 

tants.  The  people  had  only  a  few  minutes  to  think  of  their  safety, 
Avhen  the  wave  rose  ten  to  twenty  feet  above  the  land.  Two  hours 
later  the  flood  began  to  subside,  but  not  till  noon  of  the  following 
day  could  the  survivors  quit  their  places  of  refuge  in  the  trees,  etc' 
As  luck  would  have  it,  the  villages  are  surrounded  by  groves  of  cocoa- 
nut  and  palm  trees :  those  who  saved  themselves  did  so  by  taking  to 
the  trees.  Some  took  refuge  on  the  house-tops,  but  the  water  entered 
the  houses  and  rose  to  the  roofs,  and  carried  them  off  to  the  sea,  to- 
gether with  the  people  upon  them.  There  was  hardly  a  household  on 
the  islands,  or  on  the  neighboring  coast,  but  had  lost  several  of  its 
members.  All  the  cattle  were  lost.  Boats  were  swept  away,  and  as 
wagons  on  wheels  are  unknown  in  that  region,  all  means  of  commu- 
nication failed.  Nearly  all  of  the  civil  and  police  officials  perished. 
The  town  of  Dowluctor  was  utterly  destroyed.  The  loss  in  cattle 
cannot  be  estimated.  The  crops  suffered  greatly,  but  it  is  hoped  that 
enough  remains  to  prevent  a  famine.  The  entire  flooded  region  looks 
like  a  waste.  Still  the  condition  of  the  survivors  just  after  the  catastro- 
phe was  better  than  was  to  have  been  expected.  The  farmers  of  that 
region  are  the  most  thrifty  in  Bengal;  the  provisions  are  mostly 
kept  buried  in  the  ground  ;  hence,  though  they  were  damaged  by 
water,  they  can  still  be  used  for  food.  Wherever  Sir  R.  Temple  went 
he  found  the  people  drying  grain  in  the  sun.  Until  harvest-time,  the 
cocoanuts  will  be  of  some  assistance.  Prior  to  the  calamity,  the 
harvest  promised  to  be  very  bountiful ;  as  it  is,  it  will  be  a  fair  one. 
About  sixty  relief-stations  were  established.  The  official  journal 
says  :  "  Wherever  the  storm-wave  struck,  not  a  third  part  of  the  pop- 
ulation, it  is  believed,  survives.  The  islands  have  only  a  fourth  of 
their  former  inhabitants.  The  odor  of  the  decaying  carcasses  is  intol- 
erable, and  a  general  outbreak  of  cholera  is  hourly  expected."  From 
an  official  communication,  it  appears  that  there  perished  in  Chittagong 
during  the  storm  over  3,000  souls,  and  between  October  31st  and  De- 
cember 31st,  4,399  persons  died  of  cholera.  Since  New- Year's  cholera 
has  raged  fearfully.  In  the  district  of  Noakholly  there  died  in  Octo- 
ber 43,544  persons,  and  in  the  following  three  months  30,263.  Indeed, 
with  the  exception  of  the  islands  of  Hattia  and  Sundney,  the  deaths 
from  cholera  everywhere  have  exceeded  those  caused  by  the  inunda- 
tion. On  these  two  islands  the  number  of  deaths  in  October  way 
34,70s  ;  later  it  was  only  7,139. 

Thus,  in  the  course  of  eighty-seven  years,  half  a  million  of  human 
beings  have  lost  their  lives  by  cyclones,  without  counting  the  mortal- 
ity from  pestilence  and  famine. — Das  Ausland. 


196  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


OUR  SIX-FOOTED  EIYALS. 


LET  us  suppose  that,  having  no  previous  acquaintance  with  the 
subject,  we  were  suddenly  informed,  on  good  authority,  that 
there  existed  in  some  part  of  the  globe  a  race  of  beings  who  lived  in 
domed  habitations,  aggregated  together  so  as  to  form  vast  and  pop- 
ulous cities ;  that  they  exercised  jurisdiction  over  the  adjoining  ter- 
ritory, laid  out  regular  roads,  executed  tunnels  underneath  the  beds 
of  rivers,  stationed  guards  at  the  entrance  of  their  towns,  carefully 
removed  any  offensive  matter,  maintained  a  rural  police,  organized 
extensive  hunting-expeditions,  at  times  even  waged  war  upon  neigh- 
boring communities,  took  prisoners  and  reduced  them  to  a  state  of 
slavery;  that  they  not  merely  stored  up  provisions  with  due  care,  to 
avoid  their  decomposition  by  damp  and  fermentation,  but  that  they 
kept  cattle,  and  in  some  cases  even  cultivated  the  soil  and  gathered 
in  the  harvest.  We  should  unquestionably  regard  these  creatures  as 
human  beings. who  had  made  no  small  progress  in  civilization,  and 
should  ascribe  their  actions  to  reason.  If  we  were  then  told  that 
they  were  not  men,  and  they  were  in  some  places  formidable  enemies 
to  man,  and  had  even  by  their  continued  molestations  caused  certain 
villages  to  be  forsaken  by  all  human  occupants,  our  interest  would 
perhaps  be  mixed  with  some  little  shade  of  anxiety  lest  we  were  here 
confronted  by  a  race  who,  under  certain  eventualities,  might  contest 
our  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  globe.  But  when  we  learn  that 
these  wonderful  creatures  are  insects  some  few  lines  in  length,  our 
curiosity  is  cooled;  we  are  apt,  if  duly  guided  by  dominant  prepos- 
sessions, to  declare  that  the  social  organization  of  these  beings  is  not 
civilization,  but  at  most  gwcm-civilization  ;  that  their  guiding  prin- 
ciple is  not  reason,  but  "  instinct,"  or  ^^-intelligence,  or  some  other 
of  those  unmeaning  words  which  are  so  useful  when  we  wish  to  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  truth.  Yet  that  ants  are  really,  for  good  or  evil,  a 
power  in  the  earth,  and  that  they  seriously  interfere  with  the  cultiva- 
tion and  development  of  some  of  the  most  productive  regions  known, 
is  an  established  fact.  A  creature  that  can  lay  waste  the  crops  of  a 
pi-ovince  or  sack  the  warehouses  of  a  town  has  claims  upon  the  notice 
of  the  merchant,  the  political  economist,  and  the  statesman,  as  well 
as  of  the  naturalist. 

Many  observers  have  been  struck  with  the  curious  mixture  of 
analogies  and  contrasts  presented  by  the  Annulosa  and  the  Vertebrata. 
These  two  classes  form,  beyond  any  doubt,  the  two  leading  subdi- 
visions of  the  animal  kingdom.  To  them  nineteen-twentieths  of  the 
population  of  the  dry  land,  both  as  regards  individuals  and  species, 
will  be  found  to  belong,  and   even  in  the  world  of  waters  they  are 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  i97 

largely  represented.  At  the  head  of  the  Vertebrata  stands  the  order 
of  the  Primates,  culminating  in  man.  At  the  head  of  the  Annulosa 
the  corresponding  place  is  taken  by  the  Hymenopterous  insects.  It 
is  very  remarkable— as  first  pointed  out,  we  believe,  by  Mr.  Darwin— 
that  these  two  groups  of  animals  made  their  appearance  on  the  earth 
simultaneously.  But  along  with  this  analogy  we  find  a  contrast. 
Man  stands  alone  among  the  Primates  as  a  socially  organized  being, 
possessing  a  civilization.  Among  the  Hymenoptera  the  lead  is  un- 
doubtedly taken  by  the  ants,  which,  like  man,  have  a  brain  much  more 
highly  developed  than  that  of  the  neighboring  inferior  groups.  But 
there  is  no  one  species  of  ant  which  enjoys  a  preeminence  over  its  con- 
geners anything  at  all  approaching  in  its  nature  and  extent  to  man's 
superiority  over  the  gorilla  or  the  mias.  What  may  be  the  cause  of 
this  contrast  we  know  not.  Perhaps  it  is  merely  due  to  the  tendency 
of  the  Annulosa  to  branch  out  into  a  scarcely  numerable  host  of  forms, 
while  the  vertebrate  structure,  less  plastic,  lends  itself  more  sparingly 
to  variation.  Perhaps,  on  the  other  hand,  lower  human  or  higher  ape 
forms  than  any  now  existing  have  been  extirpated,  as  the  traditions 
of  many  ancient  nations  would  seem  to  admit. 

At  any  rate,  while  the  superiority  of  the  ants  as  a  group  to  the  re- 
maining Hymenoptera,  to  all  other  insects,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  annu- 
lose  "sub-kingdom,"  is  undisputed,  Ave  are  unable  to  decide  which 
species  of  ant  is  elevated  above  the  rest  of  the  Formicide  family.  Pos- 
sibly more  extended  and  more  systematic  observations  may  settle  this 
interesting  question.  According  to  our  present  knowledge  the  claims 
of  the  agricultural  ant,  of  Western  Texas  {3Iyrmica  barbata),  seem, 
perhaps,  the  strongest.  This  species,  which  has  been  carefully  studied 
by  Dr.  Lincecum,  for  the  space  of  twelve  years,  is,  save  man,  the 
only  creature  which  does  not  depend  for  its  sustenance  on  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  chase  or  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  earth.  As  soon  as  a 
colony  of  these  ants  has  become  sufficiently  numerous  they  clear  a 
tract  of  ground,  some  four  or  five  feet  in  width,  around  their  city.  In 
this  plot  all  existing  plants  are  eradicated,  all  stones  and  rubbish  re- 
moved, and  a  peculiar  species  of  grass  is  sown,  the  seeds  of  which  re- 
semble very  minute  grains  of  rice.  The  field — for  so  we  must  call  it 
— is  carefully  tended  by  the  ants,  kept  free  from  weeds,  and  guarded 
against  marauding  insects.  When  mature,  the  crop  is  reaped  and 
the  seeds  are  carried  into  the  nest.  If  they  are  found  to  be  too  damp 
they  are  carefully  carried  out,  laid  in  the  sunshine  till  sufficiently  dry, 
and  then  housed  again.  This  formation  of  a  plot  of  cleared  land — or, 
as  Dr.  Lincecum  not  very  happily  terms  it,  a  pavement — is  a  critical 
point  in  the  career  of  a  young  community.  Any  older  and  larger  city 
which  may  lie  within  some  fifty  or  sixty  paces  looks  upon  the  step  as 
a  casus  belli,  and  at  once  marches  its  armies  to  the  attack.  After  a 
combat,  which  may  be  prolonged  for  days,  Providence  declares  in 
favor  of  the  largest  battalions,  and  the  less  numerous  community  is 


198  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 

exterminated,  fighting  literally  to  the  last  ant.  Where  a  colony  is 
unmolested  it  increases  rapidly  in  population,  and  undertakes  to  lay 
out  roads  :  one  of  these,  from  two  to  three  inches  in  width,  has  been 
traced  to  a  distance  of  100  yards  from  the  city.  These  ants  are  not 
very  carnivorous,  nor  do  they  damage  the  crops  of  neighboring  farm- 
ers. Persons  who  intrude  upon  the  "pavement"  are  bitten  with 
great  zeal,  but  otherwise  the  species  may  be  regarded  as  harmless. 
One  creature  alone  they  seem  to  tolerate  on  their  "  pavement  " — the 
so-called  small  black  "  erratic  "  ant— which,  as  Dr.  Lincecum  conject- 
ures, may  be  of  some  use  to  them,  and  which  is  therefore  allowed  to 
build  its  small  cities  in  their  immediate  neighborhood.  If  it  becomes 
too  numerous,  however,  it  is  got  rid  of,  not  by  open  war,  but  by  a 
course  of  systematic  and  yet  apparently  unintentional  annoyance. 
The  agricultural  ants  suddenly  find  that  it  is  necessary  to  raise  their 
pavement  and  enlarge  the  base  of  their  city.  In  carrying  out  these 
alterations  they  literally  bury  the  nests  of  their  neighbors  under  heaps 
of  the  small  pellets  of  soil  thrown  up  by  the  prairie  earth-worms,  and 
continue  this  process  till  the  erratic  ants  in  sheer  despair  remove  to  a 
quieter  spot. 

Concerning  the  government  either  of  the  agricultural  ants  or  ot 
other  species,  our  knowledge  is  of  a  very  negative  character.  The 
queens,  or  rather  mothers,  of  the  city  are  indeed  treated  with  great 
attention,  but  their  number  is  quite  indefinite,  and,  unlike  female 
hive-bees,  no  jealousy  exists  between  them.  How  their  migrations, 
their  wars,  their  slave-hunts,  are  decided  on,  or  even  how  the  guards 
on  duty  are  appointed,  and  the  visiting  parties  selected  who  go  round 
to  inspect  the  works,  and  who  sometimes  insist  on  the  destruction  and 
rebuilding  of  any  badly-executed  portion,  we  are  utterly  ignorant. 
The  outer  manifestations  of  ant-life  we  have  to  some  extent  traced  ; 
but  its  inner  springs,  its  directing  and  controlling  powers,  have  eluded 
our  observation. 

It  has  been  remarked,  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  that 
ants,  unlike  man,  have  solved  the  problem  of  the  practical  organiza- 
tion of  communism  :  this  is  literally  true.  In  a  formicary  we  can  de- 
tect no  trace  of  private  property  ;  the  territory,  the  buildings,  the 
stores,  the  booty,  exist  equally  for  the  benefit  of  all.  Every  ant  has 
its  wants  supplied,  and  each  in  turn  is  prepared  to  work  or  to  fight 
for  the  community  as  zealously  as  if  the  benefit  of  such  toil  and  peril 
were  to  accrue  to  itself  alone.  If  the  principle — so  common  among 
men — that  there  is  no  harm  in  robbing  or  defrauding  a  municipal 
body,  or  the  nation  at  large,  crops  up  in  an  ant-hill  at  all,  it  must  evi- 
dently be  stamped  out  with  an  old-fashioned  promptitude.  But,  to 
understand  why  the  ant  has  succeeded  where  man  has  failed,  we  must 
turn  to  certain  fundamental  distinctions  between  human  and  ant  so- 
ciety ;  or,  perhaps,  speaking  more  generally,  between  the  associations 
of  vertebrate  and  those  of  annulose  animals.     A  human  tribe  or  na- 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  199 

tion — and,  in  like  manner,  e.  g.,  a  community  of  beavers  or  of  rooks — 
is  formed  by  the  aggregation,  not  of  single  individuals,  but  of  groups, 
each  consisting  of  a  male,  a  female,  and  their  offspring.  The  social 
unit  among  vertebrates,  therefore,  is  the  family,  whether  permanent 
or  temporary,  and  whether  monogamous  or  polygamous.  In  number- 
less cases  the  family  exists  without  combining  with  other  families  to 
form  a  nation,  but  we  greatly  doubt  if  there  exists  a  single  case  of  a 
vertebrate  nation  not  formed  of  and  resolvable  into  families. 

Among  the  Annulosa  this  is  reversed.  The  family  among  them 
scarcely  exists  at  all.  Rarely  is  the  union  of  the  male  and  the  female 
extended  beyond  the  actual  intercourse,  all  provision  for  the  future 
young  devolving  upon  the  latter  alone.  Among  the  rare  exceptions 
to  this  rule,  we  may  mention  the  burying-beetle,  and  seme  of  the 
dung-beetles,  both  sexes  of  whom  labor  conjointly  to  find  and  inter 
the  food  in  which  the  eggs  are  to  be  deposited.  Generally  speaking, 
moreover,  the  young  insect  never  knows — never  even  sees — its  parents, 
who  in  most  cases  have  died  before  it  has  emerged  from  the  egg. 
Among  non-social  insects  the  earwig  and  a  few  other  Orthoptera  form 
the  chief  exceptions.  Where  a  regularly  organized  society,  a  nation, 
or  tribe,  exists  among  annulose  animals,  it  is  not  formed  by  the  coa- 
lescence of  families  to  a  higher  unity.  The  family,  if  it  can  be  said  to 
exist  at  all,  is  conterminous  and  identical  wTith  the  nation.  This  ab- 
sence of  a  something  whose  claims  are  felt  by  all  ordinary  men  to  be 
stronger  than  those  of  the  state  has  rendered  the  successful  organiza- 
tion of  the  "  commune"  feasible  among  ants,  and  among  other  social 
Hymenoptera,  such  as  bees,  wasps,  etc.  With  them  the  state  has  no 
rival,  and  absorbs  all  the  energies  which  in  human  society  the  indi- 
vidual devotes  to  the  interests  of  his  family.  We  thus  see  that  the- 
orists on  social  reform  have  been,  from  their  own  point  of  view,  logi- 
cally consistent  in  attacking  the  institution  of  marriage  and  the  whole 
system  of  domestic  life :  they  have  sought  to  abolish  the  great  im- 
pediment to  the  commune,  and  to  approximate  man  to  the  condition 
of  our  six-footed  rivals,  and  to  constitute  society  not  as  heretofore  of 
molecules,  but  of  atoms. 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  show  that  the  failure  of  communism  among 
mankind  and  its  success  among  certain  Hymenopterous  insects  are 
due  to  the  existence  and  the  power  of  the  family  in  the  former  case, 
and  to  its  absence  in  the  latter.  We  have  yet  to  inquire  into  the 
wherefore  of  so  important  a  distinction.  Vertebrate  society,  where  it 
exists  at  all,  is  founded  on  family  life,  because  every  vertebrate  animal 
is  sexual,  and  as  such  is  attracted  to  some  individual  of  the  opposite 
sex  by  the  strongest  instinct  of  its  nature,  that  of  self-preservation 
alone  excepted.  Invertebrate  society,  where  it  exists  in  perfection,  as 
among  the  Hymenoptera,  is  not  formed  by  a  union  of  families,  because 
the  great  majority  of  Hymenopterous  individuals  (in  the  social  species) 
are  non-sexual,  neuter,  incapable  of  any  private  or  domestic  attach- 


aoo  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

merits,  and  devoted  to  the  community  alone.  To  attempt,  without  the 
existence  of  such  an  order,  to  introduce  the  social  arrangements  of  the 
ant — i.  e.,  communism — among  mankind  is  as  futile  and  as  irrational 
as  the  endeavor  to  fly  without  wings  :  the  very  primary  conditions  for 
success  are  wanting. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  examine  a  little  further  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Among  men  there  is  a  great  diversity  both  in  intellect  and  in 
energy.  The  more  highly-endowed  individual,  if  he  does  not  leave  his 
children  in  a  better  position,  materially  speaking,  is  likely  to  transmit 
to  them  his  own  personal  superiority.  In  this  manner  the  theoretical 
equality  assumed  as  one  of  the  bases  of  communism  is  in  practice  an- 
nihilated. Among  ants  nothing  of  this  kind  can  prevail.  The  workers 
and  the  fighters  are  sexless.  If  any  individual  is  superior  to  its  fel- 
lows in  strength  or  in  intelligence — and  we  have  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  such  must  be  the  case — it  has  no  posterity  to  whom  its 
acquisitions  could  be  bequeathed  or  its  personal  superiority  handed 
down.  Hence  the  formation  of  an  aristocracy  is  impossible,  and  what- 
ever benefit  may  result  from  the  labors  of  such  an  exceptional  individ- 
ual flows  to  the  entire  community.  In  the  converse  manner  the  forma- 
tion of  a  pariah,  a  criminal,  or  a  pauper  class,  is  frustrated,  and  the 
public  is  not  burdened  with  useless  or  dangerous  existences. 

It  is  indisputable  that  this  arrangement,  joined  to  the  brief  term 
of  inse.ct-life,  must  greatly  retard  the  progress  of  the  ant  in  civiliza- 
tion. It  has  been  remarked  that  were  human  life  longer  our  develop- 
ment in  knowledge  and  in  the  arts  would  be  much  more  rapid.  Take 
our  present  condition  :  by  the  time  a  man  has  completed  his  education, 
general  and  special — has  fully  developed  his  own  mental  faculties  and 
mastered  the  position  of  the  subject  he  has  selected — he  will  be  rarely 
less  than  five-and-twenty  years  of  age.  By  the  time  he  is  fifty,  as  a 
rule,  his  power  of  origination  begins  to  decline,  and  the  remainder  of 
his  life  is  spent  more  in  completing  and  rounding  ofl*  the  work  of  his 
younger  days  than  in  making  fresh  inroads  into  the  unknown.  Did 
our  full  vigor  of  intellect  extend  over  a  century,  instead  of  over  a 
fourth  of  that  duration,  we  should  undoubtedly  effect  much  more. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  shortening  of  our  time  of  activity  would  have  a 
powerfully  retarding  effect  on  the  career  of  discovery  and  invention. 
Can  we,  then,  wonder  if  the  short-lived  ant  and  bee  sometimes  appear 
to  us  stationary  in  their  civilization  ?  But  this  very  brevity  of  the 
career  of  each  individual  acts  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  preservation 
of  social  equality.  If  either  ant  or  man  is  disposed  to  rise  or  to  fall, 
then  the  shorter  the  time  during  which  such  rise  or  fall  is  possible  the 
better  will  the  uniform  level  of  society  be  preserved.  To  prevent  mis- 
understanding we  must  remark  that  castes  with  a  corresponding  dif- 
ference of  duties,  and,  according  to  some  authorities,  with  a  diversity 
of  honor  also,  do  occur  in  the  ant-hill ;  but  within  each  caste  all  are 
on  an  exactly  equal  footing. 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  201 

If  we  compare  the  zoological  rank  of  our  "six-footed  rivals"  with 
our  own,  we  must,  from  one  point  of  view,  concede  them  a  higher  po- 
sition. The  more  perfectly  developed  is  any  animal  the  more  do  we 
find  it  possessed  of  an  especial  organ  for  the  discharge  of  every  func- 
tion. In  like  manner  it  may  be  contended  that,  as  a  species  rises  in 
the  scale  of  being,  duties  once  indiscriminately  performed  by  all  the 
species  are  assigned  to  distinct  individuals.  Among  the  humbler 
groups  of  the  animal  kingdom  the  whole  reproductive  task  is  per- 
formed by  all  members  of  the  species.  In  other  words,  hermaph- 
roditism prevails.  As  we  ascend  to  higher  groups  the  sexes  are 
separated,  and  the  species  becomes  dimorphous.  This  arrangement 
prevails  among  all  vertebrate  animals,  and  among  a  large  majority 
of  annulose  species.  We  find  here  already,  however,  one  of  those 
contrasts  which  so  often  prevail  between  these  two  great  series  of 
beings.  Among  vertebrates,  and  especially  in  mankind,  the  function 
of  the  female  sex  seems  limited  to  the  nurture — intra-  and  extra- 
uterine— of  the  young.  Were  man  immortal  and  non-reproductive, 
woman's  raison  d'etre  would  disappear.  Among  Annulosa  the  very 
reverse  holds  good ;  the  females  are  as  a  rule  larger,  stronger,  and 
more  long-lived,  while  the  task  of  the  male  seems  limited  to  the 
fecundation  of  the  ova.  This  being  once  performed,  his  part  is 
played.  Among  butterflies,  moths,  and  ants,  his  death  speedily 
follows,  while  among  spiders  he  is  generally  killed  and  devoured  by 
his  better-half.  This  predominance  of  the  female  sex  seems  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  phenomenon  which  we  recognize  among  the 
social  Hymenoptera.  Here  the  species  become  no  longer  dimorphous, 
but  polymorphous.  In  other  words,  in  addition  to  the  males  and 
females,  whose  task  is  now  exclusively  confined  to  the  mere  function 
of  reproduction,  there  are,  as  we  have  seen,  one  or  more  forms  of 
females,  sexually  abortive,  but  so  developed  in  other  respects  as  to 
form  the  castes  of  workers  and  fighters,  upon  whom  the  real  govern- 
ment of  the  ant-hill  devolves,  who  provide  for  its  enlargement,  well- 
being,  and  defense. 

It  may,  we  think,  be  legitimately  contended  that  the  develop- 
ment of  a  distinct  working  order  is  a  step  in  advance  similar  to  that 
taken  by  the  distribution  of  the  sexual  functions  among  two  different 
individuals — that  the  polymorphic  species  is  higher  than  the  dimor- 
phic, just  as  the  dimorphic  is  higher  than  the  monomorphic. 

Of  the  development  of  a  neuter  order  among  vertebrate  animals, 
and  especially  among  mankind,  we  know  nothing  which  can  be  fairly 
called  a  trace.  But,  in  comparing  the  two  civilizations,  that  of  man 
and  that  of  the  ant,  we  must  be  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  former 
has  from  time  to  time  imitated  this  peculiar  feature.  The  attempts, 
however,  whether  made  by  the  devotion  of  certain  classes  to  celibacy 
or  by  actual  emasculation,  have  been  as  unsuccessful  as  the  sham 
elephants  of  Semiramis.     Celibates  retaining  the  sexual  appetite,  but 


202  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

deprived  of  its  legitimate  exercise,  have  always  been  a  disturbing 
force  in  society.  On  the  other  hand,  emasculation,  instead  of — as 
might  have  been  perhaps,  a  priori,  anticipated — increasing  the  powers 
of  body  and  mind,  enfeebles  both.  What  would  be  the  moral  and 
social  effects  of  the  appearance  of  a  neutral  form  of  the  human  species 
analogous  to  the  working  bee  or  ant  it  is  impossible  to  foresee;  but 
w7e  may  venture  to  surmise  that  they  would  not  be  entirely  desirable.1 

It  may  be  suggested  that  the  institution  of  caste  among  so  many 
human  races  is  an  adumbration  of  the  natural  castes  existing  among 
social  insects,  each  devoted  to  some  especial  function. 

The  remarkable  intelligence  of  ants  has  from  very  early  ages 
made  a  profound  impression  on  man.  Cicero  considered  them  pos- 
sessed of  "  mind,  reason,  and  memory." 2  To  the  present  day  those 
who  watch  the  formicary,  not  in  order  to  defend  prepossessions,  but 
to  arrive  at  truth,  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  unpopular  though  it 
may  be.  We  sometimes  wonder  whether  ants,  like  men,  consider- 
themselves  the  sole  reasonable  beings  on  the  globe,  prove  their  posi- 
tion by  sound  a  priori  arguments,  and  accuse  those  who  take  a  differ- 
ent view  of  "  skepticism"  or  "agnosticism." 

When  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  meet  with  a  flat  denial  all  in- 
stances of  correct  inferences  drawn  and  of  happy  contrivances  adopted 
by  brutes  in  general  and  by  ants  in  particular,  the  writers  who  still 
claim  reason  as  the  exclusive  prerogative  of  man  bring  forward  a 
curious  objection :  they  urge  that  we  should  likewise  collect  proofs  of 
animal  folly  and  stupidity,  and  seem  to  think  that  these  latter  in- 
stances would  nullify  any  conclusion  that  might  be  drawn  from  the 
former.  That  instances  are  numerous  where  some  animal  fails  to 
draw  an  inference — very-obvious,  in  our  view — or  to  adopt  some  very 
simple  expedient,  we  do  not  deny,  and  that  their  conduct  hence  seems 
strangely  checkered,  we  admit.  What,  e.  g.,  can  seem  more  incon- 
sistent than  the  following  cases?  Sir  John  Lubbock,  to  test  the  in- 
telligence of  ants,  placed  a  strip  of  paper  so  as  to  serve  as  a  bridge 
or  ladder  for  some  ants  which  were  carrying  their  pupae  by  a  very 
roundabout  way.  The  slip  was,  however,  purposely  left  short  of  its 
destination  by  some  small  fraction  of  an  inch.  It  would  have  been 
very  easy  for  the  ants  either  to  have  dropped  themselves  and  their 
burden  down  this  short  distance,  or  to  have  handed  the  pupse  to  the 
other  ants  below,  or  to  have  piled  up  a  small  amount  of  earth  from 
below,  so  as  to  meet  the  slip  of  paper,  and  thus  make  the  descending- 
road  continuous.  They  adopted,  however,  none  of  these  expedients, 
but  continued  to  travel  the  roundabout  way. 

'It  is  very  remarkable  that  among  the  Termites,  which, though  improperly  called 
"  white  ants,"  belong  to  a  different  order  of  insects,  neuters  exist.  These,  however,  do 
not  appear  to  be  imperfectly  developed  females.  It  would  thus  seem  that  among  insects 
social  organization  necessitates  a  class  of  sexless  individuals. 

2  "  Mens,  ratio,  et  memoria." 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  203 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Tennant  tells  us  that  Formica  smaragdina, 
in  forming  its  dwellings  by  cementing  together  the  leaves  of  growing 
trees,  adopts  the  following  method  :  A  line  of  ants,  standing  along 
the  edge  of  one  leaf,  seize  hold  of  another,  and  bring  its  margin  in 
contact  with  the  one  on  which  they  are  posted.  They  then  hold  both 
together  with  their  mandibles,  while  their  companions  glue  them  fast 
with  a  kind  of  adhesive  paper  which  they  prepare.  If  the  two  leaves 
are  so  far  apart  that  a  single  ant  cannot  reach  from  one  to  another, 
they  form  chains  with  their  bodies  to  span  over  the  gap.  The  same 
author  also  informs  us  that  certain  Ceylonese  ants,  when  carrying 
sand  or  dry  earth  for  the  construction  of  their  nests,  glue  several 
grains  together  so  as  to  form  a  lump  as  large  as  they  can  carry,  and 
thus  economize  time  and  labor. 

Mr.  Belt,  in  his  "Naturalist  in  Nicaragua"  (page  2*7),  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  JEcitons,  or  foraging 
'ants  of  Central  and  South  America,  deal  with  what  may  be  called 
engineering  difficulties  :  "  I  once  saw  a  wide  column  trying  to  pass 
along  a  crumbling,  nearly  perpendicular  slope.  They  would  have 
got  very  slowly  over  it,  and  many  of  them  would  have  fallen,  but 
a  number  having  secured  their  hold  and  reaching  to  each  other  re- 
mained stationary,  and  over  them  the  main  column  passed.  Another 
time  they  were  crossing  a  water-course  along  a  small  branch,  not 
thicker  than  a  goose-quill.  They  widened  this  natural  bridge  to  three 
times  its  width,  by  a  number  of  ants  clinging  to  it  and  to  each  other 
on  each  side,  over  which  the  column  passed  three  or  four  deep  ;  where- 
as, except  for  this  expedient,  they  would  have  had  to  pass  over  in 
sino-le  file,  and  treble  the  time  would  have  been  consumed." 

Again,  in  Eciton  legionis,  according  to  Mr.  Bates,  when  digging 
mines  to  get  at  another  species  of  ant  whose  nests  they  were  attack- 
ing, the  workers  were  divided  into  parties,  "  one  set  excavating  and 
another  set  carrying  away  the  grains  of  earth.  When  the  shafts 
became  rather  deep  the  mining  parties  had  to  climb  up  the  sides  each 
time  they  wished  to  cast  out  a  pellet  of  earth,  but  their  work  was 
lightened  for  them  by  comrades  who  stationed  themselves  at  the 
mouth  of  the  shaft  and  relieved  them  of  their  burdens,  carrying  the 
particles,  with  an  appearance  of  foresight  which  quite  staggered  me, 
a  sufficient  distance  from  the  edge  of  the  hole  to  prevent  them  from 
rolling  in  again." 

What,  then,  are  we  to  learn  from  these  somewhat  inconsistent 
cases  ?  Are  we  to  conclude  that  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Mr.  Belt,  Mr. 
Bates,  and  Mr.  Tennant,  must  be  careless  and  incompetent  observers  ? 
Assuredly  not.  Are  we  to  believe  that  ants  are  stupid,  irrational 
creatures,  and  that  when  they  do  anything  right  it  must  be  regarded 
as  an  accident  or  ascribed  to  that  convenient  phantom,  instinct? 
Still  less  :  the  well-established  cases  which  are  on  record  agree  badly 
with  either  of  these  suppositions.     The  true  explanation  of  the  diffi- 


2o4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

culty  is  that,  like  all  finite  intelligences,  ants  are  not  equally  Avise  on 
all  occasions.  Sometimes  they  hit  upon  the  best  expedient  for  evad- 
ing or  overcoming  an  obstacle,  but  sometimes,  under  circumstances 
not  more  complicated,  they  fail.  This  is  doubtless  the  case  with  man 
himself.  If  contemplated  by  some  being  endowed  with  higher  rea- 
soning powers,  would  he  not  be  pronounced  a  most  curiously  incon- 
sistent mixture  of  sagacity  and  stupidity,  now  solving  problems  of 
no  small  difficulty,  and  now  standing  helpless  in  presence  of  others 
even  more  simple  ?  That  such  is  in  reality  the  case  with  man  is 
proved  by  the  history  of  discoveries,  and  of  their  reception.  Do  we 
not  always  say  when  we  hear  of  any  great  step,  whether  in  scientific 
theory  or  in  the  practical  arts,  "How  simple,  how  natural!"  Yet, 
simple  and  natural  as  it  is,  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  lived  for 
centuries  without  opening  their  eyes  to  it.  To  those  who,  on  the 
score  of  incidental  blunders  and  stupidities,  deny  the  rationality  of' 
animals,  we  would  hold  up  the  ever-memorable  "egg"  of  Columbus,- 
and  exclaim,"  What,  gentlemen, do  you  expect  the  ant  to  be  be  more 
uniformly  and  consistently  intelligent  than  your  erudite  selves?" 

Concerning  the  language  of  ants  no  small  diversity  of  opinion  has 
prevailed ;  but  among  actual  observers  the  general  conclusion  is  that 
these  tiny  creatures  can  impart  to  each  other  information  of  a  very 
definite  character,  and  not  merely  general  signals,  such  as  those  of 
alarm.  It  has  been  found  that  ants  fetched  by  a  messenger  for  some 
especial  purpose  seem,  when  they  arrive  at  the  spot,  to  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  task  which  is  awaiting  them,  and  set  about  it  at 
once  without  any  preliminary  investigation.  The  cases  which  we 
quote  elsewhere  from  Mr.  Belt  are  very  conclusive  on  this  point.  In 
order  to  decide  whether  ants  are  really  fetched  to  assist  in  tasks  be- 
yond the  strength  of  any  one  of  their  number,  Sir  John  Lubbock  in- 
stituted a  very  interesting  and  decisive  experiment.  It  is  well  known 
that  if  the  laiwae  of  ants  are  taken  out  of  the  nest,  the  workers  never 
rest  till  they  have  fetched  them  back.  Sir  John  Lubbock  took  a  num- 
ber of  larvae  out  of  his  experimental  formicary,  and  placed  them  aside 
in  two  parcels  very  unequal  in  number.  Each  of  these  lots  was  soon 
discovered  by  an  ant,  who  at  once  fell  to  work  to  carry  the  larvae 
back  to  the  nest,  and  was  soon  joined  by  others,  eager  to  assist.  The 
observer  reasoned  thus :  If  these  ants  have  come  to  the  spot  by  acci- 
dent, it  is  probable  that  the  number  who  arrive  at  each  lot  will  be 
approximately  equal.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they  are  intentionally 
fetched  to  assist  in  removing  the  larvae,  the  number  in  each  case  will 
most  likely  bear  some  proportion  to  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done. 
The  result  was,  that  the  large  heap  of  larvae  was  visited  by  about  three 
times  as  many  ants  as  the  small  one.  Hence  the  inference  is  plain 
that  ants  can  call  assistance  to  any  task  in  which  they  are  engaged, 
that  they  can  form  some  estimate  of  the  amount  of  labor  that  will 
be  required,  and  can  make  their  views  in  some  manner  known  to  their 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  205 

companions.  The  manner  in  which,  when  on  the  march,  they  are 
directed  by  their  officers,  and  the  promptitude  and  precision  with 
which  a  column  is  sent  out  to  seize  any  booty  indicated  by  scouting- 
parties,  show  likewise  a  completeness  and  precision  of  language  very 
different  from  anything  we  observe  in  quadrupeds  and  birds. 

But  as  to  the  nature  of  this  language,  which  Mr.  Belt  rightly  calls 
"  wonderful,"  we  are  as  yet  very  much  in  the  dark.  Sounds  audible 
to  our  ears  they  scarcely  can  be  said  to  emit.  Their  principal  organs 
of  speech  are  doubtless  the  antennas :  with  these,  when  seeking  to 
communicate  intelligence,  they  touch  each  other  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  with  organs  so  flexible  and  so  sensitive, 
an  interchange  not  merely  of  emotions  but  of  ideas  must  be  easy. 

But  there  is  another  channel  of  communication  which  deserves  to 
be  carefully  investigated.  We  know  that  the  language  of  vertebrates, 
or  at  least  of  their  higher  sections,  turns  on  the  production  or  recog- 
nition of  sounds.  What  if  the  language  of  social  insects  should  be 
found  to  depend,  in  part  at  least,  on  the  production  and  recognition 
of  odors  ?  We  have  already  full  proof  that  their  sense  of  smell  is  de- 
veloped to  a  degree  of  acuteness  and  delicacy  which  utterly  passes 
our  conceptions  of  possibility,  and  to  which  the  scent  of  the  keenest 
hound  presents  but  a  very  faint  aj^proximation.  Collectors  of  Lej)i- 
doptera  are  well  aware  that  if  a  virgin  female  moth  of  certain  species 
is  inclosed  in  a  box,  males  of  the  same  species  will  make  their  ap- 
pearance from  distances  which  may  be  relatively  pronounced  pro- 
digious. As  soon,  however,  as  the  decoy  has  been  fecundated,  this 
attraction  ceases.  This  is  only  one  among  the  many  jihenomena 
which  testify  to  the  wonderful  olfactory  powers  of  insects.  So  much, 
then,  for  the  recognition  of  odors.  Nor  is  their  production  among  in- 
sects a  matter  open  to  doubt.  Scents,  distinctly  perceptible  even  to 
our  duller  organs,  are  given  off  by  many.  The  pleasant  odor  of  the 
musk-beetle,  and  the  offensive  smells  of  the  ladybirds,  the  common 
ground-beetles,  the  oil-beetles,  the  Spanish  fly,  and  the  "  devil's  coach- 
horse" — hence  technically  named  Gceriits  olens — are  known  to  every 
tyro  in  entomology.  The  next  question  is,  Are  these  odors  at  all 
under  the  control  of  the  insect,  and  capable  of  being  produced,  sup- 
pressed, or  modified  at  will  ?  We  have  noticed  many  instances  where 
the  odors  of  insects  became  more  intense  under  the  influence  of  anger 
or  alarm.  A  peculiarly  pungent  odor  is  said  to  issue  from  a  beehive 
if  the  inmates  are  becoming  excited. 

The  possibility  of  a  scent-language  among  insects  must  therefore 
be  conceded.  Mr.  Belt  thinks  that  the  Ecitons  mark  out  a  track  which 
is  to  be  followed  by  their  comrades  by  imparting  to  it  some  peculiar 
odor.  He  says:  "At  one  point  I  noticed  a  sort  of  assembly  of  about 
a  dozen  individuals  that  appeared  in  consultation.  Suddenly  one  ant 
left  the  conclave,  and  ran  with  great  speed  up  the  perpendicular  face 
of  the  cutting  without  stopping.     It  was  followed  by  others,  which, 


206  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

however,  did  not  keep  straight  on  like  the  first,  but  ran  a  short  way, 
then  returned,  and  then  again  followed  a  little  farther  thau  the  first 
time.  They  were  evidently  scenting  the  trail  of  the  pioneer,  and 
making  it  permanently  recognizable.  These  ants  followed  the  exact 
line  taken  by  the  first  one,  though  it  was  far  out  of  sight.  Wher- 
ever it  had  made  a  slight  detour,  they  did  so  likewise.  I  scraped  with 
my  knife  a  small  portion  of  the  clay  on  the  trail,  and  the  ants  were 
completely  at  fault  for  a  time  which  way  to  go.  Those  ascending 
and  those  descending  stopped  at  the  scraped  portion,  and  made  short 
circuits  until  they  hit  the  scented  trail  again,  when  all  their  hesi- 
tation vanished,  and  they  ran  up  and  down  it  with  the  greatest  con- 
fidence." 

That  among  groups  like  the  Ecitons,  in  which  the  sense  of  sight 
is  imperfect,  or  even  totally  wanting,  enhanced  delicacy  of  scent  and 
touch  must  be  required  in  compensation,  may  be  taken  as  self-evident. 
With  the  language  of  ants,  and  especially  with  a  possible  scent-lan- 
guage, is  connected  the  faculty  by  means  of  which  denizens  of  the 
same  city  recognize  each  other  under  circumstances  of  great  diffi- 
culty. In  the  battles  which  take  place  between  two  nations  of  the 
same  species,  how,  save  by  scent,  do  the  tiny  warriors  distinguish 
friend  from  foe?  We  are  told  by  some  older  observers  that  if  an 
ant  is  taken  from  the  nest,  and  restored  after  the  lapse  of  several 
months,  it  is  alonce  received  by  its  companions  and  caressed,  while 
a  stranger  ant  introduced  at  the  same  time  is  rejected,  and  generally 
killed.  To  a  great  extent  this  has  been  confirmed  by  recent  investi- 
gators. The  returned  exile  was  not  indeed  caressed,  but  was  quietly 
allowed  to  enter  the  nest,  while  a  stranger  was  at  once  greeted  with 
hostile  demonstrations.  It  has  been  maintained  that  this  power  of 
recognition  is  destroyed  by  water,  and  that  ants  will  treat  a  comrade 
as  an  enemy  if  he  has  received  a  drenching.  This,  however,  is  evi- 
dently a  mistake.  To  prevent  rain  from  penetrating  into  the  nests 
of  the  agricultural  ant,  the  guards  block  up  the  doorways  with  their 
bodies,  and  are  often  drowned  at  their  posts.  But  their  companions 
are  not  thereby  preventedjfrom  recognizing  them,  as  they  try  to  bring 
the  dead  bodies  to  life. —  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DYNAMICAL  THEORY  OF  HEAT.1 

By  PORTER  POINIER. 

I. 

A  RECAPITULATION  of  the  various  conjectures  which  have  been 
advanced  in  explanation  of  so  ever-familiar  a  sensation  as  that  of 
warmth  or  heat,  would  neither  prove  particularly  feasible  nor  inter- 
esting ;  for  doubtless  during  the  vast  period  of  time  which  has  elapsed 

1  Introduction  to  an  unpublished  work  on  Thermo-Dynamics. 


HISTORY    OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    207 

since  the  enunciation  of  atomic  doctrines  by  the  old  Greek  philoso- 
phers— and  from  their  great  suggestiveness — the  speculations  of  re- 
flective minds  have  wandered  over  wellnigh  every  imaginable  hy- 
pothesis, and  approximated  with  greater  or  less  minuteness  to  the 
views  which  are  admitted  now,  and  which  we  think  to  be  supported 
by  experiment.  Thus,  as  a  case  in  point,  we  may  refer  to  Galileo,1 
whose  resource  of  observation  could  have  scarcely  been  superior  to 
Archimedes's,  and  who  would  seem  to  have  conceived  of  an  increase 
of  heat  as  only  a  more  elementary  condition  of  material  substance,  in 
which  .the  more  or  less  considerable  destruction  of  molecular  bonds 
allowed  the  individual  particles  of  a  body  to  move  among  themselves 
with  a  more  unconstrained  vibration. 

But  very  few  among  the  countless  suppositions  which  we  might 
thus  succeed  in  raking  up,  however  curious  or  predictive  in  them- 
selves, would  have  the  slightest  bearing  on  our  present  subject.  De- 
veloped only  to  the  extent  demanded  by  the  superiority  of  the  scho- 
lastic mind,  they  would  be  found  in  general  mere  arbitrary,  whimsical 
assertions  ;  untried  and  unsupported  by  critically-devised  experiments. 
With  the  reformation  of  philosophy  does  our  historical  sketch  then 
properly  begin,  and,  moreover,  with  Lord  Bacon  as  its  founder ;  for, 
in  illustrating  the  proper  method  of  establishing  a  philosophical  doc- 
trine, he  forever  identified  himself  with  the  dynamic  theory,  by  show- 
ing that  the  most  comprehensive  explanations  were  afforded  by  con- 
sidering heat  to  be  an  intestine  motion  of  the  constituent  particles  of  a 
body.  Systematically  reviewing  the  known  properties  and  effects  of 
heat — the  only  practicable  course  open  to  him — he  concluded  in  the 
following  memorable  and  oft-quoted  passages  : 2 

"  Atque  htec  sit  Prima  Vindemiatio,  sive  Interpretatio  inchoata  de  Forma 
Calidi,  facta  per  Permissionem  Intellectus. 

"  Ex  Vindemiatione  autem  ista  Prima,  Forma  sive  definitio  vera  Caloris  (ejus 
qui  est  in  ordine  ad  universum),  non  relativus  tantummodo  ad  sensum  talis  est, 
brevi  verborum  ,complexu  :  Color  est  motus  expanmw,  cohibitets,  et  nitens  per 
partes  minores." 

We  find,  therefore,  in  older  writings,  the  first  considerable  support 
of  this  doctrine  attributed  to  Bacon ;  and  it  must  be  conceded  that  to 
the  power  and  vividness  with  which  he  portrayed  his  conception  of 
this  agent  was  due  in  a  great  measure  the  tenacity  with  which  it  was 
afterward,  from  time  to  time,  brought  forward  and  upheld. 

The  subsequent  supporters  of  this  view,  though  not  perhaps  most 
numerous,  comprised  by  far  the  most  distinguished  and  profound 
philosophers  of  their  time,  their  writings  furnishing  many  remarkable 
anticipations  of  heat-theory  as  now  received. 

1  "  Opere  di  Galileo  Galilei,"  torn,  ii.,  p.  505,  et  seq. 

2  "  Novum  Organum,"  lib.  sec.,  aphorism  20.  Spedding  and  Ellis's  translation,  vol.  iv., 
p.  154. 


208  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Newton,1  quite  singularly,  while  rejecting  the  wave-theory  of  light, 
gave  his  assent  to  the  analogous  ideas  respecting  heat ;  and,  in  so  far 
as  we  may  judge,  conceived  the  warmth  excited  in  a  body  when  ex- 
posed to  light  or  radiant  heat  to  be  due  to  the  little  shocks  which 
luminous  or  radiant  material  might  produce  in  it. 

Huyghens,  Hooke,  Locke,  and  Cavendish,  among  others,  were  also 
favorably  inclined  to  the  Baconian  view;2  the  works  of  Hooke  par- 
ticularly containing  many  and  strong  expositions  of  the  vibratory 
notion,  and  his  comments  on  the  mechanical  and  chemical  produc- 
tion of  heat  being  urged  often  with  as  great  clearness,  and  as  sub- 
tile a  perception  of  occult  natural  causes,  as  any  which  we  now 
possess.3 

But  the  adaptation  of  the  known  "  laws  of  motion  "  to  these  opera- 
tions, whereby  heat  might  in  many  instances  have  been  directly  cor- 
related to  the  energy  expended  in  producing  it,  was  not  until  long- 
after  definitely  proposed;  and  though,  in  1744,  Boyle,4  perhaps  as  in- 
telligently as  any  one  before  him,  had  attributed  the  heating  of  a 
hammered  body  to  the  transfer  of  the  "  motion  "  of  the  hammer  to  the 
ultimate  particles  of  the  body  struck,  yet  the  idea  of  the  indestructi- 
bility of  energy  in  all  cases,  and  of  course,  therefore,  in  the  mechani- 
cal excitation  of  heat,  would  not  seem  to  have  been  expressly  urged 
before  the  time  of  Rumford  and  Sir  Humphry  Davy. 

In  the  mean  while,  however,  a  new  doctrine  was  brought  forth,  as- 
signing to  heat  a  material  existence  and  chemical  properties.     First 

1  Newton's  "  Optice,"  queries  at  the  end  of  treatise,  especially  Nos.  6,  8  12  18  23 
and  31. 

2  The  ideas  of  Huyghens  on  this  point  would  seem  to  have  resembled  somewhat  those 
of  Galileo,  already  quoted.  See  "  Expose  de  la  Situation  de  la  Mecanique  Appliquee," 
par  Combes,  etc.,  p.  200.  Paris,  1867.  And  Locke  quite  uniformly  made  use  of  Bacon's 
hypothesis.  See  particularly  his  essay  on  the  "  Conduct  of  the  Human  Understanding 
Elements  of  Natural  Philosophy,"  chap,  xi.,  where  he  says  : 

"  Heat  is  a  very  brisk  agitation  of  the  insensible  parts  of  the  object  which  produces 
in  us  that  sensation  whence  we  denominate  the  object  hot ;  so  what  in  our  sensation  is 
heat,  in  the  object  is  nothing  but  motion.  .  .  . 

"  On  the  other  side,  the  utmost  degree  of  cold  is  the  cessation  of  that  motion  of  the 
insensible  particles  which  to  our  touch  is  heat." 

3  Hooke's  "  Micrographia,"  obs.  xvi.,  12th  particular.  "  Posthumous  Works,"  p.  49. 
"Lectures  on  Light,"  p.  1 10. 

4  "  And  now  I  speak  of  striking  an  iron  with  a  hammer,  I  am  put  in  mind  of  an  opera- 
tion that  seems  to  contradict,  but  does  indeed  confirm  our  theory:  namely,  that  if  a  some- 
what longer  nail  be  driven  by  a  hammer  into  a  plank  or  piece  of  wood,  it  will  receive 
divers  strokes  on  the  head  before  it  grow  hot ;  but  when  it  is  driven  to  the  head,  so  that 
it  can  go  no  further,  a  few  strokes  will  suffice  to  give  it  a  considerable  heat ;  for  while  at 
every  blow  of  the  hammer  the  nail  enters  further  and  further  into  the  wood,  the  motion 
that  is  produced  is  chiefly  progressive,  and  is  of  the  whole  nail  tending  one  way ;  where- 
as, when  that  motion  is  stopped,  then  the  impulse  given  by  the  stroke  being  unable  either 
to  drive  the  nail  further  on  or  destroy  its  entireness,  must  be  spent  in  making  a  various, 
vehement,  and  intestine  commotion  of  the  parts  among  themselves,  and  in  such  an  one 
we  formerly  observed  the  nature  of  heat  to  consist."  —(Boyle,  "  On  the  Mechanical  Origin 
of  Heat  and  Cold,"  "  Complete  Works,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  236,  et  seq.,  exp.  vi.) 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    209 

advocated,  it  is  thought,  by  Boerhaave '  and  Lemery,2  it  received  in 
1787  the  unrestricted  name  "caloric"  from  the  French  Academy. 

According  to  these  hypothetic  notions,  singularly  cramped  and 
superficial,  as  compared  with  the  more  fruitful  ideas  of  Bacon,  caloric, 
or  the  matter  of  heat,  was  thought  to  be  a  highly-elastic,  imponder- 
able fluid ;  which,  distributed  among  the  constituent  molecules  of 
bodies,  in  quantities  varying  with  the  temperature  in  the  same,  or  the 
"  capacity  "  in  different  kinds  of  substance,  occasioned  all  the  known 
phenomena  of  heat :  the  sensation,  through  an  occult  property  of  its 
own ;  expansion  and  repulsion,  by  the  entrance  of  its  own  substance 
among  the  molecules  of  the  bodies  heated  ;  a  change  of  state  whenever 
the  effective  action  of  any  particular  set  of  molecular  forces  should 
thus  happen  to  be  overcome  ;  and  in  radiation  passing  from  one  body 
to  another  with  vast  swiftness.  Being,  moreover,  an  unchangeable 
material,  a  definite  created  quantity  of  it  was  considered  to  exist  at 
all  times  in  the  universe. 

The  idea  of  a  substance  unaffected  by  the  force  of  gravity  did  not 
appear  so  very  improbable  in  those  days,  while  the  then  frequent 
separation  of  some  new  or  more  elementary  gas,  and  the  astonishing 
effects  directly  traceable  to  their  action,  quite  naturally  suggested  an 
analogous  causation  in  thermal  phenomena. 

The  discovery  by  Black,  of  latent  heat,3  seemed  also  to  supply  the 
necessary  induction  for  its  quantitative  treatment ;  so  that  toward  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  upon  chemical  considerations 
merely,  the  hypothesis  of  caloric  had  succeeded  in  supplanting  quite 
effectually  the  ideas  of  Bacon. 

Tlie  explanations  which  it  gave  of  the  mechanical  excitation  of 
heat  were  not  so  plausible,  however ;  certain  phenomena  appearing 
utterly  incongruous  with  the  idea  of  an  unalterable  material  supply 
of  heat-substance,  and  its  continued  production  of  friction— a  phe- 
nomenon which  has  been  since  said  to  have  furnished  the  key  to  the 
whole  science  of  thermo-dynamics— serving  eventually  to  completely 
overturn  it.  In  explaining  such  phenomena,  therefore,  those  who  still 
chose  the  material  hypothesis  were  compelled  to  overlook  some  very 
significant  objections ;  while,  still  supposing  it  to  be  a  vibratory  mo- 

1  "  De  Igne,  Elementa  Chemise,"  i.,  116. 

2  "  Sur  la  Matiere  du  Feu,"  "  Histoire  et  Memoires  de  l'Ac.  Par.,"  1709,  pp.  6,  400. 

3  We  know,  however,  that  these  discoveries  did  not  fail  to  be  correctly  interpreted  at 
the  time,  for  Cavendish,  in  a  foot-note  to  some  "  Observations  on  Mr.  Hutchinson's  Ex 
periments,"  etc.,  "Philosophical  Transactions,"  1783,  p.  312,  remarked: 

"  I  am  informed  that  Dr.  Black  explains  the  above-mentioned  phenomena  in  the  same 
manner;  only  instead  of  using  the  expression,  'heat  is  generated  or  produced,'  he  says, 
'  latent  heat  is  evolved  or  set  free  ; '  but  as  this  expression  relates  to  an  hypothesis  de- 
pending on  the  supposition  that  the  heat  of  bodies  is  owing  to  their  containing  more  or 
less  of  a  substance  called  the  matter  of  heat,  and  as  I  think  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  opinion, 
that  heat  consists  in  the  internal  motion  of  the  particles  of  bodies,  much  the  most  prob- 
able, I  choose  to  use  the  expression  '  heat  is  generated.'  " 
vor,.  XII. — 14 


2io  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

tion,  the  additional  phenomena  of  latent  or  specific  heats  were  not  at 
all  irreconcilable  or  difficult  of  explanation. 

Thus  Lavoisier  and  Laplace,  in  their  famous  "Memoire  sur  la  Cha- 
leur  "  of  1780,  though  still  retaining  and  defending  the  ideas  of  caloric, 
admitted  the  frictional  excitation  of  heat  to  be  "favorable"  to  the 
dynamical  hypothesis.  But  it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  earlier  experiments  devoted  to  the  study  of  this  point 
had  been  by  no  means  unmistakable  in  their  indications,  directed  as 
they  had  been  rather  to  the  detection  of  some  suspected  influence  of 
the  rubbing  surfaces  than  to  the  investigation  of  any  possible  relation 
between  the  heat  produced  and  the  energy  expended  in  producing  it. 

The  material  hypothesis  was,  therefore,  the  prevailing  one,  when 
about  the  year  1797  Count  Rumford,1  while  engaged  in  superintend- 
ing the  construction  of  cannon  at  the  military  arsenal  at  Munich,  be- 
came impressed  by  the  considerable  generation  of  heat  accompanying 
their  boring.  And  as  he  thought  upon  the  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomenon consistent  with  the  then  prevailing  ideas  as  to  the  intimate 
nature  of  heat,  it  seemed  to  him  impossible  that  an  apparently  un- 
limited supply  of  any  substance  could  be  separated  from  so  inconsid- 
erable a  quantity  of  borings.  The  doubt  increased  when,  upon  mak- 
ing the  determination,  he  found  the  specific  heat  of  this  debris  to  be 
the  same,  apparently,  as  that  of  the  mass  of  metal  from  which  it  had 
been  separated:  for  in  some  obscure  manner  the  "  capacity"  for  heat 
of  any  body,  or  the  total  quantity  of  it  which  it  might  hold  in  any 
particular  state,  was  considered  to  be  intimately  connected  with,  if 
not  entirely  defined  by,  its  specific  heat. 

But,  though  he  quoted  this  experiment  as  sufficiently  conclusive 
that  the  heat  set  free  by  friction  could  not  have  been  produced  at  the 
expense  of  any  caloric  latent  in  the  metal,  he  undertook  the  following 
more  elaborate  investigation  to  determine  all  the  circumstances  which 
might  possibly  exert  an  influence  on  its  production:  and  it  appears, 
both  from  his  method  of  procedure  and  the  arguments  with  which  he 
supplemented  his  results,  that  he  had  fully  comprehended  the  philo- 
sophical consequences  of  each  rival  theory. 

In  view  of  the  preeminent  importance  of  these  first  conclusive  and 
well-understood  experiments,  both  with  respect  to  the  establishment 
of  the  dynamic  theory  upon  an  experimental  basis,  and  the  undoubted 
claim  of  their  author  to  be  considered  as  its  founder,  we  here  give  as 
detailed  an  account  of  his  investigations  as  may  be  thought  admissible 
in  a  work  intended  merely  for  didactic  purposes ;  and  we  conceive  a 
fidl  statement  upon  this  most  important  point  to  be  the  more  de- 
sirable, from  the  fact  that  the  completeness  with  which  he  then 
demolished  the  material  hypothesis,  and  the  maturity  of  his  views 
respecting   the   dynamical   nature  of  heat,  do   not  of  late  seem  to 

1  "  Inquiry  concerning  the  Source  of  the  Heat  which  is  excited  by  Friction,"  "  Phil- 
osophical Transactions,"  1798,  p.  80.     "Complete  Works,"  Am.  Ac.  ed.,  p.  400. 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    211 

Lave  gained  the  unqualified  recognition  which  they  most  certainly 
deserve. 

Taking  the  casting  of  a  brass  cannon,  solid  and  rough  as  it  came 
from  the  foundery,  and  with  the  cylindrical  mass  of  metal  a  (Fig.  1), 
called  the  verlomer  Kopf,  still  adhering  to  the  muzzle,  Rumford  caused 
to  he  turned  upon  the  superfluous  end  a  smaller  cylinder,  b  (Fig.  2), 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 

7f  inches  in  diameter  and  9.8  inches  long,  and  which  remained  con- 
nected to  the  cannon  proper  by  the  neck,  e,  2.5  in  diameter  and  3.8 
inches  long. 

The  whole  mass  being  then  secured  in  the  apparatus  used  for  bor- 
ing (Fig.  2),  a  cavity  7.2  inches  long  and  3.7  in  diameter  was  bored 
in  b,  in  the  direction  of  its  axis,  so  that  a  metal  bottom,  2.6  inches 
thick,  remained  between  the  borer  and  the  neck.  In  this  also  a  small 
round  hole,  c  d  (Fig.  3),  was  radially  bored  for  the  insertion  of  a 
thermometer.  The  cylinder,  neck,  etc.,  are  represented  upon  a  some- 
what larger  scale  in  Fig.  3. 


Fig.  3. 


~\ 


The  borer  used  to  create  friction  upon  this  metallic  bottom  was  a 
flat  piece  of  hardened  steel,  0.63  inch  in  thickness,  four  inches  long, 
and  nearly  as  wide  as  the  cylindrical  bore  in  which  it  turned,  3^ 
inches ;  so  that  the  area  of  contact  with  the  bottom  was  about  2.33 
square  inches.     This  borer  was  securely  held  in  place  against  the  bot- 


212  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

torn  of  the  cylinder,  and  kept  from  turning  by  an  iron  bar,  m;  and 
thus  disposed  for  the  experiment  the  apparatus  is  represented  in 
Fig.  2. 

In  Rumford's  first  determination  the  borer  was  forced  against  the 
bottom  with  a  pressure  of  about  10,000  pounds,  and  the  cylinder  was 
rotated  at  the  rate  of  thirty-two  turns  in  a  minute,  by  the  labor  of 
two  horses.  To  prevent  also  as  far  as  possible  any  loss  of  heat 
by  radiation,  the  exposed  parts  were  protected  by  thick  coverings  of 
flannel. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  the  temperature  throughout, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  surrounding  air,  was  60°  Fahr. ;  at  the  end  of 
thirty  minutes,  when  960  revolutions  of  the  cylinder  had  been  made, 
the  temperature,  as  indicated  by  a  thermometer  introduced  into  the 
small  hole,  had  risen  to  130°. 

Collecting  the  metallic  dust — or,  as  lie  described  it,  scaly  matter — 
which  had  been  detached,  he  found  upon  a  careful  weighing  that  it 
amounted  to  but  837  grains,  or  54.2  grammes.  Its  inadequacy  to 
account  for  the  large  excitation  of  heat  fully  impressed  him,  and  he 
exclaims  : 

"  Is  it  possible  that  the  very  considerable  quantity  of  heat  that  was  produced 
in  this  experiment  (a  quantity  which  actually  raised  the  temperature  of  above 
113  pounds  of  gun-metal  at  least  TO °  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  and  which,  of 
course,  would  have  been  capable  of  melting  six  pounds  and  a  half  of  ice,  or  of 
causing  nearly  five  pounds  of  ice-cold  water  to  boil)  could  have  been  furnished  by 
so  inconsiderable  a  quantity  of  metallic  dust,  and  this  merely  in  consequence  of 
a  change  of  its  capacity  for  heat  ? 

"As  the  weight  of  this  dust  (837  grains,  Troy)  amounted  to  no  more  than 
-g^g-  part  of  that  of  the  cylinder,  it  must  have  lost  no  less  than  948°  of  heat,  to 
have  been  able  to  raise  the  temperature  of  the  cylinder  1°  ;  and  consequently  it 
must  have  given  off  60,360°  of  heat  to  have  produced  the  effects  which  were 
actually  found  to  have  been  produced  in  the  experiment ! 

"  But  without  insisting  on  the  improbability  of  this  supposition,  we  have 
only  to  recollect  that  from  the  results  of  actual  and  decisive  experiments,  made 
for  the  express  purpose  of  ascertaining  that  fact,  the  capacity  for  heat  of  the 
metal  of  which  great  guns  are  cast  is  not  sensibly  changed  by  being  reduced  to 
the  form  of  metallic  chips  in  the  operation  of  boring  cannon ;  and  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  any  reason  to  think  that  it  can  be  much  changed,  if  it  be  changed  at 
all,  in  being  reduced  to  much  smaller  pieces  by  means  of  a  borer  that  is  less 
sharp. 

"  If  the  heat,  or  any  considerable  part  of  it,  were  produced  in  consequence 
of  a  change  in  the  capacity  for  heat  of  a  part  of  the  metal  of  the  cylinder,  as 
such  change  would  only  be  superficial,  the  cylinder  would  by  degrees  be  ex- 
hausted;  or  the  quantities  of  heat  produced  in  any  given  short  space  of  time 
would  be  found  to  diminish  gradually  in  successive  experiments.  To  find  out  if 
this  really  happened  or  not,  I  repeated  the  last-mentioned  experiment  several 
times  with  the  utmost  care ;  but  I  did  not  discover  the  smallest  sign  of  ex- 
haustion in  the  metal,  notwitbstanding  the  large  quantities  of  heat  actually 
given  off. 

"  Finding  so  much  reason  to  conclude  that  the  heat  generated  in  these  ex- 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    213 

periments,  or  excited,  as  I  would  rather  choose  to  express  it,  was  not  furnished 
at  the  expense  of  the  latent  heat,  or  combined  caloric  of  the  metal,  I  pushed  my 
inquiries  a  step  farther,  and  endeavored  to  find  out  whether  the  air  did,  or  did 
not,  contribute  anything  in  the  generation  of  it." 

In  this,  his  Experiment  No.  2,  the  only  modification  consisted  in 
fitting  the  steel  borer  with  an  air-tight  piston,  packed  with  oiled 
leather,  by  which  any  circulation  of  air  from  without  to  the  interior 
was  prevented.  But  in  the  use  of  this  device  the  oiled  leather  itself, 
by  its  friction  with  the  sides  of  the  borer,  produced  considerable  heat, 
so  that,  to  obviate  any  possible  objection  as  to  this  point,  Rumford 
had  recourse  to  his  third  and  most  celebrated  experiment. 

In  this,  the  friction  cylinder  was  made  to  rotate  in  a  water-tight 
box,  which,  being  filled  with  water,  completely  submerged  all  the  heat- 
producing  parts.  Here,  therefore,  the  only  supply  of  caloric,  if  any, 
lay  in  the  Avater,  which  itself  was  to  be  heated  by  the  friction ;  for 
had  any  caloric  been  abstracted  by  the  heated  water  from  the  ambient 
air,  there  would  have  necessarily  been  a  flow  of  heat  from  a  cool  body 
to  a  warmer,  which  every  one  admitted  to  be  contrary  to  experience. 
The  apparatus,  therefore,  having  been  arranged,  the  box  was  filled 
with  water  at  the  temperature  of  60°  Fahr.,  and  the  machinery  put  in 
motion. 

With  reference  to  what  followed,  Rumford  remarked: 

"  The  result  of  this  beautiful  experiment  was  very  striking,  and  the  pleasure 
it  afforded  me  amply  repaid  me  for  all  the  trouble  I  had  had  in  contriving  and 
arranging  the  complicated  machinery  used  in  making  it. 

"  The  cylinder,  revolving  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty-two  times  in  a  minute, 
had  been  in  motion  but  a  short  time,  when  I  perceived,  by  putting  my  hand  into 
the  water  and  touching  the  outside  of  the  cylinder,  that  heat  was  generated ; 
and  it  was  not  long  before  the  water  which  surrounded  the  cylinder  began  to  be 
sensibly  warm. 

"  At  the  end  of  one  hour  I  found,  by  plunging  a  thermometer  into  the  water 
in  the  box  (the  quantity  of  which  fluid  amounted  to  18.77  pounds,  avoirdupois, 
or  two  and  a  quarter  wine-gallons),  that  its  temperature  had  been  raised  no  less 
than  47° ;  being  now  107°  of  Fahrenheit's  scale. 

"  When  thirty  minutes  more  had  elapsed,  or  one  hour  and  thirty  minutes 
after  the  machinery  had  been  put  in  motion,  the  heat  of  the  water  in  the  box 
was  142°. 

"  At  the  end  of  two  hours,  reckoning  from  the  beginning  of  the  experiment, 
the  temperature  of  the  water  was  found  to  be  raised  to  178°. 

"  At  two  hours  twenty  minutes  it  was  at  200°  ;  and  at  two  hours  thirty 
minutes  it  actually  boiled  ! 

"  The  quantity  of  heat  excited  and  accumulated  in  this  experiment  was  very 
considerable ;  for,  not  only  the  water  in  the  box,  but  also  the  box  itself  (which 
weighed  15}  pounds),  and  the  hollow  metallic  cylinder,  and  that  part  of  the 
iron  bar  which,  being  situated  within  the  cavity  of  the  box,  was  immersed  in 
the  water,  were  heated  150°  Fahr.,  namely,  from  60°  (which  was  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  and  of  the  machinery  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment)  to 
210°,  the  heat  of  boiling  water  at  Munich." 


214  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

The  total  quantity  of  heat  generated  may  be  estimated  with  some 
considerable  degree  of  precision  as  follows  :  QuantUy  of  ice  coM 

water  which,  with 
the  given  quantity 

"  Of  the  heat  excited  there  appears  to  have  been  actually      of  heat,  mignt  have 

*  been  heated  180°,  or 

accumulated  :  made  to  boil. 

"  In  the  water  contained  in  the  wooden  box,  18£  pounds, In  avoirdupois  weight, 
avoirdupois,  heated  150°,  namely,  from  60°  to  100°  Fahr.         .        .        .    15.2 

"In  113.13  pounds  of  gun-metal  (the  hollow  cylinder),  heated  150°  ; 
and,  as  the  capacity  for  heat  of  this  metal  is  to  that  of  water  as  0.1100  to 
1.0000,  this  quantity  of  heat  would  have  heated  12|  pounds  of  water  the 
same  number  of  degrees     ..........  10.37 

"  In  36.75  cubic  inches  of  iron  (being  that  part  of  the  iron  bar  to  which 
the  borer  was  fixed  which  entered  the  box),  heated  150°  ;  which  may  be 
reckoned  equal  in  capacity  for  heat  to  1.21  pound  of  water        .         .         .1.01 

"  1ST.  B. — No  estimate  is  here  made  of  the  heat  accumulated  in  the 
wooden  box,  nor  of  that  dispersed  during  the  experiment. 

"  Total  quantity  of  ice-cold  water  which,  with  the  heat  actually  gen- 
erated by  friction,  and  accumulated  in  two  hours  and  thirty  minutes,  

might  have  been  heated  180°,  or  made  to  boil 26.58 

"  As  the  machinery  used  in  this  experiment  could  easily  be  carried  round 
by  the  force  of  one  horse  (though,  to  render  the  work  lighter,  two  horses  were 
actually  employed  in  doing  it),  these  computations  show  further  how  large  a 
quantity  of  heat  might  be  produced,  by  proper  mechanical  contrivance,  merely 
by  the  strength  of  a  horse,  without  either  fire,  light,  combustion,  or  chemical 
decomposition ;  and,  in  a  case  of  necessity,  the  heat  thus  produced  might  be  used 
in  cooking  victuals. 

"But  no  circumstances  can  be  imagined  in  which  this  method  of  procuring 
heat  would  not  be  disadvantageous ;  for  more  heat  might  be  obtained  by  using 
the  fodder  necessary  for  the  support  of  a  horse  as  fuel.  .  .  . 

"  By  meditating  on  the  results  of  all  these  experiments,  we  are  naturally 
brought  to  that  great  question  which  has  so  often  been  the  subject  of  specula- 
tion among  philosophers,  namely : 

"  What  is  heat  ?  Is  there  any  such  thing  as  an  igneous  fluid  ?  Is  there  any- 
thing that  can  with  propriety  be  called  caloric  ? 

"We  have  seen  that  a  very  considerable  quantity  of  heat  may  be  excited  in 
the  friction  of  two  metallic  surfaces,  and  given  off  in  a  constant  stream  or  flux 
in  all  directions  without  interruption  or  intermission,  and  without  any  signs  of 
diminution  or  exhaustion. 

"  Whence  came  the  heat  which  was  continually  given  off  in  this  manner 
in  the  foregoing  experiments?  Was  it  furnished  by  the  small  particles  of 
metal,  detached  from  the  larger  solid  masses,  on  their  being  rubbed  together  ? 
This,  as  we  have  already  seen,  could  not  possibly  have  been  the  case. 

"  Was  it  furnished  by  the  air?  This  could  not  have  been  the  case;  for,  in 
three  of  the  experiments,  the  machinery  being  kept  immersed  in  water,  the  ac- 
cess of  the  air  of  the  atmosphere  was  completely  prevented. 

"Was  it  furnished  by  the  water  which  surrounded  the  machinery ?  That 
this  could  not  have  been  the  case  is  evident:  1.  Because  this  water  was  con- 
tinually receiving  heat  from  the  machinery,  and  could  not  at  the  same  time  be 
giving  to  and  receiving  Tieatfrom  the  same  body  ;  and,  2.  Because  there  was  no 
chemical  decomposition  of  any  part  of  this  water.  Had  any  such  decomposition 
taken  place  (which,  indeed,  could  not  reasonably  have  been  expected),  one  of  its 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT    215 

component  elastic  fluids  (most  probably  inflammable  air)  must  at  the  same  time 
have  been  set  at  liberty,  and,  in  making  its  escape  into  the  atmosphere,  would 
have  been  detected  ;  but,  though  I  frequently  examined  the  water  to  see  if  any 
air-bubbles  rose  up  through  it,  and  had  even  made  preparations  for  catching 
them,  in  order  to  examine  them,  if  any  should  appear,  I  could  perceive  none ; 
nor  was  there  any  sign  of  decomposition  of  any  kind  whatever,  or  other  chemi- 
cal process,  going  on  in  the  water. 

"  Is  it  possible  that  the  heat  could  have  been  supplied  by  means  of  the  iron 
bar,  to  the  end  of  which  the  blunt  steel  borer  was  fixed,  or  by  the  small  neck 
of  gun-metal  by  which  the  hollow  cylinder  was  united  to  the  cannon  ?  These 
suppositions  appear  more  improbable  even  than  either  of  those  before  mentioned ; 
for  heat  was  continually  going  off,  or  out  of  the  machinery,  by  both  these  pas- 
sages, during  the  whole  time  the  experiment  lasted. 

"  And,  in  reasoning  on  this  subject,  we  must  not  forget  to  consider  that  most 
remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  source  of  the  heat  generated  by  friction,  in 
these  experiments,  appeared  evidently  to  be  inexhaustible. 

"It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  anything  which  any  insulated  body,  or 
system  of  bodies,  can  continue  to  furnish  without  limitation,  cannot  possibly  be 
a  material  substance  ;  and  it  appears  to  me  to  be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  quite 
impossible,  to  form  any  distinct  idea  of  anything  capable  of  being  excited  and 
communicated  in  the  manner  the  heat  was  excited  and  communicated  in  these 
experiments,  except  it  be  motion." 

From  this  quotation  we  see,  then,  that  Rumford,  with  a  sagacity 
indeed  consummate,  had  seized  upon  the  most  notable  circumstance 
presented  by  these  experiments,  against  the  materiality  of  heat.  Ital- 
icizing the  word  inexhaustible — a  far  more  significant  proceeding  than 
the  use  of  any  acids  would  have  been — he  showed  most  incontestably 
that,  to  still  further  reconcile  the  doctrine  of  caloric  with  experience, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  admit  the  creation  of  it — a  substance — in 
the  production  of  heat  by  friction.  But,  even  against  so  absurd  a 
proposition,  he  proceeded  to  prepare,  when  he  subjected  to  a  com- 
parative investigation  the  quantities  of  energy  expended  and  heat 
produced  in  such  an  operation. 

In  his  "  Experiment  No.  3  "  he  made,  as  may  have  been  already 
noticed,  nearly  all  the  observations  and  corrections  necessary  for 
an  entirely  trustworthy  estimate  of  the  "  mechanical  equivalent  of 
heat ;"  *  and,  although  never  literally  employing  such  a  term,  he  sub- 
sequently stated,  in  reviewing  still  other  experiments  undertaken  at 

1  Its  value  from  the  data  given  may  be  calculated  as  follows  : 

Considering  the  shape  of  the  borer,  and  its  contact  with  the  bottom  of  the  cylinder, 
we  see  that  the  moment  of  friction  may  be  represented  by  the  expression — 

4fp  I  j*2  sin-1  —  d  r, 

where/ denotes  the  coefficient  of  friction,  p  the  total  pressure  between  the  rubbing  sur- 
faces, r  the  variable  distance  from  the  axis,  of  any  rubbing  particle,  and  a  the  half-width 
of  the  borer:  when,  moreover,  the  superior  value  of  r  alone  is  substituted. 
The  integral  indicated  is — 

4fp  )  sin  -1    _  +  —  Y (rz  —a-)  +  _  log LA 1  f  j 

\  3  r        6  6  a  ) 


216  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

about  this  period,1  that  the  heat  so  generated  "  is  exactly  proportional 
to  the  force  with  which  the  tico  surfaces  are  pressed  together,  and  to 
the  rapidity  of  the  friction:''''  in  other  words,  that  the  production  of 
heat  is  "exactly  proportional"  to  the  work  expended  in  producing  it. 
First  drawing  attention  to  the  absurdity  of  an  apparatus  contain- 
ing or  creating  an  indefinite  supply  of  a  material  substance;  then 
proving  by  experiment  that  the  quantities  of  heat  excited  in  a  given 
time  were  proportional  to  the  expenditures  of  an  entirely  different 
magnitude — work:  he  must  be  credited  not  only  with  the  first 
conclusive,  but  with  the  most  weighty  argument  initially  available, 
against  the  existence  of  caloric,  or  in  favor  of  the  dynamic  origin  of 
heat. 


-+•*- 


OPEN"  AIR  AND   HEALTH.2 

By  Dr.  PAUL  NIEMEYER. 

I  SPARE  the  reader  the  diffuseness  of  an  introduction,  by  telling 
him  of  a  scene  in  an  omnibus,  which  hinged  on  the  question  wheth- 
er the  conductor  should  open  or  shut  the  windows.     On  the  left  was 

in  which  the  substitution  of  Count  Rumford's  data, 

p  —  10,000  lbs.,  a  —  0.3  inch,  r  =  1.75  inches, 

gives  for  the  approximate  moment  of  friction  of  the  borer,  in  foot-pounds, 

800/ 

So  that,  making  thirty-two  revolutions  per  minute,  a  quantity  of  work,  160,800/,  would 
be  expended  during  the  same  interval. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  heat  excited  in  two  hours  and  thirty  minutes,  and  which,  dy- 
namically, was  to  be  regarded  the  equivalent  of  the  work  expended,  according  to  Count 
Rumford's  estimate,  was  sufficient  to  raise  the  temperature  of  26.58  pounds  of  water  180° 
Fahr.,  or  4,784  heat-units.  The  production  of  one  heat-unit,  therefore,  corresponded  to 
the  expenditure  approximately  of  an  amount  of  work — 

5041/ 
For  /=  0.15,  this  would  give  756 

"  /=  0.20,    "       "  "  1008 

as  the  equivalents  in  mechanical  units  or  foot-pounds  of  one  British  thermal  unit. 

Prof.  Tait,  availing  himself  of  the  remark  let  fall  by  Rumford,  that  "  the  machinery 
used  in  this  experiment  could  easily  be  carried  round  by  the  force  of  one  horse,"  and  as- 
suming 30,000  foot-pounds  as  the  value  of  a  horse-power  per  minute,  thus  derives 
940  foot-pounds  as  the  mechanical  value  of  a  rise  of  temperature  of  1°  Fahr.  in  one 
pound  of  water.  (See  "  Historical  Sketch,"  p.  9.)  But  Prof.  Thurston  regards  this  cal- 
culation as  unfair  to  Rumford,  quoting  Rankine's  estimate  of  the  admissible  value  of  a 
horse-power,  25,920,  from  which  the  value  of  the  equivalent,  812,  results.  This  critique 
also  seems  the  more  allowable,  since  Rumford  neither  made  corrections  for  the  work  ex- 
pended in  friction  in  "  the  complicated  machinery  used  "  in  the  determination,  nor  for 
"  the  heat  accumulated  in  the  wooden  box,  nor  for  that  dispersed  during  the  experiment." 
— (See  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  3,  lxvii.,  p.  203.) 

1  "  Kleine  Schriften,"  1805,  vol.  iv.,  p.  41.  "Complete  Works,"  Am.  Ac.  ed.,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  209. 

2  Translated  from  the  German,  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  M. 


OPEN  AIR  AND   HEALTH.  217 

seated  a  corpulent  lady  with  full  face,  shrill  voice,  and  labored  res- 
piration. The  lady  on  the  right  was  of  lean,  slender,  dried-up  figure; 
on  entering  the  omnibus  she  had  coughed;  after  taking  her  seat  she- 
held  her  handkerchief  to  her  mouth  and  fairly  changed  color  when  the 
one  opposite,  wheezing,  took  her  place  and  called  out  for  "Air,  air  ! " 
exclaiming  that  she  would  surely  be  smothered  if  the  window  were 
to  remain  closed.  "  But  I,"  objected  the  other,  "  should  get  my  death 
of  cold  if  the  window  were  opened."  The  conductor,  who  for  some 
time  stood  undecided  what  to  do,  received  this  piece  of  Solomonic 
advice  from  one  of  the  passengers:  "Open  the  window,"  said  he,  in 
a  deep  voice,  "  and  then  one  of  them  will  die ;  then  close  it,  and  the 
other  will  die,  and  so  at  last  we  shall  have  peace." 

This  ending  of  the  scene  I  state  for  completeness'  sake  only,  and  I 
add  to  it,  by  way  of  transition  to  the  subject  of  the  present  essay,  a 
conversation  with  a  farmer  which  grew  out  of  the  occurrence. 

On  expressing  to  this  sun-bronzed  young  man  my  regret  that,  in 
this  self-styled  "  age  of  intelligence,"  the  fear  of  colds  and  of  draughts 
should  be  steadily  increasing,  and  that  it  should  really  be  producing 
the  very  effects  it  is  meant  to  guard  us  against,  namely,  coughs  and 
colds,  he  fully  agreed  with  me,  but  took  credit  to  himself  for  having 
risen  above  such  notions.  "We  farmers,"  said  he,  "no  longer  believe 
that  rust  in  grain  comes  from  cold  ;  for  we  know  that  it  results  from  the 
development  of  noxious  germs  which,  emitted  by  barberry-bushes  and 
decaying  stalks,  are  carried  about  by  the  wind." 

This  idea  was  of  interest  to  me ;  for  the  farmer's  account  of  the 
origin  of  "  rust "  put  me  in  mind  of  certain  throat  and  lung  complaints 
that,  developing  unnoticed,  gradually  lead  to  positive  disease,  and  the 
causes  of  which  we  physicians  are  daily  more  and  more  clearly  tracing 
to  inhalation  of  impure,  vitiated  air  ;  hence,  instead  of  speaking  of  con- 
sumptive lungs  or  tuberculous  lungs,  we  should,  rather,  speak  of  "  de- 
cayed "lungs  or  "  dust"  lungs.  Stone-cutters  are  not  assured  by  life- 
insurance  companies,  because  it  is  known  that  the  stone-dust  settles  in 
their  lungs,  undermining  them,  producing  ulcerations  and  reducing  the 
average  life  of  the  men  to  thirty-six  years.  Other  "  dusty  occupations," 
so  to  speak,  are  less  dangerous,  but  of  certain  callings  and  of  certain 
classes  of  working-men  we  often  hear  it  said  that  they  are  seldom  free 
from  "  dry  "  cough.  The  reader,  though  he  or  she  may  have  little  to 
do  with  dust,  will  perhaps  have  taken  home  from  the  ball  a  very  fair 
case  of  "  dust-lung  "  caused  by  the  dust  of  the  dancing-floor.  If  they 
will  not  believe  this,  let  them  examine  their  expectoration  the  day 
after  the  ball.  He  who  has  good  lungs  may  without  fear  inhale  dust; 
he  will  dance  most  of  it  out  again ;  but  not  so  a  delicate  girl,  whose 
lungs  are  compressed  in  a  tight  corset :  when  with  dust-laden  mucus 
she  spits  blood,  do  not  say  she  has  "taken  cold."  No,  it  is  heating 
that  has  caused  it. 

Heating,  too,  and  not  cold,  far  less  "trouble  with  teeth,"  is  to 


2i8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

blame  when  the  first-born  child  of  inexperienced  young  married  peo- 
ple becomes  feverish,  or  has  a  cough,  and  these  symptoms  are  only 
aggravated  when  the  innocent  victim  is  treated  with  "teas"  and 
mixtures,  kept  in  an  overheated  room,  and  loaded  down  with  bed- 
clothes. 

That  our  children  were  intended  by  Nature  to  live  in  fresh,  open 
air,  and  that  the  old  wives'  regimen  of  keeping  warm,  living  in-doors, 
and  of  warm  drinks,  is  the  cause  of  the  fearful  mortality  of  young 
children,  is  a  truth  that  was  not  unknown  one  hundred  years  ago,  but 
which  must  still  be  repeated  over  and  over  again. 

The  reader  will  allow  me  to  recite  the  case  of  a  patient  of  mine. 
A  year  ago,  during  his  honey-moon,  I  congratulated  him,  and  told 
him  that  a  dry  cough  with  which  he  was  troubled  was  curable,  pro- 
vided he  took  care  to  live  in  the  open  air  as  much  as  possible,  in- 
uring himself  to  cold,  sleeping  in  well-ventilated  chambers,  free  from 
dust,  etc.  But  this  advice  was  hardly  relished  by  the  young  pair. 
In  October  they  hired  rooms  in  a  house  that  had  just  been  built ;  its 
"  dampness "  they  remedied  by  keeping  up  fires  steadily ;  the  win- 
dows were  hardly  ever  opened,  as  the  house  stood  on  a  windy  corner, 
and  the  husband  was  growing  more  and  more  sensitive  to  cold;  for 
this  reason,  too,  he  seldom  went  out-of-doors.  In  November  he  took 
to  the  bed,  was  again  about,  but  he  gradually  declined,  to  the  last 
hoping  to  recover. 

Different  was  the  course  followed  by  Mr.  H ,  who,  emaciated 

and  troubled  with  a  cough,  had  a  haemorrhage  after  contracting  a  "se- 
vere cold."  He  went  into  the  country,  took  as  much  exercise  as  he 
could  in  the  open  air,  and  returned  home  with  only  a  slight  cough. 
At  home  he  every  morning  took  a  warm  bath  with  affusions  of  cold 
water,  avoided  rooms  with  bad  air,  etc.  In  six  months  he  was  free 
from  his  cough,  appeared  to  be  well  nourished,  and  no  longer  had 
any  fear  of  taking  cold. 

If  the  reader  will  dispassionately  compare  these  two  cases,  he  will 
agree  with  me  that  the  first  patient,  who  had  never  had  haemorrhage, 

fell  a  victim  to  the  action  of  foul  air,  while  H used  to  say,  "  I 

must  give  to  my  diseased  lungs,  above  all  things,  fresh  air,  as  the  prime 
necessary  of  life."  Animals  never  take  cold,  even  in  winter;  there- 
fore among  men  it  must  be  a  result  of  wrong  habits  if  air  does  any 
harm.  We  know  that  gold-fishes  quickly  perish  when  fresh  wTater  is 
not  provided  for  them ;  and  when  we  were  boys  we  used  to  consider 
it  cruelty  to  animals  if  we  made  no  openings  for  ventilation  in  the 
boxes  in  which  we  kept  cockchafers. 

Now,  these  openings  answer  to  the  windows  in  our  houses  ;  doors 
are  meant  to  be  closed,  windows  to  be  opened.  It  has  long  been  held 
that  closed  windows  are  the  principal  cause  of  consumption.  I  would 
make  the  proposition  more  general,  by  substituting  "  defective  venti- 
lation" for  "closed  windows."     It  is  very  pleasant  to  be  sheltered  by 


OPEN  AIR  AND   HEALTH.  219 

four  walls  against  wind,  rain,  and  cold  ;  but,  now  that  we  employ  win- 
dow-glass, coal  for  heating,  and  iron  stoves,  and  rent  is  becoming 
higher,  while  rooms,  especially  sleeping-rooms,  are  growing  smaller, 
we  have  all  the  greater  reason  to  keep  open  ventilating  apertures, 
since  our  lungs  cannot  live  with  less  than  six  hundred  cubic  feet  of 
fresh,  pure  air  per  hour.  The  man  who  has  but  once  made  trial  for 
one  week  of  sleeping  with  the  window  open  will  never  give  up  the 
practice. 

I  once  spoke  to  a  lady  about  this  matter,  but  she  replied  by  telling 
me  the  story  of  a  "  thoughtless  person  "  who,  having  left  the  window 
open  through  the  night,  awoke  in  the  morning  blind.  She  had  also 
read  in  some  newspaper  that  a  man  had  a  stroke  of  apoplexy  produced 
by  the  same  cause.  I  was  amazed.  But,  calling  to  mind  that  this 
lady's  husband  had  served  in  the  army,  I  remarked  :  "Your  husband 
lay  for  so  long  in  the  open  air  in  the  rain-drenched  trenches  at  Stras- 
burg ;  did  he  ever  write  to  you  that  he  had  taken  cold,  or  that  any 
of  the  men  had  ever  overnight  been  struck  blind,  or  had  met  with  any 
other  misfortune  ?  Did  he  ever  contract  a  catarrh  ?  Did  he  ever 
write  for  licorice,  and  not  rather  for  tobacco  ?  Your  brother-in-law 
tramped  in  the  deep  snow  to  Besoul,  your  cousin  learned  at  Le  Mans 
what  is  the  meaning  of  a  fall  of  freezing  rain,  and  thousands  of  our 
countrymen  have  had  like  experiences ;  still,  coughs  and  rheumatism 
were  not  frequent,  and  most  of  the  men  came  back  strong  and  healthy ! " 

More  rational  opinions  are  gradually  making  their  way,  and, 
in  one  particular  at  least,  a  beginning  is  being  made  of  a  revolu- 
tion, namely,  the  system  of  treatment  followed  in  "  climatic  "  sanita- 
riums, and  establishments  for  the  cure  of  disease  by  air,  difference  of 
elevation,  etc.  The  proprietors  of  such  places,  it  is  true,  speak  of  the 
"specific"  virtues  of  their  climate;  but,  inasmuch  as  chemistry  shows 
that  atmospheric  air  all  over  the  earth  has  the  same  constitution, 
the  specific  virtue  must  reside  in  the  special  purity  of  the  air — a  thing 
wanting  in  cities,  but  found  in  all  villages,  provided  they  do  not  pos- 
sess large  factories.  Further,  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  in  the 
south — Florida,  Colorado,  or  in  the  Tyrol,  or  by  the  lake  of  Geneva — 
it  is  as  warm  as  in  a  hot-house.  In  those  regions,  too,  it  is  now  and 
then  cold  ;  yet  it  is  easier  to  be  out-of-doors  there,  for  usually  the  sun 
shines  and  the  landscape  is  beautiful.  But,  since  we  cannot  send  all 
the  sick  to  the  south,  we  must  devise  some  substitute  at  home,  the 
benefits  of  which  may  be  enjoyed  even  by  the  poorest.  Then,  too, 
when  we  consider  that  the  majority  of  those  who  have  spent  the  win- 
ter in  a  southern  clime  return  as — embalmed  corpses,  because  it  is  only 
when  it  is  too  late  that  people  make  up  their  minds  to  make  the  costly 
voyage,  there  is  reason  to  expect  better  results  from  timely  recourse 
at  home  to  "  air-cure."  With  the  means  of  treatment  at  hand,  dis- 
ease might  be  nipped  in  the  bud,  and  lung-complaints  in  general 
would  be  rarer. 


220  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

And  this  result  we  may  hope  to  attain.  That  pulmonary  con- 
sumption is  only  an  acquired  disease  we  know  from  the  fact  that  it 
first  appeal's  in  the  apices  of  the  lungs — a  portion  of  the  organ  which 
is  not  affected  by  hereditary  pathological  processes.  The  diathesis 
only  is  hereditary,  and  this  diathesis  consists  simply  of  a  general  de- 
bility, which,  however,  can  be  overcome.  But  the  thing  that  is  trans- 
mitted hereditarily  is  habits  of  life — the  avocation  descending  from 
father  to  sou. 

MacCormac  tells  of  a  family  in  which  father,  mother,  and  six 
children,  died  of  consumption ;  the  seventh  son  alone  survived,  he 
having  quit  the  paternal  house  and  calling,  and  gone  to  sea.  Many 
instances  of  a  like  kind  might  be  cited.  This  case  is  easily  under- 
stood when  we  consider  that  here  the  parents  and  the  six  children 
who  died  had  followed  a  sedentary  trade;  that  they  lived  in  narrow 
quarters,  the  air  of  which  was  quickly  vitiated  by  the  large  number 
of  persons  breathing  it;  that  they  slept  in  a  (.lusty  room,  with  win- 
dows closed,  lest  they  should  take  cold.  They  fell  sick  one  after 
another;  but  the  seventh  son,  who  quit  the  unhealthy  locality,  had 
exercise,  inhaled  fresh,  pure  air,  became  vigorous  and  healthy,  and 
escaped  from  consumption. 

This  simple  explanation  appears  strange  to  those  who  believe  in 
"  tuberculosis."  If  this  disease  has  grown  to  be  the  curse  of  modern 
society,  the  scholastic  interpretation  of  it  has  to  bear  no  small  part 
of  the  blame.  The  doctrine  of  the  heredity  of  consumption  leads  to 
the  belief  that  the  consumptive  patient  is  fated  to  die  of  his  com- 
plaint, and  that  his  death  is  merely  a  question  of  time.  He  himself 
often  draws  the  conclusion  that  the  best  thing  for  him  to  do  is  to  en- 
joy life  as  best  he  may  while  it  lasts.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must 
condemn  the  heedlessness  of  those  who,  so  long  as  danger  is  not  prox- 
imate, fear  the  expenditure  of  time  and  money.  These  same  people, 
when  haemorrhage  suddenly  appears,  quite  lose  their  heads,  adopt  the 
most  preposterous  methods,  whose  only  result  is  to  cause  new  hemor- 
rhages, and  to  produce  a  regular  case  of  consumption  :  whereas  many 
of  the  old  physicians  recommend  horseback  exercise  as  the  best  cure 
for  those  suffering  from  haemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  we  now  often  see 
patients  shut  up  in  a  hot,  dusty  room,  not  allowed  to  talk,  and  almost 
forbidden  to  breathe. 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  consumption  that  it  may  appear  in  association 
with  all  diseases  in  which  recovery  is  slow.  In  the  first  place,  it  ac- 
companies inflammation  of  the  lungs,  unless  the  patient,  while  recov- 
ering, is  permitted  to  breathe  plenty  of  pure  air.  But  it  also  makes 
its  appearance  in  typhus,  diabetes,  and  meningitis,  when  the  pa- 
tient is  kept  for  a  long  time  in  a  close  room.  So,  too,  delicate  persons 
— those  supposed  to  tend  toward  consumption — will  all  the  sooner 
become  indeed  "  tuberculosed,"  the  more  they  are  coddled,  protected 
against  cold,  and  treated  with  warm  drinks  and  so-called  "invigo- 


OPEN  AIR   AND   HEALTH.  221 

rants."     Pulmonary  haemorrhage  is  in  itself  not  a  symptom  of  "  tuber- 
culosis," but  it  is  made  so  by  wrong  treatment. 

The  foregoing  practical  considerations  will  enable  the  reader  bet- 
ter to  appreciate  the  theoretical  observations  which  follow. 

The  lungs,  like  all  mucous  surfaces,  secrete  mucus  even  in  their 
healthy  state;  this  collects  while  we  remain  quiet,  but  is  thrown  out 
when  we  move.  Every  adult  person  clears  his  throat  in  the  morning. 
One  who  has  been  sitting  for  a  long  time  must  cough  when  he  goes 
out-of-doors.  Bodily  movement  is  the  best  "  solvent "  for  a  cough. 
When  one's  life  is  sedentary,  mucus  collects  first  of  all  in  the  apices 
of  the  lungs,  and  it  is  more  difficultly  broken  up  there  by  bodily 
movement,  because  the  apices  are  the  uppermost  parts  of  the  lung, 
and  the  impetus  of  the  cough  must  drive  the  expectorated  mucus 
around  the  corners  of  the  lung.  The  apices  are  a  veritable  receptacle 
for  mucus,  which,  if  not  removed,  dries  up,  grows  hard,  and  causes 
ulceration.  In  one  hundred  autopsies  we  find  as  many  as  ninety  cases 
where  the  apices  are  more  or  less  shrunken,  scarred,  and  obstructed, 
and  this  without  reference  to  the  cause  of  death. 

The  apices,  furthermore,  are  regular  dust  and  gas  traps,  especially 
the  right  apex,  which  usually  is  the  first  to  be  affected  by  consump- 
tion, because  the  air-passage  leading  to  it  is  wider  and  less  crooked 
than  that  leading  to  the  left  apex.  All  impurities  inhaled  into  the 
lungs,  and  especially  all  dust,  first  make  their  way  to  the  apices,  and 
there  settle,  unless  they  are  kept  in  motion  by  bodily  exercise.  Elim- 
ination, too,  is  more  difficult  in  the  apices  than  in  the  inferior  lobes. 
In  coughing,  the  latter  are  aided  by  the  abdominal  pressure ;  while  the 
apices,  on  the  contrary, .have  to  depend  on  their  own  contractility, 
which  is  weaker  in  proportion  as  they  have  been  out  of  exercise,  or  as 
their  cell-walls  have  grown  together.  Heavy  clothing,  which,  like  the 
yoke  for  carrying  water,  bears  on  the  collar-bone,  diminishes  the 
power  of  respiration  in  the  apices  ;  a  modern  winter-overcoat  weighs 
as  much  as  eight  or  nine  pounds.  If,  in  addition  to  this,  we  have  the 
usual  two  turns  of  a  comforter  around  the  neck,  then  the  neck  is 
bound  fast,  and  we  have  all  the  conditions  necessary  for  producing  a 
diseased  condition  of  the  apices.  Under  such  circumstances  it  w^ould 
require  considerable  exertion  in  coughing  to  clear  the  apices.  Hence 
the  troublesome  dry  cough,  which  often  ends  in  vomiting,  yet  does 
not  loosen  the  mucus  in  the  lungs.  No  benefit  is  to  be  got  in  such 
cases  from  lozenges,  drops,  extracts ;  the  most  that  can  be  expected 
from  such  remedies  is  that  they  may  moisten  the  throat  rendered  dry 
by  the  effort  of  coughing.  But  then  they  fill  the  stomach  with 
phlegm.  For  small  children  such  substances  are  an  actual  poison, 
producing  sour  stomach,  diarrhoea,  and  fever. 

Continued  hard  coughing  in  time  injures  the  texture  of  the  lungs, 
and  leads,  often  with  bloody  expectoration,  to  decay  of  the  apices, 
and,  finally,  to  true  pulmonary  consumption,  concerning  the  rational 
treatment  of  which  we  add  a  few  words  : 


2  22  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

As  a  general  rule,  where  a  cough  is  habitual,  whatever  the  age  of 
the  patient,  recourse  should  at  once  be  had  to  those  means  of  cure 
which  usually  are  resorted  to  only  at  the  last  moment,  and  then  with- 
out any  hope  of  good  r.esults.  But,  unfortunately,  most  people  think 
only  of  the  present  moment.  They  want  a  son  to  complete  his  school- 
ing as  early  as  possible,  and  to  go  to  earning  money.  But  what  is 
the  gain  if  the  young  life,  after  a  few  years,  ends  its  earthly  career  ? 
Better,  therefore,  that  a  year  or  two  should  pass  without  remunera- 
tive employment,  while  in  the  mean  time  care  is  taken  of  the  bodily 
health  and  strength,  the  affected  lungs  are  invigorated,  and  the  spir- 
its are  renewed.  In  the  first  case  we  have  dead  capital,  in  the  second 
capital  which  bears  interest. 

The  person  whose  lungs  are  affected  must  once  for  all  give  up 
dancing,  for  dancing  as  now  practised  is  not  "  motion,"  but  only  de- 
struction of  the  pulmonary  apices  by  dust  and  vapor,  fatigue  of  the 
body  through  want  of  sleep  and  privation  of  fresh  air. 

With  this  one  exception,  "  caution  "  as  usually  understood  is  bad. 
Let  the  one  who  is  threatened  with  consumption  look  on  himself  not 
as  one  doomed  to  die,  but  only  as  a  pulmonary  invalid.  He  should 
consider  that,  while  it  is  a  misfortune  that  the  pulmonary  apices  are 
from  their  position  exposed  to  disease,  we  nevertheless  have  plenty 
of  lung-cells  which  can  be  made  to  do  duty  in  place  of  them.  Still, 
if  these  are  not  daily  strengthened  by  careful  treatment,  they  are  in 
danger  of  being  infected  by  the  others,  and  of  becoming  diseased  like 
them.  By  timely  and  continuous  exercise,  it  is  possible  to  restore 
even  the  diseased  cells,  and  to  cure  the  consumption,  or  at  least  to 
stay  its  further  progress.  If  one  can  find  the  means  of  visiting  Flor- 
ida, Colorado,  or  Southern  Europe,  it  is  well  to  do  so.  But  if  this  is 
not  possible,  one  must  find  the  means  of  an  air  and  movement  cure  at 
home.  That  this  is  possible,  the  reader  will  see  from  the  following 
analysis  of  the  means  of  cure  : 

1.  Lung- Ventilation. — The  patient  must  with  scrupulous  conscien- 
tiousness insist  on  breathing  fresh,  pure  air,  and  must  remember  that 
the  air  of  closed  rooms  is  always  more  or  less  bad,  impure.  No  man, 
however  uncleanly,  would  drink  muddy,  dirty  water.  Unfortunately, 
for  detecting  impurities  of  air,  the  only  organ  we  have  is  the  nose, 
and  in  most  persons  the  nose  is  of  so  obtuse  a  sensibility  that  it  is  of 
no  service.  Besides  dust,  injury  to  the  lungs  is  caused  principally  by 
the  products  of  respiration  (carbonic  acid  and  watery  vapor),  which 
act  as  poison  on  the  lungs  and  the  blood.  A  party  which  occupies  a 
room  for  hours,  breathing  the  same  air,  might  be  compared  to  a  party 
ofbathers  drinking  the  water  in  which  they  bathe.  The  man  who  on 
the  street  cuts  off  from  his  lungs  the  "  cold  "  air,  is  like  a  ruminant. 
If  this  literally  true  comparison  were  universally  accepted  and  acted 
on,  the  number  of  cough-complaints  would  be  reduced  one-half. 

The  patient  must  keep  the  window  of  his  bedroom  open.     Night- 


OPEN  AIR  AND   HEALTH.  223 

air  is  fresh  air  without  daylight;  he  who  fears  night-air  is  like  a  child 
who  dreads  darkness  ;  the  light  in  the  room  after  the  lamp  is  extin- 
guished is  also  night-air.  In  close,  crowded,  heated  rooms,  the  patient 
suffering  from  lung-complaint  respires  consumptively.  In  winter  arti- 
ficial heat  may  be  employed,  but  the  window  must  be  opened  above, 
and  thus  we  have  at  once  both  warmth  and  ventilation.  In  the  city 
night-air  is  always  wholesomer  than  day-air,  being  both  purer  and 
stiller. 

If  it  be  objected  that  "  what  suits  the  blacksmith  does  not  suit  the 
tailor,"  I  reply  that  may  be  true  of  a  plate  of  sauerkraut.  But  here 
the  case  is  just  the  reverse.  The  blacksmith  who  has  no  trouble  with 
his  lungs  can  stand  vapor-dust,  heat,  fatigue ;  but  the  one  who  has  pul- 
monary disease  risks  his  life  if  he  has  not  always  abundance  of  fresh, 
pure  air. 

So  far  of  the  What  ? — lung  ventilation.     Next,  of  the  Why  ? 

On  rising,  let  the  patient  drink  fresh  milk  (not  coffee),  which  will 
be  relished  all  the  more  if  one  wakes  with  an  inclination  to  cough. 
Then  let  him  approach  the  open  window,  brandish  the  arms  over  the 
head — which  enables  the  lung  apices  to  inhale  air  more  easily — and 
for  a  few  minutes  fetch  as  deep  inspirations  of  air  as  possible.  He 
must  frequently  take  such  deep  inspirations  in  the  open  air. 

If  the  lungs  do  not  become  free,  let  him  introduce  into  them — not 
into  the  stomach — something  to  act  on  the  dry  mucous  membrane — 
as  the  vapor  of  water  or  of  camomile-tea. 

If  the  cough  is  caused  rather  by  a  "scratchy"  feeling  in  the 
throat,  if  it  is  spasmodic,  let  him  swallow  or  gargle  some  substance 
that  will  quiet  the  nerves.  Cold  water  is  best — in  summer  ice-water; 
in  some  cases  cooled  fennel-tea  is  of  service,  but  not  sirup  or  any  hot 
drink. 

2.  Skin- Ventilation. — This  is  of  no  less  importance  for  warding 
off  simple  coughs,  as  well  as  for  preventing  the  transition  to  consump- 
tion. With  its  millions  of  pores,  the  skin  is  on  the  one  side  the  main 
sewer  for  carrying  away  superfluous  fluids,  and  on  the  other  it  is  the 
principal  factor  in  cooling  the  body,  in  colds,  in  overheating,  and  in 
fevers.  We  will  now  consider  skin-ventilation  from  this  point  of 
view  under  the  two  heads  of — a.  Elimination  of  fluids  ;  b.  Reduction 
of  temperature : 

a.  Elimination  of  Fluids. — Like  the  external  skin,  the  inner  skin, 
the  mucous  membrane,  exudes  moisture,  sweats.  The  mucous  mem- 
branes, having  no  covering,  are  always  moist.  The  mucous  membrane 
of  the  lungs  exhales  watery  vapor.  This  vapor  comes  from  the  serum 
of  the  blood,  i.  e.,  from  that  portion  of  the  blood  in  which  the  corpus- 
cles are  suspended,  and  which,  after  the  corpuscles  have  been  filtered 
out,  resembles  water.  The  external  skin  under  ordinary  circumstances 
gives  off  about  twice  as  much  watery  vapor.  But,  in  proportion  as 
this  elimination  is  checked  by  defective  skin-ventilation,  the  water 


224  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  the  blood  (serum)  has  to  be  eliminated  internally  through  the  mu- 
cous membranes.  Cooling,  i.  e.,  the  sudden  action  of  comparatively 
low  temperature  on  the  warm  surface  of  the  skin — for  instance,  when 
one  sits  in  a  draught  of  air — may  check  transpiration,  and  so  cause 
the  fluids  to  tend  inward  in  such  volume  as  to  overtax  the  capacity 
of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  lungs  or  the  intestines,  more  rarely 
of  the  kidneys,  the  result  being  catarrh.  But  catarrh  and  coughing 
are  two  different  things  :  as  for  "  dry  cough,"  it  can  never  arise  from 
cold.  That  it  results  from  the  inhalation  of  impure,  vitiated  air,  the 
reader  knows  already.  It  is  true  that  obstruction  of  the  breathing- 
apparatus,  as  "  rattling  "  in  infants,  and  hawking  and  hoarseness  in 
grown  persons,  results  from  retention  of  serum  ;  but  that  this  obstruc- 
tion is  not  connected  with  taking  cold  must  be  admitted,  at  least  in 
all  cases  where  the  patient  has  not  quit  his  chamber,  or  even  his  bed. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  one  takes  a  cough  from  a  cold  wall  or  from 
an  open  door.  The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  all  this  is,  that  the 
coughs,  hoarseness,  and  sore-throats,  from  which  those  persons  suffer 
in  winter  who  are  ever  on  their  guard  against  colds,  are  produced, 
not  at  all  from  cold,  but  from  its  contrary,  overheating  of  the  skin, 
whose  evaporation  is  feebler  the  nearer  the  external  temperature  ap- 
proaches that  of  the  body.  In  this  case  there  is  a  suppression  of  the 
action  of  the  skin,  but  it  is  produced  not  by  cold  but  by  improper 
warming — or,  as  it  is  more  properly  called,  by  pampering.  A  hot 
bath,  a  cold  pack,  or  a  good,  lively  walk,  will  work  wonders  in  "  loos- 
ening" a  hard  cough.  At  first,  it  is  true,  the  patient  will  cough  harder 
than  ever ;  but  this  effect  is  not  due  to  the  "  cold  wind,"  but  to  the 
fact  that  the  accumulated  mucus,  once  started,  is  expelled  en  masse. 
The  oftener  the  patient  resorts  to  the  bath,  to  the  pack,  and  to  walk- 
ing, the  less  frequent  are  the  fits  of  coughing,  and  the  freer  and  easier 
does  he  breathe. 

b.  Reduction  of  Temperature. — The  body's  temperature  is  nor- 
mal when  in  the  armpit  it  is  about  95°  Fahr.  Food  and  drink  are 
stimulants,  and  the  skin  is  the  radiating  surface  which  gives  off  the 
surplus  heat.  If  this  elimination  is  not  sufficiently  active,  the  body 
becomes  overheated,  and  this  manifests  itself  by  shivering.  Over- 
heating is  the  result  when  one  eats  and  drinks  much,  at  the  same  time 
parting  with  but  little  heat.  The  chill  so  produced  is  usually  called 
"  inward  cold,"  but  this  is  an  error  :  it  is  overheating.  That  this  is  so 
is  shown  from  the  fact  that  when  on  the  morning  after  a  "  social  even- 
ing," during  which  we  were  overheated,  we  feel  chilly,  we  have  only  to 
take  a  walk  until  perspiration  is  set  up  ;  Ave  then  feel  warm  again  in 
spite  of  a  considerable  cooling  off.  And  this,  by-the-way,  is  the  very 
best  cure  for  the  "Katzenjammer."  We  live  in  a  climate  where  it  is 
far  easier  to  heat  the  body  than  to  cool  it.  Hence  one  of  my  counsels 
against  catching  cold  is,  that  the  weakly,  coughing  reader  of  seden- 
tary habits  should  not  overheat  himself  with  strengthening  food,  so 


OPEN  AIR   AND   HEALTH.  225 

called  (meat,  eggs,  beer),  else  he  might  take  an  "  inward  cold,"  or  even 
a  fever. 

But  a  person  may  contract  a  genuine  (external)  cold  by  unwise 
precaution  against  draughts  —  by  neglecting  the  skin-ventilation. 
Under  this  head  of  unwise  precaution  we  must  class  the  habit  of 
wrapping  up  the  body  when  it  is  in  a  state  of  perspiration.  On  the 
contrary,  coat  and  waistcoat  must  then  be  opened  so  that  the  shirt 
may  dry  quickly,  and  the  underclothing,  including  the  stockings,  must 
be  changed.  But  what  does  he  do  who  on  reaching  the  top  of  a 
mountain,  with  a  wet  shirt,  buttons  up  his  coat  about  him,  puts  on 
his  overcoat,  and  over  all  his  plaid  ?  He  applies  a  wet  poultice  at  the 
wrong  time. 

Prof.  Tyndall,  in  his  "  Glaciers  of  the  Alps,"  tells  us  that,  on  being- 
overheated  during  his  rambles  in  the  Alps,  he  at  once  took  a  bath, 
or  poured  water  over  his  body.  " Probatum  est" say  I,  from  personal' 
experience. 

"  Yes,"  some  one  will  say,  "  you  are  inured  to  that  sort  of  thing." 
To  be  sure  I  am!  But  what  hinders  you  from  being  inured  also? 
Just  go  out  on  the  ice  during  this  glorious  winter  weather,  put  on  a 
pair  of  skates  :  you  will  return  bright  and  fresh  ;  you  will  throw  open 
the  windows,  and  be  indignant  at  yourself  for  ever  having  shut  your- 
self up  in  such  a  steaming  atmosphere.  The  next  day  take  a  simple 
bath — not  a  Russian  or  a  Turkish  bath  at  all — and  you  will  rid  your- 
self of  still  another  part  of  your  phlegm. 

3.  Muscle-Ventilatiox. — Muscular  fibre  respires  too,  i.  e.,  gives 
off  carbonic  acid  and  takes  up  oxygen.  To  this  end  it  must  dili- 
gently contract  and  then  relax ;  in  short,  it  must  work,  or,  if  the  reader 
prefers  the  expression,  it  must  practise  gymnastics.  Whether  one 
takes  his  exercise  at  home  or  abroad,  makes  no  difference.  They 
whose  lungs  are  affected  would  do  well  to  climb  hill-sides,  for  in  such 
exercise  the  apices  of  the  lungs  are  most  called  into  play;  in  climb- 
ing the  hands  may  rest  on  the  hips.  Muscle-exercise  is  not  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  lung-exercise.  If  bodily  movement  be  neglected,  deleteri- 
ous fluids  accumulate,  which. I  call  "  suffocation-blood  "  and  "fatigue- 
blood."  The  former  contains  carbonic  acid,  which  makes  one  always 
drowsy,  and  causes  one  to  go  about  his  day's  work  Avith  a  feeling  of 
lassitude  no  matter  how  long  he  has  slept.  This  feeling  of  weariness 
grows  steadily  worse.  "  Fatigue-blood  "  accumulates  in  the  muscles 
as  a  result  of  drinking  wine  and  beer;  even  simply  bending  the  body 
causes  inconvenience;  one  feels  quite  unstrung  and  wrants  to  recline 
on  a  lounge  or  a  bed,  whereas  what  he  ought  to  do  is  to  take  a  brisk 
run  in  the  open  air,  or  a  little  exercise  in  a  gymnasium.  In  this  way 
the  skin  is  ventilated  and  the  serum  worked  off. 

My  essay  cannot  exhaust  all  the  topics  named  in  its  title :  the  most 
it  can  do  is  to  awaken  attention,  free  the  reader  from  certain  errone- 
ous ideas,  and  lead  him  to  believe  that  the  simplest  remedy  is  always 

VOL.  XII. — 15 


226  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  most  natural  and  the  best.  If  any  one  will  put  his  faith  in  recipes, 
I  would  remind  him  of  the  history  of  the  sale  of  indulgences.  We 
look  back  with  indignation  to  Tetzel's  scandalous  work,  but  how  many 
people  still  think  they  can  purchase  health  by  gorging  themselves 
with  medicines  !  Consumptives  form  no  small  portion  of  this  class. 
The  treatment  here  recommended  costs  no  money,  but  demands  only 
will,  self-conquest,  and  perseverance.  The  treatment  is  not  so  com- 
plicated as  it  may  appear ;  it  is  simply  a  movement  and  an  air  cure, 
or,  more  briefly,  an  "attempering"  cure,  for  effeminacy  is  the  source 
of  all  colds,  coughs,  and  consumption,  and  hardening  is  the  only  pro- 
tection and  remedy  against  them. — Der  gemeinnutzige  Gesimdheits- 
Almanach. 


^Q++~ 


THE   TIDES. 

By  Pkofessor  ELIAS  SCHNEIDER. 

II. 

APART  of  the  theory  of  the  tides  presented  in  our  text-books 
has  been  pronounced  absurd  in  my  first  article.  It  is  also  a 
matter  of  amazement  that  the  effect  of  centrifugal  force  is  entirely 
ignored  in  these  text-books.  That  the  propelling  force  arising  from 
this  cause  should  be  utterly  disregarded  in  an  explanation  of  the  tides 
is  very  remarkable.  And  yet  the  existence  of  such  a  force  is  so  easily 
demonstrated  that  nothing  else  seems  necessary  to  prove  it  to  be  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  tides,  than  what  was  presented  in  my  first  article. 
I  will,  however,  give  additional  force  to  my  reasoning  by  citing  the 
results  of  actual  experiment. 

It  may  be  shown  that  there  is  an  actual  difference  in  the  amount 
of  centrifugal  force  felt  at  any  part  of  the  earth's  surface  during 
different  times  of  the  twenty-four  hours  of  one  axial  rotation ;  and 
also  at  different  times  of  the  earth's  revolution  around  her  centre  of 
motion.  Theory  implies  that  when  any  portion  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face is  moving  toward  that  point  in  her  orbit  where  such  surface 
makes  the  most  rapid  sweep  around  the  centre  of  motion,  the  greatest 
amount  of  centrifugal  force  must  be  felt  at  such  surface  ;  and  that, 
when  this  part  moves  toward  that  point  of  the  earth's  orbit  where  it 
makes  the  slowest  sweep  around  the  centre  of  motion,  the  least  amount 
of  centrifugal  force  must  be  felt.  Now,  it  is  very  evident  that  any 
portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  most  remote  from  the  centre  of 
her  motion,  whether  that  centre  be  the  sun  or  the  centre  of  gravity 
between  herself  and  the  moon,  makes  the  most  rapid  sweep,  and  that 
consequently  her  waters  must  feel  the  greatest  amount  of  centrifugal 
force  at  that  time. 


THE   TIDES.  227 

Now,  let  us  see  what  experiment  tells  us  on  this  subject :  A 
box  has  been  made  of  proper  dimensions,  free  within  from  all  outside 
disturbance  or  motion  of  air.  In  this  box  is  placed  a  steel  frame, 
which  moves  like  a  gate  on  a  very  delicate  hinge,  so  as  to  avoid  all 
possible  friction.  A  weight  of  nearly  twenty  pounds  rests  on  this 
gate  at  about  four  feet  from  the  hinge.  The  hinge,  whose  lower  part 
is  a  mere  point,  or  delicate  pivot,  and  the  weight,  are  in  the  same  line, 
parallel  with  the  meridian.  The  weight  is  free,  as  nearly  as  can  be, 
to  obey  the  power  of  its  own  inertia.  In  consequence  of  this  it  moves 
laterally  once  every  twenty-four  hours  west  and  east,  whenever  the 
centrifugal  force  is  increasing  and  decreasing. 

From  noon  to  midniffht  the  earth's  surface  is  moving  toward  that 
point  where  its  motion  is  more  rapid,  and  consequently  it  begins  to 
feel  an  increasing  amount  of  centrifugal  force.  This  is  indicated  by 
the  apparatus,  for  the  weight,  which  rests  on  the  gate,  by  virtue  of  its 
inertia,  lags  behind  and  makes  an  apparent  motion  westward.  This 
motion  is,  of  course,  not  real.  The  earth's  surface  moves  eastward 
faster  than  the  weight,  and  hence  the  weight  appears  to  move  west- 
ward. From  midnight  to  noon  the  centrifugal  force  felt  by  the  earth's 
surface  diminishes,  for  it  is  then  moving  toward  that  point  where  its 
motion  eastward  is  less  rapid.  This  is  also  indicated  by  the  appara- 
tus, for  the  weight,  having  gradually  acquired  the  same  velocity  east- 
ward, remains  stationary  at  midnight  a  very  short  time.  But,  soon 
after  midnight,  when  the  earth's  surface  begins  to  feel  less  centrifugal 
force,  this  weight,  by  virtue  of  its  inertia,  resists  the  change  of  mo- 
tion, and  therefore  moves  eastward  as  far  as  it  moved  westward  be- 
fore midnight. 

This  movement  of  the  weight  is  greatest  when  new-moon  occurs 
at  midnight,  for  the  earth  then  feels  not  only  the  centrifugal  force 
produced  by  her  revolution  around  the  sun,  but,  in  addition,  that  pro- 
duced also  by  her  revolution  around  the  centre  of  gravity  between 
herself  and  the  moon. 

The  motion  of  the  weight  westward  begins  soon  after  mid-day, 
and  reaches  its  highest  acceleration  at  about  8  p.  m.  ;  the  motion  east- 
ward begins  soon  after  midnight,  and  reaches  its  highest  acceleration 
at  about  7  a.  m. 

I  hope  soon  to  make  a  new  apparatus,  which  shall  have  a  longer 
distance  between  the  hinge  and  weight,  and  from  it  more  marked  re- 
sults can  be  derived. 

When  a  body  moves  in  a  curve  around  a  centre,  it  feels  the  effect 
of  two  forces :  the  one,  which  I  call  centrifugal,  is  the  impulse  which 
puts  the  body  in  motion ;  the  other,  which  I  call  centripetal,  is  the 
power  which  draws  toward  the  centre  and  keeps  the  body  from  mov- 
ing in  a  direct  line.  These  are  the  only  forces  acting  upon  a  body 
moving  in  a  curve.  The  former  is  sometimes  called  tangential,  but  1 
prefer  to  call  it  centrifugal,  for  it  is  the  only  force  which  drives  from 


E 


s 


228  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  centre.  There  is  no  force  acting  directly  from  the  centre.  That 
which  is  often  called  centrifugal  is  really  centripetal  force,  for  the 
tension  of  the  string  in  the  following  experiment  is  hot  caused  by  any 
force  acting  on  the  ho^y  from  the  centre,  but  it  is  caused  by  a  force 
drawing  the  body  out  of  its  rectilineal  course,  and  toward  the  centre, 
compelling  it  to  move  in  a  curve. 

Suppose  the  body  E  (Fig.  1)  moves  with  a  certain  velocity  in  the 

curve  I?  CD,  and  that  the  string 

ES  feels  a  known  tension,  just 

"*\  A       equal   to   its    strength.      Now, 

*\  double    the   velocity,   and  the 

strength  of  the  string  must  be 

increased    fourfold    to   keep   it 

\       from    breaking,   for    the   force 

\       drawing  the  body  toward  the 

i       centre  must  then  be  four  times 

\  J       as  great  to  keep  it  moving  in 

\  :  d      the  curve.  Or,  suppose  the  body 

C\  /  moves  from  A  toward  B  with 

y''  a  known  velocity,  and  that  on 

''♦♦..^  ,.''''  reaching  E\%  is  acted  upon  by 

"f"ig"i"  tne  strmg-     1'ne   body  is  then 

made  to  take  a  curvilinear  mo- 
tion, and  the  string  feels  a  tension  drawing  the  body  not  directly 
from  but  toward  the  centre,  and  equal  to  a  force  necessary  to  keep 
the  body  from  moving  in  a  straight  line.  It  may  be  remarked  that,  as 
action  and  reaction  are  equal,  the  tension  is  felt  both  ways.  But  the 
reader  can  easily  see  what  I  mean. 

This  law  of  motion  can  be  still  better  illustrated  by  a  reference  to 
one  of  the  satellites  of  the  planet  Neptune.  The  mean  distance  of 
this  satellite  is  nearly  equal  to  the  distance  of  our  moon  from  the 
earth.  We  may  assume  these  distances  to  be  exactly  equal.  Then, 
as  at  the  same  distance  the  centripetal  force  must  increase  as  the 
square  of  the  velocity,  to  keep  the  body  moving  in  the  curve,  and  as 
the  velocity  of  this  moon  of  Neptune  is  about  four  and  a  half  times 
greater  than  that  of  our  moon,  the  centripetal  force,  or  the  force  of 
gravity  produced  by  Neptune  on  this  moon,  must  be  (4.5)2  about 
twenty  times  as  great  as  is  the  centripetal  force  or  the  gravitating 
power  our  earth  produces  on  its  moon.  In  other  words,  the  planet 
Neptune  is  about  twenty  times  as  heavy  as  our  earth,  for  weight  is 
nothing  else  than  the  measure  of  gravity. 

The  preceding  statements  are  sufficient  to  show  what  is  meant  by 
centrifugal  and  centripetal  forces.  Let  us  now  see  how  these  act  on 
bodies  moving  in  large  and  small  curves,  and  how  the  waters  on  the 
earth's  surface  are  driven  by  centrifugal  force  toward  a  line  tangent 
to  her  orbit.     Since  the  length  of  the  orbital   curve  of  the  earth  is 


THE   TIDES. 


229 


very  great,  and  therefore  not  much  deflected  from  a  straight  line,  the 
waters  are  driven  very  little  above  the  usual  surface,  no  matter  how 
rapidly  the  earth  herself  may  move  in  this  curve.  The  centrifugal 
force  or  original  impulse  felt  by  the  whole  earth  is  very  great,  but 
that  felt  by  her  waters  is  hardly  visible  or  sensible  in  mid-ocean.  For 
the  tide-waves  cannot  get  above  the  line  tangent  to  the  curve  of  the 
earth's  orbit.     The  following  illustration  will  show  this: 

Let  ABC  (Fig.  2)   represent  a  part  of  the  curve  of  the  earth's 
orbit,  in  its  motion  around  the  central  sun,  and  B  D  a  line  tangent 


_o £  a     

~"~"  ~— 

A  c 


Fig.  2. 


to  the  curve  at  the  point  B.  Now  it  is  very  evident  that  no  tide- 
wave  produced  by  centrifugal  force  can  get  higher  above  the  curve  of 
the  orbit  than  this  tangent  line,  and  the  distance  between  the  curve 
and  the  tangent,  as  at  E,  is  very  small.  The  part  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face most  remote  from  the  sun  has  indeed  a  greater  tendency  to  con- 
tinue moving  on  in  the  straight  line  of  the  original  impulse  than  any 
other  part.  The  particles  of  water  have  a  small  degree  of  cohesion, 
and  they  will  therefore  continue  to  move  a  short  distance  along  this 
tangent,  but  only  a  little  above  the  usual  surface  of  the  earth. 

The  curve  in  which  the  surface  of  the  earth  moves  around  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity  between  herself  and  the  moon  is  much  more  deflected 
from  a  straight  line.  Here  also  the  tide-wave  can  rise  no  higher  than 
to  the  line  tangent  to  this  curve.  The  distance  of  the  point  G  (Fig.  3) 
from  the  curve  is,  however,  much  greater  than  the  point  E'm  Fig.  2 
from  its  curve.     The  motion  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  at  H  around 


23° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


/     \         ' 

\ 
*  \  « 


the  point  C,  the  centre  of  gravity  between  herself  and  the  moon,  is 
only  about  sixty-five  miles  an  hour;  while  the  surface  at  B  (Fig.  2) 

moves  with  a  velocity  of  6S,000 
miles  an  hour  around  the  sun. 
Nevertheless,  as  the  waters  are 
driven  toward  these  respective 
tangents  by  the  effect  of  centrif- 
ugal force,  the  tide -wave  must 
be  greatest  where  the  distance 
between  tangent  and  curve  is  the 
nG"  3.  greater. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  prove 
by  mathematical  demonstration 
the  falsity  of  the  theory  of  the 
tides  found  in  our  text-books. 

Herschel,  in  his  "Outlines  of 
Astronomy,"  uses  the  following 
language :  "  That  the  sun,  or  moon, 
should  by  its  attractions  heap  up 
the  waters  of  the  ocean  under  it 
seems  to  them  (objectors)  very  nat- 
ural. That  it  should  at  the  same 
time  heap  them  up  on  the  oppo- 
site side  seems,  on  the  contrary, 
palpably  absurd.  The  error  of 
this  class  of  objectors  ....  con- 
sists in  disregarding  the  attraction 
of  the  disturbing  body  on  the  mass 
of  the  earth,  and  looking  on  it  as 
wholly  effective  on  the  superficial 
water.  Were  the  earth,  indeed, 
absolutely  fixed,  held  in  its  place 
by  an  external  force,  and  the  water 
left  free  to  move,  no  doubt  the  ef- 
fect of  the  disturbing  power  would 
be  to  produce  a  single  accumula- 
tion vertically  under  the  disturb- 
ing body.  But  it  is  not  hj  its 
whole  attration,  but  by  the  differ- 
ence of  its  attractions  on  the  su- 
perficial water  at  both  sides,  and 
on  the  central  mass,  that  the  wa- 
ters are  raised ;  just  as  in  the  the- 
ory of  the  moon  the  difference  of 
the  sun's  attractions  on  the  moon 
FlG  4.  and    on    the   earth    (regarded    as 


THE   TIDES.  231 

movable,  and  as  obeying  that  amount  of  attraction  which  is  due  to  its 
situation)  gives  rise  to  a  relative  tendency  in  the  moon  to  recede  from 
the  earth  in  conjunction  and  opposition,  and  to  approach  it  in  quad- 
ratures." 

This  language  gives  about  the  clearest  presentation  we  have  of 
the  pulling-away  doctrine.  But  there  is  no  "  tendency  in  the  moon 
to  recede  from  the  earth  in  conjunction  and  opposition,  and  to  ap- 
proach it  in  quadratures."  On  the  contrary,  the  tendency  of  the 
moon's  motion  is  just  the  reverse — namely,  to  approach  in  conjunc- 
tion and  opposition,  and  to  recede  in  quadratures.  And  if  so  in  re- 
gard to  the  moon  and  earth,  it  must  be  still  more  so  in  regard  to  the 
earth  and  her  waters  under  this  influence  alone,  as  can  be  demon- 
strated. 

I  am  sustained  in  my  position  by  the  best  of  authority.  "  Thus  our 
moon  moves  faster,  and,  by  a  radius  drawn  to  the  earth,  describes  an 
area  greater  for  the  time,  and  has  its  orbit  less  curved,  and  therefore 
approaches  nearer  to  the  earth  in  the  syzygies  than  in  the  quadra- 
tures. .  .  .  The  moon's  distance  from  the  earth  in  the  syzygies  is  to 
its  distance  in  the  quadratures,  in  round  numbers,  as  69  to  70."  The 
authority  I  quote  is  Newton's  "  Principia." 

Let  us  make  a  calculation,  and  apply  it  to  the  earth  and  her  wa- 
ters. The  moon  performs  its  revolution  in  27d  7h  43fm,  which  is  equal 
to  2,360,606f  seconds.  The  seconds  of  time  in  which  the  moon  makes 
one  revolution  around  the  earth  is  to  one  second  of  time  as  1,296,000 
seconds  in  a  whole  circle  is  to  a  fractional  part  of  one  second  of  a 
circle,  which  we  will  call  x.  Hence  x  =  If-f^t^f^.  =  .54901141  + ,  which 
is  the  fractional  part  of  one  second  of  the  circle  of  the  heavens  the 
moon  describes  in  one  second  of  time.  The  semicircumference  of  a  cir- 
cle whose  radius  is  one  equals  3.1 41 592653589  +  .  Hence  one  second  of 
this  semicircumference  equals  3'1  4VV82oinrMiL  =  .0000048481368110  +, 
and  the  fractional  part  .54901141  +  of  one  second  of  this  semicircum- 
ference is  equal  to  .00000266168242648  +. 

Let  E3IavA  E  31'  represent  the  moon's  distance  from  the  earth, 
MM'  the  arc  which  the  moon  describes  in  one  second  of  time,  and 
A  M  the  sine  of  this  arc.  Let  EM  equal  240,000  miles,  the  moon's 
distance,  in  round  numbers,  from  the  earth,  and  E  C  equal  one 
mile.  The  arc  B  (7,  being  very  small,  may  be  regarded  as  equal  to 
its  sine.  The  length  of  this  arc  we  have  already  found.  From  simi- 
larity of  triangles  we  have  the  following  proportion:  A  31'  :  B  C  :: 
E 31'  :  E  C,  or,  by  substituting  the  figures,  A  M'  :  .00000266168242- 
648  ::  240000  :  1.  Therefore  A  31'  =  .6388037823552  +,  which  is  the 
sine  of  the  arc  passed  over  by  the  moon  in  one  second  of  time.  The 
cosine  E  A  is  equal  to 

s/EM'  2—  A  M  '=  \/(240000)2—  (.6388037823552)2  +  = 
239999.9999991498535  +  ,  which,  subtracted  EM,  gives  AM—  .00000- 
08501464 +  ,  and  this  fractional  part  of  a  mile,  reduced  to  inches,  gives 


23 2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

.053865275+,  the  fractional  part  of  an  inch  as  the  distance  the  moon 
falls  from  a  tangent  to  its  orbit  in  one  second  of  time.  Multiply  this 
by  the  square  of  60,  and  we  get,  when  reduced,  16.159+  feet,  the  dis- 
tance the  moon  descends  in  one  minute,  which  is  equal  to  15.1+  Paris 
feet,  the  result  obtained  by  Newton  in  his  "  Principia." 

The  distance  the  earth  falls,  in  one  second  of  time,  toward  the  sun 
is  about  .12144+  of  an  inch,  and  the  distance  the  moon  falls  toward 
the  sun  in  one  second,  when  in  opposition,  is  about  .12084  of  an  inch. 
This,  added  to  the  distance  the  moon  falls  toward  the  earth  in  one 
second,  makes  .17470  +  .  Now,  .17470  —  .12144  =  .05326.  Hence  the 
moon,  when  in  opposition,  moving  faster  toward  the  earth  than  the 
earth  does  toward  the  sun,  by  .05326  fractional  part  of  an  inch  in  a 
second,  these  two  bodies  have  a  tendency  to  get  nearer  to  each  other 
in  this  position.  The  same  can  be  proved  when  the  moon  is  in  con- 
junction. 

Now  let  xis  see  how  this  same  law  affects  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 
The  earth  moves  toward  the  sun  .12144  part  of  an  inch  in  a  second. 
The  waters  of  the  earth,  on  the  side  turned  away  from  the  sun,  are  only 
4,000  miles  farther  from  the  sun  than  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Gravity 
toward  any  body  diminishes  as  the  square  of  the  distance  increases. 
Hence  these  waters,  influenced  by  the  gravitating  power  of  the  sun 
alone,  and  not  hindered  by  any  intervening  object,  would  fall  toward 
the  sun  .12143  part  of  an  inch  in  one  second.  Hence  the  earth  has  a 
tendency  to  move  away  from  the  waters  with  a  velocity  of  .00001 
part  of  an  inch  in  one  second — that  is,  if  these  waters  were  not  influ- 
enced by  the  gravitating  power  of  the  earth,  and  only  by  that  of  the 
sun,  the  earth  woidd  be  "  pulled  away"  from  its  waters  at  the  rate  of 
only  the  100,000th  part  of  an  inch  in  one  second.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  waters  gravitate,  in  addition  to  this,  toward  the 
earth  at  the  rate  of  16.15+  feet  in  one  second,  and  therefore  these 
waters  are  depressed  by  gravity,  and  not  elevated.  The  same  may  be 
proved  in  regard  to  lunar  tides. 

I  close  by  saying  that  I  am  an  earnest  seeker  of  truth,  and  nothing 
but  a  sincere  desire  for  truth  has  impelled  me  to  write  these  two 
articles.  Any  person  attempting  to  prove  me  in  error,  with  the  same 
good  motive,  will  be  kindly  welcomed. 


-*♦*- 


MODEEN   SUPEKSTITIONS. 

MOST  people  accept  it  as  a  fact  that  superstition  went  out  with 
the  advent  of  steam,  the  telegraph,  and  the  penny-post.  A 
little  honest  observation,  however,  will  assure  us  that  there  still  exist 
a  number  of  pitiable  though  petty  superstitions.  Among  certain 
classes  there  are  lucky  and  unlucky  days  in  their  calendar.     They 


MODERN  SUPERSTITIONS.  233 

will  not  attempt  an  important  task  on  Friday.  The  horseshoe  still 
hangs  behind  or  over  the  door  in  the  Highlands,  and  in  some  places 
much  less  removed  from  the  centres  of  civilization.  East-coast  fisher- 
men will  yet  occasionally  burn,  or  otherwise  destroy,  a  boat  from 
Avhich  the  lives  of  any  of  the  crew  have  been  lost,  no  matter  how  sea- 
worthy or  valuable  the  boat  may  be.  A  hare  crossing  the  path  of 
one  of  these  hardy  sons  of  the  sea  will  cause  him  to  forego  an  in- 
tended journey  or  voyage.  To  rustic  and  fisherman  alike  a  concourse 
of  magpies  is  an  evil  omen.  As  for  dreams,  the  belief  that  they  are 
the  forecasts  of  events  is  perhaps  the  strongest  of  all  the  forms  of 
their  superstition.  We  might  multiply  examples,  but  have  said  enough 
to  suggest  that  the  follies  of  their  great-grandfathers  have  still  no 
slight  fascination  for  the  ignorant,  in  spite  of  the  strides  which  intelli- 
gence has  made. 

But  have  superstitious  beliefs  quite  left  the  more  intelligent  ranks 
of  society  ?  On  the  very  subject  of  dreams  itself  is  there  not  a  sneak- 
ing credulity  which  goes  far  to  prove  the  contrary  ?  True,  any  one 
of  us  is  quite  able  to  account  in  a  natural  way  for  his  or  her  dreams. 
Nevertheless,  the  lady  who  chides  her  children  for  repeating  the  in- 
terpretation which  the  housemaid  has  put  upon  their  sleeping  vagaries, 
and  sagely  instructs  them  on  the  subject  of  imperfect  digestion  and 
its  effects  upon  the  brain  during  sleep,  is  not  ashamed  to  impart  to 
her  husband  any  morning  the  particulars  of  her  own  shocking  dreams, 
or  to  piously  express  the  hope  that  something  untoward  is  not  about 
to  happen.  Her  better-half  pooh-poohs  the  matter,  doubtless,  as  be- 
comes his  superior  dignity,  but  is  visited  none  the  less  with  a  vague 
sense  of  uneasiness  when  he  remembers  that  he  himself  had  a  vision 
of  losing  a  tooth  or  seeing  a  house  on  fire.  Having  courageously 
quizzed  his  wife  at  the  breakfast-table  on  the  folly  of  her  augury,  and 
bidden  her  and  the  children  good-by  for  the  day,  he  inwardly  de]dores 
the  unlucky  omen  of  having  to  turn  back  for  his  forgotten  umbrella 
or  pocket-book  ! 

How  many  curious  but  innocent  little  customs  too  are  still  current, 
and  with  the  sanction  of  the  wisest !  An  old  slipper  is  still  cast  after 
a  bride :  it  is  considered  necessary  to  christen  a  new  ship  with  a 
bottle  of  wine  :  a  fine  day  is  still  royal  weather  :  and  so  on.  These 
and  many  others  most  of  us  would  indeed  be  sorry  to  see  extinct. 
They  are  not  only  harmless,  but,  in  their  very  departure  from  strait- 
laced  common-sense,  give  an  agreeable  and  perhaps  even  healthful 
relief  to  the  prosiness  of  ordinary  life.  To  sacrifice  them  to  the  strict 
letter  of  reason,  would  be  to  sacrifice  much  of  the  sentiment  of  life,  to 
banish  imagery  from  poetry,  to  take  the  perfume  from  the  rose,  to 
guide  into  a  Dutch  canal  the  current  of  human  affections,  which  left 
free  will  gush  and  eddy,  prattle  and  murmur  by  rock  and  meadow, 
carrying  music  and  health  throughout  its  living  course. 

Would  that  modern  superstitions  never  took  less  innocent  shapes ! 


234  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Having  discarded  the  ghostology  of  olden  times,  many  people,  and 
amonsi  these  some  men  and  women  of  considerable  culture,  Lave  set 
up  for  themselves  a  novel  system  of  intercourse  with  the  unknown 
world.  Brownies  and  fairies,  with  all  the  fine  romance  that  surrounds 
the  history  of  their  doings  among  human  folks,  are  dismissed  with 
contempt.  Spiritualism  has  swept  all  these  ethereal  puppets  off  the 
hoards  of  ordinary  life.  To  substitute  wrhat  ?  We  might  at  least 
look  for  an  improved  exhibition  and  more  interesting  "  characters  ;" 
but  the  truth  is,  that  nothing  could  be  less  satisfactory  than  the  mod- 
ern attempt  at  demon-craft.  There  is  something  so  clumsy  and  in- 
artistic in  the  whole  get-up  of  the  "spiritual"  drama,  that  it  is  less 
surprising  to  find  it  very  generally  scouted  than  to  see  it  obtain  even 
a  partial  notoriety. 

Ignorance  is  the  parent  of  superstition,  without  a  doubt ;  and  the 
one  never  exists  apart  from  the  other.  There  is,  however,  a  second 
wise  saw  that  tells  a  great  deal  of  the  truth  about  the  origin  of  that 
world-old  bugbear  of  the  human  mind,  namely,  "  The  wTish  is  father 
to  the  thought."  What  we  strongly  desire  to  be,  we  are  next  door  to 
believing  to  be.  The  appetite  of  man's  vanity  is  unappeasable,  and 
in  catering  for  it  his  fancy  plays  tricks  with  his  reason.  He  longs  for 
intercommunion  with  the  unknown,  and  indulges  the  wish  by  creating 
fictitious  agents  for  that  purpose.  Tokens,  signs,  omens,  and  auguries, 
are  also  outgrowths  of  the  various  forms  of  desire  and  vanity.  We 
believe  we  shall  have  luck  if  we  turn  the  money  in  our  pocket  when 
looking  at  new  moon.  Men  have  waited  in  all  ages  for  the  appear- 
ance of  some  favorable  sign  before  beginning  any  enterprise  of  im- 
portance. If  the  sun  shines  on  our  wedding-day,  how  auspicious ! 
Palpably  in  each  case  because  we  desire  these  things  to  be  !  But  hav- 
ing set  up  omens  with  such  an  object,  we,  in  the  cleft-stick  of  our  own 
superstition,  are  bound  to  believe  their  absence,  or  converse,  the  fore- 
shadowers  of  evil. 

In  many  ways  modern  credulity  frees  itself  from  such  mechanical 
trammels  as  those  we  have  mentioned,  to  take  a  form  and  complexion 
from  the  age,  losing  meanwhile  not  one  jot  of  its  vigor.  To  dream 
three  times  of  a  hidden  treasure  and  set  about,  Whang-the-Miller-like, 
to  lay  bare  the  foundations  of  one's  house,  is  an  exploit  not  to  be 
thought  of  by  the  veriest  wiseacre  of  our  day;  but  the  desire  to  ob- 
tain wealth  easily  and  rapidly  being,  if  anything,  more  active  and 
rampant,  the  belief  in  some  magical  means  for  attaining  it  is  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world.  An  El  Dorado  is  required,  and  lo  !  an  El 
Dorado  is  implicitly  thought  to  exist.  The  projectors  of  a  bogus  com- 
pany for  "  utilizing  the  clippings  of  old  moons,"  or  "  extracting  starch 
from  granite  chips,"  are  the  good  fairies  whom  by  propitiating  with 
a  portion  of  our  substance  we  hope  to  enlist  in  our  behalf,  and  obtain 
a  thousand-fold  return.  Where  such  a  superstition  exists,  and  it  is 
broadcast,  any  scheme,  however  absurd,  any  swindle,  no  matter  how 


MODERN  SUPERSTITIONS.  235 

transparent,  will  serve  for  a  bait  to  catch  the  unwary  and  over-eager 
fish.  Nothing  is  so  purblind  as  undue  acquisitiveness.  The  ancient 
Highlander  with  his  keen  eye  to  the  main  chance  and  happy  facility 
for  "  attaching  "  whatever  came  in  his  way,  found  a  beautiful  horse 
in  rich  trappings,  browsing  ownerless  in  his  path,  and,  following  the 
instinct  of  his  desire  rather  than  the  prudence  which  tradition  should 
have  taught  him,  rashly  mounted.  In  an  instant  he  was  borne  aloft, 
then  plunged  forever  beneath  the  dark  waters  of  a  tarn  on  the  back 
of  the  wily  and  terrible  water-kelpie.  We,  too,  have  our  illusory 
steeds  in  this  so  vaunted  age,  and  neither  the  teachings  of  history  nor 
the  bitterest  experience  seems  able  to  prevent  the  speculator  from 
vaulting  into  the  saddle,  and  forthwith  launching  into  perdition. 

Charms  are  things  of  the  past,  or  believed  in  merely  by  the  vul- 
gar ;  that  is  to  say,  those  pretty  and  fanciful  conceits  which  led  our 
ancestors  to  attach  a  healing  or  sanitary  virtue  to  certain  objects  and 
ceremonies  are  now  almost  extinct.  A  spray  from  the  rowan-tree  is 
no  longer  a  safeguard  against  an  epidemic,  nor  the  hand  of  majesty  a 
cure  for  scrofula.  Ladies  do  not  now  believe  that  the  presence  of  a 
piece  of  cold  iron  on  their  couch,  "while  uneasy  in  their  circum- 
stances" will  secure  a  happy  consummation ;  nor  is  a  child's  caul  in 
much  request  in  these  days  as  a  protection  against  fire  and  drowning. 
True,  Ave  have  got  over  these  beliefs  pretty  thoroughly.  But  is  the 
desire  for  infallible  remedies  and  potent  protectives  done  away  with 
also  ?  Not  in  the  least ;  and  though  science  is  doing  its  best  to  pro- 
vide honest  substitutes  in  a  natural  measure,  the  public  is  not  satis- 
fied with  its  efforts.  Quacks  are  the  modern  magicians,  and  quack 
medicines  the  charms  of  latter  days.  Those  who  are  bald,  for  in- 
stance, will  not  accept  their  fate  while  a  single  well-puffed  elixir  with 
a  Greek  name  remains  untried.  There  is  something  saddening,  if  not 
sickening,  in  the  evident  success  which  attends  the  pretenses  to  cure 
chronic  and  irremediable  diseases,  to  effect  miracles  in  short  with  the 
most  trumpery  of  means  and  execrably  silly  devices.  Our  forefathers 
were  imposed  upon,  no  doubt,  but  there  was  method  in  their  madness. 
The  "  simples  "  with  which  spae-wives  and  charlatans  professed  to 
cure  ailments  were  in  many  cases  effective  and  now  recognized  drugs, 
and  were  at  the  worst  perfectly  harmless ;  while  the  rites  with  which 
they  were  administered,  if  quite  apart  from  the  purpose,  yet  appealed 
gracefully  to  the  imagination.  Nowadays,  however,  the  "  simples  " 
are  the  patients  and  not  the  medicines  !  The  old  story.  Childlike, 
the  age  cries  for  something  that  it  cannot  get,  rejecting  the  good  that 
is  within  reach. 

In  a  recent  number  of  this  Journal,  we  had  occasion  to  refer  to 
the  amazing  credulity  of  Americans  on  the  subject  of  professional 
"  mediums."  The  worst  of  it  is,  that  the  extent  to  which  this  has  been 
laid  bare  is  insignificant  compared  with  that  which  really  remains  un- 
exposed.    The  desire  to  work  with  supernatural  tools  in  effecting  the 


236  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

paltriest  and  meanest  of  human  ends,  would  seem  to  have  divided  a 
people  of  accredited  shrewdness  into  the  two  classes  of  rogues  and 
dupes.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  we,  too,  have  been  singed  at  the  same 
tire.  There  are,  moreover,  other  if  minor  superstitions  in  our  midst 
that  suggest  the  propriety  of  beginning  the  task  of  reformation  at 
home.  An  occasional  glance,  for  instance,  at  the  stock  advertise- 
ments of  leading  journals,  will  convince  any  one  how  wide-spread  is 
the  infatuation  that  believes  in  spurious  offers  of  advantageous  em- 
'ployment.  Some  of  these  have,  under  our  own  observation,  been  re- 
peated with  little  variation  for  more  than  twenty  years ;  and  we  have 
no  doubt  that  the  wily  advertisers  are  able  to  calculate  to  a  fraction 
the  number  and  gullibility  of  their  dupes.  We  have  from  time  to  time 
drawn  attention  to  swindles  of  this  class,  as  well  as  to  those  tempting 
offers  of  "  Money  to  lend,"  which  appear  with  equal  regularity  in 
newspaper  columns.  We  are  afraid,  however,  that  friendly  warning 
and  experience  are  alike  unavailing  to  stem  the  mischief.  The  spread 
of  education  itself  would  appear  unable  to  outstrip  the  spread  of  im- 
posture or  the  eager  credulity  that  supports  it;  for  superstition  merely 
shifts  its  ground  from  time  to  time,  without  losing  appreciably  its 
original  dominion  over  the  human  mind. —  Chambers's  Journal. 


SKETCH  OF  PROFESSOR  RANKINE. 

PROF.  W.  J.  MACQUORN  RAKKINE  was  born  in  Edinburgh, 
July  5,  1820,  and  on  Christmas-eve,  in  1872,  he  died,  before  he 
had  completed  his  fifty-third  year;  but  in  that  comparatively  short 
life  he  had  won  higher  distinction  and  done  more  good  work  than  it 
falls  to  the  lot  of  most  men  to  compass. 

He  pursued  his  ordinary  school  studies  in  the  Burgh  Academy  of 
the  town  of  Ayr,  the  high-school  of  Glasgow.  When  very  young  he 
entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  where  he  devoted  himself  to 
natural  philosophy  and  natural  history,  including  zoology,  geology, 
mineralogy,  and  botany.  He  was  a  born  mathematician,  and  received 
little  aid  from  professional  instruction  in  the  branch  of  science  in 
which  he  subsequently  displayed  such  great  genius.  Throughout  his 
educational  course  he  received  valuable  aid  from  his  father,  who  was 
a  retired  lieutenant  of  the  British  Army. 

His  powers  were  developed  at  an  early  age.  Before  he  was 
twenty  he  had  written  two  essays  on  subjects  in  pure  physics.  At 
eighteen  he  adopted  the  profession  of  civil  engineering,  and  was  the 
pupil  of  Sir  John  Macneil  for  three  or  four  years,  a  great  part  of 
which  was  spent  on  engineering  works  in  Ireland.  Subsequently,  he 
was  employed  for  several  years  on  railways   and  similar  works  in 


SKETCH   OF  PROFESSOR  RAN  KIKE.  237 

Scotland ;  and  in  1850,  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr.  John  Thom- 
son, C.  E.,  he  settled  in  Glasgow. 

Meanwhile  he  had  been  busy  in  purely  scientific  pursuits  not  con- 
nected with  his  calling,  and  the  value  of  his  wTork  was  generally 
recognized.  He  was  elected  to  various  learned  societies,  and  in  1853 
was  made  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London.  The  same  year 
he  became  a  member  of  the  British  Association,  in  which  he  subse- 
quently held  several  important  positions.  During  the  Dublin  meet- 
ing of  the  Association  in  1857,  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  university  of  that  city  as  a  mark  of  the 
eminence  he  had  gained  as  a  physical  investigator.  He  was  then  but 
thirty-seven  years  old. 

In  1855  he  was  made  Regius  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  and 
Mechanics  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  a  position  which  he  held 
with  distinction  for  seventeen  years.  He  was  an  able  instructor,  his 
aim  being  to  develop  the  understanding  of  the  student  by  the  culti- 
vation of  natural  knowledge,  and  to  beget  those  habits  of  close  ob- 
servation and  persistent  and  exact  verification  which  are  so  essential 
to  the  scientific  worker  in  any  field. 

Prof.  Rankine  was  the  first  President  of  the  Institution  of  Engi- 
neers of  Scotland,  and  in  1801  was  made  President  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Glasgow,  contributing  many  papers  to  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  that  Society,  and  on  a  wide  range  of  topics.  The  honors 
he  won  in  his  profession,  and  in  thermo-dynamics,  were  rivaled  by  his 
achievements  in  naval  architecture,  to  which  his  attention  was  for 
some  time  given. 

His  writings  were  exceedingly  voluminous.  His  published  trea- 
tises and  manuals  included,  among  others,  "  Manual  of  Applied  Me- 
chanics," "Manual  of  the  Steam-Engine  and  Other  Prime  Movers," 
"  Civil  Engineering,"  "  Useful  Rules  and  Tables,"  "  Cyclopaedia  of 
Machine  and  Hand  Tools,"  "Manual  of  Machinery  and  Mill- Work," 
besides  a  very  long  catalogue  of  papers  on  physics,  especially  thermo- 
dynamics, applied  mechanics,  etc.  His  style  was  a  model  of  scien- 
tific writing — elegant,  exact,  lucid  in  explanation  and  apt  in  illustra- 
tion. In  short,  his  was  a  mind  of  the  first  order,  his  original  investi- 
gations were  of  the  highest  value,  and  his  excellent  influence  as  an 
instructor  in  moulding  the  minds  of  his  students  will  be  far-reaching. 

His  early  death  wTas  the  penalty  of  overwork,  and  was  preceded 
by  an  impairment  of  vision  and  a  derangement  of  the  heart's  action 
that  were  very  distressing.  He  yielded  to  the  demand  for  bodily  rest 
when  it  became  imperative  ;  but  it  was  too  late.  His  is  another  name 
added  to  the  long  list  of  those  who,  understanding  perfectly  the  limits 
of  human  endurance,  seem  to  think  that  their  case  is  exceptional, 
that  their  organisms  can  be  continuously  overworked  with  impunity, 
and  so  go  on,  heedless  of  the  dumb  protests  of  the  abused  body,  until 
the  ruin  is  utter  and  irrevocable. 


238 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


LANGUAGE  IN  EDUCATION. 

THE  agitation  for  a  reform  in  the  Civ- 
il Service,  as  it  is  called,  should  it 
result  in  the  establishment  of  that  meas- 
ure, may  be  expected  to  produce  effects 
not  now  much  anticipated  or  cared  for. 
The  essence  of  the  reform  is  to  consist 
in  getting  better  men  for  office-holders 
than  American  politics  has  hitherto  af- 
forded— certainly  a  most  laudable  thing. 
But  the  mode  of  arriving  at  the  better 
qualified  men  is  to  be  by  "examina- 
tions," that  is,  by  the  educational  test. 
Before  candidates  can  be  examined, 
however,  and  decided  upon,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  arrange  the  standards  by 
which  they  shall  be  judged,  and  one  of 
the  important  effects  of  the  system 
will  be  to  bring  to  inexorable  judgment 
those  preliminary  standards  on  which 
the  whole  policy  must  rest.  One  of  the 
reasons  why  the  superstitions  and  ab- 
surdities of  education  are  so  tenaciously 
persistent,  is  the  difficulty  of  bringing 
the  results  of  so-called  culture  to  direct 
practical  test  or  verification ;  but  the 
examiners  who  frame  the  catechism  by 
which  candidates  for  office  are  to  be 
sifted  and  accepted  or  rejected,  cannot 
fail  to  do  something  toward  the  remov- 
al of  this  difficulty.  In  deciding  what 
qualifications  are  desired,  they  will  give 
judgment  upon  the  method  that  has 
produced  them. 

The  English  have  tried  Civil  Service 
reform  sufficiently  long  to  begin  to  con- 
nect cause  and  effect,  and  take  account 
of  the  validity  and  worth  of  its  stand- 
ards. They  began  the  system  of  Civil 
Service  examination  in  1853  by  drawing 
up  scales  of  the  valuation  of  different 
kinds  of  knowledge  as  expressed  nu- 
merically by  marks,  so  that  proficiency  in 
the  various  branches  could  be  added  up 
and  indicate  the  "standing,"  as  is  done 


in  many  schools.  This  scheme,  of  course, 
represented  current  ideas,  and  the  In- 
dian Civil  Service  Board  decided  that 
"in  the  two  great  ancient  languages 
there  ought  to  be  an  examination  not 
less  severe  than  those  examinations  by 
which  the  highest  classical  distinctions 
are  awarded  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge." 
This  was  for  those  who  aspired  to  civil 
positions  in  India ;  and  how  the  knowl- 
edges were  rated  comparatively  may  be 
inferred  from  the  following  examples: 

Greek 750 

Latin 750 

French 375 

German 375 

Natural  sciences 500 

This  marked  predominance  of  dead 
over  living  languages,  and  the  still  more 
striking  predominance  of  language  over 
science,  could  not  fail  ultimately  to 
bring  the  whole  question  under  critical 
scrutiny,  and  has  led  to  a  reestimate  of 
the  educational  value  of  lingual  studies. 
We  publish  part  of  a  paper  read  by 
Prof.  Bain  before  the  British  Social 
Science  Association,  wliich  deals  with 
this  important  subject,  and  our  readers 
will  find  it  valuable  as  a  contribution  to 
education,  regardless  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice interest,  while  it  illustrates  what 
must  be  the  effect  of  that  reform  in 
bringing  educational  questions  into  a 
new  aspect.  The  overshadowing  pre- 
dominance of  language  forces  an  in- 
quiry which  proves  that  it  is  of  the 
very  lowest  possible  use  as  a  means 
of  mental  culture. 


SAVINGS-BANKS  AND  STATE  CONTROL. 

The  recent  scandalous  revelations 
concerning  the  management  of  savings- 
banks  and  similar  institutions  of  trust 
have,   of  course,  provoked  much  dis- 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


239 


cussion,  and,  equally  of  course,  much 
loose  talk. 

The  obvious  fact  that  many  of  the 
men  who  have  been  chosen,  or  have 
assumed,  to  take  care  of  the  savings  of 
the  frugal  have  proved  to  be  wholly 
unworthy  shows,  it  is  often  argued,  an 
alarming  decadence  in  the  moral  tone 
of  the  community,  which  is  variously 
ascribed  according  to  political  or  re- 
ligious bias.  There  are  not  wanting 
those  who  assert  that  the  whole  social 
organism  is  unprecedentedly  corrupt, 
and  that  the  facts  which  have  trans- 
pired are  but  a  faint  precursor  of  what 
is  to  come.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
clear  that  any  such  doleful  view  of  the 
situation  is  warranted.  The  morals  of 
trade  may  be  loose  enough,  but  it  is 
not  readily  to  be  admitted  that  they 
are  deteriorating. 

It  is  true  that  the  early  history  of 
savings-banks  in  this  country  shows  no 
such  dark  picture.  Previous  to  1862, 
failures  were  rare ;  the  banks  were,  as 
a  rule,  safely  managed  by  fit  men.  A 
high  order  of  financial  or  executive 
ability  is  not  required  for  the  manage- 
ment of  a  savings-bank,  but  integrity 
and  common -sense  are ;  the  right  paths 
are  straight  and  well  beaten — what  is 
needed  is  a  steadiness  of  purpose  to 
resist  the  temptations  that  lead  away 
from  them.  During  the  last  fifteen 
years  the  number  of  these  institutions 
has  largely  increased,  and  the  process 
of  natural  selection  does  not  seem  to 
have  developed  safe  officials  as  fast  as 
they  were  wanted. 

Nor  is  it  alone  that  it  has  been  ne- 
cessary to  put  many  new  and  untried 
men  in  places  of  trust.  A  higher  de- 
gree of  rectitude  has  been  needed  to 
bear  the  strain  imposed  by  the  specula- 
tion and  recklessness  of  a  period  of  in- 
flation than  was  sufficient  in  the  less 
trying  days  which  preceded  this  era — 
this  has  not  always  been  found.  The 
prudence  of  any  given  man  or  class  is 
not  a  fixed  quantity,  it  is  subject  to 
fluctuations;    it    is  weakened  by  the 


spirit  of  confidence  and  rashness  that 
always  marks  a  period  of  rising  prices, 
and  strengthened  by  the  heroic  treat- 
ment of  adversity  which  is  sure  to 
come  in  with  the  reaction. 

Of  the  details  of  the  mismanage- 
ment which  has  led  to  disaster,  and  of 
the  rules  for  properly  conducting  such 
institutions,  it  is  not  our  present  purpose 
to  speak;  but  there  is  one  idea  which 
seems  to  be  fundamental  in  all  the 
remedies  proposed  that  deserves  atten- 
tion. 

State  control  in  some  form  is  the 
sole  corrective  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  those  whose  views  find  expression, 
is  available ;  and  there  is  something 
sublime  in  the  faith  apparently  felt  in 
government  management,  even  by  those 
who  are  loudest  in  their  denunciations 
of  office-holders  —  the  only  agents 
through  whom  a  state  can  do  its  work. 

The  recommendations  all  assume 
one  of  two  forms  : 

1.  That  a  system  of  post-office  sav- 
ings-banks, similar  to  those  now  oper- 
ating in  England,  be  established ;  or — 

2.  That  more  thorough  state  inspec- 
tion be  instituted  with  a  view  to  main- 
taining and  purifying  the  present  sys- 
tem. 

Opinion  is  still  divided  in  England 
as  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  scheme 
for  post-office  banks,  but  it  has,  so  far, 
worked  too  well  to  permit  unqualified 
condemnation.  This  success,  however, 
has  been  wrought  under  conditions  that 
do  not  obtain  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  first  place  is  the  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  Civil  Service  of  the  two 
countries.  Without  going  into  com- 
parisons it  is  safe  to  say  that,  until  our 
much-talked-of  reform  shall  have  made 
some  progress,  it  may  be  as  well  to  go 
slow  in  committing  savings-deposits  to 
the  custody  of  an  irresponsible,  ever- 
shifting  set  of  officials,  chosen  without 
any  reference  to  their  natural  fitness  or 
training  for  the  discharge  of  such  a  trust. 
"We  already  hear  much  of  their  delin- 
quencies, and  it  is  certain  that  the  pro- 


240 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


posed  system  would  add  to  their  temp- 
tations and  the  risk  of  defalcation. 

Secondly,  the  difficulties  in  working 
the  system  are  greatly  enhanced  in  this 
country  by  the  wide  territory  over 
which  it  must  extend,  to  at  all  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  people. 

Thirdly,  the  banking  branch  of  the 
Post-Office  Department  could  not  be 
made  self-sustaining,  and  at  the  same 
time  pay  a  rate  of  interest  that  would 
draw  deposits.  It  is  not  likely  that  3^- 
per  cent,  would  be  satisfactory  when 
there  are  perfectly  sound  banks  that  can 
pay  five  per  cent. ;  and  yet  3^  is  prob- 
ably more  than  the  Department  could 
afford  to  pay.  Following  the  rule  of 
the  English  system,  and  the  only  safe 
one,  it  must  invest  its  deposits  in  Gov- 
ernment securities,  on  which  it  cannot 
now  realize  more  than  four  per  cent. 
Out  of  the  half  per  cent,  margin  must 
come  all  expenses  and  the  loss  of  inter- 
est on  unused  balances.  The  Depart- 
ment could  not  even  take  the  very  ne- 
cessary precaution  of  keeping  a  cash 
reserve  against  deposits,  and  though  it 
may  be  said  that  the  degree  of  confi- 
dence would  be  so  great  as  to  preclude  a 
run,  and  so  no  reserve  would  be  needed, 
it  will  be  found  that  if  the  Government, 
through  any  of  its  departments,  goes 
into  banking,  it  will  be  amenable  to 
the  rules  that  govern  banking  opera- 
tions. It  could  be  readily  shown,  if 
space  permitted,  that  the  Department 
would  be  a  constant  dealer  in  bonds, 
buying  on  a  high  market,  and  selling 
on  a  low  one — a  process  not  conducive 
to  profit— and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
from  these  various  causes  the  chronic 
deficit  of  the  mail-service  would  be  in- 
creased by  the  losses  incurred  in  the 
banking  department,  a  result  which 
could  not  be  defended  on  any  tenable 
ground. 

Next,  as  concerning  State  inspec- 
tion. It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  a 
system  which  1ms  been  tried  so  fully 
and  failed  so  utterly,  should  still  be  so 
implicitly  relied   on ;    that  men,   who 


pride  themselves  on  being  practical, 
and  who  never  fail  to  have  their  little 
fling  at  theorists,  should  cling  to  a  the- 
ory that  has  broken  down  whenever 
tested. 

Official  examination  has  had  a  very 
thorough  trial  in  this  country;  it  has 
been  a  feature  of  the  national  banking 
system  since  its  organization  in  1S64; 
the  history  of  these  banks  has,  as  a 
whole,  been  creditable,  but  scores  of 
them  have  failed,  many  disgracefully, 
and  the  worst  of  them  in  localities 
where  it  might  be  expected  that  the 
examinations  would  be  most  thorough ; 
while  the  life-insurance  companies  and 
savings-banks  of  New  York  have  long 
been  objects  of  legislative  solicitude 
and  official  care,  with  results  that  do 
not  need  to  be  told  here. 

The  theory  of  State  intervention  in 
such  matters  is  fallacious ;  private  en- 
terprise, if  left  to  itself,  would  compass 
the  desired  end  much  better  than  any 
governmental  machinery.  The  indorse- 
ment which  the  State  gives  to  a  new 
institution,  by  granting  a  charter  and 
nominally  assuming  a  supervisory  con- 
trol, endows  it  with  an  air  of  respecta- 
bility and  solidity  which  it  could  not 
otherwise  command,  and  which  is  for 
the  most  part  illusive.  If  depositors 
understood  that  their  sole  reliance  was 
the  character  of  the  men  they  were 
dealing  with,  and  that  the  only  super- 
vision would  be  such  as  they  chose  to 
exercise,  they  would  soon  come  to  se- 
lect the  guardians  of  their  savings  with 
greater  care,  and  scan  their  acts  more 
closely. 

The  State  has  a  legitimate  function 
which  it  has  very  imperfectly  fulfilled 
in  this  connection ;  it  is  competent  to 
enforce  the  performance  of  contracts ; 
to  visit  punishment  upon  negligent  or 
dishonest  officials;  to  secure  prompt 
and  inexpensive  justice  to  the  sufferers 
in  event  of  failures.  This  has  not  been 
done,  but  instead,  contracts  have  been 
shamelessly  broken  with  impunity;  fel- 
ony has  been  openly  compounded;  and 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


241 


the  proceedings  of  winding-up  defunct 
banks  have  been  dilatory  and  extrava- 
gant— conducted  with  a  disregard  of 
tbe  interests  of  the  depositors  that 
differs  from  common  swindling  only 
in  having  the  sanction  of  tbe  courts. 
If  the  State  had  performed  the  duties 
which  manifestly  belong  to  it,  there 
would  be  less  clamor  now  for  it  to  step 
out  of  its  proper  sphere  to  manage 
financial  corporations. 

It  is  true  that  the  public  has  been 
marvelously  credulous.  Any  advent- 
urer who  could  raise  money  enough  to 
put  up  a  sign  and  make  large  promises 
would  find  some  trusting  fools  to  leave 
their  money  with  him,  and  it  almost 
seems  that  they  should  be  protected 
against  themselves;  but  efforts  which 
aim  to  protect  people  from  the  conse- 
quences of  their  own  folly,  however 
amiable  tbey  may  be,  are  rarely  suc- 
cessful ;  it  is  best  in  the  end  to  let 
people  reap  the  reward  of  their  stu- 
pidity. 

Unfortunately,  the  average  deposi- 
tor in  savings-banks  labors  under  disad- 
vantages in  being  without  facilities  for 
getting  information  or  training  which 
would  help  him  to  form  an  intelligent 
judgment  on  it  when  obtained ;  but 
this  is  one  of  the  unpleasant  concomi- 
tants of  ignorance  from  which  there  is 
no  way  of  escape  except  through  the 
acquirement  of  knowledge.  The  pub- 
lic does  not  seem  very  apt  in  gaining 
this  sort  of  knowledge ;  but  only  as 
it  is  mastered  will  a  better  condition 
of  things  be  reached.  The  teachings 
of  the  last  few  years  have  been  very 
thorough,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
confidence  will  be  more  intelligently 
placed  in  the  future  than  it  has  been  in 
the  recent  past ;  that  new  candidates 
for  it  will  find  that  more  strenuous  and 
legitimate  measures  are  needed. 

A  good  deal  is  said  about  the  philan- 
thropy of  this  class  of  institutions;  but 
analysis  would  doubtless  show  that  the 
altruistic  element  in  them  is  the  merest 
trace.     They  are  formed  by  men  who 

VOL.   XII. — 16 


are  selfish  enough  to  desire  to  make 
them  as  large  and  prosperous  as  may 
be ;  it  will  not  need  a  great  prolonga- 
tion of  the  present  state  of  feeling  to 
teach  them  that  the  way  to  success  is 
to  offer  the  highest  guarantees  of  good 
management  and  security,  and  see  to  it 
that  these  guarantees  be  real. 

As  to  the  best  methods  of  convinc- 
ing the  public  of  their  trustworthiness, 
that  may  safely  be  left  to  the  managers 
themselves;  the  utmost  publicity  and 
fullness  in  the  statements  of  condition, 
and  the  greatest  freedom  for  the  in- 
spection of  accounts  and  securities  by 
depositors,  or  those  in  their  interest, 
would  contribute  much  to  that  end. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 

The  Question  of  Rest  for  Women  dur- 
ing Menstruation.  By  Mary  Putnam- 
Jacobi,  M.  D.  The  Boylston  Prize  Es- 
sav  of  Harvard  University  for  1816. 
Pp.  232.  New  York :  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  187*7.     Price,  $3.50. 

It  is  fortunate  for  that  group  of  physi- 
ological and  social  conditions  involved  in 
what  is  termed  the  "  Woman  Question " 
that  it  has  been  investigated  in  one  of  itr> 
most  important  aspects  by  an  author  net 
only  specially  prepared  by  education  and 
training  to  do  it  justice,  but  one,  so  to 
speak,  "  to  the  manner  born."  The  motive 
of  Dr.  Putnam-Jacobi's  book  seems  to  be  to 
close  the  discussion  opened  by  Dr.  Clarke  in 
his  "  Sex  in  Education,"  rather  than  to  make 
a  direct  answer  to  his  argument  That  it 
does  not  close  this  discussion,  and  furnish 
an  authoritative  canon  to  measure  the  value 
of  the  "question  of  rest  for  women,"  is  the 
fault  partly  of  the  material  gathered,  and 
partly  of  the  method  of  handling  the  facts. 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  doctors, 
male  or  female,  collecting  facts  relating  to 
women  sick  ;  but,  when  facts  are  needed 
concerning  women  well,  the  innate  delicacy 
of  the  sex  is  in  arms  against  the  statistician. 
This  is  evident  when  we  state  that,  of  1,000 
circulars  calling  for  information  regarding 
the  sexual  history  of  women  in  different  oc- 
cupations, but  268  were  answered. 


242 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


The  second  section  of  the  book  deals 
with  the  facts  obtained  in  reply  to  this 
circular.  These  facts  relate  to  the  condi- 
tion of  health  of  childhood,  and  of  parents 
or  sisters  ;  the  age  of  going  to  and  leaving 
school ;  the  number  of  hours  of  study,  of 
exercise ;  the  nature  of  the  study  or  occu- 
pation ;  pain  during  menstruation ;  the 
need  and  length  of  rest  during  the  continu- 
ance of  that  function,  and  the  time  when 
rest  first  became  necessary.  The  strength 
is  measured  by  exercise,  and  several  other 
conditions  naturally  suggested  by  the  ques- 
tions are  given.  These  facts  are  tabulated 
under  groups  distinguished  by  either  the 
total  absence  of  pain  or  its  presence  at  va- 
rious periods.  The  author  makes  ingenious 
but  legitimate  use  of  her  figures,  hampered 
by  the  small  number  of  individuals  subject- 
ed to  analysis.  The  number  is  sufficient, 
however,  to  foreshadow  what  is  probably 
the  amount  of  disability  entailed  upon 
women  by  the  need  of  rest.  Too  much 
stress  appears  to  be  laid  upon  the  mere 
presence  of  pain  and  the  incapacity  to  work 
resulting  from  it,  as  if  this  were  the  only 
source  of  disability.  Women  are  sometimes 
obliged  to  take  rest  from  the  nervous  de- 
pression and  mental  disturbance  which  at- 
tend the  exercise  of  the  ovarian  function  ; 
but  it  is  possible  that  it  is  the  better  way, 
when  the  interpretation  of  the  causes  of  in- 
capacity is  left  to  the  average  individual, 
that  some  well-understood  term  like  "  pain  " 
be  adopted.  The  section  on  statistics  being 
long  and  complicated,  we  must  overlook  the 
steps  of  the  process,  and  confine  ourselves 
to  the  results. 

Out  of  the  number  of  women  inter- 
rogated (286  cases),  94,  or  35  per  cent.,  de- 
clare themselves  always  free  from  discom- 
fort (pain  ?)  during  menstruation;  by  adding 
to  this  number  46,  who  only  suffered  slight- 
ly, or  occasionally  during  that  period,  this 
proportion  is  raised  to  59  per  cent.  ;  on  the 
other  hand,  128  women,  or  41  per  cent., 
suffered  seriously  from  pain  ;  in  them  men- 
struation was,  therefore,  a  morbid  pro- 
cess.  "  In  all  such  cases,"  remarks  the  au- 
thor, "  rest  during  the  existence  of  such 
pain  is  as  desirable  as  during  the  occur- 
rence of  any  other."  Of  the  162  painful 
-,  including  all  degrees  of  pain,  53  per 
cent,  hail  been  so  from  the  beginning;  and 


in  47  per  cent,  the  habit  had  been  acquired. 
The  relation  of  the  age  at  which  schooling 
began  and  the  time  spent  in  school  to  this 
catamenial  pain  is  not  very  evident,  as  this 
condition  is  very  nearly  alike  in  all  the 
groups.  Of  the  painful  group  18  per  cent,  re- 
ceived very  little  education,  while  in  the  nor- 
mal group  none  are  so  specified.  Of  the  first 
only  eight  per  cent,  pursued  advanced  studies 
beyond  the  age  of  twenty-two  against  16  per 
cent,  in  the  latter.  Dr.  Putnam-Jacobi  is  led 
to  the  conclusion  from  her  figures,  which 
are  unfortunately  too  limited  to  afford  even  a 
guess  at  the  real  truth,  that  the  highest  edu- 
cation given  to  women  is  the  most  favorable 
to  menstrual  health  ;  the  least  favorable  be- 
ing the  ornamental  education.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  physical  education,  it  was  found  that 
those  who  never  suffered  pain  exercised 
more  than  the  other  class ;  but  all  classes 
were  found  to  exercise  too  little  during 
childhood  and  girlhood.  The  tables  show 
that  the  family  history  exerts  a  greater  in- 
fluence over  the  menstrual  life  than  occu- 
pation. The  figures  prove  that  two-thirds 
of  those  who  suffered  periodical  pain  inher- 
ited some  special  or  general  constitutional 
defect.  Physical  vigor,  as  measured  by  the 
capacity  for  exercise,  was  shown  among 
those  free  from  pain  in  the  ability  to  walk 
an  average  of  five  miles  ;  the  average  for 
those  who  habitually  suffered  pain  was  three 
and  a  quarter  miles  ;  and  for  the  cases  of 
slight  or  acquired  pain  four  miles.  "  Capa- 
city for  exercise  was  nearly  always  in  in- 
verse proportion  to  the  habit  of  pain."  The 
tables  show  that  persons  without  occupa- 
tion suffered  from  painful  menstruation  in 
much  larger  proportion  than  those  who 
were  occupied.  One  would  infer  from  this 
that  the  author,  in  a  measure,  traced  this 
result  to  the  want  of  occupation  ;  while  we 
should  reverse  the  conditions  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  explain  the  lack  of  occupation 
by  the  incapacity  resulting  from  the  peri- 
odical pain.  The  conclusion  is  also  reached 
from  the  fact  that  marriage  is  opposed  to 
the  existence  of  habitual  periodical  pain. 
And,  lastly,  "  as  regards  rest — the  most  im- 
portant question  for  our  purpose — we  have 
seen  that  the  above  data  do  not  suffice  to 
inform  us  of  its  influence  ;  "  and  thus,  so  far 
as  the  main  theme  of  the  book  is  con- 
cerned, the  author  leaves  the  "  question  of 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


243 


rest  for  women"  in  just'  the  condition  in 
which  she  found  it. 

The  third  section,  occupying  fifty  pages, 
is  a  review  of  the  various  theories  of  men- 
struation, and  shows  considerable  research. 

The  next  section  is  devoted  to  what  the 
author  calls  experimental  research  upon  six 
persons  in  the  form  of  daily  tabulated  state- 
ments of  pulse,  temperature,  dynamics,  and 
the  excretion  of  urea,  before,  after,  and  dur- 
ing ovulation.  The  general  results  to  be 
gathered  from  the  tables  are,  that  excretion 
of  urea  is  increased  previous  to  the  haemor- 
rhage over  the  usual  amount,  although  there 
were  many  exceptions  to  this  rule,  individ- 
ual peculiarities  generally  governing  the 
results.  The  number  of  cases  observed, 
however,  was  too  small  to  afford  conclu- 
sions. The  same  objection  may  be  made 
against  the  dynamometer  and  temperature 
tests.  Physiological  experiments  of  this 
nature  always  require  a  sufficient  number 
of  subjects  to  reduce  individual  peculiari- 
ties and  accidental  conditions  to  a  minimum 
in  the  mean  results.  The  state  of  the  cir- 
culation is  given  a  very  careful  study  by 
means  of  the  sphygmograph  before,  during, 
and  after  menstruation,  from  which  obser- 
vations the  author  concludes  that  there  is 
an  increase  in  the  tension  of  the  arteries 
seven  to  nine  days  preceding  menstruation, 
to  be  lowered,  as  a  rule,  a  few  hours  after 
the  beginning  of  the  haemorrhage,  reaching 
its  minimum  after  its  cessation.  This  in- 
crease in  intermenstrual  arterial  tension, 
being  similar  to  that  observed  in  pregnan- 
cy, leads  the  author  to  this  remarkable  con- 
clusion— "  that  in  all  these  respects  the  in- 
termenstrual, and  especially  the  premen- 
strual, period  represents  a  pregnancy  in 
miniature."  From  the  facts  gathered  in 
this  experimental  chapter,  "  it  should  fol- 
low," the  author  says,  "  that  reproduction 
in  the  human  female  is  not  intermittent, 
but  incessant ;  not  periodical,  but  rhyth- 
mic ;  not  dependent  on  the  volitions  of  ani- 
mal life,  but  as  involuntary  and  inevitable 
as  are  all  the  phenomena  of  nutritive  life." 
From  what  we  know  of  the  author,  we  be- 
lieve the  phraseology  of  the  above  will  be 
materially  altered  in  the  next  edition.  Aside 
from  the  unscientific  use  of  words,  and  the 
strained  meaning  put  upon  the  word  rhyth- 
mic,  the    author    confounds    reproduction 


with  the  conditions  essential  to  reproduc- 
tion. It  conflicts  also  with  reasoning  to 
which  this  is  designed  to  be  the  natural 
conclusion.  For  instance,  on  page  98, 
speaking  of  the  Graafian  vesicles,  she  says 
that,  "  as  the  process  of  their  development 
is  gradual,  the  periods  of  rupture  are  ne- 
cessarily intermittent ; "  and,  as  if  to  pre- 
clude all  idea  of  rhythmic  action,  she  says, 
further,  it  "  is  one  of  the  most  irregular  of 
physiological  phenomena." 

We  shall  end  our  notice  by  a  few  re- 
marks on  the  conclusions  with  which  the 
author  closes  the  book. 

Menstrual  pain,  instead  of  being  the  re- 
sult of  want  of  rest,  depends  upon — 1.  "  Im- 
perfect power  of  resistance  in  the  nerve- 
centres."  This  presupposes  an  inherent 
tendency  to  pain  in  all  women  during  this 
act,  its  expression  depending  on  the  power 
of  repression,  although  this  alternative  is 
evaded  by  the  author.  2.  Organic  defects ; 
and,  lastly,  acquired  pain,  which  may  depend 
upon  conditions  common  to  both  sexes  in 
the  genesis  of  disease ;  upon  causes  mainly 
due  to  parturition,  and  thus  peculiar  to 
women ;  or  "  from  two  causes,  very  much 
more  frequently  operative  in  women  than 
men,  namely,  ill-arranged  work  and  celi- 
bacy." Whether  this  work  is  "  ill-ar- 
ranged "  with  reference  to  time  or  not,  the 
author  does  not  inform  us.  The  conclusion 
is  natural  that  this  ill-arrangement  is  due 
to  the  need  of  intervals  of  rest,  since 
work  and  rest  are  natural  antitheses.  The 
evil  effects  of  celibacy  are  insisted  upon  in 
several  places.  The  author  even  rises  to 
the  heights  of  impassioned  prose,  when  she 
says  that  "many  others  never  obtain  the 
opportunity  to  bear  a  single  child,  for 
which,  nevertheless,  every  fibre  of  their 
physical  and  moral  being  is  yearning." 
While  we  cannot  express  ourselves  so  poet- 
ically, we  concur  in  the  idea ;  but  it  is  not 
a  little  singular  that,  since  the  motive  of  the 
book  is  to  demonstrate  woman's  capacity 
for  continuous  work  during  certain  periods, 
the  derangements  due  to  matrimony  re- 
ceive no  attention.  The  fifth  and  last 
conclusion  is  that  "  there  is  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  menstruation  to  imply  the  neces- 
sity, or  even  the  desirability,  of  rest  for 
women  whose  nutrition  is  really  normal." 
Yet,  upon  the  previous  page,  in  speaking 


244 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


of  the  presence  of  pain  in  46  per  cent,  of 
women,  it  is  traced  among  other  things  to 
"  work  that  is  either  absolutely  excessive, 
or  excessive  relative  to  woman's  constitu- 
tion, by  being  prolonged  too  much  during  a 
single  session,  or  else  which  is  insufficiently 
relieved  by  recreation."  It  is  impossible  to 
read  this  last  section  of  the  book  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  author 
in  many  instances  is  reasoning  against  her 
convictions. 

The  author  does  not  seek  to  evade  the 
fact  that  46  per  cent,  of  women  suffer  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  pain  during  this 
time,  and  yet  it  has  not  the  slightest  bear- 
ing upon  woman's  efficiency  to  work  while 
thus  suffering  to  say,  as  the  author  does, 
that  this  pain  is  not  directly  dependent  upon 
the  need  of  rest.     If  we  recognize  in  pain 
the  ideal  curse  of  humanity,  we  may  form 
a  notion  of  what  a  woman  must  undergo 
who,  under  the  lash  of  necessity  or  duty, 
carries  her   burden  of  pain  to   her   daily 
tasks.     It  matters  not  whether  the  pain  is 
evaded,  or  mitigated  or  not  by  rest,  it  is  a 
panacea  instinctively  sought.     It   accords 
also  with  the  universal  experience  of  medi- 
cal men  that  pelvic  pain,  or  hyperemia,  is 
quieted  by  rest,  and  this  is  as  true  of  men- 
strual pain  as  of  auy  other  condition.    Such 
a  fact  as  this  cannot  be  reasoned  away  by  ar- 
guments drawn  from  speculative  physiology. 
But  we  must  recognize  in  this  book  a 
new  departure  in  the  literature  of  the  ques- 
tion.    It   is  something  new,  as  well  as  a 
grand  stride  in  the  right  direction,  for  the 
advocates  of  woman's  immunity  from  any- 
thing like  physical  restraints  to  labor    to 
investigate  facts  and  to  couch  this  investi- 
gation in  scientific  language.    The  faults  of 
the  book  are  mainly  those  of  hasty  prepa- 
ration, both  in   the  collection  of  data  and 
the  arguments  based  upon  them.     We  are 
satisfied  that,  with  a  wider  range  of  facts 
and  greater  deliberation  in  handling  them, 
many  of  the  hasty  generalizations  which  we 
have  pointed  out  would  not  have  occurred. 
The  book  shows  hard  and  honest  work,  and 
demonstrates    the    great    capacity   of    Dr. 
Putnam-Jacobi  for  scientific  investigation. 

Fifteen-Cent  Dinners  for  Working-men's 
Families.     By  Juliet  Corson.     Pp.  40. 

This  little  tract  is  designed  to  show  the 
working-man's  wife  how  she  may  provide 


for  her  household  a  sufficiency  of  good, 
wholesome  food  at  a  cost  easily  within  the 
means  of  the  poorly-paid  day-laborer.  An 
edition  of  50,000  copies  has  been  published 
by  the  author  for  gratuitous  distribution, 
and  it  would  be  an  act  of  humanity  to  aid 
in  circulating  the  book  among  the  class  who 
have  need  of  the  information  it  contains. 
The  poorer  class  of  people  are,  in  propor- 
tion to  their  means,  far  more  wasteful  than 
the  rich,  and  the  information  here  conveyed 
cannot  fail  to  be  highly  profitable  to  them. 

Report  on  the  Telegraphic  Determination 
of  Differences  of  Longitude  in   the 
West  Indies  and  Central  America.   By 
Lieutenant  -  Commander   F.    M.  Green, 
U.  S.  Navy.    Washington  :   Government 
Printing-Officc,  1877. 
Navigators,   geographers,   and   others, 
are  constantly  demanding  improved  values 
of  the  geographical  coordinates  of  places  on 
the  earth's  surface,  as  the  demands  of  their 
pursuits  become  more  and  more  exacting. 
When  the  longitude  of  a  slow-sailing  vessel 
was  obtained  by  observations  of  lunar  dis- 
tances a  large  uncertainty  in  the  resulting 
datum  was  inevitable,  and  was  expected  and 
allowed  for.     Modern  practice  in  steamers, 
where  every  additional  hour's  run  means  the 
expenditure  of  valuable  fuel,  etc.,  and  where 
an  uncertainty  as  to  the  ship's  position  is 
subsequently  paid  for  by  the  owner  in  the 
expenses  of  the  voyage,  demands  something 
more   than  the   approximate  longitudes  of 
prominent  seaports,  which  before  were  suf- 
ficient. 

This  want  has  been  long  felt,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  secondary  meridians  has  been 
attempted  in  many  places  and  by  various 
nations.  In  1866  a  committee  of  the  French 
Bureau  des  Longitudes  was  directed  to  pre- 
pare a  plan  for  fixing  a  certain  number  of 
fundamental  secondary  meridians,  separated 
by  convenient  distances,  all  round  the  world  ; 
and,  in  March,  1867,  their  report  having 
been  submitted  to  the  Minister  of  Marine, 
its  immediate  execution  was  directed.  A 
commission  of  eminent  French  naval  offi- 
cers was  organized  to  superintend  the  prep- 
aration for  this  work  and  its  performance, 
and  five  or  six  parties  of  skillful  observers 
were,  after  several  months  of  preliminary 
study  and  practice,  dispatched  with  their 
instruments  to  various  parts  of  the  world  to 
make  observations  of  moon-culmintahms  to 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


245 


determine  the  difference  of  longitude  be- 
tween their  respective  stations  and  the  me- 
ridian of  Paris.  At  that  time,  the  present 
wide  extension  of  submarine  cables  could 
not  be  foreseen.  This  commission  fixed 
several  points  in  the  West  Indies,  and  from 
these  longitudes  were  counted  by  French 
and  other  navigators.  Other  points  in  this 
region  were  established  by  other  nations ; 
and  frequent  discrepancies  arose,  for  which 
there  was  no  remedy,  except  an  entirely 
new  and  independent  determination  by  the 
accurate  method  of  telegraphic  longitudes. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  with  the  West 
Indies,  the  Hydrographer  of  the  IT.  S.  Navy 
determined  to  undertake  this  task,  and  ac- 
cordingly a  plan  for  its  completion  was  pre- 
pared and  the  execution  of  this  plan  was 
confided  to  Lieutenant-Commander  Green. 
This  plan  was  very  comprehensive,  and  in- 
cluded the  determination  of  the  latitude  of 
each  of  the  following  stations,  together  with 
its  longitude  from  the  U.  S.  Naval  observa- 
tory of  Washington,  which  was  already  tele- 
graphically connected  with  Greenwich. 

The  stations  selected  were :  1.  Key  West; 
2.  Havana  ;  3.  Santiago  de  Cuba  ;  4.  Kings- 
ton (Jamaica) ;  5.  Aspinwall ;  6.  Panama  ; 
7.  San  Juan  (Porto  Rico) ;  8.  St.  Thomas ; 
9.  St.  Croix;  10.  St.  Johns  (Antigua);  11. 
St.  Pierre  (Martinique) ;  12.  Bridgetown  (Bar- 
bados) ;  13.  Port  Spain  (Trinidad). 

Station  1  was  already  connected  with 
Washington  through  the  labors  of  the  Coast 
Survey.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  stations  2 
and  3  furnish  a  basis  for  an  accurate  sur- 
vey of  Cuba,  that  5  and  6  furnish  starting- 
points  for  the  whole  sea-coast  of  Mexico  and 
Central  America,  and  that  6,  in  connection 
with  the  longitude  of  Santiago  de  Chile  (al- 
ready determined  in  position  by  two  Amer- 
ican astronomers,  Gilliss  and  Gould),  will 
furnish  a  basis  for  the  survey  of  the  west 
coast  of  South  America.  The  north  coast 
of  South  America  is  fixed  by  the  stations 
5  and  13  (already  the  Hydrographic  Office 
has  published  the  results  of  chronometer 
expeditions,  between  these  points,  made  un- 
der its  direction  by  Commander  Ryan,  U. 
S.  N.,  in  1877).  On  station  8  many  longi- 
tudes, previously  determined,  depend  ;  and 
the  other  stations  amply  suffice  to  fix  the 
Windward  and  Virgin  Islands.  Thus  the 
comprehensive  plan  of  the  expedition,  to- 


gether with  that  of  the  expedition  sent  out 
by  the  Hydrographic  Office  in  1877,  under 
the  same  distinguished  officer,  will  practi- 
cally suffice  to  fix  nearly  the  whole  eastern 
and  northern  sea-coast  of  South  America, 
and  will  furnish  bases  for  the  establishment 
of  the  coast-line  of  Mexico  and  much  of  the 
West  coast  of  the  Southern  Continent.  The 
expedition  of  1877  contemplates  the  junc- 
tion of  station  13  with  Lisbon,  Madeira, 
Cape  Verd,  Para,  Rio,  Montevideo,  and 
Buenos  Ayres. 

The  work  necessary  to  the  final  fixing  of 
the  positions  of  these  thirteen  stations  was 
done  in  1874-70,  and  is  described  in  detail 
in  the  report  before  us. 

Full  descriptions  of  the  instruments  (with 
plates),  the  methods  of  observation  and  re- 
duction, etc.,  are  given  in  this  volume,  to 
which  we  refer  for  particulars  which  would 
be  out  of  place  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
the  results  are  of  the  same  grade  of  excel- 
lence as  those  attained  in  similar  work  of 
the  highest  class  all  over  the  world.  A 
special  point  of  excellence  is  the  absolute 
uniformity  of  programme  at  each  of  the  sta- 
tions in  each  of  the  expeditions,  and  this  con- 
tributed in  no  small  degree  to  the  excellence 
of  the  results.  This  expedition  reflects  great 
credit  upon  the  navy  and  upon  all  concerned 
in  its  planning  and  execution,  and  is  espe^ 
cially  noteworthy  as  being  the  first  expedi- 
tion of  the  kind  undertaken  by  naval  offi- 
cers of  any  country  in  foreign  ports.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  this  important  service  to 
navigation  and  geography  will  be  followed 
by  other  similar  work  hardly  less  needed. 


Influence  or  Civilization  on  Duration  oh 
Life.  By  Charlton  I.  Lewis.  A  Dis- 
course at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association, 
October,  1876.  Cambridge:  Riverside 
Press. 

The  doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the  fit- 
test is  now  widely  recognized  as  the  key  to 
all  progress  toward  the  perpetuation  and 
perfection  of  the  species,  at  least  so  far  as 
the  lower  orders  are  concerned,  and  up  to 
a  certain  point  in  the  development  of  hu- 
manity. 

But  with  the  foundation  of  societies  an 
opposite  doctrine  has  been  introduced.  In- 
stead of  the  pitiless  destruction  of  the  weak 
and  the  infirm,  which  marks  the  operations 


246 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


of  the  law  of  natural  selection,  they  are  fos- 
tered, cared  for,  and  allowed  to  propagate 
their  kind.  "  Society  preserves  for  the  pro- 
genitors of  the  future  alike  the  weak,  the 
strong,  the  diseased,  and  the  healthy.  If, 
then,  this  blind  law  of  natural  selection  is 
the  one  key  to  progress,  man  must  degen- 
erate." One  school  of  statistical  writers 
maintains  that  this  result  does  actually  ap- 
pear. 

But  Mr.  Lewis  shows  conclusively  that, 
while  "  civilization  does  largely  sacrifice 
one  principle  of  progress  —  the  law  of 
evolution  by  survivorship  —  it  introduces 
another  still  more  potent  principle" — 
longevity.  The  outcome  of  careful  breed- 
ing for  a  few  generations,  with  a  view  to 
improvement  in  this  direction,  would  pro- 
duce a  people  who  would  live  to  a  patri- 
archal age.  The  idea  of  such  stirpiculture 
as  this  is  repulsive  to  our  present  habits  of 
thought.  It  is  probable  that  the  idea  will 
never  be  realized,  but  there  is  a  tendency 
toward  something  of  that  kind. 

Mr.  Lewis  truly  says  that  the  subject 
leads  us  to  the  door  of  a  world  of  restless 
thought  and  speculation. 

The  paper  is  extremely  interesting  and 
suggestive. 

Elementary  Lessons  in  Physical  Geogra- 
phy By  Archibald  Geikie,  LL.  D., 
F.  R.  S.  London  and  New  York :  Mac- 
millan  &  Co.,   1877.     Pp.  375.     Price, 

$1.75. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  "  Science  Primer 
Series  "  was  that  of  Dr.  Geikie  on  "  Physical 
Geography,"  which  in  the  present  volume  is 
expanded  into  the  form  of  a  text-book  for 
rather  more  advanced  scholars. 

The  author  is  undoubted  authority  on 
this  subject,  and  may  be  fully  trusted,  and 
his  material  is  well  arranged  for  the  pur- 
poses of  teaching.  The  illustrations  are 
taken  close  at  hand,  and  not  only  show  the 
way  in  which  effects,  with  which  we  are 
familiar,  have  been  produced,  but  teach  the 
collateral  lesson  that  Nature's  processes  are 
uniform  ;  that  the  most  stupendous  results 
of  far-away  lands  or  past  time  have  been 
wrought  by  the  same  methods  that  are  in 
operation  here  and  now.  This  is  a  lesson 
that  scientific  men  were  slow  to  learn,  and 
it  has  not  hitherto  been  sufficiently  taughl 
in  our  text-books.     Jt  is  something  gained 


when  a  boy,  watching  the  little  streams  of  a 
summer  shower  making  their  way  through 
a  sand-bank,  knows  that  he  is  looking  on 
the  same  forces  at  work  that  make  and  waste 
a  continent. 

The  book  is  freely  illustrated  with  good 
woodcuts,  and  with  maps  showing  the  dis- 
tribution of  atmospheric  pressure,  tempera- 
ture, volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  ocean-cur- 
rents, etc. 

Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of 
Colorado  and  Adjacent  Territory 
(1875).  Pp.  834.  Washington  :  Gov- 
ernment Printing-Office. 

It  would  be  impossible,  within  the  nar- 
row compass  of  a  book-notice,  to  summa- 
rize the  contents  of  this  valuable  report ; 
indeed,  the  space  at  our  disposal  would  be 
insufficient  even  to  give  a  simple  list  of  the 
many  wonderful  natural  curiosities  and  in- 
teresting ancient  ruins  here  for  the  first 
time  described  and  pictured.  Then,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  reports  of  the  geologists  and 
togpographers,  we  have  an  elaborate  mon- 
ograph on  the  American  bison,  by  J.  A. 
Allen  ;  and  a  voluminous  report  by  Dr.  A. 
S.  Packard,  Jr.,  on  the  Rocky  Mountain 
locust  and  other  insects  injurious  to  the 
field  and  garden  crops  of  the  Western  Ter- 
ritories. 

Fur-bearing  Animals.  By  Elliott  Coues. 
Pp.  36'2.  With  numerous  Figures  and 
Plates.  Washington  :  Government  Print- 
ing-Office. 

Dr.  Coues  has  for  some  time  been  en- 
gaged in  preparing  a  systematic  history  of 
the  North  American  mammals,  both  living 
and  extinct,  and  the  present  volume  is  of- 
fered as  a  specimen  of  the  method  of  treat- 
ment to  be  adopted  in  that  work.  The 
group  of  animal  forms  described  in  this 
monograph,  the  family  Mustelidce,  he  divides 
into  five  sub-families,  namely,  3Tmielinw 
(wolverene,  marten,  weasel),  BTepMtince 
(skunk),  Melince  (badger),  Lutrince  (otter), 
Enhydrince  (sea-otter).  The  material  on 
which  the  author  bases  his  systematic  clas- 
sification is  sufficiently  voluminous,  namely, 
the  collections  made  by  Hayden's  Survey, 
of  which  he  is  the  naturalist,  and  those  of 
the  National  Museum  at  Washington.  The 
purely  scientific  and  technical  aspects  of 
the  subject-matter  are,  of  course,  discussed 


P  OP  ULAR  MIS  CELL  ANY. 


247 


with  all  requisite  detail,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  work  will  be  prized  by  nat- 
uralists as  a  substantial  contribution  to 
zoological  science.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
the  interests  of  a  larger  circle,  viz.,  the 
educated  though  unscientific  public,  have 
not  been  overlooked.  Indeed,  what  may 
be  called  the  "  popular  "  aspects  of  the  sub- 
ject in  hand,  namely,  the  life-histories  of 
the  species,  and  their  economic  and  other 
practical  relations,  are  considered  at  length. 

Narrative  of  the  Expedition  of  toe  Po- 
laris. Edited  by  Rear-Admiral  C.  H. 
Davis.  Pp.  696.  Washington :  Gov- 
ernment Printing-Office'. 

The  story  of  the  gallant  Captain  Charles 
Francis  Hall  is  here  told  in  simple,  unaf- 
fected style  ;  indeed,  as  it  would  appear, 
for  the  most  part  in  the  very  words  of  Hall 
himself,  and  of  his  companions  in  danger 
and  misfortune.  The  volume  is  of  quarto 
size,  on  heavy  calendered  paper,  elegantly 
printed,  and  adorned  with  a  steel-plate  por- 
trait of  Captain  Hall,  a  vignette  of  the  Po- 
laris, some  forty  full-page  wood  engravings, 
numerous  smaller  engravings,  and  six  maps. 
It  is,  indeed,  a  fitting  monument  to  the  gen- 
ius and  intrepidity  of  Captain  Hall  and  the 
modest  heroism  of  his  officers  and  crew. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Natural  Law.  By  Edith  Simcox.  Boston  : 
Osgood.    Pp.  373 

Historv  of  the  Ottoman  Turks.  By  Sir  E.  S. 
Creasy.    New  York  :  Holt  &  Co.    Pp.  574.  $2.50. 

The  World's  Progress.  G.  P.  Putnam,  editor. 
New  York  :  Putnam's  Sous.    Pp.  1028.  $4.50. 

Preethinking  and  Plain  Sneaking.  By  Leslie 
Stephen.  New  York  :  Putnam's  Sons.  Pp.  362. 
$2.50. 

Oi'tlines  of  Modern  Chemistry.  By  C.  Gil- 
bert Wlieeler.  New  York:  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co. 
Pp.  231.     $1.75. 

nistorv  of  Materialism.  By  F.  A.  Lange. 
Boston  :  Osirood  &  Co.    Vol.  L,  pp.  350. 

Through  Rome  On.  Bv  Nathaniel  R.  Waters. 
New  York  :  C.  P.  Somerb'y.    Pp.  352.     $1.75. 

The  Relitrious  Feelinsr.  By  Newman  Smyth. 
New  York :  Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.  Pp.  171. 
$1.25. 

Our  Common  Insects.  Bv  A.  S.  Packard,  Jr. 
Boston  :  Estes  &  Lauriat.    Pp.225.    $150. 

Tables  for  the  Determination  of  Minerals.  By 
Persifo»  Frazer,  Jr.  Philadelphia:  Lippincott 
&  Co.    Pp.  119.     $2. 

Smithsonian  Report  for  1876.  Washington: 
Government  Printing-Office.    Pp.  488. 

Village  Improvements  and  Farm  Villages. 
By  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.  Boston:  Osgood  & 
Co.    Pp.  200.    75  cents. 

Steam-Engineering.  Bv  J.  W.  Nvstrom.  New 
York:  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  185.    $2.50. 


Browne's  Phonographic  Monthly.  New  York : 
D.  L.  Scott-Browne.    Vol.  I.,  pp.  144.     $2  a  year. 

Chemistry:  Theorelical,  Practical,  and  An- 
alytical. Parts  21-25.  Philadelphia  :  Lippincott 
&  Co.    50  cents  each. 

Metallurgical  Review.  New  York :  D.  Wil- 
liams.   Vol.  I.,  No.  2,  pp.  96.     $5  a  year. 

Report  of  Steamboat  Inspection  in  Canada. 
Ottawa  :  Maclean,  Rogers  &  Co.  print.    Pp.  346. 

Anales  del  Museo  Nacional  de  Mexico,  torn. 
I.,  entresra  K  Mexico:  Carlos  Ramiro  print. 
Pp.  46.    'With  Plate. 

Catalogue  of  the  Missouri  State  University. 
Jefi'ersou  City:  Regan  &  Carter  print.    Pp.  160. 

Preservation  of  Wood  as  adapted  to  Ship- 
building. By  C.  E.  Munroe.  Claremont,  N.  H. : 
Manufacturing  Co.  priut.    Pp.  16. 

Immediate  Fulfillment  of  Prophecy.  By  Cap- 
taiu  J.  E.  Cole.  New  York  :  O'Keete  print.  Pp. 
53. 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Philological  As- 
Bociation.  Hartford:  Case,  Lockwood  <&  Brain- 
ard  Co.  print.    Pp.  52. 

Latimer  Collection  of  Antiquities.  By  O.  T. 
Mason.    From  "Smithsonian  Report  for  1876." 

Immortality  of  the  Soul.  By  C.  Skeltou, 
M.D.  Trenton,  N.  J. :  Nuar,  Da v  &  Naar  print. 
Pp.  27. 

Overturning  the  World.  By  Dr.  G.  M.  Ram- 
sey.   New  York:  P.  F.  McBreen  print.    Pp.27. 

Iodates  of  Cobalt  and  Nickel.  By  F.  W. 
Clarke.  From  American  Journal  of  Science. 
Pp.7. 

Calendar  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 
Minneapolis  :  The  University.    Pp.  104. 

International  Conference  on  Education. 
Washington  :  Government  Priuting-Office.  Pp. 
92. 

The  Membrana  T  vmpani  as  a  Phonautograph. 
New  York:  W.  Wood  &  Co.  With  Heliotvpe. 
Pp.6. 

Meteorological  Researches  for  the  Use  of 
Coast  Pilots."  Part  I.  With  Charts.  Washing- 
ton :  Government  Printing-Office.     Pp.  49. 

Should  Comparative  Anatomy  be  included  in 
a  Medical  Course?  By  Dr.  B.  G.  Wilder.  New 
York:  Appletons.    Pp.35. 

Four  Great  Eras  in  Modern  Astronomy.  By 
Jacob  Ennis.  Cambridge  :  Wilson  &  Son  print. 
Pp.  21. 

The  Force  that  put  all  the  Heavens  in  Mo- 
tion.   By  Jacob  Ennis.    Pp.  23. 

Standard  Public  Time.  By  Jacob  Ennis. 
Cambridge:  Printed  for  the  Observatory.  Pp. 
12. 

Official  Circular  No.  8  of  Johns  Hopkins 
University.    Pp.  12. 

Cable-making  and  Suspension  Bridges.  By 
W.  Ilildenbrand.  New  York:  Van  Nostrand. 
Pp.  121.    50  cents. 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

The  Tuited  states  Pharmacopoeia,  as  is 

well  known,  has  been  issued  in  revised 
editions  every  ten  years,  since  its  first  ap- 
pearance in  1830.  These  revisions  have 
been  made  under  the  authority  and  direc- 
tion of  "the  National  Convention  for  re- 
vising the  Pharmacopoeia,"  consisting  of 
delegates  from  medical  and  pharmaceutical 
colleges  ;    the    real    work,   however,    has 


248 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 


mainly  rested  in  the  hands  of  a  few  per- 
sons, who  have  at  the  same  time  published 
the  very  remunerative  "Dispensatory  of 
the  United  States."  The  fifth  edition  of 
the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  issued 
three  years  after  the  convention  met  in 
1873,  did  not,  however,  meet  with  the  for- 
mer approval,  and  was  left  without  its  cus- 
tomary commentary,  inasmuch  as  the  au- 
thors of  the  Dispensatory  failed  to  prepare 
in  time  a  new  edition  supplementing  the 
n&y{  Pharmacopoeia.  Suggestions  for  an  ear- 
lier revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  than  in 
1880  have  since  been  advanced;  and  a 
new  departure  advocated  in  the  method 
and  scope  of  the  revision.  Dr.  Edward 
R.  Squibb,  of  Brooklyn,  submitted  to  the 
American  Medical  Association  an  elaborate 
plan  for  a  new  and  completer  work,  to  be 
prepared  by  experts,  under  the  control  of 
that  Association.  This  plan,  however, 
was  abruptly  rejected  by  the  American 
Medical  Association  at  its  recent  meeting 
in  Chicago,  mainly  on  the  ground  that  the 
work  of  pharmacopceial  revision  is  not  ap- 
propriate to  that  body.  The  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  too,  of  which 
Dr.  Squibb  is  also  a  member,  and  to  which 
his  plan  had  been  presented,  objected  to  it 
on  account  of  the  unequal  share  accorded 
to  pharmacy  in  the  management  of  the 
work. 

The  plan  to  obtain  a  better  Pharmaco- 
poeia at  an  earlier  date,  and  under  new 
management,  would  practically  have  failed 
for  the  present,  if  it  were  not  for  the  judi- 
cious and  prompt  action  and  energy  of  Dr. 
Frederick  Hoffmann,  of  New  York,  who  car- 
ried the  subject,  when  dropped  by  Dr.  Squibb, 
into  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion at  its  recent  annual  meeting  at  Toronto. 
He  offered  the  resolution,  that  the  Amer- 
ican Pharmaceutical  Association  elect  a 
Committee  to  prepare  a  complete  Phar- 
macopoeia which  may  be  submitted  to  the 
criticism  of  the  medical  and  pharmaceu- 
tical professions,  and  may  be  proposed  to 
the  above-mentioned  National  Convention 
forrevising  the  Pharmacopoeia.  This  resolu- 
tion passed  unanimously;  and  the  result 
was,  that  a  committee  was  appointed  for 
this  purpose,  which  has  agreed  upon  a  plan 
of  its  work  and  has  selected  the  experts  to 
accomplish  it.     Dr.  Hoffmann,  of  New  York, 


has  taken  charge  of  the  chemical  part  of 
the  new  Pharmacopoeia,  Prof.  Maisch,  of 
Philadelphia,  of  the  department  of  phar- 
macognosy ;  and  Mr.  Rice,  of  New  York, 
represents  pharmacy.  This  committee  has 
promptly  entered  upon  its  labors,  and 
expects  to  submit  the  results  to  the  Amer- 
ican Pharmaceutical  Association  in  the  fall 
of  18*79.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
Association  will  then  present  the  work  of 
its  expert-committee  to  the  National  Con- 
vention, supposed  to  meet  in  18S0;  and 
whether  the  latter  will  accept  this  gratuitous 
offer:  or  else,  whether  the  American  Phar- 
maceutical Association,  encouraged  by  the 
character  and  value  of  the  work,  and  by  the 
sentiments  of  its  members  and  the  profes- 
sion at  large,  will  choose  independently  to 
publish  its  Pharmacopoeia.  By  such  action 
it  would  realize  a  desideratum  which  Dr. 
Squibb  vainly  aimed  to  accomplish,  and 
would  relieve  the  profession  from  the  old 
National  Convention  for  revision  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  and  this  itself  from  any 
further  labors,  by  presenting  in  time  a  new 
and  adequate  standard  which  by  its  in- 
trinsic merits  might  at  once  command  the 
approval  and  acceptance  of  the  professions. 

Salicylic  Acid  as  a  Remedy  for  Rlicnma- 
tisuii — The  value  of  salicylic  acid  as  a 
medicine  in  the  treatment  of  rheumatism 
has  been  under  discussion  for  some  time, 
the  weight  of  authority  plainly  inclining 
toward  an  affirmative  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem. As  a  specimen  of  the  favorable  re- 
sults obtained  by  the  use  of  the  drug,  we 
quote  the  observations  of  Dr.  L.  P.  Yandell, 
Jr.,  as  stated  in  his  "  Report  on  Materia 
Medica"  to  the  Kentucky  State  Medical 
Society.  Dr.  YandelFs  report  treats  of  a 
number  of  recently-introduced  drugs;  it  is 
published  in  the  Louisville  Medical  News. 
His  experience  with  salicylic  acid  may  be 
briefly  stated  as  follows:  First,  in  the  City 
Hospital  of  Louisville,  nine  cases  of  acute 
articular  rheumatism  were  treated  with  this 
drug,  and  a  "  perfect  cure "  effected ;  in 
every  instance  the  disease  was  arrested 
within  three  days,  and  in  several  cases 
relief  was  obtained  in  from  eight  to  twelve 
hours.  The  drug  did  not  appear  to  have 
any  antipyretic  effect.  The  patients  took 
the  acid  in  ten  and  twenty  grain  doses,  in 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


49 


capsules,  at  varying  intervals.  In  the  same 
hospital  three  cases  of  chronic  rheumatism 
were  treated  with  salicylic  acid  without  any 
good  results.  In  his  private  practice  Dr. 
Yaudell  has  used  this  drug  in  five  pro- 
nounced cases  of  acute  rheumatism  with  en- 
tire success;  and  in  another  case  this  drug, 
combined  with  quinine,  broke  up  the  dis- 
ease. The  author  writes  that  salicylic  acid 
is  best  given  in  milk  ;  it  gives  the  milk  a 
•sweetish-sourish  taste ;  a  little  tickling  and 
sense  of  slight  constriction  may  be  felt 
about  the  throat,  and  an  insignificant  cough 
is  not  uncommon.  He  adds :  "  Salicylic  acid 
is  the  first  and  only  remedy  that  has  proved 
itself  at  all  reliable  in  the  control  of  acute 
rheumatism  in  my  hands.  Salicylate  of 
soda  has  shown  no  superiority  over  salicylic 
acid." 


Notes  on  Fish-culture.— The  one  great 
difficulty  met  with  in  hatching  the  striped 


ba 


SS     IS, 


according 


to  an  intelligent  cor- 
respondent of  Forest  and  Stream,  the  fact 
that  spawners  of  this  species  are  very  rarely 
found.  About  four  years  ago,  we  are  in- 
formed, a  few  ripe  "  rock-fish  "  (striped  bass) 
were  found  in  the  Roanoke  River,  North 
Carolina,  and  about  100,000  young  fish  were 
hatched  from  their  spawn.  One  reason 
assigned  for  the  diminution  of  this  fish  is 
the  fact  that  they  are  marketed  before  they 
reach  maturity.  Prof.  Baird  favors  the 
enactment  of  a  law  prohibitng  the  marketing 
of  these  fish  when  less  than  twelve  inches 
long.  Striped  bass  frequently  attain  a  weight 
of  sixty  and  eighty  pounds  ;  and  it  has  been 
held  that  they  do  not  spawn  until  they 
attain  a  weight  of  about  twenty  pounds. 
The  same  correspondent  cites,  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  success  of  salmon-propagation, 
the  recent  capture  of  a  nine-pound  salmon 
in  the  Delaware.  The  fish  was  a  California 
salmon — a  variety  with  which  the  Delaware, 
Potomac,  Susquehanna,  and  other  rivers, 
were  supplied  a  few  years  ago.  It  is  sup- 
posed they  return  in  five  or  six  years, 
though  difference  in  the  temperature  of 
the  water,  currents,  and  other  conditions, 
may  accelerate  or  retard  the  return.  Over 
400,000  eggs  of  California  salmon  were 
shipped  last  fall  to  New  Zealand,  where 
they  nearly  all  arrived  in  excellent  condi- 
tion. 


Florida  Lizards. — During  a  sojourn  in 
Waldo,  Florida,  Mr.  Henry  Gillman  has 
studied  the  characters  and  habits  of  a  great 
variety  of  lizards,  and,  in  a  brief  commu- 
nication to  the  American  Naturalist,  states 
some  of  the  results  of  his  observations. 
One  point  which  he  has  been  enabled  to 
determine  is  the  possession  by  the  lizards 
of  Florida  of  the  power  of  "  chameleoniza- 
tion,"  or  of  changing  color.  The  author 
states  positively  that  the  lizards  of  Florida 
possess  this  power  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
Thus,  he  has  seen  a  small,  yellowish-brown 
lizard,  on  quitting  the  ground,  instantly  as- 
sume the  dull  gray-hue  of  a  weather-beaten 
fence-rail,  along  which  it  glided.  Passing 
under  some  olive-tinted  foliage,  it  next 
adopted  that  color,  which  was  succeeded 
by  a  bright  green,  as  the  animal  reached 
and  rested  under  the  grass  and  leaves  of 
like  shade.  The  original  yellowish-brown 
color  was  again  assumed  on  the  lizard  re- 
turning to  the  ground.  Each  of  these 
changes  was  almost  instantaneous,  and  the 
entire  series  could  not  have  occupied  much 
more  than  one-quarter  of  a  minute  of  time. 

International  Scientific  Service. — Of  Prof. 
Grote's  paper,  mentioned  in  our  October 
number,  on  an  International  Scientific  Con- 
gress, and  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association,  we  find  a  very  good  abstract 
in  the  Polytechnic  Review,  from  which  jour- 
nal we  quote  the  essential  points  of  the 
paper.  The  author  referred  to  the  excel- 
lent work  done  by  national  scientific  asso- 
ciations, such  as  the  British  Association  and 
the  American  Association,  but  said  that 
there  is  urgent  need  of  a  still  broader  or- 
ganization— of  an  international  congress  of 
scientific  men.  Foremost  among  the  prob- 
lems which  Science  is  striving  to  solve  is 
that  of  the  origin  of  our  species.  The  elu- 
cidation of  this  question  concerns  the  whole 
race,  and  no  merely  national  organization 
possesses  the  means  of  exploring  the  whole 
field.  Then,  the  various  scientific  explora- 
tions in  Africa,  Australia,  and  the  polar 
regions,  need  cooperative  assistance  to 
realize  the  best  results  from  the  outlays, 
while  the  new  knowledge  they  bring  is  the 
common  inheritance  of  all  enlightened  na- 
tions. Now,  where  all  participate  all  should 
contribute.     Prof.  Grote's  plan  of  an  inter- 


2  SO 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


national  scientific  service  contemplates  the 
appointment  of  commissioners  by  the  civil 
governments  of  the  world.  The  delibera- 
tions of  this  body  "  would  be  the  wisdom  of 
the  age  ;  its  recommendations  would  be  re- 
spected by  the  legislative  powers  of  the 
consenting  and  represented  nations.  Under 
its  auspices  all  extra-limital  astronomical, 
geological,  and  biological  expenditures  would 
be  fitted  out,  and  directed  to  those  places 
which  would  be  most  fruitful  for  any  par- 
ticular purpose.  The  difference  in  the  men- 
tal faculties  between  different  nations  would 
prevent  the  loss  in  such  a  body  of  any  pos- 
sible suggestion  which  the  human  mind 
could  offer." 

At  the  same  meeting  a  paper  was  read 
by  Profs.  Grote  and  Pitt  on  new  fossils  in 
the  collection  of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Nat- 
ural Sciences,  from  the  water-line  group. 
The  free  ramus  of  the  chelate  appendage  of 
Pterygotus  Cummingsi  (G.  and  P.)  was  de- 
scribed by  the  aid  of  drawings.  The  crab- 
like animal  was  over  five  feet  in  length,  and 
lived  in  the  shallow  waters  of  the  Silurian 
sea  where  Buffalo  now  stands.  Its  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  sedimentary  lime-beds 
which  are  now  being  worked  for  manufact- 
uring purposes. 

Prof.    Loomis    on    Rain -Areas. — The 

American  Journal  of  Science  for  July  con- 
tains the  seventh  paper  of  a  series  by  Prof. 
Loomis,  in  which  he  investigates  the  phe- 
nomena of  storms,  their  origin,  develop- 
ment, and  movements.  It  was  shown  in  a 
previous  paper  that  the  form  of  a  rain-area, 
that  is,  of  a  storm  moving  over  the  country, 
is  usually  elliptical :  this  elongated  form  is 
more  obvious  in  storms  which  move  along 
the  coast  than  in  those  which  move  farther 
inland.  The  area  of  low  barometer  in  a 
storm  is  not  at  the  centre  of  greatest  rainfall. 
Sometimes  the  rain  centre  is  northward,  or 
southward,  or  eastward,  or  westward,  of  the 
area  of  low  barometer.  North  of  latitude 
36°  the  distance  of  the  area  of  greatest 
rainfall  from  the  centre  of  low  pressure  is 
in  a  majority  of  cases  less  than  250  miles, 
but  in  some  instances  three  times  that  dis- 
tance, the  average  being  300  miles.  When 
extensive  rainfalls  occur  there  is  a  marked 
tendency  to  the  formation  of  several  cen- 
tres of  precipitation,  and  heavy  rains  may 


occur  at  various  localities  in  a  storm-area. 
This  fact  suggests  that  during  the  progress 
of  a  storm  there  occur  local  causes  of  great 
precipitation. 

The  tables  show  that  heavy  rainfalls 
are  not  of  long  duration  over  extended 
areas,  and  the  conclusion  from  this  fact  is, 
that  the  causes  which  produce  rain  do  not 
increase  in  force  from  the  rainfall,  but  di- 
minish and  become  exhausted.  This  re- 
sult cannot  be  attributed  to  a  want  of  sup- 
ply of  vapor,  as  the  inflowing  winds  contin- 
ually carry  vapor  into  the  storm-area,  and 
this  is  especially  true  in  the  case  of  storms 
moving  along  the  Atlantic  border.  What 
seems  to  be  implied  is,  that  an  exhaustion 
occurs  of  the  forces  which  impart  that  move- 
ment to  the  air  requisite  to  precipitation. 

The  centre  of  great  rain-areas  occurs 
along  the  Atlantic  border  four  times  more 
frequently  than  inland,  nor  is  this  general 
fact  changed  in  the  region  of  the  Great 
Lakes.  Very  extensive  rainfalls  are  most 
frequent  in  autumn  and  winter,  and  occur 
most  frequently  in  mornings  and  afternoons, 
and  are  least  frequent  during  evenings,  the 
difference  in  this  respect  being  very  marked. 
It  is  observed,  too,  that  the  "  heaviest  rain- 
falls are  seldom  accompanied  by  very  high 
winds." 

"There  seems,"  says  Prof.  Loomis,  "no 
room  to  doubt  that  areas  of  low  barometer 
occur  during  periods  of  twenty-four  hours 
with  little  or  no  rain,  and  travel  nearly 
eastward  with  an  average  velocity  of  about 
twenty  miles  an  hour."  From  this  fact  it 
is  concluded  that  rainfall  is  not  essential 
to  the  formation  of  areas  of  low  barometer, 
and  is  not  the  principal  cause  of  their  for- 
mation nor  of  their  progressive  motion. 
The  barometer  is  frequently  low  during  the 
hazy  weather  of  October,  when  the  Indian 
summer  prevails,  a  period  usually  of  little 
rainfall. 

Taste-Perceptions. — An  interesting  in- 
quiry has  been  made  by  Vintschgau  and 
Hoingschmied  to  determine  how  much  time 
is  requisite  to  perceive  different  taste-sen- 
sations. We  have  already,  in  No.  39  of 
the  Monthly,  given  the  results  obtained 
by  these  investigators  in  their  earlier  re- 
searches ;  but  since  then  they  have  studied 
the    subject    more    thoroughly,    attacking 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY 


51 


more   complex  problems,  as  will  be   seen 
from  the  following  account  of  their  labors, 
which  we  take  from  the  English  Mechanic. 
In  these  experiments  by  pressure  of  a  brush 
saturated  with  a  concentrated  solution  of 
a  savory  substance  on  the  tongue,  an  elec- 
tric  circuit   was    closed,   which   was   only 
opened  by  the  person  when  he  made  a  sig- 
nal "on  first  perceiving  the  taste.     The  time 
during  which  the  current  flowed  was  marked 
by  a  rotating  cylinder,  and  represented  the 
''reaction-time"  of  a  given  taste.     First, 
the  "  reaction-time "  of  four  different  sub- 
stances was  ascertained.     This  experiment 
was  then  so  modified  that  not  merely  the 
sensation  of  taste  had  to  be  answered  to, 
but  the  tongue  of  the  person  was  touched 
now  with  water,  now  with  a  savory  solution, 
without  his  knowing  beforehand  which  was 
to  be  applied  ;  he  had  to  decide  which  had 
touched  his  tongue,  and   gave   the   signal 
only  when  it  was  the  savory  matter.     In  a 
final  series  of  experiments  there  were  always 
two  savory  substances  used :  when  the  per- 
son perceived  the  one,  he  gave  the  signal 
with   one   hand;    when   he   perceived   the 
other,  with  the  other  hand.     Here  the  per- 
son had  not  only  to  perceive  the  sensation, 
but  to  distinguish  the  one  taste  from  the 
other,  and  then  to  make  the  right  choice  of 
the  hand  to  give  the  signal.     The  results 
are  stated  in  the  table   below,  where  the 
first  vertical  series  gives  the  names  of  the 
savory  substances  ;  the  second,  the  time  in 
seconds  between  the  application  of  the  sub- 
stance and  giving  of  the  signal ;  the  third, 
the  reaction-time  when  the  savory  substance 
was  applied  interchangeably  with  water,  and 
must  be  distinguished  from  this  ;  the  fourth, 
fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh,  the  reaction-time  in 
comparison  with  common  salt,  acid,  sugar, 
and  quinine,  respectively : 


SUB- 
STANCES 


Simplt 
Sensa- 
tion. 


COMPAKISON   WITH 


Water. 


ComnVn 

salt...  0.1  oils  0.2700 
Acid....  0. 1070  0.3315 


Salt. 


0.3749 


Acid. 


0.3338 


Sugar. 


Quinine 


0.3378  0.4S04 
0.40S1|0. 401)0 

Si'v'-ir' ' '  611639  6'.3840  0.3GS8  0.4373 0.4224 

Quinine'  0.2196  0.4129  0.4888  0.5095, 0.4210| 


"  If  we  take  as  a  basis,"  say  the  authors, 
"  the  reaction-times  when  the  tongue  was 
touched  with  a  savory  substance  alone,  and 
compare  therewith  the  reaction-times  which 
were  obtained  in  the  experiments  whether 


with  water,  or  with  another  savory  sub- 
stance, we  find  that  the  following  law  gen- 
erally holds :  If  we  experiment  with  distilled 
water  and  a  savory  substance,  or  inter- 
changeably with  two  savory  substances  on 
the  tongue-tip,  then  the  time  of  recognition 
of  the  one  (in  experiments  with  water),  or 
of  the  two  (in  experiments  with  savory  sub- 
stances), is  longer,  the  longer  the  reaction- 
time  of  one  of  the  savory  substances  on  sim- 
ple application."  The  converse  of  this  law, 
however  (which  is  only  in  general  valid), 
does  not  hold  good. 


An  Underground  Pnenmatie  (lock-Reg- 
ulator.— The  inhabitants  of  modern   cities 
who  are  accustomed  to  receive  their  sup- 
ply of  water  and  illuminating  gas  through 
pipes  laid  under  the  streets,  and  who  are 
prepared   to  welcome  the    introduction    of 
a   system   of    steam -heating   on    a    large 
scale,  will  next   "get   the   time  of  day" 
from  underground   pipes.     A  plan  of  reg- 
ulating   clocks    by  means    of    compressed 
air  has  been  devised  by  an  Austrian   en- 
gineer  named   Mayrhofer.       Its    principle 
will  be  understood  from  the  following  de- 
scription, which  we  take  from  the  Boston 
Journal  of  Chemistry :   In  the  first  place, 
tubes  are  laid  to  convey  compressed  air  from 
a  central  station,  in  which  is  the  "  master- 
clock."     A  simple   contrivance,  connected 
with  the  tubes  and  the  clock,  lets  off  a  puff 
of  air  every  minute  or  half-minute,  and  the 
fingers  of  all  the  clocks  in  the  system  are  in 
that  manner  pushed  forward  with  unerring 
accuracy,  in  accordance  with  the  time  indi- 
cated by  the   standard   timepieces  in   the 
observatory,  so  that  exact  uniformity  can 
be  maintained  without  difficulty  in  the  time 
shown  on  any  number  of  dials.    The  weather 
has  no  effect  on  the  air,  so  far  as  the  work- 
ing of  the  pneumatic  clocks  is  concerned, 
and,  be  it  hot  or  be  it  cold,  the  little  valve 
lets  off  its  puff  of  air,  and  the  clocks  go 
accurately,  in  defiance  of  atmospherical  in- 
fluences.    A  small  yearly  charge  is  made 
for  the  clocks,  and  there  is  no  further  ex- 
pense or  trouble.     The  system  has  been  in 
operation  in  Vienna  for  nearly  four  months, 
and  has  worked  without  a  solitary  hitch,  so 
that  the  people  are  beginning  to  realize  the 
idea  that  time  can  be  "  laid  on "  in  then- 
houses  as  readily  as  either  water  or  gas. 


252 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Local   Temperatures    of  the    Blood.— 

From  researches  made  by  Claude  Bernard, 
it  appears  that  while  the  temperature  of 
the  blood  in  the  aorta  and  its  more  impor- 
tant branches  is  uniform,  that  of  the  venous 
blood  varies  considerably  in  different  re- 
gions of  the  inferior  vena  cava  and  its  prin- 
cipal tributaries.  At  the  junction  of  the  ex- 
tremities and  the  neck  with  the  trunk  of 
the  body,  the  venous  blood  is  colder  than 
that  iu  the  great  arteries ;  in  the  right  heart 
it  is  considerably  hotter.  If  we  determine 
its  temperature  at  successive  points  in  the 
inferior  cava,  we  find  that  at  the  junction 
of  the  iliac  veins  this  is  lower  than  the  ar- 
terial temperature :  on  a  level  with  the  en- 
trance of  the  renal  veins,  the  two  are  about 
equal ;  on  a  level  with  the  hepatic  veins, 
the  temperature  of  the  venous  exceeds  that 
of  the  arterial  blood  by  nine-tenths  of  a 
degree.  It  retains  this  superiority  even 
after  it  has  become  mixed  in  the  right  heart 
with  the  colder  blood  returned  through  the 
superior  cava.  Accordingly,  though  the 
venous  blood  of  the  peripheral  parts  is 
colder  than  in  the  arteries,  it  acquires  suffi- 
cient heat  during  its  passage  through  the 
abdominal  cavity,  not  merely  to  equalize 
the  difference,  but  actually  to  give  it  a  per- 
manent advantage.  This  is  so,  not  because 
the  viscera  are  the  source  of  animal  heat, 
but  simply  because  they  are  by  their  situ- 
ation protected  from  the  effects  of  radiation 
and  evaporation.  Heat  is  generated  in  all 
the  tissues,  muscles,  nerves,  nerve-centres, 
and  glands.  The  rise  of  temperature,  which 
may  always  be  detected  in  a  muscle  when 
thrown  into  a  state  of  contraction,  is  in- 
variably preceded  by  a  slight  depression  ; 
and  precisely  the  same  phenomenon  is  ex- 
hibited by  a  gland  when  its  secretory  nerve 
is  stimulated. 

Electro-Plating.  —  We  take  from  Tan 
Nostrand's  Engineering  Magazine  the  fol- 
lowing statement  of  the  results  obtained  by 
Bertram!  in  experiments  in  electro-plating 
with  aluminium,  magnesium,  cadmium,  bis- 
muth, antimony,  and  palladium.  Alumin- 
ium was  deposited  on  decomposing,  with  a 
strong  battery  a  solution  of  the  double 
chloride  of  aluminium  and  ammonium;  a 
plate  of  copper  forming  the  negative  pole 
whitens   gradually,    and    becomes    covered 


with  a  layer  of  aluminium,  which  takes  a 
good  polish.  The  double  chloride  of  mag- 
nesium and  ammonium  in  an  aqueous  solu- 
tion is  readily  decomposed  by  the  battery, 
giving  in  a  few  minutes  strongly-adherent 
and  homogeneous  deposits  of  magnesium 
on  a  sheet  of  copper.  It  polishes  readily. 
The  battery  must  be  powerful.  Cadmium  is 
best  deposited  from  the  bromide  to  which 
a  little  sulphuric  acid  has  been  added ;  it 
is  then  very  coherent  and  very  white,  and 
takes  a  fine  polish.  The  sulphate,  if  acid- 
ulated, also  gives  an  immediate  deposit  of 
metallic  cadmium,  very  adhesive  and  capa- 
ble of  a  good  polish.  Bismuth  is  deposited 
from  a  solution  of  the  double  chloride  of 
bismuth  and  ammonium  on  copper  or  brass  . 
by  the  current  from  a  Bunsen  element ;  it 
is  very  adhesive,  and  might  be  used  in  dec- 
orating works  of  art.  Antimony  can  be 
deposited  from  a  solution  of  the  double 
chloride  of  antimony  and  ammonium  at 
common  temperatures.  Deposits  of  palla- 
dium are  obtained  with  ease  by  means  of 
the  double  chloride  of  palladium  and  am- 
monium, either  with  or  without  the  battery. 
The  solution  must  be  perfectly  neutral. 

New  Method  of  Artificial  Respiration. — 

Dr.  Benjamin  Howard,  late  of  the  Long  Isl- 
and Medical  College,  recently  gave  at  King's 
College  Hospital,  London,  a  demonstration 
of  liis  "direct  method"  of  producing  arti- 
ficial respiration.  For  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing his  description  of  the  method  perfectly 
plain,  Dr.  Howard  had  a  man  to  act  the  part 
of  a  person  rescued  from  the  water,  and 
apparently  dead  from  drowning.  The  first 
thing  done  was  to  rip  away  the  wet  clothing 
to  the  waist,  making  of  it  a  large,  firm  bol- 
ster. "Quickly  turning  the  face  down- 
ward," said  he,  as  he  proceeded  to  explain 
the  process,  "  the  bolster  beneath  the  epi- 
gastrium, making  that  the  highest  point, 
the  mouth  the  lowest ;  placing  both  hands 
on  his  back  immediately  above  the  bolster, 
my  whole  weight  is  thrown  forcibly  forward, 
compressing  the  stomach  and  lower  part  of 
the  chest  between  my  hands  and  the  bolster 
for  a  few  seconds,  two  or  three  times,  with 
very  short  intervals."  Thus  the  lungs  are 
relieved  of  water  and  the  stomach  emptied. 
Then  "  quickly  turn  the  patient  on  his  back, 
the  bolster  again  making  the  epigastrium 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 


253 


and  anterior  margins  of  the  costal  cartilages 
the  highest  point  of  the  body,  the  shoul- 
ders and  occiput  barely  resting  on  the 
ground.  Seize  the  patient's  wrists,  and, 
having  secured  the  utmost  possible  exten- 
sion of  them  behind  his  head,  hold  them  fast 
to  the  ground  with  your  left  hand.  With  a 
dry  pocket-handkerchief  between  the  right 
thumb  and  forefinger  withdraw  the  tongue, 
holding  it  at  the  extreme  right  corner  of  the 
mouth.  If  a  boy  be  at  hand,  both  wrists 
and  tongue  may  be  confided  to  his  care. 
In  this  position  two-thirds  of  the  entrance 
to  the  mouth  is  free  and  the  tongue  is  im- 
movably fixed  forward ;  the  epiglottis  is  pre- 
cluded from  pressure  and  partial  closure; 
the  head  is  dependent ;  the  free  margins  of 
the  costal  cartilages  are  prominent,  and 
there  is  a  high  degree  of  fixed  thoracic  ex- 
pansion. The  epigastrium  being  highest, 
the  movements  of  the  diaphragm  are  not 
embarrassed  by  the  abdominal  viscera. 

"To  produce  respiration,  you  kneel 
astride  the  patient's  hips,  rest  the  ball  of 
each  thumb  on  the  corresponding  costoxy- 
phoid  ligaments,  the  fingers  falling  into  the 
lower  intercostal  spaces;  now,  resting  your 
elbows  against  your  sides,  and  using  your 
knees  as  a  pivot,  throw  the  whole  weight  of 
your  body  slowly  and  steadily  forward  until 
your  mouth  nearly  touches  that  of  the  pa- 
tient, and  while  you  slowly  count  three ; 
then  suddenly  spring  back  to  your  first  po- 
sition on  your  knees,  remain  there  while  you 
might  slowly  count  two ;  then  repeat,  and 
so  on  about  eight  or  ten  times  a  minute." 
The  acting  patient  at  the  very  first  steps  of 
the  process  gasped  involuntarily,  and  as  it 
was  continued  he  came  more  and  more  un- 
der the  control  of  the  operator.  After  the 
operation  had  ceased,  there  were  visible 
successive  waves  of  involuntary  respiration 
which  the  "patient"  could  not  control. 

Frank  Bnekland  on  the  Berlin  Gorilla. — 

Mr.  Frank  Bucklaud  has  made  a  visit  to 
"  Pongo,"  the  young  gorilla  at  the  West- 
minster Aquarium,  and  observed  with  much 
pleasure  the  many  great  differences  between 
monkey  and  man.  First  he  notes  the  hands 
of  the  gorilla :  the  thumb,  he  observes,  is 
exceedingly  short,  and  "  cannot  be  used 
with  anything  like  the  facility  as  in  the  hu- 
man subject."      Then,  in  the  gorilla,  the 


spaces  from  the  knuckles  to  the  first  joint 
of  the  finger  are  united  by  a  membrane, 
and  become  practically  a  continuation  of 
the  palm.  The  gorilla,  too,  uses  its  hand 
much  more  as  a  foot  than  as  a  hand.  "  The 
thumb  of  the  foot,"  he  adds,  "has  great 
powers  of  prehension ;  indeed,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  thumb  proper  is  carried  on  the 
foot.  The  gorilla  has  no  calf  to  the  leg, 
and  no  biceps  in  the  forearm  :  he  cannot 
stand  upright  without  supporting  himself  by 
means  of  some  object.  The  back  of  the 
gorilla  is  almost  square,  something  after  the 
form  of  the  flat  saddle  used  in  equestrian 
feats  in  circuses.  The  cause  of  this  is,  that 
the  ribs  come  close  down  on  the  top  of  the 
hip-bone."  So  far  as  Mr.  Buckland  has 
been  able  to  learn,  the  gorilla  does  not  use 
a  stick  for  the  purpose  of  striking,  neither 
does  he  ever  strike  with  his  hands.  Two 
children,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  were  permitted 
to  play  with  Pongo,  and  as  Mr.  Buckland 
looked  on  he  "  could  not  help  seeing  what 
a  vast  line  the  Creator  had  drawn  between 
them."  Our  author  concludes  by  saying  that 
Pongo's  structure  and  manners  confirm  the 
idea  that  Darwin  is  wrong,  and  that  human 
beings  are  not  monkeys.  This  doctrine  of 
the  identity  of  man  and  monkey  gives  Mr. 
Buckland  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  from 
the  vehemence  with  which  he  combats  it 
one  is  led  to  suppose  that  it  must  be  preva- 
lent in  England.  It  is  a  little  strange,  how- 
ever, that  the  adepts  of  this  vile  heresy 
have  contrived  to  mask  their  teachings,  for 
we  have  not  seen  this  doctrine  upheld  in 
any  of  the  publications  of  the  day.  Mr. 
Buckland  asks:  "Why  not  rest  satisfied 
with  the  origin  of  our  race  thus  revealed  to 
us  by  the  great  Creator  himself? — '  So  God 
created  man  in  his  own  image,  and  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him  ;  male  and 
female  created  he  them.'  " 

Topographical   Surveys  and  Health. — 

Mr.  James  T.  Gardner  delivered,  at  the  Bos- 
ton meeting  of  the  Public  Health  Associa- 
tion, an  address  on  the  "  Relation  between 
Topographical  Surveys  and  the  Study  of 
Public  Health,"  which  abounds  in  sugges- 
tions of  the  highest  practical  importance. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  author's  mode  of 
enforcing  his  arguments,  we  may  take  his 
remarks  on  "  natural  drainage."    "  This,"  we 


*54 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


are  informed,  "  results  from  combined  ac- 
tion of  configuration,  character  of  soil,  con- 
stitution of  underlying  rock,  and  the  form 
of  its  surface.  These  four  elements  regu- 
late natural  drainage.  Each  must  present 
favorable  conditions,  or  deadly  waters  will 
accumulate  on  the  surface  or  in  hidden 
strata.  No  plan  of  artificial  drainage  can 
be  completely  successful  unless  based  on  a 
thorough  comprehension  of  the  natural  drain- 
age system  of  the  area  under  treatment.  The 
region  above  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson 
furnishes  excellent  illustration  of  these 
statements.  The  plateau  fronts  the  river 
eastward  with  a  bluff  300  feet  high,  and 
westward  slopes  gently  to  the  Hackensack 
Valley.  .  .  .  All  topographical  conditions  of 
unusual  health  seem  here  present,  and  yet 
malarial  diseases  abound.  The  reason  of 
this  will  probably  be  found  in  the  configu- 
ration of  the  rock.  The  dense  basalt  under- 
lying the  thin  soil  absorbs  almost  no  water. 
Its  surface,  originally  nearly  level,  was  worn 
by  glacial  action  into  low,  swelling  ridges 
and  shallow  rock-basins,  many  of  which, 
having  no  outlet,  hold  stagnant  water  as 
great  saucers  would.  If  the  rock  were 
either  fissured  or  porous  the  height  of  the 
plateau  would  insure  perfect  under-drain- 
age." 

With  the  Palisades  plateau  the  author 
now  contrasts  the  Ilelderberg  plateau,  also 
situated  near  the  Hudson  River.  Here,  "an 
escarpment  1,000  feet  high  bounds,  on  the 
eastern  side,  the  table-land,  composed  of  hor- 
izontal limestone  resting  on  shales.  From 
the  more  level  parts  water  does  not  pass  off 
by  surface-streams.  Low  undulations  di- 
vide these  areas  into  many  separate  basins, 
each  draining  toward  its  own  centre,  where 
a  funnel-shaped  opening  in  the  limestone 
receives  the  disappearing  flow,  whose  future 
course  is  subterranean.  These  basins  are 
from  a  few  aires  to  300  or  400  in  extent. 
When  one  covers  about  five  square  miles  a 
pond  is  formed  at  the  point  of  central  drain- 
age, Ending  outlet  through  fissures  of  the 
limestone  below.  The  plateau's  elevation 
insures  that  these  waters  sink  at  once  many 
hundred  feet,  or  escape  in  springs  along  the 
cliffs."  Mr.  Gardner  then  proceeds  to  show 
how— as  at  Sandusky,  Ohio — this  same  Ilel- 
derberg limestone  may,  under  different  to- 
pographical conditions,  become  one  of  the 
most  powerful  producers  of  disease. 


A    Formidable  Araehnidan. — Dr.  B.  F. 

Pope,  U.  S.  A.,  contributes  to  Forest  and 
Stream  some  valuable  "  Notes  on  the  Natu- 
ral History  of  Southwestern  Texas,"  from 
which  we  take  the  following  account  of  the 
"  vinagrone  "  (big  vinegar,  so  called  on  ac- 
count of  the  pungent  secretion  it  ejects),  an 
araehnidan  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Stockton.  In  general  appearance  it  resem- 
bles a  large  scorpion,  though  belonging  to 
a  different  family.  From  the  head  to  the 
commencement  of  the  tail  the  adult  vina- 
grone is  full  two  inches  long  ;  in  breadth  it 
measures  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 
The  thorax  and  head  are  amalgamated, 
while  the  thorax  and  abdomen  are  separated 
by  flexible  tissue.  The  legs  are  six  in  num- 
ber, all  attached  to  the  thorax.  The  trunk 
and  head  are  protected  by  a  single  dorsal 
plate ;  the  abdomen  has  sixteen  distinct 
dorsal  and  ventral  laminae,  which  overlap  ; 
they  would  form  continuous  rings,  were  it 
not  that  they  are  curiously  separated  later- 
ally by  elastic  tissue.  This  division  of  the 
abdominal  rings  affords  considerable  flexi- 
bility, and  gives  the  insect  the  appearance 
of  bearing  about  him  an  old-fashioned  bel- 
lows. From  the  terminal,  dorsal,  and  ven- 
tral plates  is  given  off  a  series  of  rings, 
which,  after  the  third  one,  are  fused  into  a 
stiff  spike  or  tail,  that  is  usually  three-fifths 
of  the  length  of  the  entire  body,  and  cov- 
ered with  short  bristles  like  the  legs.  This 
is  not  a  sting,  nor  does  it  seem  to  be  the 
duct  through  which  the  secretion  is  ejected. 
It  appears  to  be  used  principally  as  a  pos- 
terior feeler,  and  sometimes  as  an  aid  to 
locomotion. 

From  the  head  are  given  off  two  power- 
ful brachials,  each  having  four  articulations. 
They  resemble  the  arms  of  a  scorpion,  and 
terminate  in  sharply-curved  pincers.  The 
threatening  manner  in  which  they  are  opened 
and  stretched  out,  when  the  insect  is  enraged 
or  is  seeking  for  its  prey,  almost  makes  one 
shudder.  But  the  brachia  are  not  its  only 
means  of  offense.  Beneath  the  frontal  plate 
are  two  long,  incurvated  fangs.  Connected 
with  these  are  two  sacs,  that,  by  pressure,  ex- 
ude drops  of  greenish  liquid  over  the  fangs, 
and  in  them  undoubtedly  resides  the  true 
venom  of  the  insect. 

Of  the  bite  of  this  animal  the  author 
writes  :  "  We  have  no  good  proof  that  the 
bite  of  the  vinagrone  would  be  fatal  to  man, 


NOTES. 


:55 


except  perhaps  as  it  might  be  supplemented 
by  the  shock  of  an  excessive  terror ;  but 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  I  think  highly 
probable.  As  an  experiment,  I  confined 
two  of  thern  in  a  small  box  with  a  large 
bat.  The  next  morning  the  bat  was  dead, 
having  been  killed  by  them  during  the  night, 
when  it  is  supposed  to  be  most  agile  and 
wary.  I  placed  another  unsavory  specimen 
in  a  large  bottle,  in  company  with  a  large 
wasp  and  a  tarantula.  The  vinagrone  killed 
and  devoured  them  both  in  short  order." 

In  a  later  number  of  the  same  journal 
Dr.  H.  C.  Yarrow  writes  that  the  vinagrone 
is  quite  well  known  to  entomologists  under 
the  name  of  Thelyphonus  giganteus,  and 
that  it  is  common  in  New  Mexico  and  Ari- 
zona. 

The  Scandal  of  the  Seal-Fishery. — Unless 
the  governments  of  the  countries  which 
send  out  ships  to  the  seal-fishery  grounds 
speedily  put  some  restrictions  on  the  meth- 
od now  pursued,  there  will  before  long 
be  no  seals.  In  1868  Dr.  Robert  Brown 
expressed  his  belief  that,  "  supposing  the 
sealing  prosecuted  with  the  same  vigor  as 
at  present,  before  thirty  years  shall  have 
passed  away  the  seal-fishery,  as  a  source  of 
commerical  revenue,  will  have  come  to  a 
close."  The  Greenland  seal-fishery  is  al- 
ready "practically  used  up  "  and  the  sealers 
are  now  turning  their  attention  to  the  coast 
of  Newfoundland.  A  writer  in  Nature  cites 
the  London  Daily  News,  to  show  what 
slaughter  is  made  of  the  Newfoundland 
seals,  and  we  learn  that  in  one  season  four 
vessels  secured  89,000  seals.  To  this  add 
a  like  number  of  young  ones  left  to  die  of 
starvation,  and  twenty  per  cent,  as  many 
mortally  wounded  and  lost,  and  the  ag- 
gregate amounts  to  over  200,000  seals  !  The 
writer  in  Nature  suggests  this  subject  of 
the  destruction  of  the  seal  as  a  fitting  one 
to  occupy  the  minds  of  the  advocates  of 
the  anti-vivisection  laws,  and  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals. 

The    Building-Stones  of   St.   Lawrence 

Connty,  New  York.— From  a  statement  by 
Mr.  D.  Minthorn,  published  in  the  Engineer- 
ing and  Mining  Journal,  it  appears  that  in 
the  northern  portion  of  the  State  of  New 
York  may  be  found  in  abundance  all  the 
choicest  varieties  of  marbles,  granites,  and 


other  building-stones.  Besides  the  com- 
mon gray  gneiss,  he  enumerates  among  the 
building-stones  of  St.  Lawrence  County 
several  varieties,  such  as  syenitic  granite, 
many  New  England  granites,  a  deep-green 
granite  "mottled  like  the  pedestals  of 
Cheops."  Then  there  are  various  pink, 
green,  and  dark-red  porphyritic  granites ; 
and  finally  there  are  large  masses  of  very 
compact  gray  and  green  granite,  studded 
with  garnets  about  half  an  inch  apart.  The 
varieties  of  marbles  are  very  numerous, 
ranging  from  white  limestone  and  dolomite 
and  statuary  marble  to  straw-colored,  blue, 
drab,  brown,  black,  yellow,  and  red  vari- 
egated marbles  ;  verd-antique  also  is  rep- 
resented ;  indeed,  Mr.  Minthorn  is  prepared 
to  match  any  of  the  antique  marbles  with 
the  products  of  the  St.  Lawrence  County 
quarries.  Adjoining  the  statuary-marble 
quarry  is  a  deposit  consisting  partly  of  pa- 
godite  or  Chinese  figure-stone,  and  possess- 
ing sufficient  hardness  to  take  a  polish, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  does  not  "  chip 
out "  when  chiseled  in  sharp  lines. 


NOTES. 

We  have  received  from  Conrad  Meyer 
&  Sons,  of  Philadelphia,  a  correction  of  the 
statement  made  by  Mr.  S.  Austen  Pierce, 
in  our  October  number,  that  Jonas  Chicker- 
ing  in  183Y  "conceived  the  bold  idea  of 
constructing  a  [pianoforte]  frame  entirely 
of  iron."  The  Messrs.  Meyer  now  cite  the 
official  "  report "  of  the  jury  of  the  Franklin 
Institute  Exhibition  of  1883,  which  mentions 
"  an  iron-framed  square  piano  "  exhibited 
by  Conrad  Meyer.  Other  testimony  to  the 
same  effect  is  quoted  by  the  Messrs.  Meyer, 
who  appear  to  make  out  a  clear  case  of 
priority  of  invention.  Having  admitted  this 
correction,  we  can  afford  no  more  space  in 
the  columns  of  the  Monthly  for  the  piano- 
frame  controversy. 

We  have  received  from  Mr.  E.  Berliner, 
Washington,  a  circular,  with  drawings,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  certain  of  the  author's 
discoveries  and  inventions  in  electricity. 
These  are  a  contact  telephone,  an  electric- 
spark  telephone,  and  a  method  of  telephonic 
transfer. 

At  New  Cumberland,  West  Virginia,  a 
fountain  of  natural  gas  is  utilized  for  manu- 
facturing fire-brick.  This,  says  the  Ameri- 
can Manufacturer,  is  the  first  fire-brick  ever 
burned  without  wood  or  coal.  Fifty-five 
thousand   bricks   are  made   daily   in   nine 


256 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


kilns.  The  gas  furthermore  supplies  fuel 
for  three  engines,  ten  furnaces  in  the  dry- 
ing-house, and  several  dwellings — the  latter 
obtaining  in  this  way  both  light  and  heat. 
There  remains  withal  a  large  surplus  of 
gas,  which  is  unused,  except  from  the  top 
of  an  escape-pip-,  for  illuminating  the  coun- 
try around. 

The  Nation  is  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  office  of  Director  of  the  In- 
ternational Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures 
in  Paris  has  been  offered  to  Prof.  J.  E.  Hil- 
gard,  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey. 

Died,  at  Bonn,  on  September  13th,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-nine  years,  Jakob  Noggerath, 
for  about  fifty  years  Professor  of  Mineralo- 
gy in  the  university  of  that  town.  The  de- 
ceased was  a  most  assiduous  student  of 
mineralogy  and  geology,  and  his  contribu- 
tions to  scientific  literature  were  very  vo- 
luminous. 

Mr.  Henry  Xewtox,  geologist,  attached 
to  Jenney's  Black  Hills  Exploring  Expedi- 
tion, died  at  Deadwood  City,  August  5th,  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-two  years.  Mr.  New- 
ton was  a  graduate  of  the  Columbia  College 
School  of  Mines  ;  later,  Assistant  Professor 
of  Geology  in  the  same  institution  ;  then  he 
joined  the  Ohio  Survey  under  Prof.  New- 
berry ;  finally,  two  years  ago,  he  became 
geologist  of  Prof.  Jenney's  Expedition  to 
the  Black  Hills. 

Mr.  R.  A.  Proctor,  in  excusing  himself 
for  not  answering  all  the  letters  of  inquiry 
he  receives,  gives  the  following  account 
of  his  multifarious  occupations :  Seeing 
through  the  press  three  new  works  and  four 
new  editions,  preparing  two  pamphlets,  writ- 
ing one  translation  of  an  800-page  book, 
and  preparing  four  new  works  ;  writing  ar% 
tides  for  English  and  American  magazines  ; 
lecturing  occasionally ;  business  correspond- 
ence with  ten  publishers ;  personal  con- 
cerns ;  original  research. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Paris  Academy  of 
Sciences,  a  note  by  L.  Laliman  was  read,  in 
which  the  author  stated  that  he  had  dis- 
covered an  insect  which  preys  on  the  Phyl- 
loxera. This  insect,  or  rather  its  larva — 
for  M.  Laliman  had  not  seen  the  perfect 
insect — devours  phylloxeras  with  great  avid- 
ity, and  the  author  saw  as  many  as  ninety- 
five  disappearing  in  the  space  of  ten  min- 
ims. The  larva  was  found  in  the  interstices 
of  the  leaf-galls,  ami  sometimes  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  galls.  M.  Laliman  thinks  he 
has  seen  the  egg  of  this  insect;  it  occurs 
on  the  underside  of  the  leaf;  but  he  has 
not  seen  it  hatched.  A  member  of  the 
Academy,  M.  Balbiani,  remarked  that  the 
fact  observed  by  Laliman  is  not  altogether 
new.  The  larva  seen  by  him  belongs  to 
the  genus  Syrphus,  or  to  some  allied  genus. 
Th  ■  Larvae  of  Syrphus  all  prey  on  Aphides. 


An  expedition,  with  aims  similar  to  those 
of  the  "  Woodruff  Expedition,"  will  sail 
from  Havre,  France,  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1878.  This  expedition  will  be  absent  from 
France  for  eleven  months.  Of  this  time  it 
is  proposed  to  spend  about  six  months  aid 
a  half  in  excursions  inland  in  America, 
North  and  South,  the  Pacific  Archipelagos, 
Australia,  Japan,  China,  British  India,  etc. 
The  cost  of  passage  is  17,000  francs  per 
head. 

Mr.  Richard  S.  Floyd,  one  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  "  Lick  Trust,"  on  his  return  to 
California,  after  an  extended  tour  of  foreign 
travel,  during  which  he  collected  all  the 
information  he  could  with  regard  to  the 
construction  of  great  telescopes,  expressed 
his  belief  that  the  best  telescope  for  the 
Lick  Observatory  would  be  a  refractor  of 
the  largest  size.  The  cost  of  a  suitable  in- 
strument, with  object-glass  of  forty  inches, 
would  not,  he  thinks,  exceed  $150,000. 
But,  in  addition  to  the  great  refi  actor,  Mr. 
Floyd  would  have  in  the  observatory  a  re- 
flector about  four  feet  in  diameter,  with 
both  silvered  glass  and  speculum-uietal  mir- 
rors.    This  would  cost  about  $20,000. 

A  service  of  plate  was  recently  pre- 
sented in  London  to  Senor  Manuel  Garcia 
"  in  recognition  of  the  great  services  he  has 
rendered  alike  to  science  and  humanity  by 
his  important  discovery  of  the  laryngo- 
scope." 

Advices  from  Australia  announce  the 
total  and  sudden  disappearance  of  a  group 
of  guano-islands — the  Barker  Islands — situ- 
ate in  latitude  14°  south,  and  longitude  125° 
east,  just  off  the  northwest  coast  of  Austra- 
lia. In  April  last  Mr.  Fisher,  a  capitalist  of 
Tasmania,  who  had  obtained  from  the  gov- 
ernment the  right  of  working  the  guano-de- 
posits, visited  their  site  with  three  steam- 
ships, but  found  there  only  a  "  waste  of 
waters,"  and  had  to  return  empty.  The  Bar- 
ker Islands  are  not  mentioned  in  the  ,l  Im- 
perial Gazetteer,"  nor  are  they  indicated  in 
the  atlases. 

There  was  exported  from  China  to 
Europe,  in  the  year  1875,  the  enormous 
amount  of  about  sixty  tons  of  human  hair. 
This  hair  is  ostensibly  the  product  of  the 
sweeping  of  barber-shops,  but  there  is  little 
doubt  that  much  of  it  represents  "  pig-tails  " 
feloniously  snipped  from  their  wearers' 
heads. 

The  addition  of  cheese  to  the  army  and 
navy  ration,  in  part  substitution  for  salt 
meat,  is  advocated  by  a  writer  in  the  Poly- 
technic Review.  The  suggestion  is  a  good 
one,  the  advantages  of  cheese  being  mani- 
fold :  it  is  wholesome,  highly  _  nutritious, 
aids  digestion,  needs  no  cooking,  and  is 
easily  handled  and  transported. 


JOSEPH   LE  CONTE 


THE 


POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


JANUARY,    1878, 


THE   GROWTH  OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE.1 

By  Professor  E.  H.  THURSTON, 

OF    THE    STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY. 
III. 

THE  NON-CONDENSING  ENGINE,  AND  ITS  APPLICATION   IN  THE 

LOCOMOTIVE. 


45.  The  engines  of 
Hero  and  Branca  were, 
it  will  be  remembered, 
non-condensing;  but  the 
first  plan  of  a  non-con- 
densing enp-ine  that 
could  have  been  made  of  any  really  practical  use  is  given  in  the 
"Theatrum  Machinarum"  of  Leupold,  published  in  1720.  His  sketch 
is  copied  in  Fig.  23.     It  is  stated  by  Leupold  that  this  plan  was  sug- 

1  An  abstract  of  "  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine,"  to  be  published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

VOL.   XII. — 17 


258 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Fig.  23.— Leopold's  Papin  Engine,  1720. 


gested  by  Papin.    It  consists  of  two  single-acting  cylinders,  r  s,  receiv- 
ing steam  alternately  from  the  same  steam-pipe  through  a  "  four-way- 
cock,"  and  exhausting  into  the  atmos- 
phere.  We  find  no  evidence  that  this 
engine  was  ever  built. 

When,  during  the  last  century, 
the  steam-engine  had  so  far  been 
perfected  that  the  possibility  of  its 
application  to  other  purposes  than 
the  elevation  of  water  had  become 
generally  recognized,  the  problem  of 
its  adaptation  to  the  propulsion  of 
carriages  was  attacked  by  many  en- 
gineers and  inventors. 

As  early  as  1759,  Dr.  Robison, 
who  was  at  the  time  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  and  an  ap- 
plicant for  an  assistant  professorship 
there,  and  who  had  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  instrument-maker, 
James  Watt,  when  visiting  the  work- 
shop, called  the  attention  of  the 
latter,  who  was  probably  then  more 
ignorant  of  the  principles  of  the  steam-engine  than  was  the  young 
student,  to  the  possibility  of  constructing  a  carriage  to  be  driven 
by  a  steam-engine,  thus,  perhaps,  setting  in  operation  that  train 
of  thoughtful  experiment  which  finally  earned  for  Watt  his  splendid 
fame. 

46.  Watt,  at  a  very  early  period,  proposed  to  apply  his  engine  to 
locomotion,  and  contemplated  using  either  a  non-condensing  engine, 
or  an  air-surface  condenser.  He  actually  included  the  locomotive-en- 
gine in  his  patent  of  1784,  and  his  assistant,  Murdoch,  in  the  same 
year,  made  a  working-model  locomotive 
which  was  capable  of  running  at  a  rapid 
rate. 

This  model,  now  deposited  in  the 
Patent  Museum,  at  South  Kensington, 
London,  had  a  flue-boiler,  and  a  "grass- 
hopper" engine.  Its  steam-cylinder 
was  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter, and  had  two  inches  stroke  of  pis- 
ton (Fig.  24).  The  driving-wheels  were 
nine  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.  It 
is  reported  to  have  run  six  to  eight  miles 
an  hour,  its  little  driving-wheels  making  from  two  hundred  to  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  revolutions  per  minute. 


Fig.  24.— Mokdoch's  Model,  1784. 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


259 


47.  In  1765  that  singular  genius,  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  whose 
celebrity  was  acquired  by  speculations  in  poetry  and  philosophy  as 
well  as  in  medicine,  urged  Matthew  Boulton  (subsequently  Watt's 
partner,  and  just  then  corresponding  with  our  own  Franklin  in  relation 
to  the  use  of  steam-power),  to  construct  a  steam-carriage,  or  "fiery 
chariot,"  as  he  poetically  styled  it,  and  of  which  he  sketched  a  set  of 
plans. 

A  young  man,  named  Edgeworth,  became  interested  in  the  scheme, 
and  in  1768  published  a  paper  which  had  secured  for  him  a  gold 
medal  from  the  Society  of  Arts.  In  this  paper  he  proposed  railroads 
on  which  the  carriages  were  to  be  drawn  by  horses,  or  by  ropes  from 
steam-winding  engines. 


Fig.  25.— Cugnot's  Steam-Carriage,  1770. 


48.  These  were  merely  promising  schemes,  however.  The  first 
actual  experiment  was  made,  as  is  supposed,  by  a  French  army  officer, 
Nicolas  Joseph  Cugnot,  who  in  1769  built  a  steam-carriage  (Fig.  25), 
which  was  set  at  work  in  presence  of  the  French  Minister  of  War, 
the  Duke  de  Choiseul.  The  funds  required  by  him  were  furnished  by 
the  Comte  de  Saxe.  Encouraged  by  the  partial  success  of  the  first 
locomotive,  Cugnot,  in  1770,  constructed  a 
second  which  is  still  preserved  in  the  Con- 
servatoire des  Arts  et  Metiers,  Paris.  This 
more  powerful  carriage  (Fig.  25)  was  fitted 
with  two  non-condensing  single-acting  cylin- 
ders, thirteen  inches  in  diameter.  Although 
the  experiment  seems  to  have  been  successful, 
there  appears  to  have  been  nothing  more  done 
with  it. 

An  American  of  considerable  distinction, 
NathanRead, patented  a  steam-carriage,  17S0,1    IP 
of  the  form  seen  in  Fig.  26,  which  is  copied 
from   his   patent.       The    cylinders   F  F  lie 
under  the  body  of  the  carriage:    the  pistons        Fig. 26.— Read's  Steam- 

7-t  t-.   -1    •  -i        -r,  •-*        1  .    ,  ,  ,       1  Carriage,  1790. 

±L  I*  drive  racks  U  6r,  which  turn  the  wheels 

A  K.     The  steering-wheel  I  moves  the  large  wheels  A  IT,  which  lat- 


1  Nathan  Read  and  his  Steam-En<rine."     New  York  : 


Hurd  &  Houghton,  1870. 


z6o 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ter,  turning,  carries  the  engines  about  with  it.     It  is  an  ingenious  and 
curious  device. 

49.  "  To  Oliver  Evans,"  says  Dr.  Ernest  Alban,1  the  learned  Ger- 
man engineer,  "was  it  reserved  to  show  the  true  value  of  a  long-known 
principle,  and  to  establish  thereon  a  new  and  more  simple  method  of 
applying  the  power  of  steam — a  method  that  will  remain  an  eternal 
memorial  to  its  introducers."  Dr.  Alban  here  refers  to  the  earliest 
successful  introduction  of  the  non-condensing   high-pressure  steam- 


enarine. 


Oliver  Evans,  one  of  the  most  ingenious  mechanics  that  America 
has  ever  produced,  was  born  at  Newport,  Delaware,  in  1755  or  1756, 
the  son  of  people  in  very  humble  circumstances. 

He  was,  in  his  youth,  apprenticed  to  a  wheelwright,  and  soon 
exhibited  great  mechanical  talent  and  a  strong  desire  to  acquire 
knowledge. 

His  attention  was  at  an  early  period  drawn  to  this  possible  appli- 
cation of  the  power  of  steam  to  useful  purposes  by  a  boyish  prank. 
Placing  a  small  quantity  of  water  in  a  gun-barrel,  and  ramming  down 
a  tight  wad,  he  put  the  barrel  in  the  fire  of  a  blacksmith's  forge. 
The  loud  report  which  accompanied  the  expulsion  of  the  wad  was  an 
evidence  to  young  Evans  of  the  great,  and,  as  he  supposed,  previously 
undiscovered  power  of  steam. 

Subsequently,  meeting  with  a  description  of  a  Newcomen  engine, 
he  at  once  noticed  that  the  elastic  force  of  confined  steam  was  not 
there  utilized. 


Fig.  27.— Oliver  Evans's  Engine,  1800. 

He  then  designed  the  non-condensing  engine,  in  which  the  power 
was  derived  exclusively  from  the  tension  of  high-pressure  steam,  and 
proposed  its  application  to  the  propulsion  of  carriages. 

50.  About  the  year  1780  Evans  joined  his  brothers,  who  were 
millers  by  occupation,  and  at  once  employed  his  inventive  talent  in 

1  "  The  High-Pressure  Engine  investigated,"  Dr.  Ernest  Alban,  London,  1847. 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  261 

improving  the  details  of  mill-work,  and  with  such  success  as  to 
reduce  the  cost  of  attendance  one-half,  and  also  to  increase  the  fine- 
ness of  the  flour  made. 

In  1785  he  applied  for,  but  was  refused,  a  patent  for  a  steam- 
carriage. 

In  1800  or  1801,  Evans,  after  consulting  with  Prof.  Robert  Patter- 
son, of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  getting  his  approval 
of  the  plans,  commenced  the  construction  of  a  steam-carriage,  to  be 
driven  by  a  non-condensing  engine. 

He  soon  concluded,  however,  that  it  would  be  a  better  scheme, 
pecuniarily,  to  adapt  his  engine,  which  was  novel  in  form  and  of 
small  first  cost,  to  driving  mills ;  and  he  accordingly  changed  his 
plans,  and  built  an  engine  of  six  inches  diameter  of  cylinder  and 
eighteen  inches  stroke  of  piston,  which  he  applied  with  perfect  suc- 
cess to  driving  a  plaster  mill. 

51.  This  engine  (Fig.  27),  which  he  called  the  "  Columbian  engine," 
was  of  a  peculiar  form. 

The  beam  is  supported  at  one  end  by  a  rocking  column ;  at  the 
other  it  is  attached  directly  to  the  piston-rod,  while  the  crank  lies 
beneath  the  beam,  the  connecting-rod  being  attached  to  the  latter  at 
about  the  middle  point. 

The  head  of  the  piston-rod  is  compelled  to  rise  and  fall  in  a  ver- 
tical line  by  the  "  Evans  parallelogram,"  a  kind  of  parallel  motion 
very  similar  to  one  of  those  designed  by  Watt. 

52.  Subsequently,  Evans  continued  to  extend  the  application  of 
his  engine  and  to  perfect  its  details,  and,  others  following  in  his  track, 
the  non-condensing  engine  is  to-day  fulfilling  the  predictions  which 
he  made  seventy  years  ago,  when  he  said : 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  my  engine  will  propel  boats  against  the  currents  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  wagons  on  turnpike-roads,  with  great  profit.  .  .  . 

"  The  time  will  come  when  people  will  travel  in  stages  moved  by  steam- 
engines,  from  one  city  to  another,  almost  as  fast  as  birds  can  fly— fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  an  hour.  A  carriage  will  start  from  Washington  in  the  morning, 
the  passengers  will  breakfast  at  Baltimore,  dine  at  Philadelphia,  and  sup  at 
New  York  the  same  day.  .  .  . 

"  Engines  will  drive  boats  ten  or  twelve  miles  an  hour,  and  there  will  be 
hundreds  of  steamers  running  on  the  Mississippi,  as  predicted  years  ago." 

53.  In  1804  Oliver  Evans  completed  a  flat-bottomed  boat  (Fig.  28), 
to  be  used  at  the  Philadelphia  docks,  and,  mounting  it  upon  wheels, 
drew  it  by  its  own  steam-engine  to  the  river-bank.  Launching  the 
craft,  he  propelled  it  down  the  river,  using  its  steam-engine  to  drive 
its  paddle-wheels.  Evans's  "oructor  amphibolis"  as  he  named  the 
machine,  was  the  first  road-locomotive  that  we  find  described  after 
Cugnot's  time.  Evans  asserted  that  carriages  propelled  by  steam 
would  soon  be  in  common  use  ;  and  offered  a  wager  of  three  hundred 


j62 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


dollars  that  he  could  build  a  "  steam-wagon "  that  should  excel  in 
speed  the  swiftest  horse  that  could  be  matched  against  it. 

Evans's    connection   with    steam-navigation  will   be  referred   to 
when  considering  that  subject. 


Fig.  28.— "Oructor  Amphibolis,"  1804. 


To  this  brief  sketch  of  Evans's  inventions  it  can  only  be  added 
that  he  devised  the  flue-boiler,  now  generally  called  the  Cornish,  and 


used  it  to  furnish  steam  to  his  engines. 


5^ 


Richard  Trevithick. 


54.  The  earliest  non-condensing  engine  brought  into  use  in  Great 
Britain  seems  to  have  been  constructed  by  Richai-d  Trevithick  and 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


263 


Andrew  Vivian  in  1802.  It  is  stated,  by  friends  of  Oliver  Evans, 
that  be  had,  at  an  earlier  date,  sent  Mr.  John  Sampson  to  England, 
and,  by  him,  had  forwarded  drawings  and  specifications,  which 
Trevithick  and  Vivian  inspected,  and  to  which,  it  is  not  improbable, 
they  may  have  been  indebted  for  their  plans. 

They  used  a  non-condensing,   return  connecting-rod  engine,  and 
carried  as  high  as  sixty  to  eighty  pounds  of  steam. 

They  built  a  locomotive-engine  in  1804  (Fig.  29),  for  the  railway 


rr 


TT 


TT 


n 


Fig.  29.— Trevithick's  Locomotive,  1804. 


at  Merthyr-Tydvil,  in  South  Wales,  which  was  quite  successful, 
although  sometimes  giving  trouble  by  slipping  its  wheels. 

This  engine  had  one  steam-cylinder  4f  inches  diameter,  and  car- 
ried forty  pounds  steam. 

In  consequence  of  a  fear  of  the  wheel  slipping,  Blenkinsop  em- 
ployed, in  1811,  a  pinion  on  the  locomotive  shaft,  gearing  into  a  rack 
on  the  road-bed. 

In  1813  Brunton,  of  Butterly,  tried  to  introduce  a  locomotive-en- 
gine propelled  by  levers,  like  an  animal's  legs,  pushing  behind  ;  and 
just  at  this  time  mechanics,  all  over  the  world,  seem  to  have  become 
very  much  interested  in  this  problem. 

55.  It  is  at  about  this  period  that  we  find  evidence  of  the  intelli- 
gent labors  of  another  of  our  countrymen — one  who,  in  consequence 
of  the  unobtrusive  manner  in  which  his  work  was  done,  has  never 
received  the  full  credit  to  which  he  is  entitled. 


264 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Colonel  John  Stevens,  of  Hoboken,  as  he  is  generally  called,  was 
born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1749,  but,  throughout  his  business 
life,  he  was  a  resident  of  New  Jersey. 

He  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  engineer  and  naval  architect 
living  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 


John  Stevens. 


Without  having  made  any  one  superlatively  great  improvement  in 
the  mechanism  of  the  steam-engine,  like  that  which  gave  "Watt  his 
fame  ;  without  having  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  propose  navi- 
gation by  steam,  or  steam  transportation  on  land,  he  exhibited  a  far 
better  knowledge  of  the  science  and  of  the  art  of  engineering  than 
any  man  of  his  time,  and  he  entertained  and  urged  more  advanced 
opinions  and  more  statesmanlike  views,  in  relation  to  the  economical 
importance  of  tire  improvement  of  the  steam-engine,  both  on  land  and 
water,  than  seem  to  have  been  attributable  to  any  other  leading 
engineer  of  that  time. 

His  attention  is  said  to  have  been  first  called  to  the  application  of 
steam-power  by  seeing  the  experiments  of  John  Fitch  with  his  steam- 
er. He  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  introduction  of  steam  in  navi- 
gation with  characteristic  energy,  and  with  a  success  that  will  be 
indicated  when  we  come  to  the  consideration  of  that  branch  of  the 
subject. 

But  this  far-sighted  engineer  and  statesman  saw  plainly  the  im- 
portance of  applying  the  steam-engine  to  land  transportation  as  well 
as  navigation  ;  and  not  only  that,  but  he  saw  with  equal  distinctness 


THE   GRQWTH  OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE.  265 

the  importance  of  a  well-devised  and  carefully-prosecuted  scheme  of 
internal  communication  by  a  complete  system  of  railroads. 

56.  In  1812  he  published  a  pamphlet  embodying  "Documents 
tending  to  prove  the  Superior  Advantages  of  Railways  and  Steam- 
Carriages  over  Canal  Navigation. "  ' 

At  this  time,  the  only  working  locomotive  in  the  world  was  that 
of  Trevithick  and  Vivian,  at  Merthyr- Tydvil,  and  the  railroad 
itself  had  not  grown  beyond  the  old  wooden  tram-roads  of  the  col- 
lieries. 

Yet,  Colonel  Stevens  says  in  this  paper,  "  I  can  see  nothing  to 
hinder  a  steam-carriage  moving  on  its  ways  with  a  velocity  of  one 
hundred  miles  an  hour,"  adding  in  a  foot-note  :  "This  astonishing  ve- 
locity is  considered  here  merely  possible.  It  is  probable  that  it  may 
not,  in  practice,  be  convenient  to  exceed  twenty  or  thirty  miles  per 
hour.  Actual  experiments  can  only  determine  this  matter,  and  I 
should  not  be  surprised  at  seeing  steam-carriages  propelled  at  the  rate 
of  forty  or  fifty  miles  an  hour." 

At  a  yet  earlier  date  he  had  addressed  a  memoir  to  the  proper  au- 
thorities, urging  his  plans  for  railroads. 

He  proposed  rails  of  timber,  protected  when  necessary  by  iron 
plates,  or  to  be  made  wholly  of  iron.  The  car-wheels  were  to  be  of 
cast-iron,  with  inside  flanges  to  keep  them  on  the  track.  The  steam- 
engine  was  to  be  driven  by  steam  of  fifty  pounds  pressure,  and  to  be 
non-condensing. 

Answering  the  objections  of  Robert  R.  Livingston  and  of  the  com- 
missioners of  New  York,  he  goes  further  into  details. 

57.  He  gives  500  to  1,000  pounds  as  the  maximum  weight  to  be 
placed  on  each  wheel,  shows  that  the  trains  or  "  suites  of  carriages," 
as  he  calls  them,  will  make  their  journeys  "  with  as  much  certainty 
and  celerity  in  the  darkest  night  as  in  the  light  of  day,"  shows  that 
the  grades  of  proposed  roads  would  offer  but  little  resistance,  and 
places  the  whole  subject  before  the  public  with  such  accuracy  of 
statement,  and  such  evident  appreciation  of  its  true  value,  that  every 
one  who  reads  this  remarkable  document  will  agree  fully  with  the  late 
President  Charles  King,  of  Columbia  College,  who  said  that  "  whoso- 
ever shall  attentively  read  this  pamphlet  will  perceive  that  the  politi- 
cal, financial,  commercial,  and  military  aspects  of  this  great  question 
were  all  present  to  Colonel  Stevens's  mind,  and  that  he  felt  that  he 
was  fulfilling  a  patriotic  duty  when  he  placed  at  the  disposal  of  his 
native  country  these  fruits  of  his  genius. 

"  The  offer  was  not  then  accepted.  The  Thinker  was  ahead  of  his 
age,  but  it  is  grateful  to  know  that  he  lived  to  see  his  projects  carried 
out — though  not  by  the  Government — and  that  before  he  finally,  in 
1838,  closed  his  eyes  in  death,  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-nine,  he 
could  justly  feel  assured  that  the  name  of  Stevens,  in  his  own  person 

1  Printed  by  T.  &  J.  Swords,  1160  Pearl  Street,  New  York,  1812. 


266 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


and  that  of  his  sons,  was  imperishably  enrolled  among  those  which  a 
grateful  country  will  cherish." 

A  patent  issued  to  Colonel  Stevens  by  the  British  Government  in 
1805,  and  a  section  of  a  "safety-tubular"  boiler  subsequently  built  oil 
the  same  plan,  and  used  on  a  locomotive,  are  preserved  in  the  Stevens 
Institute  of  Technology,  at  Hoboken,  New  Jersey. 


Geokge  Stephenson. 


58.  In  1814  George  Stephenson,  to  whom  is  generally  accorded  the 
honor  of  having  first  made  the  locomotive-engine  a  success,  built  his 
first  engine  at  Killing-worth,  England. 

©  ©  *  © 

It  had  been  found  during  the  previous  year,  by  Blaekett  &  Head- 
ly,  whose  engine  is  still  preserved  at  the  South  Kensington  Patent 
Museum,  that  the  slipping  of  the  wheels  could  be  avoided  without 
recourse  to  extraordinary  contrivances,  and  Stephenson  made  his  en- 
gine a  success,  using  smooth  wheels. 

At  this  time,  Stephenson  was  by  no  means  alone  in  the  field,  for 
the  idea  of  applying  the  steam-engine  to  driving  carriages  on  com- 
mon roads  and  on  railroads  was  beginning  to  attract  considerable 
attention. 

Stephenson,  however,  combined  in  a  very  fortunate  degree  the  ad- 
vantages of  great  natural  inventive  talent  and  an  excellent  mechani- 
cal training,  his  characteristics  as  an  engineer  reminding  one  strongly 
of  those  of  James  Watt.  Indeed,  Stephenson's  portrait  bears  some 
resemblance  to  that  of  the  great  inventor. 

59.  George  Stephenson  was  born  in  Wylam,  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land, near  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  and  was  the  son  of  a  "  north-country 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


267 


miner."  When  still  a  child,  he  exhibited  great  mechanical  talent  and 
unusual  love  of  study. 

When  set  at  work  about  the  mines,  his  attention  to  duty  and  his 
intelligence  obtained  for  him  rapid  promotion,  until,  when  about 
seventeen  years  of  age,  he  was  made  engineer,  and  took  charge  of  the 
pumping-engine  at  which  his  father  was  fireman. 

A  little  later  he  was  made  engine-wright  at  Killingworth,  where 
he  soon  inspired  those  who  employed  him  with  such  confidence  in  his 
skill  and  reliability  as  to  obtain  an  opportunity  to  design  his  first  loco- 
motive-engine, Lord  Ravensworth,  one  of  the  principal  proprietors, 
furnishing  the  necessary  funds. 

60.  In  1815  he  applied  the  blast-pipe  in  the  chimney,  by  which  the 
puff  of  the  exhaust  steam  is  made  useful  in  intensifying  the  draught, 
and  applied  it  successfully  to  his  second  locomotive,  here  seen  in  sec- 


Fig.  30.— Stephenson's  Locomotive,  1815. 


tion  (Fig.  30).     This  is  the  essential  characteristic  of  the  locomotive- 


engine. 


In  1815,  therefore,  we  may  say  that  the  modern  locomotive  steam- 
engine  came  into  existence,  for  it  is  this  invention  of  the  blast-pipe 
that  gives  it  its  life,  and  it  is  the  mechanical  adaptation  of  this  and 
of  the  other  organs  of  the  steam-engine  to  locomotion  that  gives 
George  Stephenson  his  greatest  claim  to  distinction. 

61.  In  1825  the  Stockton  &  Darlincfton  Railroad  was  onened, 
and  one  of  Stephenson's  locomotives,  in  which  he  employed  his 
"  steam-blast,"  was  successfully  used,  drawing  passenger  as  well  as 
coal  trains.  Stephenson  had  at  this  time  become  engineer  of  the 
road. 

The  time  required  to  travel  the  distance  of  twelve  miles  was  two 


268 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


hours.     This  "No.  1  Engine"  is  still  preserved  at  Darlington  Station, 
mounted  on  a  granite  pedestal,  as  shown  in  the  picture  (Fig.  32). 

62.  One  of  the  most  important  and  interesting  occasions  in  the 
history  of  the  application  of  the  non-condensing  steam-engine  to  rail- 
roads, as  well  as  in  the  life  of  Stephenson,  was  the  opening  of  the 
Liverpool  &  Manchester  Railroad  in  the  year  1829. 


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When  this  road  was  built,  it  was  determined,  after  long  and  ear- 
nest discussion,  to  try  whether  locomotive-engines  might  not  be  used 
to  the  exclusion  of  horses,  and  a  prize  of  £500  was  offered  for  the  best 
that  should  be  presented  at  a  date  which  was  finally  settled  at  the 
6th  of  October,  1829. 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


269 


Four  engines  competed,  and  the  "Rocket,"  built  by  Stephenson, 
received  the  prize. 

63.  This  engine  (Fig.  33)  weighed  four  and  one-fourth  tons,  with 
its  supply  of  water.     Its  boiler  was  of  the  fire-tubular  form,  a  form 


Fig.  32.— Stockton  &  Darlington  Engine  No.  1,  1825. 

that  had  grown  into  shape  in  the  hands  of  several  inventors,1  and  was 
three  feet  in  diameter,  six  feet  long,  with  twenty-five  three-inch  tubes, 
extending  from  end  to  end  of  the  boiler.  The  steam-blast  was  care- 
fully adjusted  by  experiment,  to  give  the  best  effect.  Steam-pressure 
was  carried  at  fifty  pounds  per  square  inch. 

The  average  speed  of  the 
Rocket  on  its  trial  was  fifteen 
miles  per  hour,  and  its  maxi- 
mum was  nearly  double  that, 
twenty-nine  miles  an  hour; 
and  afterward,  running  alone, 
it  reached  a  speed  of  thirty- 
five  miles. 

The  shares  of  the  com- 
pany immediately  rose  ten 
per  cent,  in  value.  Thus  the 
combination  of  the  non-con- 
densing engine  with  a  steam- 
blast  and  the  multitubular 
boiler,  designed  by  the  clear 
head  and  constructed  under 
the  watchful  eye  of  an  ac- 
complished engineer  and  mechanic,  made  steam-locomotion  so  evident 
and  decided  a  success  that  thenceforward  its  progress  has  been  un- 
interrupted and  wonderfully  rapid. 

1  Barlow  and  Fulton,  1795;  Nathan  Read,  Salem,  United  States,  1796;  Booth,  of  Eng- 
land, and  Seguin,  of  France,  about  1827  or  1828. 


Fig.  33.— The  Rocket,  1829. 


270 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


64.  In  America  the  locomotive  was  set  at  regular  work  on  rail- 
roads, for  the  first  time,  on  the  Stli  of  August,  1829.1 

This  first  locomotive  was  built  by  Foster,  Rastrick  &  Co.,  at  Stour- 
bridge, England,  and  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Horatio  Allen  for  the 
Delaware  &  Hudson  Canal  Company's  road  from  Carbondale  to 
Honesclale,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Peter  Cooper,  of  New  York,  placed  an  experimental  locomo- 
tive on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  in  1829.  It  ran  about  fifteen 
miles  an  hour  at  maximum  speed. 

The  first  American  locomotive  to  do  real  service  continuously  was 
the  "Best  Friend"  (Fig.  34),  built  at  the  West  Point  Iron  Foundery, 


Fig.  34.— The  "Best  Friend,"  1830. 


in  the  year  1830,  for  the  South  Carolina  Railroad,  on  which  road  it 
ran  from  January,  1831,  to  June  17th  of  the  same  year,  when  it  was 
destroyed  by  the  explosion  of  its  boiler. 

A  second  locomotive  (Fig.  35)  was  built  at  West  Point  for  the  same 
road  in  1831,  which  resembled  somewhat  those  built  at  about  the 
same  time,  and  a  little  later,  by  Stephenson. 

It  was  at  this  time  (1831),  also,  that  Mr.  Horatio  Allen  introduced 
the  first  eight-wheeled  locomotives  ever  built,  and  gave  them  a  form 
(Fig.  36)  which  will  be  at  once  recognized  by  the  engineer  as  the 
prototype  of  a  recently-built  locomotive  which  has  been  brought 
out  in  Great  Britain.  In  this  year,  also,  an  engine,  the  De  Witt 
Clinton,  was  built  for  John  B.  Jervis  of  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson 
Railroad. 

65.  At  about  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  early  railroads,  the 

1  "History  of  the  First  Locomotive  in  America,"  W.  H.  Brown.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York,  1872. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


271 


introduction  of  steam-carriages  on  the  common  highway  had  become 


a  favorite  idea  with  engineers.1 


Fig.  35.— The  West  Point,  1831. 


In  December,  1833,  about  twenty  steam-carriages  and  traction 
road-engines  were  running  or  were  in  course  of  construction  in  and 
near  London. 


Fig.  36.— The  South  Carolina,  1831. 


In  our  own  country,  the  roughness  of  roads  discouraged  inventors, 
and,  in  Great  Britain  even,  the  successful  introduction  of  road-loco- 
motives, which  seemed  at  one  time  almost  an  accomplished  fact,  finally 

1  "Road-Locomotives  and  Traction-Engines,"  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  1871. 


272 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


Fig.  37.— Fisher's  Steam-Carriage,  1870. 


met  with  so  many  obstacles  that  even  Hancock  and  Gurney,  the  most 
ingenious,  persistent,  and  successful  constructors,  gave  up  in  despair. 
Hostile  legislation  procured  by  opposing  interests,  and  possibly  also 
the  rapid  progress  of  steam-locomotion  on  railroads,  caused  this  result. 
In  consequence  of  this  interruption  of  experiment,  almost  nothing 

was  done  during  the  suc- 
ceeding quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  it  is  only  within 
a  few  years  that  anything 
like  a  business  success  has 
been  founded  upon  the  con- 
struction of  road-locomo- 
tives, although  the  scheme 
seems  to  have  been  at  no 
time  entirely  given  up. 
Messrs.  Aveling  &  Por- 
ter, J.  Scott  Russell,  Boydell,  and  a  few  others  in  England,  and  Messrs. 
Roper,  Dudgeon,  Fawkes,  Latta,  and  J.  K.  Fisher,  in  the  United 
States,  have  all,  at  various  times,  labored  in  this  direction. 

The  last-named  engineer  designed  his  first  steam-carriage  in  1840, 
and  was  still  at  work  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1873. 

Abroad,  a  few  firms  have  succeeded,  within  a  few  years  past,  in 
making  a  business  of  considerable  extent  in  constructing  road-loco- 
motives for  hauling  heavy  loads,  and  in  building  steam  road-rollers. 

While  steam-carriages  of  high  speed,  and  adapted  to  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers,  have  not  yet  been  successfully  introduced,  a 
most  promising  start  has  been  made  in  the  application  of  steam  to 
the  heavier  kinds  of  work  on  the  common  road. 

The  great  impediments  seem  to  be  the  roughness  and  bad  construc- 
tion of  the  ordinary  highway,  the  damages  arising  from  the  taking 
fright  of  horses,  the  engineering  difficulties  of  construction,  and  the 
limited  power  of  the  machine  as  it  has  usually  been  built.  Hostile 
legislation  might  perhaps  be  placed  in  the  category,  but  we  are  prob- 
ably sufficiently  far  advanced  in  civilization  to-day  to  be  able  to  secure 
liberal  legislation  when  the  people  shall  be  satisfied  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  road-locomotive  will  be  of  great  public  advantage. 

66.  The  capabilities  of  the  road-locomotive  are  readily  determined 
by  experiment,  and  the  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  results  of  several 
series  of  trials.1  A  trial  of  a  road-engine  was  made  by  the  well-known 
French  engineer,  H.  Tresca,  in  presence  of  Prof.  Fleeming  Jenkin, 
and  the  report  was  submitted  on  January  15,  1868.  The  results  were 
as  follows:  1.  The  coefficient  of  traction  was  about  0.25  on  a  good 
road  with  easy  grades.  2.  The  consumption  of  coal  was  4.4  pounds 
per  horse-power  per  hour.  3.  The  consumption  of  water  was  132.2 
gallons  an  hour  with  the  ten-horse  engine.  4.  The  coefficient  of  ad- 
1  Appletons'  American  Cyclopaedia,  article  "Steam-Carriage." 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


273 


herence,  or  of*  friction  between  the  wheels  and  the  soil,  was  0.3.  5.  A 
speed  of  seven  miles  an  hour  caused  no  special  difficulty  in  managing 
either  the  locomotive  or  its  load.     At  about  this  time  M.  Servel  con- 


Fig.  38.— Gurnet's  Steam-Carriage,  1833. 

ducted  a  series  of  experiments  with  a  similar  machine  upon  paved 
and  upon  macadamized  roads,  during  what  he  described  as  the  most 
trying  of  winter  weather.  He  reports  the  following  distribution  of 
weight  per  cent. : 

Weight  of  locomotive 41.4 

"       "   wagons 18.2 

"       "   paying  load 40.4 

Total 100 

The  average  total  weight  of  three  loaded  wagons,  which  was  the 
usual  load,  was  22,575  kilogrammes,  or  about  twenty-two  tons.  The 
experiment  was  made  in  1867-'68  of  applying  these  engines  to  the 
towage  of  boats  on  the  French  canals,  with  very  encouraging  results. 

In  1871  several  traction-engines  were  exhibited  before  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society  of  England  at  Wolverhampton,  and  the  judges 
made  a  series  of  careful  tests,  reported  in  its  "Journal"  for  that  year. 
The  coal  used  on  special  trial  amounted  to  3.2  pounds  per  indicated 
horse-power  per  hour,  and  the  evaporation  of  water  was  7.62  pounds 
per  pound  of  coal  consumed,  the  average  temperature  of  feed  being 
175°  Fahr.  The  load  drawn  up  the  maximum  grade  of  264  feet  to  the 
mile  on  Tottenham  Hill,  which  is  1,900  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  was 
twenty-six  tons,  and  including  weight  of  engine  thirty-eight  tons, 
giving  a  coefficient  of  traction  of  0.35.  On  a  country-road  sixteen 
miles  long  it  drew  fifteen  tons  at  an  average  rate  of  3i  miles  an  hour, 
using  2.85  pounds  of  coal  and  1.94  gallon  of  water  per  ton  of  useful 
load  per  mile. 

67.  In  October,  1871,  the  writer  conducted  a  public  trial  of  road- 
engines  and  steam  road-rollers,  on  a  well-macadamized  road  at  South 
Orange,  New  Jersey.     Two  road-steamers  (Fig.  39)  or  traction-en- 

VOL.   XII. — 18 


274 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


gines  and  a  steam  road-roller  were  tried.  The  following  were  the 
principal  dimensions  :  Weight  of  engine  complete,  five  tons  four  hun- 
dred-weight (11,648  pounds);  diameter  of  steam-cylinder,  7f  inches; 
stroke  of  piston,  ten  inches ;  revolutions  of  crank  to  one  of  driving- 
wheel,  seventeen  ;  diameter  of  driving-wheels,  sixty  inches  ;  length  of 
boiler  over  all,  eight  feet;  diameter  of  boiler-shell,  thirty  inches;  load 
on  driving-wheels,  four  tons  ten  hundred-weight  (10,080  pounds).  The 
boiler  was  of  the  ordinary  locomotive  type,  and  the  engine  was  mounted 
upon  it,  as  is  usual  with  portable  engines.  The  engine  valve-gear  con- 
sisted of  a  three-ported  valve  and  Stephenson-link,  with  reversing 
lever,  as  generally  used  on  locomotives.     The  connection  between  the 


Fig.  39.— Modern  Road-Locomotive. 


gearing  and  the  driving-wheels  was  effected  by  the  device  called  by 
builders  of  cotton-machinery  a  Jack-in-the-box  gear,  or  differential 
gear.  By  this  combination,  the  effort  exerted  by  the  engine  is  made 
equal  at  both  wheels  at  all  times,  even  when  the  engine  is  turning  a 
corner.  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  conclusions  deduced  from 
the  trial,  and  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute:  A 
traction-engine  may  be  so  constructed  as  to  be  easily  and  rapidly 
manoeuvred  on  the  common  road ;  and  an  engine  weighing  over  five 
tons  may  be  turned  continuously  without  difficulty  on  a  circle  of 
eighteen  feet  radius,  or  even  on  a  road  but  little  wider  than  the  length 
of  the  engine.  A  locomotive  of  five  tons  four  hundred-weight  has 
been  constructed,  capable  of  drawing  on  a  good  road  23,000  pounds 
up  a  grade  of  533  feet  to  the  mile,  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour; 
and  one  might  be  constructed  to  draw  more  than  63,000  pounds  up  a 
grade  of  225  feet  to  the  mile,  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour.  It 
was  further  shown  that  the  coefficient  of  traction  with  heavily-laden 
wagons  on  a  good  macadamized  road  is  not  far  from  t|~q  ;  the  traction- 
power  of  this  engine  is  equal  to  that  of  twenty  horses  ;  the  weight,  ex- 
clusive of  the  weight  of  the  engine,  that  could  be  drawn  on  a  level 
road,  was  163,452  pounds;  and  the  amount  of  fuel  required  is  esti- 
mated at  500  pounds  a  day.  The  advantages  claimed  for  the  traction- 
engine  over  horse-power  are  :  No  necessity  for  a  limitation  of  working- 
hours;  a  difference  in  first  cost  in  favor  of  steam;  and  in  heavy  work 
on  a  common  road  the  expense  by  steam  is  less  than  twenty-five  per 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.         275 

cent,  of  the  average  cost  of  horse-power,  a  traction-engine  capable  of 
doing  the  work  of  twenty-five  horses  being  worked  at  as  little  expense 
as  six  or  eight  horses. 

68.  Now,  thirty  years  after  the  defeat  of  the  intelligent,  coura- 
geous and  persistent  Hancock  and  his  co-workers  in  the  scheme  of  ap- 
plying the  steam-engine  usefully  on  the  common  road,  we  find  strong 
indications  that,  in  a  new  form,  the  problem  has  been  again  attacked 
and  at  least  partially  solved.  It  was  formerly  supposed  that  success 
in  the  transportation  of  passengers  by  steam  on  post-routes  would 
lead  to  the  application  of  that  motor  to  the  movement  of  heavy  loads 
and  to  agricultural  purposes  generally.  When,  after  so  long  a  trial, 
the  experiment  finally  seemed  to  have  failed  of  success,  it  was  be- 
lieved that  steam  could  not  be  applied  to  heavier  work  on  common 
roads.  As  we  have  now  seen,  however,  it  appears  probable  that  the 
inventors  of  that  day  attacked  the  problem  at  the  wrong  point,  and 
that,  on  the  common  road,  the  transportation  of  heavy  loads  by 
steam  being  accomplished  with  economical  success,  under  ordinarily 
favorable  circumstances,  it  may  prove  introductory  to  the  use  of 
steam  in  carrying  passengers  and  light  freight  at  higher  velocities. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  prerequisites  to  ultimate  suc- 
cess in  the  substitution  of  steam  for  animal  power  on  the  highway  is 
that  our  roads  shall  be  well  made. 

As  the  greatest  care  and  judgment  are  exercised,  and  an  immense 
outlay  of  capital  is  considered  justifiable,  in  securing  easy  grades  and 
a  smooth  track  on  our  railroad  routes,  we  may  readily  believe  that 
similar  precaution  and  outlay  will  be  found  advisable  in  adopting  the 
common  road  to  the  road-locomotive. 

It  is  undeniably  the  fact  that,  even  when  relying  upon  horse-power, 
far  less  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  improvement  of  our  roads  than 
true  economy  would  dictate.  With  steam-power,  the  gain  by  careful 
grading  and  excellence  of  construction  of  the  road-bed  becomes  still 
more  important.  The  animal  mechanism  is  less  affected  in  its  power 
of  drawing  heavy  loads  than  is  the  machine.  With  the  horse,  a  bad 
road  impedes  transportation  principally  by  resisting  the  movement 
of  the  load  rather  than  of  the  animal,  while  with  the  traction-engine 
the  motor  is  as  seriously  retarded  as  the  train  which  followrs  it,  and 
frequently  much  more,  on  soft  ground. 

Steam,  therefore,  cannot  be  expected  to  attain  its  full  measure  of 
success  on  rough  and  ill-made  roads;  but  where  highways  are  intelli- 
gently engineered  and  thoroughly  well  built,  or  where  Nature  has 
relieved  the  engineer  and  the  road-builder  of  the  expensive  work  of 
grading,  as  throughout  a  very  large  extent  of  the  Western  and  South- 
ern portion  of  our  country,  we  may  expect  to  see  the  road-locomotive 
rapidly  introduced. 

The  earliest  and  most  perfect  success  of  the  traction-engine,  and 
its  probable  successor,  the  steam-carriage,  may  be  expected  to  occur 


276 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


in  such  districts.  Its  great  economical  advantage  over  animal  power, 
its  freedom  from  liability  to  become  disabled  by  epizootic  diseases, 
its  reliability  under  all  circumstances,  and  the  many  other  advantages 
which  are  possessed  by  the  machine,  are  already  securing  its  introduc- 
tion, despite  the  difficulties  arising  from  popular  prejudice  and  unfa- 
miliarity,  from  hostile  municipal  laws  and  other  existing  obstacles. 

We  are  learning  that  this  motor,  when  it  can  be  used  at  all,  is  com- 
paratively inexpensive ;  that  our  roads  are  improved  by  it ;  and  that 
the  ancient  idea  of  its  conflicting  with  the  interests  of  owners  and 
workers  of  horses  is  only  a  superstition. 


Fig.  40.— Hancock's  Steam-Carkiage,  1833. 


Such  a  commencement  having  been  made,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
how  great  may  not  be  the  future  of  this  branch  of  industry  when  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  our  Western  plains,  the  natural  habitat 
of  this  motor,  shall  have  become  finally  a  principal  seat  of  its  manu- 
facture as  well  as  of  its  employment.1 

69.  The  steam-blast  of  Hackworth,  the  tubular  boiler  of  Seguin, 
and  the  link-motion  of  Stephenson,  constitute  the  essential  features 
of  the  modern  locomotive.  Locomotives  have  gradually  and  steadily 
increased  in  size  and  power  from  the  date  of  their  introduction. 
The  Rocket,  which  first  proved  conclusively,  in  1829,  the  value  of 
steam-locomotion,  weighed  4£  tons.  In  1835  Robert  Stephenson, 
who  had  constructed  it  with  his  father,  writing  to  Robert  L.  Ste- 
vens, said  that  he  was  making  his  engines  heavier  and  heavier,  and 
that  the  engine  of  which  he  inclosed  a  sketch  weighed  nine  tons, 
and  could  draw  "  100  tons  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  miles  an  hour,  on  a 
level."  Locomotives  are  now  built  weighing  seventy  tons,  and  power- 
ful enough  to  draw  more  than  2,000  tons  at  a  speed  of  twenty  miles 
an  hour.  The  modern  locomotive  consists  of  a  boiler,  mounted  upon 
a  strong  light  frame  of  forged  iron,  by  which  it  is  connected  with 
the  wheels.  The  largest  engine  vet  constructed  in  the  United  States 
is  said  to  be  one  in  use  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad,  hav- 
ing a  weight  of  about  100,000  pounds,  which  is  carried  on  twelve 
driving-wheels.  A  locomotive  has  two  steam  cylinders,  either  side 
1  Vide  paper  by  the  author,  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  1871. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


277 


Fig.  41.— British  Express-Engine. 


by  side  within  the  frame,  and  immediately  beneath  the  forward  end 
of  the  boiler,  or  on  each  side  and  exterior  to  the  frame.  The  engines 
are  non-condensing  and  of  the  simplest  possible  construction.  The 
whole  machine  is  carried  upon  strong  but  flexible  steel  springs.  The 
steam -pressure    is    usually 

more  than  100  pounds.    The  _^  TT  lEj 

pulling -power  is  generally 
about  one-fifth  the  weight 
under  most  favorable  con- 
ditions, and  becomes  as  low 
as  one -tenth  on  wet  rails. 
The  fuel  employed  is  wood 
in  new  countries,  coke  in  bi- 
tuminous coal  districts,  and 
anthracite  coal  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  United  States. 
The  general  arrangement  and  the  proportions  of  locomotives  differ 
somewhat  in  different  localities.  In  Fig.  41,  a  British  express-engine, 
O  is  the  boiler,  N~  the  fire-box,  Xthe  grate,  G  the  smoke-box,  and  P 
the  chimney.  S  is  a  spring,  and  H  a  lever  safety-valve,  T  is  the 
whistle,  L  the  throttle  or  regulator  valve,  E  the  steam-cylinder,  and 
TTthe  driving-wheel.  The  force-pump,  B  C,  is  driven  from  the  cross- 
head,  I).  The  frame  is  the  base  of  the  whole  system,  and  all  other 
parts  are  firmly  secured  to  it.  The  boiler  is  made  fast  at  one  end, 
and  provision  is  made  for  its  expansion  when  heated.  Adhesion  is 
secured  by  throwing  a  proper  proportion  of  the  weight  upon  the 
driving-wheel  W.  This  is  from  about  6,000  pounds  on  standard 
freight-engines,  having  several  pairs  of  drivers,  to  10,000  pounds  on 
passenger-engines,  per  axle.  The  peculiarities  of  the  American  type 
(Figs.  42,  43)  are  the  truck  or  bogie  supporting  the  forward  part  of 
the  engine,  the  system  of  equalizers,  or  beams  which  distribute  the 
weight  of  the  machine  equally  over  the  several  axles,  and  minor 
differences  of  detail.  The  cab  or  house  protecting  the  engine-driver 
and  fireman  is  an  American  device,  which  is  gradually  coming  into 
use  abroad  also.  The  American  locomotive  (Fig.  43)  is  distinguished 
by  its  flexibility  and  ease  of  action  even  upon  roughly-laid  roads. 
The  cost  of  passenger-locomotives  of  ordinary  size  is  about  $12,000; 
heavier  engines  sometimes  cost  $20,000.  The  locomotive  is  usually 
furnished  with  a  tender,  which  carries  its  fuel  and  water.  The  stand- 
ard passenger-engine  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  is  quite  similar  in 
form  to  the  Baldwin  engine  (Fig.  42),  and  has  four  driving-wheels 
(G,  IT),  5£  feet  diameter;  steam-cylinders  (C,  D),  seventeen  inches 
diameter  and  two  feet  stroke;  grate-surface  (N)  15^  square  feet,  and 
heating-surface  1,058  square  feet.  It  weighs  63,100  pounds,  of  which 
39,000  pounds  are  on  the  drivers  and  24,100  on  the  truck,  L  K.  The 
shell  of  the  boiler  is  49^  inches  diameter  and  20  feet  2\  inches  long. 


278 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


The  fire-box,  N  JV,  is  of  steel,  six  feet  two  inches  long  outside,  3£ 
feet  wide,  and  five  feet  four  inches  high.  The  tubes,  0  0,  are  of  iron, 
142  in  number,  2J  inches  diameter,  and  eleven  feet  seven  inches  long. 
The  steam-dome,  E,  is  thirty  inches  outside  diameter,  the  smoke- 


H 

o 

a 
o 

o 


a 
-> 
< 

a 

a 

H 
I 


01 


stack,  ^>,  14£  inches.  The  feed-water  is  supplied  by  one  pump,  h,  of 
2\  inches  diameter  and  two  feet  stroke,  and  by  a  No.  8  Giftard  in- 
jector. The  valves,  T,  are  16 £  inches  wide  by  8*  inches  long,  and 
have  five  inches  travel.  The  steam-ports  are  15ff  inches  wide  and 
li  inch  long,  and  the  exhaust-port  15-f|  by  2|  inches.    The  lap  of  the 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


279 


valve  is,  outside  £  inch,  inside  -fa  inch.  The  eccentrics  have  a  throw  of 
4i  inches.  The  standard  freight-engine  has  six  driving-wheels,  54§ 
inches  in  diameter.  The  steam-cylinders  are  eighteen  inches  in  diame- 
ter, stroke  twenty-two  inches,  grate-surface  14.8  square  feet,  heating- 
surface  1,096  feet.  It  weighs  68,500  pounds,  of  which  48,000  are  on 
the  drivers  and  20,500  on  the  truck.  The  boiler  is  nearly  of  the  same 
dimensions  as  that  of  the  passenger-engine,  but  the  tubes  are  2|  inches 
in  diameter,  twelve  feet  9T9F  inches  long,  and  119  in  number.  The 
stack  is  eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  The  pump  is  2£  inches  in  diam- 
eter, and  has  a  stroke  of  twenty-two  inches.  The  valve  has  §  inch 
inside  lap,  -fa  inch  outside.  The  former  takes  a  train  of  five  cars  up 
an  average  grade  of  ninety  feet  to  the  mile.  The  latter  is  attached 
to  a  train  of  eleven  cars.  On  a  grade  of  fifty  feet  to  the  mile,  the 
former  takes  seven  and  the  latter  seventeen  cars.  Tank-engines  for 
very  heavy  work,  such  as  on  grades  of  320  feet  to  the  mile,  which  are 
found  on  some  of  the  railroads  where  gradients  are  very  steep,  have 
five  pairs  of  coupled  driving-wheels,  and  are  not  fitted  with  trucks. 
Such  engines  have,  usually,  steam-cylinders  about  twenty  inches  in 
diameter  and  two  feet  stroke  of  piston.  Their  grates  have  an  area 
of  fifteen  or  sixteen  square  feet,  and  the  heating-surface  has  an  area  of 
1,400  to  1,500  square  feet.  Engines  of  this  class,  weighing  fifty  tons, 
have  hauled  110  tons  up  the  heaviest  grades  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour.  Steam-pressure  is  carried  at 
from  125  to  150  pounds  on  the  square  inch. 

70.  A  train  weighing  150  tons  is  drawn  by  an  express-engine  (Fig. 


Fig.  43.— Standard  Passenger  and  Express  Engine,  18T8. 


43)  at  the  speed  of  sixty  miles  an  hour,  the  engine  developing  about 
800  horse-power.1  An  engine  drawing  a  light  train  has  been  known 
to  make  about  one  hundred  miles  in  one  hundred  minutes,  which  speed 
may  be  taken  as  representing  the  maximum  for  the  best  modern 
engines  on  the  best  existing  roads. 

1  Nearly  equivalent  to  the  actual  power  of  1,200  horses. 


z8o 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


The  life  of  the  locomotive,  when  well  cared  for,  cannot  be  exactly 
stated,  but  may  be  taken  as  not  far  from  thirty  years.  Repairs 
cost,  annually,  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  first  cost.  While  run- 
ning each  engine  requires  about  four  pints  of  oil  and  two  tons  of  coal 
for  each  one  hundred  miles. 

71.  After  their  introduction,  the  growth  of  railroads  and  the  use 
of  locomotives  extended  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe  with 
great  rapidity. 

The  first  railroad  in  the  United  States  was  built  near  Quincy,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  1826. 

In  1850  there  were  about  700  miles  in  operation;  in  1860  there 
were  over  30,000;  and  there  are  to-day  about  76,000  miles  of  com- 
pleted road  in  the  United  States,  and  the  rate  of  increase  had  risen  in 
1873  to  above  7,000  miles  per  year,  as  a  maximum,  and  the  consump- 
tion of  rails  for  renewal  alone  amounts  to  nearly  a  half-million  tons 
per  year. 


-+*+- 


HEALTH-MATTERS  IN  JAPAN. 


Br  EDWARD   S.   MORSE. 


THE  problem  which  excites  more  interest  than  any  other  in  the 
larger  cities  of  our  country  is  that  in  regard  to  the  best  dis- 
position of  sewage.  People  have  slowly  come  to  realize  that  in 
some  wray  a  series  of  disorders  arises  from  the  presence  of  waste 
matter  in  cities.  So  well  ascertained  is  this  fact  that  diseases  which 
are-  attributed  to  the  presence  of  filth  are  aptly  called  filth-diseases, 
and  it  is  well  that  they  are  at  last  branded  by  their  right  name. 
One  has  only  to  consult  the  valuable  reports  of  the  State  boards  of 
health  for  infomation  on  these  matters.  In  these  reports  he  will  find 
an  overwhelming  mass  of  evidence  tracing  typhoid  fever,  cholera 
infantum,  and   other   diseases,  to  the  presence   of  filth,  and  to   its 


HEALTH-MATTERS  IN  JAPAN.  281 

infectious  character  when  communicating  with  water-supplies,  or 
through  its  malarial  gases  affecting  the  air  of  houses.  At  present  the 
causes  of  high  death-rates  are  as  certainly  known  as  the  course  of 
storms.  Indeed,  the  intelligent  physician  will  predict  the  necessary 
consequences  which  must  ensue  from  the  presence  in  a  crowded  city 
of  matter  which  should  be  removed.  Interested  as  I  have  been  in 
these  subjects,  I  looked  forward  with  considerable  eagerness  to  an 
opportunity  for  studying  the  conditions  which  obtain  among  the 
Japanese  concerning  these  matters.  Their  manner  of  living,  their 
food,  their  domestic  habits,  are  all  so  different  from  ours,  that  it  nat- 
urally occurred  to  me,  if  these  filth-diseases  are  as  common  here,  with 
their  cleanly  habits,  and  the  universal  custom  of  removing  offal  from 
their  dwellings,  as  with  us  where  the  same  matter  lies  in  a  frightful 
state  for  months  to  pollute  the  neighborhood,  then  the  points  urged 
in  regard  to  the  relations  between  filth-diseases  and  offal  must  be 
modified  or  abandoned. 

What  do  the  facts  show  ? 

At  home,  the  following  conditions  are  rightly  looked  upon  as 
grave  sources  of  danger  :  the  presence  of  privies  in  the  vicinity  of 
wells,  cellars  filled  with  decaying  vegetable  matter,  a  water-closet  or 
privy  connected  immediately  with  a  house,  or  the  ingress  of  sewage- 
gas  to  a  house.  It  is  at  present  difficult  to  get  any  vital  statistics 
regarding  the  Japanese.  While  the  Government  and  people  have 
made  the  most  surprising  strides  toward  the  civilization  of  Western 
nations  (for  they  have  a  civilization  of  their  own  which  in  many  re- 
spects is  far  ahead  of  ours '),  and  have  established  normal  schools  and 
universities,  medical  and  naval  colleges,  hydrographic  and  other  sur- 
veys, they  have  not  yet  seen  the  importance  of  organizing  a  board  of 
health.2 

One  would  be  justified  in  assuming  that  if  these  sources  of  danger 
existed,  the  foreigner,  unacclimated  as  he  is,  would  be  more  suscep- 
tible to  their  influence  than  the  native.  Dr.  Stuart  Eldridge,  of  Yo- 
kohama, a  distinguished  physician,  who  has  had  a  long  and  varied 
experience  in  this  country  in  hospital-work  and  as  an  active  practi- 
tioner, has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  data  at  my  re- 
quest :  "  Scarlet  fever  almost  unknown,  never  epidemic.  Diphthe- 
ria almost  unknown,  never  epidemic.  Severer  forms  of  bowel-dis- 
ease, such   as  dysentery  and   chronic  diarrhoea,  very  rare.      Mala- 

1  If  some  of  the  indications  of  civilization  are  to  treat  each  other  kindly,  to  treat  their 
children  with  unvarying  kindness,  to  treat  the  animals  below  them  with  tenderness,  to 
honor  their  father  and  mother,  to  be  scrupulously  clean  in  their  persons,  to  be  frugal  and 
temperate  in  their  habits — if  these  features  be  recognized  as  civilized,  then  this  pagan 
nation  in  these  respects  is  as  far  ahead  of  us  as  we  are  ahead  of  the  Tierra  del  Fuegans. 

8  We  ought  not  to  expect  this  of  Japan,  perhaps,  since  the  representatives  sent  by 
Maine  to  her  Legislature  were,  with  few  exceptions,  too  ignorant  to  appreciate  the  neces- 
sity of  a  State  board  of  health,  and  were  incredulous  that  the  physicians  who  urged  the 
measure  so  strongly  were  unselfishly  working  for  its  establishment  ! 


28z  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

rial  diseases  of  severe  nature  uncommon;  even  the  milder  forms  in 
most  localities  not  common.  Typhoid  and  typhus  rarely  epidemic, 
the  latter  uncommon."  With  these  facts  before  us,  let  us  examine 
the  conditions  of  living  among  these  people.  It  is  well  known  that 
their  houses  are  so  arranged  that  the  winds  blow  through  them  from 
one  end  to  the  other.  In  summer  they  are  entirely  open.  The  privies 
are  never  connected  immediately  with  the  houses  except  among  the 
lower  classes  in  the  larger  cities,  where,  as  in  Tokio  for  example,  among 
the  poorer  houses  the  privy  is  in  the  back  part  of  the  house,  but  even 
in  these  cases  a  close  sliding-door  always  separates  this  apartment 
from  the  living-room,  and  a  grated  window  without  glass  permits 
thorough  ventilation.  In  the  public  inns,  too,  the  privy  is  some- 
times connected  with  the  building,  to  the  great  discomfort  of  for- 
eigners. In  the  country  villages  it  stands  alongside  the  road,  separate 
from  the  house.  Their  sewage  system,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  su- 
perficial, and  there  is  no  sewage-gas  to  contaminate  the  air.  The 
houses  have  no  cellars,  and  consequently  the  air  in  them  is  not  pol- 
luted from  this  source.  On  the  other  band,  their  wells  are  not  always 
properly  situated,  and  the  water  is  liable  to  pollution  from  gutters. 
The  important  point  to  be  noted,  however,  is  in  regard  to  the  dispo- 
sition of  their  offal,  and  it  is  well  known  that  every  day  or  two  this 
is  removed  and  scattered  on  their  rice-fields  and  other  cultivated 
areas.  The  vaults  consist  of  water-tight  vessels  of  limited  capacity. 
In  Tokio  they  use  for  this  purpose  oil-barrels,  which  they  coat  with 
a  kind  of  varnish  inside  and  out.  From  the  small  size  of  this  vessel 
accumulation  never  occurs,  and  from  its  nature  the  soil  never  becomes 
saturated  by  its  contents.  Men,  instead  of  being  paid  to  remove  it, 
actually  pay  for  it  ! 

The  Japanese  having  no  cattle  or  sheep,  but  few  horses,  no  pigs, 
and  but  few  fowls  at  the  most,  depend  entirely  upon  the  sewage 
of  towns  for  the  fertilizing  material  of  their  farms.  No  one  at  home 
can  form  any  idea  of  the  perfect  manner  of  this  work.  Even  in  as 
large  a  city  as  Tokio,  with  its  million  inhabitants,  this  service  is 
performed  with  a  neatness  and  thoroughness  which  surpasses  belief. 
The  foreigner  finds  one  of  his  senses  rudely  assailed  at  times,  though, 
as  to  that  matter,  he  may  go  into  one  of  the  most  refined  cities  of 
America,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  summer  months,  encounter 
the  same  discomforts.  Dr.  David  Murray  has  called  my  attention  to 
the  very  important  service  performed  by  the  crows  and  a  kind  of 
hawk  which  act  as  scavengers.  We  are  so  accustomed  at  home  to 
find  these  birds  especially  wild  and  wary,  that  it  is  a  somewhat 
startling  sight  to  see  them  perching  on  the  buildings  in  a  crowded 
city  like  Tokio,  and  swooping  down  in  front  of  you  in  quest  of 
food,  which  might  otherwise  decay  and  vitiate  the  atmosphere.  The 
destructiveness  and  brutality,  generally  speaking,  of  the  children  of 
Christian  nations  lead  to  the  stoning  of  dogs,  cats,  and  birds  of  all 


HEALTH-MATTERS  IN  JAPAN.  283 

kinds.  In  Japan  such  a  thing  is  unknown,  and  a  stone  thrown  at  a 
dog  (I  speak  from  experience)  is  generally  answered  by  an  inquiring 
look,  hens  hop  out  of  the  way,  and  even  cats  do  not  take  the  hint ! 
In  other  words,  the  crows  and  hawks  are  never  molested,  and  the 
result  is  that  all  carrion  and  other  stuff  left  in  the  streets  are  pounced 
upon  and  carried  off  immediately. 

As  far  as  climatic  conditions  are  concerned  everything  is  most 
favorable  for  the  development  of  filth-diseases,  provided  the  sources 
of  danger  were  present.  In  the  summer  months  the  heat  is  often- 
times oppressive,  the  moisture  excessive,  meat  decays  rapidly,  and 
the  decomposition  of  fruit  and  vegetables  quickly  ensues.  With 
fruit  especially  ripeness  is  almost  coincident  with  decay. 

In  regard  to  the  personal  habits  of  the  people,  it  is  interesting  to 
remark  that  they  drink  very  little  cold  water.  The  water  is  drunk  as 
hot  tea — in  other  words,  it  is  boiled.  Of  extreme  importance,  too,  in 
regard  to  children's  disorders,  is  the  fact  that,  until  they  are  two  or 
three  years  old,  they  draw  their  nourishment  from  the  maternal  fount. 
JVo  child  is  fed  artificially. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Japanese  eat 
unripe  fruit  to  an  inordinate  extent.  The  moment  fruit  shows  the 
slightest  signs  of  being  soft  as  an  evidence  of  ripeness,  it  is  consid- 
ered by  them  as  unfit  to  eat.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  them  eat  hard, 
green  peaches — clinching  them  in  the  fist,  as  a  country  boy  does  a 
hard  apple,  and  biting  off  each  mouthful  with  a  loud  snap.  They  eat 
their  pears  in  the  same  way  ;  cucumbers  are  eaten  in  a  more  unripe 
condition  than  with  us  even  ;  and  water-melons,  which  are  so  much 
inveighed  against  at  home,  are  here  eaten  by  all  classes  and  at  all 
times. 

In  fact,  they  seem  to  revel  in  those  things  which  at  home  are  con- 
sidered so  productive  of  summer-complaints;  who  does  not  recall  the 
astonishment  he  has  felt  at  the  sight  of  country  children  of  tender 
age  eating  green  apples,  green  corn  uncooked,  and  similar  things,  and 
yet  suffering  no  ill-effects  therefrom  ?  These  facts  may  not  prove, 
perhaps,  that  unripe  fruit  is  harmless;  but,  in  connection  with  the 
other  statements,  they  do  show  that  the  removal  of  sewage-matter 
from  houses  is  the  important  point  to  consider,  and  that  its  removal 
insures  an  absence,  or  a  less  number,  of  cases  of  those  diseases  which 
enhance  our  death-rate  at  home,  and  lends  an  additional  reason  for 
the  necessity  of  vigilance  on  the  part  of  communities  regarding  these 
matters. 

Concerning  sunstroke,  it  is  believed  at  home  that  one  of  its  incit- 
ing causes  is  the  exposure  of  the  body  or  head  to  the  overpowering 
heat  of  the  sun  ;  and  the  subjection  of  the  uncovered  head  to  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun  is  looked  upon  as  dangerous.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  admitted  that  intemperance  in  food  or  drink,  and  particu- 
larly the  latter,  may  be  inducing  causes.     Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  sug- 


284  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

gestive  to  note  the  rare  occurrence  of  sunstroke  among  the  Japanese, 
and  to  remark  that  two  out  of  three  go  bareheaded.  The  women 
never  have  their  heads  covered,  and  the  men  do  not  always  protect 
theirs  with  the  sun-shade.  Among  the  lower  classes,  few  have  their 
heads  covered  except  in  the  hottest  weather — the  Jinrikisha  men 
and  the  Bettoes  l  running  for  miles  bareheaded.  In  most  cases  the 
head  is  shaved  on  top.  If  exposure  of  the  head  to  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun  is  the  inducing  cause  of  sunstroke,  then  here,  in  latitude 
35°,  we  should  expect  numerous  cases,  while,  if  over-eating  and  over- 
drinking—  in  other  words,  intemperate  habits  —  are  the  inducing 
causes,  then  we  can  understand  the  immunity  of  the  Japanese  from 
this  malady :  for  a  more  temperate  and  frugal  people  do  not  exist  on 
the  face  of  the  globe. 

One  observes  in  traveling  through  the  country  the  almost  eutire 
absence  of  deformities  arising  from  accidents — no  broken  backs  or 
broken  noses,  no  unequal  legs,  or  other  mutilations  or  deformities  of 
any  sort.  A  fruitful  source  of  these  misfortunes  at  home  may  be 
traced  to  accidents  which  befall  children,  such  as  falling  out  of  win- 
dows, tumbling  down-stairs,  being  knocked  down  in  the  street  by  run- 
away horses,  and,  in  later  years,  the  deformities  of  the  face,  often- 
times the  result  of  drunken  rows  and  fights  ;  the  common  occur- 
rence of  building-accidents,  from  insecure  and  dishonest  staging,  and 
the  hundreds  of  other  ways  in  which  mutilations  are  met  with  in  large 
factories.  In  Japan  the  houses  are  one  story  high  ;  generally  speak- 
ing, there  are  no  windows  to  tumble  out  of,  or  flights  of  stairs  to 
tumble  down.  Horses,  except  as  pack-horses,  are  rare.2  The  people 
do  not  have  drunken  brawls.  Their  stagings  are  always  built  to  hold 
together,  and  thus  pagan  temples  are  reared,  and  pagan  temples  are 
repainted,  without  those  appalling  accidents  which  occur  in  a  service 
of  like  nature  at  home.  There  are  no  big  factories ;  and  so,  with  these 
sources  of  danger  eliminated,  we  find  a  reason,  perhaps,  for  the  ab- 
sence of  deformities. 

In  regard  to  the  prevalence  of  certain  other  diseases  which  may 
be  of  interest  in  a  paper  of  this  nature,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
small-pox,  which  was  formerly  endemic,  is  now  coming  under  control 
by  the  Government  taking  active  measures  to  insure  vaccination.  A 
vaccine  farm  is  maintained,  and  it  is  compulsory  on  every  one  to  be 
vaccinated.  The  frightful  scourges  of  this 'disease  in  past  times  are 
seen  in  the  sadly-scarred  faces  of  so  many  of  the  people,  and  in  the 
number  of  blind  persons  one  encounters. 

Eye-diseases  of  various  kinds  are  prevalent,  and  near-sightedness 
seems  very  common,  judging  from  the  number  of  people  who  wear 
glasses.     Weakness  of  vision  must  in  some  measure  be  attributed  to 

1  Bettoes  are  servants  who  run  beside  the  horses  or  before  them  when  one  is  driving. 

2  Only  within  a  few  years  have  horses  been  used  in  the  streets  of  Tokio,  and  a  police 
regulation  requires  a  man  to  run  in  front  of  each  one  in  every  crowded  thoroughfare. 


HEALTH-MATTERS   IN  JAPAN.  285 

the  poor  light  the  people  provide  themselves  with.  A  dim  candle, 
or,  at  most,  a  tiny  wick  resting  on  the  edge  of  a  vecsel  of  vegetable 
oil  of  feeble  illuminating  power,  and  this  inclosed  in  a  paper  lantern, 
is  the  almost  universal  lamp  of  the  Japanese  ;  and  with  this  dim  light 
the  student  studies  his  Chinese  classics,  the  characters  of  which  are 
so  confusedly  wrought  together,  and  the  woman  performs  her  sewing 
on  the  customary  dark-blue  cloth.  The  gradual  introduction  of  kero- 
sene-oil, which  is  now  going  on,  must  in  some  way  modify  these 
troubles. 

Measles  is  occasionally  epidemic,  and,  owing  to  the  exposed  life 
of  the  people,  often  very  severe.  Phthisis  is  not  more  common  in 
Japan  than  in  our  Middle  States.  Articular  rheumatism  is  not  com- 
mon, but  muscular  rheumatism  is  very  common.  Skin-diseases  are 
common,  especially  the  contagious  forms.  The  universal  use  of  the 
razor  in  shaving,  and  the  custom  of  itinerant  barbers,  who  travel  from 
one  village  to  another  shaving  indiscriminately,  indicate  too  plainly 
the  reason  for  the  prevalence  of  contagious  diseases  of  the  skin. 
In  Japan  everybody  shaves.  The  men  shave  the  tops  of  their  heads, 
the  beard  and  mustache,  and,  curiously  enough,  every  portion  of  the 
face,  even  to  the  eyelids  (not  the  eyelashes),  the  lobes  of  the  ears, 
and  the  nose  to  its  very  tip.  Married  women  shave  their  eyebrows  ; 
widows  and  priests  shave  the  entire  scalp ;  babies  even  have  their 
heads  shaved  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  the  most  grotesque  bunches 
of  hair  symmetrically  disposed,  like  a  fancy  garden-plot,  the  remain- 
ing portions  of  the  scalp  being  entirely  denuded.  It  is  rather  the 
exception  than  the  rule  to  find  a  child's  head  free  from  an  eruption 
of  some  kind,  and  for  this  reason,  as  a  general  thing,  the  Japanese 
babies  are  unattractive. 

My  observations  on  the  facts  kindly  furnished  me  by  Dr.  Eldridge 
apply  only  to  the  region  about  Tokio.  The  experience  upon  which 
these  are  made  is  based  on  a  tour  of  a  hundred  miles  to  the  northwest 
of  Tokio,  a  good  part  of  the  inland  journey  being  made  on  foot,  many 
rambles  through  the  streets  of  Tokio,  and  a  six  weeks'  sojourn  in  a 
little  village  seventeen  miles  south  of  Yokohama.  During  all  these 
trips  and  sojourns  I  have  had  my  note  and  sketch  book  constantly 
with  me,  and  have  given  the  strictest  attention  to  the  sanitary  con- 
dition of  the  houses  and  their  surroundings. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  more  solid  progress 
has  been  made  in  medicine  and  surgery  than  in  any  other  branch  of 
Western  science,  and  that  the  old  Chinese  system,  with  its  grotesque 
absurdities,  is  doomed. 

P.  S. — Just  as  I  am  mailing  this,  the  alarming  news  comes  that 
the  Asiatic  cholera  has  made  its  appearance  in  Yokohama  in  the  most 
emphatic  manner.  It  will,  of  course,  extend  to  Tokio;  and,  curiously 
enough,  the  very  customs  of  the  people  which  tend  to  thwart  the  rav- 


286  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ages  of  certain  other  diseases  will  in  this  case  be  the  very  conditions 
to  promote  the  ravages  of  cholera.  A  parallel  case  would  be  that  of 
carefully  removing  the  coals  of  fire  from  a  building  every  night,  as  a 
safeguard  to  the  structure  ;  but  let  a  sudden  gale  spring  up,  and  the 
embers  thus  removed  would  be  scattered  far  and  wide. 


ILLUSTRATIONS   OF  THE   LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE. 

By  C.  S.  PE1KCE, 

ASSISTANT   IN  THE    UNITED    STATES   COAST   SVRVET. 

SECOND  PAPER.— HOW  TO  MAKE  OUR  IDEAS  CLEAR. 

I. 

WHOEVER  has  looked  into  a  modern  treatise  on  logic  of  the 
common  sort,  will  doubtless  remember  the  two  distinctions 
between  clear  and  obscure  conceptions,  and  between  distinct  and  con- 
fused conceptions.  They  have  lain  in  the  books  now  for  nigh  two 
centuries,  unimproved  and  unmodified,  and  are  generally  reckoned  by 
logicians  as  among  the  gems  of  their  doctrine. 

A  clear  idea  is  defined  as  one  which  is  so  apprehended  that  it  will 
be  recognized  wherever  it  is  met  with,  and  so  that  no  other  will  be 
mistaken  for  it.     If  it  fails  of  this  clearness,  it  is  said  to  be  obscure. 

This  is  rather  a  neat  bit  of  philosophical  terminology  ;  yet,  since  it  is 
clearness  that  they  were  denning,  I  wish  the  logicians  had  made  their 
definition  a  little  more  plain.  Never  to  fail  to  recognize  an  idea,  and 
under  no  circumstances  to  mistake  another  for  it,  let  it  come  in  how  rec- 
ondite a  form  it  may,  would  indeed  imply  such  prodigious  force  and 
clearness  of  intellect  as  is  seldom  met  with  in  this  world.  On  the  other 
hand,  merely  to  have  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  idea  as  to  have 
become  familiar  with  it,  and  to  have  lost  all  hesitancy  in  recognizing  it 
in  ordinary  cases,  hardly  seems  to  deserve  the  name  of  clearness  of 
apprehension,  since  after  all  it  only  amounts  to  a  subjective  feeling  of 
mastery  which  may  be  entirely  mistaken.  I  take  it,  however,  that 
when  the  logicians  speak  of  "  clearness,"  they  mean  nothing  more 
than  such  a  familiarity  with  an  idea,  since  they  regard  the  quality  as 
but  a  small  merit,  which  needs  to  be  supplemented  by  another,  which 
they  call  distinctness. 

A  distinct  idea  is  defined  as  one  which  contains  nothing  which 
is  not  clear.  This  is  technical  language  ;  by  the  co?itents  of  an  idea 
logicians  understand  whatever  is  contained  in  its  definition.  So  that 
an  idea  is  distinctly  apprehended,  according  to  them,  when  we  can 
give  a  precise  definition  of  it,  in  abstract  terms.  Here  the  profes- 
sional logicians  leave  the  subject ;   and  I  would  not  have  troubled  the 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.   287 

reader  with  what  they  have  to  say,  if  it  were  not  such  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  how  they  have  been  slumbering  through  ages  of  intellect- 
ual activity,  listlessly  disregarding  the  enginery  of  modern  thought, 
and  never  dreaming  of  applying  its  lessons  to  the  improvement  of 
logic.  It  is  easy  to  show  that  the  doctrine  that  familiar  use  and 
abstract  distinctness  make  the  perfection  of  apprehension  has  its  only 
true  place  in  philosophies  which  have  long  been  extinct;  and  it  is  now 
time  to  formulate  the  method  of  attaining  to  a  more  perfect  clearness 
of  thought,  such  as  we  see  and  admire  in  the  thinkers  of  our  own 
time. 

When  Descartes  set  about  the  reconstruction  of  philosophy,  his 
first  step  was  to  (theoretically)  permit  skepticism  and  to  discard  the 
practice  of  the  schoolmen  of  looking  to  authority  as  the  ultimate 
source  of  truth.  That  done,  he  sought  a  more  natural  fountain  of 
true  principles,  and  professed  to  find  it  in  the  human  mind  ;  thus 
passing,  in  the  directest  way,  from  the  method  of  authority  to  that  of 
apriority,  as  described  in  my  first  paper,  Self-consciousness  was  to 
furnish  us  with  our  fundamental  truths,  and  to  decide  what  was 
agreeable  to  reason.  But  since,  evidently,  not  all  ideas  are  true,  he 
was  led  to  note,  as  the  first  condition  of  infallibility,  that  they  must  be 
clear.  The  distinction  between  an  idea  see ming  clear  and  really  being 
so,  never  occurred  to  him.  Trusting  to  introspection,  as  he  did, even  for 
a  knowledge  of  external  things,  why  should  he  question  its  testimony 
in  respect  to  the  contents  of  our  own  minds?  But  then,  I  suppose, 
seeing  men,  who  seemed  to  be  quite  clear  and  positive,  holding  oppo- 
site opinions  upon  fundamental  principles,  he  was  further  led  to  say 
that  clearness  of  ideas  is  not  sufficient,  but  that  they  need  also  to  be 
distinct,  i.  e.,  to  have  nothing  unclear  about  them.  What  he  probably 
meant  by  this  (for  he  did  not  explain  himself  with  j^recision)  was,  that 
they  must  sustain  the  test  of  dialectical  examination  ;  that  they  must 
not  only  seem  clear  at  the  outset,  but  that  discussion  must  never  be 
able  to  bring  to  light  points  of  obscurity  connected  with  them. 

Such  was  the  distinction  of  Descartes,  and  one  sees  that  it  was 
precisely  on  the  level  of  his  philosophy.  It  was  somewhat  developed 
by  Leibnitz.  This  great  and  singular  genius  was  as  remarkable  for 
what  he  failed  to  see  as  for  what  he  sawr.  That  a  piece  of  mechanism 
could  not  do  work  perpetually  without  being  fed  wTith  power  in  some 
form,  was  a  thing  perfectly  apparent  to  him ;  yet  he  did  not  under- 
stand that  the  machinery  of  the  mind  can  only  transform  knowledge, 
but  never  originate  it,  unless  it  be  fed  with  facts  of  observation.  He 
thus  missed  the  most  essential  point  of  the  Cartesian  philosophy, 
which  is,  that  to  accept  propositions  which  seem  perfectly  evident  to 
us  is  a  thing  which,  whether  it  be  logical  or  illogical,  we  cannot  help 
doing.  Instead  of  regarding  the  matter  in  this  way,  he  sought  to  re- 
duce the  first  principles  of  science  to  formulas  which  cannot  be  denied 
without  self-contradiction,  and  was  apparently  unaware  of  the  great 


288  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

difference  between  his  position  and  that  of  Descartes.  So  he  reverted 
to  the  old  formalities  of  logic,  and,  above  all,  abstract  definitions  played 
a  great  part  in  his  philosophy.  It  was  quite  natural,  therefore,  that 
on  observing  that  the  method  of  Descartes  labored  under  the  difficulty 
that  we  may  seem  to  ourselves  to  have  clear  apprehensions  of  ideas 
which  in  truth  are  very  hazy,  no  better  remedy  occurred  to  him  than  to 
require  an  abstract  definition  of  every  important  term.  Accordingly, 
in  adopting  the  distinction  of  clear  and  distinct  notions,  he  described 
the  latter  quality  as  the  clear  apprehension  of  everything  contained 
in  the  definition  ;  and  the  books  have  ever  since  copied  his  words. 
There  is  no  danger  that  his  chimerical  scheme  will  ever  a^ain  be  over- 
valued.  Nothing  new  can  ever  be  learned  by  analyzing  definitions. 
Nevertheless,  our  existing  beliefs  can  be  set  in  order  by  this  process, 
and  order  is  an  essential  element  of  intellectual  economy,  as  of  every 
other.  It  may  be  acknowledged,  therefore,  that  the  books  are  right  in 
making  familiarity  with  a  notion  the  first  step  toward  clearness  of 
apprehension,  and  the  defining  of  it  the  second.  But  in  omitting  all 
mention  of  any  higher  perspicuity  of  thought,  they  simply  mirror  a  phi- 
losophy which  was  exploded  a  hundred  years  ago.  That  much-admired 
"ornament  of  lotnc" — the  doctrine  of  clearness  and  distinctness — 
may  be  pretty  enough,  but  it  is  high  time  to  relegate  to  our  cabinet  of 
curiosities  the  antique  bijou,  and  to  wear  about  us  something  better 
adapted  to  modern  uses. 

The  very  first  lesson  that  we  have  a  right  to  demand  that  logic  shall 
teach  us  is,  how  to  make  our  ideas  clear;  and  a  most  important  one  it 
is,  depreciated  only  by  minds  who  stand  in  need  of  it.  To  know  what 
we  think,  to  be  masters  of  our  own  meaning,  will  make  a  solid  foun- 
dation for  great  and  weighty  thought.  It  is  most  easily  learned  by 
those  whose  ideas  are  meagre  and  restricted ;  and  far  happier  they 
than  such  as  wallow  helplessly  in  a  rich  mud  of  conceptions.  A 
nation,  it  is  true,  may,  in  the  course  of  generations,  overcome  the  dis- 
advantage of  an  excessive  wealth  of  language  and  its  natural  con- 
comitant, a  vast,  unfathomable  deep  of  ideas.  "We  may  see  it  in  his- 
tory, slowly  perfecting  its  literary  forms,  sloughing  at  length  its 
metaphysics,  and,  by  virtue  of  the  untirable  patience  which  is  often  a 
compensation,  attaining  great  excellence  in  every  branch  ef  mental 
acquirement.  The  page  of  history  is  not  yet  unrolled  which  is  to  tell 
us  whether  such  a  people  will  or  will  not  in  the  long-run  prevail  over 
one  whose  ideas  (like  the  words  of  their  language)  are  few,  but  which 
possesses  a  wonderful  mastery  over  those  which  it  has.  For  an 
individual,  however,  there  can  be  no  question  that  a  few  clear  ideas 
are  worth  more  than  many  confused  ones.  A  young  man  would 
hardly  be  persuaded  to  sacrifice  the  greater  part  of  his  thoughts  to 
save  the  rest ;  and  the  muddled  head  is  the  least  apt  to  see  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  sacrifice.  Him  we  can  usually  only  commiserate,  as  a 
pei*son  with  a  congenital  defect.     Time  will  help  him,  but  intellectual 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  289 

maturity  with  regard  to  clearness  comes  rather  late,  an  unfortunate 
arrangement  of  Nature,  inasmuch  as  clearness  is  of  less  use  to  a  man 
settled  in  life,  whose  errors  have  in  great  measure  had  their  effect, 
than  it  would  be  to  one  whose  path  lies  before  him.  It  is  terrible  to 
see  how  a  single  unclear  idea,  a  single  formula  without  meaning,  lurk- 
ing in  a  young  man's  head,  will  sometimes  act  like  an  obstruction  of 
inert  matter  in  an  artery,  hindering  the  nutrition  of  the  brain,  and 
condemning  its  victim  to  pine  away  in  the  fullness  of  his  intellectual 
vigor  and  in  the  midst  of  intellectual  plenty.  Many  a  man  has  cher- 
ished for  years  as  his  hobby  some  vague  shadow  of  an  idea,  too  mean- 
ingless to  be  positively  false ;  he  has,  nevertheless,  passionately  loved 
it,  has  made  it  his  companion  by  day  and  by  night,  and  has  given  to 
it  his  strength  and  his  life,  leaving  all  other  occupations  for  its  sake, 
and  in  short  has  lived  with  it  and  for  it,  until  it  has  become,  as  it  were, 
flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of  his  bone ;  and  then  he  has  waked  up 
some  bright  morning  to  find  it  gone,  clean  vanished  away  like  the 
beautiful  Melusina  of  the  fable,  and  the  essence  of  his  life  gone  with 
it.  I  have  myself  known  such  a  man ;  and  who  can  tell  how  many 
histories  of  circle-squarers,  metaphysicians,  astrologers,  and  what  not, 
may  not  be  told  in  the  old  German  story  ? 

II. 

The  principles  set  forth  in  the  first  of  these  papers  lead,  at  once, 
to  a  method  of  reaching  a  clearness  of  thought  of  a  far  higher  grade 
than  the  "distinctness"  of  the  logicians.  "VVe  have  there  found  that 
the  action  of  thought  is  excited  by  the  irritation  of  doubt,  and  ceases 
when  belief  is  attained ;  so  that  the  production  of  belief  is  the  sole 
function  of  thought.  All  these  words,  however,  are  too  strong  for 
my  purpose.  It  is  as  if  I  had  described  the  phenomena  as  they  ap- 
pear under  a  mental  microscope.  Doubt  and  Belief,  as  the  words  are 
commonly  employed,  relate  to  religious  or  other  grave  discussions. 
But  here  I  use  them  to  designate  the  starting  of  any  question,  no  mat- 
ter how  small  or  how  great,  and  the  resolution  of  it.  If,  for  instance, 
in  a  horse-car,  I  pull  out  my  purse  and  find  a  five-cent  nickel  and  five 
coppers,  I  decide,  while  my  hand  is  going  to  the  purse,  in  which  way  I 
will  pay  my  fare.  To  call  such  a  question  Doubt,  and  my  decision 
Belief,  is  certainly  to  use  words  very  disproportionate  to  the  occasion. 
To  speak  of  such  a  doubt  as  causing  an  irritation  which  needs  to  be 
appeased,  suggests  a  temper  which  is  uncomfortable  to  the  verge 
of  insanity.  Yet,  looking  at  the  matter  minutely,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that,  if  there  is  the  least  hesitation  as  to  whether  I  shall  pay  the 
five  coppers  or  the  nickel  (as  there  will  be  sure  to  be,  unless  I  act 
from  some  previously  contracted  habit  in  the  matter),  though  irrita- 
tion is  too  strong  a  word,  yet  I  am  excited  to  such  small  mental  activ- 
ity as  may  be  necessary  to  deciding  how  I  shall  act.    Most  frequently 

VOL.  XII. — 19 


z9o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

doubts  arise  from  some  indecision,  however  momentary,  in  our  action. 
Sometimes  it  is  not  so.  I  have,  for  example,  to  wait  in  a  railway- 
station,  and  to  pass  the  time  I  read  the  advertisements  on  the  walls, 
I  compare  the  advantages  of  different  trains  and  different  routes  which 
I  never  expect  to  take,  merely  fancying  myself  to  be  in  a  state  of 
hesitancy,  because  I  am  bored  with  having  nothing  to  trouble  me. 
Feigned  hesitancy,  whether  feigned  for  mere  amusement  or  with  a 
lofty  purpose,  plays  a  great  part  in  the  production  of  scientific  in- 
quiry. However  the  doubt  may  originate,  it  stimulates  the  mind  to 
an  activity  which  may  be  slight  or  energetic,  calm  or  turbulent. 
Images  pass  rapidly  through  consciousness,  one  incessantly  melting 
into  another,  until  at  last,  when  all  is  over — it  may  be  in  a  fraction  of 
a  second,  in  an  hour,  or  after  long  years — we  find  ourselves  decided  as 
to  how  we  should  act  under  such  circumstances  as  those  which  occa- 
sioned our  hesitation.     In  other  words,  we  have  attained  belief. 

In  this  process  we  observe  two  sorts  of  elements  of  consciousness, 
the  distinction  between  which  may  best  be  made  clear  by  means 
of  an  illustration.  In  a  piece  of  music  there  are  the  separate  notes, 
and  there  is  the  air.  A  single  tone  may  be  prolonged  for  an  hour 
or  a  day,  and  it  exists  as  perfectly  in  each  second  of  that  time 
as  in  the  whole  taken  together;  so  that,  as  long  as  it  is  sounding, 
it  might  be  present  to  a  sense  from  which  everything  in  the  past 
was  as  completely  absent  as  the  future  itself.  But  it  is  different  writh 
the  air,  the  performance  of  which  occupies  a  certain  time,  during  the 
portions  of  which  only  portions  of  it  are  played.  It  consists  in  an 
orderliness  in  the  succession  of  sounds  which  strike  the  ear  at  differ- 
ent times ;  and  to  perceive  it  there  must  be  some  continuity  of  con- 
sciousness which  makes  the  events  of  a  lapse  of  time  present  to  us. 
We  certainly  only  perceive  the  air  by  hearing  the  separate  notes; 
yet  we  cannot  be  said  to  directly  hear  it,  for  we  hear  only  what  is 
present  at  the  instant,  and  an  orderliness  of  succession  cannot  exist  in 
an  instant.  These  two  sorts  of  objects,  what  we  are  immediately 
conscious  of  and  what  we  are  mediately  conscious  of,  are  found  in  all 
consciousness.  Some  elements  (the  sensations)  are  completely  pres- 
ent at  every  instant  so  long  as  they  last,  while  others  (like  thought) 
are  actions  having  beginning,  middle,  and  end,  and  consist  in  a  con- 
gruence in  the  succession  of  sensations  which  flow  through  the  mind. 
They  cannot  be  immediately  present  to  us,  but  must  cover  some  por- 
tion of  the  past  or  future.  Thought  is  a  thread  of  melody  running 
through  the  succession  of  our  sensations. 

We  may  add  that  just  as  a  piece  of  music  may  bo  written  in 
parts,  each  part  having  its  own  air,  so  various  systems  of  relation- 
ship of  succession  subsist  together  between  the  same  sensations. 
These  different  systems  are  distinguished  by  having  different  motives, 
ideas,  or  functions.  Thought  is  only  one  such  system,  for  its  sole 
motive,  idea,  and  function,  is  to  produce  belief,  and  whatever  does 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  291 

not  concern  that  purpose  belongs  to  some  other  system  of  relations. 
The  action  of  thinking  may  incidentally  have  other  results  ;  it  may 
serve  to  amuse  us,  for  example,  and  among  dilettanti  it  is  not  rare 
to  find  those  who  have  so  perverted  thought  to  the  purposes  of  pleas- 
ui*e  that  it  seems  to  vex  them  to  think  that  the  questions  upon  which 
they  delight  to  exercise  it  may  ever  get  finally  settled;  and  a  positive 
discovery  which  takes  a  favorite  subject  out  of  the  arena  of  literary 
debate  is  met  with  ill-concealed  dislike.  This  disposition  is  the  very 
debauchery  of  thought.  But  the  soul  and  meaning  of  thought,  ab- 
stracted from  the  other  elements  which  accompany  it,  though  it  may 
be  voluntarily  thwarted,  can  never  be  made  to  direct  itself  toward 
anything  but  the  production  of  belief.  Thought  in  action  has  for  its 
only  possible  motive  the  attainment  of  thought  at  rest ;  and  what- 
ever does  not  refer  to  belief  is  no  part  of  the  thought  itself. 

And  what,  then,  is  belief?  It  is  the  demi-cadence  which  closes  a 
musical  phrase  in  the  symphony  of  our  intellectual  life.  We  have 
seen  that  it  has  just  three  properties  :  First,  it  is  something  that  we 
are  aware  of;  second,  it  appeases  the  irritation  of  doubt;  and,  third, 
it  involves  the  establishment  in  our  nature  of  a  rule  of  action,  or,  say 
for  short,  a  habit.  As  it  appeases  the  irritation  of  doubt,  which  is  the 
motive  for  thinking,  thought  relaxes,  and  comes  to  rest  for  a  moment 
when  belief  is  reached.  But,  since  belief  is  a  rule  for  action,  the 
application  of  which  involves  further  doubt  and  further  thought,  at 
the  same  time  that  it  is  a  stopping-place,  it  is  also  a  new  starting- 
place  for  thought.  That  is  why  I  have  permitted  myself  to  call  it 
thought  at  rest,  although  thought  is  essentially  an  action.  The  final 
upshot  of  thinking  is  the  exercise  of  volition,  and  of  this  thought  no 
longer  forms  a  part ;  but  belief  is  only  a  stadium  of  mental  action, 
an  effect  upon  our  nature  due  to  thought,  which  will  influence  future 
thinking. 

The  essence  of  belief  is  the  establishment  of  a  habit,  and  different 
beliefs  are  distinguished  by  the  different  modes  of  action  to  which 
they  give  rise.  If  beliefs  do  not  differ  in  this  respect,  if  they  appease 
the  same  doubt  by  producing  the  same  rule  of  action,  then  no  mere 
differences  in  the  manner  of  consciousness  of  them  can  make  them 
different  beliefs,  any  more  than  playing  a  tune  in  different  keys  is 
playing  different  tunes.  Imaginary  distinctions  are  often  drawn 
between  beliefs  which  differ  only  in  their  mode  of  expression ;— the 
wrangling  which  ensues  is  real  enough,  however.  To  believe  that  any 
objects  are  arranged  as  in  Fig.  1,  and  to  believe  that  they  are  arranged 
in  Fig.  2,  are  one  and  the  same  belief;  yet  it  is  conceivable  that  a  man 
should  assert  one  proposition  and  deny  the  other.  Such  false  dis- 
tinctions do  as  much  harm  as  the  confusion  of  beliefs  really  different, 
and  are  among  the  pitfalls  of  which  we  ought  constantly  to  beware, 
especially  when  we  are  upon  metaphysical  ground.  One  singular 
deception  of  this  sort,  which  often  occurs,  is  to  mistake  the  sensation 


2g2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

produced  by  our  own  unclearness  of  thought  for  a  character  of  the 
object  we  are  thinking.  Instead  of  perceiving  that  the  obscurity  is 
purely  subjective,  we  fancy  that  we  contemplate  a  quality  of  the 
object  which  is  essentially  mysterious  ;  and  if  our  conception  be  after- 
ward presented  to  us  in  a  clear  form  we  do  not  recognize  it  as  the 
same,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  feeling  of  unintelligibility.     So 


*        *       %  ' 


•    •    .     • 


*      ■* 


«       « 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 

long  as  this  deception  lasts,  it  obviously  puts  an  impassable  barrier 
in  the  way  of  perspicuous  thinking;  so  that  it  equally  interests  the 
opponents  of  rational  thought  to  perpetuate  it,  and  its  adherents  to 
guard  against  it. 

Another  such  deception  is  to  mistake  a  mere  difference  in  the 
grammatical  construction  of  two  words  for  a  distinction  between  the 
ideas  they  express.  In  this  pedantic  age,  when  the  general  mob  of 
writers  attend  so  much  more  to  words  than  to  things,  this  error  is 
common  enough.  When  I  just  said  that  thought  is  an  action,  and 
that  it  consists  in  a  relation,  although  a  person  performs  an  action 
but  not  a  relation,  which  can  only  be  the  result  of  an  action,  yet 
there  was  no  inconsistency  in  what  I  said,  but  only  a  grammatical 
vagueness. 

From  all  these  sophisms  we  shall  be  perfectly  safe  so  long  as  we 
reflect  that  the  whole  function  of  thought  is  to  produce  habits  of  ac- 
tion ;  and  that  whatever  there  is  connected  with  a  thought,  but  irrele- 
vant to  its  purpose,  is  an  accretion  to  it,  but  no  part  of  it.  If  there 
be  a  unity  among  our  sensations  which  has  no  reference  to  how  we 
shall  act  on  a  given  occasion,  as  when  wTe  listen  to  a  piece  of  music, 
why  we  do  not  call  that  thinking.  To  develop  its  meaning,  we  have, 
therefore,  simply  to  determine  what  habits  it  produces,  for  what  a 
thing  means  is  simply  what  habits  it  involves.  Now,  the  identity  of 
a  habit  depends  on  how  it  might  lead  us  to  act,  not  merely  under  such 
circumstances  as  are  likely  to  arise,  but  under  such  as  might  possibly 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  293 

occur,  no  matter  how  improbable  they  may  be.  What  the  habit  is 
depends  on  when  and  how  it  causes  us  to  act.  As  for  the  when,  every 
stimulus  to  action  is  derived  from  perception;  as  for  the  how,  every 
purpose  of  action  is  to  produce  some  sensible  result.  Thus,  we  come 
down  to  what  is  tangible  and  practical,  as  the  root  of  every  real  dis- 
tinction of  thought,  no  matter  how  subtile  it  may  be ;  and  there  is  no 
distinction  of  meaning  so  fine  as  to  consist  in  anything  but  a  possible 
difference  of  practice. 

To  see  what  this  principle  leads  to,  consider  in  the  light  of  it  such 
a  doctrine  as  that  of  transubstantiation.  The  Protestant  churches 
generally  hold  that  the  elements  of  the  sacrament  are  flesh  and  blood 
only  in  a  tropical  sense ;  they  nourish  our  souls  as  meat  and  the  "juice 
of  it  would  our  bodies.  But  the  Catholics  maintain  that  they  are 
literally  just  that ;  although  they  possess  all  the  sensible  qualities  of 
wafer-cakes  and  diluted  wine.  But  we  can  have  no  conception  of 
wine  except  what  may  enter  into  a  belief,  either — 

1.  That  this,  that,  or  the  other,  is  wine  ;  or, 

2.  That  wine  possesses  certain  properties. 

Such  beliefs  are  nothing  but  self-notifications  that  we  should,  upon 
occasion,  act  in  regard  to  such  things  as  we  believe  to  be  wine  accord- 
ing to  the  qualities  which  we  believe  wine  to  possess.  The  occasion 
of  such  action  would  be  some  sensible  perception,  the  motive  of  it  to 
produce  some  sensible  result.  Thus  our  action  has  exclusive  reference 
to  what  affects  the  senses,  our  habit  has  the  same  bearing  as  our  ac- 
tion, our  belief  the  same  as  our  habit,  our  conception  the  same  as  our 
belief;  and  we  can  consequently  mean  nothing  by  wine  but  what  has 
certain  effects,  direct  or  indirect,  upon  our  senses  ;  and  to  talk  of 
something  as  having  all  the  sensible  characters  of  wine,  yet  being  in 
reality  blood,  is  senseless  jargon.  Now,  it  is  not  my  object  to  pursue 
the  theological  question ;  and  having  used  it  as  a  logical  example  I 
drop  it,  without  caring  to  anticipate  the  theologian's  reply.  I  only 
desire  to  point  out  how  impossible  it  is  that  we  should  have  an 
idea  in  our  minds  which  relates  to  anything  but  conceived  sensible 
effects  of  things.  Our  idea  of  anything  is  our  idea  of  its  sensible 
effects ;  and  if  we  fancy  that  we  have  any  other  we  deceive  ourselves, 
and  mistake  a  mere  sensation  accompanying  the  thought  for  a  part  of 
the  thought  itself.  It  is  absurd  to  say  that  thought  has  any  meaning 
unrelated  to  its  only  function.  It  is  foolish  for  Catholics  and  Protes- 
tants to  fancy  themselves  in  disagreement  about  the  elements  of  the 
sacrament,  if  they  agree  in  regard  to  all  their  sensible  effects,  here  or 
hereafter. 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  rule  for  attaining  the  third  grade  of 
clearness  of  apprehension  is  as  follows ;  Consider  what  effects,  which 
might  conceivably  have  practical  bearings,  we  conceive  the  object  of 
our  conception  to  have.  Then,  our  conception  of  these  effects  is  the 
whole  of  our  conception  of  the  object. 


294  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

III. 

Let  us  illustrate  this  rule  by  some  examples  ;  and,  to  begin  with 
the  simplest  one  possible,  let  us  ask  what  we  mean  by  calling  a  thing 
hard.  Evidently  that  it  will  not  be  scratched  by  many  other  sub- 
stances. The  whole  conception  of  this  quality,  as  of  every  other,  lies 
in  its  conceived,  effects.  There  is  absolutely  no  difference  between  a 
hard  tiling  and  a  soft  thing  so  long  as  they  are  not  brought  to  the 
test.  Suppose,  then,  that  a  diamond  could  be  crystallized  in  the  midst 
of  a  cushion  of  soft  cotton,  and  should  remain  there  until  it  was  finally 
burned  up.  Would  it  be  false  to  say  that  that  diamond  was  soft  ? 
This  seems  a  foolish  question,  and  would  be  so,  in  fact,  except  in  the 
realm  of  logic.  There  such  questions  are  often  of  the  greatest  utility 
as  serving  to  bring  logical  principles  into  sharper  relief  than  real  dis- 
cussions ever  could.  In  studying  logic  we  must  not  put  them  aside 
with  hasty  answers,  but  must  consider  them  with  attentive  care,  in 
order  to  make  out  the  principles  involved.  We  may,  in  the  present 
case,  modify  our  question,  and  ask  what  prevents  us  from  saying  that 
all  hard  bodies  remain  perfectly  soft  until  they  are  touched,  when 
their  hardness  increases  with  the  pressure  until  they  are  scratched. 
Reflection  will  show  that  the  reply  is  this :  there  would  be  no  falsity 
in  such  modes  of  speech.  They  would  involve  a  modification  of  our 
present  usage  of  speech  with  regard  to  the  words  hard  and  soft,  but 
not  of  their  meanings.  For  they  represent  no  fact  to  be  different 
from  what  it  is  ;  only  they  involve  arrangements  of  facts  which  would 
be  exceedingly  maladroit.  This  leads  us  to  remark  that  the  question 
of  what  would  occur  under  circumstances  which  do  not  actually  arise 
is  not  a  question  of  fact,  but  only  of  the  most  perspicuous  arrange- 
ment of  them.  For  example,  the  question  of  free-will  and  fate  in  its 
simplest  form,  stripped  of  verbiage,  is  something  like  this:  I  have 
done  something  of  which  I  am  ashamed ;  could  I,  by  an  effort  of  the 
will,  have  resisted  the  temptation,  and  done  otherwise  ?  The  philo- 
sophical reply  is,  that  this  is  not  a  question  of  fact,  but  only  of  the 
arrangement  of  facts.  Arranging  them  so  as  to  exhibit  what  is  par- 
ticularly pertinent  to  my  question — namely,  that  I  ought  to  blame 
myself  for  having  done  wrong — it  is  perfectly  true  to  say  that,  if  I  had 
willed  to  do  otherwise  than  I  did,  I  should  have  done  otherwise.  On 
the  other  hand,  arranging  the  facts  so  as  to  exhibit  another  important 
consideration,  it  is  equally  true  that,  when  a  temptation  has  once  been 
allowed  to  work,  it  will,  if  it  has  a  certain  force,  produce  its  effect,  let 
me  struggle  how  I  may.  There  is  no  objection  to  a  contradiction  in 
what  would  result  from  a  false  supposition.  The  reductio  ad  absur- 
dum  consists  in  showing  that  contradictory  results  would  follow  from 
a  hypothesis  which  is  consequently  judged  to  be  false.  Many  questions 
arc  involved  in  the  free-will  discussion,  and  I  am  far  from  desiring  to 
say  that  both  sides  are  equally  right.    On  the  contrary,  I  am  of  opinion 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.   295 

that  one  side  denies  important  facts,  and  that  the  other  does  not.  But 
what  I  do  say  is,  that  the  above  single  question  was  the  origin  of  the 
whole  doubt ;  that,  had  it  not  been  for  this  question,  the  controversy 
would  never  have  arisen  ;  and  that  this  question  is  perfectly  solved  in 
the  manner  which  I  have  indicated. 

Let  us  next  seek  a  clear  idea  of  Weight.  This  is  another  very  easy 
case.  To  say  that  a  body  is  heavy  means  simply  that,  in  the  absence 
of  opposing  force,  it  will  fall.  This  (neglecting  certain  specifications 
of  how  it  will  fall,  etc.,  which  exist  in  the  mind  of  the  physicist  who 
uses  the  word)  is  evidently  the  whole  conception  of  weight.  It  is  a 
fair  question  whether  some  particular  facts  may  not  account  for  grav- 
ity ;  but  what  we  mean  by  the  force  itself  is  completely  involved  in 
its  effects. 

This  leads  us  to  undertake  an  account  of  the  idea  of  Force  in  gen- 
eral. This  is  the  great  conception  which,  developed  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century  from  the  rude  idea  of  a  cause,  and  con- 
stantly improved  upon  since,  has  shown  us  how  to  explain  all  the 
changes  of  motion  which  bodies  experience,  and  how  to  think  about 
all  physical  phenomena;  which  has  given  birth  to  modern  science, 
and  changed  the  face  of  the  globe  ;  and  which,  aside  from  its  more 
special  uses,  has  played  a  principal  part  in  directing  the  course  of  mod- 
ern thought,  and  in  furthering  modern  social  development.  It  is, 
therefore,  wTorth  some  pains  to  comprehend  it.  According  to  our  rule, 
we  must  begin  by  asking  what  is  the  immediate  use  of  thinking  about 
force;  and  the  answer  is,  that  we  thus  account  for  changes  of  motion. 
If  bodies  were  left  to  themselves,  without  the  intervention  of  forces, 
every  motion  would  continue  unchanged  both  in  velocity  and  in 
direction.  Furthermore,  change  of  motion  never  takes  place  abrupt- 
ly ;  if  its  direction  is  changed,  it  is  always  through  a  curve  without 
angles  ;  if  its  velocity  alters,  it  is  by  degrees.  The  gradual  changes 
wdiich  are  constantly  taking  place  are  conceived  by  geometers  to  be 
compounded  together  according  to  the  rules  of  the  parallelogram  of 
forces.  If  the  reader  does  not  already  know  what  this  is,  he  will  find 
it,  I  hope,  to  his  advantage  to  endeavor  to  follow  the  following  ex- 
planation ;  but  if  mathematics  are  insupportable  to  him,  pray  let  him 
skip  three  paragraphs  rather  than  that  we  should  part  company  here. 

A  path  is  a  line  whose  beginning  and  end  are  distinguished.  Two 
paths  are  considered  to  be  equivalent,  which,  beginning  at  the  same 
point,  lead  to  the  same  point.  Thus  the  two  paths,  A  B  C  D  E  and 
A  F  G  II E,  are  equivalent.  Paths  which  do  not  begin  at  the  same 
point  are  considered  to  be  equivalent,  provided  that,  on  moving  either 
of  them  without  turning  it,  but  keeping  it  always  parallel  to  its  origi- 
nal position,  when  its  beginning  coincides  with  that  of  the  other  path, 
the  ends  aho  coincide.  Paths  are  considered  as  geometrically  added 
together,  when  one  begins  where  the  other  ends ;  thus  the  path  A  E 
is  conceived  to  be  a  sum  of  A  B,  B  C,  C  Z>,  and  D  E.     In  the  paral- 


296 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Ielogram  of  Fig.  4  the  diagonal  A  C  is  the  sum  of  A  B  and  B  C; 
or,  since  A  J)  is  geometrically  equivalent  to  B  C,  A  C  is  the  geomet- 
rical sum  of  A  B  and  A  I>. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


All  this  is  purely  conventional.  It  simply  amounts  to  this  :  that 
we  choose  to  call  paths  having  the  relations  I  have  described  equal  or 
added.  But,  though  it  is  a  convention,  it  is  a  convention  with  a  good 
reason.  The  rule  for  geometrical  addition  may  be  applied  not  only  to 
paths,  but  to  any  other  things  which  can  be  represented  by  paths. 
Now,  as  a  path  is  determined  by  the  varying  direction  and  distance 
of  the  point  which  moves  over  it  from  the  starting-point,  it  follows 
that  anything  which  from  its  beginning  to  its  end  is  determined  by  a 
varying  direction  and  a  varying  magnitude  is  capable  of  being  repre- 
sented by  a  line.  Accordingly,  velocities  may  be  represented  by  lines, 
for  they  have  only  directions  and  rates.  The  same  thing  is  true  of 
accelerations,  or  changes  of  velocities.  This  is  evident  enough  in  the 
case  of  velocities  ;  and  it  becomes  evident  for  accelerations  if  we  con- 
sider that  precisely  what  velocities  are  to  positions — namely,  states 
of  change  of  them — that  accelerations  are  to  velocities. 

The  so-called  "  parallelogram  of  forces  "  is  simply  a  rule  for  com- 
pounding accelerations.  The  rule  is,  to  represent  the  accelerations  by 
paths,  and  then  to  geometrically  add  the  paths.  The  geometers,  how- 
ever, not  only  use  the  "  parallelogram  of  forces  "  to  compound  differ- 
ent accelerations,  but  also  to  resolve  one  acceleration  into  a  sum  of 
several.     Let  A  B  (Fig.  5)  be  the  path  which  represents  a  certain 

acceleration — say,  such  a  change  in 
the  motion  of  a  body  that  at  the 
end  of  one  second  the  body  will, 
under  the  influence  of  that  change, 
be  in  a  position  different  from  what 
it  would  have  had  if  its  motion 
had  continued  unchanged  such  that 
a  path  equivalent  to  A  B  would 
lead  from  the  latter  position  to  the 
former.  This  acceleration  may  be 
considered  as  the  sum  of  the  accelerations  represented  by  A  C  and 
C  B.  It  may  also  be  considered  as  the  sum  of  the  very  different  ac- 
celerations represented  by  A  D  and  D  B,  where  A  B  is  almost  the 
opposite  of  A  C.     And  it  is  clear  that  there  is  an  immense  variety  of 


Fig.  5. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  297 

ways  in  which  A  B  might  be  resolved  into  the  sum  of  two  accelera- 
tions. 

After  this  tedious  explanation,  which  I  hope,  in  view  of  the  ex- 
traordinary interest  of  the  conception  of  force,  may  not  have  exhaust- 
ed the  reader's  patience,  we  are  prepared  at  last  to  state  the  grand 
fact  which  this  conception  embodies.  This  fact  is  that  if  the  actual 
changes  of  motion  which  the  different  particles  of  bodies  experience 
are  each  resolved  in  its  appropriate  way,  each  component  accelera- 
tion is  precisely  such  as  is  prescribed  by  a  certain  law  of  Nature, 
according  to  which  bodies  in  the  relative  positions  which  the  bod- 
ies in  question  actually  have  at  the  moment,1  always  receive  certain 
accelerations,  which,  being  compounded  by  geometrical  addition,  give 
the  acceleration  which  the  body  actually  experiences. 

This  is  the  only  fact  which  the  idea  of  force  represents,  and  who- 
ever will  take  the  trouble  clearly  to  apprehend  what  this  fact  is,  per- 
fectly comprehends  what  force  is.  Whether  we  ought  to  say  that  a 
force  is  an  acceleration,  or  that  it  causes  an  acceleration,  is  a  mere 
question  of  propriety  of  language,  which  has  no  more  to  do  with  our 
real  meaning  than  the  difference  between  the  French  idiom  "11  fait 
froicV  and  its  English  equivalent  "It  is  cold"  Yet  it  is  surprising 
to  see  how  this  simple  affair  has  muddled  men's  minds.  In  how  many 
profound  treatises  is  not  force  spoken  of  as  a  "  mysterious  entity," 
which  seems  to  be  only  a  way  of  confessing  that  the  author  despairs 
of  ever  getting  a  clear  notion  of  what  the  word  means  !  In  a  recent 
admired  work  on  "  Analytic  Mechanics  "  it  is  stated  that  we  under- 
stand precisely  the  effect  of  force,  but  what  force  itself  is  we  do  not 
understand  !  This  is  simply  a  self-contradiction.  The  idea  which  the 
word  force  excites  in  our  minds  has  no  other  function  than  to  affect 
our  actions,  and  these  actions  can  have  no  reference  to  force  other- 
wise than  through  its  effects.  Consequently,  if  we  know  what  the 
effects  of  force  are,  we  are  acquainted  with  every  fact  which  is  implied 
in  saying  that  a  force  exists,  and  there  is  nothing  more  to  know.  The 
truth  is,  there  is  some  vague  notion  afloat  that  a  question  may  mean 
something  which  the  mind  cannot  conceive;  and  when  some  hair- 
splitting philosophers  have  been  confronted  with  the  absurdity  of 
such  a  view,  they  have  invented  an  empty  distinction  between  posi- 
tive and  negative  conceptions,  in  the  attempt  to  give  their  non-idea 
a  form  not  obviously  nonsensical.  The  nullity  of  it  is  sufficiently  plain 
from  the  considerations  given  a  few  pages  back ;  and,  apart  from 
those  considerations,  the  quibbling  character  of  the  distinction  must 
have  struck  every  mind  accustomed  to  real  thinking. 

IV. 

Let  us  now  approach  the  subject  of  logic,  and  consider  a  concep- 
tion which  particularly  concerns  it,  that  of  reality.     Taking  clearness 

1  Possibly  the  velocities  also  have  to  be  taken  into  account. 


298  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

in  the  sense  of  familiarity,  no  idea  could  be  clearer  than  this.  Every 
child  uses  it  with  perfect  confidence,  never  dreaming  that  he  does  not 
understand  it.  As  for  clearness  in  its  second  grade,  however,  it  would 
probably  puzzle  most  men,  even  among  those  of  a  reflective  turn  of 
mind  to  arive  an  abstract  definition  of  the  real.  Yet  such  a  definition 
may  perhaps  be  reached  by  considering  the  points  of  difference  be- 
tween reality  and  its  opposite,  fiction.  A  figment  is  a  product  of 
somebody's  imagination  ;  it  has  such  characters  as  his  thought  im- 
presses upon  it.  That  whose  characters  are  independent  of  how  you  or 
I  think  is  an  external  reality.  There  are,  however,  phenomena  within 
our  own  minds,  dependent  upon  our  thought,  which  are  at  the  same  time 
real  in  the  sense  that  we  really  think  them.  But  though  their  char- 
acters depend  on  how  we  think,  they  do  not  depend  on  what  we  think 
those  characters  to  be.  Thus,  a  dream  has  a  real  existence  as  a  men- 
tal phenomenon,  if  somebody  has  really  dreamt  it ;  that  he  dreamt  so 
and  so,  does  not  depend  on  what  anybody  thinks  was  dreamt,  but  is 
completely  independent  of  all  opinion  on  the  subject.  On  the  other 
hand,  considering,  not  the  fact  of  dreaming,  but  the  thing  dreamt,  it 
retains  its  peculiarities  by  virtue  of  no  other  fact  than  that  it  was 
dreamt  to  possess  them.  Thus  we  may  define  the  real  as  that  whose 
characters  are  independent  of  what  anybody  may  think  them  to  be. 

But,  however  satisfactory  such  a  definition  may  be  found,  it  would 
be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  it  makes  the  idea  of  reality  per- 
fectly clear.  Here,  then,  let  us  apply  our  rules.  According  to  them, 
reality,  like  every  other  quality,  consists  in  the  peculiar  sensible  effects 
which  things  partaking  of  it  produce.  The  only  effect  which  real 
things  have  is  to  cause  belief,  for  all  the  sensations  which  they  excite 
emerge  into  consciousness  in  the  form  of  beliefs.  The  question  there- 
fore is,  how  is  true  belief  (or  belief  in  the  real)  distinguished  from 
false  belief  (or  belief  in  fiction).  Now,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  former 
paper,  the  ideas  of  truth  and  falsehood,  in  their  full  development,  ap- 
pertain exclusively  to  the  scientific  method  of  settling  opinion.  A 
person  who  arbitrarily  chooses  the  propositions  which  he  Avill  adopt 
can  use  the  word  truth  only  to  emphasize  the  expression  of  his  deter- 
mination to  hold  on  to  his  choice.  Of  course,  the  method  of  tenacity 
never  prevailed  exclusively;  reason  is  too  natural  to  men  for  that. 
But  in  the  literature  of  the  dark  ages  we  find  some  fine  examples  of  it. 
When  Scotus  Erigena  is  commenting  upon  a  poetical  passage  in  which 
hellebore  is  spoken  of  as  having  caused  the  death  of  Socrates,  he  does 
not  hesitate  to  inform  the  inquiring  reader  that  Helleborus  and  Soc- 
rates were  two  eminent  Greek  philosophers,  and  that  the  latter  having 
been  overcome  in  argument  by  the  former  took  the  matter  to  heart 
and  died  of  it !  What  sort  of  an  idea  of  truth  could  a  man  have  who 
could  adopt  and  teach,  without  the  qualification  of  a  perhaps,  an  opin- 
ion taken  so  entirely  at  random  ?  The  real  spirit  of  Socrates,  who  I 
hope  would   have  been  delighted  to  have  been  "  overcome  in  argu- 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  299 

merit,"  because  he  would  have  learned  something  by  it,  is  in  curious 
contrast  with  the  naive  idea  of  the  glossist,  for  whom  discussion  would 
seem  to  have  been  simply  a  struggle.  When  philosophy  began  to 
awake  from  its  long  slumber,  and  before  theology  completely  domi- 
nated it,  the  practice  seems  to  have  been  for  each  professor  to  seize 
upon  any  philosophical. position  he  found  unoccupied  and  which  seemed 
a  strong  one,  to  intrench  himself  in  it,  and  to  sally  forth  from  time  to 
time  to  give  battle  to  the  others.  Thus,  even  the  scanty  records  we 
possess  of  those  disputes  enable  us  to  make  out  a  dozen  or  more  opin- 
ions held  by  different  teachers  at  one  time  concerning  the  question  of 
nominalism  and  realism.  Read  the  opening  part  of  the  "  Historia 
Calamitatum"  of  Abelard,  who  was  certainly  as  philosophical  as  any 
of  his  contemporaries,  and  see  the  spirit  of  combat  which  it  breathes. 
For  him,  the  truth  is  simply  his  particular  stronghold.  When  the 
method  of  authority  prevailed,  the  truth  meant  little  more  than  the 
Catholic  faith.  All  the  efforts  of  the  scholastic  doctors  are  directed 
toward  harmonizing  their  faith  in  Aristotle  and  their  faith  in  the 
Church,  and  one  may  search  their  ponderous  folios  through  without 
finding  an  argument  which  goes  any  further.  It  is  noticeable  that 
where  different  faiths  flourish  side  by  side,  renegades  are  looked  upon 
with  contempt  even  by  the  party  whose  belief  they  adopt ;  so  com- 
pletely has  the  idea  of  loyalty  replaced  that  of  truth-seeking.  Since 
the  time  of  Descartes,  the  defect  in  the  conception  of  truth  has  been 
less  apparent.  Still,  it  will  sometimes  strike  a  scientific  man  that  the 
philosophers  have  been  less  intent  on  finding  out  what  the  facts  are, 
than  on  inquiring  what  belief  is  most  in  harmony  with  their  system. 
It  is  hard  to  convince  a  follower  of  the  a  priori  method  by  adducing 
facts;  but  show  him  that  an  opinion  he  is  defending  is  inconsistent 
with  what  he  has  laid  down  elsewhere,  and  he  will  be  very  apt  to  re- 
tract it.  These  minds  do  not  seem  to  believe  that  disputation  is  ever 
to  cease  ;  they  seem  to  think  that  the  opinion  which  is  natural  for  one 
man  is  not  so  for  another,  and  that  belief  will,  consequently,  never  be 
settled.  In  contenting  themselves  with  fixing  their  own  opinions  by 
a  method  which  would  lead  another  man  to  a  different  result,  they  be- 
tray their  feeble  hold  of  the  conception  of  what  truth  is. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  the  followers  of  science  are  fully  persuaded 
that  the  processes  of  investigation,  if  only  pushed  far  enough,  will 
give  one  certain  solution  to  every  question  to  which  they  can  be  ap- 
plied. One  man  may  investigate  the  velocity  of  light  by  studying 
the  transits  of  Venus  and  the  aberration  of  the  stars ;  another  by  the 
oppositions  of  Mars  and  the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites;  a  third  by 
the  method  of  Fizeau ;  a  fourth  by  that  of  Foucault ;  a  fifth  by  the 
motions  of  the  curves  of  Lissajoux;  a  sixth,  a  seventh,  an  eighth,  and 
a  ninth,  may  follow  the  different  methods  of  comparing  the  measures 
of  statical  and  dynamical  electricity.  They  may  at  first  obtain  dif- 
ferent results,  but,  as  each  perfects  his  method  and  his  processes,  the 


3 co  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

results  will  move  steadily  together  toward  a  destined  centre.  So  with 
all  scientific  research.  Different  minds  may  set  out  with  the  most 
antagonistic  views,  but  the  progress  of  investigation  carries  them  by 
a  force  outside  of  themselves  to  one  and  the  same  conclusion.  This 
activity  of  thought  by  which  we  are  carried,  not  where  we  wish,  but 
to  a  foreordained  goal,  is  like  the  operation  of  destiny.  No  modifica- 
tion of  the  point  of  view  taken,  no  selection  of  other  facts  for  study, 
no  natural  bent  of  mind  even,  can  enable  a  man  to  escape  the  predes- 
tinate opinion.  This  great  law  is  embodied  in  the  conception  of  truth 
and  reality.  The  opinion  which  is  fated '  to  be  ultimately  agreed  to 
by  all  who  investigate,  is  what  we  mean  by  the  truth,  and  the  object 
represented  in  this  opinion  is  the  real.  That  is  the  way  I  would  ex- 
plain reality. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  this  view  is  directly  opposed  to  the  abstract 
definition  which  we  have  given  of  reality,  inasmuch  as  it  makes  the 
characters  of  the  real  to  depend  on  what  is  ultimately  thought  about 
them.  But  the  answer  to  this  is  that,  on  the  one  hand,  reality  is  inde- 
pendent, not  necessarily  of  thought  in  general,  but  only  of  what  you 
or  I  or  any  finite  number  of  men  may  think  about  it;  and  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  though  the  object  of  the  final  opinion  depends  on  what 
that  opinion  is,  yet  what  that  opinion  is  does  not  depend  on  what  you 
or  I  or  any  man  thinks.  Our  perversity  and  that  of  others  may  in- 
definitely postpone  the  settlement  of  opinion  ;  it  might  even  conceiv- 
ably cause  an  arbitrary  proposition  to  be  universally  accepted  as  long 
as  the  human  race  should  last.  Yet  even  that  would  not  change  the 
nature  of  the  belief,  which  alone  could  be  the  result  of  investigation 
carried  sufficiently  far ;  and  if,  after  the  extinction  of  our  race, 
another  should  arise  with  faculties  and  disposition  for  investigation, 
that  true  opinion  must  be  the  one  which  they  would  ultimately  come 
to.  "  Truth  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again,"  and  the  opinion  which 
would  finally  result  from  investigation  does  not  depend  on  how  any- 
body may  actually  think.  But  the  reality  of  that  which  is  real  does 
depend  on  the  real  fact  that  investigation  is  destined  to  lead,  at  last, 
if  continued  long  enough,  to  a  belief  in  it. 

But  I  may  be  asked  what  I  have  to  say  to  all  the  minute  facts  of 
history,  forgotten  never  to  be  recovered,  to  the  lost  books  of  the  an- 
cients, to  the  buried  secrets. 

"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 

The  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear  ; 
Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

Do  these  things  not  really  exist  because  they  are  hopelessly  beyond 

1  Fate  means  merely  that,  which  is  sure  to  come  true,  and  can  nohow  be  avoided.  It 
is  a  superstition  to  suppose  that  a  certain  sort  of  events  are  ever  fated,  and  it  is  another 
to  suppose  that  the  word  fate  can  never  be  freed  from  its  superstitious  taint.  We  are 
all  fated  to  die. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.  301 

the  reach  of  our  knowledge  ?  And  then,  after  the  universe  is  dead** 
(according  to  the  prediction  of  some  scientists),  and  all  life  has  ceased 
forever,  will  not  the  shock  of  atoms  continue  though  there  will  be  no 
mind  to  know  it  ?  To  this  I  reply  that,  though  in  no  possible  state  of 
knowledge  can  any  number  be  great  enough  to  express  the  relation 
between  the  amount  of  what  rests  unknown  to  the  amount  of  the 
known,  yet  it  is  unphilosophical  to  suppose  that,  with  regard  to  any 
given  question  (which  has  any  clear  meaning),  investigation  would 
not  bring  forth  a  solution  of  it,  if  it  were  carried  far  enough.  Who 
would  have  said,  a  few  years  ago,  that  we  could  ever  know  of  what 
substances  stars  are  made  whose  light  may  have  been  longer  in  reach- 
ing us  than  the  human  race  has  existed  ?  Who  can  be  sure  of  what 
we  shall  not  know  in  a  few  hundred  years  ?  Who  can  guess  wThat 
would  be  the  result  of  continuing  the  pursuit  of  science  for  ten  thou- 
sand years,  with  the  activity  of  the  last  hundred  ?  And  if  it  were  to 
go  on  for  a  million,  or  a  billion,  or  any  number  of  years  you  please, 
how  is  it  possible  to  say  that  there  is  any  question  which  might  not 
ultimately  be  solved  ? 

But  it  maybe  objected,  "Why  make  so  much  of  these  remote  con- 
siderations, especially  when  it  is  your  principle  that  only  practical 
distinctions  have  a  meaning  ?  "  Well,  I  must  confess  that  it  makes 
very  little  difference  whether  we  say  that  a  stone  on  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  in  complete  darkness,  is  brilliant  or  not — that  is  to  say,  that  it 
probably  makes  no  difference,  remembering  always  that  that  stone 
may  be  fished  up  to-morrow.  But  that  there  are  gems  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  flowers  in  the  untraveled  desert,  etc.,  are  propositions 
which,  like  that  about  a  diamond  being  hard  when  it  is  not  pressed, 
concern  much  more  the  arrangement  of  our  language  than  they  do  the 
meaning  of  our  ideas. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  we  have,  by  the  application  of  our 
rule,  reached  so  clear  an  apprehension  of  what  we  mean  by  reality, 
and  of  the  fact  which  the  idea  rests  on,  that  we  should  not,  perhaps, 
be  making  a  pretension  so  presumptuous  as  it  would  be  singular,  if 
we  were  to  offer  a  metaphysical  theory  of  existence  for  universal 
acceptance  among  those  who  employ  the  scientific  method  of  fixing 
belief.  However,  as  metaphysics  is  a  subject  much  more. curious  than 
useful,  the  knowledge  of  which,  like  that  of  a  sunken  reef,  serves 
chiefly  to  enable  us  to  keep  clear  of  it,  I  will  not  trouble  the  reader  with 
any  more  Ontology  at  this  moment.  I  have  already  been  led  much  fur- 
ther into  that  path  than  I  should  have  desired;  and  I  have  given  the 
reader  such  a  dose  of  mathematics,  psychology,  and  all  that  is  most 
abstruse,  that  I  fear  he  may  already  have  left  me,  and  that  what  I  am 
now  writing  is  for  the  compositor  and  proof-reader  exclusively.  I 
trusted  to  the  importance  of  the  subject.  There  is  no  royal  road  to 
logic,  and  really  valuable  ideas  can  only  be  had  at  the  price  of  close 
attention.     But  I  know  that  in  the  matter  of  ideas  the  public  prefer 


3o2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  cheap  and  nasty ;  and  in  my  next  paper  I  am  going  to  return  to 
the  easily  intelligible,  and  not  wander  from  it  again.  The  reader  who 
has  been  at  the  pains  of  wading  through  this  month's  paper,  shall  be 
rewarded  in  the  next  one  by  seeing  how  beautifully  what  has  been 
developed  in  this  tedious  way  can  be  applied  to  the  ascertainment  of 
the  rules  of  scientific  reasoning. 

We  have,  hitherto,  not  crossed  the  threshold  of  scientific  logic. 
It  is  certainly  important  to  know  how  to  make  our  ideas  clear,  but 
they  may  be  ever  so  clear  without  being  true.  How  to  make  them 
so,  we  have  next  to  study.  How  to  give  birth  to  those  vital  and  pro- 
creative  ideas  which  multiply  into  a  thousand  forms  and  diffuse  them- 
selves everywhere,  advancing  civilization  and  making  the  dignity  of 
man,  is  an  art  not  yet  reduced  to  rules,  but  of  the  secret  of  which  the 
history  of  science  affords  some  hints. 


-+++- 


THE  ARCHER-FISHES.1 

By  E.  SAUVAGE. 

IN  the  elegance  and  variety  of  their  colors,  in  the  splendor  and 
brilliancy  of  the  tints  with  which  they  have  been  adorned  by 
Nature,  marine  animals  have  no  reason  to  envy  the  inhabitants  of 
air ;  and  if  in  the  tropical  regions  of  Africa  and  America  the  forests 
are  embellished  by  the  presence  of  innumerable  birds  of  gorgeous 
plumage,  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Antilles  Sea  possess  countless 
lesions  of  fishes  that  are  more  beautiful  still,  whose  scales  flash  with 
all  the  colors  of  the  metals  and  precious  stones,  while  a  thousand 
varied  ornamentations  are  traced  in  vivid  colors  on  the  general  tone. 

The  animals  known  to  our  colonists  on  the  Antilles  Islands  under 
the  names  of  Demoiselles,  Portugais,  Handoulieres,  are,  in  this  re- 
spect, not  inferior  to  the  most  richly-adorned  of  fishes.  Accustomed 
to  keep  near  the  shore,  amid  the  rocks  and  in  shallow  waters,  swim- 
ming swiftly  and  ever  moving,  they  are  constantly  reflecting  the 
splendid  colors  with  which  they  are  decorated.  Rose-color,  purple, 
azure,  velvety-black,  milk-white,  are  gorgeously  displayed  on  their 
surface,  in  the  form  of  bands,  streaks,  curved  lines  running  in  various 
directions,  rings,  ocellated  spots.  These  colors  stand  out  boldly  on 
the  surface  of  the  body,  which  furnishes  a  background  of  the  richest 
nacreous  tints  of  gold  and  silver,  or  of  polished  steel. 

In  all  of  these  fishes  the  body  is  compressed,  and  the  vertical  fins 
are  covered  with  scales,  whence  the  name  Sqicamipinnes,  by  which 
they  are  known  to  naturalists.  The  shape  of  the  body  is  sometimes 
peculiar,  and  the  buffalo  or  cow  fish  of  the  Malays  is  one  of  the  most 

1  Translated  from  the  French,  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  11. 


THE  ARCHER-FISHES. 


3°3 


curious  of  the  class,  as  well  by  reason  of  the  protuberance  and  the 
sharp,  recurved  horns  of  the  head,  and  the  compi*essed  and  unequal 
spines  of  the  back,  as  on  account  of  the  broad,  yellow,  green,  and 
brown  zebraizations  which  adorn  the  body.  The  jaws  sometimes 
are  armed  with  minute  teeth  like  the  nap  of  velvet,  as  in  the  archer- 
fish  ;  sometimes  these  teeth  are  superseded  by  fine,  compact,  silky 
filaments,  performing  the  same  functions  as  the  barbs  of  the  whale — 
they  serve  to  strain  the  water  and  to  retain  the  little  animals  on  which 
the  hsh  preys.  The  fishes  of  this  class  are  the  Chcetodon,  with  its  rich 
colors ;  the  Holacanthus,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  member 
of  the  family;  the  Pomacanthus,  known  to  our  French  colonists  as  Le 
Portugals  (the  Portuguese)  ;  and  sundry  others. 

Of  the  Chcetodons,  some  have  the  muzzle  long  and  slender,  formed 
by  the  bones  of  the  jaw,  which  are  united  along  nearly  their  entire 
length  by  a  membrane,  so  that  the  mouth  is  simply  an  horizontal  slit 
at  the  extremity  of  this  cylinder,  or  elongated  cone.  The  vertical 
diameter  of  the  body  is  very  great,  and  the  upright  fin  of  the  back  is 
high  and  scaly ;  the  tail  is  cut  square  ;  the  profile,  which  is  concave 
in  front  of  the  eyes,  rises  almost  vertically,  so  that  the  snout  is  about 
one-fourth  the  depth  of  the  head.  These  fishes,  known  under  the 
name  of  Chelmons,  inhabit  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  naturalists  distinguish 
two  species,  the  beaked  Chelmon  and  the  long-beaked  Chelmon  (see 
the  latter  in  Fig.  1).  These  species  differ  from  each  other  not  only  in 
length  of  beak,  but  also  in  the  arrangement  of  the  colors  which  adorn 
them. 


hid.  1. 


In  the  beaked  Chelmon  the  body  is  greenish  and  iridescent ;  the 
fins  are  green,  with  reflection  of  azure  ;  a  black  spot,  surrounded  by 
a  pearl-white  circle,  is  seen  on  the  dorsal  fin,  in  length  about  one- 
third  that  of  the  soft  rays ;  five  vertical  stripes  of  azure-color,  and 


3o4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

bordered  with  a  nacreous  white  line,  adorn  the  body ;  one  of  these 
stripes  crosses  the  eye  obliquely  ;  a  second  one,  bisecting  the  nape  of 
the  neck,  extends  to  the  ventral  fins  ;  the  next  two  mark  the  flanks, 
and  the  posterior  stripe  bisects  the  root  of  the  caudal  fin. 

The  long-beaked  Chelmon's  body  is  yellow.  Instead  of  the 
stripe  crossing  the  eye,  seen  in  the  other  species,  we  find  on  the  ante- 
rior portion  of  the  body  a  broad,  blackish  spot,  triangular  in  shape, 
and  terminating  in  a  point  on  the  snout.  This  spot  is  bordered  by  a 
nacreous  white  stripe ;  the  forehead  is  of  azure  tint,  with  a  shade  of 
sea-green ;  the  eye  is  of  a  pure  rose-color ;  a  narrow  stripe  of  black 
adorns  the  margin  of  the  fins,  which  themselves  are  of  mauve-color ; 
on  the  posterior  part  of  the  anal  fin,  near  its  edge,  is  seen  a  deep-black 
spot,  encircled  by  a  line  of  pearly  white. 

The  Chelmon,  particularly  the  beaked  Chelmon,  has  been  de- 
scribed by  Schlosser,  under  the  title  of  Archer-fish,  in  the  "Philo- 
so})hical  Transactions."  The  animal  is  said  to  obtain  its  food  in  a 
peculiar  way,  and  hence  the  names  given  to  it  by  Schlosser  (Jaculator) 
and  by  the  Dutch  colonists  of  the  East  Indies  (Spuytvisch,  pump-fish 
or  spitting-fish). 

Lacopede,  following  the  narratives  of  travelers,  tells  us  that  the 
long-beaked  Chcetodon  "  usually  keeps  near  to  the  mouths  of  rivers, 
and  especially  frequents  places  where  the  water  is  not  deep.  It  feeds 
on  insects,  especially  such  as  live  on  the  marine  plants  which  rise 
above  the  surface  of  the  sea.  In  taking  them  it  resorts  to  a  notewor- 
thy manoeuvre,  which  it  is  enabled  to  perform  by  the  very  elongated 
form  of  the  snout ;  and  a  similar  sort  of  manoeuvre  is  performed  by 
the  Sparus  insidator,  the  bellows-chsetodon,  and  other  fishes,  with 
very  long,  very  narrow,  and  nearly  cylindrical  beak,  like  that  of  the 
animal  we  are  now  describing.  When  the  archer  espies  an  insect 
which  it  wishes  to  seize,  but  which  is  flying  too  high  above  the  sur- 
face to  be  captured  by  leaping  out  of  the  water,  it  approaches  as  near 
as  possible  to  its  prey,  then  it  fills  its  mouth-cavity  with  water,  shuts 
its  gill-openings,  suddenly  compresses  its  little  slit  of  a  mouth,  and, 
ejecting  rapidly  the  water  through  the  very  narrow  tube  which  forms 
its  snout,  squirts  it  often  to  the  distance  of  two  metres,  and  that  with 
such  force  that  the  insect  is  stunned  and  falls  into  the  sea.  The  per- 
formance is  so  amusing  that  rich  people  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  East  Indies  keep  long-beaked  Chcetodons  in  large  vessels." 

Block,  in  his  "  History  of  Fishes,"  which  was  published  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  tells  us,  on  the  authority  of  Mynheer  Hom- 
mel,  inspector  of  the  Batavia  Hospital,  that  the  bandouliere  or  beaked 
Chmtodon  has  a  very  singular  way  of  procuring  food.  "  Observe," 
says  Bloch,  "how  this  fish  ensnares  the  flies  it  discovers  on  the  marine 
plants  which  project  above  the  water.  It  approaches  within  four  to 
six  feet  of  the  insect,  and  then  squirts  water  upon  it  with  such  force 
that  it  never  fails  to  bring  it  down  and  make  it  its  prey."     Mynheer 


THE  ARCHER-FISHES. 


3°5 


Homrael  himself  made  the  following  experiment :  He  had  a  few  of 
these  fishes  placed  in  a  large  vessel  containing  sea-water.  When 
they  had  become  accustomed  to  this  prison,  lie  ran  a  pin  through  a 
fly,  and  made  it  fast  to  one  side  of  the  vessel.  He  then  was  so  for- 
tunate as  to  see  "  these  fishes  vying  with  one  another  in  their  efforts 
to  seize  the  fly,  and  continually  squirting  little  drops  of  water,  with- 
out ever  missing  their  aim." 

We  owe  it  to  truth  to  add  that  Bleeker,  who  resided  so  long  in 
the  Dutch  Indies,  and  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  the  ichthyo- 
logical  fauna  of  that  region,  not  only  finds  in  the  habits  of  the  ban- 
douliere  no  confirmation  of  this  singular  method  of  catching  insects, 
but  he  never  even  heard  it  mentioned  during  his  sojourn  at  Ba- 
tavia.  "  Certain  it  is,"  adds  he,  "  that  at  Batavia  this  species  in- 
habits only  the  waters  of  the  reefs  of  the  little  islands  in  the  bay,  and 
never  visits  the  swampy  and  sandy  beach  in  the  vicinity  of  the  capi- 
tal, or  the  mouths  of  the  rivers." 

A  fish  belonging  to  the  same  family — Squamipinnes — but  classed 
in  another  group,  has  likewise  received  from  Schlosser  and  Pallas 
the  name  of  Archer. 

Four  species,  inhabiting  the  waters  of  Polynesia  and  the  Indian 
Archipelago,  constitute  this  group  of  the  Archers,  or  Toxotce.  Instead 
of  being  more  or  less  oval  in  shape,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Chmtodons, 
the  body  is  here  elongated,  the  line  of  the  back  being  nearly  straight, 
while  that  of  the  belly  is  curved,  so  that  the  fish  assumes  a  t-riangu- 


Fig.  2. 


lar  shape.  The  distinguishing  feature  of  these  fishes  is  the  backward 
position  of  the  dorsal  fin,  which,  relegated  to  the  posterior  part  of  the 
body,  is  armed  with  only  three  or  four  spines  (Fig.  2).  The  head, 
lying  in  the  same  plane  with  the  line  of  the  back,  is  pointed ;  the  eye 

VOL.  XII. — 20 


3o6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

is  large,  and  the  mouth  opens  wide.  The  brilliant  colors  of  the  Choe- 
todons,  properly  so  called,  are  here  wanting  ;  the  body  is  olive-brown 
or  yellow,  and  bears  broad,  round,  or  oblong  spots,  or  vertical  stripes 
of  black  color  ;  the  eye  is  rose-color  and  brilliant ;  the  belly,  silvery- 
white. 

According  to  Cuvier  and  Valencienne,  "  though  the  mouth  of  this 
fish  differs  immensely  in  its  organization  from  that  of  Chelmon,  it, 
too,  can  shoot  drops  of  water  to  a  great  height,  and  can  hit,  with 
almost  unerring  aim,  insects  and  other  little  animals  on  aquatic  plants, 
or  even  on  the  herbage  at  the  water's  edge.  The  inhabitants  of 
sundry  regions  in  India,"  add  these  authors,  "  and  particularly  the 
Chinese  in  Java,  keep  these  fish  in  their  houses  for  the  sake  of  the 
amusement  afforded  by  witnessing  their  performances,  offering  it  ants, 
and  flies  on  a  string,  or  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  brought  within 
range.  .  .  .  The  species  is  known  in  the  Indian  Archipelago  under 
the  Malay  name  of  iJcansumpit." 

Bleeker,  in  a  recent  work  on  the  Toxotce,  tells  us  that  at  Batavia 
this  fish  is  no  longer  kept,  as  it  appears  to  have  been  a  century  ago, 
either  by  Europeans  or  by  the  Chinese.  He  further  says  that  neither 
from  Chinese  nor  from  natives,  whether  at  Batavia  or  elsewhere,  has  he 
been  able  to  obtain  any  confirmation  of  the  accounts  which  have  been 
given  concerning  its  skill  in  seizing  its  prey.  According  to  him,  the 
celebrity  enjoyed  by  the  archer-fish  is  undeserved,  and  rests  upon  a 
misapprehension ;  in  short,  he  shows  from  the  very  texts  of  Pallas 
and  Schlosser  that  Hommel's  observation  applies  to  the  long-beaked 
Chelmon,  of  which  we  have  spoken  above,  and  that  like  habits  have 
been  gratuitously  attributed  to  the  two  species,  they  having  been  re- 
garded as  generically  identical. — La  Nature. 


-+*+- 


TEMPERAMENTS. 

By    ELY    VAN    DE    WAEKER,   M.  D. 

EVERY  adult  human  being  carries  about  with  him  an  atmosphere 
of  individuality.  By  this  means  is  the  gregarious  animal  called 
man  enabled  to  preserve  in  himself  such  an  isolation  from  the  mass 
of  his  fellows  that  he  can  gain  and  hold  whatever  may  be  his  share 
of  prosperity  and  remembrance.  In  this  individuality  lie  his  powers 
of  offense  and  defense — the  buckler  and  spear  of  his  ego  ;  and  in  it 
also  is  expressed  the  sum  of  his  mental  and  physical  traits  in  such  a 
manner  that,  once  having  known,  we  may  remember  him.  There  are 
two  elements  that  enter  into  the  formation  of  this  distinctive  and 
memorable  quality,  mental  and  physical.  These  factors  enter  un- 
equally into  the  formation  of  this  individual  total.     The  element  that 


TEMPERAMENTS.  307 

has  really  the  least  to  do  with  that  subtile  force  called  character  is 
the  one  by  which  we  chiefly  recognize  the  man.  This  is  the  ensembled 
physique,  the  mental  picture  we  have  formed  of  the  bodily  man ;  it  is 
only  by  long  association  that  we  come  to  speak  of  one  by  his  mental 
traits,  and  can  recall  him  to  our  minds,  not  by  accidents  of  size,  shape, 
complexion,  but  by  the  tone,  manner,  and  quality,  of  the  mental  man. 
It  is  curious,  however,  to  reflect  that  our  chief  means  of  mutual  identity 
are  the  same  as  those  by  which  we  distinguish  horse  from  horse,  and 
dog  from  dog;  and  that  such  is  the  infinite  variety  in  the  merely  phys- 
ical development  of  men,  that  this  is  sufficient  for  the  practical  affairs 
of  life.  In  fact,  it  is  not  within  experience  that  two  human  beings 
ever  existed  who  were  so  nearly  alike  that  side  by  side  they  could 
not  be  distinguished.1  But  human  individuality  is  separated  from 
that  of  the  brute  by  the  refinement  of  a  physical  quality.  This  is 
called  temperament.  Although  temperaments  are  purely  of  physical 
origin,  yet  their  outlet  is  mainly  found  in  the  actions  or  the  mental 
habits  of  the  individual,  and  thus  it  is  that  temperaments,  like  charity, 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  Even  those  who  believe  in  the  imma- 
teriality and  separate  entity  of  mind,  do  not  hesitate  to  ascribe  the 
fretfulness,  fickleness,  temper,  and  other  mental  shortcomings  of  their 
friends,  to  faults  of  temperament.  This  may  in  a  measure  be  the  result 
of  habit,  but  I  believe  that  there  is  about  it  the  force  of  a  truth  that 
even  the  most  spiritual  of  psychologists  cannot  escape.  It  exists  as  a 
physical  medium,  through  which  the  mental  life  shines  forth,  tinged 
and  refracted  by  its  passage.  The  old  word  expresses  it,  humors  of 
the  body,  a  mythical,  potent,  and  subtile  fluid,  mingling  with  the 
bodily  substance,  and  rising,  exhalation-like,  into  the  brain,  obscuring, 
revealing,  exalting,  and  depressing  the  operations  of  the  mind  accord- 
ing as  it  is  acting  well  or  ill;  as  hypothetical  as  the  interplanetary 
ether,  yet  as  real  as  a  fit  of  the  blue  devils.  This  was  somewhat  the 
old  notion,  and  a  well-fought  battle-ground  it  was,  over  which  the  sol- 
iclists  and  humoralists  contended  right  gallantly.  A  standpoint  upon 
a  solid  basis  of  fact  is  to  this  day  wanting  from  which  we  may  say 
they  were  wrong. 

Many  of  these  old  fathers  in  medicine  fairly  reveled  in  the  idea  of 
temperaments.  It  contained  just  enough  of  the  mysterious  to  spur 
on  their  wonder-loving  minds.  All  there  was  of  fact  about  it,  how- 
ever, they  brought  out,  and  all  that  we  know  about  it  they  knew. 
We  are  to  this  day  using  their  terms  and  classification,  and  have 
added  nothing  to  them.  It  stands  as  a  fact  in  physiology  which  we 
have  inherited  from  the  remotest  boundary  of  historical  medicine. 

The  four  qualities  of  Hippocrates  were  believed  to  be  the  origin 
of  the  temperaments.  In  moisture  and  dryness,  in  heat  and  cold,  not 
as  conditions  of  existence  but  as  entities  in  life,  were  found  the  mate- 

1  There  are  several  remarkable  cases  of  wonderfully  close  resemblance  and  mistaken 
identity  on  record,  but  none  that  stood  the  test  indicated  in  the  text. 


3o8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

rials  that  either  singly  or  together  formed  the  temperaments.  They 
were  combined  thus :  hot  and  moist  produced  blood,  hence  the  san- 
guine temperaments  ;  cold  and  moist  caused  phlegm  or  pituita,  and 
from  this  the  phlegmatic  or  lymphatic ;  hot  and  dry  produced  yellow 
bile,  and  gave  us  the  sanguine  or  choleric;  and  cold  and  dry  caused 
black  bile,  which  predominating  in  the  body  resulted  in  the  melan- 
cholic or  bilious  temperament.1  In  order  to  understand  the  profound 
reason  involved  in  this  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  four  prima- 
ry principles  of  living  bodies  were  believed  to  be  compounded  of  the 
simple  elements  of  Nature.  Here  is  shadowed,  dimly  it  is  true,  but 
from  the  very  depths  of  Nature,  the  theory  of  the  correlation  of  forces, 
and  even  evolution  itself.  Boerhaave  was  among  the  first  who  at- 
tempted to  improve  the  classification  of  Hippocrates,  and  then  fol- 
lowed Hoffmann,  Cullen,  and  Haller,  who,  however  much  reason  they 
may  have  had,  failed  to  refine  the  rugged  simplicity  of  the  old  Greek. 
Absurd  as  we  may  deem  the  incarnation  of  the  four  elements  in  the 
form  of  temperaments  by  Hippocrates  to  be,  yet  from  the  length  of 
time  this  idea  has  prevailed,  and  the  profound  influence  it  has  exerted 
upon  science  for  centuries,  we  may  believe  that  it  possessed  the  soul 
of  truth  that  exists  in  things  erroneous,  as  Herbert  Spencer  says.  Not 
until  1757  was  anything  like  a  scientific  explanation  given.  The 
learned  Haller  was  the  first  to  give  the  four  elements  their  final  over- 
throw, and  place  the  phenomena  upon  a  physiological  basis ;  ~  and 
even  he  failed  to  suggest  any  improvement  in  the  old  nomenclature. 
It  is  strong  evidence  of  the  force  that  exists  latently  in  old  ideas  that 
all  modern  attempts  to  extend  the  scope  of  the  Hippocratic  terms 
have  never  gained  credit.  Dr.  Gregory  renamed  the  temperaments, 
and  added  a  fifth,  which  he  called  the  nervous,  and  which  has  been 
accepted  and  rejected  a  score  of  times;  while  it  is  a  convenient  term 
to  use,  it  is  true  that  it  describes  no  temperament  that  may  not  be 
included  under  the  old  terms.  Then  came  Dr.  Pritchord,  who  re- 
jected the  reforms  of  Dr.  Gregory,  restored  the  original  terms,  and 
barely  escaped  calling  his  predecessor  hard  names.  But  the  tempera- 
ments, simple  as  they  may  seem,  have  afforded  groundwork  for  a 
separate  science — not  foi-mulated  deductions  from  dry  facts,  but 
drawn  warm  from  the  mass  of  living,  suffering  humanity.  Dr.  W. 
B.  Powell  spent  forty  years  of  his  life  in  the  study,  and  at  last  evolved 
a  "  human  science  "  with  ten  compounds  of  temperaments  with  binary, 
ternary,  and  quaternary  subdivisions.3  If  human  science,  as  taught 
by  Dr.  Powell,  be  true,  it  ought  to  be  the  ceaseless  study  of  every 
man  and  woman,  taught  along  wTith  the  creed  and  catechism — which 
are  the  spiritual  to  this  its  earthly  and  carnate  part — to  the  youngest 
child.     Lurking  in  this  science  are   more  than   Dantesque  horrors, 

1  "  De  Natura  Hominis,"  torn,  ii.,  ed.  Kiihn. 

2  "Elementa  Physiologia?  Corporis  Humani,"  1757. 

3  Journal  of  Human  Science,  Cincinnati,  1860. 


TEMPERAMENTS.  309 

which  are  liable  to  spring  upon  the  most  circumspect  of  us  in  the 
shape  of  physiological  incest ;  as  if  in  the  decalogue  and  through  the 
ingenuity  of  man  there  were  not  already  more  crimes  than  human 
nature  can  withstand,  that  we  should  be  exposed  to  others  we  know 
not  of.  This  physiological  crime  consists  in  the  marital  union  of  like 
temperaments.  Human  science  has  revealed  another  latent  offense, 
called  sexual  incompatibility,  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  not  yet, 
in  its  sexual  guise,  obtruded  itself  in  the  divorce  courts.  It  is  a 
standing  rebuke  to  those  who  build  imaginary  sciences,  without  a  foot- 
hold in  the  solid  world  of  facts,  that,  in  giving  their  shadowy  creations 
to  the  people,  they  are  inviting  the  cold  scrutiny  of  an  aggregate 
common-sense  that  never  fails  in  time  to  separate  the  true  from  the 
false. 

But  temperaments  have  been  made  to  play  a  more  agreeable  role 
in  human  affairs  than  in  defining  physiological  crimes.  In  the  history 
of  this  physical  attribute  it  is  interesting  to  cite  its  literary  aspects. 
Ben  Jonson  devoted  whole  plays  to  the  idealizations  of  individual 
temperaments,  in  which  a  peculiarity  was  made  to  play  its  part  as  a 
dramatis  persona.  The  keen  and  careful  analysis  of  the  poet  in 
character  is  immortalized  in  his  play  of  "  Every  Man  in  his  Humor." 
Shakespeare  proved  himself  a  good  physiologist  as  well  as  a  good 
judge  of  a  conspirator  in  contrasting  Cassius,  "lean  and  hungry," 
with  men  "  that  are  fat ;  sleek-headed  men,  and  such  as  sleep  o' 
nights."  In  the  earlier  English  novels,  temperament  was  given  a  more 
careful  study  than  in  the  modern  school  of  light  literature.  Gold- 
smith proved  himself  an  enemy  of  the  humoral  pathologists  in  saying 
of  Olivia,  in  "The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  that  the  temper  of  woman 
is  generally  formed  from  the  cast  of  her  features.  Fielding,  in  his 
creative  novel  of  "  Tom  Jones,"  speaks  of  temperaments  in  such  a 
happy  vein  of  his  inimitable  philosophy,  that  it  is  worth  quoting  and 
remembering  :  "  I  make  no  manner  of  doubt,"  he  says,  "  but  that,  in 
this  light,  we  may  see  the  imaginary  future  chancellor  just  called  to 
the  bar,  the  archbishop  in  crape,  and  the  prime-minister  at  the  tail 
of  an  opposition,  more  truly  happy  than  those  wTho  are  invested  with 
all  the  power  and  profit  of  these  respective  offices."  A  more  perfect 
description  of  a  sanguine  man  was  never  written.  Novelists,  as  a 
rule,  analyze  temperaments  the  opposite  of  their  own  in  their  ideal 
characters.  Scott  generally  describes  the  bilious  in  his  heroes  and 
heroines,  and  is  never  purely  realistic  in  describing  the  sanguine  type 
to  which  he  belonged.  Dickens  is  always  happier  in  his  female  char- 
acters, and  they  are  good  specimens  of  the  sanguine.  Dolly,  the 
locksmith's  daughter,  is  a  very  truthful  portrait  of  this  type ;  while 
Mark  Tapley,  famous  as  the  character  may  be,  is  an  atrabilious,  wTho 
is  continually  violating  his  physiology  by  being  happy  under  the 
very  circumstances  that  bring  out  the  unmixed  misery  of  his  class. 
Dickens  himself  was  decidedly  of  the  lymphatic — a  type  he  rarely 


3io 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


attempted  in  his  creations.  Richter,  in  "Hesperus,"  gives  some  very- 
perfect  studies  of  temperament ;  but  the  court  physician  in  that  novel 
is  represented  of  his  own  type.  George  Eliot  never  violates  Nature 
in  her  female  characters,  who  are  generally  described  as  bilious  or 
sano-uine;  but  the  least  said  about  her  heroes  the  better.  Deronda 
is  surely  a  mistake.  He  is  first  described  as  a  good  specimen  of  the 
sturdy,  bilious  man,  and  is  transformed  toward  the  close  of  the  book 
into  the  extreme  of  the  sanguine. 

To  the  scientific  mind  there  is  always  something  assuring  when  we 
can  leave  the  field  of  speculation  and  enter  that  of  fact.  Here  chemi- 
cal analysis  brings  to  our  aid  positive  reasons  for  a  classification  of 
men  and  women  according  to  temperaments.  Mr.  Rees,1  quoting  from 
the  researches  of  M.  Lecanu,  gives  us  the  material  for  constructing 
the  following  table.     The  figures  are  ratios  to  1,000  parts  of  blood : 

TABLE  I. — Ratio  of  Water,  Albumen,  and   Red   Blood-Globcles  in  tiie  Blood  of 

Different  Temperaments. 


SANGUINE. 

LYMPHATIC. 

DIFFERENCE. 

Water. 

793.007 
786.584 

"Water. 

803.710 
800.566 

10.703 

13.982 

Albumen. 

71.264 
65.85 

Albumen. 

68.660 
71.701 

2.604 

5.851 

Red  Globules. 
126.990 

136.497 

Red  Globules. 

117.300 
110.667 

8  874 

19  830 

This  proves  conclusively  that  temperaments  have  their  origin  deep 
and  unchangeably  fixed  in  the  organic  life.  Can  wre,  in  view  of  this, 
look  doubtingly  upon  their  potent  influence  on  the  current  of  thought 
and  emotions  ?  Water,  plasmic  material,  and  the  red  blood-globules — 
the  oxygen-carriers  of  living  bodies — rush  to  the  brain  in  proportions 
fixed  by  the  law  of  temperaments  ;  to  one  brain  more,  to  another  less, 
but  with  differences  sufficient  to  give  vigor,  vivacity,  tenacity,  and 
mental  breadth  to  the  action  of  one  ;  while  th;e  other  moves  more 
slowly,  its  mental  life  obscured  by  the  smaller  proportion  of  mind-food. 

There  is  one  point  about  which  the  reader  needs  to  have  a  clear 
understanding.  This  is  the  difference  between  temperament  and 
idiosyncrasy.  "  Temperament  is  built  in  a  man,  as  bricks  compose  a 
well,"  says  Dr.  Southey ;  "  his  idiosyncrasy  is  developed  according  to  the 
soil  in  which  he  is  planted,  the  conditions  under  which  he  grows,  and 
the  tendency  in  him  to  vary."  2    A  man  has  his  temperament  as  a  birth- 

1  "  On  the  Analysis  of  the  Blood  and  Urine  in  Health  and  Disease,"  London,  1836. 

2  London  Lancet,  American  edition,  May,  1876. 


TEMPERA  MENTS.  3 1 1 

right,  his  idiosyncrasy  he  acquires,  changes,  makes  it  subject  to  his 
Avill,  or  is  ruled  by  it.  The  distinction  is  broader  than  this,  however. 
Temperament  is  a  race-attribute.  It  is  distributed  like  plants  accord- 
ing to  latitude  and  altitude.  The  bilious  is  tropic  ;  it  thrives  best 
near  the  equator.  The  lymphatic  belongs  to  the  races  of  the  North. 
Between  these  polar  types  are  distributed  races  that  monopolize  tem- 
peraments as  they  do  their  language.  The  Celt  is  sanguine,  the  Saxon 
lymphatic,  the  Gaul  nervous,  the  Latin  bilious.  Thus,  temperament 
is  pandemic,  while  idiosyncrasy  belongs  to  the  individual.  M.  Begin 
calls  the  first  "  la  variete  organique  la  plus  generale,"  and  the  latter 
"celle  qui  est  plus  restreinte." 

The  tendency  among  recent  writers  upon  physiology  is  to  exclude 
the  bilious,  classing  it  with  the  nervous,  and  making  three  in  place  of 
four.  This  is  the  classification  of  M.  Michel  Levy.1  I  shall  retain  the 
bilious,  as  being  a  term  too  commonly  used  by  learned  and  unlearned 
to  be  omitted  from  a  popular  description. 

The  sanguine  temperament  presents  marked  physical  traits.  The 
mean  height  of  the  male  is  five  feet  eight  and  a  half  inches,  and  of  the 
female  two  and  a  half  inches  less.  The  head  is  small  comparatively, 
the  face  is  made  square  by  a  firm  and  angular  lower  jaw,  the  forehead 
is  slightly  sloping,  the  nose  prominent  ;  it  has  a  determined,  resolute, 
exacting  look.  Under  thirty-five  the  figures  of  both  sexes  are  sparely 
covered  with  fat,  but  withal  muscular.  The  chest  is  large,  measuring 
thirty-five  inches  in  average  girth,  and  the  abdomen  flat.  The  com- 
plexion is  light,  and  is  florid  only  by  exception  to  the  rule  ;  the  hair 
light,  light  brown,  or  auburn,  and  often  curly.  The  mouth  is  usually 
large,  the  lower  lip  full,  and  the  teeth  are  regular,  with  a  slightly- 
yellow  tinge,  which  indicates  firm  and  lasting  dentine.  The  sanguine 
are  generally  good  eaters  and  drinkers.  All  of  the  vital  functions  are 
active  ;  the  large  chest-room,  the  vigorous  heart,  the  firm  muscles,  in- 
sure a  bodily  activity  that  keeps  the  operations  of  organic  life  in  un- 
conscious and  easy  motion.  Digestion,  assimilation,  excretion,  and 
elimination,  work  in  harmony  and  with  vigor. 

Mentally,  this  type  is  the  reflection  of  its  physical  traits.  The 
rich  blood,  by  its  active  circulation  through  the  brain,  causes  vivid 
and  active  mental  action.  The  general  cast  of  the  mind  is  never 
gloomy.  The  mental  vision  is  outward  rather  than  inward,  and  sees 
things  near  or  remote  tinted  by  glowing,  joyous  colors,  as  through  a 
prism.  This  mental  outlook  never  implies  profound  insight,  or  deep 
thought,  or  conscious  indwelling.  It  is  the  surface  of  things  that  is 
studied  with  quick  and  transient  glances  of  all  that  is  pleasant,  revolt- 
ing from  the  difficult  or  painful.  The  sanguine  man,  therefore,  learns 
quickly  and  knows  a  little  of  everything,  and  by  his  ready  tongue  and 
quick  wit  is  good  company — a  thorough  good  fellow.  He  is  brave  from 
a  sense  of  perfect  muscular  strength,  loving  sport  and  athletic  games. 

1  "  Traite  d'Hygiene." 


3i2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

He  is  quick  to  anger,  but  soon  forgets  wrong ;  a  word  and  a  blow, 
and  oftentimes  the  blow  first,  are  the  features  of  his  wrath. 

It  is  in  medicine  only  tbat  the  temperaments  have  practical  im- 
portance, if  we  reject  Dr.  Powell's  new  science.  Sanguine  people 
are  prone  to  acute  diseases  of  the  inflammatory  type.  Apoplexy,  dis- 
eases of  the  heart  and  blood-vessels,  haemorrhages,  acute  fevers,  pneu- 
monia, pleurisy,  and  closely-allied  disorders,  are  the  forms  of  dis- 
ease generally  met  with.  Dr.  Southey  assigns  to  this  class  the  old 
idea  of  crises;  that  is,  in  febrile  diseases,  at  certain  times,  there  will 
be  sudden  losses  of  the  fluids  of  the  body  spontaneously,  by  which 
the  diseased  action  secures  a  new  outlet,  and  this  is  followed  by  a  rapid 
convalescence.  These  evacuations,  if  the  temperament  of  the  patient 
be  understood,  are  never  interfered  with  by  the  physician,  as  they  are 
Nature's  own  efforts  to  throw  off  the  disease.  Rapid  recovery,  or  a 
speedy  fatal  result,  may  generally  be  looked  for  among  sanguine  peo- 
ple. In  this  temperament  the  physical  part  of  man  r-eaches  its  most 
perfect  expression ;  the  body  is  here  in  even  balance  with  the  brain. 
Such  a  combination  as  that  of  persistent  intellectual  effort  with  a 
typical  sanguine  temperament  is  rare.  Prof.  John  Wilson  (Christo- 
pher North)  is  an  example  of  this,  and  of  which  there  is  scarce  another 
illustration  in  literature.  This  temperament,  finding  its  purer  expres- 
sion in  a  near  approach  to  human  animalism,  with  soul  and  body 
adjusted  and  evenly  poised,  a  happy  mingling  of  mind  and  matter, 
must  surely  have  been  the  type  of  the  Miltonic  man.  The  fancy  can- 
not paint  him  other  than  this,  and  believe  him  capable  of  contend- 
ing with  the  dangers,  obstacles,  and  unrelenting  hardships,  of  his 
life.  Of  this  type  have  the  sailors,  colonists,  soldiers,  and  explorers, 
generally  been — all  men  who  lead  in  the  battle  with  Nature's  ob- 
stacdes. 

In  the  lymphatic  temperament  we  have  a  direct  antithesis  of  the 
sanguine.  Typically,  the  lymphatics  are  heavily  framed,  the  limbs 
are  clumsy  and  large-jointed,  awkward  and  slow  in  movement.  This 
is  due  to  the  thickness  of  the  articular  surfaces  of  the  long  bones,  and 
this  also  explains  the  lai-ge  wrists  and  ankles ;  the  head  is  large,  the 
face  unanimated,  thick-lipped,  pale,  and  with  large  features,  the  ex- 
pression listless  and  apathetic ;  the  eyes  are  blue  or  gray,  the  hair 
white,  blond,  or  light  auburn,  and  abundant.  The  male  figure  is  be- 
tween five  feet  eight  inches  and  six  feet  two  inches  in  height,  the 
female  five  feet  six  or  nine  inches  high  (Southey),  and  such  are  the 
proportions  that  a  person  of  this  temperament  rarely  meets  the  artis- 
tic ideal  of  human  beauty.  The  texture  of  the  flesh  is  soft  and  flab- 
by, and  generally  abundant,  the  muscles  small  and  slow  in  their 
development.  Puberty  is  late  in  its  advent;  this  is  but  a  charac- 
teristic, however,  of  the  slow  and  deliberate  manner  of  the  general 
development.  Functions  are  slowly  performed  and  not  evenly  bal- 
anced;   the  fluid   secretions  too  abundant,   the   absorbents   inactive 


TEMPERAMENTS.  313 

in  comparison:  thus,  the  figure  has  the  deceptive  appearance  of  a 
superabundant  nutrition.  This  is  a  one-sided  nutrition,  the  appropri- 
ation of  fatty  material  to  the  neglect  of  the  solid,  motor  machinery  of 
brawn  and  muscles. 

The  mental  traits  seem  to  take  direction  and  tone  from  the  bodily 
characteristics.  The  passions  move  slowly  and  are  easily  kept  under 
control,  in  marked  contrast  to  those  of  the  sanguine  man  who  has 
no  more  control  than  is  sufficient  to  keep  him  within  the  not  too 
narrow  limits  of  the  social  barriers.  From  the  moderate  emotional 
development  there  is  little  need  of  energetic  will-power.  Where  the 
moral  qualities  have  any  chance  of  growth  and  exercise  they  are 
always  "good  people,"  orthodox,  and  conservative.  The  mind  acts 
slowly,  but  is  very  retentive,  logical  and  sound  in  its  conclusions. 
They  are  persistent  in  their  undertakings,  honorable  in  their  affairs 
with  other  men ;  commonplace  and  common-sense  govern  them  in 
their  daily  life.  They  are  apt  to  be  dull  companions,  but  constant 
and  steadfast  friends. 

This  temperament  is  found  in  its  most  perfect  form  among  men  ; 
women  rarely  show  it  uncrossed,  especially  as  it  easily  blends  with 
other  temperaments.  There  is  no  doubt  but  in  this  type  there  are  in- 
herent defects  of  histological  structure.  Dr.  Southey  says  it  is  due  to 
a  too  exuberant  vegetative  cell-life.  Whatever  may  be  the  radical 
cause,  persons  of  this  type  are  weak  in  vital  energy,  and  short-lived. 
They  are  the  usual  subjects  of  structural  changes,  such  as  scrofula, 
phthisis,  and  articular  rheumatism,  and  in  whom  these  morbid  pro- 
cesses show  the  largest  ratio  of  mortality.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
these  are  diseases  with  a  marked  hereditary  force.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  study  how  much  of  this  heredity  exists  in  the  morbid  processes, 
or  in  the  temperament  itself,  which  offers  a  fair  field  for  their  onset. 

Nature  exerts  herself  in  a  more  eccentric  manner  in  the  nervous 
temperament.  Here  we  find  greater  variety  in  the  physical  signs,  and 
diversity  in  the  mental  traits.  Typical  instances  of  the  nervous  tem- 
perament are  not  good  specimens  anatomically.  In  stature  they  are 
below  the  average,  the  bones  small  and  lightly  covered  with  flesh  in 
both  sexes  up  to  middle  life.  The  head  is  large  and  covered  with  not 
over-abundant  dark-brown  or  black  hair;  the  eyes  are  dark,  the  skin 
dark,  sallow,  and  pale ;  pigmentation  of  the  skin  is  more  abundant 
than  in  any  other  temperament,  while  the  cuticle  is  hot,  dry,  and  firm. 
The  muscles  are  small  and  compact.  Persons  of  this  temperament 
are  capable  of  sudden  outlays  of  great  strength,  but  the  muscles  do 
not  work  in  harmony,  the  movements  being  oftentimes  irregular. 
The  want  of  nervous  coordination  is  a  marked  trait,  and  tells  upon 
their  efficiency  in  any  occupation  requiring  trained  and  accurate 
touch.  Dr.  Southey  explains  this  by  what  he  calls  cerebro-central 
preoccnpation,  which  means  that  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  are  slow 
in  receiving  and  responding  to  the  wants  of  different  and  remote 


3i4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

parts  of  the  body.  This  is  further  shown  in  the  unequal  distribution 
of  the  circulation,  the  head  being  often  hot  while  the  feet  are  cold,  or 
the  extremities  are  cold  while  the  body  maintains  a  nearly  febrile  tem- 
perature. The  heart  beats  more  rapidly  than  in  other  temperaments, 
or  is  attended  with  nervous  irregularity  in  its  action.  Functionally  the 
nervous  temperament  is  liable  to  serious  complications;  the  liver  is 
one  of  the  organs  more  liable  to  acute  derangement — not,  however, 
in  the  direction  of  over  but  rather  that  of  under  action.  Digestion 
is  a  delicate  function,  the  merest  trifles  interfering  with  its  proper  per- 
formance. A  leading  trait  of  the  nervous  temperament  is  the  mutual 
reaction  between  it  and  the  vital  glandular  functions ;  thus  sudden 
mental  or  nervous  impressions  will  upset  the  whole  glandular  ma- 
chinery, or  serious  mental  or  nervous  disturbances  result  from  causes 
acting  in  the  opposite  direction. 

If  we  were  to  select  any  one  quality  as  the  leading  trait  of  the 
mental  constitution  of  this  type,  it  would  be  the  great  emotional 
tension.  The  emotions  often  usurp  the  place  of  higher  faculties,  and 
reason,  judgment,  and  the  sense  of  right  or  wrong,  are  biased  or  re- 
placed by  emotional  qualities.  They  have  an  acute  sense  of  right 
or  wrong,  but  they  are  disposed  to  give  it  a  personal  rather  than  a 
vicarious  application.  They  have  an  extraordinary  capacity  for  both 
pleasure  and  misery,  and  the  nervous  man  may  be  said  to  be  under- 
going one  or  the  other  through  life,  never  knowing  what  it  is  to  be  in 
the  happy  mean  of  negation.  They  are  never  contented  with  their 
surroundings  for  any  great  length  of  time,  but  chafe  and  fret  against 
their  fate,  no  matter  how  happy  it  may  seem.  They  have  great  fixity 
of  opinion,  and  but  little  respect  for  that  of  others;  and  are  prone  to 
find  a  particular  antagonism  in  persons  of  their  own  temperament, 
The  sexual  emotions  are  unduly  developed,  oftentimes  giving  tone  to 
the  character,  or  acting  with  explosive  violence.  Persons  of  this  type 
are  not  among  those  who  form  the  grand  aggregate  of  the  conservative 
opinion  of  society,  the  inflexible  and  implacable  character  of  which 
we  all  know,  and  which  upon  the  emotional  tension  of  the  nervous  man 
often  reacts  harmfully  rather  than  well.  Typical  instances  of  this 
temperament  are  confined  to  the  male  sex,  the  other  sex  usually  show- 
ing a  cross  with  the  sanguine  or  bilious. 

This  temperament  does  not  show  a  liability  to  any  class  of  disease, 
but  gives  its  own  characteristic  reaction  upon  the  disease  itself.  From 
the  ascendency  of  the  nervous  system  in  the  physical  and  mental 
composition,  diseases  of  the  nerves  are  very  liable  to  appear,  but  not 
as  a  primary  derangement  any  more  than  as  a  complication  grafted 
upon  some  previously-existing  disease.  Nervous  headache,  neuralgia, 
epilepsy,  insomnia,  and  hysteria,  are  among  the  nervous  affections 
most  liable  to  appear,  either  as  primary  or  secondary  derangements. 
With  this  class  it  is  difficult  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  the  result  in  any 
serious  disease  (prognosis),  as  they  often  die  of  diseases  that  in  other 


TEMPERAMENTS.  3 1 5 

temperaments  are  deemed  trifling;  and  then  again,  on  the  contrary, 
make  most  surprising  recoveries.  With  them  the  will-power  is  often- 
times an  element  in  the  recovery,  throwing  off  disease  by  the  deter- 
mination not  to  yield  to  its  influence.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  this 
temperament  is  more  liable  to  mental  derangement  than  any  other; 
the  great  emotional  intensity  and  the  difficulty  of  moral  control  lay- 
ing the  mind  open  to  causes  that  tend  to  produce  insanity.  Many  of 
the  nervous  constituents  of  this  type  belong  to  the  bilious  tempera- 
ment. We  have  but  to  tone  down  the  nervous  excitability  of  the  first 
by  an  addition  of  the  phlegm  of  the  lymphatic,  and  add  flesh  to  the 
spare,  nervous  figure,  and  we  have  the  bilious  temperament.  In  its 
typical  phase,  the  subject  is  apt  to  be  grave,  taciturn,  even  morose; 
mind  and  body  move  slowly  but  surely,  not  eccentrically,  but  by  de- 
termination and  conviction.  Persons  of  this  temperament  are  re- 
markable for  inflexibility  of  will,  sound  judgment,  strong  convictions, 
abiding  affections,  and  great  love  for  those  dependent  upon  them. 

The  study  of  the  relations  of  temperaments  to  development  and 
vitality  is  one  of  great  interest.  While  we  know  tolerably  well  their 
reaction  with  disease,  and  the  groups  of  diseases  that  are  liable  to 
cluster  round  them,  we  have  but  few  facts  bearing  upon  the  normal 
relations  of  the  temperaments  to  vital  capacity.  There  are  many  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  this  study.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  no  unit 
of  measure  or  comparison,  and,  in  the  next,  it  is  difficult  to  collect  the 
facts.  In  a  very  remarkable  work  consisting  mainly  of  tabulations 
of  a  vast  number  of  data  relating  to  anthropometry,  or  the  measure- 
ment of  men,  I  discovered  facts  that  throw  considerable  light  upon 
this  subject.  During  the  late  war  of  the  rebellion  the  provost-mar- 
shal-general had  to  pass  upon  the  fitness  for  military  service  of  a  vast 
number  of  conscripts.  The  results  of  over  a  million  examinations  are 
embodied  in  two  massive  quartos,  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Baxter,  late  chief 
medical  officer  of  that  bureau  of  the  War  Department.1  From  the 
elaborate  statistical  table  of  Dr.  Baxter,  I  am  able  to  construct  a  few 
tables  that  throw  light  upon  some  of  the  more  obscure  relations  of 
temperaments.  The  facts  embodied  in  the  tables  are  picked  out  here 
and  there  from  this  mass  of  tabulation  ;  while  the  figures  have  suffered 
no  manipulation,  except  such  as  may  be  necessary  to  arrive  at  mean 
values. 

A  word  as  to  the  value  of  complexion  as  indicating  temperament. 
A  light  color  of  the  hair  and  skin,  and  blue  or  gray  eyes,  instead  of 
indicating  any  one  temperament,  define  broadly  a  group  of  two — the 
sanguine  and  lymphatic.  A  sallow  or  dark  complexion,  with  black 
eyes  and  hair,  indicates  the  bilious  and  nervous,  and  in  this  country, 
among  natives,  probably  an  excess  of  the  latter.  If,  for  the  sake  of 
narrowing  the  dark-haired  group,  wTe  adopt  the  more  modern  classifi- 

1  "  Statistics,    Medical    and  Anthropological,  of  the  Provost-Marshal-General's   Bu- 
reau."   By  J.  H.  Baxter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.     Washington,  D.  C,  1875.     Two  vols.,  4to. 


;i6 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


cation,  and  ignore  the  bilious  temperament,  we  have  in  this  class  only 
the  nervous,  while  in  the  first  group  we  have  both  the  sanguine  and 
lymphatic,  with  no  means  of  separating  them,  except  that  the  na- 
tional characteristic  shows  an  excess  of  the  sanguine  over  the  lym- 
phatic, probably  about  the  ratio  of  three  to  one. 

TABLE  II. — Vital  Capacity  as  indicated  by  Ratio  of  Chest-Expansion  of  oyer  Three 
Inches  for  all  Heights  to  Complexion.  Based  upon  the  examination  of  190,621 
American-born  white  men  accepted;  expressed  in  ratios  of  1,000. 


girth  of  chest  at  expiration. 

LIGHT.1 

DARK.2 

3.588 
37.654 
98.387 
103.015 
46.255 
12.676 

1  141 

15.285 

31    "        "     33       "       

46  906 

33    "        "     35       "       

56.605 

35    "        "      37       "       

26.793 

37  inches  and  over 

7.151 

Total  number  of  men  accepted 

126,445 

64,176 

Table  II.  shows  the  relation  of  chest-expansion  to  complexion. 
The  range  of  chest-movement,  while  it  cannot  be  deemed  an  abso- 
lute measure  of  vitality,  which  must  be  regarded  rather  as  the  sum  of 
organic  and  functional  action  than  the  degree  of  perfection  in  any 
one  set  of  organs,  yet  may  be  fairly  assumed  to  bear  a  close  rela- 
tion to  the  general  vigor  of  the  system  that  defines  the  quality  of 
vital  activity.  A  free  chest-expansion  implies  a  large  consumption  of 
oxygen,  a  corresponding  degree  of  force  and  activity  in  the.  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  and  this,  in  its  turn,  calls  for  a  large  demand  for 
food,  with  a  proportional  muscular  vigor.  In  the  table,  a  chest-expan- 
sion of  over  three  inches  is  taken  as  the  basis  of  comparison,  for  the 
reason  that,  at  an  expansion  less  than  this,  men  of  impaired  strength 
may  be  included.  It  is  but  necessary  to  glance  at  the  table  in  order 
to  understand  all  that  is  implied  by  it — that  size  and  muscular  vigor 
of  the  sanguine  and  lymphatic  greatly  exceed  these  conditions  in  the 

nervous. 

TABLE  III. — Ratio  of  Diseases  to  Complexion. 


Number  examined, 

117,029. 

Number  examined, 
217,292. 

diseases  in  general  diyisions. 

DARK. 

LIGHT. 

Ratio  per  1,000. 

Ratio  per  1,000. 

26.857 
11.322 
30.881 

9.271 
87.978 

1.871 

6.392 
30.334 

0.752 
11.638 

31.552 

12.366 

36.614 

Diseases  of  the  resoiratory  system 

10.902 

Diseases  of  the  digestive  system 

95.894 

Diseases  of  the  urinary  system 

2.467 

Diseases  of  the  generative  system 

7.713 

Diseases  of  the  organs  of  locomotion 

37.180 

Diseases  of  the  cellular  tissues  3 

1.063 

11.860 

Blue  or  gray  eyes ;  light  hair. 


3  This  division  includes  abscess  and  obesity  only. 


2  Black  or  hazel  eyes ;  dark  hair. 


TEMPERAMENTS. 


317 


In  Table  III.  we  have  the  ratio  of  disease  to  complexion.  In  this, 
the  light  complexions  show  their  marked  predisposition  to  skin-dis- 
eases; and,  notwithstanding  their  free  lung-expansion,  show  a  nearly 
equal  liability  to  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  with  those  of  dark 
skins.  The  light  men  prove  their  greater  glandular  and  muscular  ac- 
tivity by  their  excess  over  dark  in  diseases  of  the  digestive,  circula- 
tory, and  locomotor  systems ;  while  the  dark  group,  although  com- 
posed largely  of  men  of  nervous  temperament,  nearly  equal  the  light 
in  frequency  of  nervous  disease.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  in  the 
same  table  from  which  Table  III.  is  compiled,  Dr.  Baxter  gives  the 
total  of  dark  men  rejected  for  all  diseases  at  38,916,  and  of  the  light, 
83,700,  a  difference  rather  less  than  that  indicated  by  the  mean  differ- 
ence as  exhibited  in  our  table.  In  general  diseases,  which  include 
fevers,  infectious  diseases,  and  all  others  not  confined  locally,  we  find 
the  light  men  leading  the  dark  by  a  difference  only  equaled  by  their 
excess  over  the  latter  in  diseases  of  the  digestive  system.  This  is 
due,  I  think,  in  a  great  measure  to  the  predisposition  of  the  sanguine 
to  diseases  of  the  febrile  or  inflammatory  type,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned. 

TABLE  IV. — Ratio  of  Deformities  to  Complexion. 


DEFORMITIES. 

Number  examined, 

117,129. 

Number  examined, 

217,321. 

DARK. 

LIGHT. 

Ratio  per  1,000. 

Ratio  per  1,000. 

4.110 

3.640 
1.128 
0.103 
11.100 
2.128 
0.598 
V.032 
8.605 

4.874 

4.303 

Club-foot 

1.579 

0.143 

17.405 

2.996 

0.686 

7.699 

9.899 

Table  IV.  srives  an  idea  of  the  ratios  of  deformities  in  the  two 
groups,  and,  while  not  proving  much  either  way,  presents  a  few  facts 
of  great  interest.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  physical  defect  which 
shows  the  greatest  difference,  and  that  in  favor  of  the  dark  class,  is 
deficient  size  of  the  chest.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  light  men  exhibit 
a  larger  range,  of  chest-expansion,  this  excess  in  the  defective  size  of 
the  chest  is  unlooked  for.  The  other  chest-defect  is  deformity,  in 
which  the  difference  in  ratio  in  the  two  groups  is  only  about  .18.  The 
fact  that  two  classes  are  made  in  the  chest-deformities  leads  me  to 
suppose  that  the  deformities  are  congenital,  or  the  result  of  defective 
development  in  childhood ;  while  the  deficiency  in  size  is  the  result 
of  disease  or  injury  later  in  life.  This  supposition  opens  the  way  to 
an  explanation  of  the  phenomenon.     Owing  to  the  greater  liability  of 


3i8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  light,  or  partly  sanguine  group,  to  active  inflammations,  a  potent 
factor  in  causing  this  deficient  size  of  the  chest  is  inflammation, 
mainly  pleurisy  and  pneumonia,  and,  as  a  not  uncommon  result,  a 
collapse  of  one,  or  both,  of  the  chest-walls.  This  theory  is  the  only 
one  that  offers  a  reasonable  explanation  of  a  very  remarkable  sta- 
tistical result.  The  increased  ratio  in  both  groups,  but  notably 
in  the  liffht,  of  defects  or  deformities  of  the  feet  rather  than  of 
the  hands,  while  having  no  relation  to  the  difference  of  temper- 
ament, shows  the  careful  way  in  which  Nature  protects  the  natural 
weapons  of  human  beings— the  hands.  It  confirms,  in  a  broad  way, 
what  has  probably  been  noticed  by  the  observant  reader,  that  de- 
formities of  the  lower  are  more  frequent  than  those  of  the  upper 
extremities. 

These  few  figures,  taken  from  Dr.  Baxter's  vast  collection  of  sta- 
tistics,  if  not  demonstrating  anything  positively,  have  at  least  the 
merit  of  not  proving  too  much — a  common  fault  of  figures,  if  we  are 
to  believe  the  anti-statisticians.  They  are  important,  however,  in 
showing  the  direction  in  which  the  study  of  temperaments  may  be 
pushed  in  order  to  give  practical  results.  Social  reformers,  so  called, 
human-science  men,  and  less  respectable  students  under  various  names, 
have  used  temperaments  as  their  physiological  basis  for  widely  difler- 
ent  theories.  To  one  who  is  content  with  marriage  as  established  by 
law,  society,  and  religion,  it  is  a  suspicious  circumstance  that  this  is 
the  social  relation  that  has  sustained  the  most  determined  assaults. 
The  physiological  attacks  have  been  made  in  the  interests  of  mar- 
riage-reform, "  natural  marriage,"  and  of  no  marriage  at  all.  While 
there  is  very  strong  evidence  showing  that  intermarriage  between  re- 
lations tends  to  the  deterioration  of  the  offspring,  there  are  hardly 
any  facts  showing  that  the  matrimonial  union  of  healthy  persons  of 
like  temperaments  has  the  same  effect.  It  is  true  that  social  theorists 
assert  the  contrary,  but  they  do  so  without  considering  that  the  inter- 
marriage of  kin,  from  which  they  draw  their  chief  arguments,  is 
surrounded  by  conditions  that  cannot  exist  in  the  intermarriage  of 
like  temperaments.  That  there  are  deep-lying  physiological  reasons 
against  the  union  of  relations,  we  need  go  no  further  than  the  oft- 
quoted  fact  of  the  sure  impairment  of  the  stock  of  domestic  animals 
from  inbreeding,  to  establish.  Whatever  the  source  of  this  gradual 
impairment  may  be,  it  is  wanting  in  the  marriage  of  those  who  are 
allied  only  by  similarity  of  temperament.  In  the  absence  of  condi- 
tions that  are  necessary  to  render  the  arguments  drawn  from  analogy 
valid,  the  advocates  of  the  theory  of  physiological  incompatibility'are 
obliged  to  fall  back  upon  facts  having  a  direct  bearing,  and  they  have 
in  this  field,  as  yet,  reaped  no  harvest.  There  is,  however,  in  the  hu- 
man family  a  sort  of  natural  selection  existing,  that  renders  a  marriage 
between  parties  of  like  temperament  not  an  ordinary  occurrence. 
Both  Dr.  Ryan  and  Mr.  Walker,  in  their  wrorks  on  marriage,  refer  to 


THE  ICE  AGE.  3i9 

the  common  tendency  of  one  sex  to  seek  the  opposite  temperament  in 
the  other.  But,  upon  the  subject  of  matrimony,  even  in  its  physio- 
logical relations,  society  unwittingly  does  very  well. 


THE  ICE   AGE. 

By    L.   P.    GRATACAP,    Ph.  B. 

AT  the  end  of  that  long  course  of  geological  ages,  from  the  Ar- 
chaean to  the  Tertiary,  which  built  up  the  solid  portions  of  the 
earth  in  their  present  configuration,  geologists  now  universally  recog- 
nize, in  the  evidence  before  them,  the  presence  of  a  remarkable  and 
stupendous  period — a  period  so  startling  that  it  might  justly  be  ac- 
cepted with  hesitation;  were  not  the  conception  unavoidable  before  a 
series  of  facts  as  extraordinary  as  itself,  and  which,  partaking  of  its 
astonishing  character,  are  explained  upon  no  simpler  hypothesis.  This 
era  is  known  as  the  Glacial.  It  was  an  era  which  has  left  its  traces  in 
unmistakable  monuments  over  the  surface  of  either  hemisphere,  and 
written  its  history  in  no  less  explicit  characters  upon  their  rocks.  It 
was  an  epoch  of  arctic  rigidity,  when  the  temperature  of  the  earth 
had  become  so  lowered  that  the  cold  regions  of  either  pole  alternately 
were  permitted  to  extend  their  previously  contracted  circles  over  the 
temperate  latitudes,  and  to  envelop  with  a  universal  and  prodigious 
mantle  of  ice  the  lands  which  once,  beneath  milder  suns,  had  been  the 
home  of  an  abundant  and  tropical  vegetation.  The  skirts  of  that 
glacial  sea  which  perennially  spreads  its  icy  and  resplendent  surface 
over  polar  lands  had  then,  by  a  favorable  conjunction  of  solar  and 
terrestrial  influences,  been  expanded  so  widely,  that  to  within  the  lati- 
tude of  39°  north  its  frigid  folds  hid  the  surface  of  the  earth,  while 
below  the  equator  a  similar  period  seems  to  have  left  scarcely  less 
visible  traces  amid  the  forests  and  pampas  of  South  America.  The 
evidence  which  has  established  the  actual  presence  of  these  arctic  con- 
ditions over  a  great  portion  of  our  earth  is  complete  and  irrefragable, 
and,  aided  by  the  contemporaneous  study  of  Alpine  glaciers  and  the 
Greenland  icebergs,  we  can  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  nature  and  the 
succession  of  events  which  these  conditions  occasioned. 

It  was  Agassiz  who  first  insisted,  perhaps  almost  with  trepidation, 
that  Central  Europe,  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  had  been  buried 
beneath  thousands  of  feet  of  solid  ice;  that  from  the  mountain-tops 
of  Scandinavia,  the  Grampians  of  Scotland,  the  Lake  Hills  of  England, 
and  the  summits  of  the  Alps,  had  proceeded  vast  rivers  of  ice  whose 
confluent  seas  had  swept  over  Europe,  and  beneath  their  resistless, 
ceaseless,  and  perpetual  advance,  grooved  it  with  valleys,  channeled 
the  courses  of  its  rivers,  engraved  its  rocks,  scooped  out  its  lakes,  and 


320  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

scattered  their  burden  of  debris  far  and  wide  over  its  plains.  The 
conception  was  a  bold,  almost  a  terrifying  one ;  and,  because  the  actual 
history  and  nature  of  glaciers  was  so  little  known,  it  was  regarded 
with  aversion  and  spoken  of  with  contempt.  Agassiz  had  laboriously 
studied  the  glaciers  of  the  Alps,  he  had  conned  the  lesson  they  taught 
with  eager  apprehension  of  its  great  significance,  and  he  knew  so  well 
every  characteristic  of  their  work  that  he  instantly  recognized  abroad 
the  same  indelible  evidence  of  their  past  presence. 

Venetz,  Rendu,  and  Charpentier,  had  preceded  him  in  glacial 
study,  and  had  insisted  upon  an  extension  of  the  Alpine  glaciers  far 
beyond  their  present  beds  in  past  ages,  but  had  not  realized  the  im- 
mense utility  of  these  views  in  explaining  the  glaciated  surfaces  of 
Europe.  Forbes,  Hopkins,  and  Tyndall,  succeeded  him  in  the  investi- 
gation of  glacial  physics,  and  by  their  close  scrutiny  into  the  constitu- 
tion of  ice,  and  the  laws  of  ice-making  and  glacial  motion,  fairly 
established  a  new  department  of  physical  science,  and  added  confir- 
mation to  the  views  of  Agassiz. 

Now,  let  us  examine  some  of  these  singular  and  hitherto  inexpli- 
cable records,  which  elicited  Agassiz's  theory,  and  which,  long  before 
they  were  harmonized  by  that  assumption,  had  been  attentively  ex- 
amined by  geologists  and  explained  upon  other  grounds.  Further- 
more, we  will  review  them  without  reference  to  the  theory  of  glacial 
action,  and  only  subsequently  compare  them  with  the  effects  now  being 
produced  wherever  glaciers  and  icebergs  are  at  work. 

The  rocks  as  they  lie  in  place,  the  flanks  and  summits  of  moun- 
tains to  heights  of  5,000  and  10,000  feet,  and  the  surfaces  of  out- 
cropping masses  over  immense  areas  of  the  world,  are  all  gauged  in 
long,  straight  channels,  sometimes  a  foot  deep,  sometimes  eight  feet 
deep,  with  widths  from  two  to  three  feet.  These  grooves,  of  all  di- 
mensions, pass  over  the  rock  in  groups  like  mouldings,  and  the  rocks 
they  occur  upon  are  polished  and  oftentimes  lustrous.  The  channels 
diminish  in  size  to  the  faintest  striae,  which,  like  sharp  scratches,  cover 
the  surface,  running  along  at  times  in  parallel  series,  or  diverging  in 
different  directions,  as  though  the  great  primitive  plane  had  varied 
its  course  over  them,  scouring  with  exquisite  fineness. 

These  lines  and  runnels  score  the  rocks  over  the  Northern  United 
States  and  Canada,  throughout  Europe,  in  Asia,  and  over  the  shores 
of  South  America.  We  discover  almost  instantly  that  in  the  same 
region  they  have  the  same  direction ;  that  they  seem,  as  it  were,  to 
stream  with  us  from  the  north  ;  and  that,  wherever  other  scores  con- 
travene this,  these  secondary  markings  are  themselves  harmonious, 
indicating  some  subsequent  action  upon  the  rock,  in  character  similar 
to  the  first,  though  varying  in  its  motion,  and  probably  restricted  in 
its  extent  and  importance.  Thus  the  scores  upon  the  rocks  of  New 
England  point  northwest  and  southeast,  and  only  local  derangements 
disturb  this  prevalent  direction.     The  easting  increases  as  we  progress 


THE  ICE  AGE.  321 

to  the  ocean,  reaching  its  maximum  in  Maine  and  the  borders  of  Can- 
ada ;  while,  as  we  retire  from  the  margin  of  the  States,  we  observe 
that  the  scratches  and  grooves  acquire  a  north-and-south  direction, 
becoming  nearly  meridional  over  New  York,  and  then  slowly  swing 
round  to  the  west,  until  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  the 
western  limits  of  the  continent,  they  lie  pointing  northeast  and  south- 
west. Thus  they  assume  a  rudely-outlined  radiation  from  the  high- 
lands of  Canada,  and  stretch  out  from  an  hypothetical  centre  there 
like  the  multiplied  spokes  of  a  great  wheel.  In  Switzerland  they 
sweep  down  and  out  from  the  central  ranges  of  the  Alps  in  all  direc- 
tions, and,  while  locally  uniform,  they  converge  from  the  south,  and 
east,  and  north,  and  west,  toward  the  lofty  slopes  and  pinnacles  of 
this  congeries  of  mountains.  Over  West  Russia  and  Northern  Europe, 
where  the  markings  are  discovered,  they  indicate  the  Scandinavian 
mountains  to  have  been  the  seat  of  whatever  disturbance  or  agency 
has,  at  a  distant  period,  fluted  and  engraved  the  continent;  similarly, 
as  the  rocks  lie  related  to  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  the  Lake  Hills 
of  England,  or  the  mountains  of  Wales,  the  striae  impressed  upon  them 
extend  toward  every  point  of  the  compass.  They  stream  north  and 
south  from  the  summits  of  the  Pyrenees,  from  the  peaks  of  the  Cau- 
casus, and  down  the  valleys  of  the  Himalayas.  It  must  be  under- 
stood, however,  that  these  conclusions  are  based  upon  an  average  of 
the  bearings  of  the  grooves  in  each  instance,  and  that  these  are  infi- 
nitely varied  by  the  construction  and  irregularity  of  the  land. 

Thus  over  greater  portions  of  the  world  we  find  the  rocks  fur- 
rowed, polished,  and  striated,  in  long,  frequently  deep  and  rectilinear 
grooves,  which  lie  in  groups  and  series  identical  in  direction,  and 
pointing  to  associated  highlands,  or  distant  continental  mountain- 
ranges,  as  the  source  of  whatever  strange  and  inexorable  instru- 
mentalities have  produced  them.  Oyer  New  York  Island  the 
gneissoid  and  granitic  rocks,  where  they  raise  their  tilted  strata 
and  broken  shoulders  above  the  ground,  are  scored  frequently  with 
deep  and  sinuous  channels.  In  Central  Park,  along  Fifty -ninth 
Street,  up  the  west  side,  the  contorted  and  twisted  humps  of  gneiss 
are  moulded  in  this  way.  Sometimes,  where  a  rupture  exists,  and  one 
part  of  an  outcrop  has  fallen  below  the  other,  the  grooves  are  con- 
tinued on  the  lower  half;  frequently  the  lines  are  crowded  together 
like  rulings  on  a  page,  and  again  the  groove  is  of  irregular  depth,  its 
floor  rising  and  falling  as  though  hitches  had  occurred  when  it  was 
first  planed,  the  great  chisel  meeting  resistance,  or  being  thrown  up 
at  points  along  its  path.  In  the  White  Mountains  the  sides  of  the 
mountains,  the  valleys,  the  top  of  Mount  Washington,  at  5,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  are  all  cut  with  these  strange  furrows,  the  rocks  pol- 
ished, and  the  whole  country  bearing  these  evidences  of  past  erosion 
wherever  the  naked  rock  meets  the  eye.  Over  Maine  the  same  phe- 
nomena present  themselves  in  endless  succession,  the  grooves  striping 

VOL.  XII. — 21 


322  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  country,  and  losing  themselves  in  the  sea  along  the  coast,  while 
they  corrugate  the  borders  of  the  innumerable  bays,  and  the  walls  of 
the  deep  fiords  that  indent  the  shores.  These  furrows  can  be  traced 
for  miles  across  the  country,  cutting  the  three  ranges  that  lie  between 
Bangor  and  the  sea  almost  at  right  angles,  traversing  these  highlands 
as  though  they  were  level  surfaces,  dipping  beneath  the  sea,  and  re- 
appearing upon  the  sides  of  Mount  Desert,  to  be  again  lost  in  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic.  Unquestionably,  over  that  sea-floor,  could  we 
follow  their  tracks,  the  same  furrows  continue  to  the  "verge  of  the  con- 
tinent which  lies  miles  out  to  seaward,  when  the  steep  edge  of  the 
land  falls  precipitately  to  the  true  bottom  of  the  ocean.  Over  the 
West,  throughout  Canada,  and  upon  the  ancient  rocks  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  these  evidences  of  past  erosion  exist  upon  an  enormous  scale. 
As  a  rule,  these  striae  indicate  a  planing  surface  advancing  from  the 
north,  and,  though  a  second  series  may  occur,  as  upon  the  islands  of 
Lake  Erie,  from  east  to  west,  whose  furrows  obliterate  the  first  in- 
scription, such  phenomena  are  local  merely,  and  infrequent.  Again, 
upon  the  Sierras,  the  tops  and  declivities  of  the  ranges  are  scored  and 
engraved  with  the  indelible  signatures  of  past  erosions,  and  the  rocks 
of  the  barren  wastes  of  British  America  are.  signalized  in  the  same 
manner.  So  much  for  strise :  we  perceive  their  universal  presence, 
and  their  marked  reference  to  the  north,  or  elevated  regions  which 
dominate  over  level  plains. 

The  second  feature  of  this  epoch,  designated  by  common  consent 
the  Drift,  is  a  series  of  surprising  facts,  evincing,  throughout  all  this 
deeply-scored  and  paneled  country,  the  past  presence  of  extraordinary 
transporting  agencies.  We  find  rocks  of  enormous  size,  in  some 
instances  weighing  3,000  tons,  planted  in  fields  and  lowlands,  or 
strewed  over  hills  and  moors,  where  no  rocks  lie  in  place,  sunken  in 
the  soil  where  the  lithology  of  the  district  is  entirely  distinct, 
while  that  of  the  monoliths  themselves  is  identical  with  rock  many 
miles  northward.  These  gigantic  bowlders,  Titanic  mementos  of  the 
past,  are  scattered  over  Central  Europe,  over  Germany,  Holland,  and 
Russia,  are  identical  in  character,  and  can  have  no  nearer  origin  than 
in  the  mountains  of  Scandinavia.  Some  of  these  blocks  of  stone  are 
of  incredible  dimensions,  and  are  accompanied  by  innumerable  smaller 
ones  that  lie  over  these  districts  as  if  flung  in  sport  by  some  pre- 
Adamite  Antaeus.  They  have  served  the  most  useful  purposes  in  the 
flat  countries  through  which  they  are  found,  being  used  for  buildings 
of  every  description,  and  their  smallest  associates  have  helped  to 
pave  the  highways  between  Hamburg,  Magdeburg,  and  Breslau.  Ac- 
credited in  ruder  times  to  the  malevolent  agency  of  man's  spiritual 
foes,  they  were  called  devil-stones  ;  but  Science,  recognizing  their  dis- 
tant origin,  has  named  them  erratics,  and  the  Germans,  more  pictu- 
resquely, wanderers.  Not  only  are  they  found  upon  level  and  loamy 
lands,  utterly  unaccountable  except  by  the  assumptions  of  transpor- 


THE  ICE  AGE.  323 

tation,  but  they  are  also  discovered  capping  the  cliffs  of  mountain- 
chains,  hanging  by  the  side  of  depths,  over  which  they  must  have 
been  carried,  and  into  which,  by  the  Nemesis  of  destiny,  they  are  now 
doomed  to  fall.  The  Jura  Mountains,  north  of  the  great  valley  of 
Switzerland,  and  opposite  the  western  or  Bernese  Alps,  along  the  fron- 
tier of  France,  are  thus  studded  with  these  bowlders,  some  of  them 
containing  50,000  to  60,000  cubic  feet  of  stone.  These  have  come  from 
the  Alps  ;  they  are  crystalline  rocks,  gneiss,  and  granite,  and  they  lie 
upon  ridges  of  limestone.  They  are  virtually  nothing  less  than  dis- 
located fragments  of  those  abraded  and  decreasing  hills  perched 
upon  the  Jura  cliffs.  Prof.  Guyot  has  placed,  beyond  all  doubt,  their 
home  upon  the  summits  and  sides  of  the  Swiss  Alps,  and  shown  that 
they  have  attained  their  present  eminence  by  a  positive  carriage  from 
these  original  localities.  This  position  has  indeed  been  made  impreg- 
nable by  a  protracted  and  laborious  survey  of  innumerable  "  wander- 
ers "  found  upon  the  Juras,  whose  lithological  character  identified 
them  with  the  Alpine  formation,  while  it  served  to  trace  the  probable 
path  of  their  transmission.  These  blocks  have  been  found  at  eleva- 
tions ranging  from  2,000  to  3,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  in  Carinthia 
similar  erratics  have  been  described  at  great  elevations,  proceeding 
from  an  opposite  quarter  of  the  Alps. 

.  In  North  America,  and  especially  throughout  the  Northern  States, 
the  bowlders  are  numerous,  often  of  great  size,  and  indicating  transits 
of  many  miles.  Over  the  Eastern,  Middle,  and  Northwestern  States, 
bowlders,  that  have  emigrated  from  distant  points  to  the  north- 
ward, occur  in  such  abundance  that  they  may  almost  anywhere  be 
found  if  the  inquirer  will  only  examine  the  country  he  passes  over. 
Upon  Mount  Katahdin,in  the  Moosehead  region  of  Maine,  stones  can 
be  seen,  lying  over  4,000  feet  above  the  sea,  fossiliferous  in  their  na- 
ture and  coming  from  northern  sites ;  while  toward  Mount  Desert, 
masses,  some  forty  to  fifty  feet  in  height,  are  sprinkled  everywhere, 
and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Dedham  granite  distributed  to  the  south,  in- 
variably show  northern  origin.  In  Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts, 
these  traveled  rocks  lie  in  long  alignments,  passing  over  the  Lenox 
Hills,  and  extending  in  a  generally  southeasterly  direction  for  fifteen 
or  twenty  miles,  and  have  been  filched  from  the  Canaan  and  Richmond 
Hills  across  the  line  in  New  York,  being  of  chloritic  slate,  with  angu- 
lar specimens  of  limestone  intermixed.  Some  granites  from  Vermont, 
on  the  west  of  the  Green  Mountains,  have  been  lifted  over  these  bar- 
riers and  transferred  to  the  southern  margins  of  Massachusetts ;  while 
in  Vermont  a  bowlder  weighing  over  3,400  tons,  and  known  as  the 
Green  Mountain  Giant,  has  been  drifted  from  the  Green  Mountains 
easterly  across  the  valley  of  the  Deerfield  River,  and  planted  500 
feet  above  that  stream.  In  Michigan,  near  the  Menomonee  River,  a 
field  upon  the  northern  slope  of  a  mountain  is  densely  covered  with 
bowlders,  so  that  a  mile  can  be  traversed  without  once  touching  the 


324 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ground.     Again,  huge  nuggets  of  copper,  torn  from  the  immense  de- 
posits of  native  copper  at  Keweenaw  Point,  Portage  Lake,  and  the 
Ontonagon  district,  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  are  found 
widely  disseminated  to  the  south  of  these  localities  in  Michigan,Wis- 
consin,  Ohio,  and  Minnesota,  a  few  of  which  have  weighed  300,  800, 
and  one  3,000  pounds.     From  the  sides  of  the  White  Mountains  frag- 
ments of  rock  have  been  carried  away,  and  not  only  conveyed  south- 
ward, but,  as  Agassiz  first  pointed  out,  distributed  northward,  though 
only  at  comparatively  slight  distances.     Long  Island,  that  narrow 
fork  of  land  running  eastward  and  separated  from  the  southern  shore 
of  Connecticut  by  the  Long  Island  Sound,  a  shallow  and  turbulent 
trough,  is  lined,  alike  on  its  southern  and  northern  edges,  with  bowl- 
ders, while  its  backbone  of  low  hills  is  also  strewed  with  their  debris. 
They  occur  gathered  together  in  groups  forming  topographical  feat- 
ures in  the  landscape,  and  single  ones  have  a  weight  of  2,000  tons. 
As  regards  their  origin,  they  seem  to  have  drifted  from  three  localities, 
from  the  Helderberg  Mountains  in  Central  New  York,  from  Manhat- 
tan Island,  and  from  various  points  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and 
Massachusetts.      Those  about  the  west  end  of  the  island  may  be 
traced  to  the  Eastern  States  lying  to  the  north,  while  many  of  the 
western  visitors  appear  to  have  approached  along  the  valley  of  the 
Hudson  from  the  Highlands  of  New  York.     On  Staten  Island  we  may 
trace  still  farther  the  current  of  traveled  rocks,  and  find  both  centres 
of  emigration  represented:  the  bowlders,  now  gray  with  lichens,  half 
emerging  from  the  soil,  or  deeply  buried  beneath  gravel,  clay,  and 
sand,  or  else  dispersed  in  colonies  over  the  surface  like  pebbles  on  a 
board.     Manhattan  Island,  along  its  southern  shore,  has  been  dotted 
with  bowlders  of  serpentine,  dragged  from  Hoboken,  while  gneiss  and 
anthophyllite  from  the  bed-rock  of  the  island,  limestone  from  Kings- 
bridge,  and  jasper  from  the  Palisades,  have  likewise  been  sown  across 
it,  though  before  the  restless  advance  of  population  they  are  fast  dis- 
appearing.    In  Westchester,  Putnam,  and  Orange  Counties,  along  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson,  these  bowlders,  all  indicating  northern  extrac- 
tion, are  repeatedly  found,  frequently  at  heights  of  1,000  feet.     These 
erratics  have  come  from  the  Shawangunk  Mountains,  from  Whitehall, 
Essex  County,  and  from  Potsdam ;  in  short,  they  are  witnesses  of  an 
invasion  of  northern  material  prevalent  over  the  State.     That  these 
rocks  belong  northward  is  not  difficult  to  prove.     The  reasoning  is 
simply  this :  When  anthophyllite,  for  instance,  a  rock  unknown  in 
situ  to  Long  Island,  appears  there  in  broken  and  detached  masses, 
we  must  conclude  it  belongs  to  the  nearest  deposits  of  the  same  rock, 
where  it  occurs  in  place,  as  upon  Manhattan  Island,  and  the  horn- 
blendic  rock,  the  gneiss,  trap,  and  iron-ore,  similarly  found  on  Long 
Island,  we  refer  to  those  conspicuous  and  well-known  localities  in  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island  where   exactly  these  rocks,  identical  in 
chemical  composition,  are  quarried. 


THE  ICE  AGE.  325 

In  the  West  the  same  tale  is  repeated.  Throughout  Ohio,  bowl- 
ders are  found  which  are  composed  of  rock  utterly  foreign  to  their 
present  surroundings ;  indeed,  of  material  not  known  within  the  limits 
of  the  State.  These  are  found  perched  over  declivities,  buried  in  the 
soil  with  their  exposed  edges  showing  above  the  surface,  or  else  lying 
unencumbered  in  slight  depressions  of  the  ground.  In  Indiana, 
Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  etc.,  they  are  omnipresent,  and  the 
streets  of  Cincinnati  are  paved  with  the  smaller  specimens  that 
crowd  in  exhaustless  trains  upon  the  footsteps  of  their  larger  com- 
panions. In  short,  we  gather  the  irrefragable  testimony,  wherever  we 
look  for  it,  through  our  Northern  States,  through  Europe  and  Asia, 
and  even  along  the  western  coast  of  South  America,  that  some  im- 
mense force  has  been  exerted  in  times  past,  not  only  to  dislocate  and 
shatter  the  rocky  barriers  which  opposed  it,  but  also  to  carry  away 
the  evidences  of  its  ravages,  and  scatter  them  in  its  southward 
movement  far  removed  from  their  place  of  origin.  Further,  let  it  be 
remarked  that,  though  one  class  of  these  erratics  is  composed  of  angu- 
lar and  unworn  stones,  another  yields  bowlders  that  have  undergone 
severe  attrition,  and  along  their  larger  axes  are  striated  and  polished  ; 
bearing  in  mind,  moreover,  that  the  direction  of  their  transit  coin- 
cides with  that  of  the  furrows  and  flutings  in  the  same  region,  we 
may  strictly  conclude  that  they  are  a  feature  also  of  the  same  exces- 
sive and  gigantic  system  of  erosion. 

But  there  is  another  appearance  which  we  believe  vitally  con- 
nected with  these,  and  one  of  a  yet  broader  and  more  significant  char- 
acter in  its  general  relations  than  they  are.  Over  Scotland,  England, 
Ireland,  Scandinavia,  Denmark,  Central  Europe,  Switzerland,  Russia, 
France,  Spain,  and  in  North  and  South  America,  in  short,  wherever 
we  discover  bowlders  and  grooved  surfaces,  we  find  a  deep  and  char- 
acteristic deposit,  not  the  work  of  alluvial  formations  or  recent  detri- 
tus, for  it  underlies  these,  but  the  record  of  a  vast  disintegration 
which,  having  planed  and  corroded  the  continents,  has  covered  the 
land  with  sheets  of  gravel,  clay,  silt,  and  sand,  all  intermixed  with 
stones  and  bowlders,  variously  combined  in  their  order  of  succession, 
and  ranging  in  depth  to  over  300  feet.  These  immense  beds  furnish 
gravel  for  roads  and  ballast,  sand  for  glass-making  and  mortars,  and 
clay  for  pottery;  their  included  stones  and  fragments  are  scored 
and  embroidered  with  fine  and  interlacing  stria?,  and  they  cover  the 
furrowed  surfaces  of  either  hemisphere  for  miles. 

They  represent  the  accumulated  wTear  and  tear  of  continents, 
under  some  extraordinary  agent  of  erosion  and  denudation,  whose 
teeth  have  resistlessly  ground  upon  the  solid  rocks  of  the  hills  and 
highlands,  hiding  disfigured  surfaces  beneath  a  covering  of  ruin. 
Long  Island  is  itself  but  one  long  dirt-heap :  an  accumulated  pile  of 
continental  debris,  sand,  clay,  gravel,  intermixed  and  overlaid  by 
bowlders,  is  here  gathered  together  into  a  more  or  less  stratified  state, 


326  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

as  if,  in  an  enormous  denudation  of  New  England,  the  aggregated 
material,  scoured  from  its  hills  and  valleys,  had  been  dropped  just 
upon  their  outskirts  in  this  long  detrital  barrow  or  mound.  Yet 
over  New  England  this  same  deposit  is  wide-spread ;  it  lies  up  and 
down  the  valleys,  it  forms  the  terraces  of  its  rivers,  the  shores  of  its 
lakes,  and,  spread  over  the  face  of  the  land,  is  frequently  the  immedi- 
ate soil  beneath  the  feet.  This  member  of  .the  geological  series, 
exhibiting  various  phases  in  its  deposition,  from  the  bowlder-clay 
to  the  lake-ridges,  is  widely  distributed,  indeed  is  universal  over  the 
Northern  States,  and  as  far  south  as  40°  north  latitude  extends  its 
sheets  and  centres  of  pebbly  and  sandy  deposit  in  mounds  and 
ridges,  themselves  capped  with  accidental  bowlders,  and  resting  upon 
the  furrowed  and  seamed  surfaces  of  the  rock  beneath.  Sometimes 
they  may  be  found  collected  in  heaps  and  walls  at  the  foot  of  the 
polished  rocks,  as  if  silent  and  incontrovertible  witnesses  of  their 
severe  and  prolonged  erosion. 

In  Scotland  it  is  the  till,  a  stiff  clay  interspersed  with  polished 
stones,  crowding  down  the  valleys  and  prevalent  over  the  lower 
slopes,  varying  in  its  lithological  character  with  the  character  of  the 
surrounding  rocks.  Gravel  and  sand  beds  are  intercalated  with  it 
and  superimposed  upon  it.  In  England,  Ireland,  Scandinavia,  Swit- 
zerland, we  discover  identical  strata — strata  which,  while  yielding  dif- 
ferent subdivisions,  in  their  entire  extent  are  the  same  thing,  and  only 
varied  according  to  the  local  force  and  extent  of  the  wearing  agent, 
the  local  peculiarities  of  the  country  over  which  it  operated,  and  the 
effect  which  submergence  beneath  the  sea  had  in  redistributing  and 
rearranging  the  beds  of  detritus  already  laid  down.  In  the  sequel 
we  shall  more  particularly  revert  to  this  drift-material,  and  indicate 
the  part  it  has  played  in  the  economy  of  our  landscape-changes  ;  how 
it  constitutes  the  terraces  of  our  rivers  and  the  successive  beaches 
of  our  Great  Lakes,  and  how  it  has  choked  up  the  former  courses  of 
rivers,  forcing  them  to  find  new  ones  by  larger  and  circuitous  deflec- 
tions. Associated  with  this  phenomenon  are  the  appearances  known 
as  crushed  ledges  and  roches  moutonnees,  both  of  which  testify  to 
the  exertion  of  enormous  pressure — the  one  of  pressure  continuous 
and  progressive,  the  other,  perhaps,  of  percussive  and  intermittent 
attacks. 

Crushed  ledges  designate  those  plicated,  overthrown,  or  curved 
exposures  where  parallel  laminse  of  rocks,  as  talcose  schist,  usually 
vertical,  are  bent  and  fractured  as  if  by  a  maul-like  force  battering  on 
them  from  above.  The  strata  are  oftentimes  tumbled  over  upon  a 
cliff-side  like  a  row  of  books,  and  rest  upon  heaps  of  fragments  broken 
away  by  the  strain  upon  the  bottom  layers,  or  crushed  off  from  their 
exposed  surfaces.  Moches  moutonnees  are  those  rounded  and  swelling 
prominences,  often  seen  in  a  landscape,  which,  when  examined  more 
closely,  show  themselves  to  be  truncated  masses  of  rock  whose  asperi- 


TEACHINGS    OF  A   DAY.  327 

ties  have  been  smoothed  away  by  the  same  agency  which  has  planed 
the  rocks  everywhere.  Only  the  roches  moutonnees  have  been  left 
furrowed  and  scratched  upon  one  side,  whence  the  abrading  and 
engraving  tool  advanced,  but  vipon  the  other  unscored,  and  hidden 
beneath  a  tail  of  fragments  ground  from  their  opposite  slopes.  The 
significance  of  this  we  shall  see  later. 

Thus,  imperfectly  described,  we  have  reviewed  the  most  prominent 
features  of  a  comparatively  modern  period,  viz.,  the  widely-grooved 
and  polished  condition  of  northern  rocks,  especially  hard-grained  rocks, 
which  retain  these  impressions  ;  the  occurrence  of  wandering  bowl- 
ders, transported  longer  or  shorter  distances  from  their  primitive 
sites,  and  the  detrital  matter  from  continental  abrasion  deeply  bury- 
ing the  rocky  face  of  the  country,  and  in  ridges,  mounds,  and  sheets, 
extending  east  and  west,  and  along  the  greater  water-courses, 
stretching  itself  down  into  the  Southern  States  in  irregular  tails  and 
projections.  We  will  now  venture  to  examine  the  theories  advanced 
to  explain  these  singular  phenomena,  and  describe  that  one  which 
best  accounts  for  these  facts,  with  many  correlated  ones,  offering  an 
hypothesis  which  rationally  secures  their  complete  and  harmonious 
agreement. 


-*♦♦- 


TEACHINGS   OF  A  DAY. 

By  LOUISA  S.  BEVINGTON. 
MORNING. 

"TTTHAT'S  the  text  to-day  for  reading 
V  V     Nature  and  its  being  by  ? 

There  is  effort  all  the  morning 
Through  the  windy  sea  and  sky. 

All,  intent  in  earnest  grapple, 

That  the  All  may  let  it  be : 
Force,  in  unity,  at  variance 

"With  its  own  diversity. 

Force,  prevailing  unto  action : 
Force,  persistent  to  restrain : 

In  a  twofold,  one-souled  wrestle, 
Forging  Being's  freedom-chain. 

Frolic !  say  you — when  the  billow 
Tosses  back  a  mane  of  spray  ? 

No  ;  but  haste  of  earnest  effort ; 
Nature  works  in  guise  of  play. 


328  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Till  the  balance  shall  be  even 
Swings  the  to  and  fro  of  strife  ; 
.  Till  an  awful  equilibrium 

Stills  it,  beats  the  Heart  of  Life. 

What's  the  text  to-day  for  reading 
Nature  and  its  being  by  ? 

Effort,  effort  all  the  morning, 
Through  the  sea  and  windy  sky. 


AFTERNOON. 


Purple  headland  over  yonder, 
Fleecy,  sun-extinguished  moon, 

I  am  here  alone,  and  ponder 
On  the  theme  of  Afternoon. 

Past  has  made  a  groove  for  Present, 
And  what  fits  it  is :  no  more. 

Waves  before  the  wind  are  weighty ; 
Strongest  sea-beats  shape  the  shore. 

Just  what  is  is  just  what  can  be, 

And  the  Possible  is  free  ; 
'Tis  by  being,  not  by  effort, 

That  the  firm  cliff  juts  to  sea. 

With  an  uncontentious  calmness 
Drifts  the  Fact  before  the  "Law ; " 

So  we  name  the  ordered  sequence 
We,  remembering,  foresaw. 

And  a  law  is  mere  procession 

Of  the  forcible  and  fit ; 
Calm  of  uncontested  Being, 

And  our  thought  that  comes  of  it. 

In  the  mellow  shining  daylight 
Lies  the  Afternoon  at  ease, 

Little  willing  ripples  answer 
To  a  drift  of  casual  breeze. 

Purple  headland  to  the  westward ! 

Ebbing  tide  and  fleecy  moon ! 
In  the  "line  of  least  resistance  " 

Flows  the  life  of  Afternoon. 


TEACHINGS    OF  A   DAY.  329 

TWILIGHT. 

Gkay  the  sky,  and  growing  dimmer, 

And  the  twilight  lulls  the  sea; 
Half  in  vagueness,  half  in  glimmer, 

Nature  shrouds  her  mystery. 

What  have  all  the  hours  heen  spent  for  ? 

Why  the  on  and  on  of  things  ? 
Why  eternity's  procession 

Of  the  days  and  evenings  ? 

Hours  of  sunshine,  hours  of  gloaming, 

Wing  their  unexplaining  flight, 
With  a  measured  punctuation 

Of  unconsciousness,  at  night. 

Just  at  sunset  was  translucence, 

When  the  west  was  all  aflame ; 
So  I  asked  the  sea  a  question, 

And  an  answer  nearly  came. 

Is  there  nothing  but  Occurrence  ? 

Though  each  detail  seem  an  Act, 
Is  that  whole  we  deem  so  pregnant, 

But  unemphasized  Fact? 

Or,  when  dusk  is  in  the  hollows 

Of  the  hill-side  and  the  wave, 
Are  things  just  so  much  in  earnest 

That  they  cannot  but  be  grave  ? 

Nay,  the  lesson  of  the  Twilight 

Is  as  simple  as  'tis  deep ; 
Acquiescence,  acquiescence, 

And  the  coming  on  of  sleep. 


MIDNIGHT. 


Theke  are  sea  and  sky  about  me, 
And  yet  nothing  sense  can  mark; 

For  a  mist  fills  all  the  midnight, 
Adding  blindness  to  its  dark. 

There  is  not  the  faintest  echo 
From  the  life  of  yesterday : 

Not  the  vaguest  stir  foretelling 
Of  a  morrow  on  the  way. 


330  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

'Tis  negation's  hour  of  triumph, 
In  the  absence  of  the  sun ; 

'Tis  the  hour  of  endings,  finished, 
Of  beginnings  unbegun. 

Yet  the  voice  of  awful  silence 
Bids  my  waiting  spirit  hark ; 

There  is  action  in  the  stillness, 
There  is  progress  in  the  dark. 

In  the  drift  of  things  and  forces, 
Comes  the  better  from  the  worse, 

Swings  the  whole  of  Nature  upward, 
"Wakes,  and  thinks — a  universe. 

There  will  be  more  life  to-morrow, 
And  of  life,  more  life  that  faiows; 

Though  the  sum  of  force  be  constant, 
Yet  the  Living  ever  grows. 

So  we  sing  of  Evolution, 

And  step  strongly  on  our  ways, 

And  we  live  through  nights  in  patience, 
And  we  learn  the  worth  of  days. 

In  the  silence  of  murk  midnight 
Is  revealed  to  me  this  thing : 

Nothing  hinders,  all  enables 
Nature's  vast  awakening. 


-♦♦♦- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DYNAMICAL  THEORY  OF  HEAT.1 

By  POETEE   POINIEE. 

II. 

ABOUT  one  year  after  the  reading  of  the  famous  paper  of  Rum- 
ford,  in  the  early  part  of  1799,  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  then  but 
twenty  years  of  age,  published  his  first  scientific  memoir,  entitled 
"  An  Essay  on  Heat,  Light,  and  the  Combinations  of  Light."  Clear- 
ly enunciating  the  two  systems  of  hypothesis  previously  held,  he 
chose  to  follow  Newton  in  rejecting  the  materiality  of  heat,  while 
still  clinging  to  the  corpuscular  or  emission  theory  of  light. 

His  position  with  respect  to  the  existence  of  caloric  he  asserted  in 
this  thesis  : 

"  The  Phenomena  of  Repulsion  are  not  dependent  on  a  pe- 
culiar Elastic  Fluid  for  their  Existence,  or  Caloric  does  not 

1  Introduction  to  an  unpublished  work  on  Thermo-Dynamics. 


EXIST  • 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT    331 

proceeding  to  maintain  it  by  a  series  of  experimental  reductio  ad  ab- 
surdum. 

Premising  that  the  temperature  of  a  body  could  not  be  increased 
unless  either  its  "  capacity "  were  diminished  from  some  cause,  or 
heat  were  added  to  it  from  still  other  bodies  in  contact,  and  observing 
a  production  of  heat  to  be  consequent  on  friction  or  percussion,  he 
enumerated  the  following  as  including  all  possible  explanations  of  the 
phenomenon  consistent  with  the  assumption  of  caloric  : 

First,  the  production  by  the  friction  of  a  specific  diminution  in  the 
"  capacity  "  of  the  body,  whereby  caloric  would  be  disengaged,  and  thus 
made  sensible.  This  was  the  supposition  which  Count  Rumford  showed 
to  be  quite  incompatible  with  the  inexhaustibility  of  the  supply. 

Second,  the  liberation  of  caloric  during  some  slow  process  of  com- 
bustion accompanying  the  friction,  the  source  in  this  case  being  the 
oxygen  of  the  surrounding  medium.  This  contingency  was  likewise 
anticipated  by  Rumford,  who  failed  to  detect  any  indications  of  such 
an  action. 

And,  third,  the  production  of  some  occult  change  in  the  bodies 
rubbed,  whereby  they  might  acquire  the  property  of  abstracting  an 
unusual  quantity  of  heat-substance  from  surrounding  matter. 

His  argument  against  the  existence  of  caloric  depended,  therefore, 
upon  showing  that  these  different  suppositions  were  all  contrary  to 
the  indications  of  experiment,  whence  the  inference  as  to  the  unten- 
ability  of  the  hypothesis  itself.  But,  although  this  method  of  reason- 
ing has  been  characterized  as  "  somewhat  confused,"  the  following 
experiments  upon  which  it  was  based  are  now  considered  classical. 

Two  parallelopipedons  of  ice,  initially  at. a  temperature  of  29°  Fahr., 
were  fastened  in  an  apparatus  by  which  they  might  be  rubbed  to- 
gether, and  kept  in  a  continued  and  violent  friction  with  each  other. 
They  thus  were  almost  wholly  melted,  the  temperature  of  the  result- 
ing water  being  "  ascertained  to  be  35°,  after  remaining  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  a  lower  temperature  for  some  minutes."  The  fusion  also  was 
observed  to  take  place  only  at  the  rubbing  surface. 

From  this  experiment  it  was  therefore  to  be  inferred  that  the 
"  capacity "  of  a  body  was  not  necessarily  diminished  by  friction ; 
for,  according  to  the  discoveries  of  Black,  the  melting  of  a  quantity 
of  ice  could  only  take  place  with  the  absorption  of  a  definite  quantity 
of  heat — its  latent  heat  of  fusion. 

Upon  the  second  supposition,  Davy  remarked : 

"  From  this  experiment  it  is  likewise  evident  that  the  increase  of  tempera- 
ture consequent  on  friction  cannot  arise  from  the  decomposition  of  the  oxygen 
gas  in  contact,  for  ice  has  no  attraction  for  oxygen.  Since  the  increase  of  tem- 
perature consequent  on  friction  cannot  arise  from  the  diminution  of  capacity  or 
oxidation  of  the  acting  bodies,  the  only  remaining  supposition  is,  that  it  arises 
from  an  absolute  quantity  of  heat  added  to  them,  which  heat  must  be  attracted 
from  the  bodies  in  contact.  Then  friction  must  induce  some  change  in  bodies 
enabling  them  to  attract  heat  from  the  bodies  in  contact." 


332  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

To  determine,  therefore,  upon  this  last  alternative,  he  performed 
the  following  experiment : 

A  block  of  ice,  having  a  small  channel  cut  around  its  upper  edge, 
was  placed  under  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump.  The  channel  was 
filled  with  water,  and  upon  the  block,  though  not  in  contact  with  the 
water,  was  also  placed  a  clock-work  so  contrived  that  one  of  the  ex- 
ternal wheels  of  its  machinery  came  in  contact  with  a  thin  metal 
plate.  By  the  friction  between  these  surfaces  a  considerable  amount 
of  heat  could  be  produced,  which  might  be  made  to  melt  wax,  tallow, 
or  any  similar  substance  fusible  at  the  temperature  which  could  be 
thus  produced. 

The  receiver,  previously  filled  with  carbonic-acid  gas,  was  next 
exhausted  as  completely  as  possible  by  the  air-pump  and  absorption 
by  caustic  potash ;  upon  then  setting  the  machine  to  work  the  wax 
was  melted  rapidly,  and  the  temperature  of  the  whole  apparatus  in- 
creased by  more  than  1°  Fahr.,  thus  proving  the  excitation  of  heat 
under  the  conditions  imposed. 

Consistently  with  the  remaining  supposition — the  third — it  was 
then  only  to  be  inferred  that  caloric  had  been  collected  from  the 
bodies  in  contact.  Neglecting,  however,  the  vapor  of  water  which 
formed  the  rarefied  atmosphere  within  the  receiver,  the  only  other 
body  in  contact  with  the  apparatus  was  the  ice.  But  against  the  as- 
sumption of  this  latter  having  furnished  any  heat,  Davy  here  drew  at- 
tention to  the  water  still  remaining  liquid  in  the  canal,  and  which  pre- 
sumably would  have  been  frozen  had  the  ice  parted  with  any  heat. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  such  a  course  of  reasoning  was  neither 
exhaustive  with  respect  to  the  non-existence  of  caloric,  nor  conclusive 
as  to  the  dynamic  character  of  heat.  For,  had  he  even  been  success- 
ful in  demolishing  the  doctrine  of  caloric,  the  simple  refutation  of  one 
physical  hypothesis  could  never  have  been  construed  into  more  than 
an  increase  in  probability  of  all  those  opposed  to  it ;  and  in  this  in- 
stance, perhaps  no  considerations  would  have  been  accepted  as  con- 
clusive by  the  materialists,  wThich,  failing  to  experimentally  establish 
the  true  nature  of  heat,  should  still  have  left  their  favorite  notion 
open  to  any  modification,  however  artificial,  which  might  reconcile  it 
in  the  least  degree  with  facts  which  would  be  doubted  and  distorted 
in  the  interest  of  these  preconceived  opinions. 

Heat  being  only  a  particular  phase  of  energy,  it  was  necessary  and 
sufficient  to  show,  as  done  by  Rumford,  with  respect  to  its  frictional 
excitation,  that  its  production  depended  only  on  the  expenditure  of 
energy — implied  in  its  inexhaustibility — and  always  in  the  same  de- 
gree, as  he  proved  by  special  determinations.1     It  was  the  subsequent 

1  Professors  Tait  and  Balfour  Stewart  are  authority  for  the  statement  that  "  Rumford 
pointed  out  other  methods  to  be  employed  in  determining  the  amount  of  heat  produced 
by  the  expenditure  of  mechanical  power,  instancing  particularly  the  agitation  of  water 
or  other  liquids,  as  in  churning."— (Tait's  "  Historical  Sketch,"  p.  1 ;  Stewart's  "  Element- 
ary Treatise  on  Heat,"  p.  307.) 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    333 

extension  of  this  experimental  process  to  all  modes  of  heat-production 
that  constituted  the  great  work  of  Joule,  to  be  described  hereafter. 

But  if  Davy  thus  failed  to  render  his  experiments  truly  conclusive 
against  the  materiality  of  heat,  his  subsequent  observations  showed 
that  individually  his  perceptions  were  most  clear  and  definite. 

Heat,  ultimately,  he  conceived  to  depend  upon  molecular  motion 
— calling  this  the  repulsive  motion — and  to  produce  an  effect  exactly 
opposite  to  that  of  cohesion.  The  action  of  this  motion  in  altering 
the  state  of  aggregation,  he  interpreted  essentially  as  is  the  custom 
now,  and  spoke  of  temperatures  as  indicating  the  relative  quantities 
of  repulsive  motion  in  the  same  substance.  He  also  mentioned  three 
modes  in  which  this  motion  might  be  increased : 

"  1.  By  the  transmutation  of  mechanical  into  repulsive  motion,  that  is,  by 
friction  or  percussion.  In  this  case  the  mechanical  motion  lost  by  the  masses 
of  matter  in  friction  is  the  repulsive  motion  gained  by  their  corpuscles. 

"  2.  By  the  motion  of  chemical  combinations  of  decomposition. 

"  3.  From  the  communicated  repulsive  motion  of  bodies  in  apparent  contact, 
that  is,  by  conduction  simply.  And  subsequently  he  generalized  this  statement 
in  the  dictum : l 

"The  immediate  cause  of  the  phenomena  of  heat,  then,  as  Lavoisier  long  ago 
stated,  is  motion,  and  the  laws  of  its  communication  are  precisely  the  same  as 
the  laws  of  the  communication  of  motion." 

These  essays  of  Rumford  and  Davy  failed  to  produce,  with  a  few 
rare  exceptions,  any  perceptible  effect  upon  the  scientific  opinions  of 
their  contemporaries.  There  would  seem  to  have  prevailed  at  this 
time  a  remarkable  incapacity  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  experi- 
ments whose  indications  were  opposed  to  preconceived  ideas,  and 
an  antipathy  to  engage  in  unfamiliar  issues;  and  the  same  distrust 
and  indifference  which  so  deadened  the  brilliance  of  Fresnel's  immor- 
tal work  in  France  proved  quite  effectual  in  deferring  for  the  time 
the  discoveries  which  might  otherwise  have  followed  the  immediate 
development  and  experimental  prosecution  of  this  theory.  Whatever 
interest  was  awakened  seems  to  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  dis- 
played in  the  petty,  irrelevant  objections,  and  misstatements  even, 
brought  against  their  methods  of  experiment  and  observed  results  : 
and  the  injustice  of  which,  when  not  apparent,  might  have  been  easily 
exposed  by  a  careful  repetition  or  extension  of  these  same  determina- 
tions. 

Dr.  Thomas  Young,  however,  in  his  "  Lectures  on  Natural  Philos- 
ophy," delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution,  and  published  in   1807,2 

lu  Elements  of  Chemical  Philosophy,"  1812.  Complete  Works,  vol.  iv.,  p.  66.  The 
laws  of  motion  here  referred  to  were  those  of  Newton,  especially  the  third,  application  to 
molecular  magnitudes  being  included,  and  the  modifications  introduced  by  the  new  facts 
as  to  the  effect  cf  friction  understood ;  for,  "  in  Newton's  day,  and  long  afterward,  it  was 
supposed  that  work  was  absolutely  lost  by  friction." — (Thomson  and  Tait,  "  Natural 
Philosophy,"  p.  108.) 

'2  "Lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,"  vol.  i.,  p.  653,  etseq. 


334  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

assigned  to  them  their  true  significance,  and,  reviewing  much  after 
Bacon  the  existing  state  of  experience  upon  the  question,  drew  forci- 
bly attention  to  the  superficiality  of  the  views  of  those  who  still 
adopted  the  hypothesis  of  caloric. 

In  1810  Haldat  performed  an  extended  series  of  experiments  upon 
the  heat  produced  by  friction  between  various  metallic  surfaces.1  The 
results  which  he  obtained  were  not,  however,  decidedly  confirmatory 
of  either  supposition,  but  especially  serve  to  increase  our  admiration 
for  the  acumen  of  Rumford  in  perceiving  and  stating  the  true  law  of 
its  excitation. 

The  rubbing  surfaces  employed  by  him  were  similar  in  size  and 
shape ;  the  pressure  between  them  was  maintained  nearly  constant 
in  several  different  experiments ;  but  the  power  or  energy  was  re- 
ceived in  measured  quantities,  and  from  an  indefinite  source,  namely, 
the  pulley  of  a  turning-lathe. 

The  quantities  of  heat  developed  for  the  same  number  of  revolu- 
tions, or  in  proportionate  times,  were  naturally,  therefore,  different 
for  different  metals ;  but  as  to  the  cause  of  this  diversity  he  hazarded 
no  positive  opinion,  and  indeed  his  recorded  observations  do  not 
seem  susceptible  of  reduction  to  any  particular  theory.  Had  he 
measured  the  energy  absorbed,  or  the  coefficient  of  friction  between 
the  rubbing  surfaces,  he  might  possibly  have  been  able  to  trace  some 
relation  between  them  and  the  heat  produced  in  the  operation.  As 
it  was,  his  observations  as  to  difference  of  capacity,  the  influence  of 
density,  etc.,  were  equally  confused  with  the  results,  which  he  ob- 
tained on  varying  the  pressure  and  substituting  different  metals ;  and 
although  upon  the  whole  his  conclusions  were  adverse  to  the  calorists, 
they  wrere  not  definite  enough  to  attract  any  notable  attention. 

In  tracing  thus  far  the  inception  of  mechanical-heat  theory,  we 
have  seen  two  important  generalizations  made  :  The  one,  fully 
attested  by  experiment,  referring  to  the  transformation  of  work  into 
heat  in  a  peculiar  class  of  operations,  and  entirely  independent  of 
hypothesis,  namely,  that  "  the  heat  generated  by  friction  is  exactly 
proportional  to  the  force  with  which  the  two  surfaces  are  pressed 
together,  and  to  the  rapidity  of  the  friction."  The  other,  more  com- 
prehensive, including  in  the  spirit  of  its  enunciation  thermal  phenom- 
ena of  every  variety,  and  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  dependent  on 
molecular  and  other  hypothesis.  These  early  statements  are  quite 
characteristic  of,  and  may  be  used  to  illustrate,  a  subsequent  division 
of  our  subject  necessitated  by  experimental  difficulties  of  investigation 
and  verification. 

The  proposition  that  the  entire  energy  existing  in  the  universe  is 
a  magnitude  as-  definite  and  unchangeable  as  the  quantity  of  matter 
which  it  contains,  is  now  considered  one  of  the  most  fundamental  and 
far-reaching  in  natural  philosophy.     The  experimental  evidence  pos- 

1  Journal  dc  Physique,  vol.  lxv.,  p.  213  ;  Nicholson's  Journal,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  30. 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL    THEORY   OF  HEAT.    335 

sessed  as  to  the  fact  appears  for  the  most  part  in  the  invariability 
of  the  ratio  of  any  dynamic  magnitude  of  a  definite  kind  which  dis- 
appears to  that  of  another  kind  which  is  thereby  produced,  and  the 
numerical  value  of  which,  for  a  particular  transformation,  depends 
only  on  the  relative  magnitude  of  the  characteristic  units  as  compared 
by  the  same  standard  system  of  dynamic  units.  That  is,  that  the 
conversion  of  one  manifestation  of  energy  into  another  takes  place 
with  as  great  certainty  and  absence  of  waste,  and  with  the  same 
integrity  of  the  elementary  magnitude,  as  the  more  formal  conversion 
of  foot-pounds  into  kilogrammetres,  or  British  thermal  units  into 
calorics.  To  the  experimental  establishment  of  this  principle  as 
involved  in  transformations  between  heat  and  work,  and  which  is 
called  the  First  Fundamental  Law  of  Theruio-Dyn  amies,  we  shall 
return  hereafter. 

But  in  the  transformation  of  heat  into  mechanical  effect  or  work, 
an  additional  principle  has  been  found  to  hold,  respecting  the  trans- 
formable quantities  of  these  two  magnitudes  as  influenced  by  tem- 
perature, and  which  is  known  in  like  manner  as  the  Second  Funda- 
mental Law  of  Thermo-Dynamics. 

Experience  has  not  as  yet  encountered  any  phenomena  at  variance 
with  these  fundamental  laws;  which  furthermore  agree  with  the 
strictest  requirements  of  intuitive  science,  and  illustrate,  respectively, 
the  axioms  that  nothing  is  by  natural  means  creatable  from  nothing, 
and  that  things  are  equal  to  the  same  thing  only  which  are  equal  to 
each  other.  In  the  development  of  these  two  principles,  and  the  ap- 
plication to  them  of  empirical  laws  with  reference  to  the  behavior  of 
bodies  under  the  action  of  heat  or  mechanical  effect,  consists  the  first 
principal  division  of  the  subject  in  which  the  results  obtained  are 
generally  reliable. 

But  in  assuming  a  complete  analogy  between  molecular  and  mass 
energy,  and  in  tracing  the  consequence  of  this  assumption  through 
the  different  forms  of  material  aggregation,  the  conclusions  reached 
are  generally  much  beyond  the  present  power  of  experimental  science 
to  explicitly  confirm,  and,  although  many  of  the  results  obtained  in 
these  investigations  are  of  great  probability,  they  yet  are  of  inferior 
certainty  to  those  properly  included  in  the  first  division. 

In  short,  although  the  laws  which  govern  the  relations  of  molar 
energy  to  heat  are  in  the  abstract  positively  known,  yet  in  endeavor- 
ing to  trace  the  distribution  and  precise  condition  of  energy  when  it 
becomes  absorbed  within  a  body, or  vice  versa,ihe  mode  and  minutest 
detail  of  its  transformation  into  gross  mechanical  effect,  the  most 
consistent  theories  have  heretofore  depended  on  the  hypothesis  that 
actual  or  real  heat  is  a  condition  of  molecular  kinetic  energy,  and  that 
the  various  latent  heats  are  due  to  potentialities  of  molecular  arrange- 
ment. 

The  full  extent  to  which  this  principle  of  the  indestructibility  of 


336  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

energy  had  previously  been  recognized,  or  involved  in  the  dispute  as 
to  the  intimate  constitution  of  heat,  may  be  inferred  from  what  has 
been  already  given  of  the  history  of  heat  theory.  But  in  1822,  M.  A. 
Seguin,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  J.  F.  W.  Herschel,1  explicitly  asserted  it  in 
support  of  the  dynamical  existence  of  heat,  and  in  explanation  of  the 
work  obtained  from  caloric  in  the  steam-engine.  The  view  of  the 
subject  he  claimed  to  have  derived,  some  years  before,  from  his  uncle, 
the  celebrated  Montgolfier. 

Soon  after  he  restated  these  considerations  in  a  letter  to  Sir  David 
Brewster,2  wherein,  by  a  perfectly  legitimate  course  of  reasoning,  and 
in  a  very  lucid  manner,  he  showed  that  the  accepted  teachings  of  the 
calorists  led  to  a  violation  of  this  principle  of  the  conservation  of 
energy.     For,  quoting  his  own  language: 

"  If  we  suppose,  indeed,  that  at  each  stroke  of  the  piston  of  a  high-pressure 
steam-engine  the  quantity  of  caloric  employed  is  represented  exactly  by  the 
elevation  of  temperature  of  the  water  of  condensation,  abstracting  all  loss,  it 
follows  that  we  have  lost  nothing  in  obtaining  a  very  great  effect,  and  that,  if  it 
were  possible  (which  is  supposable) 3  to  condense  the  caloric  contained  in  a  mass 

M 

M  into  another  represented  by  — ,  in  such  a  manner  that  it  may  be  reduced  into 

x 

vapor  at  the  primitive  pressure,  we  may,  by  means  of  a  small  quantity  of  caloric, 

produce  an  indefinite  number  of  oscillations." 

He  expressly  stated,  therefore,  that  after  a  mechanical  effect  had 
been  produced  through  any  given  thermal  agency,  as  in  a  steam- 
engine,  only  that  quantity  of  molecular  motion  or  heat  which  had  not 
been  thus  appropriated  would  remain  as  heat. 

To  him,  therefore,  most  undeniably  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
first  publicly  urged  the  principle  of  the  conservation  of  energy  against 
the  materiality  of  heat,  and  of  having  considered  in  this  connec- 
tion the  reverse  phenomenon  of  the  performance  of  work  by  thermal 
agencies. 

The  only  indefinite  or  erroneous  particular  in  his  statement  was 
that  arising  from  the  rather  incautious  introduction  of  molecular  hy- 
pothesis. His  leading  argument  was  thoroughly  scientific,  but  the 
oversight  or  neglect  to  refer  explicitly  to  the  disturbing  effect  which 
latent  as  distinguished  from  sensible  heat  might  exert  upon  the  ex- 
perimental verification  of  his  principles,  served  afterward  as  a  point 
of  attack  upon  the  accuracy  of  his  reasoning  in  general,  and  an  op- 
portunity, abundantly  improved,  to  detract  from  his  true  merit  as  an 
early  supporter  of  the  mechanical  theory  of  heat. 

This  criticism  depends  upon  and  applies  with  still  greater  justice 

1  Published  in  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal,  x.,  p.  280. 

2  Published  in  the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  iii.,  p.  276,  1825. 

3  A  particular  instance  of  this  supposition  will  be  seen  in  our  account  of  Carnot's 
engine. 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL   THEORY   OF  HEAT.    337 

to  a  principle  which  he  subsequently  enunciated  in  a  work  on  rail- 
ways,1 in  treating  of  the  motive-power  of  heat,  namely : 

"  La  force  mecanique  qu'apparait  pendent  l'abaissement  de  temperature  d'un 
gas,  comme  de  tout  autre  corps  qui  se  dilate,  est  la  mesure  et  la  representation 
de  cette  diminution  de  chaleur." 

If  in  the  single  term  "chaleur"  Seguin  intended  to  include  both 
sensible  and  latent  heat,  his  principle  was  undoubtedly  correct ;  but 
it  is  to  be  inferred  from  an  indicated  method  of  determining  the 
relative  dynamical  value  of  heat  and  mechanical  units,3  that  he  had 
quite  neglected  to  take  into  account  any  change  of  molecular  energy 
other  than  that  of  sensible  heat. 

Nearly  identical  with  these,  though  much  more  celebrated,  wTere 
the  subsequent  speculations  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Mayer  upon  this  subject. 
In  a  memoir  published  in  Liebig's  Annalen,  for  May,  1842,  entitled 
"Bemerkungen  iiberdie  Krafte  der  neubelebten  Natur,"  he  undertook 
to  answer  the  questions  :  "  What  are  we  to  understand  by  force?  and 
how  are  different  forces  related  to  each  other?"  Toward  the  latter 
part  of  the  disquisition  he  entered  upon  the  subject  of  the  mutual 
convertibility  of  heat  and  mechanical  energy,  considering  the  genera- 
tion of  heat  by  the  shock  or  gradual  stopping  of  a  falling  body,  by 
friction,  and  by  compression ;  and  illustrating  by  the  heat  excited  in 
the  bearings  and  rubbing  surfaces  of  water-mills  and  railway-trains; 
and  by  the  diminution  of  the  earth's  bulk  in  the  falling  of  a  body  to 
the  ground. 

In  this  he  first  expressly  used  the  term  equivalent,  in  speaking  of 
the  relation  of  heat,  to  mechanical  effect ;  and  by  the  same  method  as 
that  employed  in  the  deduction  of  Seguin's  value,  though  with  more 
accurate  data,  found  the  distance  through  which  any  mass  of  water 
would  have  to  fall,  in  order  that  its  temperature,  by  the  shock  of  sud- 
den stoppage,  might  be  raised  from  0°  to  1°  Cent.,  to  be  365  metres. 

The  physical  reasoning  upon  which  he  founded  this  determination 
was  manifestly  incomplete,  if  not  erroneous  ;  and,  on  this  account,  his 
claims  as  an  original  promoter  of  correct  theory  have  been  made  of 
late  the  subject  of  considerable  dispute.  In  view  of  the  historical  im- 
portance attaching  to  this  point,  and  because  an  allowable  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomenon  referred  to  will  illustrate  very  fully  the  re- 
ceived distinction  between  sensible  and  latent  heat,  we  here  make  a 
slight  digression  to  consider  more  particularly  the  thermal  effect 
attending  the  compression  of  elastic  fluids. 

The  term  specific  heat  is  ordinarily  employed  to  designate  that 
quantity  which  it  is  necessary  to  impart  to  unity  of  wTeight  of  any 

1  Entitled  "  Etudes  sur  l'lnfluence  des  Chemins  de  Fer,"  p.  378,  et  seq.     Paris,  1838. 

2  The  method  indicated,  with  the  data  then  at  his  command,  for  steam,  gave  650  kilo- 
grammetres  as  the  mechanical  value  of  an  increase  of  temperature  of  1°  Cent,  in  one 
kilogramme  of  water. 

TOL.  XII. — 22 


338  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

specified  substance,  in  order  that  its  temperature  may  be  raised  by 
one  degree ;  no  discontinuous  change  of  physical  state  occurring.  A 
part  of  this  heat,  it  is  thought,  is  used  in  raising  the  temperature  of 
the  substance,  and  thus  increasing  the  real  heat  or  thermal  contrast 
of  the  body ;  while  the  remainder  is  expended  in  producing,  as  it 
were,  some  change  in  the  potentiality  of  intermolecular  distance,  or 
molecular  motions,  not  indicated  by  the  thermometer,  but  in  general 
attended  by  the  expansion  or  contraction  of  the  body  heated.  The 
energy  existing  in  this  latter  form,  and  measured  in  heat-units,  has 
been  called  by  Clausius  the  ergonal  content  of  the  body. 

If  we  were,  therefore,  to  suppose  the  following  effects  produced, 
in  a  specified  manner,  during  the  reception  of  a  quantity  of  heat  by 
any  portion  of  an  elastic  fluid,  namely,  an  increase  of  temperature,  a 
change  in  the  mean  distance  or  motions  of  the  molecules  not  causing 
any  variation  of  temperature  and  a  performance  of  external  work  by 
the  consequent  increase  of  volume  against  exterior  resistance,  it  is 
evident  that  we  could  not  consider  any  one  of  these  effects  to  be  the 
dynamical  equivalent  of  the  whole  acquisition  of  heat.  Much  criticism 
upon  the  original  reasoning  of  Mayer  has  therefore  been  called  forth 
by  this  fact,  that,  without  proving  the  absence  of  the  second  effect 
above  mentioned,  or  in  any  way  referring  to  the  possibility  of  its  dis- 
turbing influence  upon  the  calculation,  he  arbitrarily  assumed  that  the 
mechanical  energy  expended  in  compressing  atmospheric  air  should 
be  regarded  as  the  mechanical  equivalent  of  the  heat  thus  rendered 
sensible.1 

But  though  erroneous  in  principle,  this  method  of  determining  the 
mechanical  equivalent  of  heat  was  afterward  shown  by  Joule  to  in- 
volve no  sensible  inaccuracy  of  result  in  the  case  of  air  and  other  per- 
manent gases.2 

The  experiment  by  which  this  conclusion  was  attained  consisted  in 
the  repetition,  with  a  slight  but  very  important  modification,  of  one 
originally  designed  by  Gay-Lussac  to  investigate  the  effect  upon  the 
temperature  of  a  gas  of  its  free  expansion  into  a  vacuum. 

The  apparatus  consisted  of  two  reservoirs,  H  and  JEI,  which 
might  be  joined  by  connecting-tubes  and  a  coupling-nut,  and  each 
closed  independently  by  a  very  perfect  stopcock.     Into  one  of  these 

1  Besides,  the  analogy  which  he  drew  between  the  heat  produced  upon  the  sudden 
stoppage  of  a  falling  body,  constituting  a  diminution  of  the  earth's  bulk,  and  the  forcible 
compression  of  an  elastic  body,  is  by  no  means  an  admissible  one,  and  in  seeking  to  jus- 
tify this  view  by  the  following  statement :  "  Yet  just  as  little  as  it  may  be  inferred  from 
the  relations  of  falling  force  to  motion,  that  falling  force  is  motion,  so  little  is  the  conclu- 
sion admissible  in  the  case  of  heat  "  (that  heat  is  motion).  "  We  much  prefer  to  adopt 
the  opposite  conclusion,  that  in  order  to  become  heat,  the  motion — either  simple  or  vibra- 
tory, as  light,  radiant  heat,  etc. — must  cease  to  exist  as  motion  " — he  succeeded  only  in 
rendering  the  subject  more  indefinite  and  confused. 

2  "  On  the  Changes  of  Temperature  produced  by  the  Rarefaction  and  Condensation 
of  Air." — (Philosophical  Magazine,  1845,  (3)  xxxi.,  p.  376.) 


HISTORY   OF  DYNAMICAL   THEORY   OF  HEAT.    339 


ililiiliifti 


dry  atmospheric  air  was  forced  until  a  tension  of  about  twenty-two 
atmospheres  at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  room  was  attained. 

The  other  was  exhausted  by  an  air-pump. 
Being  then  coupled  together,  they  were  im- 
mersed in  a  tank  containing  about  sixteen 
and  a  half  pounds  of  water,  which  was  stirred, 
and  its  temperature  taken  on  a  very  sensible 
thermometer,  indicating  approximately  thou- 
sandths of  a  degree.  The  stopcocks  were 
next  opened  and  the  air  allowed  to  rush  from 
one  reservoir  to  the  other  until  the  tensions 
were  more  nearly  or  quite  equal  in  both.  Lastly,  the  water  was  again 
stirred  and  its  temperature  carefully  noted.  A  correction  was  ob- 
tained after  each  experiment,  by  noting  the  increase  of  temperature 
caused  by  an  equal  amount  of  stirring,  uninfluenced  by  any  possible 
effects  of  the  expansion. 

Five  experiments  upon  the  thermal  effect  thus  attending  the  ex- 
pansion of  atmospheric  air  showed  a  mean  increase  in  the  temperature 
of  the  water  of  0.0074°,  while  the  correction  to  be  applied  amounted 
to  0.0068,  leaving  a  difference  quite  within  the  limits  of  observation 
by  this  method.  Joule,  therefore,  concluded  that  "no  change  of 
temperature  occurs  when  air  is  allowed  to  expand  in  such  a  manner  as 
not  to  develop  mechanical  power." 

If  this  result  or  property  of  atmospheric  air  had  been  known  to 
Mayer,  and  construed  by  him  to  imply  the  total  absence  of  a  trans- 
formable, internal  store  of  potential  energy  in  gaseous  substance,  so 
that  the  energy  embodying  the  condition  variously  styled  its  pure, 
real,  actual,  or  sensible  heat  could  only  be  affected  by  some  external 
agency,  mechanical  or  thermal,  and  if  the  effect  upon  a  thermometer, 
produced  by  this  condition,  had  been  also  known  to  vary  directly  with 
the  whole  quantity  of  energy  comprising  it,  the  method  which  he  in- 
dicated would  have  led  to  an  admissible  result. 

But,  in  reality,  Gay-Lussac,  from  his  original  experiments,  had 
not  come  to  any  very  definite  conclusions  on  this  point.  The  tem- 
perature of  each  receiver  had  been  found  by  him  to  change  ;  but  not 
using  an  equivalent  device  to  that  of  the  submerging  tank  of  water, 
he  had  not  been  able  to  determine,  on  the  whole,  whether  heat  had 
been  lost,  or  gained,  in  the  expansion.  When,  therefore,  Mayer,  in 
1849,  defended  his  claims  by  a  reference  to  these  first  experiments  on 
this  point,  the  answer  was  available  to  Joule  that,  prior  to  his  own 
researches,  the  all-important  principle  assumed  had  not  been  recog- 
nized in  science  ;  and  that  the  results  obtained  by  Gay-Lussac  tended 
only  to  render  the  question  still  more  doubtful. 


34Q  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

STYLE. 

By  T.  H.  WEIGHT. 

A  RECENT  historian  of  Rome,  toward  the  close  of  his  famous  at- 
tempt to  undeceive  the  world  at  large  with  respect  to  the  genius 
of  Cicero,  sums  up  his  argument  in  the  following  words  :  "  Ciceronian- 
ism  is  a  problem  which,  in  fact,  cannot  be  properly  solved,  but  can 
only  be  resolved  into  that  greater  mystery  of  human  nature — lan- 
guage, and  the  effect  of  language  on  the  mind." 

These  words  are  suggestive — suggestive,  too,  of  a  wider  question 
than  at  first  sight  appears.  That  men  are  influenced  by  language  at 
least  as  much  as  by  ideas ;  that  power  of  expression  is  intimately  as- 
sociated with  mental  grasp  generally;  even  that  a  fascination  is  ex- 
ercised by  style  to  which  nothing  equivalent  is  found  in  the  accom- 
panying thought — these  are  acknowledged  truths,  readily  granted. 
But  it  is  a  most  singular  thing  that  they  are  so  readily  granted ;  it  is 
singular  that  the  question  is  not  oftener  asked,  "  Why  is  this  so? " 

How  is  it  that  language,  which  is  but  the  vehicle  of  thought, 
comes  to  have  a  force  which  is  not  the  mere  weight  of  that  which  it 
carries  ?  Even  where  this  is  not  the  case,  where  there  is  an  equiva- 
lence of  value  in  both  style  and  ideas,  great  conceptions  being  nobly 
expressed,  how  is  it  that  the  matter  and  the  form  seem  to  have  inde- 
pendent claims  upon  the  attention?  In  a  word, what  is  that  in  lan- 
guage which  is  not  mere  expressiveness  of  the  obvious  intentions  of 
the  writer,  but  is  yet  a  merit  ? 

At  first  sight  there  appears  to  be  a  simple  answer  to  the  question. 
Any  of  the  numerous  treatises  on  style  or  rhetoric  abound  with  rules 
for  the  embellishment  of  discourse :  the  reader  learns  the  importance 
of  a  choice  of  fitting  words,  of  the  judicious  use  of  figures  of  speech, 
of  the  effect  of  melodious  sentences  and  suitable  cadences ;  he  is  in- 
structed in  the  manipulation  of  complex  constructions,  and  discovers 
the  force  of  the  gradation,  the  antithesis  and  the  climax ;  in  short,  he 
is  easily  led  to  the  conclusion  that,  besides  expressiveness,  language 
may  have  the  merit  of  beauty. 

That  this  distinction  is  a  superficial  one  has  been  shown  with  great 
ability  in  an  article  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  on  the  "  Philosophy 
of  Style."  '  He  there  traces  all  excellence  of  composition  to  two 
principles — Economy  of  the  Attention,  and  Economy  of  the  Sensibility 
of  the  recipient.  Assuming  that  a  reader  can  have  at  his  command 
only  a  definite  amount  of  power  of  attention,  it  is  clear  that  whatever 
part  of  this  is  employed  on  the  form  of  a  composition  must  be  sub- 
tracted, and  leave  so  much  the  less  to  be  occupied  in  the  matter.  In 
its  popular  aspect  this  is  a  truth  familiar  to  all.  If  any  author  is  said 
1  Published  in  separate  form,  with  flexible  covers,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


STYLE.  341 

to  have  an  obscure  style,  it  is  meant  that  his  form  obstructs  his  mat- 
ter ;  that  it  absorbs  an  inordinate  amount  of  the  reader's  attention. 
If  he  is  tedious,  it  is  because  his  language,  by  its  monotony  or  redun- 
dancy, exhausts  our  energies,  and  leaves  us  correspondingly  deficient 
in  the  mental  vigor  to  be  devoted  to  what  he  has  to  say. 

But  Mr.  Spencer  pushes  his  theory  yet  further.  He  shows,  with  great 
ingenuity,  how  various  ornaments  of  style,  at  first  sight  most  remote 
from  mere  utility,  are  in  reality  but  devices  of  language  which  sub- 
serve the  same  purpose  of  economizing  attention.  Thus  the  canon 
which  prefers  words  of  Saxon  to  words  of  Latin  origin,  is  justified  by 
the  greater  familiarity  of  the  former,  recalling  the  associations  of 
childhood,  and  their  comparative  brevity,  which  adds  to  their  force 
what  it  diminishes  from  the  effort  required  to  recognize  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  occasional  effect  of  polysyllabic  words  is  attributed  to 
their  associated  significance ;  for  the  effort  involved  in  deciphering  or 
using  them,  by  hinting  at  a  corresponding  weightiness  in  the  things 
implied,  gives  a  force  to  an  epithet  which  may  do  for  a  sentence. 
The  same  principle  which  explains  the  rules  for  choice  of  words  is 
also  found  adequate  to  the  solution  of  the  reasons  why  some  one  order 
of  words  is  more  effective  than  another;  why  certain  sequences  of 
sentences  are  better  than  others;  what  are  the  respective  merits  of 
the  direct  and  indirect  style,  and  so  forth.  Then  follows  an  analysis 
of  the  various  figures  of  speech — metaphor,  simile,  and  the  like — in 
which  their  amenableness  to  the  same  law  is  established  ;  and,  finally, 
the  applicability  of  the  theory,  even  to  the  complex  imagery  of  the 
poet,  is  exhibited  in  a  passage  which  it  would  be'an  injustice  to  the 
writer  not  to  quote  at  length : 

"  Passing  on  to  a  more  complex  application  of  the  doctrine  with  which  we 
set  out,  it  must  now  be  remarked  that  not  only  in  the  structure  of  sentences, 
and  the  use  of  figures  of  speech,  may  economy  of  the  recipient's  mental  energy 
be  assigned  as  the  cause  of  force ;  but  that  in  the  choice  and  arrangement  of 
the  minor  images,  out  of  which  some  large  thought  is  to  be  built  up,  we  may 
trace  the  same  condition  to  effect.  To  select  from  the  sentiment,  scene,  or  event 
described,  those  typical  elements  which  carry  many  others  along  with  them ; 
and  so,  by  saying  a  few  things,  but  suggesting  many,  to  abridge  the  description, 
is  the  secret  of  producing  a  vivid  impression.  An  extract  from  Tennyson's 
'  Mariana '  will  well  illustrate  this  : 

'  All  day  within  the  dreamy  house 
The  door  upon  the  hinges  creaked, 
The  blue-fly  sung  i'  the  pane,  the  mouse 
Behind  the  mouldering  wainscot  shrieked, 
Or  from  the  crevice  peered  about.' 

The  several  circumstances  here  specified  bring  with  them  many  appropriate  as- 
sociations. Our  attention  is  rarely  drawn  by  the  buzzing  of  a  fly  in  the  window, 
save  when  everything  is  still.  "While  the  inmates  are  moving  about  the  house, 
mice  usually  keep  silence;  and  it  is  only  when  extreme  quietness  reigns  that 
they  peep  from  their  retreats.     Hence,  each  of  the  facts  mentioned,  presuppos- 


342  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ing  numerous  others,  calls  up  these  with  more  or  less  distinctness,  and  revives 
the  feeling  of  dull  solitude  with  which  they  are  connected  in  our  experience. 
"Were  all  these  facts  detailed,  instead  of  suggested,  the  attention  would  be  so 
frittered  away  that  little  impression  of  dreariness  would  be  produced.  Similarly 
in  other  cases.  "Whatever  the  nature  of  the  thought  to  be  conveyed,  this  skill- 
ful selection  of  a  few  particulars  which  imply  the  rest  is  the  key  to  success.  In 
the  choice  of  competent  ideas,  as  in  the  choice  of  expressions,  the  aim  must  be 
to  convey  the  greatest  quantity  of  thoughts  with  the  smallest  quantity  of 
words.11 ' 

But  Mr.  Spencer  does  not  rest  content  with  deducing  what  may 
be  called  the  adventitious  charms  of  poetry  from  this  principle  ;  he 
even  thinks  that  its  distinctive  characteristic — the  restrictions  of 
metre — may  be  explained  by  the  same  law.  "  The  pleasure,"  he  says, 
"  which  its  measured  movement  gives  us  is  ascribable  to  the  compara- 
tive ease  with  which  words  metrically  arranged  can  be  recognized."  2 
Most  people  will  be  startled  at  the  first  sight  of  this  bold  dictum,  but 
Mr.  Spencer  is  not  the  man  to  shrink  from  the  logical  consequences 
of  his  principles,  and  they  lead  to  more  than  this. 

Any  one  who  has  attentively  read  the  article,  or  even  the  brief 
resume,  of  it  just  given,  will  have  seen  that  the  theory  furnishes  a 
canon  for  determining,  with  some  degree  of  certainty,  which  of  two 
styles  is  the  better.  To  quote  again  :  "  The  relative  goodness  of  any 
two  modes  of  expressing  an  idea  may  be  determined  by  observing 
which  requires  the  shortest  process  of  thought  for  its  comprehen- 
sion." 3 

Clearly,  then,  there  must,  in  every  case,  be  some  form  of  expres- 
sion which  is  absolutely  the  best;  in  other  wrords,  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  an  ideal  style.  Mr.  Spencer  accepts  the  conclusion,  but  at 
the  same  time  reminds  us  that  style  must  vary  with  its  subject-matter. 

"  The  perfect  writer  will  express  himself  as  Junius,  when  in  the 
Junius  frame  of  mind  ;  when  he  feels  as  Lamb  felt,  will  use  a  like 
familiar  speech;  and  will  fall  into  the  ruggedness  of  Carlyle  when  in 
a  Carlylean  mood."  4 

The  reservation  is  a  proper  one,  and  with  it  the  argument  seems 
unimpeachable.  Yet  when  Mr.  Spencer  throws  the  conclusion  into 
the  form  of  an  epigram,  and  tells  us  that  "  to  have  a  specific  style  is 
to  be  poor  in  speech,"  6  he  makes  the  utmost  possible  demand  upon  our 
loyalty  to  exact  reasoning.  Like  Adeimantus  in  "  The  Republic,"  we 
are  "  confounded  by  this  novel  kind  of  draughtsplaying,  played  with 
words  for  counters." 

But  if  the  foregoing  theory  be  carefully  reviewed,  it  will  be  seen 
that  throughout  it  the  treatment  is  what  may  be  described  as  objective 
rather  than  subjective.  Or,  to  avoid  words  in  which  there  is  a  degree 
of  ambiguity,  the  definite  product  language  is  more  or  less  isolated 

1  "  Philosophy  of  Style,"  p.  34.  2  Ibid.,  p.  39.  s  Ibid.,  p.  33. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  48.  5  Ibid.,  p.  47. 


STYLE.  343 

from  the  agency  using  it,  and  viewed  more  in  relation  to  the  reader's 
than  the  writer's  mind.  But  there  is  another  aspect  of  the  relation, 
which  cannot  be  left  out  without  producing  a  result  which  must  be  one- 
sided, and  may  be  inaccurate.  The  following  pages  will  be  an  attempt 
to  supply  this  omission  by  a  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  various 
devices  of  language,  regarded  as  the  outcome  of  the  mind  that  employs 
them. 

That  "  to  have  a  specific  style  is  to  be  poor  in  speech  "  has  not 
been  implied  in  the  judgments  which  the  world  has  from  time  to  time 
passed  upon  its  greatest  writers.  Perhaps  it  would  be  nearer  the 
truth  to  say  that  much  in  proportion  as  an  author  has  reached  a  high 
eminence  in  his  art,  there  has  been  found  in  his  productions  a  corre- 
sponding tendency  to  an  individuality  of  expression.  Is  it  not  a  com- 
mon complaint  against  inferior  artists,  whether  in  prose  or  verse,  in 
painting  or  music,  that  their  compositions  lack  character  and  origi- 
nality ?  Uniformity  is  the  distinguishing  feature  of  mediocrity,  while 
the  work  of  genius  is  at  once  recognized  and  attributed  to  the  origin 
whose  impress  it  bears.  And  a  little  reflection  will  show  that  this  is 
exactly  what  is  meant  by  "  style."  Various  tricks  of  voice,  gesture, 
and  dress,  are  associated  by  every  one  with  his  friends,  glimpses  of 
the  hidden  self  being  granted  in  such  halt-unnoticed  revelations.  The 
chief  value,  indeed,  of  such  peculiarities  rests  in  the  fact  that  they  are 
commonly  unknown  to  the  man  himself.  For  all  of  us,  even  the  most 
sincere,  are  to  a  certain  extent  actors  in  our  intercourse  with  others, 
and  play  a  part  that  has  been  self-assigned,  often  without  due  ponder- 
ing of  the  player's  power.  Nature,  however,  peeps  out  in  countless 
little  traits  of  character,  which  find  their  expression  in  language, 
habit,  and  even  in  movements.  By  what  subtile  union  such  tricks  of 
manner  are  linked  with  what  Dr.  Johnson  has  called  "  the  anfractu- 
osities  of  the  human  mind,"  is  a  curious  and  intricate  question,  but  no 
one  will  doubt  the  fact  of  the  connection.  "  That's  father  !  "  cries  the 
child  as  she  hears  the  well-known  foot-fall  in  the  hall ;  "  How  like  the 
man  ! "  we  exclaim,  when  some  chai*acteristic  remark  is  reported  to 
us.  Spite  of  the  progress  in  complexity  from  a  sound  to  a  sentiment, 
each  obeys  the  same  law ;  and  the  connection  between  the  foot-fall  and 
the  foot,  between  the  speech  and  the  mind  that  conceived  it,  is  one 
and  the  same. 

Let  us  follow  out  the  thought  a  little  further.  Not  only,  to  put  the 
fact  in  its  popular  aspect,  has  every  one  his  peculiarities  ;  but  there 
are  degrees  of  peculiarity  accompanying  degrees  of  individuality ;  as 
a  man  deviates  in  character  from  the  type  ordinarily  met  with,  so  are 
his  habits  singular  to  himself,  till  a  point  is  reached  where  the  per- 
sonality is  remarkable,  and  the  behavior  eccentric.  Where  such 
manners  are  perfectly  unaffected  they  are  a  reflection  of  a  self  that 
stands  alone  among  many,  so  that  the  common  dictum,  that  genius  is 
eccentric,  has  a  philosophical  foundation.     There  is  no  need  to  linger 


344  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

on  the  numerous  and  tolerably  obvious  reservations  which  make  it  im- 
possible to  convert  the  pi-oposition — in  other  words,  to  infer  unusual 
power  from  singularity ;  the  broad  fact  remains  that  where  there  is 
that  marked  originality  called  genius,  it  is  an  originality  not  of  thought, 
emotion,  or  pursuits,  but  of  the  man. 

The  application  of  this  to  literary  style  is  easy,  and  will  be  found 
to  lead  to  some  interesting  results. 

In  its  powers  of  direct  expression,  language  is  tolerably  efficient, 
and  were  there  nothing  but  facts,  considered  objectively,  to  be  con- 
veyed, even  a  simpler  vehicle  would  suffice.  Swift,  in  one  of  the  most 
humorous  passages  of  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  describes  a  set  of  philoso- 
phers, who,  disdaining  language  as  the  ordinary  means  of  expressing 
their  thoughts,  preferred  to  carry  with  them  a  pack  of  the  things 
most  commonly  referred  to  in  every-day  parlance,  by  the  dexterous 
manipulation  of  which  they  contrived  to  carry  on  long  conversations. 
Now  this  represents,  with  the  necessary  freedom  of  caricature,  a  real 
truth  with  regard  to  a  certain  class  of  discourse.  In  any  written  com- 
position, the  less  the  author's  personality  is  involved  in  the  matter 
treated,  the  simpler  the  language  which  suffices.  The  extreme  form 
of  this  truth  is  found  in  the  case  of  algebra,  where  the  discourse  is, 
so  to  speak,  perfectly  dispassionate,  and  the  symbolism  perfectly  ade- 
quate. Similarly,  the  language  emjdoyed  in  mathematical  proof  is 
found  adequate  in  proportion  as  the  statements  are  purely  objective. 
As  we  ascend  in  the  scale  of  literary  composition  the  authox*'s  person- 
ality creeps  in,  and  brings  with  it  a  corresponding  complexity  of  lan- 
guage, not  merely  the  complexity  of  structure  of  sentences,  but  of 
choice  of  words,  use  of  figures  of  speech,  and  all  the  refinements  of 
elaborate  writing.  It  is  true  that  much  more  than  this  has  to  be 
taken  into  consideration  ;  the  subjects  themselves  are  infinitely  more 
complex  as  the  scale  is  ascended,  the  distinctions  are  more  delicate, 
the  contrasts  present  more  sides  to  view,  the  gradations  are  subtilei*. 
But  is  not  this  a  corollary  from  the  main  principle  ?  Is  it  not  because 
we  are  then  dealing  either  with  facts  of  our  own  or  the  general  con- 
sciousness ;  with  ideas,  emotions,  desires,  and  so  forth  ;  or  at  any  rate 
with  external  facts  looked  at  from  the  point  of  view  of  an  interested 
and  questioning  observer,  that  there  is  this  increase  in  complexity,  or, 
in  other  words,  decrease  in  adequacy  of  language? 

But  this  idea  admits  of  yet  further  development.  The  facts  per- 
fectly expressed  in  algebraical  symbols  receive  a  nearly  perfect  ex- 
pression in  mathematical  language.  The  terminology  of  science  is 
found  very  tolerably  sufficient,  if  strictly  adhered  to,  and  mostly  where 
expository  and  descriptive.  In  history  and  biography  what  we  may 
call  the  subjective  element  is  strong,  and  there  we  find  all  the  refine- 
ments of  composition.  These  express,  not  only  facts  and  aspects  of 
facts,  not  only  are  there  delicate  implications  of  expression,  embodied 
in  all  the  recognized  figures  of  rhetoric,  the  trope,  the  simile,  and  the 


STYLE.  345 

metaphor;  but  there  are  the  glimpses  at  the  very  self  of  the  author 
which  lurks  in  unconscious  tricks  of  diction  and  turns  of  thought,  and 
emerges  in  epithets,  in  repetitions,  and  in  phrases.  In  poetry  the 
author  reigns  supreme,  and  there  too  the  imperfection  of  language  is 
most  manifest.  In  a  very  fine  passage  every  word  is  charged  with 
meaning  and  riveted  to  its  place ;  in  fact,  the  vehicle  is  strained  to  its 
utmost  to  bear  the  load  imposed  upon  it.  Hence  Coleridge's  well- 
known  definition  of  poetry  as  "  the  best  words  in  the  best  order." 
Meanwhile  the  personality  of  the  poet  pervades  every  line  of  every 
poem,  a  hardly  recognized  but  unfailing  presence.  He  colors  each 
picture,  and  is  a  spectator  at  every  scene ;  he  is  beside  Ulysses  in  the 
island  of  Calypso  ;  with  him  he  witnesses  the  death  of  Argus  and  the 
insolence  of  the  suitors;  he  shares  the  recognition  of  Penelope  and 
the  welcome  to  home ;  and  when  dire  retribution  seizes  the  usurpers 
he  looks  upon  their  fall. 

Not  that  this  personality  is  directly  obtruded  upon  the  hearer's 
notice ;  in  the  instance  of  Homer,  it  is  markedly  withdrawn,  the  char- 
acters speak  of  themselves,  the  descriptions  are  meant  to  serve  no 
moral  end.  But  what  is  never  brought  before  us  as  an  avowed  ele- 
ment in  the  composition  is  everywhere  present  in  the  form  of  the  nar- 
rative—we never  hear  the  accents  of  the  voice,  though  we  are  always 
listening  to  its  tones.  Take  as  an  illustration  of  this  a  passage  of 
pure  description  from  the  "  Odyssey :  " 

Kip  fiev  err'  eg xaptyw  fiiya  Kaiero,  tt/IoOi  6'  b6pf) 
Kedpov  t'  evke&toio  diiov  r'  ava  vf/aov  bdudsi 
Saio/iEvuV  r)  d'  itvdov  aocdcdovc'  ottI  /ca/l?), 
igtov  ercoixofiivr]  xPvaeiV  nepKid'  ixpaivev. 
vh\  6e  aveog  apxpi  tte^vkei  T?/?.Ed6uea, 
KkrjQprj  t'  alysipbg  te  nal  Evudtjg  KvixapiGGog. 
Ivda  6e  t'  bpvidsg  TavvGiTTTspoi  evv&^ovto, 
GKoirsg  t'  Iprj'iEg  te  ravvyXuGGoi  te  nopuvai 
slvaXtai,  TyaivTS  daXaooia  ipya  fiEpi]%Ev. 
?j  6'  avTuv  tet(lvvgto  TTEpl  GKEiovg  yTiatyvpolo 
f][i£plg  T/fiuuaa,  te6t)\el  6e  GTa<pv"kr\Giv' 
Kprjvai  6'  E^eirjg  ir'iGvpEg  (>eov  vdaTi  "kevnQ, 
irXtjaiai  bXkifkov  TETpa/ifiivai  &X?,v6ig  aTJK?]. 
afupi  6s  7i.Eip.uvEg  fiaAanol  lov  t)6e  geXlvov 
dfj^Eov'  'ivda  k'  EiTEiTa  nal  a.6ava.T6g  nsp  etteWuv 
dijijGaiTO  Idov  nal  TEp<pOEiT/  (ppEGiv  yoiv. 

Odyssey,  v.,  59-74. 

(A  large  fire  was  burning  on  the  hearth,  and  at  a  distance  the  smell  of  well- 
cleft  cedar,  and  of  frankincense,  that  was  burning,  shed  odor  through  the  island ; 
but  she  within  was  singing  with  a  beautiful  voice,  and  going  over  the  web,  wove 
with  a  golden  shuttle.  But  a  flourishing  wood  sprung  up  around  the  grot,  alder 
and  poplar,  and  sweet-smelling  cypress.  There  also  birds  with  spreading  wings 
slept,  owls  and  hawks,  and  wide-tongued  crows  of  the  ocean,  to  which  maritime 
employments  are  a  care.     There  a  vine  in  its  prime  was  spread  about  the  hollow 


346  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

grot,  and  it  flourished  with  clusters.  But  four  fountains  flowed  in  succession 
with  white  water,  turned  near  one  another  each  in  different  ways;  but  around 
there  flourished  soft  meadows  of  violets  and  of  parsley.  There  indeed  even  an 
Immortal  coming  would  admire  it  when  he  beheld,  and  would  be  delighted  in 
his  mind. — Buckley's  Translation.) 

An  analysis  of  this  passage  which  points  out  its  beauties  will  he 
found  also  to  draw  attention  precisely  to  those  parts  where  the  au- 
thor's presence  is  latent.  The  smell  of  the  cedar,  and  the  voice  of  the 
divine  songstress  accompanying  the  music  of  her  loom,  are,  by  the 
epithets  "  fragrant"  and  "sweet,"  made  part  of  the  real  or  imagined 
experience  of  the  poet ;  while  the  word  e7roixofiiv7j  suggests,  and  just 
suggests,  glimpses  that  he  catches  of  her  form  as  she  moves  at  her 
work  within  the  cave.  Then  he  describes  the  wood  that  shades  her 
abode,  implying,  by  an  epithet,  how  that  too  appeals  to  another  sense, 
joining  with  the  incense  that  burns  close  by  in  a  mixture  of  pleasant 
smells.  Another  feature  is  introduced :  there  are  birds  harboring  in 
the  branches,  and  the  word  evvd^ovro  that  describes  this,  by  an  im- 
plied comparison  with  the  sleeping-chambers  of  man,  shows  a  sort  of 
tender  way  of  looking  at  Nature.  It  is  more  than  if  it  were  merely 
said,  "There  were  birds  in  the  branches."  Again,  the  allusion  to  the 
sea  in  the  words  rfjalvTe  OaXdacna  epya  /xe/u-rfKev  is  a  direct  reflection 
of  the  poet's,  in  no  way  forming  part  of  a  description  merely  meant  to 
call  up  an  actual  scene,  instead  of  a  particular  way  of  looking  at  a 
scene.  The  same  is  true  of  the  words  that  describe  the  vine,  bending 
with  its  burden  of  ripe  clusters,  of  the  labyrinth  of  streams,  and  the 
patches  of  violet  and  parsley  round  them ;  the  accompanying  adjec- 
tives draw  attention  to  beauties  the  poet  has  noticed,  and  Avishes  us 
to  notice  as  well.  There  is  hardly  need  to  point  out  how  the  words 
with  which  the  whole  concludes  are  but  an  exclamation  of  wonder 
and  admiration  on  the  part  of  the  poet  at  the  scene  he  has  called  up. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  besides  the  selection  of  these  various  ele- 
ments there  is  the  mode  of  their  combination  into  a  definite  picture, 
the  order  in  which  the  images  follow  one  another,  and  the  gradation 
and  transition  of  ideas  which  are  all  part  of  the  art,  that  is,  of  the 
mind — of  the  self — of  the  author.  At  a  distance  the  senses  of  sight 
and  smell  are  first  caught  by  the  glimmer  of  the  fire  and  the  fragrance 
of  what  is  burning  in  it;  as  Hermes  approaches  he  hears  the  sound 
of  the  goddess  singing  at  her  work ;  coming  still  closer,  he  has  leisure 
to  mark  the  minute  details  of  the  scene — the  cavern,  the  grove,  and 
the  vine;  while  the  words  addvarog  -rrep  in  the  concluding  lines  leave 
him  in  amazement,  at  the  beauty  of  the  whole. 

Now,  this  may  sound  like  hypercriticism,  and  it  would  be  hyper- 
criticism  if  it  were  meant  that  all  these  points  were  before  the  mind 
of  the  poet,  forming  part  of  an  intentional  study  of  effect.  On  the 
contrary,  the  implication  is  the  direct  reverse.  It  is  because  Homer 
was  such  or  such  a  man,  because  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  regard- 


STYLE.  347 

ino-  what  he  saw  after  a  cevtain  fashion  of  his  own,  that  when  he  set 
himself  to  compose  poetry  he  composed  it  as  he  did.  Hence  there  is 
a  deep  meaning  in  the  saying  of  Milton,  that  he  who  would  write 
o-ood  poetry  must  make  his  life  a  poem.  It  is  by  virtue  of  a  thousand 
minute  traits  of  character,  the  gradual  deposit  of  life's  experiences, 
that  any  one  speaks,  writes,  even  walks  and  moves,  as  we  see  him  do. 
For  there  must  be  some  reason  why,  if  two  men  set  about  describing  a 
scene,  or  giving  even  a  plain,  unvarnished  account  of  some  event,  the 
mode  of  their  narration  differs — differs,  too,  in  such  a  way  that  each 
can  be  ascribed  to  its  author,  as  we  say,  by  internal  evidence,  that  is, 
by  its  style.  While,  then,  no  better  explanation  appears,  that  theory 
of  style  may  perhaps  be  provisionally  accepted  which  identifies  it 
with  character — with  unconscious  revelations  of  the  hidden  self. 

This  conclusion  needs  a  little  further  elaboration  before  it  is  com- 
pared with  that  view  of  what  is  called  the  philosophy  of  style,  which 
resolves  all  the  devices  of  composition  into  schemes  for  economizing 
the  reader's  attention.  It  is  necessary  to  point  out,  and  this  may  be 
done  briefly,  how  not  only  is  style  generally  the  impress  of  the  au- 
thor's self,  but  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between  the  distinctive 
features  of  any  particular  passage  and  the  points  at  which,  in  the 
manner  just  indicated,  the  writer's  personality  glides  into  the  dis- 
course. This  is  not  difficult,  if  what  has  been  already  said  be  ac- 
cepted. What,  indeed,  is  meant  by  saying  that  an  author  is  best 
where  his  writing  is  most  natural  ? 

Is  it  not  implied  that  the  happiest  touches  are  those  which  are 
original — that  those  phrases  and  expressions  are  most  welcome  to  the 
reader  which  set  the  matter  they  convey  in  a  new  light — and  that  the 
light  in  which  the  writer  himself  sees  it?  If  the  foregoing  passage 
from  the  "  Odyssey"  be  reviewed,  it  will  be  found  that  its  beauties  are 
coincident  with  the  parts  where  the  presence  of  the  poet  seems  to  be 
hinted,  and  this  is  equally  true,  though  not  equally  discernible,  in  all 
writing  that  is  at  all  elaborate. 

Now,  how  does  all  this  square  with  the  dictum  that  "  to  have  a 
specific  style  is  to  be  poor  in  speech?"  It  will  not  at  first  sight  ap- 
pear so  very  incompatible.  In  a  certain  sense,  style  at  all  owes  its 
existence  to  the  imperfection  of  the  vehicle  of  thought.  Were  lan- 
guage a  perfectly  adequate  means  of  embodying  ideas,  what  is  now 
to  be  looked  for  in  the  mode  of  statement  would  be  found  directly 
declared  in  the  statement  itself.  For  the  countless  devices  of  lan- 
guage, the  gestures  and  tones  of  discourse,  the  thousand  rhetorical 
figures  of  written  composition,  are  really  one  and  all  simple  proposi- 
tions not  capable  of  exact  expression  in  the  body  of  the  narrative. 
They  are  the  lights  and  shades  of  the  picture,  or  perhaps  rather  the 
finer  touches,  which  are  to  tickle  the  imagination  of  the  reader  with 
suggested  beauties.  And  it  is  exactly  in  these  refinements  of  expres- 
sion that  the  deepest  meaning  of  any  author,  in  other  words,  his  self, 


348  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

resides.  There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  reflection  that  we  walk 
this  world  half  hidden  from  one  another,  a  constant  struggle  going 
on  to  make  known  the  thoughts,  beliefs,  and  aspirations  of  the  real 
but  partly-imprisoned  being,  which  never  can  be  known  exactly  as 
they  are  to  any  but  the  mind  that  conceives  them.  Like  savages,  we 
speak  mostly  by  signs,  which  serve  us  well  enough,  but  leave  much 
un communicated.  It  is  well,  however,  that  this  imperfection  is  an 
imperfection  that  produces  beauty ;  that  the  grating  of  the  machine 
is  not  harsh,  but  musical.  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  is  successful  in  show- 
ing that  the  various  devices  of  language  do  serve  to  the  economy  of 
the  reader's  attention,  and  that  beauties  of  style  are  beauties  partly 
because  they  eflfect  this  end.  But  he  has  not  raised  a  question  which 
seems  closely  akin  to  the  subject.  Why  is  it  needful  to  have  recourse 
to  these  expedients  at  all,  and  why  is  there  an  infinite  variety  in  every 
man's  use  of  them?  The  answer  to  these  questions  seems  to  give  an 
insight  into  a  higher  law,  to  which  Mr.  Spencer's  principle  stands 
rather  as  an  empirical  generalization.  It  is  this :  that  each  man's 
inmost  nature  is  a  secret  to  all  but  himself — and  that  a  secret  which 
in  no  two  cases  is  the  same.  Every  attempt  to  communicate  it  partly 
fails,  and  so  language  is  full  of  compromises  and  expedients;  each 
nature  to  be  revealed  is  different,  and  so  there  is  a  countless  variety 
of  styles.  This,  then,  is  not  due  to  poverty  of  speech  ;  rather  it  is  due 
to  multiplicity  of  individualities,  each  speaking  its  own  language  and 
telling  its  own  tale. 

The  ideal  style,  then,  is  for  an  ideal  being,  but  for  an  ideal  being 
who  is  to  be  without  personality.  The  perfect  writer  may  write,  now 
like  Junius,  now  like  Lamb,  now  like  Carlyle,  but  like  himself  he  can 
never  write.  He  cannot,  as  we  say,  express  himself.  A  significant 
phrase,  for  after  all  it  is  when  a  man,  as  far  as  he  can,  expresses  him- 
self, that  his  communication  is  most  worth  having.  It  is  the  one 
thing  of  which  he  certainly  knows  something,  where  he  can  indeed 
speak  with  authority.  It  is  not  so  much  what  a  man  knows  as  how 
he  knows  it,  not  so  much  the  extent  as  the  quality  of  his  information, 
that  gains  him  a  right  to  be  heard.  Originality  is  far  oftener  origi- 
nality of  expression  than  idea,  a  fresh  aspect  of  something  old,  not  a 
discovery  of  something  new.  And  so  there  starts  up  here  an  answer 
to  the  difficulties  encountered  at  the  outset,  "  Why  men  are  influenced 
by  language  at  least  as  much  as  by  ideas  ; "  and  "  Why  power  of 
expression  is  intimately  associated  with  mental  grasp  generally." 
Partly,  no  doubt,  because  in  language  resides  the  personality  of  the 
speaker  or  writer,  and  men  are  influenced  by  personality — but  far 
more  for  another  reason.  The  highest  form  of  ability  is  something 
which  pervades  the  whole  being ;  it  is  not  restricted  to  an  intellect  pre- 
ternaturally  acute,  to  vividness  of  imagination,  or  fineness  of  feeling; 
but  it  is  the  manifestation  of  a  nature — of  a  self,  which  is  really  great. 
And  it  has  been  seen  that  it  is  in  expression,  or  style,  that  the  self  of 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  349 

the  author  is  to  be  sought.  That,  then,  is  a  true  instinct  which  so 
intimately  associates  power  of  expression  with  power  of  character 
generally.  Of  this  power,  too,  the  distinguishing  feature  is  its  indi- 
viduality. Just  as  in  animal  life  the  ascent  of  the  scale  of  creation  is 
a  pi*ocess  of  differentiation  of  functions ;  just  as  a  higher  form  of  life 
is  marked  off  from  a  lower  form  by  greater  specialty  of  shape,  by 
powers  more  accurately  defined,  by  habits  more  peculiarly  its  own : 
so  in  the  comparison  of  man  with  man,  something  similar  to  this  law 
is  traceable,  pointing  out  that  the  superiority  of  genius  in  degree  is 
mainly  a  consequence  of  its  difference  in  kind. 

Thus  Nature  seems  to  speak  in  a  continued  protest  against  uni- 
formity, by  a  thousand  analogies  insisting  upon  the  supreme  impor- 
tance of  the  individual.  And  the  critical  verdict  which  pronounces 
that  writing;  best  which  is  the  most  natural  can  be  affiliated  to  as  wide 
a  law  as  this.  Whether  or  not  it  be  thought  that  each  man  is  put  into 
the  world  the  possessor  of  some  particular  truth,  which  his  acts  or 
wrords  can  set  before  his  fellow-creatures,  it  is  at  any  rate  clear  that 
the  inevitable  specialty  of  each  man's  experiences  must  present  things 
to  him  in  an  aspect  which  can  be  exactly  the  same  for  no  other. 
There  are  no  real  doubles  in  the  world,  no  such  thing  as  identity  in 
constitution  and  circumstances.  While,  then,  this  is  so,  there  is  a 
significance  in  style,  a  value  in  the  unconscious  self-revelations  of 
traits  of  personality.  However  a  man  may  fail  of  the  object  he  sets 
before  him  in  what  he  does  or  says,  yet  if  there  has  been  in  him  that 
conscientious  fidelity  to  his  purpose,  which  is  but  an  attempt  to  ex- 
press himself,  his  work  will  not  have  been  wasted,  though  its  direct 
worth  be  unimportant. — Macmillari 's  Magazine. 


•»»» 


OUE  SIX-FOOTED  KIYALS. 

11. 

EVEN  more  wonderful  than  the  mere  intelligence  of  the  ant  is  its 
power  of  organization — the  point,  probably,  in  which  it  ap- 
proaches most  closely  to  man.  Suppose  that  ants,  instead  of  forming 
nations,  lived  like  most  creatures,  merely  in  pairs,  each  endeavoring 
to  rear  a  young  brood,  who,  when  mature,  would  enter  upon  a  simi- 
larly isolated  career.  Let  them  be  as  brave,  as  intelligent,  and  as 
strong,  as  they  now  are,  still  how  humble  and  insecure  would  be  their 
position  !  Against  the  attacks  of  the  giant  spiders,  centipedes,  hor- 
nets, and  wasps  of  warm  climates,  they  could  make  no  effectual  resist- 
ance. Prey,  which  in  their  present  condition  they  easily  secure,  would 
■escape  them,  or  would  scarcely  even  notice  their  puny  efforts.  In 
short,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  their  species 
would   become   extinct,  and   that   the   remainder  would  live,  so  to 


35o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

speak,  mainly  on  sufferance,  playing  no  appreciable  part  in  the  econ- 
omy of  the  globe.  Turning  from  this  hypothetical  survey  of  the  ant 
as  an  individual,  unorganized  being  to  its  actual  condition,  we  see  the 
most  striking  contrast.  Mr.  Belt  gives  the  following  graphic  account 
of  the  excitement  caused  by  a  marching  column  of  Ecitons  in  the 
primeval  forests  of  Nicaragua:  "My  attention  was  generally  first 
called  to  them  by  the  twittering  of  some  small  birds  belonging  to 
different  species.  On  approaching,  a  dense  body  of  the  ants,  three  or 
four  yards  wide,  and  so  numerous  as  to  blacken  the  ground,  would  be 
seen  moving  rapidly  in  one  direction,  examining  every  cranny  and 
underneath  every  fallen  leaf.  On  the  flanks,  and  in  advance  of  the 
main  body,  smaller  columns  would  be  pushed  out.  These  smaller 
columns  would  generally  first  flush  the  cockroaches,  grasshoppers,  and 
spiders.  The  pursued  insects  would  rapidly  make  off,  but  many,  in 
their  confusion  and  terror,  wrould  bound  right  into  the  midst  of  the 
main  body  of  ants.  At  first,  the  grasshopper,  when  it  found  itself  in 
the  midst  of  its  enemies,  would  give  vigorous  leaps,  with  perhaps  two 
or  three  of  the  ants  clinging  to  its  legs.  Then  it  would  stop  a  mo- 
ment to  rest,  and  that  moment  would  be  fatal,  for  the  tiny  foes  would 
swarm  over  the  prey,  and,  after  a  few  more  ineffectual  struggles,  it 
would  succumb  to  its  fate,  and  soon  be  bitten  to  pieces  and  carried 
off  to  the  rear.  The  greatest  catch  of  the  ants  was,  however,  when 
they  got  among  some  fallen  brushwood.  The  cockroaches,  spiders, 
and  other  insects,  instead  of  running  right  away,  wrould  ascend  the 
fallen  branches  and  remain  there,  while  the  host  of  ants  were  occu- 
pying all  the  ground  beneath.  By-and-by,  up  would  come  some  of 
the  ants,  following  every  branch,  and  driving  before  them  their  prey 
to  the  ends  of  the  small  twigs,  where  nothing  remained  for  them  but 
to  leap,  and  they  would  alight  in  the  very  throng  of  their  foes,  with 
the  result  of  being  certainly  caught  and  pulled  to  pieces. 

"The  moving  columns  of  Ecitons  are  composed  almost  entirely  of 
workers  of  different  sizes,  but,  at  intervals  of  twTo  or  three  yards, 
there  are  larger  and  lighter-colored  individuals  that  often  stop  and 
sometimes  run  a  little  backward,  stopping  and  touching  some  of  the 
ants  with  their  antenna1.  They  look  like  officers  giving  orders  and 
directing  the  march  of  the  column. 

"The  ants  send  off  exploring-parties  up  the  trees,  which  hunt  for 
nests  of  wasps,  bees,  and  probably  birds.  If  they  find  any,  they  soon 
communicate  the  intelligence  to  the  army  below,  and  a  column  is  sent 
up  immediately  to  take  possession  of  the  prize.  I  have  seen  them 
pulling  out  the  larvae  and  pupae  from  the  cells  of  a  large  wasps'  nest, 
while  the  wasps  hovered  about,  powerless,  before  the  multitude  of 
the  invaders,  to  render  any  protection  to  their  young." 

Still  more  formidable  are  the  "  driver-ants  "  of  tropical  Africa,  so 
called  because,  on  their  approach,  even  the  lion,  the  elephant,  and  the 
huge  python,  at  once  betake  themselves  to  flight. 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  351 

Nor  are  the  purely  vegetarian  ants  of  less  importance  in  the  econ- 
omy of  the  countries  they  inhabit.  They  decide,  in  a  manner,  what 
trees  shall  grow  and  what  shall  be  exterminated,  and  it  is  only  such 
as  are  comparatively  distasteful  to  them  that  escape.  In  Nicaragua, 
they  render  the  acclimatization  of  any  foreign  tree  or  vegetable  a  task 
of  great  difficulty.  Mr.  Belt  was  often  told,  on  asking  the  reason 
why  no  fruit-trees  were  grown  at  certain  places :  "  It  is  of  no  use 
planting  them;  the  ants  eat  them  up."  These  ants  climb  up  the 
trees,  when  "  each  one,  stationing  itself  on  the  edge  of  a  leaf,  com- 
mences to  make  a  circular  cut  from  the  edge  with  its  scissor-like  jaws, 
its  hinder  feet  being  the  centre  on  which  it  turns.  When  the  piece  is 
nearly  cut  off,  it  is  still  stationed  upon  it,  and  it  looks  as  though  it 
would  fall  to  the  ground  with  it ;  but,  on  being  finally  detached,  the 
ant  is  generally  found  to  have  hold  of  the  leaf  with  one  foot,  and, 
soon  righting  itself  and  arranging  its  burden  to  its  satisfaction,  it  sets 
off  at  once  on  its  return." 

An  observer,  standing  near  the  ant-hills,  "  sees  from  every  point 
of  the  compass  ant-paths  leading  to  them,  all  thronged  with  the  busy 
workers  carrying  their  leafy  burdens.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  dis- 
tinguish their  tiny  forms,  troops  upon  troops  of  leaves  are  moving 
up  toward  the  central  point  and  disappearing  down  the  numerous 
tunneled  passages.  The  ceaseless  toiling  hosts  impress  one  with  their 
power,  and  one  asks, '  What  forests  can  stand  before  such  invaders  ?' : 
Concerning  the  use  to  which  the  ant-leaves  are  put,  some  difference  of 
opinion  prevails;  that  they  do  not  directly  serve  as  food  is  admitted. 
Mr.  Bates,  from  observations  made  in  Brazil,  concludes  that  "the 
leaves  are  used  to  thatch  the  domes  which  cover  the  entrances  to 
their  subterranean  dwellings,  thereby  protecting  from  the  deluging 
rains  the  young  brood  in  the  nests  beneath."  Mr.  Belt,  who  has  care- 
fully examined  the  habits  of  an  allied  species  in  Nicaragua,  believes 
that  the  real  use  they  make  of  them  is  as  a  manure,  on  which  grows 
a  minute  species  of  fungus  on  which  they  feed — that  they  are,  in 
reality,  mushroom  growers  and  eaters.  The  reasons  for  this  view  are 
given  in  detail  in  Mr.  Belt's  work,  and  appear  very  satisfactory.  But 
Mr.  Bates's  view  may  be  correct  also.  In  short,  save  man  alone,  there 
is  no  creature  which  can  effect  such  wide-spread  and  profound  alter- 
ations in  the  condition  of  a  country  as  the  tiny  ant.  It  has  been  in- 
deed mentioned  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  that  the  pig,  the 
goat,  and  the  rabbit,  have  succeeded  in  extirpating  the  natural  flora, 
and  consequently,  to  a  great  extent,  the  fauna,  of  certain  islands,  such 
as  St.  Helena.  Yet  this  takes  place  only  in  countries  where  there  are 
no  carnivorous  beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles,  to  keep  them  in  check.  But 
in  every  warm  and  fruitful  climate  the  ant  is  king.  This  power,  we 
perceive,  is  not  due  to  mere  numbers  ;  it  is,  in  great  part,  the  result 
of  organization.  Other  species  of  insects  are  perhaps  even  more  nu- 
merous, and,  individually  considered,  as  capable  of  destructive  action ; 


352  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

but  locusts,  potato-beetles,  mosquitoes,  noisome  as  they  may  be  con- 
sidered, are,  in  comparison  with  ants,  what  a  promiscuous  mob  is  in 
comparison  with  a  well-trained  and  organized  army.  Each  ant,  like 
an  experienced  soldier,  knows — whether  rationally  or  instinctively  it 
matters  not — that  it  will  be  systematically  supported  by  its  comrades. 
What  would  be  the  prospects  of  agriculture  in  Western  Asia,  in 
Northern  Africa,  or  in  the  Western  States  of  the  American  Union,  if 
the  locusts,  when  engaged  in  desolating  a  field,  were  to  attack,  en 
masse,  any  man  or  bird  who  should  interfere  with  them  ?  But,  on 
the  contrary,  they  allow  themselves  to  be  slaughtered  in  detail,  each 
indifferent  to  the  fate  of  his  neighbor. 

Ants  evince  that  close  mutual  sympathy  which,  to  an  equal  extent, 
can  be  traced  probably  in  man  alone,  and  which  has,  in  both  these 
cases,  proved  one  of  the  primary  factors  in  the  develojmient  of  civili- 
zation. Had  man  been  devoid  of  this  impulse,  he  would  have  re- 
mained a  mere  wandering  savage — perhaps  a  mere  anthropoid,  occur- 
ring as  a  rare  species  in  equatorial  districts.  Without  a  similar  im- 
pulse, the  Ecitons  would  have  ranked  among  the  many  solitary  species 
of  Hymenoptera.  Of  the  mutual  helpfulness  of  these  same  Ecitons,  Mr. 
Belt  gives  us  some  most  interesting  cases  which  came  under  his  own 
observation:  "  One  day,  when  watching  a  small  column  of  these  ants 
(Eciton  hamata),  I  placed  a  little  stone  on  one  of  them  to  secure  it. 
The  next  that  approached,  as  soon  as  it  discovered  its  situation,  ran 
backward  in  an  agitated  manner,  and  soon  communicated  the  intel- 
ligence to  the  others.  They  rushed  to  the  rescue:  some  bit  at  the 
stone  and  tried  to  move  it ;  others  seized  the  prisoner  by  the  legs,  and 
tugged  with  such  force  that  I  thought  the  legs  would  be  pulled  off; 
but  they  persevered  until  they  got  the  captive  free.  I  next  covered 
one  up  with  a  piece  of  clay,  leaving  only  the  ends  of  the  antennas  pro- 
jecting. It  was  soon  discovered  by  its  fellows,  who  set  to  work  im- 
mediately, and,  by  biting  off  pieces  of  the  clay,  soon  liberated  it. 
Another  time  I  found  a  very  few  of  them  passing  along  at  intervals. 
I  confined  one  of  these  under  a  little  piece  of  clay,  with  his  head  pro- 
jecting. Several  ants  passed  it,  but  at  last  one  discovered  it  and  tried 
to  pull  it  up,  but  it  could  not.  It  immediately  set  off  at  a  great  rate, 
and  I  thought  it  had  deserted  its  comrade ;  but  it  had  only  gone  for 
assistance,  for  in  a  short  time  about  a  dozen  ants  came  hurrying  up, 
evidently  fully  informed  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  for  they  made 
directly  for  their  imprisoned  comrade,  and  soon  set  him  free.  The  ex- 
citement and  ardor  with  which  they  carried  on  their  exertions  for  the 
rescue  could  not  have  been  greater  if  they  had  been  human  beings." 

Such  cases  as  these  are  of  the  greater  moment  because  many  other 
social  and  semi-social  animals  treat  an  unfortunate  companion  in  a 
very  different  manner.  It  is  on  record  that  a  rook,  which  had  got  en- 
tangled among  the  twigs  of  a  tree,  was  pecked  and  buffeted  to  death 
by  its  neighbors,  despite  the  efforts  of  its  mate  for  its  protection. 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  353 

Facts  are  not  wanting  which  show  that  the  social  organization  of 
ants  takes  cognizance  of  sanitary  matters.  In  Australia  they  have 
been  known  to  bury  their  dead,  not  without  some  degree  of  formality  ' 
according  to  their  caste.  In  experimental  formicaries  in  this  country, 
ants  have  been  observed  to  throw  the  bodies  of  their  dead  companions 
into  the  water  surrounding  their  dwellings.  In  the  nests  of  almost  all 
species  great  care  is  taken  to  preserve  cleanliness.  The  agricultural 
ant  of  Texas  removes  any  offensive  matter  placed  near  its  city,  and 
will  even  take  the  trouble  to  carry  away  the  droppings  of  cattle  that 
have  fallen  on  its  cleared  ground.  Any  dung-rolling  beetle  which 
brings  its  ball  of  ordure  within  these  sacred  precincts  is  at  once  at- 
tacked and  put  to  death,  and  the  nuisance  is  quickly  cut  to  pieces  and 
carried  to  a  distance. 

Nor  are  laws  on  other  matters  wanting.  Ants  who  have,  from 
some  unknown  cause,  refused  to  work  have  been  observed  to  be  put 
to  death.  Among  the  agricultural  ants,  prisoners  have  been  known 
to  be  brought  in  by  a  fellow-citizen  and  handed  over  in  a  very  rough 
manner  to  the  guards,  who  are  always  on  duty  on  the  level  ground 
before  the  city,  and  who  carry  off  the  offender  into  the  underground 
passages.  What  is  his  after-fate  is  not  known.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  point  out  that  even  the  faintest  rudiment  of  law  proves  the  exist- 
ence of  some  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  as  well  as  of  a  power  of 
communication  which  must  go  into  minute  details. 

We  have  now  to  deal  with  the  great  question  whether  the  civiliza- 
tion of  ants,  like  that  of  man,  has  been  gradually  and  slowly  devel- 
oped by  the  accumulation  of  experience,  or  whether — as  the  believers 
in  the  fixity  of  habits  and  instincts  still  contend — it  is  primordial,  co- 
existent with  the  species  in  all  the  details  which  we  now  observe. 
Direct  historical  evidence  is  here  yet  more  difficult  to  obtain  than  as 
concerns  animal  structure.  We  smile,  with  just  reason,  at  the  French 
savants  of  the  Egyptian  Expedition,  who  imagined  that,  by  the  study 
of  the  animal-mummies  there  preserved,  they  might  gain  some  light 
on,  or  rather  find  some  argument  against,  the  mutation  of  species. 
At  the  same  time,  we  readily  admit  that,  could  we  find  a  complete 
series  of  skeletons,  anatomical  preparations,  or  even  photographs  of 
the  best-known  animals,  made  at  intervals  of  a  century,  and  extending 
backward  for  say  a  hundred  thousand  years,  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
would  be  brought  to  a  crucial  test.  But,  concerning  the  former 
habits  and  instincts  of  animals,  correct  information  is  far  more  diffi- 
cult to  obtain.  The  "  stone-book  "  is  silent  or  oracularly  vague.  Even 
if  we  had  written  documents  left  us  by  some  naturalist  of  the  Miocene 
ages — if  we  can  suppose  such  a  being  to  have  existed — what  security 
should  we  have  for  the  accuracy  and  the  completeness  of  his  re- 
searches ? 

To  meet  this  difficulty  an  attempt,  remarkable  for  its  subtile  in- 

1  Journal  of  Linncean  Society,  vol.  v.,  p.  217. 
vol.  xii.— 23 


354  TUB  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

genuity,  has  been  made  by  Prof.  Heer.  He  points  out  that,  according 
to  the  reckoning  of  the  most  discreet  geologists,  at  least  a  thousand 
centuries  must  have  elapsed  since  Britain  was  severed  from  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe.  For  this  long  stretch  of  time,  therefore,  British 
animals  must  have  been  cut  otf  from  their  representatives  in  France, 
Belgium,  and  Switzerland.  If,  then,  the  habits  of  a  certain  slave- 
holding  ant  {Formica  sanguined)  in  England  are  found  identical,  as 
he  maintains,  with  the  habits  of  the  same  species  in  Switzerland,  there 
is  a  strong  presumption  that  its  economy  has  undergone  no  change  for 
the  last  hundred  thousand  years.  To  this  argument,  we  must  reply 
that  the  isolation  between  British  and  Continental  species  of  insects  is 
by  no  means  so  complete  as  is  here  assumed.  Winged  ants  travel 
very  considerable  distances,  and,  if  our  memory  does  not  deceive  us, 
have  been  met  with  out  at  sea.  That  a  part  of  a  swarm  should  he 
blown  over  from  the  French  coast  to  England,  or  vice  versa,  is  by  no 
means  improbable.  And  it  is  well  known  that  if  a  party  of  working- 
ants  fall  in  with  an  impregnated  female  of  their  own  species,  they  im- 
mediately lead  her  to  their  nest  and  install  her  in  a  royal  apartment. 
That  there  may  have  been  within  the  last  ten  thousand — or  even  one 
thousand — years  direct  intercommunication  of  this  kind  between  the 
slave-making  ants  of  England  and  those  of  Switzerland,  seems  to  us 
fully  more  probable  than  the  contrary  supposition. 

Again,  we  may  ask  whether  the  conditions  under  which  ants  would 
be  respectively  placed  in  Switzerland  and  in  England  are  not  so 
closely  analogous  that  their  social  development  must  proceed  on 
parallel  lines  ?  In  both  they  would  encounter  nearly  the  same  cli- 
mate, the  same  food,  and  the  same  enemies.  Surely,  therefore,  a  close 
correspondence  in  habits  is  no  decisive  proof  of  their  immobility. 
But,  after  all,  is  there  such  an  absolute  accord  between  the  habits  of 
the  Swiss  and  of  the  British  ants  as  the  validity  of  Prof.  Heer's  argu- 
ment would  require  r  Mr.  Darwin  thinks  that  in  the  nests  of  the 
British  Formica  sanguinea  there  is  a  relatively  smaller  proportion  of 
slaves,  which  therefore  play  a  less  important  part  in  the  economy  of 
the  ant-hill.  Messrs.  Kirby  and  Spence  record  a  fact  which,  isolated 
as  it  is,  seems  to  us  to  overthrow  altogether  the  hypothesis  of  abso- 
lute stationariness.  Ants  have  been  found,  namely,  to  establish  their 
nest  in  the  interval  between  the  double  casing  of  a  glass  beehive. 
Now,  as  such  beehives  are  artificial  objects,  and  of  very  recent  origin, 
they  cannot  have  come  in  the  way  of  the  ants  for  any  great  length  of 
time.  They  offered,  however,  a  certain  advantage  in  the  uniform 
temperature  and  the  shelter  which  they  supplied.  This  fact  must 
have  been  recognized  by  some  prying  ant,  and  the  discovery,  being 
communicated  to  its  comrades,  was  turned  to  practical  account.  Is 
not  this  case  the  exact  parallel  of  a  step  in  the  development  of  human 
civilization  ?  And  if,  as  we  see,  ants  can  in  one  case  observe  a  phe- 
nomenon, reason  on  such  observation,  and  work  out  their  conclusions 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  355 

in  their  daily  life,  we  can  certainly  see  no  grounds  for  supposing  that 
such  processes  may  not  have  occurred  often.  In  the  case  of  larger 
animals,  where  observation  is  easier,  changes  of  habits,  in  accordance 
with  new  facilities  or  new  dangers,  have  been  distinctly  recognized. 
There  can  be  no  necessity  for  us  to  quote  the  cases  of  alterations 
in  the  nidification  of  birds  given  by  Mr.  Wallace.1  Recent  American 
observations  show  that  the  habits  of  many  birds,  mammalia,  and  even 
fishes,  have  undergone  a  very  decided  alteration  in  settled  districts  as 
compared  with  less  frequented  regions.  All  species  have  become 
more  wary  and  circumspect  in  their  movements,  and  are  decidedly 
more  nocturnal.  The  birds  build  their  nests  on  higher  trees,  or  in  the 
densest  thickets.  Any  unusual  object  placed  in  a  river  alarms  the 
fishes  more  than  a  similar  object  would  have  done  some  years  ago, 
and  more  than  it  does  now  in  solitary  parts  of  the  country.  A  new 
danger  is  recognized,  and  precautions  are  taken  accordingly. 

On  carefully  examining  the  habits  of  ants,  we  find  that  there  exist 
among  closely-allied  species,  and  even  in  different  colonies  of  one  and 
the  same  species,  gradations  which,  to  our  mind,  supply  powerful  evi- 
dence that  such  habits  cannot  have  been  primordial.  The  slave- 
making  propensity,  and  the  reliance  placed  upon  slaves,  occur  in  sev- 
eral species,  but  not  to  the  same  degree.  Poly  erg  us  rufescens,  for 
instance,  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  its  slaves,  and  would,  without 
them,  perish  from  sheer  incompetence  to  manage  its  own  affairs  fur- 
ther than  by  conducting  slave-hunts.  It  is  a  military  aristocracy, 
which  can  fight,  but  will  rather  die  than  work.  Formica  sangicinea, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  much  fewer  slaves,  and  restricts  them  to  a 
much  narrower  sphere  of  duties,  being  itself  capable  of  working  as 
well  as  of  fighting.  It  is  curious  that  the  raids  of  slave-holding  ants 
are  confined  to  worker-pupae  of  the  species  which  they  subjugate.  No 
instance  has  reached  us  of  ants  carrying  off  male  and  female  pupae 
with  a  view  to  raising  a  stock  of  slaves  in  their  own  city,  without  the 
necessity  of  obtaining  them  by  war.  Surely,  the  most  rational  way 
of  accounting  for  this  slave-making  propensity  is  to  suppose  that,  as 
in  the  human  race,  it  is  a  gradual  outcome  of  war.  Ants,  in  the  wars 
which  they  are  known  to  wage  against  different  species,  as  well  as 
against  their  own,  would  take  prisoners — an  undeniable  fact — with 
the  original  intention  of  killing  and  devouring  them.  Some  few  of 
these  victims,  escaping  immediate  slaughter,  might,  if  of  a  docile  and 
submissive  disposition,  be  found  useful,  and  might  hence  be  allowed 
to  live  in  servitude.  Prisoners  of  fiercer  and  more  indomitable  spe- 
cies, if  taken  at  all,  are  no  doubt  killed.  The  query  here  naturally 
arises:  "What  happens  in  the  not  infrequent  wars  between  two  cities 
of  the  same  species?  Are  the  prisoners  slaughtered,  or  are  they  in- 
corporated with  the  victorious  nation  ?  " 

No  less  variation  may  be  traced  in  the  habits  of  the  cattle-keeping 
1  "  Contributions  to  the  Theory  of  Natural  Selection,"  p.  227. 


356  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ants.  Of  the  honey-secreting  Aphides,  and  Cocci  that  serve  them  as 
milch-kine,  some  have  large  herds,  some  small  ones,  while  others  have 
none  at  all,  and  if  they  encounter  an  Aphis  straightway  kill  and  eat 
it.  Is  it  not  more  probable  that  the  ants  first  sought  Aphides,  like 
other  insects,  for  this  very  purpose,  but  gradually  discovered  a  way 
to  turn  them  to  better  account,  than  that  a  flock  of  Aphides  -was,  by 
some  wonderful  coincidence  or  interposition,  placed  within  the  reach 
of  the  first  ant-hill  ? 

It  would,  therefore,  in  our  opinion,  be  exceedingly  imprudent  to 
declare  that  ant-civilization  has  not  advanced,  may  not  now  be  ad- 
vancing, and  may  be  destined  to  take  yet  further  steps  in  the  future, 
especially  if  large  and  fruitful  portions  of  the  globe  are  long  allowed 
to  remain  in  an  uncultivated  or  semi-cultivated  state.  But  such  ad- 
vances must  necessarily  be  slow,  as  in  all  cases  where  there  are  no 
means  of  recording  the  experience  of  one  generation  for  the  benefit 
of  the  succeeding,  and  where  what  among  mankind  would  be  known 
as  oral  intercourse  is  limited  by  shortness  of  life.  What  direction 
these  future  advances  may  take,  it  is  as  difficult  to  indicate  as  to  fore- 
tell the  discoveries  and  inventions  to  be  made  by  man  during  the  next 
century.  But  we  may  safely  say  that  they  will  not  consist  in  the  in- 
troduction of  tools  or  weapons  or  machinery.  Were  man,  in  propor- 
tion to  his  size,  about  twenty  times  as  strong  as  he  is  at  present — 
were  he  provided  by  Nature  with  a  pair  of  forceps,  playing  laterally, 
and  capable  of  being  used  for  felling  trees,  for  excavating  the  ground, 
or  for  cutting  off  the  heads  of  his  enemies — he  would  scarcely  have 
been  a  tool-inventing  and  tool-using  animal.  A  being  which,  like  the 
Sauba  ants  of  Brazil,  can  construct  a  tunnel  underneath  the  bed  of  a 
river  as  wide  as  the  Thames  at  London  Bridge,  is  in  no  need  of 
shovels,  pickaxes,  or  barrows. 

That  ants,  in  tropical  climates,  occasion  much  loss  and  annoyance 
to  man  is  indisputable  ;  yet  the  annihilation  of  all  kinds  of  ants,  were 
such  a  measure  practicable,  would  scarcely  be  prudent.  Here,  as 
elsewThere,  the  rule  holds  good  that  small  carnivora  are  to  be  cher- 
ished, and  small  herbivora  and  omnivora  destroyed.  The  carnivorous 
ants,  such  as  the  Ecitons,  are  invaluable,  from  the  myriads  of  cock- 
roaches, scorpions,  centipedes,  venomous  spiders,  grasshoppers,  and 
even  rats  and  mice,  that  they  destroy.  They  keep  down  serpents, 
also,  by  devouring  their  eggs.  The  plant-eaters,  on  the  contrary,  and 
especially  the  leaf-cutters,  are  an  unalloyed  evil,  and  their  destruction 
ought  to  be  attempted  in  a  much  more  systematic  way  than  what 
takes  place  at  present.  Nor  can  the  "  cattle-keeping  "  ants  be  toler- 
ated. Even  though  they  may  not,  in  their  own  persons,  attack  the 
fruits  and  the  leaves  of  useful  trees,  they  compass  injury  to  the  latter 
by  cherishing  and  defending  swarms  of  such  pernicious  vermin  as  the 
Aphides  of  temperate  regions  and  the  scale-insects  and  tree-hoppers 
of  warmer  climates.     All  these  live  by  sucking  the  juices  of  plants, 


OUR   SIX-FOOTED   RIVALS.  357 

and  over  them  the  ants  watch  with  a  wonderful  care,  defending  them 
from  the  attacks  of  birds,  wasps,  ichneumons,  and  other  creatures, 
who  would  rid  the  poor  plant  of  its  parasites.  They  have  even  been 
known  to  build  galleries  of  clay  over  the  surface  of  a  pine-apple,  in 
order  to  shelter  the  Cocci  who  were  destroying  the  fruit. 

Mr.  Belt  found  that  a  red  passion-flower,  which  secretes  honey 
from  glands  on  its  young  leaves  and  on  the  sepals  of  its  flower-buds, 
was  carefully  guarded  by  a  certain  species  of  ant  (Pheidole),  who 
consumed  the  honey,  and  who  furiously  drove  off  all  leaf-cutters  and 
other  intruders.  But,  after  a  couple  of  seasons,  a  colony  of  parasitical 
scale-insects,  which  secrete  honey,  established  themselves  upon  the 
passion-flower,  to  its  great  injury.  The  ants  transferred  their  care 
and  attention  to  these,  and,  from  the  guardians  of  the  plant,  became 
indirectly,  but  not  the  less  substantially,  its  enemies.  This  is  a  strik- 
ing proof  of  the  untrustworthy  character  of  our  insect — or,  more 
generally  speaking,  of  our  animal — allies.  At  one  moment  they  may 
be  defending  our  property  from  depredation,  but  on  a  slight  change 
of  circumstances  their  interests  may  cease  to  coincide  with  our  own, 
and  they  may  go  over  to  our  enemies.  The  question  what  animal 
species  we  ought  to  protect  and  which  to  destroy,  and  how  far  we 
ought  to  go  in  each  case,  becomes,  on  closer  inspection,  exceedingly 
complicated. 

As  an  example  of  an  omnivorous  ant,  we  may  take  the  "  fire-ant" 
of  the  Amazon,  of  which  Mr.  Bates  gives  us  a  striking  account:1 
"  Aveyros  may  be  called  the  headquarters  of  the  fire-ant,  which  might 
be  fittingly  termed  the  scourge  of  this  fine  river.  It  is  found  only  on 
sandy  soils,  in  open  places,  and  seems  to  thrive  more  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  houses  and  weedy  villages,  such  as  Aveyros;  it  does  not 
occur  at  all  in  the  shades  of  the  forest.  Aveyros  was  deserted  a  few 
years  before  my  visit  on  account  of  this  little  tormentor,  and  the 
inhabitants  had  only  recently  returned  to  their  houses,  thinking  its 
numbers  had  decreased.  It  is  a  small  species,  of  a  shining  reddish 
color,  not  greatly  differing  from  the  common  stinging  ant  of  our  own 
country  {Myrmica  rubra),  except  that  the  pain  and  irritation  caused 
by  its  sting  are  much  greater.  The  soil  of  the  whole  village  is  under- 
mined by  it ;  the  ground  is  perforated  with  the  entrances  to  their  sub- 
terranean galleries,  and  a  little  sandy  dome  occurs  here  and  there, 
where  the  insects  bring  their  young  to  receive  warmth  near  the  sur- 
face. The  houses  are  overrun  with  them ;  they  dispute  every  frag- 
ment of  food  with  the  inhabitants,  and  destroy  clothing  for  the  sake 
of  the  starch.  All  eatables  are  obliged  to  be  suspended  in  baskets 
from  the  rafters,  and  the  cords  well  soaked  with  copaiba-balsam, 
which  is  the  only  means  known  of  preventing  them  from  climbing. 
They  seem  to  attack  persons  out  of  sheer  malice.  If  we  stood  for  a 
few  moments  in  the  street,  even  at  a  distance  from  their  nests,  we 

1  "  Naturalist  on  the  River  Amazon." 


358  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

were  sure  to  be  overrun  with  them  and  severely  punished,  for  the 
moment  an  ant  touched  the  flesh  he  secured  himself  with  his  jaws, 
doubled  in  his  tail,  and  stung  with  all  his  might.  When  we  were 
seated  on  chairs  in  the  evenings,  in  front  of  the  house,  to  enjoy  a 
chat  with  our  neighbors,  we  had  stools  to  support  our  feet,  the  legs 
of  which,  as  well  as  those  of  the  chairs,  were  well  anointed  with  the 
balsam.  The  cords  of  hammocks  were  obliged  to  be  smeared  in  the 
same  way  to  prevent  the  ants  from  paying  sleepers  a  visit."  The 
ravages  of  the  leaf-cutting  ant  (Oicodona),  or  Saubas  of  the  Brazilians, 
have  been  already  mentioned ;  but  it  also  invades  houses  and  carries 
off  articles  of  food  on  a  far  wider  scale  than  is  ever  done  by  rats  or 
mice.  It  is  capable  of  carryinir  off  such  a  quantity  as  two  bushels  of 
mandioca-meal  in  the  course  of  a  single  night !  Unfortunately,  the 
Sauba  has  few  enemies.  The  number  of  these  depredators  who  fall  a 
prey  to  birds,  spiders,  wasps,  tiger-beetles,  etc.,  is  too  small  to  be  of 
any  importance.  The  Pseudomyrma  bicolor  easily  repels  them  if  they 
come  to  clip  the  leaves  of  the  bull's-horn  acacia  on  which  it  resides, 
but  it  is  not  sufficiently  numerous  to  pursue  and  destroy  them.  The 
Ecitons  have  never  been  known  to  storm  the  nests  of  the  Sauba. 
Thus,  as  we  often  find,  for  the  greatest  mischiefs  Nature  provides  no 
remedy,  and  man  must  step  into  the  breach,  armed  with  carbolic  acid 
and  corrosive  sublimate. —  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science. 


SKETCH  OF  PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  LE   CONTE. 

THE  subject  of  the  present  notice,  now  Professor  of  Geology  and 
Natural  History  in  the  University  of  California,  bears  a  family 
name  that  has  lonij  been  distinsmished  in  American  science.  He  was 
descended  from  William  Le  Conte,  a  Huguenot,  who  left  his  native 
city,  Rouen,  on  account  of  the  political  and  religious  troubles  conse- 
quent upon  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1685,  and  settled 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York.  Here  his  ancestors  continued  to  live 
until  about  1810,  when  his  father,  Louis  Le  Conte,  removed  to  Liberty 
County,  Georgia,  to  take  personal  charge  of  a  large  inherited  estate. 
There  Joseph  Le  Conte  was  born,  February  2G,  1823. 

His  primary  education  was  received  in  a  neighborhood  school  of 
his  native  county ;  and,  among  the  ten  or  twelve  different  teacher* 
who  successively  directed  his  education  with  varying  success,  the  only 
one  whom  he  recognizes  as  having  left  any  decided  impression  upon 
his  mind  was  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  afterward  the  distinguished 
politician. 

The  germs  of  much  of  his  future  character  and  career  may  be 
traced  to  these  early  boyhood  days.    His  father  Avas  an  ardent  devotee 


SKETCH   OF  PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  LE    CONTE.    359 

of  science  in  all  its  departments,  but  especially  of  natural  history. 
The  example  of  his  father,  and  the  splendid  botanical  garden  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  lived  from  infancy,  early  imbued  him  with  an  in- 
tense love  of  Nature,  and  cultivated  in  him  the  habit  of  scientific 
observation.  The  unrestrained  freedom  of  his  boyhood  life,  in  a  coun- 
try where  game  of  all  kinds  abounded,  engendered  a  passionate  fond- 
ness for  field-sports  ;  and  this  again  increased  both  his  love  of  Nature 
and  the  opportunities  of  observation.  In  later  life  this  love  of  field 
and  forest  took  the  more  rational  form  of  extensive  ramblings  for  sci- 
entific purposes. 

After  graduating  A.  B.  in  the  University  of  Georgia,  in  1841,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  and  graduated  M.  D.  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  New  York,  in  1845.  A  few  years 
of  active  practice  of  his  profession  in  Macon,  Georgia  (during  which, 
however,  he  was  more  interested  in  the  science  of  medicine  than  in 
the  art  of  healing),  served  to  convince  him  that  he  had  not  yet  found 
his  appropriate  field  of  activity.  He  therefore,  in  1850,  went  to  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  to  pursue  a  course  of  practical  science  in  the 
laboratory  of  Prof.  Agassiz. 

His  life  in  Cambridge,  and  especially  his  intimate  association  with 
the  great  teacher,  powerfully  stimulated  his  enthusiasm  for  science,  and 
permanently  determined  its  direction.  During  the  winter  of  1851,  in 
company  with  Prof.  Agassiz,  he  spent  the  months  of  January  and 
February  on  the  keys  and  reefs  of  Florida,  engaged  in  studying  their 
mode  of  formation.  These  studies  afterward  gave  origin  to  a  paper 
"  On  the  Agency  of  the  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Formation  of  the  Peninsula 
and  Keys  of  Florida." 

In  1851,  after  taking  the  degree  of  B.  S.  in  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School,  he  returned  to  Georgia,  and  was  immediately  elected  to  the 
chair  of  Natural  Science  in  Oglethorpe  University.  As  this  chair  in- 
cluded physics,  chemistry,  geology,  and  natural  history,  he  was  not 
unwilling  to  exchange  it  for  that  of  geology  and  natural  history  in 
the  University  of  Georgia,  which  was  tendered  him  in  1852.  Four 
years  of  laborious  class-room  work  here  laid  the  foundation  of  his  suc- 
cess as  a  teacher  and  lecturer,  but  left  little  time  for  research.  In 
1856  he  removed  to  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  to  take  charge  of  the 
chair  of  Chemistry  and  Geology  in  the  South  Carolina  College. 

The  years  spent  in  connection  with  this  institution  were  among 
the  pleasantest  and  most  active  of  his  life.  The  highly-intellectual 
and  refined  society  gathered  in  Columbia  was,  however,  more  literary 
and  philosophical  than  scientific.  His  activity,  therefore,  took  in  some 
degree  this  direction,  and  most  of  his  articles  which  are  not  strictly 
scientific  were  written  at  this  time. 

In  1862  the  call  of  the  Confederate  Government  for  all  able-bodied 
males  over  eighteen  years  of  age  entirely  broke  up  the  college  for 
want  of  students.     During  the  war  he  was  engaged  first  as  Chemist 


360  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  the  Government  Laboratory  for  the  Manufacture  of  Medicines,  and 
afterward  as  Chemist  of  the  Nitre  and  Mining  Bureau. 

After  enduring  the  privations  and  hardships  (including  the  total 
loss  of  property)  consequent  upon  the  breaking  up  of  the  Confederacy, 
on  the  reorganization  of  the  college  as  the  University  of  South  Caro- 
lina, he  was  again  appointed  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry  and  Geology, 
in  the  undergraduate  department,  and  of  Chemistry  and  Pharmacy 
in  the  medical  department.  But  the  utter  prostration  of  the  material 
resources  of  the  State,  falling  first  and  most  heavily  on  institutions  of 
higher  education,  compelled  him  to  seek  employment  in  a  more  pros- 
perous region.  He  therefore,  in  1868,  accepted  a  call  to  the  chair  of 
Geology  and  Natural  History  in  the  University  of  California  then 
about  to  be  organized,  and  removed  to  that  State  to  assist  in  the 
opening  of  the  first  session  of  the  new  institution,  in  September,  1869. 
He  has  continued  to  occupy  this  chair  up  to  the  present  time. 

From  this  time  commenced  the  most  active  period  of  Prof.  Le 
Conte's  strictly  scientific  life.  The  boundless  field  for  geological  stud- 
ies presented  on  the  Pacific  coast  incited  him  to  pursue  his  favorite 
department  with  renewed  ardor.  Every  summer  vacation  was  spent 
in  a  geological  ramble  with  a  party  of  students  and  graduates  in  the 
high  Sierras,  or  in  a  geological  tour  through  Oregon,  Washington 
Territory,  and  British  Columbia.  As  much  of  the  region  of  the  high 
Sierras  is  wholly  uninhabited,  camping-parties  were  organized ;  and 
thus  studies  of  Nature  were  combined  with  a  life  of  adventure  full  of 
delight,  amid  the  finest  scenery  in  the  world.  Many  scientific  papers 
on  the  origin  and  structure  of  mountain-chains,  and  on  the  ancient 
glaciers  of  the  Sierras,  were  the  result  of  these  studies.  Meanwhile 
other  and  more  abstract  subjects  were  not  neglected  ;  for  he  contrib- 
uted during  this  time  also  many  papers  on  the  theory  and  phenomena 
of  binocular  vision. 

Prof.  Le  Conte  can  hardly  be  called  a  specialist  in  any  depart- 
ment, in  the  narrow  sense  of  that  term  ;  for,  although  his  chief  ac- 
tivity has  been  in  the  field  of  science,  yet  his  interest  in  literature, 
art,  and  philosophy,  is  almost  equally  great,  Association  alone  seems 
to  have  determined  his  life-work  in  the  direction  of  science.  Until 
thirty  years  of  age  his  intellectual  culture  was  almost  perfectly  gen- 
eral. Only  after~that  did  it  commence  to  concentrate  first  on  science, 
and  still  later  on  special  departments  of  science.  While  this  may 
have  been  a  disadvantage  in  the  pursuit  of  special  narrow  lines  of  in- 
vestigation, it  had  also  its  advantage  in  giving  that  comprehensiveness 
so  necessary  in  the  more  complex  departments  of  science  which  he 
had  chosen. 

In  his  theory  of  education,  therefore,  Prof.  Le  Conte  was  always 
an  earnest  advocate  of  the  general  or  liberal  education  of  the  cultured 
man,  rather  than  the  special  education  of  the  mere  expert.  His  ideal 
of  education  was  a  general  culture  first,  and  as  high  as  circumstances 


SKETCH   OF  PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  LE   CONTE.    361 

will  allow,  and  then  a  concentration  on  special  cultures  suitable  to  the 
intellectual  plane  to  which  the  pupil  has  been  previously  raised  by 
the  general  cultivation. 

Deeply  religious  in  his  innermost  nature,  he  nevertheless  fearlessly 
pushed  scientific  ideas  to  their  legitimate  conclusions.  He  believed 
that  truth  cannot  conflict  with  itself;  that  true  science  is  net  antago- 
nistic to  a  true  religion,  or  vice  versa  ;  that  pride  and  dogmatism  on 
both  sides  are  the  only  bar  to  cordial  relations. 

The  following  are  some  of  Prof.  Le  Conte's  principal  contributions 
to  literature  and  science  : 

1.  The  Science  of  Medicine,  and  the  Causes  which  have  retarded  its  Progress, 

1849. 

2.  Agency  of  the  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Formation  of  the  Peninsula  and  Keys  of 

Florida,  1856. 

3.  Lectures  on  Coal,  and  on  Coral  Reefs.     Smithsonian  Institution,  1857. 

4.  Place  of  Organic  Science  and  Geology  in  a  Scheme  of  Education,  1857. 

5.  Morphology,  and  its  Relation  to  Fine  Art,  1858. 
G.  Principles  of  a  Liberal  Education,  1859. 

7.  Female  Education,  1859. 

8.  Correlation  of  Physical,  Chemical,  and  Vital  Forces,  1859. 

9.  Relation  of  Organic  Science  to  Social  Science,  1860. 

10.  Importance  of  Natural  History  in  the  Schools,  and  the  General  Relation  of 

the  School,  the  College,  and  the  University,  to  each  other  and  to  Active 
Life,  1861. 

11.  The  Nature  and  Uses  of  Fine  Art,  1863. 

Phenomena  anil  Theory  of  Binocular  Vision — a  series  ofjmpers,  vis. : 

12.  I.  Adjustments  of  the  Eye,  1868. 

13.  II.  Relation  of  the  Eves  on  the  Optic  Axis  in  Convergence,  1869. 

14.  III.  The  Horoptic,  1869. 

15.  IV.  A  New  Mode  of  representing  Binocular  Phenomena,  1870. 

16.  V.  Theory  of  Steroscopy,  1871. 

17.  VI.  So-called  Images  of  Illusion,  1872. 

18.  VII.  Position  of  the  Eyes  in  Sleep,  1875. 

19.  VIII.  Law  of  Corresponding  Points  in  Relation   to  the  Law  of  Direction, 

1875. 

20.  IX.  Comparative  Physiology  of  Binocular  Vision,  1875. 

21.  X.  Structure  of  the  Crystalline  Lens,  and  its  Relation  to  Periscopism,  1877. 

22.  General  Law  of  Circulation  in  Nature,  1870. 

23.  Theory  of  Formation  of  the  Greater  Features  of  the  Earth's  Surface,  1872. 

24.  Ancient  Glaciers  of  the  Sierra,  1873. 

25.  Some  Tributaries  of  Lake  Valley  Glaciers,  1875. 

26.  The  Great  Lava-Flood  of  the  Northwest,  and  the  Structure  and  Age  of  the 

Cascade  Mountains,  1874. 

27.  Structure  and  Mode  of  Formation  of  the  Coast  Ranges  of  California,  1876. 

28.  Instinct  and  Intelligence,  or  the  Genesis  of  Instinct,  1875. 

29.  The  True  Idea  of  a  University,  1876. 

30.  Critical  Periods  in  the  History  of  the  Earth,  and  their  Relation  to  Evolu- 

tion, 1877. 

Although  his  life  has  been  given  to  the  development  of  original 
thought  in  various  departments,  yet  Prof.  Le  Conte  has  not  had  the 
ambition  to  be  a  great  book-maker.  He,  however,  published  a  volume 
in  1873  on  "Religion  and  Science,"  and  has  just  issued  a  comprehen- 
sive college  text-book  of  geology,  the  result  of  his  twenty-five  years' 
experience  in  teaching  that  subject. 


362 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


nOW  TO  PRACTISE  MIND-KEADING. 

To  tlie  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

IT  is  interesting  to  contemplate  that  curi- 
ous phase  of  credulity,  closely  allied  to 
superstition,  which  seems  to  be  innate  in 
the  human  mind,  predisposing  many  intel- 
ligent people  to  attribute  to  supernatural 
agencies  certain  phenomena  which  are  pure- 
ly subjective.  This  quality  has,  doubtless, 
contributed  to  the  growth  of  faith  in  spirit- 
ualism, odylism,  auras,  psychic  force,  and 
what  not. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  recent  ex- 
posure in  the  law-courts  of  the  juggleries 
of  some  of  the  more  notorious  mediums 
would  have  served  to  convince  the  most  ar- 
dent believers  that  the  so-called  spirit-mani- 
festations are  wholly  mundane.  This  good 
result,  however,  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  accomplished  as  yet. 

When  "Professor"  Brown,  the  mind- 
reader,  performed  his  clever  experiments  a 
few  years  since,  many  well-educated  people 
maintained  that  his  discoveries  could  not 
be  explained  by  any  of  the  known  laws  of 
Nature;  he  was  indorsed  by  several  distin- 
guished scientists,  at  least  one  of  whom 
stated  that  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  Brown, 
and  that  he  regarded  "the  theory  of  uncon- 
scious muscular  action  as  entirely  opposed 
to  the  facts  observed." 

Since  that  time  quite  a  number  of  arti- 
cles have  appeared  in  this  and  other  scien- 
tific journals  upon  the  subject;  they  have 
all  been  devoted  to  elaborating  theories, 
and  1  propose,  therefore,  to  confine  myself 
to  a  few  practical  hints  as  to  the  precise 
methods  of  observation,  hoping  thereby  to 
enable  persons  interested  to  perform  all  of 
Mr.  Brown's  experiments  successfully,  as 
well  as  others  of  a  more  complex  and  as- 
tonishing character,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  answer  numerous  queries  that  I  have 
from  time  to  time  received. 

The  main  difficulty  that  the  novice  in 
the  art  of  interpreting  "  ideo-motor  move- 
ments "  encounters  is,  that  he  does  not 
know  exactly  what  indications  to  look  for, 
and  often  mistakes  an  accidental  or  inten- 
tional movement  of  the  "subject"  for  an 
involuntary  one.  He  also  imagines  that  the 
indications  are  confined  to  muscular  con- 
tractions in  the  arm  or  hand  of  the  subject. 
This  is  a  fatal  mistake,  as  I  have  already 
shown  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Beard,  which  he 
communicated  to  your  journal  in  the  July 
number,  1877.  In  that  letter  I  stated  that 
it  is  quite  possible  for  the  mind-reader  to 


select  objects  hidden  or  thought  of,  walk 
over  any  route  desired,  or  to  perform  any 
similar  experiment,  without  any  connection 
between  his  subject  and  himself,  even  while 
he  is  blindfolded.  I  also  referred  to  several 
other  novelties,  and  shall  now  content  my- 
self with  a  simple  explanation  of  the  modus 
operandi  upon  which  the  whole  principle 
depends ;  leaving  it  to  the  ingenuity  of  ex- 
perimenters to  complicate  the  tests  accord- 
ing to  their  ability. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  mind-reader  has 
been  escorted  out  of  the  parlor  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  guests  to  see  that 
all  is  fair.  A  "  subject "  is  then  selected 
who  will  hide  a  small  article,  perhaps  a  pin, 
under  the  carpet  in  the  corner  of  the  room. 
The  mind-reader  is  led  in  blindfolded,  he 
takes  the  left  hand  of  the  subject  in  his  left 
(«  la  Brown),  grasping  the  subject's  elbow 
with  his  right ;  he  tells  the  subject  to  fix  his 
mind  intently  upon  the  object  hidden  and 
the  locality  ;  he  then  makes  a  feint  to  move 
away,  watching  closely  to  see  whether  the 
subject  shows  any  reluctance  to  follow  him  ; 

j  if  so,  he  tries  another  direction ;  presently 
he  will  find  one  point  toward  which  the 
subject  will  show  a  disposition  to  accom- 
pany him  very  readily.  This,  then,  is  the 
first  clew ;   he  follows  it  up,  occasionally 

;  feigning  to  diverge,  in  order  to  satisfy  him- 
self that  he  is  on  the  right  track.     In  this 

i  way  he  will  be  guided  (not  led)  past  all  ob- 
structions to  the  locality;  then  he  will  no- 
tice that  the  subject  shows  no  partiality 
toward  any  particular  direction.  The  mind- 
reader  thus  infers  that  he  is,  in  juvenile 
parlance,  very  hot,  and  he  now,  for  the  first 
time,  directs  his  attention  exclusively  to  the 
involuntary  movements  in  the  arm  of  the 
subject,  in  order  to  obtain  the  indication  as 
to  the  exact  locality  of  the  object  hidden. 
This  he  accomplishes  by  moving  the  sub- 
ject's arm  about  until  he  discovers  the  di- 
rection in  which  the  arm  unconsciously  pre- 
fers to  (jo.  Should  the  subject  suspect  that 
he  may  be  involuntarily  giving  the  indica- 
tions, it  is  a  capital  ruse  lor  the  performer, 
first,  to  satisfy  himself  of  the  position  of 
the  object,  and,  before  producing  it,  to  move 
away  from  the  spot,  then  suddenly  pounce 
upon  it  with  great  show  of  certainty.  The 
"  bull-dozed  "  subject  will  at  once  become 
the  strongest  opponent  of  the  involuntary 
muscular-movement  theory ! 

Apart  from  the  amusement  which  these 
performances  invariably  afford  at  a  social 
gathering,  the  subject  of  the  "ideo-motor 
movements  "  is  one  of  the  highest  physio- 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


363 


logical  interest,  and  very  surprising  results 
may  be  obtained  by  a  careful  study  of  all 
the  conditions,  and  an  ingenious  complica- 
tion of  the  experiments. 

Thus  it  is  quite  easy  to  have  half  a  doz- 
en or  more  persons  engaged  in  perform- 
ing parts  of  an  experiment,  each  oue  being 
ignorant  of  what  the  other  has  done.  The 
mind-reader  then  ravels  out  the  thread  by 
beginning  at  the  end  and  working  backward, 
or  vice  verm.  The  rapidity  with  which  the 
experiments  may  be  performed  is  remark- 
able, sometimes  occupying  less  time  than  is 
required  to  arrange  them. 

The  chief  points,  then,  for  the  beginner 
to  observe  are : 

1.  Impress  upon  your  "subject"  the 
necessity  of  fixing  his  mind  on  the  object 
and  its  locality. 

2.  Concentrate  your  attention  on  every 
movement  of  the  subject. 

3.  Never  hazard  a  guess. 

Hoping  that  these  few  directions  will 
enable  others  interested  in  this  entertaining 
and  scientific  trick  to  repeat  the  experi- 
ments successfully,  and  referring  the  reader 
to  my  previous  letter  for  an  explanation  of 
the  performances  without  physical  contact, 
I  am,  yours,  very  truly, 

Alexander  E.  Outerbridgie,  Jr, 
Philadelphia,  November  26, 1STT. 


"FLORIDA  LIZARDS." 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

Dear  Sir  :  In  corroboration  of  Mr.  Gill- 
man's  statements  regarding  the  change  of 
color  or  "  chameleonization  "  of  the  Florida 
lizard  (the  species  of  which  I  presume  to  be 
Anolis  principalis),  and  which  is  noticed  in 
the  December  number  of  The  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly,  permit  me  to  say  that,  in 
1871,  while  in  North  Carolina,  I  had  a  num- 
ber of  these  lizards  in  captivity  for  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  and  observing  their  hab- 
its, and  in  lST^  published  in  the  Hod  and 


Gun  a  short  paper  as  the  results  of  my  ob- 
servations, which  fully  confirm  those  made 
by  Mr.  Gillman,  as  the  following  extract 
will  show  :  " .  .  .  TJhe  first  peculiarity  no- 
ticed about  them  was  their  change  of  col- 
or; before  retiring  for  the  night  a  sheet  of 
paper  was  thrown  over  the  box,  and  re- 
moved the  next  morning.  To  my  amaze- 
ment my  pets,  that  had  been  a  vivid  green 
color  the  day  before,  were  now  of  a  dirty- 
brown  tint,  and  extremely  sluggish  in  their 
movements ;  but,  to  my  great  delight,  so 
soon  as  the  rays  of  the  sun  fell  upon  them, 
the  green  returned,  and  they  became  as 
lively  as  ever.  This  change  of  color  is 
very  curious  and  peculiar,  taking  place  un- 
der a  variety  of  circumstances.  For  in- 
stance, after  burrowing  i.»  the  sods  (with 
which  their  box  was  lined)  on  their  return 
to  the  light  they  would  at  first  be  brown, 
but  recovered  their  normal  tints  shortly 
afterward.  When  asleep  the  green  color 
would  frequently  be  replaced  by  brown,  and, 
still  more  curious,  if  during  the  day  the 
sun  for  any  length  of  time  was  obscured  by 
clouds,  the  same  effect  was  produced.  The 
manner  in  which  the  green  tint  replaced  the 
brown  was  very  interesting.  In  some  in- 
stances a  little  patch  of  green  would  ap- 
pear on  the  end  of  the  snout,  others  would 
appear  in  different  portions  of  the  body ; 
these  would  extend  and  gradually  coalesce 
until  the  whole  body  had  resumed  its  usual 
tint."  During  the  procreative  act,  there  was 
an  ever-varying  change  of  color  from  the 
most   vivid   green   to   dull,    dusky   brown. 


During 


and    while    feeding,    these 


changes  were  very  noticeable.  I  have  never 
seen  the  colors  change  so  rapidly  as  Mr. 
Gillman  states,  but  this  may  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  his  observations  were  made  upon 
individuals  free  and  unrestrained  of  their 
personal  liberty,  mine  upon  captives. 
Respectfully  yours, 

H.  C.  Yarrow. 

Smithsonian  Institction,  Washington,  D.  C,  > 
November  20, 18T7.  J 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


THE  DOCTORING    OF  DARWIN. 

THE  University  of  Cambridge,  with 
much  eclat,  recently  conferred  the 
degree  of  L  L.  D.  upon  Mr.  Charles 
Darwin.  This  circumstance  has  elicit- 
ed much  diversity  of  comment  on  the 
part  of  the  press.  Some  maintain  that 
the  conferring  of  this  honor  is  to  be  con- 
strued as  a  virtual  indorsement  of  the 
doctrines  that  are  associated  with  the 


name  of  this  eminent  naturalist ;  and 
they  regard  the  action  of  the  univer- 
sity as  a  triumph  of  the  advanced  bio- 
logical school  over  the  clerical  and  con- 
servative party  by  which  the  universi- 
ty has  been  hitherto  dominated.  Oth- 
ers maintain  that  the  proceeding  is  sus- 
ceptible of  no  such  interpretation,  but 
that  the  degree  was  awarded  simply  in 
recognition  of  the  important  services  of 


364 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Mr.  Darwin  in  the  general  field  of  nat- 
ural history,  regardless  of  those  pecul- 
iar doctrines  which  have  become  identi- 
fied with  his  name.  There  is  probably 
truth  in  both  views  sufficient  to  make 
out  a  case.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
Mr.  Darwin  has  done  a  great  deal  of 
valuable  original  scientific  work  as  an 
observer  that  has  enriched  biological 
science,  quite  independent  of  the  hy- 
pothesis that  he  has  contributed  so 
much  to  elucidate.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  pretty  certain  that,  notwith- 
standing the  extent  of  these  merits  and 
claims,  Cambridge  would  not  have  spon- 
taneously honored  a  man  who  has  come 
to  be  the  representative  of  all  that  is 
most  obnoxious  in  the  inexorable  ad- 
vance of  modern  science,  unless  his 
friends  had  vigorously  bestirred  them- 
selves to  secure  the  result ;  and  from 
this  point  of  view  the  action  of  the 
institution  may  be  fairly  looked  upon 
as  a  victory  of  liberal  ideas  over  the 
traditional  narrowness,  prejudice,  and 
intolerance,  which  rule  in  the  great 
seats  of  English  learning.  For*  if  Cam- 
bridge meant  merely  to  grant  its  honor 
to  a  distinguished  man  of  science,  the 
question  arises,  "  Why  has  she  not  done 
it  long  before?  "  Mr.  Darwin's  labors 
were  widely  known  and  thoroughly 
appreciated  by  the  highest  scientific 
bodies.  He  began  his  career  as  a  nat- 
uralist at  the  age  of  twenty-two  by 
joining  the  expedition  of  the  Beagle, 
which  went  on  a  four  years'  exploring 
tour  around  the  world.  While  absent 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  was 
elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  he  contributed  an  elaborate  volume 
narrating  his  discoveries  in  natural  his- 
tory and  geology,  which  was  issued 
upon  his  return,  and  separately  repub- 
lished in  1845.  Other  important  works 
followed;  in  1853  the  Royal  Society 
awarded  to  him  the  Royal  Medal,  and 
in  1859  he  received  the  Wollaston  Med- 
al from  the  Geological  Society.  The 
matured  results  of  all  his  natural  his- 
tory studies  were  embodied  in  a  vol- 


ume on  "  The  Origin  of  Species,"  pub- 
lished in  the  same  year.  Aside  from 
any  question  of  the  truth  of  the  hy- 
pothesis there  presented,  or  any  ques- 
tion as  to  the  exclusiveness  of  Mr.  Dar- 
win's claims  in  originating  it,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  this  book  has  proved 
one  of  the  most  powerful  provocatives 
of  inquiry  that  have  appeared  in  mod- 
ern times.  If,  therefore,  Cambridge 
had  been  animated  with  a  true  spirit  of 
liberal  scholarship,  it  is  impossible  to 
see  why  she  did  not  accord  the  doctorial 
honor  to  Mr.  Darwin  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  ago. 

It  would  seem  that  the  current  no- 
tion that  these  great  schools  are  influ- 
enced by  just  and  generous  ideals  in 
the  bestowment  of  their  honorary  de- 
grees is  very  much  of  an  illusion.  They 
exhibit  little  alacrity  in  detecting  merit, 
and  signalizing  talent  in  its  early  and 
decisive  displays,  when  their  recogni- 
tion would  be  of  some  service  to  the 
recipient.  They  wait  until  they  get 
more  than  they  give  by  the  transaction. 
When  a  man  of  intellectual  power  has 
fought  his  way  to  fame,  and  become  in- 
different to  factitious  honors,  or  when 
a  man  of  force  has  wron  some  noto- 
riety that  makes  him  conspicuous,  so 
that  everybody  is  watching  and  talk- 
ing about  him,  the  universities  are  then 
ready  enough  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
advantages  that  may  arise  from  their 
association  with  his  name.  Cambridge 
was  probably  reluctant  in  this  partic- 
ular case,  as  its  short-sighted  authori- 
ties probably  thought  that  they  might 
lose  more  than  they  should  gain  by 
crowning  Darwin  with  the  doctorate ; 
but,  as  remarked  by  the  editor  of  Na- 
ture, the  university  seemed  conscious  of 
the  honor  Mr.  Darwin  was  conferring 
upon  it,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  per- 
formance will  no  doubt  satisfy  the  au- 
thorities that  they  have  done  a  good 
stroke  of  business,  as  coming  genera- 
tions will  assuredly  view  the  matter  in 
a  very  different  light  from  the  way  it 
has  been  viewed  in  the  past. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


365 


THE  SUN-SPOTS  AND  THEIR  EFFECTS. 

The  phenomena  of  sun-spots  are 
now  familiar :  multitudes  of  people 
have  seen  them,  and  everybody  has 
read  about  them.  It  is  •well  known 
that  the  surface  of  the  sun  is  not  that 
uniform  disk  of  light  that  it  was  for- 
merly supposed  to  be,  but  abounds  in 
gulfs,  dark  chasms,  up-rushing  streams 
of  flaming  gases,  and  lurid  promi- 
nences, sometimes  100,000  miles  high. 
But  these  striking  effects  are  not  uni- 
form :  the  sea  of  solar  fire,  like  our 
own  oceans,  is  sometimes  violently  agi- 
tated and  sometimes  quiet.  The  spots 
are  variable,  being  now  many  and  enor- 
mous in  size,  and  again  few  and  small. 
This  periodicity,  moreover,  is  proved 
to  be  regular.  Prof.  Schwabe,  of  Des- 
sau, discovered  that,  instead  of  being 
uniform  in  number  and  intensity  from 
year  to  year,  spots  increase  and  decline 
at  definite  rates  for  a  term  of  years. 
As  a  result  of  9,000  observations,  dur- 
ing which  he  discovered  4,700  groups, 
he  traced  three  complete  oscillations 
from  maximum  to  minimum,  which  he 
estimated  to  take  place  in  about  ten 
years.  Prof.  Wolf,  of  Zurich,  went 
into  an  exhaustive  history  of  the  sub- 
ject, and,  by  collating  a  vast  number  of 
observations  and  records  from  1750  to 
1860,  he  verified  Schwabe's  general  re- 
sults, but  showed  that  the  period  of 
oscillation  is  about  eleven  years.  His 
data,  scattered  through  a  course  of  140 
years,  comprehended  observations  in 
the  seventeeth  century  made  on  2,113 
days ;  in  the  eighteenth  century,  on 
5,490  days;  and  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, on  14,860  days,  or  a  total  of  22,463 
days.  On  this  broad  basis  of  observa- 
tion, made  with  no  reference  to  any 
hypothesis  of  variation,  it  is  established 
that  the  solar  energy  changes  in  inten- 
sity by  a  regular  law  of  rise  and  fall 
from  a  maximum  to  a  minimum  of  ef- 
fect; and  that  the  maximum,  or  great- 
est activity,  coincides  with  the  period 
of  violent  perturbation  when  there  is 


the  greatest  number  of  eruptions  of 
heated  matter  from  below,  and  the 
most  conspicuous  display  of  sun-spots 
and  prominences;  while  at  the  mini- 
mum periods  these  manifestations  are 
greatly    reduced,    or    almost    entirely 


wanting. 


It  is  now  an  admitted  fact  of  sci- 
ence that  the  earth  is  dependent  upon 
the  sun  for  the  chief  portion  of  the  en- 
ergy by  which  terrestrial  effects  are  pro- 
duced. With  the  exception  of  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  tides,  all  the  forms 
of  earthly  power  are  recognized  as  hav- 
ing, directly  or  indirectly,  a  solar  ori- 
gin. "Wind-power,  water-power,  steam- 
power,  the  activities  of  organic  growth, 
all  animal  energy,  and  the  great  phe- 
nomena of  changes  in  the  crust  of  the 
globe,  due  to  the  circulation  of  waters 
through  atmospheric  agency,  are  caused 
by  the  forces  of  solar  radiation.  But 
if  the  solar  energy  is  variable,  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  "Is  that  variation 
manifested  in  terrestrial  effects,  and,  if 
so,  in  what  manner,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent?"  The  subject  is  vast  and  new,  but 
the  indomitable  energy  of  modern  sci- 
entific inquiry  has  rapidly  accumulated 
evidence  which  answers  the  first  ques- 
tion in  the  affirmative,  and  gives  in- 
structive replies  to  the  others.  The 
sun-spots,  for  thousands  of  years  un- 
known, and  for  centuries  after  they 
were  known  regarded  as  mere  mat- 
ters of  curious  and  idle  speculation,  are 
now  linked  indissolubly  to  the  whole 
scheme  of  activity  which  we  observe 
upon  earth,  and  of  which  we  are  our- 
selves a  part.  Even  the  famines  by 
which  nations  are  periodically  deso- 
lated seem  to  be  connected  with  this 
intermittence  of  solar  energy.  The 
evidence  upon  the  subject  has  been 
summed  up  in  an  able  and  impressive 
paper  contributed  by  Messrs.  Lockyer 
and  Hunter  to  The  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, and  which  will  be  found  in  full 
in  No.  VIII.  of  The  Populak  Science 
Supplement.  We  can  here  do  little 
more  than  indicate  the  remarkable  con- 


366 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


nections  that  have  been  disclosed  be- 
tween the  variations  of  solar  activity 
and  resulting  terrestrial  phenomena : 

1.  The  first  coincidence  observed 
was  in  the  field  of  terrestrial  magnet- 
ism. "A  freely-suspended  magnet,  al- 
though it  points  in  one  direction,  is 
nevertheless,  within  small  limits,  al- 
ways in  motion.  Certain  of  these  mo- 
tions depend,  as  is  well  known,  upon 
the  hour  of  the  day;  but  the  magnet 
is  also  liable  to  irregular,  abrupt  fluc- 
tuations, which  cannot  be  connected 
with  the  diurnal  oscillations.  While 
Hofrath  Schwabe  was  engaged  in  de- 
lineating the  sun-spots,  Sir  Edward 
Sabine  was  conducting  a  series  of  ob- 
servations with  regard  to  these  spas- 
modic affections  of  the  needle,  and  he 
found  that  such  fluctuations  are  most 
frequent  in  years  of  high  sun-spot  ac- 
tivity." Nearly  a  hundred  years  ago, 
Van  Svvinden  had  suggested  a  perio- 
dicity in  these  irregular  magnetic  move- 
ments. Gauss,  Arago,  Lamont,  and 
Gautier,  pursued  the  research,  and  es- 
tablished the  existence  of  a  cycle  of 
magnetic  variation  having  an  eleven- 
year  period,  the  maxima  and  minima 
agreeing  with  the  maxima  and  minima 
of  sun-spot  activity.  Schiaparelli  and 
Broun  have  confirmed  these  results, 
and  the  latter  observer  concludes  that, 
while  the  sun-spot  activity  is  not  an  ex- 
act measure  of  magnetic  action,  "each 
is  a  distinct  result  due  to  the  same 
cause.11  This  disturbance  is  so  great 
that,  in  years  of  maximum  sun-spots, 
the  working  of  the  telegraph  has  been 
powerfully  interfered  with. 

2.  Connected  with  these  effects  there 
have  been  observed  corresponding  dis- 
turbances of  electrical  activity.  A  mag- 
netic storm  never  rages  without  vari- 
ous accompanying  signs  of  electrical 
excitement.  These  are  seen  in  auroral 
displays  that  in  their  varying  intensi- 
ties conform  to  the  magnetic  cycles. 
Prof.  Loomis,  of  Yale  College,  after  a 
critical  study  of  the  subject,  "  concluded 
that  the  auroras  observed  in   Europe 


and  America  exhibit  a  true  periodicity 
closely  following  the  magnetic  periods, 
but  not  perfectly  identical  with  them ;  " 
and  Mr.  Charles  V.  Walker,  telegraphic 
superintendent,  holds  as  an  established 
fact  that  "  earth  -  currents,  disturbed 
magnetometers,  and  aurora,  are  parts 
of  the  same  phenomenon.11 

3.  There  is  evidence  of  therm ometric 
variations,  or  fluctuations  of  tempera- 
ture, in  periods  coinciding  with  the  sun- 
spot  cycles.  The  observations  in  this 
case  are,  however,  much  complicated 
and  obscured  by  the  agency  of  the  at- 
mosphere, which  acts  as  a  screen  upon 
the  earths  surface,  disturbing  the  radia- 
tions that  would  affect  our  thermome- 
ters. But  a  large  number  of  observers, 
among  whom  are  Baxendell,  Bland- 
ford,  Stewart,  Eoscoe,  Piazzi  Smyth, 
Stone,  and  Koppen,  have  accumulated 
numerous  observations  both  in  the  tem- 
perate zones  and  in  the  tropics,  showing 
that  "  the  calorific  intensity  of  the  sun's 
rays  is  subject  to  periodical  changes, 
the  maxima  and  minima  of  which  cor- 
respond respectively  with  those  of  sun- 
spot  frequency." 

4.  The  wind  -  disturbances  of  the 
earth's  atmosphere  follow  the  same  law ; 
there  being  a  coincidence  between  the 
frequency  of  cyclones  and  sun-spots. 
Observations  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  tropics  where  wind- 
disturbances  are  most  violent,  lead  to 
the  conclusion,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Mel- 
drum,  that  "  the  whole  question  of  cy- 
clones is  a  question  of  solar  activity ; 
and  that,  if  we  write  down  in  one  col- 
umn the  number  of  cyclones  in  any 
given  year,  there  will  be  a  strict  rela- 
tion between  them — many  sun  spots, 
many  hurricanes;  few  sun-spots,  few 
hurricanes." 

5.  Confirmatory  evidence  of  this  is 
found  in  the  records  of  shipping-disas- 
ters. From  the  returns  of  marine  casu- 
alties posted  on  Lloyd's  loss-book  it  was 
found  that  they  disclose  "  a  cycle  close- 
ly corresponding  with  the  sun-spot  pe- 
riod.    The  percentage  of  casualties  on 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


367 


the  registered  vessels  of  the  United 
Kingdom  (Great  Britain)  was  17i  per 
cent,  greater  during  the  maximum  two 
years  in  the  common  cycle  than  during 
the  minimum  two  years." 

6.  It  has  been  further  shown  by  the 
observations  of  Baxendell,  Meld  rum, 
Rawson,  Jelinck,  Wex,  Dawson,  Hen- 
nessey, Broun,  and  Brockelsby,  that 
there  is  a  fluctuation  in  the  fall  of  rain 
in  which  the  same  law  may  be  traced ; 
that  is,  "  a  connection  between  the  va- 
riations of  the  sun-spot  area  and  the 
annual  rainfall ;  the  rainfall  rising  above 
the  mean  when  the  sun-spot  area  is 
in  excess,  and  falling  below  the  mean 
when  in  periods  of  small  sun-spots." 
The  monsoons  are  the  great  sources  of 
rain- supply  at  Madras,  in  India.  The 
rainfall  cycle  has  been  traced  out  in 
that  country,  and  the  deficiency  and 
excess  of  rain  connected  with  the  great 
solar  periodicities.  The  writers  whom 
we  are  following  say,  for  example,  that 
"  the  water-supply  brought  to  Madras 
by  the  southern  monsoon  is  26 £  per 
cent,  greater  in  ordinary  years  than  in 
the  years  of  minimum  sun-spots."  And 
again,  "  there  is  a  rain-cycle  of  eleven 
years  at  Madras  which  coincides  with 
the  cycle  of  sun-spots ;  the  periods  of 
maxima  and  minima  in  these  two  cycles 
disclosing  a  striking  coincidence." 

7.  The  variation  in  the  rainfall  of 
India  involves  the  food-supply  of  that 
country,  and  is  a  question  of  famine  and 
starvation.  Observations  on  the  varia- 
tion of  water-supply,  in  India,  of  course 
go  no  further  back  than  the  introduc- 
tion of  rain-gauges.  Commencing  the 
inquiry  in  the  year  1810,  Messrs.  Lock- 
yer  and  Hunter  say :  "  The  years  of  fam- 
ine in  Madras  since  that  date  have  been 
1811,  1824,  1833,  1S54,  1866,  and  1877. 
These  famines  were  caused  by  deficient 
rainfall  in  the  preceding  years,  name- 
ly, in  1810,  1823,  1832,  1853,  1865,  and 
1876.  Now,  five  out  of  these  six  years 
of  drought  fell  within  the  three  years' 
group  of  minimum  rainfall  and  sun- 
spots  (shown  in  the  foregoing  tables) ; 


the  remaining  drought  (1853-'55)  ex- 
tended over  a  year  immediately  preced- 
ing the  minimum  group,  and  two  years 
within  that  group ;  the  famine  itself 
resulting  within  the  minimum  group. 
Three  of  the  six  years  of  drought  fell 
exactly  in  years  of  minimum  sun-spots ; 
one  fell  in  the  year  preceding  a  year 
of  minimum  sun-spots  ;  one  fell  in  the 
second  year  preceding  a  year  of  mini- 
mum sun-spots ;  the  remaining  drought, 
lSSS-^,  fell  in  the  first,  second,  and 
third  years  preceding  a  year  of  mini- 
mum sun-spots.  .  .  .  No  famine  in  Ma- 
dras has  been  recorded  from  1810  to 
1877,  caused  by  a  drought  lying  entire- 
ly outside  the  minimum  group  of  sun- 
spots  and  rainfall." 

"We  have  here  been  able  only  to 
hint  at  the  points  made  in  the  paper 
referred  to.  The  case  is  strong,  in  fact 
much  of  it  demonstrative,  yet  it  is,  of 
course,  most  incomplete.  Though  im- 
portant practical  conclusions  have  been 
reached,  the  investigation  is  in  its  crude, 
preliminary  stage,  where  the  truth  is 
caught  vaguely  and  by  glimpses  rather 
than  seen  clearly  and  by  a  steady  gaze. 
Yet  it  is  a  magnificent  research,  with 
already-assured  results  and  a  splendid 
promise.  We  commend  the  subject  to 
the  consideration  of  those  who  hold 
that  science,  to  be  genuine,  must  have 
become  exact,  certain,  and  perfect. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIETY. 

We  have  taken  the  ground  in  this 
periodical,  and  we  abide  by  it,  that  the 
most  important  of  all  subjects  for  gen- 
eral consideration,  and  especially  for 
the  American  people,  is  the  application 
of  science  to  questions  of  society  and 
government.  When  the  Monthly  start- 
ed, we  obtained  from  the  foremost 
thinker  of  our  times  in  this  growing- 
department  of  inquiry  a  series  of  papers, 
in  popular  form,  designed  to  present 
the  character  and  claims,  difficulties, 
limits,  and  expectations,  of  a  true  social 
science,  so  as  to  fix  public  attention 


3 


68 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


upon  the  subject,  and  prepare  for  the 
more  systematic  consideration  of  its 
principles.  The  result  was  those  able 
articles  on  "The  Study  of  Sociology," 
by  Herbert  Spencer,  which  appeared  in 
our  pages,  and  which,  collected  in  a 
volume,  have  been  subsequently  trans- 
lated into  nearly  all  the  languages  of 
Europe.  The  subject  is  one  of  rapidly- 
increasing  interest,  to  which  this  book 
has  in  no  small  measure  contributed ; 
and  we  have  now  the  pleasure  of  an- 
nouncing another  arrangement  with  the 
same  author,  of  equal  significance  and 
promise,  in  the  popular  exposition  of 
social  science. 

Of  Mr.  Spencer's  present  unrivaled 
position  as  the  elucidator  of  the  laws  of 
man's  social  progress  there  is  no  longer 
a  question.  He  was  the  first  to  grasp 
the  subject  in  its  full  breadth,  the  first 
to  trace  out  the  completeness  of  its  de- 
pendence upon  the  sciences,  and  the 
first  to  carry  his  system  of  thought  into 
practical  execution.  AVhen  he  began  to 
publish  methodically  upon  this  topic 
seventeen  years  ago,  his  project  was 
regarded  as  a  hopeless  chimera;  but 
the  work  has  steadily  gained  upon  pub- 
lic confidence,  until  its  successive  vol- 
umes have  been  all  reproduced  in  the 
leading  civilized  countries.  The  inter- 
est in  the  subject  is,  indeed,  now  so 
strong  and  so  general  that  Mr.  Spencer 
has  been  urgently  called  upon  to  pub- 
lish in  future  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
bring  his  views  more  promptly  and 
generally  before  the  reading  world.  To 
this  he  has  so  far  consented  that  we 
shall  be  able,  jointly  with  the  English 
and  Continental  periodicals,  to  repre- 
sent for  a  considerable  time  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  sociological  work. 

The  volume  of  "The  Principles  of 
Sociology,"  just  published,  deals  with 
the  primordial  conditions  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  with  the  genesis  of  those 
early  ideas  and  feelings  which  give 
origin  to  primary  social  cohesions  and 
groupings.  The  next  volume  is  to  treat 
of  the  evolution  of  the  various  forms 
of    government  by   which    society   is 


ruled — Ceremonial,  Political,  Ecclesias- 
tical. We  shall  publish  next  month 
the  introductory  essay  on  Ceremonial 
Government,  its  nature,  extent,  and 
relation  to  other  forms  of  control. 
This  will  be  followed  by  papers  deal- 
ing with  the  various  elements  and  di- 
visions of  the  subject,  such  as  "  Tro- 
phies," "  Mutilations,"  "  Presents," 
"  Obeisances,"  "  Forms  of  Address," 
"Titles,"  "Badges  and  Costumes," 
"Further  Class  Distinctions,"  "Fash- 
ion," and  the  "Past  and  Future  of 
Ceremony." 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  these 
articles  will  be  in  a  high  degree  original 
and  instructive,  and  will  throw  an  im- 
portant light  upon  the  historic  unfold- 
ing of  one  of  the  largest  divisions  of 
social  regulation.  They  will  be  invalu- 
able to  all  who  care  to  understand  the 
agencies  by  which  human  conduct  is 
controlled,  and  the  modifications  which 
those  agencies  undergo  in  social  devel- 
opment. "We  ask  our  readers  to  bear  in 
mind  that  The  Populak  Science  Month- 
ly is  the  only  magazine  in  the  United 
States  which  tries  to  keep  its  patrons 
informed  of  the  advances  in  this  great 
field  of  thought ;  and  we  earnestly  ap- 
peal to  them  to  do  their  share  in  help- 
ing us,  by  forming  clubs  among  their 
friends  and  in  their  neighborhoods  that 
shall  extend  the  circulation  of  the 
Monthly.  We  are  trying  to  do  a  work 
of  education  which  our  colleges  and 
our  periodicals  grossly  neglect;  and 
our  power  of  accomplishment  must  de- 
pend upon  the  vigor  and  liberality  with 
which  we  are  sustained  by  those  who 
appreciate  the  importance  of  the  labor. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 

The  Methods  of  Ethics.  By  Henry  Sipg- 
wick,  M.  A.  Second  edition.  Macmillan 
&  Co.,  London.     Pp.  469.     Price,  $4. 

This  work,  which  upon  its  first  appear- 
ance made  a  strong  impression  upon  philo- 
sophical minds,  has  passed  to  a  second  edi- 
tion, with  numerous  alterations  and  addi- 
tions ;  the  main  part  of  which,  as  the  author 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


369 


says,  are  of  an  explanatory  and  supplement- 
ary nature.      The  improvements   are  here 
manifest,  and  we  cordially  testify  that  the 
second  edition  is  much  less   intricate  and 
obscure  in  statement  than  the  first.     It  will 
be  remembered,  by  those  who  happen  to 
have    read   it,  that    the    book    is    rather 
critical  in  character,  and  is  devoted  to  an 
examination  of  the  grounds  and  sufficiency 
of  existing  ethical  methods,  rather  than  to 
the  propounding  of  any  new  system.     From 
this  circumstance,  together  with  the  infelici- 
ty of  statement  which  so  marked  the  first 
edition,  there  was  often  much  perplexity  to 
know  what  Sidgwick  himself  believed,  and 
what  he  was  driving  at.      In  the   preface 
to  the  second  edition,  the  author  refers  to 
the  character  of  his  new  matter,  and  indi- 
cates various  points  in  which  his  views  have 
been  modified  under  the  influence  of  the 
critical  attention  his  volume  has  received. 
One   thing   is   somewhat  significant :    Mr. 
Sidgwick  is  a  man  given  to  highly-abstract 
studies,  and  he  therefore  occupies  a  prov- 
ince that  has  been  thus  far  least  affected  by 
the  progress  of  physical  and  biological  sci- 
ence.    He  heard  a  great  din  in  an  adjacent 
field  about  evolution,  but  as  it  did  not  seem 
to  affect  him,  he  paid  little  attention  to  it. 
When,  however,  the  claim  was  made  that 
ethics,  like  almost  everything  else  in  this 
world,  must  be  influenced  by  evolutionary 
doctrine,  he  put  in  a  mild  but  decisive  pro- 
test ;  and  in  an  article  in  Mind  maintained, 
virtually,  that  it  makes  no  difference  as  to  the 
present  exposition  of  ethical  science  how  its 
phenomena  came  about.    In  the  new  edition, 
however,  this  judgment  is  modified.     In  the 
preface  he  says,  "  I  have  further  been  led, 
through  study  of  the   theory  of  evolution 
and  its  application  to   practice,  to  attach 
somewhat  more  importance  to  this  theory 
than  I  had  previously  done ; "  to  which  we 
mayadd    that,  in  his  still  further  study  of 
that  theory,  he  will  attach  still  more  impor- 
tance to   it.      Possibly,  indeed,  his  views 
may  become  so  much  more  evolved  that 
he  will  wonder  how  he  could  at  first  have 
treated  the  subject  with  so  little  reference 
to  that  doctrine.     If  ethics  refers  to  the 
obligations  of  conduct,  and  if  the  American 
eagle  and  the  American  citizen  are  not  re- 
quired to  conform  to  the  same  standard — if 
organization  comes  into  the  question,  and 

VOL.    XII. — 24 


man  himself,  in  his  organic  and  racial  modi- 
fications, illustrates  the  same  principle— then 
may  it  become  a  prime  question  in  ethics 
as  to  the  right  and  wrong  of  conduct  in 
different  stages  of  social  unfolding.  Should 
it  in  fact  turn  out  that  the  factor  which  Mr. 
Sidgwick  at  first  excluded  from  ethical  in- 
quiry, becomes,  at  length,  its  dominant  fac- 
tor, it  will  be  but  another  illustration  of  that 
inversion  of  values  of  which  we  have  al- 
ready so  many  examples  in  the  history  of 
progressive  thought. 

Isis  Unveiled  :  A  Master-Key  to  the  Mys- 
teries of  Ancient  and  Modern  Science 
and  Theology.  By  H.  P.  Blavatsky. 
New  York:  J.  W.  Bouton,  187V.  Two 
volumes.  Pp.  1365.  Price,  $7.50. 
After  a  patient  examination  of  these 
massive  volumes,  we  confess  our  inability 
to  find  what  it  is  that  is  "  unveiled."  The 
dominant  aim  of  the  work  seems  to  be  to 
establish  the  identity  between  ancient  mag- 
ic and  modern  spiritualism,  and  to  show 
that  here  alone  is  the  ground  of  a  possible 
compromise  in  the  contest  between  religion 
and  science.  It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  the 
author  declines  to  be  considered  an  ordinary 
spiritualist,  which  is  certainly  creditable  to 
her,  but  we  must  refer  those  who  are  cu- 
rious to  know  in  what  manner  she  differs 
from  them  to  the  book  itself,  with  the  hope 
that  they  will  be  more  successful  than  we 
have  been.  The  first  volume  professes  to 
be  devoted  to  science,  and  the  second  to 
theology ;  and,  in  dealing  with  science,  much 
space  is  given  to  the  refutation  of  the  idea 
that  it  is  infallible.  When  that  assump- 
tion is  set  up,  this  part  of  the  author's  effort 
will  become  pertinent,  and  will  be,  no  doubt, 
appreciated.  Scientific  men  are  scolded  by 
her,  in  a  copious  variety  of  diction,  because 
they  will  not  "  investigate  "  the  spiritualis- 
tic hypothesis.  This  is  quite  in  the  vein 
of  the  ordinary  spiritualist,  and  is  far  from 
new.  When  the  so-called  spiritualist's  hy- 
pothesis is  offered  for  investigation  on  the 
same  terms  and  conditions  as  the  other  prob- 
lems of  Nature,  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
in  getting  it  investigated.  Two  or  three 
things  are  essential  to  a  legitimate  scientific 
hypothesis :  It  must  be  expressed  in  intel- 
ligible terms ;  it  must  present  a  definite  sub- 
ject-matter for  solution  or  determination; 
and  it  must  be  one  by  which  predictions  can 


37° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


be  made  that  can  be  proved  or  disproved  by 
experiment.  In  regard  to  the  phenomena,  or 
the  alleged  facts,  the  whole  question  hinges, 
of  course,  upon  the  character  of  evidence ; 
but  here  we  must  say  that  the  author  of 
"Isis  Unveiled  "  shows  not  the  slightest  dis- 
crimination. There  is  displayed  a  great  fa- 
miliarity with  magic  lore,  and  a  deal  of  in- 
dustry in  getting  together  a  vast  medley  of 
materials.  Bible-stories,  legends  from  all 
lands,  from  all  times,  ancient  and  modern 
accounts  of  witchcraft,  newspaper  reports 
of  table-turning,  mind-reading,  levitation, 
the  psychological  vagaries  of  a  novelist,  like 
Bulwer,  and  the  results  of  scientific  research, 
are  all  raked  together  promiscuously  and 
accorded  equal  weight.  There  is  no  at- 
tempt toward  a  systematic  arrangement  of 
these  multitudinous  materials,  nor  are  they 
held  together  by  anything  deserving  the 
name  of  reasoning  or  argument.  We  are 
reminded  by  the  book  of  nothing  so  much 
as  the  rush  of  debris  which  passes  through  a 
sewer  after  a  summer  shower.  Everything  is 
washed  along — garbage,  remnants  of  things 
once  valuable,  with  now  and  then  something 
that  might  be  of  real  worth  if  sifted  out 
—  and  the  whole  borne  on  by  a  turbid 
watery  medium  which  takes  its  quality  from 
the  dirt  it  carries. 

We  should  say  that  the  work  evinces 
great  reading  in  certain  directions,  much 
ill-digested  learning,  a  curious  credulity  in 
these  times,  and  a  strong  tendency  to  mys- 
ticism. It  is  sure  to  find  readers,  as  it  deals 
with  questions  which  interest  all,  and  in  a 
manner  that  will  be  satisfactory  to  many. 
Unhappily,  education  has  not  been  carried 
far  enough  to  teach  the  people  to  distinguish 
between  the  valuable  and  the  worthless 
among  things  printed,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
there  are  many  who  have  gone  through  col- 
lege and  acquired  nothing  that  will  protect 
them  from  accepting  "Isis  Unveiled"  as 
pretty  fair  gospel  for  these  days.  We  may 
add  that,  aside  from  the  uses  for  which  the 
author  designs  them,  there  is  a  large  amount 
of  curious  information,  facts,  and  opinions, 
in  her  volumes  which  will  be  interesting  to 
many,  and  are  elsewhere  inaccessible  to  or- 
dinary readers. 

Bulletins  of  toe  U.  S.  Entomological  Com- 
mission. Nos.  land  2.  Washington,  187*7. 
These  pamphlets  are  issued  under  the 


auspices  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  and 
are  designed  to  contain  such  special  infor- 
mation of  interest  or  importance  in  connec- 
tion with  the  objects  of  the  commission  as 
may  from  time  to  time  seem  useful.  The 
first  bulletin  was  published  in  April,  and 
gave  instruction  as  to  the  destroying  of 
the  young  insects,  which  should  be  done 
throughout  the  West  during  April,  May,  and 
June.  Number  2  is  filled  with  the  natural 
history  of  the  locust.  It  is  a  good  com- 
pendium of  the  habits  of  the  pest,  and  is 
illustrated  by  woodcuts  and  a  map.  Prof. 
C.  V.  Riley  is  presumably  the  writer  of 
both  numbers. 

Outlines  of  Modern  Chemistry,  Organic, 
based  in  Part  upon  Riches'  Manuel  de 
Chimie.  By  C.  Gilbert  Wheeler,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  in  the  University 
of  Chicago.  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  New 
York.     Pp.  231.    Price,  $1.75. 

This  is  a  practical  work,  and  has  been 
prepared  with  especial  reference  to  the  re- 
quirements of  medical  students.  The  au- 
thor remarks  that  it  would  have  been  easier 
to  compile  a  larger  book,  from  the  bewilder- 
ing wealth  of  results  afforded  by  the  labors 
in  this  branch  of  science,  but  he  has  pre- 
ferred to  prepare  a  concise  and  perspicuous 
outline  of  the  subject,  designed  to  follow 
some  previous  work  on  inorganic  chemis- 
try. The  book  is  very  neat  in  form ;  paren- 
thetical references  are  given  to  authorities 
and  original  papers ;  pains  are  taken  to 
give  due  prominence  to  the  researches  of 
American  chemists  ;  and  the  volume  is  sup- 
plemented by  a  careful  and  copious  index. 

Through  Rome  on  :  A  Memoir  of  Chris- 
tian and  Extra-Christian  Experience. 
By  Nathaniel  Ramsay  Waters.  New 
York :  Charles  P.  Somerby.  Pp.  452. 
Price,  $1.75. 

By  Rome,  the  author  here  means  the 
Roman  Catholic  form  of  Christianity.  He 
early  migrated  out  of  Protestantism,  and, 
having  settled  for  a  while  in  Catholicism, 
moved  out  into  the  region  of  religious  doubt 
and  denial,  where  he  claims  that  he  first 
found  true  peace.  The  book  is  a  sort  of 
theological  autobiography,  in  which  he  vis- 
ibly and  forcibly  delineates  his  mental  ex- 
periences as  a  Protestant,  a  Catholic,  and  a 
skeptic.  It  is  earnest  in  spirit,  keenly  con- 
troversial, and  contains  many  views  which 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


37i 


mark  the  author  as  a  man  of  reflection  and 
originality. 

The  World's  Progress  :  A  Dictionary  of 
Dates  ;  being  a  Chronological  and  Al- 
phabetical Record  of  All  Essential 
Facts  in  the  Progress  of  Society, 
from  the  Creation  of  the  World  to 
the  Present  Time.  With  a  Chart.  Ed- 
ited by  George  P.  Putnam,  A.  M.  Re- 
vised and  continued  to  August,  1877,  by 
F.  B.  Perkins.  New  York  :  G.  P.  Put- 
Dam's  Sons.     Pp.  1020.     Price,  $4.50. 

This  old  and  standard  book  of  reference 
has  been  revised,  brought  up  to  time,  and 
is  now  reported  as  in  its  twenty-first  edi- 
tion. It  contains  a  great  amount  of  infor- 
mation, and,  when  the  method  of  it  is  un- 
derstood, it  is  conveniently  available  for 
use ;  but  it  may  be  observed  that  if  the 
world's  progress  had  taken  place  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  of  this  work,  it  would 
have  been  a  somewhat  mixed  and  chaotic 
affair.  The  chronological  tables  conform 
to  the  idea  of  historical  progression,  but 
the  main  body  of  the  book  consists  of  Hay- 
den's  "  Dictionary  of  Dates,"  in  which  the 
events  of  the  world  are  represented,  not  in 
the  order  of  time,  succession,  and  causality, 
but  in  the  alphabetical  order,  and  to  this 
the  progress  of  things  has  fortunately  not 
conformed. 

History  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  from  the 
Beginning  of  their  Empire  to  the  Pres- 
ent Time.  By  Sir  Edward  S.  Creasy, 
M.  A.,  late  Chief-Justice  of  Ceylon.  First 
American  edition,  from  the  new  revised 
English  edition.  New  York :  Henry 
Holt  &  Co.     Pp.  558. 

The  interest  of  the  Eastern  question  in 
England  has  risen  to  such  a  point  as  greatly 
to  stimulate  the  demand  for  works  relating 
to  the  countries  now  implicated  in  war. 
Sir  Edward  Creasy  has  thus  been  led  to  re- 
vise and  republish  his  history  of  the  Turks, 
which  has  been  long  out  of  print,  and  Mr. 
Holt  has  done  a  good  service  to  American 
literature  in  adding  the  book  to  his  valuable 
series  on  the  Oriental  countries.  The  repu- 
tation of  its  author  is  a  guarantee  of  its  ex- 
cellence, and  in  making  the  book  over  he 
seems  to  have  spared  no  pains  in  the  con- 
sultation of  all  authentic  sources  of  informa- 
tion. Judge  Creasy  says,  in  his  preface,  that 
the  most  important  historical  work  on  the 
Turks  is  by  the  German  Von  Hammer,  who 


has  dealt  with  the  subject  so  exhaustively 
that  his  history,  if  translated,  would  make 
at  least  twenty  English  octavo  volumes.  He 
has  followed  this  author  closely  in  the  recon- 
struction of  his  own  work,  and  he  speaks  of 
the  German  treatise  to  which  he  is  so  much 
indebted  in  the  following  terms  : 

"Von  Hammer's  'History  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire'  will  always  be  the  standard  European 
hook  on  this  subject.  The  history  was  the  re- 
sult of  the  labors  of  thirty  years,  during  which 
Von  Hammer  explored,  in  addition  to  the  au- 
thorities which  his  predecessors  had  made  use  of, 
the  numerous  works  of  the  Turkish  and  other 
Oriental  writers  on  the  Ottoman  history,  and 
other  rich  sources  of  intelligence  which  are  to 
he  found  in  the  archives  of  Venice,  Austria,  and 
other  states  that  have  been  involved  in  relations 
of  hostility  or  amity  with  the  Sublime  Porte. 
Von  Hammer's  long  residence  in  the  East,  and 
his  familiarity  with  the  institutions  and  habits 
as  well  as  with  the  language  and  the  literature 
of  the  Turks,  give  an  additional  attractiveness 
and  value  to  his  volumes.  His  learning  is  as  ac- 
curate as  it  is  varied ;  his  honesty  and  candor 
are  unquestioned ;  and  his  history  is  certainly 
one  of  the  best  productions  of  the  first  half  of 
our  century." 

Ethnography  and  Philology  of  the  Hi- 
datsa  Indians.  By  Washington  Mat- 
thews. Pp.  245.  Washington  :  Gov- 
ernment Printing-Office.  (No.  7  of 
"  Miscellaneous  Publications  "  of  Hay- 
den's  Survey.) 

The  author  of  this  monograph,  while 
stationed  at  a  military  post  in  Dakota  Terri- 
tory as  assistant  surgeon,  availed  himself  of 
the  opportunity  thus  afforded  of  studying 
the  manners  and  customs  and  the  language 
of  the  neighboring  Indian  tribe — the  Hidat- 
sas  or  Minnetarees.  Among  the  subjects 
treated  under  the  head  of  ethnography  are 
ceremonies,  mythology,  marriage,  relation- 
ships, hunting,  divisions  of  time,  etc.  The 
philological  section  is  very  elaborate,  con- 
taining a  systematic  grammar  of  the  lan- 
guage, a  pretty  full  Hidatsa-English  die- 
tionary,  an  English-Hidatsa  vocabulary,  and 
a  list  of  local  names. 


Bulletins  of  the  TJ.  S.  Geological  and 
Geographical  Survey  of  the  Terri- 
tories.    Vol.  III.,  No.  4.    Washington, 

1877. 

The  bulletins  of  the  TJ.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  issued  by  Dr.  Hayden  to  facilitate 
the  publication  of  the  work  done  by  the  sci- 
entific men  of  his  staff,  and  to  place  before 


372 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  public  speedily  the  results  of  his  ex- 
plorations, have  now  reached  the  completion 
of  their  third  volume.  The  last  number  is 
mainly  of  interest  to  entomologists,  contain- 
ing an  account  of  the  first  discovered  traces 
of  fossil  insects  in  the  American  Tertiaries, 
by  Mr.  S.  H.  Scudder.  This  paper,  of  20 
pages,  is  a  complete  statement  of  past  and 
present  investigations,  showing  a  record  of 
forty-six  described  fossil  species,  of  which 
more  than  half  belong  to  the  Diptera.  Mr. 
Scudder  also  describes  two  species  of  Cara- 
bidce  from  interglacial  deposits  near  Toronto, 
C.  W.  The  remaining  papers  in  the  number 
are  a  description  of  a  new  crawfish  {Cam- 
barus  Couesi)  from  Dakota,  by  Dr.  Thomas 
H.  Streets ;  and  three  paleontological  pa- 
pers, by  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope,  upon  reptiles  and 
fishes  from  Colorado  and  Wyoming.  A 
very  minute  index  to  the  whole  volume 
concludes  this  number. 

I.  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Me- 

teorological Observatory  for  1876. 
By  Daniel  Draper,  Director.  Central 
Park. 

II.  Report  on  the  Central  Park  Menag- 
erie, for  1876.  New  York:  by  W.  A. 
Conklin,  Director. 

The  first  of  these  handsome  pamphlets 
consists  chiefly  of  tables  giving  the  results 
of  the  daily  observations  at  the  park,  as  to 
the  heights  of  the  barometer ;  force  and  di- 
rection of  the  wind ;  rainfall ;  temperature, 
etc.  The  value  of  a  single  volume  of  this 
kind  is  very  small,  but  the  great  importance 
of  such  records  when  extending  over  a  great 
length  of  time  and  a  wide  area  is  beginning 
to  be  duly  appreciated,  not  only  by  scien- 
tific men,  but  by  the  business  community 
generally,  being  often  consulted,  Director 
Draper  tells  us,  for  legal  and  other  pur- 
poses. 

Last  year  the  director  was  engaged  in 
examining  the  question,  "Has  there  been 
in  late  years  any  change  in  the  rainfall  of 
New  York  City,  or  its  vicinity,  to  affect  se- 
riously its  water-supply  ?  "  His  conclusions 
are,  that  for  a  series  of  years,  up  to  1869, 
the  rainfall  was  increasing ;  "  it  then  showed 
a  tendency  to  decrease.  There  are,  un- 
doubtedly, cycles  of  rainfall,  as  there  are 
cycles  in  sun-spots  and  other  astronomical 
phenomena,  occupying  years  for  their  com- 
pletion."    No  predictions  are  ventured  as 


to  the  date  when  the  diminution  will  have 
reached  its  minimum  and  the  ascent  recom- 
mence, the  observations  being  too  incom- 
plete for  that  purpose. 

The  "  Report  on  the  Menagerie  "  does  not 
show  that  feature  of  the  park  to  be  in  a 
growing  condition.  During  the  year  1876 
but  nineteen  dollars  was  expended  for  the 
purchase  of  animals,  while  additions  by  do- 
nation, births,  exchanges,  and  losses,  have 
all  fallen  oil'.  The  number  of  animals  on 
exhibition  at  the  close  of  1876  was  :  mam- 
mals, 184;  birds,  394;  reptiles,  5:  total, 
583.  The  value  of  those  owned  by  the 
department  is  $15,554 ;  owned  by  exhibi- 
tors, $47,390.  This  result  is  doubtless  due 
to  a  reduction  in  appropriations.  It  would 
seem  that  the  menagerie  was  deserving  of 
a  little  more  fostering  care,  for  that  it  is 
a  feature  which  largely  interests  the  public 
is  shown  by  the  great  number  of  visitors, 
estimated  at  3,000,000  for  the  year. 

I.  On  Some  Unexplained  Phenomena  in 
the  Geyser  Basins  of  the  Yellowstone 
Park. 

II.  The  Two-Ocean  Water  :  TnE  Union  of 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  By  Theodore 
B.  Comstock,  B.  S. 

The  object  of  the  first  of  these  papers  is 
to  call  attention  to  the  importance  of  im- 
proving all  opportunities  for  research,  in  the 
region  of  the  National  Park  on  the  Yellow- 
stone, concerning  the  rare  phenomena  pre- 
sented by  the  geysers.  These  striking  feat- 
ures are  rapidly  waning,  and  must  be  stud- 
ied soon  if  studied  at  all. 

The  "Two-Ocean  Water"  is,  it  would 
seem,  a  verity,  the  fact  having  been  estab- 
lished by  the  expedition  of  Captain  W.  F. 
Jones  in  1873.  Between  Flat  Mountain  and 
the  Yellowstone  Range,  and  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Snake  and  the  Upper  Yellow- 
stone Rivers,  there  is  a  rivulet  which  was 
found  to  divide,  "one  portion  gliding  silently 
into  the  river  behind  us,  to  find  its  way  at 
last  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  while  the  other 
branch  descended  in  front  to  join  the 
westward-flowing  waters  of  the  Columbia, 
via  Snake  River,  finally  reaching  the  Pacific 
Ocean."  The  stream  bears  the  name  of 
"Two-Ocean  Creek,"  and  its  two  branches 
are  named  respectively  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Creeks. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


373 


The  American  Paleozoic  Fossils  :  A  Cat- 
alogue of  the  Genera  and  Species, 
with  the  Names  of  Authors,  Dates, 
Places  of  Publication,  Groups  of 
Rocks  in  which  found,  and  the  Ety- 
mology and  Signification  of  the 
Words,  and  an  Introduction  devoted 
to  the  Stratigraphical  Geology  of 
the  Paleozoic  Rocks.  By  S.  A.  Mil- 
ler. Cincinnati,  Ohio :  The  Author, 
No.  8  W.  Third  Street,  1877.     Pp.  253. 

We  give  this  long  title  in  full,  as  it  ex- 
plains in  as  few  words  as  possible  the  scope 
and  contents  of  a  very  useful  book.  It  is 
a  check-list  of  American  Palaeozoic  fossils, 
but  it  is  something  more;  and  the  added 
features  are  those  which  will  make  it  spe- 
cially welcome  to  students  and  amateurs 
who  do  not  have  access  to  large  libraries 
and  collections. 

The  labor  of  collecting  and  arranging 
the  materials  for  such  a  work  is  very  great, 
and  will,  we  hope,  be  appreciated  sufficient- 
ly to  reward  the  author  in  some  degree  for 
his  painstaking  zeal. 

A  paper  on  the  "  Construction  of  Sys- 
tematic Names  in  Paleontology,"  by  Prof. 
E.  W.  Claypole,  forms  an  important  part  of 
the  book. 

Serpent  and  Siva  Worship.  By  Hyde 
Clark,  M.  A.  I.,  and  C.  S.  Wake,  M.  A.  I. 
Edited  by  Alexander  Wilder,  M.  D. 
New  York:  J.  W.  Bouton.  Pp.  48. 
Price,  50  cents. 

These  papers,  reprinted  from  the  Jour- 
nal of  the  Anthropological  Institute  of  Great 
Britain,  are  examinations  into  the  nature 
of  the  worship  of  the  serpent,  with  a  view 
to  tracing  its  origin  and  connections,  and 
are  important  as  contributions  to  the  ma- 
terial from  which  alone  a  philosophical 
theory  of  sociology  can  be  formulated. 
The  facts  cited  confirm  Mr.  Spencer's  con- 
clusions as  to  the  intimate  relations  be- 
tween ophiolatry  and  ancestor-worship. 

On  a  Scientific  Course  of  Study.  A  "Paper 
read  before  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion of  Iowa,  by  Prof.  C.  E.  Bessey. 
Pp.  11. 

This  seems  to  be  in  some  measure  an 
effort  to  reconcile  the  antagonism  between 
the  languages  and  science  as  means  of  cult- 
ure. 

The  author  is  not  disposed  to  underrate 
the  importance  of  the  sciences,  and  makes 


some  excellent  remarks  as  to  the  methods 
of  teaching  them  to  the  young ;  the  necessity 
of  beginning  the  science-teaching  early ;  and 
also  as  to  the  value  of  the  languages  as  tools 
for  the  scientific  man.  But  he  seems  to  miss 
the  real  question  at  issue  in  the  "  conflict." 
It  is  not  "  What  kind  of  training  is  best  to 
produce  a  scientific  specialist  ?  "  but  "  What 
are  the  relative  claims  of  the  study  of  lan- 
guage and  of  natural  science  in  giving  the 
discipline  and  culture  which  will  be  useful 
in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life?  "  Upon  this 
point  we  would  refer  Prof.  Bessey  to  Prof. 
Bain's  article  on  "  Language-Culture  and 
the  Civil  Service,"  in  the  December  number 
of  The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

I.  Proceedings  of  the  Davenport  Acade- 

my of  Natural  Sciences.  Vol.  II., 
Part  1.  Davenport,  Iowa.  Pp.  148. 
Price,  $3. 

II.  Proceedings  of  the  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History.  Vol.  XVIII.,  Part 
4.     Boston.     Pp.  104. 

The  first  of  the  above  volumes  is  largely 
taken  up  with  records  of  the  business  meet- 
ings of  the  Davenport  Academy,  its  con- 
dition, etc.,  interspersed  with  some  papers 
of  interest.  The  majority  of  these  are 
archaeological,  being  descriptive  of  mounds 
and  their  contents,  illustrated  by  several 
fine  photographic  plates  of  inscribed  tab- 
lets. Iowa  is  rich  in  these  relics  of  the 
mound-builders,  and  there  is  a  fitness  in  the 
Academy  devoting  itself  to  a  study  of  these 
remains,  which  are  fast  disappearing. 

The  Boston  "  Proceedings  "  is  filled  with 
the  results  of  more  steady-going,  thorough 
work,  as  might  be  expected  from  its  greater 
age,  and  its  locality  in  a  centre  where  scien- 
tific men  congregate.  The  table  of  contents 
includes  papers  on  "  The  Origin  of  the  Do- 
mestic Sheep,"  by  G.  W.  Bond  ;  "  Genetic 
Relations  of  Stephanoceras,"  by  Prof.  A.  Hy- 
att;"  Reptiles  and  Batrachians  from  the  Isth- 
mus of  Panama,"  by  S.  W.  Garman  ;  "  Notes 
on  Noctuae  from  Florida,"  by  A.  R.  Grote. 

Ninth  Annual  Report  on  the  Noxious, 
Beneficial,  and  other  Insects  of  the 
State  of  Missouri.  By  Charles  V. 
Riley,  State  Entomologist.  Jefferson 
City,  1877.     Pp.  130. 

This  continuation  of  Prof.  Riley's  labors 
in  the  field  in  which  he  has  become  so  well 
known  covers  observations  on  the  currant, 


374 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


gooseberry,  strawberry,  and  pine  worms ; 
the  army-worm,  Colorado  potato-beetle, 
Rocky  Mountain  locust,  etc. ;  together  with 
the  insects  which,  acting  as  parasites,  help 
to  diminish  the  number  of  these  pests. 

The  illustrations  are  numerous,  drawn 
mostly  by  the  author  from  Nature ;  the  sug- 
gestions are  practical,  and  make  the  reports 
valuable  to  the  agriculturist  as  well  as  to 
the  scientific  entomologist.  The  locust,  or 
so-called  grasshopper,  naturally  receives 
the  fullest  attention,  and  certainly  the  fa- 
cilities for  observation  have  been  ample 
enough  for  the  accumulation  of  information 
that  will  be  of  use,  should  the  West  be  again 
visited  by  that  scourge. 

Savings-Banks.  A  Paper  read  before  the 
American  Social  Science  Association, 
September  5,  187V.  By  John  P.  Town- 
send.     New  York,  1877. 

This,  as  might  be  expected  from  the 
long  experience  of  the  author,  is  a  valuable 
addition  to  savings-banks  literature. 

In  the  history  of  the  rise  and  progress — 
we  had  almost  said  decline — of  the  system; 
the  criticism  of  past  and  present  manage- 
ment ;  and  the  suggestions  as  to  the  proper 
way  to  run  such  institutions,  a  thorough 
familiarity  with  the  subject  is  shown.  The 
remarks  on  the  nature  of  investments  are 
to  be  commended  to  presidents  and  trustees, 
and  the  plan  for  winding  up  insolvent  insti- 
tutions would,  if  adopted,  do  much  to  miti- 
gate the  loss  and  suffering  which  the  present 
mode  of  procedure  involves. 

Some  space  is  given  to  the  details  of  a 
plan  for  school  penny  savings-banks,  which 
is  simple  and  perfectly  practicable,  having 
been  found  to  work  well  both  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent,  cultivating  habits  of 
thrift  in  the  young,  and  exercising  an  ex- 
cellent influence  in  the  communities  where 
they  have  been  started. 

Egypt  as  it  is.  By  J.  C.  McCoan.  New 
York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1877.  Pp. 
417.     Price,  $3.75. 

The  task  which  Mr.  McCoan  has  under- 
taken is,  to  describe  and  explain  the  eco- 
nomic conditions  of  the  New  Egypt,  as  will 
appear  from  the  titles  of  the  chapters,  which 
include  those  on  the  territory,  population,  ad- 
ministration, finance,  commerce,  agriculture, 
public  instruction,  public  works,  manufact- 


ures, etc.,  with  a  series  of  appendices  giving 
statistical  information  about  the  govern- 
ment, finances,  trade,  cost  of  living,  etc. 

The  author  says  that  he  found  this  cor- 
ner of  the  field  of  book-making  on  Egypt 
almost  untouched.  No  material  lay  ready 
to  his  hand,  but  his  facilities  for  getting  it 
were  good,  and  he  has  made  excellent  use 
of  them.  The  Government  of  Egypt  is  the 
khedive.  Legislative  bodies,  ministers,  and 
cabinets,  are  mere  agents  of  his  personal 
will,  and  the  recent  progress  is  due  mainly 
to  his  wisdom  and  energy.  His  highness  is 
now  forty-six  years  old,  below  the  middle 
height,  stout,  though  not  unwieldy,  and  with 
nothing  of  an  Eastern  but  the  native  dignity 
and  easy  polish  of  his  manners.  He  devotes 
fourteen  hours  a  day  for  at  least  three  hun- 
dred days  in  the  year  to  the  work  of  adminis- 
tration, is  familiar  with  all  the  details  of  na- 
tional affairs,  and  in  the  extent  and  variety 
of  his  information  is  as  encyclopedic  as  Dom 
Pedro  himself. 

The  book  corrects  some  common  mis- 
apprehensions. Taxation  of  the  peasantry, 
for  example,  though  heavy,  is  not  so  op- 
pressive nor  enforced  so  brutally  as  we 
have  been  given  to  understand ;  and  the 
system  of  slavery,  though  in  itself  indefen- 
sible, is  not  at  all  such  as  formerly  obtained 
in  the  United  States,  and  still  exists  in  Cuba 
and  Brazil.  In  both  these  respects  the  con- 
dition of  Egypt  is  vastly  better  than  that 
of  the  nominally  ruling  country,  Turkey. 
An  excellent  map  and  a  copious  index  add 
to  the  value  of  the  book. 


Heredity  :  Its  Influence  upon  the  Prog- 
ress and  Welfare  of  Mankind.  By 
E.  N.  Brush,  M.  D.  Buffalo,  1877. 
Pp.  12. 

Heredity  as  a  Factor  in  Pauperism  and 
Crime.  By  E.  H.  Parker,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  1877.     Pp.  12. 

Criminality.  By  W.  G.  Stevenson,  M.  D. 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  1877.     Pp.  23. 

These  pamphlets  are  all  reprints  of  pa- 
pers read  before  medical  societies,  and  have 
a  common  object,  which  is  to  show  the  im- 
portance of  heredity  in  fixing  the  organic 
characteristics  of  the  individual,  and  so 
determining  the  part  which  he  shall  play 
in  society — characteristics  which  are,  of 
course,  modified  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
by  the  environment.     They  are  chiefly  inter- 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 


375 


esting  as  showing  how  wide  is  the  recogni- 
tion that  is  being  accorded  to  the  important 
labors  of  Mr.  Darwin  and  his  co-workers. 


PUBLICATIONS  KECEIVED. 

Proteus ;  or,  Unity  in  Nature.  By  C.  B.  Rad- 
cliffe,  M.  D.  London  and  New  York  :  Macmil- 
lan.    Pp.  222.    $2.50. 

Deed  and  Creed.  By  Dr.  Felix  Adler.  New 
York  :  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  248.    $1.50. 

Determination  of  Rocks.  By  E.  Jannetaz. 
New  York:  Van  Nostrand.    Pp.165.    $1.50. 

Creed  of  Christendom.  By  W.R.Greg.  Bos- 
ton :  Osgood  &  Co.    2  vols.     $7. 

Report  of  the  Nashville  Board  of  Health. 
Pp.  230. 

Biology.  By  J.  Cook.  Boston :  Osgood  &  Co. 
Pp.  337.    $1.51). 

The  Signal  Boys.  By  G.  C.  Eggleston.  New 
York  :  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  218. 

Doubleday's  Children.  By  D.  Cook.  New 
York  :  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  430. 

Myths  and  Marvels  of  Astronomy.  By  R.  A. 
Proctor.  New  York:  Putnam's  Sous.  Pp.371. 
$4. 

Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Agriculture 
(1876).  Washington  :  Government  Printiug-Of- 
fice.    Pp.447. 

Methods  of  Ethics.  By  H.  Sidgwick.  London 
and  New  York:  Macmillan.    Pp.497.    $4. 

Geology  of  Wisconsin.  By  T.  C.  Chamberlin, 
Chief  Geologist.    Vol.  II.  Pp.  787.    With  Atlas. 

Vital  Magnetism.  By  F.  T.  Parson.  New 
York :  Adams,  Victor  &  Co.    Pp.  235.    $1.25. 

At  the  Court  of  King  Edwin.  By  W.  Leigh- 
ton,  Jr.  Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co. 
Pp.  157.    $1.25. 

The  Electric  Register.  By  Le  R.  C.  Cooley. 
From  the  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute.  Pp.  5. 

The  Convection  Thermoscope  for  Projection. 
By  Le  R.  C.  Cooley.    Pp.  4. 

Five  Entomological  Papers.  By  O.  V.  Riley, 
Ph.  D.  From  "  Transactions  of  the  St.  Louis 
Academy  of  Sciences."    Pp.  34. 

Functional  Dystocia.  By  Dr.  E.  M.  Hale. 
Pp.  36. 

Birds  of  Connecticut.  By  C.  H.  Merriam. 
From  '-Transactions  of  the  Connecticut  Acad- 
emy."   Pp.  165. 

Circular  of  Bureau  of  Education.  Washing- 
ton :  Government  Priuting-Offlce.    Pp.  28. 

Transactions  of  the  Kansas  Academy  of  Sci- 
ence.   Topeka :  G.  W.  Martin.    Pp.  75. 

Contributions  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory 
of  Harvard  College.  By  J.  P.  Cooke,  Jr.  Pp. 
131.    With  Plates. 

Admission  of  Girls  to  the  Boston  Latin 
School.    By  President  Warren.    Pp.  8. 

Why  Scientists  are  not  Christians.  By  E.  A. 
Beaman.    New  York:  E.  H.  Swinney.    Pp.16. 

Medical  Intolerance.  By  Dr.  R.  A.  Guun. 
New  York:  Munroe  &  Metz.    Pp.  23. 

What  Anaesthetic  shall  we  use  ?  By  Dr.  J.  J. 
Chisolm.    Baltimore:  Sun  print.    Pp.23. 

Reptiles,  Fishes,  and  Leptocardians  of  the 
Bermudas.  By  G.  Brown  Goode.  From  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science.    Pp.  10. 

Report  of  the  Philadelphia  Water  Depart- 
ment (1876).    Pp.  125. 

List  of  Writings  on  Method  of  Least  Squares. 
By  M.  Merriman,  Ph.  D.  From  "Transactions 
of  the  Connecticut  Academy."    Pp.  82. 

American  Archaeology.  By  Dr.  A.  J.  Howe. 
Pp.8. 


Sanitary  Condition  of  Portland.  By  Dr.  F. 
H.  Gerrish.    Portland:  S.  Berry  print.    Pp.30. 

Illinois  State  Historical  Library.  Springfield : 
D.  W.  Lusk  print.    Pp.  7. 

Notes  on  Leather.  By  Lieutenant  D.  A.  Lyle, 
U.  S.  A. 

Medical  Jurisprudence.  By  Dr.  S.  E.  Chaille. 
From  "Transactions  of  the  International  Med- 
ical Congress."    Pp.  40. 

Catalogue  of  Minerals  in  the  Naval  Academy 
Cabinet,  Annapolis.  Washington :  Government 
Priuting-Oflice.    Pp.  21. 

Budge  and  Toddle.  By  L.  G.  Morse.  New 
York  :  Putnam's  Sous.    Pp.  303. 

Syllabus  of  Lectures  in  Anatomy  and  Phys- 
iology. By  T.  B.  Stowell.  Syracuse,  N.  Y. : 
Davis,  Bardeen  &  Co.    Pp.  82. 

A  Layman's  Experience  in  Homceopathy.  By 
W.  H.  Purness.    Pp.  8. 

Money  and  Legal  Tender.  By  H.  R.  Linder- 
man.  New  York :  Putnam's  Sons.  Pp.  173. 
$1.25. 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

Oar  Current  Weights  and  Measures. — 

The  absurdities  of  our  present  no-system 
of  weights  and  measures  surpass  belief : 
they  have  their  parallel  in  the  absurdities 
of  our  present  no-system  of  "  orthogra- 
phy," but  hardly  anywhere  else.  The  ques- 
tion of  reducing  to  rule  the  current  Eng- 
lish orthography  is  now  receiving  atten- 
tion, but  the  prospects  of  anything  being 
done  are  gloomy  enough.  So,  too,  we  hear 
occasionally  of  the  necessity  of  reforming 
our  weights  and  measures,  but  as  yet  no 
real  progress  has  been  made  in  any  of  the 
English-speaking  countries.  Our  excellent 
contemporary,  the  Engineering  and  Mining 
Journal,  in  the  course  of  an  article  favoring 
the  adoption  of  the  "metrical"  system, 
gives  the  following  apt  illustration  of  the 
deplorable  multiplicity  of  standard  tons  now 
in  use  : 

"In  a  copper-works  ore  is  measured 
and  paid  for  by  the  (tribute)  ton  of  2,352 
pounds,  from  the  mine  through  the  mill, 
till  it  comes  out  of  the  jigs,  when  suddenly 
it  is  transformed  into  a  ton  of  2,240  pounds 
(the  difference,  perhaps,  going  out  in  the 
tailings),  which  is  the  ton  of  the  roasting 
and  smelting  furnaces  and  of  the  teamsters. 
This  continues  till  the  copper  is  sold  or  car- 
ried over  some  roads,  when  the  ton  shrinks 
again  and  becomes  2,000  pounds.  At  the 
iron-works  there  are  still  more  tons,  differ- 
ent from  these,  and  on  the  railroads  one 
will  report  the  coal  carried  in  tons  of  2,240 
pounds,  and  another  connecting  road  uses 


376 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  ton  of  2,000  pounds.  And  in  order  to 
maintain  the  beautiful  symmetry  of  our  sys- 
tem, they,  of  course,  rarely,  if  ever,  state 
what  kiud  of  a  ton  is  used  in  either  case. 
Coal  is  mined  and  miners  are  paid  by  tons 
of  various  weights,  from  3,000  pounds  to 
2,000  pounds.  It  is  sold  by  tons  of  2,240 
and  2,000  pounds,  and  by  tons  running  all 
the  way  down  to  1,500  pounds.  The  use 
of  the  ton  less  than  2,000  pounds  is  called 
cheating,  but  the  large  purchasers,  those 
who  buy  from  a  car-load  (six  tons)  up,  may 
get  2,240  pounds  to  the  ton ;  but,  if  they 
buy  from  the  same  company's  retail  yard, 
they  find  the  ton  weighs  no  more  than  2,000 
pounds,  if  it  does  that.  Coal  is  sold  by 
bushels  of  76  pounds  and  80  pounds,  by 
barrels,  loads,  hogsheads,  and  other  '  stand- 
ards,' the  weights  of  which  depend  origi- 
nally on  the  fancy  of  the  individual,  and 
subsequently  on  '  immemorial  custom,'  " 

A  Kansas  Gas-Well. — About  three  years 
ago  a  company  prospecting  for  coal  discov- 
ered at  Wyandotte,  Kansas,  a  fountain  of 
combustible  gas.  This  gas,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Western  Review  of  Science  and  In- 
dustry, is  now  used  by  the  company  for 
steam-making,  and  by  the  owner  of  the  farm 
where  it  is  located  for  cooking  and  illumi- 
nating purposes.  The  gas,  whether  flowing 
or  burning,  is  almost  odorless,  and  its  en- 
tire freedom  from  sulphur  adapts  it  very 
well  for  use  in  the  reduction  of  gold  and 
silver  ores.  Notwithstanding  a  coal-vein 
of  considerable  thickness  was  discovered, 
the  company  has  concluded  to  abandon  coal- 
mining for  the  present,  and  utilize  this  new 
gas-fuel.  Nor  is  the  latter  adapted  for  heat- 
ing purposes  alone ;  it  is  also  very  valuable 
for  light,  inasmuch  as  it  burns  with  a  clear, 
bright  flame,  even  without  purification,  and 
is  free  from  the  disagreeable  odor  accom- 
panying coal-gas.  The  city  of  Wyandotte 
will  soon  be  lighted  by  this  gas,  which,  as 
it  comes  from  the  well,  is  of  twelve-candle 
power.  At  small  cost  it  can  be  purified  so 
as  to  make  it  sixteen-candle  power.  The 
brine  ejected  from  the  well  by  the  escaping 
gas  is  not  strong  enough  for  the  manufact- 
ure of  salt ;  it  is  recommended  as  a  medi- 
cinal agent  for  the  treatment  of  sundry  dis- 
eases. The  company  contemplate  erecting 
an  extensive  establishment  for  mineral 
baths. 


A  Plague  of  Rats. — Shortly  after  the 
settlement  of  the  Bermudas  by  the  British, 
the  colony  was  infested  with  rats,  which,  in 
the  space  of  two  years,  had  increased  so 
alarmingly  that  none  of  the  islands  were 
free  from  them,  and  even  fish  were  taken 
with  rats  in  their  bellies.  A  writer  in  the 
Academy  recalls  some  of  the  horrors  of 
this  plague  of  rats.  The  rats,  we  are  told, 
had  nests  in  almost  every  tree,  and  bur- 
rowed in  most  places  in  the  ground  like 
rabbits.  They  devoured  everything  that 
came  in  their  way — fruits,  plants,  and  even 
trees.  Where  corn  was  sown  they  would 
come  by  troops  in  the  night  and  scratch  it 
out  of  the  ground  ;  "  nay,"  writes  a  con- 
temporary chronicler,  "  they  so  devoured 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  that  the  people  were 
destitute  of  bread  for  a  year  or  two."  Every 
expedient  was  tried  to  destroy  them.  Dogs 
were  trained  to  hunt  them,  who  would  kill 
a  score  or  more  in  an  hour.  Cats,  both 
wild  and  tame,  were  employed  in  large 
numbers  for  the  same  purpose ;  poisons 
and  traps — every  man  having  to  set  twelve 
traps — were  brought  into  requisition  ;  and 
even  woods  were  set  on  fire,  to  help  to  ex- 
terminate them.  Every  letter  written  at 
this  period  by  the  plague-stricken  colo- 
nists contains  some  account  of  the  dread- 
ful scourge.  "  Our  great  enemies  the  rats 
threaten  the  subversion  of  the  plantation," 
writes  one  colonist  in  July,  1616.  "Eats 
are  a  great  judgment  ,of  God  upon  us," 
wrote  another  a  year  later.  "  At  last  it 
pleased  God,  but  by  what  means  is  not  well 
known,  to  take  them  away,  insomuch  that 
the  wild  cats  and  many  dogs  that  lived  on 
them  were  famished."  There  was  universal 
joy  at  the  sudden  removal  of  such  destruc- 
tive vermin ;  and  the  all  but  despairing 
planters  were  enabled  once  more  to  resume 
their  neglected  occupations  with  spirit  and 
energy. 

Composition  of  Pumpkins. — Analyses  of 
pumpkins,  made  by  Prof.  F.  H.  Storer,  of 
the  Bussy  Institution,  show  that  the  rind  of 
that  vegetable  is  nearly  three  and  a  half 
times  as  rich  in  albuminoids  as  the  flesh. 
The  weight  of  albuminoids  in  the  flesh  is 
only  about  one-fifth  as  much  as  that  of  the 
carbohydrates,  a  proportion  that  has  some- 
times been  found  in  turnips.  Again,  the 
inside  or  offal  portion  (including  the  seeds) 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


377 


of  the  pumpkin  contains  a  large  proportion 
of  nitrogen,  and  the  seeds  yield  a  high  per- 
centage of  oil.  "The  presence  of  such 
large  amounts  of  oil,  and  of  albuminous 
matters,"  adds  Prof.  Storer,  in  the  Bulletin 
of  the  Bussy  Institution,  "  would  naturally 
go  to  show  that  pumpkin-seeds  must  be  a 
highly-nutritious  kind  of  food ;  and  it  may 
well  be  true  that  they  are  valuable  for  some 
kinds  of  animals,  when  administered  care- 
fully and  in  moderate  quantity.  But  it  has 
often  been  urged  that  the  seeds  are  apt  to 
do  harm  to  animals  that  have  eaten  them. 
.  .  .  There  is  little  question  that  this  idea 
is  to  a  certain  extent  founded  in  fact." 
The  dangers  of  using  the  seeds  must,  how- 
ever, be  both  small  and  remote,  since,  as 
the  author  shows,  New  England  farmers 
usually  feed  out  the  seeds  with  the  flesh ; 
still  they  should  not  be  fed  to  milch-cows. 
Regarding  the  use  of  these  seeds  as  articles 
of  human  food,  the  author  quotes  Pumpelly 
as  saying  that  the  kernels  are  eaten  by  the 
Chinese.  In  Egypt,  too,  pumpkin-seeds  are 
eaten  in  the  same  way  that  nuts  are  eaten 
in  other  countries. 

Ancient  Man  in  Japan. — Prof.  E.  S. 
Morse  has  made  an  important  discovery  in 
the  study  of  ancient  man  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  lighting  on  evidence  of  the  remains 
of  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  Niphon  who 
apparently  must  have  antedated  even  the 
Ainos.  The  eyes  of  this  distinguished  schol- 
ar, possessing  as  they  do  the  rare  quality 
of  seeing,  observed,  while  he  was  on  his  first 
trip  to  the  capital  from  Yokohama,  one  of 
those  significant  shell-heaps  which  have 
been  found  in  many  countries  and  prove  the 
high  antiquity  of  the  human  race.  This  par- 
ticular kjockkenmoedding  is  situated  near 
Omori,  on  the  line  of  the  railroad,  and  is 
rich  in  evidence  of  a  rude  people  that  dwelt 
in  Japan  at  a  very  early  age.  Prof.  Morse 
has  been  engaged  for  many  years  in  the 
study  of  these  mounds,  as  found  in  Maine, 
North  Carolina,  and  Florida.  This  heap, 
which  is  about  ten  feet  in  thickness  at  its 
greatest  diameter,  under  a  loam-deposit  of 
six  feet,  and  half  a  mile  from  the  present 
shore  of  the  bay,  exhibits  all  the  peculiari- 
ties of  its  type,  containing  bone,  both  in 
fragment  and  rudely  fashioned  into  imple- 
ments, and  characteristic  pottery.     Some  of 


the  earthenware  is  curious  enough,  and  is 
thoroughly  representative  of  a  development 
of  the  race  coinciding  with  that  of  the  an- 
cient savages  of  America  and  Europe.  The 
professor  has  made  an  exhaustive  study  of 
the  deposit,  and  there  seems  little  doubt 
of  its  true  character.  As,  however,  he  has 
consented  to  address  the  Asiatic  Society  on 
the  subject  at  its  approaching  meeting,  we 
will  not  enlarge  more  particularly  upon  it  at 
present,  only  advising  all  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  rare  opportunity  to  hear  one 
of  the  most  fascinating  of  American  lectur- 
ers on  a  theme  of  novel  and  great  local  in- 
terest.—  Tokio  Times. 

Interesting  Ethnological  Specimens. — At 

a  meeting  of  the  Natural  History  Section 
of  the  Long  Island  Historical  Society,  Mr. 
Elias  Lewis,  of  Brooklyn,  exhibited  sev- 
eral remarkable  specimens  of  smoked  In- 
dian heads,  brought  by  Mr.  Ernest  Morris 
from  the  hitherto  little  known  region  near 
the  source  of  the  Tapajos  River,  in  Central 
South  America.  Some  account  of  these 
heads  was  given  by  Mr.  Lewis,  and  published 
in  the  Brooklyn  Eagle.  They  are  ten  in 
number,  and  of  great  ethnological  interest. 
The  natives  seemed  to  well  understand  the 
art  of  preserving  them,  but  were  exceedingly 
unwilling  that  Mr.  Morris  should  get  pos- 
session of  the  peculiar  wood  or  root  by  the 
smoke  of  which  they  are  preserved.  A  piece, 
however,  was  obtained  and  hidden  by  Mr. 
Morris  in  his  luggage.  The  flesh  and  mus- 
cles of  the  smoked  heads  are  shrunken 
somewhat,  and  quite  hard,  but  the  features 
are  not  distorted,  and  have  a  singularly  life- 
like appearance.  All  the  lineaments  of  the 
face  are  clear  and  well  defined.  Most  of  the 
faces  are  tattooed.  The  hair  is  long,  black, 
and  very  thick  on  the  scalps,  and  the  red 
paint  with  which  the  natives  adorn  them- 
selves still  remains  in  the  hair  of  several  of 
the  specimens.  The  heads  are  ornamented 
with  feathers,  strings,  and  other  appendages. 
In  most  cases  the  front  teeth  are  wanting, 
having  been  knocked  out  previous  to  the 
smoking.  Mr.  Morris  obtained  the  heads 
from  the  chief  or  principal  man  of  one  of 
the  tribes  in  exchange  for  knives  and  other 
articles,  and  brought  them  away  with  great 
difficulty  and  some  risk.  In  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Morris  it  is  stated  that  "  the  heads  are 


378 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


those  of  the  Parrebeate  Indians,  better 
known  as  the  Parrintintins,  who  inhabit  the 
land  of  the  upper  Tapajos.  They  are  mostly 
taken  in  war  and  kept  as  trophies,  and  are 
preserved  by  smoke  from  a  root  which  they 
call  carrocopowpow.  "  They  are  very  much 
as  they  appear  in  life,  except  that  a  cord  is 
put  in  the  mouth  to  carry  them  by,  and  the 
eyes  are  covered  with  a  mass  of  wax.  The 
practice  was  current  among  the  Mundurucu 
tribe  long  since,  but  now  appears  to  be  prac- 
tised only  among  the  wild  tribes  which  in- 
habit the  country  near  the  sources  of  the 
Tapajos  and  Hingu  Rivers.  The  heads  were 
taken  about  two  years  ago."  One  of  the 
heads  is  that  of  a  woman.  Mr.  Morris  is 
now  on  his  way  to  the  Amazon  for  further 
exploration,  and  a  part  of  the  collection  is 
offered  for  sale  in  his  interest ;  the  rest  will 
be  placed  in  the  museum  of  the  Long  Island 
Historical  Society. 

A  New  Japanese  Fruit-Tiee.— We  have 
received  from  Prof.  R.  H.  Wildberger,  of 
the  Kentucky  Military  Institute,  some  of  the 
fruit  of  the  Guikgo  biloba.  This  fruit  was 
matured  on  a  tree  growing  in  the  institute 
grounds,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  first 
ever  produced  in  the  United  States.  In 
a  communication  to  the  editor,  Prof.  Wild- 
berger says  that  the  tree  is  a  native  of 
Japan,  and  has  been  largely  introduced  into 
the  United  States  and  Europe,  on  account  of 
its  ornamental  appearance.  The  one  in  the 
Military  Institute  flowered  and  fruited  in 
June  ;  in  September  the  fruit  began  to  turn 
yellow,  and,  after  one  or  two  frosts  in 
October,  to  fall.  This  tree,  which  is  about 
thirty  feet  in  height,  stands  about  eighteen 
feet  from  another  of  the  same  species  which 
bore  no  fruit.  Being  absent  at  the  period 
of  flowering,  our  correspondent  was  unable 
to  determine  whether  the  species  is  dioecious, 
i.  e.,  bearing  pistillate  flowers  on  one  tree 
and  staminate  on  another.  Of  the  fruit  he 
writes  that  it  is  a  drupe  or  stone-fruit,  about 
the  size  of  a  common  wild-plum,  much  re- 
sembling it  while  green ;  but  when  mature 
it  has  a  shriveled  appearance,  and  is  yellow 
in  color.  The  sarcocarp,  or  fleshy  part,  is 
easily  separable,  disclosing  the  putamen,  or 
stone,  which  is  smooth  and  thin-walled,  con- 
taining a  kernel  as  large  as  a  plum-stone, 
which  has  a  pleasant  taste.     The  sarcocarp 


has  an  acid,  astringent  taste,  and  a  rather 
fetid  odor.  The  kernel  is  said  to  be  highly 
prized  in  Japan,  and  to  be  served  at  all 
banquets,  being  supposed  to  promote  diges- 
tion and  prevent  flatulence. 

New  Order  of  Extinct  Reptilia.— The 

museum  of  Yale  College  lately  received  the 
greater  portion  of  a  huge  reptilian  skel- 
eton, found  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  beds  that  have  been 
regarded  by  Prof.  Marsh  as  corresponding 
nearly  to  the  Wealden  of  Europe,  and  which 
may  be  classed  as  Upper  Jurassic.  Prof. 
Marsh  writes  that  the  remains  are  well  pre- 
served, but  imbedded  in  so  hard  a  matrix 
that  considerable  time  and  labor  will  be  re- 
quired to  prepare  them  for  a  full  descrip- 
tion. The  characters  already  determined 
point  to  affinities  with  the  Dinosaurs,  Ple- 
siosaurs,  and  more  remotely  with  the  Che- 
lonians,  and  indicate  a  new  order  which 
may  be  termed  Stegosauria.  The  animal 
was  probably  thirty  feet  long,  and  aquatic  ; 
the  body  was  protected  by  la^ge  bony  der- 
mal plates,  which  appear  to  have  been  in 
part  supported  by  the  elongated  neural 
spines  of  the  vertebra?.  One  of  these  der- 
mal plates  was  over  three  feet  in  length. 

Origin  of  the  Moral  Sense. — According  to 
Darwin's  theory  the  moral  sense,  conscience, 
is  a  development  of  the  animal  instinct  of 
self-preservation.  The  scope  of  this  in- 
stinct was  at  first  confined  within  the  indi- 
vidual ;  it  was  next  extended  to  the  group 
of  animals  in  which  it  lived.  In  a  low  stage 
of  human  development,  man  would  be  bound 
by  the  ties  of  moral  obligation  at  the  most 
to  those  of  his  own  tribe ;  but  as  he  ad- 
vances in  civilization,  and  small  tribes  are 
united  into  larger  communities,  "the  sim- 
plest reason,"  says  Darwin,  "  would  tell 
each  individual  that  he  ought  to  extend  his 
social  instincts  and  sympathies  to  all  the 
members  of  the  same  nation.  This  point 
once  reached,  there  is  only  an  artificial 
barrier  to  prevent  his  sympathies  extending 
to  the  men  of  all  nations  and  races."  Moral 
sense,  in  this  theory,  is  an  enlargement  of 
an  animal  instinct,  illumined  by  the  light  of 
reason.  To  many  persons  this  way  of  ac- 
counting for  the  origin  of  morality  is  an 
abomination;  it  is   supposed  that  thereby 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


379 


something  is  taken  from  the  preeminent 
dignity  of  man.  The  objection  is  well  met 
by  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen,  who  writes  as  follows  in 
the  Canadian  Monthly :  "  I  should  be  sat- 
isfied to  resign  my  free-will  to  do  wrong  for 
a  nature  so  constituted  that  I  must  always 
love  and  do  the  right.  What,  by  instinct  ? 
Yes,  by  instinct,  or  by  anything  else.  I 
should  like  to  be  always  instinctively  inclined 
to  good,  as  the  bee  to  make  honey.  But 
if  I  am  denied  this — if  our  nature  is  not  yet 
adjusted  to  the  requirements  of  the  golden 
age — it  is  something  to  possess  an  un- 
changeable instinct  of  right  at  the  very 
core  of  our  being,  which  can  neither  be 
plucked  out  nor  enslaved  by  the  will,  nor 
silenced  by  terror  or  bribes  or  flattery. 
But  instinct !  How  undignified  to  be  forced 
to  do  right  by  compulsion  !  What  ?  By  the 
compulsion  of  our  own  nature,  by  the  im- 
perious and  imperial  sense  of  our  obliga- 
tions to  our  fellow-men  ?  On  the  contrary, 
I  think  that  we  should  be  ennobled  by  the 
possession  of  such  a  moral  force."  Of  the 
mode  in  which  the  principles  of  morality 
are  propagated  Mr.  Allen  writes :  "  The 
maxims  of  morality,  more  or  less  true,  come 
down  to  us  by  tradition,  and  root  them- 
selves in  our  youthful  minds ;  but  the 
solidified  moral  sense  is  transmitted  by 
heredity,  and  forms  an  integral  part  of  our 
very  selves.  It  is,  so  to  speak,  our  experi- 
ences, not  from  but  in  our  grandfathers ;  the 
result  stereotyped  in  our  constitutions  of  all 
the  ictuses  of  the  various  forces  in  this 
direction  which  had  affected  the  whole  line 
of  our  ancestry  from  the  very  first — trans- 
mitted feelings  in  transmitted  structures." 

The  Waste  of  Wire-Works.— We  are  in- 
debted to  the  Polytechnic  Review  for  an  ac- 
count of  a  process  in  use  at  Worcester,  Mas- 
sachusetts, for  utilizing  the  waste  of  a  great 
wire-working  establishment.  Formerly  the 
dilute  sulphuric  acid  used  for  cleaning  the 
wire  was  allowed  to  run  into  the  sewer 
when  it  had  become  so  charged  with  iron 
scale  as  to  cease  to  "  bite,"  and  large  quan- 
tities of  refuse  wire  were  employed  only  to 
fill  up  hollows  in  grading,  or  thrown  into 
a  heap.  All  of  this  waste  material  is,  how- 
ever, now  converted  into  articles  of  com- 
mercial value  by  simple  and  comparatively 
inexpensive   processes.     The  diluted  acid, 


charged  with  iron,  is  heated  in  lead-lined 
tanks  by  means  of  steam  passing  through 
coils  of  copper  pipe,  the  waste  wire  being 
thrown  in.  In  about  five  days  the  acid,  un- 
der the  influence  of  heat,  has  taken  up  a 
large  proportion  of  iron  and  become  liquid 
sulphate  of  iron,  which  is  then  evaporated 
until  it  deposits  the  crystals  known  in  com- 
merce as  copperas.  Three  tons  of  this  solid 
sulphate  are  made  per  day  from  about  twelve 
tons  of  the  waste  acid.  The  remaining 
liquid  is  returned  to  the  receiving-tank,  to 
be  mixed  with  more  of  the  waste  acid  and 
refuse  wire ;  and  so  the  work  goes  on  in  a 
continuous  round.  Even  the  waste  of  this 
product  from  waste  is  utilized.  The  set- 
tlings of  the  boiling-tank — oxide  of  iron — 
together  with  the  waste  copperas,  an  alka- 
li, and  an  inexpensive  substance  to  give 
"body,"  are  roasted,  ground,  and  trans- 
formed into  a  pigment  equal  to  imported 
Venetian  red.  Of  this  the  company  makes 
about  500  barrels  per  month. 

Spongy  Iron  Filters. — Dr.  Gustav  Bi- 
schof,  inventor  of  the  method  of  purifying 
water  by  filtration  through  spongy  iron,  re- 
cently detailed  to  the  London  Royal  Society 
the  results  of  sundry  experiments  on  this 
and  other  filtering  media.  In  the  experi- 
ments fresh  meat  was  placed  on  the  perfo- 
rated bottom  of  a  stone-ware  vessel,  which 
was  then  filled  to  about  two-thirds  with  the 
materials  to  be  experimented  upon,  and 
lastly  with  water,  care  being  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  access  of  bacteria  to  the  meat 
from  any  source  save  the  filtered  water. 
In  Experiment  I.,  spongy  iron  was  used  as 
the  filter :  after  a  fortnight's  steady  perco- 
lation of  the  water,  the  meat  was  fresh. 
Experiment  II.  was  with  animal  charcoal: 
after  a  fortnight  the  meat  gave  signs  of  in- 
cipient putrefaction.  Experiment  III.  was 
with  spongy  iron  again,  the  water  being  al- 
lowed to  flow  for  four  weeks :  the  meat  was 
perfectly  fresh.  In  Experiment  IV.,  which 
reproduced  Experiment  II.,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  the  length  of  time  was  doubled, 
the  meat  was  found  to  be  soft  and  putrid.  In 
the  foregoing  two  experiments  with  spongy 
iron,  the  fine  dust  of  that  material  had  not 
been  separated :  in  Experiment  V.  this  was 
done:  after  four  weeks  the  meat,  again,  was 
fresh.     To  prove  that  iron  in  solution  was 


38o 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


not  in  these  cases  the  preserving  agent,  in  Ex- 
periment VI.  a  stone-ware  vessel  was  charged 
underneath  the  spongy,  iron  with  pyrolusite 
and  sand,  so  as  to  abstract  the  iron  from 
the  water  before  it  came  in  contact  with  the 
meat :  again  the  meat  was  fresh  after  four 
weeks'  filtration.  Experiment  VII. :  by  a 
separate  experiment  it  had  been  ascertained 
by  Dr.  Bischof  that  the  oxygen  is  complete- 
ly abstracted  from  water  during  its  passage 
through  spongy  iron.  To  determine  whether 
the  absence  of  oxygen  is  the  cause  of  the 
preservation  of  the  meat,  and  whether  the 
bacteria  or  their  germs  are  killed  or  can  be 
revived  when  supplied  with  oxygen,  an  evap- 
orating basin  was  inverted  over  the  meat. 
Though  this  must  have  retained  a  quantity 
of  air  in  its  cavity,  the  meat  still  was  found 
fresh  after  four  weeks.  In  the  final  experi- 
ment, fresh  meat  was  placed  at  the  bottom 
of  a  glass  vessel  and  left  standing  covered, 
with  about  four  inches  of  spongy  iron  and 
water.  After  three  weeks  the  meat  was 
very  bad,  thus  showing  that  the  action  of 
the  bacteria  of  putrefaction  adhering  to  the 
meat  was  not  prevented  by  the  spongy  iron 
above;  and  if,  during  the  previous  experi- 
ments with  spongy  iron,  agencies  capable  of 
causing  putrefaction  had  at  any  time  come 
in  contact  with  the  meat — in  other  words, 
if  the  bacteria  had  not  been  killed  in  their 
passage  through  the  spongy  iron — the  meat 
must  have  shown  marks  of  their  action. 

The  author  accounts  as  follows  for  the 
action  of  this  material :  "  I  believe  that  the 
action  of  spongy  iron  on  organic  matter 
largely  consists  in  a  reduction  of  ferric  hy- 
drate by  organic  impurities  in  water.  .  .  . 
Ferric  hydrate  is  always  found  in  the  upper 
part  of  a  layer  of  spongy  iron,  when  water 
is  passed  through  that  material.  The  fer- 
rous hydrate  resulting  from  the  reduction 
by  organic  matter  may  be  reoxidized  by 
oxygen  dissolved  in  the  water,  and  thus 
the  two  reactions  repeat  themselves.  This 
would  explain  why  the  action  of  the  spongy 
iron  continues  so  long." 

Marine  Fishes  in  Lake  Nicaragua. — The 

fish  fauna  of  Lake  Nicaragua  has  long  been 
known  to  include  a  few  species  elsewhere 
found  only  in  salt-water,  as  a  Megalops,  a 
shark,  and  a  sawfish.  How  did  these  ma- 
rine forms  first  enter  the  lake  ?    Dr.  Theo- 


dore Gill  and  Dr.  J.  F.  Bransford,  in  a  "  sy- 
nopsis" of  the  fishes  of  this  lake,  communi- 
cated to  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia,  remark  that  this  combina- 
tion of  species  may  have  resulted — 1.  From 
the  intrusion  of  the  salt-water  types  into 
the  fresh  waters  ;  or,  2.  From  the  detention 
and  survival  of  the  salt-water  fishes  in  inlets 
of  the  sea  that  have  become  isolated,  and 
so,  in  course  of  time,  fresh-water  lakes. 
The  latter  hypothesis  is  declared  the  more 
probable  one.  By  the  uplift  of  the  land  an 
inlet  of  the  Pacific  might  have  been  shut 
off  from  communication  with  the  ocean, 
and  the  character  of  the  water  would  be 
soon  changed  by  the  copious  showers  of 
that  tropical  country.  The  shark,  sawfish, 
Megalops,  and  other  species,  mostly  found 
in  the  sea,  would  have  time  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  altered  conditions.  At 
the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
most  of  the  marine  types  in  question  are 
wont  to  ascend  high  up  streams,  and  even 
into  fresh  water.  Still,  the  numerous  rapids 
of  the  river  discharging  from  the  lake  dis- 
courage the  idea  that  the  species  enumer- 
ated have  voluntarily  ascended  the  river 
and  entered  the  lake.  Of  these  fresh-water 
sharks  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  Squier  says  that 
"  they  are  called  tigrones  from  their  ra- 
pacity," and  that  "  instances  are  known 
of  their  having  attacked  and  killed  bathers 
within  a  stone's-throw  of  the  beach  at  Gra- 
nada." 

Individnal  Hygiene. — Among  the  sub- 
jects discussed  at  a  recent  Educational  Con- 
ference held  in  London  was  the  importance 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  health.  Mr. 
Thomas  Bond,  assistant  surgeon  to  West- 
minster Hospital,  asserted  that,  on  an  aver- 
age, one-half  of  the  number  of  out-patients 
treated  by  a  hospital-surgeon  suffer  from 
diseases  due  primarily  to  a  want  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  of  health  and  cleanliness, 
chiefly  in  regard  to  dress,  ablution,  and  ven- 
tilation. Varicose  ulcers  are  most  frequent- 
ly caused  by  the  use  of  elastic  garters : 
these  should  never  be  worn  by  children,  as 
the  stocking  can  be  perfectly  well  kept  up 
by  attachment  of  elastic  straps  to  the  waist- 
band. If  elastic  garters  are  worn  at  all, 
they  should  be  applied  above  the  knee,  and 
not  below,  where  they  obstruct  all  the  super- 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


381 


ficial  veins.  Tight  lacing,  too,  predisposes 
to  varicose  veins,  in  consequence  of  the  ab- 
dominal viscera  being  pushed  downward  into 
the  pelvis,  causing  undue  pressure  on  the 
veins  of  the  lower  extremities.  The  hygi- 
enic use  of  clothes,  the  author  said,  is  not 
so  much  to  keep  cold  out  as  to  keep  heat 
in.  In  robust  persons  it  is  not  at  all  neces- 
sary to  put  on  extra  clothing  when  prepar- 
ing for  out-door  exercise  :  sufficient  heat  to 
prevent  all  risk  of  chill  is  generated  in  the 
body  by  exercise.  But  care  should  be  taken 
to  retain  sufficient  clothing  after  exercise, 
and,  when  at  rest,  to  prevent  the  heat  pass- 
ing out  of  the  body.  The  wearing  of  false 
hair  prevents  evaporation  of  the  perspira- 
tion from  the  scalp,  and  so  predisposes  to 
baldness  and  other  scalp-diseases. 

Mr.  Bond  calls  Urquhart,  who  intro- 
duced into  England  the  Turkish  bath,  one 
of  the  benefactors  of  the  age  :  this  bath  is, 
he  says,  stimulating  and  strengthening — a 
preventive  as  well  as  a  curative  in  disease. 
Nor  is  this  all :  it  promotes  purity  of  mind 
and  morals.  He  then  suggests  certain  ne- 
cessary precautions  to  be  observed  in  the 
use  of  the  Turkish  and  other  baths.  Com- 
ing to  the  subject  of  ventilation,  he  remarks 
on  the  feeling  of  lassitude  felt  by  many  per- 
sons in  getting  up  in  the  morning.  This  is 
very  often  due  to  defective  ventilation  of 
the  bedroom,  or  to  the  use  of  an  undue 
amount  of  bedclothes.  It  is  an  error  to 
suppose  that  a  room  can  be  ventilated  by 
simply  opening  a  window  a  little  at  the  top  : 
there  must  be  an  outlet  as  well  as  an  inlet 
for  the  air.  The  best  outlet  is  an  ordinary 
fireplace,  especially  if  there  is  a  fire  burn- 
ing. Mr.  Bond  recommends  for  ventilation 
purposes  the  use  of  vertical  pipes,  commu- 
nicating at  the  level  of  the  floor  with  the 
outer  air,  and  rising  vertically  to  the  height 
of  four  or  five  feet. 

Marbleized  Iron  Utensils. — Sundry  cook- 
ing-utensils of  so-called  "  marbleized  iron  " 
have  been  subjected  to  chemical  tests  by 
Mr.  William  H.  Dougherty,  with  the  results 
given  below,  as  stated  in  the  "Proceedings  " 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phil- 
adelphia. The  author,  having  heard  re- 
ports that  the  enamel  contained  lead  and 
arsenic,  poured  into  a  new  dish  of  this  ware 
a   pint    of    good    ordinary  "  white-wine " 


vinegar.  This  was  then  slowly  evaporated 
nearly  to  dryness ;  then  distilled  water  was 
added,  and  the  whole  treated  with  hydro- 
sulphuric  acid.  The  resulting  precipitate  of 
sulphide  of  lead  was  now  dissolved  in  nitric 
acid  and  reprecipitated  with  sulphuric  acid 
in  presence  of  alcohol  as  sulphate  of  lead, 
and  weighed  over  1\  grains.  This  result  was 
further  confirmed  by  reducing  the  sulphate 
to  metallic  lead  with  the  blowpipe.  From 
this  it  appears  that  the  vinegar  had  dis- 
solved out  of  the  enamel  enough  lead  to 
make  about  three  grains  of  acetate  of  lead. 
Similar  results  were  obtained  from  another 
experiment,  in  which  citric  acid  took  the 
place  of  the  vinegar.  A  can  of  tomatoes  in 
an  acid  condition  was, digested  in  another 
dish  of  this  ware  and  filtered,  the  filtrate 
being  treated  as  in  the  foregoing  experi- 
ments. In  this  instance  slight  but  positive 
evidence  was  found  of  the  presence  of  lead. 
The  author  could  detect  no  arsenic.  He 
states  the  composition  of  the  enamel  to  be 
as  follows:  oxide  of  lead,  12  per  cent.; 
silica,  47 ;  alumina,  iron,  lime,  potash,  and 
soda,  41  per  cent. 

Was  Man  preglarial? — The  Anthropo- 
logical Institute  of  London  lately  held  a 
conference  on  "  the  present  state  of  the 
question  of  the  antiquity  of  man,"  in  the 
course  of  which  the  evidences  of  man's  an- 
tiquity in  England  were  very  fully  consid- 
ered. The  papers  read  at  the  conference 
by  Prof.  Boyd  Dawkins,  Prof.  McKendrick 
Hughes,  and  Mr.  R.  H.  Tiddeman,  as  also 
the  highly-interesting  discussion  which  fol- 
lowed, are  reported  in  Nature.  Our  con- 
temporary devotes  several  pages  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  conference,  but  we  have 
only  space  to  indicate  one  or  two  of  the 
more  important  lines  of  argument.  First, 
as  regards  the  validity  of  the  arguments  of 
Croll,  Geikie,  and  others,  that  because  in 
river-deposits  and  caves  the  bones  of  ani- 
mals which  now  live  only  in  hot  climates 
are  associated  with  the  bones  and  other 
memorials  of  man,  and  as  after  the  glacial 
period  there  is  no  evidence  of  such  hot  cli- 
mate in  England,  therefore  all  these  remains 
are  preglacial  or  interglacial.  To  this  it 
was  objected  that  these  animals  of  hot  cli- 
mates had  preyed  on  such  boreal  animals  as 
the  reindeer ;  that  the  hippopotamus  and 


38z 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


rhinoceros  in  the  Regent  Park  Zoological 
Garden  do  not  suffer  even  in  very  cold 
weather ;  and  that  in  the  isle  of  Saghalien, 
to  the  north  of  Japan,  the  reindeer  is  preyed 
upon  by  the  tiger,  which  crosses  the  ice  in 
pursuit  of  its  victim.  Hence  it  follows  that 
mammals  are  not  good  indicators  of  tem- 
perature. Mr.  Tiddeman  rested  his  argu- 
ment for  man's  antiquity  in  Britain  on  the 
occurrence  of  a  (supposed)  human  fibula 
and  two  hacked  bones  of  goats  in  deposits 
older  than  the  post-glacial.  But  Prof.  Busk 
objected  that  the  "  fibula "  was  probably 
ursine,  and,  at  all  events,  that  it  was  alto- 
gether too  insignificant  a  fragment  on  which 
to  base  any  far-reaching  conclusion.  The 
goat-bones,  hacked  as  if  by  the  hand  of 
man,  were  found  in  Victoria  Cave,  at  the 
depth  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five  feet  re- 
spectively. But  it  was  urged  that  these 
bones  really  belonged  to  a  superficial  stra- 
tum, and  had  fallen  down  to  a  lower  level 
while  the  work  of  excavation  was  going  on. 
But,  even  supposing  them  to  belong  to  the 
levels  from  which  they  were  taken,  these 
bones  are  not  decisive  as  to  the  age  of  the 
deposit  in  which  they  were  found — a  matter 
which  is  still  in  dispute.  Arguments  pro 
and  contra  were  advanced  by  sundry  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute,  and  the  various  evi- 
dences of  the  antiquity  of  man  were  consid- 
ered in  the  light  of  geology,  anatomy,  the 
science  of  language,  and  paleontology.  But 
no  positive  result  was  reached  one  way  or 
the  other  ;  nevertheless,  the  conference  was 
not  without  fruit,  inasmuch  as  it  has  done 
much  to  remove  misapprehensions,  and  to 
indicate  the  proper  lines  of  research. 

Electricity  in  War.— Mr.  H.  Baden  Prit- 
chard,  in  one  of  his  communications  to  Na- 
ture on  scientific  principles  involved  in  the 
art  of  war,  gives  a  sketch  of  the  employ- 
ment of  electricity  in  military  operations. 
He  says  that  the  employment  of  electricity 
for  exploding  charges  of  powder  was  sug- 
gested by  Franklin  and  Priestley  ;  only  very 
recently,  however,  have  we  been  in  a  posi- 
tion to  make  proper  use  of  this  valuable 
agent  as  a  means  of  firing  charges  at  a  dis- 
tance. One  of  the  first  applications  made 
of  the  subtile  fluid  was  in  the  removal  of 
the  wreck  of  the  Royal  George  at  Spithead, 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  when  the  explosion 


of  the  charges  was  brought  about  by  what 
is  termed  a  wire  fuse,  a  short  piece  of  plati- 
num thread  stretched  between  two  copper 
wires.  The  platinum  bridge,  having  less 
conducting  power  than  the  copper  wires, 
presents  a  considerable  resistance  to  any 
current  of  electricity  that  passes,  and  so  be- 
comes heated  sufficiently  to  ignite  gunpow- 
der. "  But  for  many  purposes,"  remarks 
Mr.  Baden  Pritchard,  "  the  wire  fuse  is  ill 
adapted  to  the  military  and  naval  services. 
A  voltaic  battery  is  necessary  to  evolve  the 
low-tension  electricity  required  to  yield  suf- 
ficient resistance  and  heat,  and  such  a  bat- 
tery made  up  of  metal  plates,  and  involving 
the  use  of  acids,  is  a  cumbersome  apparatus. 
In  1853  Colonel  Verda,  of  the  Spanish  army, 
with  the  aid  of  a  Ruhmkorff  coil,  succeeded 
in  firing  half  a  dozen  charges  simultaneous- 
ly. Wheatstone  and  Abel  followed  in  Yer- 
du's  footsteps,  and  while  the  former  directed 
his  attention  to  the  construction  of  a  port- 
able frictional  apparatus,  the  latter  busied 
himself  in  the  preparation  of  a  fuse  inclos- 
ing a  compound  more  easily  explosible  than 
gunpowder — a  fuse  which  still  holds  an  im- 
portant place  among  warlike  stores." 

Alternation  of  Seasons  and  Tree-Growth. 

— The  fact  that  the  exogenous  plants  of  the 
preglacial  epoch  show  concentric  growth- 
rings  has  been  by  many  writers  regarded 
as  proof  positive  that  in  these  times  the 
earth's  axis  must  have  been  inclined  as  at 
present,  and  that  there  must  have  been  then, 
even  as  now,  alternating  seasons.  But  is 
alternation  of  seasons  necessary  to  the  for- 
mation of  rings  ? 

This  question  is  considered  by  Dr.  C.  B. 
Warring,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Sciences,  an  extract  from 
which  has  appeared  in  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Science  and  Arts.  The  problem  might 
be  solved  experimentally,  says  Dr.  Warring, 
if  we  could  secure  for  plants  a  uniform 
temperature  throughout  the  year.  The 
nearest  approach  to  such  a  condition  in  this 
latitude  is  found  in  greenhouses.  Exoge- 
nous plants  so  placed,  e.  g.,  the  orange  and 
lemon,  form  growth-rings  as  regularly  as  do 
forest-trees.  The  author  has  found  it  dif- 
ficult to  obtain  any  information  as  to  the 
formation  of  these  annual  markings  in  ex- 
ogenous plants  growing  in  tropical  regions. 


NOTES. 


383 


But  the  facts  appear  to  show  that,  in  the 
uniformly  warm  climate  of  the  tropics,  rings 
are  formed  as  regularly  as  in  our  own  lati- 
tudes. True,  in  the  tropics  there  are  semi- 
annual changes  from  wet  to  dry,  and  from 
dry  to  wet,  dependent  on  the  earth's  axial 
inclination;  but,  as  the  author  remarks, 
even  when  there  is  absolutely  no  variation, 
the  rings  are  formed.  For  instance,  man- 
groves, growing  on  the  muddy  margins  of 
tropical  rivers,  having  from  year's  end  to 
year's  end  uniform  temperature  and  moist- 
ure, present  clearly-defined  rings  of  growth. 
Then  the  Cycads  require  several  years  to 
form  one  ring.  The  author's  conclusion  is, 
that  "  these  circles  have  their  origin  in 
cycles  of  activity  and  repose,  implanted  in 
the  constitution  of  the  plant,  which  would  j 
continue  to  manifest  themselves  although 
there  were  no  climatic  variations.  It  is 
true,"  he  adds,  "  that  where  seasonal  varia- 
tions exist,  the  successive  stages  of  activity 
and  rest  are  for  obvious  reasons  synchro- 
nous with  them,  but  they  are  not  absolute- 
ly dependent  on  them.  .  .  .  The  existence, 
therefore,  of  these  markings  in  the  ancient 
flora  gives  no  information  as  to  the  exist- 
ence at  that  time  of  seasons,  and,  so  far  as 
they  are  concerned,  we  are  left  free  to  adopt 
any  conclusion  as  to  the  inclination  of  the 
earth's  axis  which  may  appear  to  us  most 
reasonable." 

Preservation  of  Wood  under  Water. — 

The  effects  of  long-continued  submergence 
in  water  on  oak-wood  are  remarkable,  and 
several  instances  are  cited  in  the  "Annales 
des  Ponts  et  Chaussees,"  by  M.  Charrie-Mar- 
saines,  of  oak  being  transformed  so  as  very 
closely  to  resemble  ebony.  Thus,  some 
pieces  of  oak  taken  in  1830  from  an  old 
bridge  at  Rouen,  which  had  stood  about  700 
years,  were  found  to  resemble  ebony,  the 
modification  being  clue  to  the  presence  of 
peroxide  of  iron.  M.  Charrie-Marsaines  him- 
self having  occasion,  in  constructing  a  dis- 
charge-sluice on  the  Rhine,  to  demolish  an 
old  military  dam  constructed  in  1681  by  Vau- 
ban,  and  based  on  a  platform  of  oak,  found 
this  wood  to  have  a  dark  color  quite  like  that 
of  ebony,  and  very  great  hardness,  as  was 
found  on  trying  to  cut  it  for  use  in  the  new 
works.  The  wood  had  then  been  146  years 
in  a  soil  constantly  soaked  by  water,  owing 


to  the  permeability  of  the  layer  of  gravel 
here  forming  the  bed  of  the  Rhine. 


NOTES. 

In  the  gas-works  at  Rahway,  New  Jer- 
sey, a  simple  and  ingenious  method  of  up- 
ward filtration  through  coke  and  "breeze" 
is  in  use  for  removing  from  the  waste  re- 
siduum the  injurious  products  which  other- 
wise would  pollute  the  streams  into  which 
the  waste  might  flow.  This  method  is  fully 
described,  with  accompanying  sketch,  by 
Mr.  J.  R.  Shotwell  in  a  letter  to  Prof.  Spen- 
cer F.  Baird,  Fish  Commissioner.  Mr.  Shot- 
well's  communication  is  published  in  full  in 
the  Gas-Light  Journal. 

General  F.  0.  Cotton  remarked,  at  the 
"  Domestic  Economy  Congress,"  upon  the 
mental  inactivity  of  the  army  and  navy, 
officers  and  men,  in  foreign  parts.  It  was 
remarkable,  he  said,  how  little  additional 
knowledge  was  brought  home  by  these 
bodies  from  their  visits  to  foreign  coun- 
tries. The  speaker  pictured  "men  sitting 
with  their  bands  before  them,  or,  what  was 
worse,  drinking  brandy-and-water,  who,  if 
they  had  a  slight  knowledge  of  science 
given  them  at  school,  would  have  taken 
up  some  branch,  and  brought  back  valua- 
ble knowledge,  instead  of  dyspepsia  and 
discomfort." 

Died,  on  Lake  Titicaca,  Peru,  toward 
the  end  of  September,  James  Orton,  late 
Professor  of  Natural  History  in  Vassar  Col- 
lege. The  deceased  was  born  in  1830, 
graduated  from  Williams  College  in  1855, 
and  a  few  years  later  became  a  Congrega- 
tional minister.  He  was  an  instructor  in 
natural  sciences  in  Rochester  University  in 
1866,  and  in  1869  went  to  Vassar  College. 
He  thrice  visited  South  America  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  its  natural  history. 
First,  in  1867,  he  led  an  expedition  from 
Williams  College  across  the  continent  by 
Quito,  the  Napo,  and  the  Amazon.  Again, 
in  1873,  he  made  a  journey  across  South 
America  from  Para  up  the  Amazon  to  Lima 
and  Lake  Titicaca.  He  once  more  returned 
to  the  same  fields  of  exploration  last  year. 
He  was  the  author  of  several  works,  the 
best  known  being  "  The  Andes  and  the 
Amazon"  (1870),  and  "Comparative  Zo- 
ology" (1875). 

Mr.  Thomas  Barrett,  mate  of  the  Ameri- 
can whaling-bark  A.  Houghton,  has  arrived 
in  New  York,  bearing  with  him  a  silver 
spoon  with  the  arms  of  Sir  John  Franklin, 
which  he  obtained  from  an  Esquimau  at 
Whale  Point,  Hudson's  Bay.  From  apartyof 
Esquimaux,  who  camped  during  the  winter 
of  IS  76-7  7  near  the  winter  quarters  of  the  A. 


384 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Houghton,  Mr.  Barrett  received  a  great  deal 
of  valuable  information  concerning  the  fate 
of  Franklin  and  his  men.  It  is  proposed  to 
send  an  expedition  next  spring  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  thence  by  sleds  to  the  place  where 
the  men  of  the  Erebus  and  Terror  are  buried 
— about  500  miles  distant  inland.  The  Es- 
quimaux state  that  the  white  men  left  behind 
a  lot  of  books  with  writing  in  them,  which 
were  buried  in  the  cairns. 

A  correspondent  of  the  American  Man- 
ufacturer records  as  an  "  innovation  in  tech- 
nical education  "  a  recent  visit  paid  to  the 
Phcenixville  Iron- Works  by  the  classes  in 
civil  and  dynamic  engineering  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania University,  under  the  charge  of 
their  professors.  It  is  the  intention  of  the 
professors  to  make  frequent  visits  with  their 
classes  to  all  establishments  of  interest  with- 
in convenient  distance  of  the  university. 
Each  student  will  be  required  to  take  notes 
and  make  an  elaborate  report  of  his  obser- 
vations. 

Died,  September  17th,  at  his  seat  of 
Lacock  Abbey,  Wiltshire,  England,  William 
H.  Fox  Talbot,  one  of  the  discoverers  of  the 
art  of  photography.  He  was  born  in  1800, 
and  received  his  education  at  Harrow  School 
and  the  University  of  Cambridge.  The 
course  of  experiments,  which  resulted  in 
the  production  of  a  photographic  image, 
were  begun  by  him  in  1833.  His  results 
were  first  published  in  February,  1839. 
Daguerre's  researches  had,  however,  been 
published  a  short  time  before.  Of  late  years 
Mr.  Fox  Talbot  took  a  deep  interest  in  cunei- 
form inscriptions. 

Having  made  exact  measurements  of 
172  crania  of  known  sex,  Morselli  reaches 
the  following  conclusions :  1.  The  cranium 
in  man  is  to  the  cranium  in  woman  as  100  : 
85.7.  2.  The  lower  jaw  in  man,  compared 
with  the  same  in  woman,  is  in  the  propor- 
tion 100  :  78.5.  3.  This  last  difference  is 
noticed  also  in  anthropomorphous  apes.  4. 
Individual  variations  are  more  extensive 
in  women  than  in  men.  5.  Taking  into 
consideration  the  relation  between  the 
weight  and  the  capacity  of  the  cranium,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  woman  has  a  less 
development  of  osseous  tissue.  6.  In  the 
ratio  of  the  weights  of  the  cranium  and  the 
lower  maxillary,  we  have  a  new  zoological 
difference  between  man  and  ape,  the  latter 
always  presenting  a  heavier  jaw  relatively 
to  the  cranium  than  the  former. 

At  Cassel,  in  Prussia,  there  is  a  Live- 
stock Insurance  Company  which  insures 
live-stock  against  disease.  The  books  of 
this  company  furnish  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  very  great  frequency  of  trichinosis 
in  swine.  In  the  district  of  Cassel  the  pro- 
portion of  cases  of  trichinosis  to  the  total 
number  of  swine  insured  was  one  in  300 ;  in 


East  and  West  Prussia,  one  in  450 ;  in  Si- 
lesia and  Posen,  one  in  230.  Since  July, 
1876,  the  proportion  of  affected  animals  in 
the  provinces  near  the  Russian  frontier  has 
been  even  more  unfavorable,  and  many  of 
the  insured  have  found  10  or  even  15  per 
cent,  of  their  pigs  thus  diseased. 

Mention  is  made  in  Addison's  Spectator 
of  an  odd  character  in  Italy  who  had  a 
chair-balance  made  for  himself,  so  that  he 
might  be  able  to  keep  his  bodily  weight  con- 
stantly the  same.  A  like  idea  has  recently 
occurred  to  a  French  investigator,  who  has 
constructed  a  "  registering  balance,"  show- 
ing in  curves  the  gains  or  losses  of  any  mat- 
ter placed  in  one  or  other  of  its  scales.  In 
one  experiment  made  by  the  inventor,  an 
adult  man  seated  in  the  balance,  was  first 
quiet  for  twenty  minutes,  then  read  in  a 
loud  voice  for  twenty  minutes,  then  was 
perfectly  quiet  for  twenty  minutes  more. 
The  curve  of  variations  in  the  weight  of  the 
body  during  this  hour  shows  a  considerably 
greater  loss  in  the  second  twenty  minutes 
than  in  the  first,  a  loss  partly  compensated 
by  a  diminution  in  emission  of  water  and 
carbonic  acid  during  the  third  twenty  min- 
utes. 

Two  processes  for  preserving  fish  from 
decay  were  detailed  in  a  recent  communica- 
tion to  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  by 
E.  M.  d'Amelio.  The  first  process  was  as 
follows :  The  fish,  whether  raw  or  cooked, 
is  immersed  in  a  strong  solution  of  citric 
acid  in  water.  After  two  or  three  hours, 
the  fish  is  taken  from  the  bath  and  dried 
in  the  open  air,  or  by  artificial  heat,  the 
latter  course  being  preferable.  Fish  so 
prepared  will  keep  fresh  anywhere  for 
years.  To  restore  its  original  flexibility 
it  must  be  steeped  in  fresh  water  four  or 
five  days.  The  other  method  consists  in 
the  employment  of  a  bath  of  silicate  of 
potash  and  glycerine,  in  equal  quantities. 
The  fish,  the  intestines  having  first  been  re- 
moved, is  steeped  in  this  bath  for  a  day  or 
two,  washed  in  fresh  water,  and  dried  slow- 
ly. By  the  use  of  this  process  the  author 
has  succeeded  in  preserving  intact  the  color 
of  the  fishes  and  the  eyes. 


It  is  proposed  to  erect  at  Stockholm  a 
monument  to  Linnaeus,  consisting  of  a 
statue  of  the  great  naturalist,  surrounded 
by  allegorical  figures  of  the  four  sciences  to 
which  he  devoted  himself,  namely,  botany, 
zoology,  mineralogy,  and  medicine. 

The  Marquis  of  Bute  has  on  one  of  his 
estates  near  Cardiff,  Wales,  a  flourishing 
vineyard  of  some  6,000  vines.  A  French 
vineyard-proprietor,  wrho  has  inspected  these 
vines,  expresses  his  conviction  that  this  ex- 
periment of  a  vineyard  in  that  climate  was 
destined  to  be  entirely  successful. 


»JSF 


WALTEH    BAGE1IOT. 


THE 

POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


FEBRUARY,    1878. 


EVOLUTION  OF  CEREMONIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

By  IIEEBEKT   SPENCER. 
I.    INTRODUCTORY. 

IF,  excluding  all  purely  private  actions,  we  include  under  the  name 
"  conduct  "  all  actions  which  involve  direct  relations  with  other 
persons  ;  and  if  under  the  name  "  government  "  we  include  all  con- 
trol of  such  conduct,  however  arising ;  then  we  must  say  that  the 
earliest  kind  of  government,  the  most  general  kind  of  government, 
and  the  government  which  is  ever  spontaneously  recommencing,  is 
the  government  of  ceremonial  observance.  More  than  this  is  true. 
Not  simply  does  this  kind  of  government  precede  other  kinds,  and 
not  only  has  it  in  all  places  and  times  approached  nearer  to  univer- 
sality of  influence,  but  it  has  ever  had,  and  continues  to  have,  the 
lai-gest  share  in  regulating  men's  lives. 

Proof  that  the  modifications  of  conduct  called  "  manners  "  and 
"  behavior  "  arise  long  before  those  which  political  and  religious  re- 
straints cause,  is  yielded  by  the  fact  that,  besides  preceding  social 
evolution,  they  precede  human  evolution  :  they  are  traceable  among 
the  higher  animals.  The  dog  afraid  of  being  beaten,  comes  crawling 
up  to  his  master,  clearly  manifesting  the  desire  to  submit.  Nor  is 
it  solely  to  human  beings  that  dogs  use  such  propitiatory  actions : 
they  do  the  like  one  to  another.  All  have  occasionally  seen  how,  on 
the  approach  of  some  formidable-looking  Newfoundland  or  mastiff,  a 
small  spaniel,  in  the  extremity  of  its  terror,  throws  itself  on  its  back 
with  legs  in  the  air.  Instead  of  threatening  resistance  by  growls  and 
showing  of  teeth,  as  it  might  have  done  had  not  resistance  been 
hopeless,  it  spontaneously  assumes  the  attitude  that  would  result  from 
defeat  in  battle,  tacitly  saying,  "  I  am  conquered,  and  at  your  mercy." 
Clearly,  then,  besides  certain  modes  of  behavior  expressing  affection, 
vol.  xii. — 25 


3 86  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

which  are  established  still  earlier  in  creatures  lower  than  man,  there 
are  established  certain  modes  of  behavior  expressing  subjection. 

After  recognizing  this  fact,  we  shall  be  prepared  to  recognize  the 
fact  that  daily  intercourse  among  the  lowest  savages,  whose  small, 
loose  groups,  scarcely  to  be  called  social,  are  without  political  or 
religious  regulation,  is  under  a  considerable  amount  of  ceremonial 
regulation.  No  ruling  agency,  beyond  that  arising  from  personal 
superiority,  characterizes  the  scattered  hordes  of  Australians  ;  but 
they  have  imperative  ceremonies.  Strangers  meeting  have  to  remain 
some  time  silent ;  a  mile  from  an  encampment  approach  must  be  her- 
alded by  loud  "  cooeys  ;  "  a  green  bough  is  used  as  an  emblem  of 
"  peace  ;  and  brotherly  feeling  is  indicated  by  exchange  of  names.  So 
the  Tasmanians,  similarly  without  government  save  that  implied  by 
predominance  of  a  leader  during  war,  had  settled  ways  of  indicating 
peace  and  defiance.  The  Esquimaux,  too,  though  without  social 
ranks  or  anything  like  chieftainship,  have  understood  usages  for  the 
treatment  of  guests. 

Kindred  evidence  may  be  joined  with  this.  Ceremonial  control  is 
highly  developed  in  many  places  where  the  other  forms  of  control 
are  but  rudimentary.  The  wild  Comanche  "  exacts  the  observance 
of  his  rules  of  etiquette  from  strangers,"  and  "  is  greatly  offended  " 
by  any  breach  of  them.  When  Araucanians  meet,  the  inquiries, 
felicitations,  and  condolences,  which  custom  demands  are  so  elaborate, 
that  "  the  formality  occupies  ten  or  fifteen  minutes."  Of  the  ungov- 
erned  Bedouins  we  read  that  "  their  manners  are  sometimes  dashed 
with  a  strange  ceremoniousness  ; "  and  the  salutations  of  Arabs  are 
such  that  the  "  compliments  in  a  well-bred  man  never  last  less  than 
ten  minutes."  "  We  were  particularly  struck,"  says  Livingstone, 
"  with  the  punctiliousness  of  manners  shown  by  the  Balonda."  "The 
Malagasy  have  many  different  forms  of  salutation,  of  which  they 
make  liberal  use.  .  .  .  Hence  in  their  general  intercourse  there  is 
much  that  is  stiff,  formal,  and  precise."  A  Samoan  orator,  when 
speaking  in  parliament,  "  is  not  contented  with  a  mere  word  of  salu- 
tation, such  as  '  gentlemen,'  but  he  must,  with  great  minuteness,  go 
over  the  names  and  titles,  and  a  host  of  ancestral  references,  of 
which  they  are  proud." 

That  ceremonial  restraint,  preceding  other  forms  of  restraint,  con- 
tinues ever  to  be  the  most  widely-diffused  form  of  restraint,  we  are 
shown  by  such  facts  as  that  in  all  intercourse  between  societies,  civil- 
ized, semi-civilized,  or  barbarous,  as  well  as  in  all  intercourse  between 
members  of  each  society,  the  decisively  governmental  actions  are 
usually  prefaced  by  this  government  of  observances.  The  embassy 
may  fail,  negotiation  may  be  brought  to  a  close  by  war,  coercion  of 
one  society  by  another  may  set  up  wider  political  rule  with  its  per- 
emptory commands  ;  but  there  is  habitually  this  more  general  and 
vague  regulation  of  conduct  preceding  the  more  special  and  definite. 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  387 

So  within  a  community,  acts  of  relatively  stringent  control  coming 
from  ruling  agencies,  civil  and  religious,  begin  with  and  are  qualified 
by  this  ceremonial  control,  which  not  only  initiates  but  in  a  sense 
envelops  all  other.  Functionaries,  ecclesiastical  and  political,  coer- 
cive as  their  proceedings  may  be,  conform  them  in  large  measure  to 
the  requirements  of  courtesy.  The  priest,  however  arrogant,  fulfills 
the  usages  of  civility ;  and  the  officer  of  the  law  performs  his  duty 
subject  to  certain  propitiatory  words  and  movements. 

Yet  another  indication  of  primordialism  may  be  named.  This 
species  of  control  establishes  itself  anew  with  every  fresh  relation 
among  individuals.  Even  between  intimates  those  greetings  which 
are  requisite  to  signify  continuance  of  respect,  precede  each  renewal 
of  intercourse.  Though  their  particular  form  may  be  settled  by 
custom,  such  greetings  are  in  substance  direct  results  of  the  desire 
not  to  offend.  And  in  presence  of  a  stranger,  say  in  a  railway-car- 
riage, a  certain  self-restraint,  joined  with  some  such  act  as  the  offer 
of  a  newspaper,  shows  the  spontaneous' rise  of  a  propitiatory  behavior 
such  as  even  the  rudest  of  mankind  are  not  without. 

So  that  the  modified  forms  of  action  produced  in  men  by  the 
presence  of  their  fellows,  and  which  are  seen  alike  in  the  otherwise- 
uncontrolled  members  of  the  lowest  social  groups  and  in  the  other- 
wise-controlled members  of  the  highest  social  groups,  constitute  that 
comparatively  vague  control  out  of  which  other  more  definite  controls 
are  evolved — the  primitive  undifferentiated  kind  of  government  from 
which  the  political  and  religious  governments  are  differentiated,  and 
within  which  they  ever  continue  immersed. 

This  proposition  looks  strange  mainly  because,  when  studying 
less-advanced  societies,  we  carry  with  us  our  developed  conceptions  of 
law  and  religion.  Swayed  by  them,  we  fail  to  perceive  that  what  we 
think  the  essential  parts  of  sacred  and  secular  regulations  were  ori- 
ginally subordinate  parts,  and  that  the  essential  parts  consisted  of 
ceremonial  observances. 

It  is  clear,  a  priori,  that  this  must  be  so  if  social  phenomena  are 
evolved.  A  political  organization  or  a  settled  cult  cannot  suddenly 
come  into  existence,  but  implies  preestablished  subordination.  Before 
there  are  laws,  there  must  be  submission  to  some  potentate  enacting 
and  enforcing  them.  Before  religious  obligations  are  recognized, 
there  must  be  acknowledged  one  or  more  supernatural  powers.  Evi- 
dently, then,  the  behavior  expressing  obedience  to  a  ruler,  visible  or 
invisible,  must  precede  in  time  the  civil  or  religious  restraints  he  im- 
poses. And  this  inferable  precedence  of  ceremonial  government  is  a 
precedence  we  everywhere  find. 

How  in  the  political  sphere  fulfillment  of  forms  signifying  subor- 
dination is  the  primary  thing,  early  European  history  shows  us.  Dur- 
ing times  when  the  question,  who  should  be  master,  was  in  course  of 


388  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

settlement,  now  in  small  areas  and  now  in  larger  areas  uniting  them, 
there  was  scarcely  any  of  the  regulation  which  developed  civil  gov- 
ernment brings ;  but  there  was  insistance  on  allegiance  humbly  ex- 
pressed. While  each  man  was  left  to  guard  himself,  and  blood-feudc 
between  families  were  unchecked  by  the  central  power — while  the 
right  of  private  vengeance  was  so  well  recognized  that  the  Salic  law 
made  it  penal  to  carry  off  enemies'  heads  from  the  stakes  on  which 
they  were  exhibited  near  the  dwellings  of  those  who  had  killed  them  ; 
there  was  a  rigorous  demanding  of  oaths  of  fidelity  to  political  supe- 
riors and  periodic  manifestations  of  loyalty.  Simple  homage,  grow- 
ing presently  into  liege  homage,  was  paid  by  smaller  rulers  to  great- 
er; and  the  vassal  who,  kneeling  ungirt  and  swordless  before  his 
suzerain,  professed  his  subjection  and  then  entered  on  possession  of 
his  lands,  was  little  interfered  with  so  long  as  he  continued  to  display 
his  vassalage  in  court  and  in  camp.  Refusal  to  go  through  the  re- 
quired observances  was  tantamount  to  rebellion ;  as  at  the  present 
time  in  China,  where  disregard  of  the  forms  of  behavior  prescribed 
toward  each  grade  of  officers  "is  considered  to  be  nearly  equivalent 
to  a  rejection  of  their  authority."  Among  peoples  in  lower  stages  this 
connection  of  social  traits  is  still  better  shown.  Referring  to  the 
extreme  ceremoniousness  of  the  Tahitians,  Ellis  writes  :  "  This  pecu- 
liarity appears  to  have  accompanied  them  to  the  temples,  to  have  dis- 
tinguished the  homage  and  the  service  they  rendered  to  their  gods, 
to  have  marked  their  affairs  of  state,  and  the  carriage  of  the  people 
toward  their  rulers,  to  have  pervaded  the  whole  of  their  social  inter- 
course." Meanwhile,  he  says,  they  were  destitute  "  of  even  oral  laws 
and  institutes  :  "  so  verifying  the  statement  of  Cook  that  there  was  no 
public  administration  of  justice.  Again,  from  Mariner  we  learn  that 
if  any  one  in  Tonga  were  to  neglect  the  proper  salutation  in  presence 
of  a  superior  noble,  some  calamity  from  the  gods  would  be  expected 
as  a  punishment  for  the  omission ;  and  his  list  of  Tongan  virtues  com- 
mences with  "  paying  respect  to  the  gods,  nobles,  and  aged  persons." 
When  to  this  we  add  his  statement  that  many  actions  reprobated  by 
the  Tongans  are  not  thought  intrinsically  wrong,  but  are  wrong 
merely  if  done  against  gods  or  nobles,  we  get  proof  that,  along  with 
high  development  of  ceremonial  control,  the  sentiments,  ideas,  and 
usages,  out  of  which  civil  government  comes,  were  but  feebly  devel- 
oped. Similarly  in  the  ancient  American  states.  The  laws  of  the 
Mexican  king,  Montezuma  I.,  mostly  related  to  the  intercourse  of,  and 
the  distinctions  between,  classes.  In  Peru,  "the  most  common  pun- 
ishment was  death,  for  they  said  that  a  culprit  was  not  punished  for 
the  delinquencies  he  had  committed,  but  for  having  broken  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Ynca."  There  had  not  been  reached  the  stage  in 
which  the  transgressions  of  man  against  man  are  the  wrongs  to  be 
redressed,  and  in  which  there  is  consequently  a  proportioning  of  pen- 
alties to  injuries  ;  but  the  real  crime  was  insubordination:  implying 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  389 

that  insistance  on  marks  of  subordination  constituted  the  essential 
part  of  government.  A  statement  of  Thunberg  shows  us  that  in 
Japan,  so  elaborately  ceremonious  in  its  life,  exactly  the  same  theory 
led  to  exactly  the  same  result.  And  here  we  are  reminded  that  even 
in  societies  so  advanced  as  our  own  there  continue  the  traces  of  a 
kindred  early  condition.  "  Indictment  for  felony,"  says  Wharton, 
"  is  "  (for  a  transgression)  "  against  the  peace  of  our  lord  the  king,  his 
crown  and  dignity  in  general ;  "  the  injured  individual  being  ignored. 
Evidently  the  implication  is  that  obedience  was  the  primary  require- 
ment, and  behavior  expressing  it  the  first  modification  of  conduct 
insisted  on. 

Religious  control,  still  better,  perhaps,  than  political  control, 
shows  us  this  general  truth.  When  we  find  that  rites  performed  at 
graves,  becoming  afterward  religious  rites  performed  at  altars  in  tem- 
ples, were  at  first  acts  done  for  the  benefit  of  the  ghost,  either  as 
originally  conceived  or  as  ideally  expanded  into  a  deity — when  we 
find  that  the  sacrifices  and  libations,  the  immolations  and  blood-offer- 
ings and  mutilations,  all  begun  to  profit  or  to  please  the  double  of  the 
dead  man,  were  continued  on  larger  scales  where  the  double  of  the 
dead  man  was  especially  feared — when  we  find  that  fasting  as  a  fu- 
neral rite  gave  origin  to  religious  fasting,  that  praises  of  the  deceased 
and  prayers  to  him  grew  into  religious  praises  and  prayers — we  are 
shown  why  primitive  religion  consisted  almost  wholly  of  propitiatory 
observances.  Though  in  certain  rude  societies  now  existing,  one  of  the 
pi-opitiations  is  the  repetition  of  injunctions  given  by  the  departed 
father  or  chief,  joined  in  some  cases  with  expressions  of  penitence  for 
breach  of  them,  and  though  we  are  shown  by  this  that  from  the  first 
there  exists  the  germ  out  of  which  grow  the  sanctified  precepts  event- 
ually constituting  important  adjuncts  to  religion  ;  yet,  since  the  sup- 
posed supernatural  beings  are  at  first  regarded  as  retaining  after  death 
the  desires  and  passions  that  distinguished  them  during  life,  this  rudi- 
ment of  a  moral  code  is  originally  but  an  insignificant  part  of  the 
cult :  due  rendering  of  those  offerings,  and  praises,  and  marks  of  sub- 
ordination, by  which  the  good-will  of  the  ghost  or  god  is  to  be  ob- 
tained, forming  the  chief  part.  Everywhere  we  meet  with  proofs. 
We  read  of  the  Tahitians  that  "  religious  rites  were  connected  with 
almost  every  act  of  their  lives  ;  "  and  we  read  kindred  statements  re- 
specting the  uncivilized  and  semi-civilized  in  general.  The  Sandwich- 
Islanders,  along  with  scarcely  any  of  that  ethical  element  which  the 
conception  of  religion  includes  among  ourselves,  had  a  rigorous  and 
elaborate  ceremonial.  Noting  that  tabu  means  literally  "  sacred  to 
the  gods,"  I  quote  the  following  account  of  its  observance  in  Hawaii 
from  Ellis  : 

"  During  the  season  of  strict  tabu,  every  fire  or  light  in  the  island  or  district 
must  be  extinguished ;  no  canoe  must  be  launched  on  the  water,  no  person  must 
bathe ;  and  except  those  whose  attendance  was  required  at  the  temple,  no  indi- 


390  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

vidual  must  be  seen  out-of-doors ;  no  dog  must  bark,  no  pig  must  grunt,  no  cock 
must  crow.  ...  On  tbese  occasions  tbey  tied  up  tlie  moutbs  of  tbe  dogs  and 
pigs,  and  put  tbe  fowls  under  a  calabasb,  or  fastened  a  piece  of  cloth  over  their 

eyes." 

And  how  completely  the  idea  of  transgression  was  associated  in  the 
mind  of  the  Sandwich-Islander  with  breach  of  ceremonial  observance, 
is  shown  in  the  fact  that  "  if  any  one  made  a  noise  on  a  tabu-day  .... 
he  must  die."  Through  stages  considerably  advanced,  religion  con- 
tinues to  be  thus  constituted.  When  questioning  the  Nicaraguans 
concerning  their  creed,  Oviedo,  eliciting  the  fact  that  they  confessed, 
their  sins  to  an  appointed  old  man,  asks  what  sort,  of  sins  they  con- 
fessed ;  and  the  first  clause  of  the  answer  is,  "  We  tell  him  when  we 
have  broken  our  festivals  and  not  kept  them."  Similarly  of  the  Peru- 
vians, we  read  that  "  the  most  notable  sin  was  neglect  in  the  service 
of  the  huacas  "  (spirits,  etc.)  ;  and  a  large  part  of  life  was  spent  in 
propitiating  the  apotheosized  dead.  How  elaborate  the  observances, 
how  frequent  the  festivals,  how  lavish  was  the  expenditure,  by  which, 
among  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the  good-will  of  supernatural  beings 
was  sought,  the  records  everywhere  show  us  ;  and  that  with  them  re- 
ligious duty  consisted  in  thus  ministering  to  the  desires  of  ancestral 
ghosts,  deified  in  various  degrees,  we  are  shown  by  the  prayer  of  Ra- 
meses  to  his  father  Amnion,  in  which  he  claims  his  help  in  battle  be- 
cause of  the  many  bulls  he  has  sacrificed  to  him.  With  the  Hebrews 
in  pre-Mosaic  times  it  was  the  same.  As  Kuenen  remarks',  the  "  great 
work  and  enduring  merit "  of  Moses  was  that  he  gave  dominance  to 
the  moral  element  in  religion.  In  his  reformed  creed,  "  Jahveh  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  of  the  gods  in  this,  that  he  will  be  served, 
not  merely  by  sacrifices  and  feasts,  but  also,  nay,  in  the  first  place,  by 
the  observance  of  the  moral  commandments."  That  the  piety  of  the 
Greeks  included  diligent  performance  of  rites  at  tombs,  and  that  the 
Greek  god  was  especially  angered  by  non-observance  of  propitiatory 
ceremonies,  are  familiar  facts  ;  and  credit  with  a  god  was  claimed  by 
the  Trojan  as  by  the  Egyptian,  not  on  account  of  rectitude,  but  on 
account  of  oblations  made  ;  as  is  shown  by  Chryses's  prayer  to  Apollo. 
So,  too,  Christianity,  originally  a  renewed  development  of  the  ethical 
element  at  the  expense  of  the  ceremonial  element,  losing  as  it  spread 
those  early  traits  which  distinguished  it  from  lower  creeds,  displayed, 
in  mediaeval  Europe,  a  relatively  large  amount  of  ceremony  and  a  rel- 
atively small  amount  of  morality.  Of  the  seventy-three  chapters  con- 
stituting the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  nine  concern  the  moral  and  general 
duties  of  the  brothers,  while  thirteen  concern  the  religious  ordinances. 
And  how  the  idea  of  criminality  attached  to  disregard  of  ordinances 
is  proved  by  the  following  passage  from  the  Rule  of  St.  Columbanus : 

"  A  year's  penance  for  him  who  loses  a  consecrated  wafer  ;  six  months  for 
him  who  suffers  it  to  be  eaten  by  mites ;  twenty  days  for  him  who  lets  it  turn 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  391 

red  ;  forty  days  for  him  who  contemptuously  flings  it  into  water  ;  twenty  days 
for  him  who  brings  it  up  through  weakness  of  stomach ;  but,  if  through  illness, 
ten  days.  He  who  neglects  his  Amen  to  the  Benedicite,  who  speaks  when  eat- 
ing, who  forgets  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  spoon,  or  on  a  lantern 
lighted  by  a  younger  brother,  is  to  receive  six  or  twelve  stripes." 

That  from  the  times  when  men  condoned  crimes  by  building  chapels 
and  going  on  pilgrimages,  down  to  present  times,  when  barons  no 
longer  invade  one  another's  territories  or  torture  Jews,  there  has 
been  a  decrease  of  ceremony  along  with  an  increase  of  morality,  is 
clear ;  though  if  we  look  at  unadvanced  parts  of  Europe,  such  as 
Naples  or  Sicily,  we  see  that  even  now  observance  of  rites  is  in  them 
a  much  larger  component  of  religion  than  obedience  to  moral  rules. 
And  when  we  remember  how  modern  is  the  rise  of  Protestantism, 
which,  less  elaborate  and  imperative  in  its  forms,  does  not  habitually 
compound  for  transgressions  by  performance  of  acts  expressing  sub- 
ordination, and  how  very  recent  is  the  spread  of  dissenting  Protes- 
tantism, in  which  this  change  is  carried  further  ;  we  are  shown  that  the 
subordination  of  ceremony  to  morality  characterizes  religion  only  in 
its  later  stages. 

Mark,  then,  what  follows.  If  the  two  kinds  of  control  which 
eventually  grow  into  civil  and  religious  governments,  originally  in- 
clude scarcely  anything  beyond  observance  of  ceremonies,  the  prece- 
dence of  ceremonial  control  over  other  controls  is  a  corollary. 

Divergent  products  of  evolution  betray  their  kinship  by  severally 
retaining  certain  traits  which  belonged  to  that  from  which  they  were 
evolved  ;  and  the  implication  is,  that  whatever  traits  they  have  in 
common,  arose  earlier  in  time  than  did  the  traits  which  distinguish 
them  from  one  another.  If  fish,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals,  all 
possess  vertebral  columns,  it  follows,  on  the  evolution  hypothesis, 
that  the  vertebral  column  became  a  part  of  the  organization  at  an 
earlier  period  than  did  the  four-chambered  heart,  the  teeth  in  sockets, 
and  the  mammas,  which  distinguish  one  of  these  groups,  or  than  did 
the  toothless  beak,  the  tri-locular  heart,  and  the  feathers,  which  dis- 
tinguish another  of  these  groups,  and  so  on.  Applying  this  principle 
in  the  present  case,  it  is  inferable  that  if  the  controls  classed  as  civil, 
religious,  and  social,  have  certain  common  characters,  these  charac- 
ters, older  than  are  these  now  differentiated  kinds  of  control,  must 
have  belonged  to  the  primitive  control  out  of  which  they  developed. 
Ceremonial  acts,  then,  have  the  highest  antiquity  ;  for  these  differen- 
tiated kinds  of  control  all  exhibit  them. 

There  is  the  making  of  presents  :  this  is  one  of  the  acts  showing 
subordination  to  a  ruler  in  early  stages  ;  it  is  a  religious  rite,  per- 
formed originally  at  the  grave  and  later  on  at  the  altar ;  and  from 
the  beginning  it  has  been  a  means  of  showing  consideration  in  so- 
cial intercourse  and  securing  good-will.     There  are  the  obeisances  : 


392  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

these,  of  their  several  kinds,  serve  to  express  reverence  in  its  various 
degrees,  to  gods,  to  rulers,  and  to  private  persons  ;  here  the  prostra- 
tion is  habitually  seen,  now  in  the  temple,  now  before  the  monarch, 
and  now  to  a  powerful  man ;  here  there  is  genuflection  in  presence 
of  idols,  rulers,  and  fellow-subjects ;  here  the  salaam  is  more  or  less 
common  to  the  three  cases ;  here  uncovering  of  the  head  is  a  sign 
alike  of  worship,  of  loyalty,  and  of  respect ;  and  here  the  bow  serves 
the  same  three  purposes.  Similarly  with  titles  :  father  is  a  name  of 
honor  applied  to  a  god,  to  a  king,  and  to  an  honored  individual ;  so 
too  is  lord  ;  and  so  are  sundry  other  names.  The  same  thing  holds 
of  humble  speeches :  professions  of  inferiority  and  subjection  on  the 
part  of  the  speaker  are  used  to  secure  divine  favor,  the  favor  of  a 
ruler,  and  the  favor  of  a  private  person.  Once  more,  it  is  thus  with 
words  of  praise ;  telling  a  deity  of  his  greatness  constitutes  a  large 
element  of  worship ;  despotic  monarchs  are  addressed  in  terms  of 
exaggerated  eulogy;  and  where  ceremony  is  dominant  in  social  inter- 
course, extravagant  compliments  are  addressed  to  private  persons. 

In  many  of  the  less-advanced  societies,  and  also  in  the  more  ad- 
vanced that  have  retained  early  types  of  organization,  we  find  various 
other  examples  of  observances  expressing  subordination,  that  are 
common  to  the  three  kinds  of  control — civil,  religious,  and  social. 
Among  the  Malayo-Polynesians  the  offering  of  the  first  fish,  and  of 
first  fruits,  is  used  as  a  mark  of  respect  alike  to  gods  and  to  chiefs  ; 
and  the  Feejeeans  make  the  same  gifts  to  their  gods  as  they  do  to  their 
chiefs — food,  turtles,  whales'  teeth.  In  Tonga,  "  if  a  great  chief  takes 
an  oath,  he  swears  by  the  god ;  if  an  inferior  chief  takes  an  oath,  he 
swears  by  his  superior  relation,  who,  of  course,  is  a  greater  chief."  In 
Feejee,  "  all  are  careful  not  to  tread  on  the  threshold  of  a  place  set  apart 
for  the  gods  :  persons  of  rank  stride  over ;  others  pass  over  on  their 
hands  and  knees.  The  same  form  is  observed  in  crossing  the  thresh- 
old of  a  chiefs  house."  In  Siam,  "  at  the  full  moon  of  the  fifth 
month,  the  talapoins  "  (priests)  "wash  the  idol  with  perfumed  water. 
.  .  .  The  people  also  wash  the  sancrats  and  other  talapoins  ;  and  then 
in  the  families  children  wash  their  parents."  China  affords  good  in- 
stances. "  At  his  accession,  the  emperor  kneels  thrice  and  bows  nine 
times  before  the  altar  of  his  father,  and  goes  through  the  same  cere- 
mony before  the  throne  on  which  is  seated  the  empress  dowager.  On 
his  then  ascending  his  throne,  the  great  officers,  marshaled  according 
to  their  ranks,  kneel  and  bow  nine  times.  And  the  equally  ceremoni- 
ous Japanese  furnish  kindred  evidence.  "  From  the  emperor  to  the 
lowest  subject  in  the  realm  there  is  a  constant  succession  of  prostra- 
tions. The  former,  in  want  of  a  human  being  superior  to  himself  in 
rank,  bows  humbly  to  some  pagan  idol ;  and  every  one  of  his  sub- 
jects, from  prince  to  peasant,  has  some  person  before  whom  he  is 
bound  to  cringe  and  crouch  in  the  dirt :  "  that  is,  religious,  political, 
and  social  subordination  are  expressed  by  the  same  form  of  behavior. 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  393 

These  indications  of  a  general  truth,  which  will  be  abundantly  ex- 
emplified when  treating  of  each  kind  of  ceremonial  observance,  I 
here  give  in  brief,  as  further  showing  that  the  control  of  ceremony 
precedes  in  order  of  evolution  the  civil  and  religious  controls,  and  has 
therefore  to  be  first  dealt  with. 

On  passing  from  the  most  general  to  the  less  general  aspects  of 
ceremonial  government,  we  are  met  by  the  question,  "  How  do  there 
arise  those  modifications  of  behavior  which  constitute  it  ?  "   Common- 
ly it  is  assumed  that  they  are  consciously  fixed  upon  as  symbolizing 
reverence  or  respect.     In  pursuance  of  the  usual  method  of  speculat- 
ing about  primitive  practices,  developed  ideas  are  read  back  into  unde- 
veloped minds.     The  supposition  is  of  the  same  kind  as  that  which 
o-ave  origin  to  the  social-contract  theory :  a  kind  of  conception  that 
has  become  familiar  to  the  civilized  man  is  supposed  to  have  been 
familiar  to  man  in  his  earliest  state.     But,  just  as  little  basis  as  there 
is  for  the  belief  that  primitive  men  deliberately  made  social  contracts, 
is  there  for  the  belief  that  primitive  men  deliberately  adopted  symbols. 
The  current  error  is  best  seen  on  turning  to  the  most  developed  kind 
of  symbolization — that  of  language.     The  savage  does  not  sit  down 
and  knowingly  coin  a  word  ;  but  the  words  which  he  finds  in  use,  and 
the  new  ones  which  come  into  use  during  his  life,  grow  up  unawares 
by  onomatopoea,  or  by  vocal  suggestions  of  qualities,  or  by  metaphor 
which  some  observable  likeness  suggests.     Among  civilized  peoples, 
however,  who  have  learned  that  words  are  symbolic,  new  words  are 
frequently  chosen  to  symbolize  new  ideas.     So,  too,  is  it  with  written 
language.     The  early  Egyptian  never  thought  of  choosing  a  sign  to 
represent  a  sound,  but  his  records  began,  as  those  of  North  American 
Indians  begin  now,  with  rude  pictures  of  the  transactions  to  be  kept 
in  memory;  and,  as  the  process  of  recording  extended,  the  pictures, 
abbreviated  and  generalized,  lost  more  and  more  their  likenesses  to 
objects  and  acts,  until,  under  stress  of  the  need  for  expressing  proper 
names,  some  of  them  were  used  phonetically,  and  signs  of  sounds 
came  unawares  into  existence.       But,  in  our  days,  there  has  been 
reached  a  stage  at  which,  as  short-haud  shows  us,  special  signs  are 
consciously  chosen  to  symbolize  special  sounds.     The  lesson  taught  is 
obvious.     Just  as  it  would  be  an  error  to  conclude  that,  because  we 
knowingly  choose  sounds  to  symbolize  ideas,  and  marks  to  symbolize 
sounds,  the  like  was  originally  done  by  savages  and  by  barbarians  ; 
so  is  it  an  error  to  conclude  that,  because  among  the  civilized,  certain 
ceremonies  (say  those  of  freemasons)  are  arbitrarily  fixed  upon,  so 
ceremonies  were  arbitrarily  fixed  upon  by  the  uncivilized.    Already,  in 
indicating  the  primitiveness  of  ceremonial  control,  I  have  named  some 
modes  of  behavior  expressing  subordination  which  have  a  natural 
genesis ;  and  here  the  implication  to  which  I  would  draw  attention 
is  that,  until  we  have  found  a  natural  genesis  for  a  ceremony,  we  may 


394 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


be  sure  that  we  have  not  discovered  its  origin.  The  truth  of  this  im- 
plication will  seem  less  improbable  on  observing  sundry  ways  in  which 
spontaneous  manifestations  of  emotion  initiate  formal  observances. 

The  ewe  bleating  after  her  lamb  that  has  strayed,  and  smelling 
now  at  at  one  and  now  at  another  of  the  lambs  near  her,  but  at 
length,  by  its  odor,  identifying  as  her  own  one  that  comes  running 
up,  doubtless,  thereupon,  experiences  a  wave  of  gratified  maternal 
feeling  ;  and,  by  repetition,  there  is  established  between  this  odor  and 
this  pleasure  such  an  association  that  the  first  habitually  produces 
the  last ;  the  smell  becomes,  on  all  occasions,  agreeable  by  serving  to 
bring  into  consciousness  more  or  less  of  the  philoprogenitive  emotion. 
That,  by  some  races  of  mankind,  individuals  are  similarly  identified, 
the  Bible  yields  proof.  Though  Isaac,  with  senses  dulled  by  age,  fails 
thus  to  distinguish  his  sons  from  one  another,  yet  the  fact  that,  una- 
ble to  see  Jacob,  and  puzzled  by  the  conflicting  evidence  his  voice  and 
his  hands  furnished,  "he  smelled  the  smell  of  his  raiment,  and  blessed 
him,"  shows  that  different  persons,  even  members  of  the  same  family, 
were  perceived  by  the  Hebrews  to  have  their  specific  odors.  And 
that  perception  of  the  odor  possessed  by  one  who  is  loved,  yields 
pleasure,  proof  is  given  by  another  Asiatic  race.  Of  a  Mongol  father, 
Timkowski  writes  :  "  He  smelt  from  time  to  time  the  head  of  his 
youngest  son,  a  mark  of  paternal  tenderness  usual  among  the  Mon- 
gols, instead  of  embracing."  Describing  the  Philippine-Islanders,  Ja- 
gor  says:  "The  sense  of  smell  is  developed  among  the  Indians  to  so 
great  a  degree  that  they  are  able,  by  smelling  at  the  pocket-handker- 
chiefs, to  tell  to  which  persons  they  belong  ('Reisesk,'  page  39)  ;  and 
lovers  at  parting  exchange  pieces  of  the  linen  they  may  be  wearing, 
and  during  their  separation  inhale  the  odor  of  the  beloved  being,  be- 
sides smothering  the  relics  with  kisses."  So,  too,  is  it  with  the  Chit- 
tagong  Hill  people.  Lewin  tells  us  that  "  their  manner  of  kissing  is 
peculiar.  Instead  of  pressing  lip  to  lip,  they  place  the  mouth  and 
nose  upon  the  cheek  and  inhale  the  breath  strongly.  Their  form  of 
speech  is  not,  '  Give  me  a  kiss  ! '  but  '  Smell  me  ! '  "  And  now  note  a 
sequence.  Inhalation  of  the  odor  given  off  by  a  loved  person  coming 
to  be  a  mark  of  affection  for  him  or  for  her,  it  happens  that  since  men 
wish  to  be  liked,  and  are  pleased  by  display  of  liking,  the  performance 
of  this  act  which  signifies  liking  initiates  a  complimentary  observ- 
ance, and  gives  rise  to  certain  modes  of  showing  respect.  The  Sa- 
moans  salute  by  "juxtaposition  of  noses,  accompanied,  not  by  a  rub, 
but  a  hearty  smell.  They  shake  and  smell  the  hands  also,  espe- 
cially of  a  superior."  And  there  are  like  salutes  among  the  Esqui- 
maux and  the  New-Zealanders. 

The  alliance  between  smell  and  taste  being  so  close,  we  may  natu- 
rally expect  a  class  of  acts  which  arise  from  tasting,  parallel  to  the 
class  of  acts  which  smelling  originates;  and  the  expectation  is  ful- 
filled.    That  the  billing  of  doves  or  pigeons  and  the  like  action  of 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  395 

love-birds  indicate  an  affection  which  is  gratified  by  the  gustatory 
sensation,  cannot  well  be  questioned.  No  act  of  this  kind  on  the 
part  of  an  inferior  creature,  as  of  a  cow  licking  her  calf,  can  have  any 
other  origin  than  the  direct  prompting  of  a  desire  which  gains  by  the 
act  satisfaction  ;  and  in  such  a  case  the  satisfaction  is  obviously  that 
which  vivid  perception  of  offspring  gives  to  the  maternal  yearning. 
In  some  animals  like  acts  arise  from  other  forms  of  affection.  Lick- 
ing the  hand,  or,  where  it  is  accessible,  the  face,  is  a  common  display 
of  attachment  on  a  dog's  part ;  and  when  we  remember  how  keen 
must  be  the  olfactory  sense  by  which  a  dog  traces  his  master,  we  can- 
not doubt  that  to  his  gustatory  sense,  too,  there  is  yielded  some  im- 
pression— an  impression  associated  with  those  pleasures  of  affection 
which  his  master's  pi-esence  gives.  The  inference  that  kissing  as  a 
mark  of  affection  in  the  human  race  has  a  kindred  origin,  is  sufficient- 
ly probable.  Though  kissing  is  not  universal — though  the  negro 
races  do  not  appear  to  understand  it,  and  though,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  are  cases  in  which  sniffing  replaces  it — yet,  being  common  to 
unlike  and  widely-dispersed  races,  we  may  conclude  that  it  originated 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  analogous  action  among  lower  creatures. 
Here,  however,  we  are  chiefly  concerned  to  observe  the  indirect  result. 
From  kissing  as  a  natural  sign  of  affection,  there  is  derived  the  kiss- 
ing which,  as  a  means  of  simulating  affection,  gratifies  those  who  are 
kissed,  and,  by  gratifying  them,  propitiates  them.  Hence  an  obvious 
root  for  the  kissing  of  feet,  hands,  garments,  as  a  part  of  ceremonial. 

Feeling,  sensational  or  emotional,  causes  muscular  contractions, 
which  are  strong  in  proportion  as  it  is  intense  ;  and,  among  other 
feelings,  those  of  love  and  liking  have  an  effect  of  this  kind,  which 
takes  on  its  appropriate  form.  The  most  significant  of  the  actions 
hence  originating  is  not  mucli  displayed  by  inferior  creatures,  because 
their  limbs  are  unfitted  for  prehension ;  but  in  the  human  race  its 
natural  genesis  is  sufficiently  manifest.  Mentioning  a  mother's  em- 
brace of  her  child  will  remind  all  that  the  strength  of  the  embrace 
(unless  restrained  to  prevent  mischief)  measures  the  strength  of  the 
feeling  ;  and  while  reminded  that  the  feeling  thus  naturally  vents 
itself  in  muscular  actions,  they  may  further  see  that  these  actions  are 
directed  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  feeling  by  yield- 
ing a  vivid  consciousness  of  possession.  That  among  adults  the  allied 
feelings  originate  like  acts,  scarcely  needs  adding.  It  is  not  so  much 
these  facts,  however,  as  the  derived  facts,  which  we  have  to  take  note 
of.  Here  is  another  root  for  a  ceremony  :  an  embrace,  too,  serving  to 
express  liking,  serves  to  propitiate  in  cases  where  it  is  not  negatived 
by  those  other  observances  which  subjection  entails.  "We  find  it 
where  governmental  subordination  is  but  little  developed.  Of  some 
Snake  Indians  they  met,  we  read  in  Lewis  and  Clarke,  that  "the 
three  men  immediately  leaped  from  their  horses,  came  up  to  Captain 
Lewis,  and  embraced  him  with  great  cordiality."     Marcy  tells  of 


396  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

a  Comanche  that,  "  seizing  me  in  his  brawny  arms  while  we  were  yet 
in  the  saddle,  and  laying  his  greasy  head  upon  my  shoulder,  he  in- 
flicted upon  me  a  most  bruin-like  squeeze,  which  I  endured  with  a 
degree  of  patient  fortitude  worthy  of  the  occasion."  So,  too,  Snow 
says  the  Fuegian  "  friendly  mode  of  salutation  was  anything  but 
agreeable.  The  men  came  and  hugged  me,  very  much  like  the  grip 
of  a  bear." 

Discharging  itself  in  muscular  actions  which,  in  cases  like  the 
foregoing,  are  directed  to  an  end,  feeling  in  other  cases  discharges 
itself  in  undirected  muscular  actions.  The  resulting  changes  are 
habitually  rhythmical.  Each  considerable  movement  of  a  limb  brings 
it  to  a  position  at  which  a  counter-movement  is  easy  ;  both  because 
the  muscles  producing  the  counter-movement  are  then  in  the  best 
positions  for  contraction,  and  because  they  have  had  a  brief  rest. 
Hence  the  naturalness  of  striking  the  hands  together  or  against  other 
parts.  We  see  this  as  a  spontaneous  manifestation  of  pleasure  among 
children  ;  and  we  find  it  giving  origin  to  a  ceremony  among  the  un- 
civilized. Clapping  of  the  hands  is  "  the  highest  mark  of  respect  "  in 
Loango ;  and  it  occurs  with  kindred  meaning  among  the  Coast  Ne- 
groes, the  East  Africans,  the  Dahomans.  Joined  with  other  acts  ex- 
pressing welcome,  the  people  of  Batoka  "  slap  the  outsides  of  their 
thighs  ;  "  the  Balonda  people,  besides  clapping  their  hands,  sometimes 
"  in  saluting  drum  their  ribs  with  their  elbows ; "  while  among  the 
Coast  Negroes  and  in  Dahomey,  snapping  the  fingers  is  one  of  the 
salutes.  Rhythmical  muscular  motions  of  the  arms  and  hands,  thus 
expressing  pleasure,  real  or  pretended,  in  presence  of  another  person, 
are  not  the  only  motions  of  this  class :  the  legs  come  into  play. 
Children  often  "jump  for  joy,"  and  occasionally  adults  may  be  seen 
to  do  the  like.  Saltatory  movements  are  therefore  apt  to  grow  into 
compliments.  In  Loango  "  many  of  the  nobility  salute  the  king  by 
leaping  with  great  strides  backward  and  forward  two  or  three  times 
and  swinging  their  arms."  The  Fuegians  also,  as  the  United  States 
explorers  tell  us,  show  friendship  "  by  jumping  up  and  down."  ' 

Feeling,  discharging  itself,  contracts  the  muscles  of  the  vocal  or- 
gans, as  well  as  other  muscles ;  so  that,  along  with  bodily  motions 
signifying  pleasure,  there  go  sounds,  loud  in  proportion  as  the  pleas- 
ure is  great.  Hence  shouts,  indicating  joy  in  general,  indicate  the 
joy  produced  by  meeting  one  who  is  beloved,  and  serve  to  give  the 
appearance  of  joy  before  one  whose  go/xl-will  is  sought.     Among  the 

1  In  his  "  Early  History  of  Mankind"  (second  edition,  pp.  51,  52),  Mr.  Tylor  thus  com- 
ments on  such  observances  :  "  The  lowest  class  of  salutations,  which  merely  aim  at  giv- 
ing pleasant  bodily  sensations,  merge  into  the  civilities  which  we  see  exchanged  among 
the  lower  animals.  Such  are  patting,  stroking,  kissing,  pressing  noses,  blowing,  sniffing, 
and  so  forth.  .  .  .  Natural  expressions  of  joy,  such  as  clapping  hands  in  Africa,  and 
jumping  up  and  down  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  are  made  to  do  duty  as  signs  of  friendship  or 
greeting."  Mr.  Tylor  does  not,  however,  indicate  the  physio-psychological  sources  of 
these  actions. 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  397 

Feejeeans,  respect  is  "  indicated  by  the  tama,  which  is  a  shout  of  rever- 
ence uttered  by  inferiors  when  approaching  a  chief  or  chief  town." 
In  Australia,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  necessary  on  coming  within  a  mile 
of  an  encampment  to  make  loud  cooeys — an  action  which,  while  pri- 
marily indicating  pleasure  at  the  coming  reunion,  further  indicates 
those  friendly  intentions  which  a  secret  approach  would  render  more 
than  doubtful. 

One  more  example  may  be  named :  Tears  result  from  strong  feel- 
ing— mostly  from  painful  feeling,  but  also  from  pleasurable  feeling 
when  extreme.  Hence,  as  a  sign  of  joy,  weeping  occasionally  passes 
into  a  complimentary  observance.  The  beginning  of  such  an  observ- 
ance is  shown  us  by  Hebrew  traditions  in  the  reception  of  Tobias  by 
Raguel,  when  he  finds  him  to  be  his  cousin's  son :  "  Then  Raguel 
leaped  up  and  kissed  him  and  wept."  And  among  some  races  there 
grows  from  this  root  a  social  rite.  In  New  Zealand  a  meeting  "  led 
to  a  warm  tangi  between  the  two  parties ;  but,  after  sitting  opposite 
to  each  other  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  more,  crying  bitterly,  with 
a  most  piteous  moaning  and  lamentation,  the  tangi  was  transformed 
into  a  hicngi,  and  the  two  old  ladies  commenced  pressing  noses,  giv- 
ing occasional  satisfactory  grunts."  And  then  we  find  it  becoming  a 
public  cei-emony  on  the  arrival  of  a  great  chief:  "The  women  stood 
upon  a  hill,  and  loud  and  long  was  the  tangi  to  welcome  his  approach. 
Occasionally,  however,  they  would  leave  off,  to  have  a  chat  or  a 
laugh,  and  then  mechanically  resume  their  weeping."  Other  Malayo- 
Polynesians  do  the  like. 

To  these  illustrations  of  the  way  in  which  natural  manifestations 
of  emotion  originate  ceremonies,  may  be  added  a  few  illustrations  of 
the  way  in  which  ceremonies,  not  originating  directly  from  spontane- 
ous actions,  nevertheless  originate  by  natural  sequence — not  by  in- 
tentional symbolization.     Brief  indications  must  suffice. 

Livingstone  tells  us  that  blood-relations  are  formed  in  Central 
South  Africa  by  imbibing  a  little  of  each  other's  blood.  A  like  way 
of  establishing  brotherhood  is  used  in  Madagascar,  in  Borneo,  and  in 
many  places  throughout  the  world,  and  it  was  used  among  our  remote 
ancestors.  This  is  assumed  to  be  a  symbolic  observance.  On  study- 
ing early  ideas,  however,  and  finding,  as  we  have  done,  that  the  primi- 
tive man  regards  the  nature  of  anything  as  inhering  in  all  its  parts, 
and  therefore  thinks  he  gets  the  courage  of  a  brave  enemy  by  eating 
his  heart,  or  is  inspired  with  the  virtues  of  a  deceased  relative  by 
grinding  his  bones  and  drinking  them  in  water,  we  see  that,  by  ab- 
sorbing each  other's  blood,  men  are  supposed  to  establish  actual  com- 
munity of  nature,  and  are  also  supposed  to  gain  power  over  each 
other  by  possessing  parts  of  each  other. 

Similarly  with  the  ceremony  of  exchanging  names.  "To  bestow 
his  name  upon  a  friend  is  the  highest  compliment  that  one  man  can 
offer   another,"    among   the   Shoshones.     The  Austi'alians   exchange 


398  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

names  with  Europeans,  as  a  proof  of  brotherly  feeling.  This,  which 
is  a  widely-diffused  practice,  arises  from  the  belief  that  the  name  is  a 
part  of  the  individual.  Possessing  a  man's  name  is  equivalent  to  pos- 
sessing something  that  forms  a  portion  of  his  being,  and  enables  the 
possessor  to  work  mischief  to  him;  and  hence,  among  numerous 
peoples,  a  reason  for  studiously  concealing  names.  To  exchange 
names,  therefore,  is  to  establish  some  participation  in  one  another's 
being,  and  at  the  same  time  to  trust  each  with  power  over  the  other, 
implying  great  mutual  confidence. 

It  is  a  usage  among  the  people  of  Vate,  "when  they  wish  to  make 
peace,  to  kill  one  or  rnore  of  their  own  people,  and  send  the  body  to 
those  with  whom  they  have  been  fighting  to  eat ; "  and,  in  Samoa, 
"it  is  the  custom,  on  the  submission  of  one  party  to  another,  to  bow 
down  before  their  conquerors,  each  with  a  piece  of  fire-wood  and  a 
bundle  of  leaves,  such  as  are  used  in  dressing  a  pig  for  the  oven  " 
(bamboo-knives  being  sometimes  added),  "as  much  as  to  say,  'Kill 
us  and  cook  us,  if  you  please.'  "  These  facts  I  name  because  they 
clearly  show  a  point  of  departure  from  which  there  might  arise  an 
apparently  artificial  ceremony.  Let  the  traditions  of  cannibalism 
among  the  Samoans  disappear,  and  this  surviving  custom  of  present- 
ing fire-wood,  leaves,  and  knives,  as  a  sign  of  submission,  would,  in 
pursuance  of  the  ordinary  method  of  interpretation,  be  taken  for  an 
observance  deliberately  devised. 

That  peace  should  be  signified  among  the  Dakotas  by  burying 
the  tomahawk,  and  among  the  Brazilians  by  a  present  of  bows  and 
arrows,  may  be  cited  as  instances  of  what  is  in  a  sense  symboliza- 
tion,  but  what  is  in  origin  a  modification  of  the  action  symbolized ; 
for  cessation  of  fighting  is  necessitated  by  putting  away  weapons,  or 
by  giving  weapons  to  an  antagonist.  If,  as  among  the  civilized,  a 
conquered  antagonist  delivers  up  his  sword,  the  act  of  so  making 
himself  defenseless  is  an  act  of  personal  submission  ;  but  eventually 
it  comes  to  be,  on  the  part  of  a  general,  a  sign  that  his  army  surren- 
ders. Similarly,  when,  as  in  parts  of  Africa,  "  some  of  the  free  blacks 
become  slaves  voluntarily  by  going  through  the  simple  but  significant 
ceremony  of  breaking  a  spear  in  the  presence  of  their  future  master," 
we  may  properly  say  that  the  relation  thus  artificially  established  is 
as  near  an  approach  as  may  be  to  the  relation  established  when  an 
enemy,  whose  weapon  is  broken,  is  made  a  slave  by  his  captor:  the 
symbolic  transaction  simulates  the  actual  transaction. 

An  instructive  example  comes  next.  I  refer  to  the  bearing  of 
green  boughs  as  a  sign  of  peace,  as  an  act  of  propitiation,  and  as  a 
religious  ceremony.  As  indicating  peace  the  custom  occurs  among 
the  Araucanians,  Australians,  Tasmanians,  New  Guinea  people,  New 
Caledonians,  Sandwich-Islanders,  Tahitians,  Samoans,  New-Zealand- 
ers;  and  branches  were  used  by  the  Hebrews  also  for  propitiatory 
approach  (2  Maccabees  xiv.  4).     In  some  cases  we  find  it  employed  to 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  399 

signify  not  peace  only  but  submission.  Speaking  of  the  Peruvians, 
Cieza  says,  "  The  men  and  boys  came  out  with  green  boughs  and 
palm-leaves  to  seek  for  mercy ; "  and  among  the  Greeks,  too,  a  suppli- 
ant carried  an  olive-branch.  Wall-paintings  left  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians show  us  palm-branches  carried  in  funeral  processions  to  propi- 
tiate the  dead  ;  and,  at  the  present  time,  "  a  wreath  of  palm-branches 
stuck  in  the  grave"  is  common  in  a  Moslem  cemetery  in  Egypt.  A 
statement  of  Wallis  respecting  the  Tahitians  shows  it  passing  into  a 
religious  observance :  a  pendant  left  flying  on  the  beach  the  natives 
regarded  with  fear,  bringing  green  boughs  and  hogs,  which  they  laid 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  staff.  And  that  a  portion  of  a  tree  was  an- 
ciently an  appliance  of  worship  in  the  East  is  shown  by  the  direction 
in  Leviticus  xxiii.  40,  to  take  the  "  boughs  of  goodly  trees,  branches  of 
palm-trees,"  etc.,  and  "  rejoice  before  the  Lord  : "  a  verification  being 
furnished  by  the  description  of  the  chosen  in  heaven,  who  stand  before 
the  throne  with  "palms  in  their  hands"  (Revelation  vii.  9).  The  ex- 
planation, when  we  get  the  clew,  is  simple.  Many  travelers'  narratives 
illustrate  the  fact  that  laying  down  weapons  on  approaching  strangers 
is  taken  to  imply  pacific  intentions  :  the  obvious  reason  being  that 
opposite  intentions  are  thus  negatived.  Of  the  Kaffirs,  for  instance, 
Barrow  says,  "  '  A  messenger  of  peace '  is  known  by  this  people  from 
his  laying  down  his  hassagai  or  spear  on  the  ground,  at  the  distance 
of  two  hundred  paces  from  those  to  whom  he  is  sent,  and  by  advanc- 
ing thence  with  extended  arms : "  the  extension  of  the  arms  evident- 
ly having  the  purpose  of  showing  that  he  has  no  weapon  secreted. 
But  how  is  the  absence  of  weapons  to  be  shown  when  so  far  off  that 
weapons,  if  carried,  are  invisible  ?  Simply  by  carrying  other  things 
which  are  visible  ;  and  boughs  covered  with  leaves  are  the  most  con- 
venient and  generally  available  things  for  this  purpose.  A  verifica- 
tion is  at  hand.  The  Tasmanians  had  a  way  of  deceiving  those  who 
inferred  from  the  green  boughs  they  were  bringing  in  their  hands  that 
they  were  weaponless.  They  practised  the  art  of  holding  their  spears 
between  their  toes  as  they  walked :  "  The  black  ....  approaching 
him  in  pretended  amity,  trailed  between  his  toes  the  fatal  spear." 
Arbitrary,  then,  as  this  usage  seems  when  observed  in  its  later  forms 
only,  it  proves  to  be  by  no  means  arbitrary  when  traced  back  to  its 
origin.  Taken  as  evidence  that  the  advancing  stranger  is  without 
arms,  the  green  bough  is  primarily  a  sign  that  he  is  not  an  enemy. 
It  is  thereafter  joined  with  other  marks  of  friendship.  It  survives 
when  the  propitiation  passes  into  submission.  And  so  it  becomes  in- 
corporated with  various  other  actions  which  express  reverence  and 
worship. 

One  more  instance  I  must  add,  because  it  conspicuously  shows  us 
how  there  grow  up  the  interpretations  of  ceremonies  as  artificially- 
devised  actions,  when  their  natural  origins  are  unknown.  Describing 
Arab  marriages,  Baker  says:  "  There  is  much  feasting,  and  the  unfor- 


4oo  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

tunate  bridegroom  undergoes  the  ordeal  of  whipping  by  the  relations 
of  his  bride,  in  order  to  test  his  courage.  ...  If  the  happy  husband 
wishes  to  be  considered  a  man  worth  having,  he  must  receive  the 
chastisement  with  an  expression  of  enjoyment,  in  which  case  the 
crowds  of  women  in  admiration  again  raise  their  thrilling  cry." 
Here,  instead  of  the  primitive  abduction  violently  resisted  by  the 
woman  and  her  relatives — instead  of  the  actual  capture  required  to 
be  achieved,  as  among  the  Kamtchadales,  spite  of  the  blows  and 
wounds  inflicted  by  "  all  the  women  in  the  village  " — instead  of  those 
modifications  of  the  "  form  of  capture "  in  which,  along  with  mock 
pursuit,  there  goes  receipt  by  the  abductor  of  more  or  less  violence 
from  the  pursuers ;  we  have  a  modification  in  which  the  pursuit  has 
disappeared,  and  the  violence  is  passively  received.  And  then  there 
arises  the  belief  that  this  castigation  of  the  bridegroom  is  a  deliber- 
ately chosen  way  "  to  test  his  courage." 

These  facts  are  not  given  as  adequately  proving  that,  in  all  cases, 
ceremonies  are  modifications  of  actions  which  had  at  first  direct  adap- 
tations to  desired  ends,  and  that  their  apparently  symbolic  characters 
result  from  their  survival  under  changed  circumstances.  Here  I  have 
aimed  only  to  indicate,  in  the  briefest  way,  the  reasons  for  rejecting 
the  current  hypothesis  that  ceremonies  originate  in  conscious  symbol- 
ization,  and  for  justifying  the  belief  that  we  may  in  every  case  ex- 
pect to  find  them  originating  by  evolution.  This  expectation  we 
shall  hereafter  find  abundantly  fulfilled. 

A  chief  reason  why  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  phenomena  of 
this  class,  all-pervading  and  conspicuous  as  they  are,  is  that  while  to 
most  social  functions  there  correspond  structures  too  large  to  be  over- 
looked, functions  which  make  up  ceremonial  control  have  correlative 
structures  so  small  as  to  seem  of  no  significance.  That  ceremonial 
government  has  its  special  organization,  just  as  the  political  and 
ecclesiastical  governments  have,  is  a  fact  habitually  passed  over,  be- 
cause, while  the  last  two  organizations  have  developed,  the  first  has 
dwindled — in  those  societies,  at  least,  which  have  reached  the  stage 
at  which  social  phenomena  become  subjects  of  speculation.  Original- 
ly, however,  the  officials  who  direct  the  rites  expressing  political  sub- 
ordination have  an  importance  second  only  to  that  of  the  officials  who 
direct  religious  rites  ;  and  the  two  officialisms  are  homologous.  To 
whichever  class  belonging,  these  functionaries  conduct  propitiatory 
acts :  the  visible  ruler  being  the  propitiated  person  in  the  one  case, 
and  the  ruler  no  longer  visible  being  the  propitiated  person  in  the 
other  case.  Both  are  performers  and  regulators  of  worship — worship 
of  the  living  king  and  worship  of  the  dead  king.  In  our  advanced 
stage  the  differentiation  of  the  divine  from  the  human  has  become  so 
great  that  this  proposition  looks  scarcely  credible.  But  on  going 
back  through  stages  in  which  the  attributes  of  the  conceived  deitv 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  401 

are  less  and  less  unlike  those  of  the  visible  man,  and  eventually  reach- 
ing the  early  stage  in  which  the  other-self  of  the  dead  man,  considered 
indiscriminately  as  ghost  and  god,  is  not  to  be  distinguished,  when  he 
appears,  from  the  living  man  ;  we  cannot  fail  to  see  the  alliance  in 
Nature  between  the  functions  of  those  who  minister  to  the  ruler  who 
has  gone  away  and  those  who  minister  to  the  ruler  who  has  taken  his 
place.  What  remaining  strangeness  there  may  seem  in  this  assertion 
of  homology  disappears,  on  remembering  that  in  sundry  ancient  so- 
cieties living  kings  were  literally  worshiped  as  dead  kings  were,  and 
that  the  adoration  of  the  living  king  by  priests  was  but  a  more 
extreme  form  of  the  adoration  habitually  paid  by  all  who  served 
him. 

Social  organizations  that  are  but  little  differentiated  clearly  show 
us  several  aspects  of  this  kinship.  In  common  with  those  below  him, 
the  savage  chief  proclaims  his  own  great  deeds  and  the  achievements 
of  his  ancestors  ;  and  that  in  some  cases  this  habit  of  self-praise  long 
persists,  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  inscriptions  prove.  Advance  from 
the  stage  at  which  the  head-man  lauds  himself  to  the  stage  at  which 
laudation  of  him  is  done  by  deputy  is  well  typified  in  the  contrast 
between  the  recent  usage  in  Madagascar,  where  the  king  in  public 
assembly  was  in  the  habit  of  relating  "  his  origin,  his  descent  from 
the  line  of  former  sovereigns,  and  his  incontestable  right  to  the 
kingdom,"  and  the  usage  that  existed  in  past  times  among  ourselves, 
when  the  like  distinctions  and  powers  and  claims  of  the  king  were 
publicly  asserted  for  him  by  an  appointed  officer.  As  the  ruler,  ex- 
tending his  dominions  and  growing  in  power,  gathers  round  him  an 
increasing  number  of  agents,  the  utterance  of  propitiatory  praises,  at 
first  by  all  of  these,  becomes  eventually  distinctive  of  certain  among 
them  :  there  arise  official  glorifiers.  "  In  Samoa,  a  chief  in  traveling 
is  attended  by  his  principal  orator."  In  Feejee  each  tribe  has  its  "  ora- 
tor, to  make  orations  on  occasions  of  ceremony."  Dupuis  tells  us  that 
the  attendants  of  the  chiefs  of  Ashantee  eagerly  vociferate  the  "  strong 
names "  of  their  masters ;  and  a  more  recent  writer  describes  cer- 
tain of  the  king's  attendants,  whose  duty  it  is  to  "  give  him  names  " 
— cry  out  his  titles  and  high  qualities.  In  kindred  fashion  a  Yoruba 
king,  when  he  goes  abroad,  is  accompanied  by  his  wives,  who  sing 
his  praise.  Now,  when  we  meet  with  facts  of  this  kind — when  we 
read  that  in  Madagascar  "  the  sovereign  has  a  large  band  of  female 
singers,  who  attend  in  the  court-yard,  and  who  accompany  their  mon- 
arch whenever  he  takes  an  excursion,  either  for  a  short  airing  or  dis- 
tant journey  ;  "  when  we  are  told  that  in  China  "  his  imperial  maj- 
esty was  preceded  by  persons  loudly  proclaiming  his  virtues  and  his 
power  ;  "  when  we  learn  that  among  the  ancient  Chibchas  the  hogotd 
was  received  with  "  songs  in  which  they  sung  his  deeds  and  victo- 
ries " — we  cannot  deny  that  these  assertors  of  greatness  and  singers 
of  praises  do  for  the  living  king  exactly  that  which  priests  and  priest- 
vol.  xii. — 26 


402  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

esses  do  for  the  dead  king,  and  for  the  god  who  evolves  from  the 
dead  king. 

In  societies  that  have  their  ceremonial  governments  largely  devel- 
oped, the  homology  is  further  shown.  As  such  societies  ordinarily 
have  many  gods  of  various  powers,  severally  served  by  their  official 
glorifiers,  so  they  have  various  grades  of  living  potentates,  severally 
served  by  men  who  assert  their  greatness  and  demand  respect.  In 
Samoa,  "  a  herald  runs  a  few  paces  before,  calling  out,  as  he  meets 
any  one,  the  name  of  the  chief  who  is  coming."  With  a  Madagascar 
chief  in  his  palanquin,  "  one  or  two  men  with  assagais,  or  spears,  in 
their  hands,  ran  along  in  front  shouting  out  the  name  of  the  chief." 
In  advance  of  an  embassador  in  Japan  there  "  first  walked  four  men 
with  brooms,  such  as  always  precede  the  retinue  of  a  great  lord,  in 
order  to  admonish  the  people  with  cries  of  '  Stay,  stay  ! '  which 
means,  '  Sit,  or  bow  you  down  ; '  "  and  in  China  a  magistrate  making 
a  progress  is  preceded  by  men  bearing  "  red  boards  having  the  rank 
of  the  officer  painted  on  them,  running  and  shouting  to  the  street- 
passengers  :  '  Retire,  retire  !  keep  silence,  and  clear  the  way  ! '  Gong- 
strikers  follow,  denoting  at  certain  intervals  by  so  many  strokes  their 
master's  grade  and  office." 

Another  parallelism  exists  between  the  official  who  proclaims  the 
king's  will  and  the  official  who  proclaims  the  will  of  the  deity — be- 
tween the  interpreter  who  conveys  statements  to  the  king  and  brings 
back  his  reply,  and  the  priest  who  conveys  the  petitions  or  questions 
of  worshipers,  and  explains  the  oracular  response.  In  many  places 
where  regal  power  is  extreme,  the  monarch  is  either  invisible  or  can- 
not be  directly  communicated  with  :  the  living  ruler  thus  simulating 
the  dead  and  divine  ruler,  and  requiring  kindred  intermediators.  It 
was  thus  in  ancient  Mexico.  Of  Montezuma  II.  it  is  said  that  "  no 
commoner  was  to  look  him  in  the  face,  and  if  one  did,  he  died  for  it ;  " 
and  further,  that  he  did  not  communicate  with  any  one  "  except  by 
an  interpreter."  In  Nicaragua  the  caziques  "  carried  their  exclusion 
so  far  as  to  receive  messages  from  other  chiefs  only  through  officers 
delegated  for  that  purpose."  So  of  Peru,  where  some  of  the  rulers 
"  had  the  custom  not  to  be  seen  by  their  subjects  but  on  rare  occa- 
sions," we  read  that  at  the  first  interview  with  the  Spaniards,  "  Ata- 
huallpa  gave  no  answer,  nor  did  he  even  raise  his  eyes  to  look  at  the 
captain  (Hernando  de  Soto).  But  a  chief  replied  to  what  the  captain 
had  said."  With  the  Chibchas  "  the  first  of  the  court  officers  was 
the  crier,  as  they  said  that  he  was  the  medium  by  which  the  will  of 
the  prince  was  explained."  Throughout  Africa  at  the  present  time 
like  customs  have  generated  like  appliances.  Speke  tells  us  that,  "in 
conversation  with  the  King  of  Uganda,  the  words  must  always  be 
transmitted  through  one  or  more  of  his  officers."  Among  the  inland 
negroes  "  it  is  quite  beneath  the  dignity  of  an  attdh  to  reply  from 
the  throne  except  through  his  '  mouth,'  or  prime-minister."     In  Da- 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  403 

homey,  "  the  sovereign's  words  are  spoken  to  the  men,  who  informs 
the  interpreter,  who  passes  it  on  to  the  visitor,  and  the  answer  must 
trickle  back  through  the  same  channels."  And,  concerning  Abyssin- 
ia, where  even  the  chiefs  sit  in  their  houses  in  darkness,  so  "  that  vulgar 
eyes  may  not  gaze  too  plainly  upon  "  them,  we  are  told  the  king  was 
"  not  seen  when  sitting  in  council,"  but  "  sat  in  a  darkened  room," 
and  "  observed  through  a  window  what  was  going  on  in  the  chamber 
without ; "  and  also  that  he  had  "  an  interpreter,  who  was  the  medium 
of  communication  between  the  king  and  his  people  on  state  occasions ; 
his  name  meant  the  voice  or  word  of  the  king."  I  may  add  that  this 
parallelism  between  the  secular  and  sacred  agents  of  communication 
is  in  some  cases  recognized  by  peoples  whose  institutions  display  it. 
Thomson  tells  us  that  the  New  Zealand  priests  were  regarded  as  the 
embassadors  of  the  gods. 

There  is  a  further  evidence  of  this  homology.  Where,  along  with 
social  development  considerably  advanced,  ancestor-worship  has  re- 
mained dominant,  and  where  gods  and  men  are,  consequently,  but  lit- 
tle differentiated,  the  two  organizations  are  but  little  differentiated. 
China  furnishes  a  good  instance.  Hue  tells  us  that  "  the  Chinese  em- 
perors are  in  the  habit  of  deifying  ....  civil  or  military  officers,  whose 
life  has  been  characterized  by  some  memorable  act,  and  the  worship 
rendered  to  these  constitutes  the  official  religion  of  the  mandarins." 
Further,  we  read  in  Gutzlaff  that  the  emperor  "  confers  various  titles 
on  officers  who  have  left  the  world,  and  shown  themselves  worthy  of 
the  high  trust  reposed  in  them,  creating  them  governors,  presidents, 
overseers,  etc.,  in  Hades,  and  thus  establishing  his  government  even 
among  the  manes."  And  then  we  learn  from  Williams  that  the  Li 
pu,  or  Board  of  Rites,  examines  and  directs  concerning  the  perform- 
ances of  the  five  kinds  of  ritual  observances — those  of  a  propitious 
and  those  of  a  felicitous  nature,  military  and  hospitable  rites,  and 
those  of  an  infelicitous  nature.  Among  its  departments  is  that  of 
ceremonial  forms — the  etiquette  to  be  observed  at  court,  the  regula- 
tions of  dresses,  of  carriages  and  riding-accoutrements,  of  followers 
and  insignia,  personal  and  written  intercourse  between  the  various 
ranks  of  peers.  Another  department  superintends  the  rites  to  be  ob- 
served in  worshiping  deities  and  spirits  of  departed  monarchs,  sages 
and  worthies,  etc. — statements  showing  that  the  same  board  regulates 
both  religious  ceremonial  and  civil  ceremonial.  To  which  summarized 
account  I  may  add  this  quotation  :  "  In  court,  the  master  of  ceremo- 
nies stands  in  a  conspicuous  place,  and  with  a  loud  voice  commands 
the  courtiers  to  rise  and  kneel,  stand  or  march  " — that  is,  he  directs 
the  worshipers  of  the  monarch  as  a  chief  priest  directs  the  worship- 
ers of  the  god.  Equally  marked  were,  until  lately,  the  kindred  rela- 
tions in  Japan.  With  the  sacredness  of  the  mikado,  and  with  his 
divine  inaccessibility,  travelers  have  familiarized  us  ;  but  the  implied 
confusion  between  the  divine  and  the  human  went  to  a  much  greater 


4°4 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


extent — an  extent  which  would  be  scarcely  credible,  did  not  indepen- 
dent witnesses  testify  to  it.     Dickson  says  : 

"  The  Japanese  generally  are  imbued  with  the  idea  that  their  land  is  a  real 
'  shin  koku,  a  kami  no  kooni ' — that  is,  the  land  of  spiritual  beings  or  kingdom 
of  spirits.  They  are  led  to  think  that  the  emperor  rules  over  all,  and  that, 
among  other  subordinate  powers,  he  rules  over  the  spirits  of  the  country.  He 
rules  over  men,  and  is  to  them  the  fountain  of  honor :  and  this  is  not  confined 
to  honors  in  this  world,  but  is  extended  to  the  other,  where  they  are  advanced 
from  rank  to  rank  by  the  orders  of  the  emperor." 

Similarly  we  are  told  by  Mitford  that — 

"  In  the  days  of  Shogun's  power  the  mikado  remained  the  Fountain  of  Honor, 
and,  as  chief  of  the  national  religion  and  the  direct  descendant  of  the  gods,  dis- 
pensed divine  honors.  So  recently  as  last  year  [1870]  a  decree  of  the  Mikado 
appeared  in  the  Government  Gazette,  conferring  posthumous  divine  honors  upon 
an  ancestor  of  the  Prince  of  Coshiu." 

And  then  we  read  that  under  the  Japanese  cabinet,  one  of  the  eight 
administrative  boards,  the  Ti  bu  shio,  "deals  with  the  forms  of  so- 
ciety, manners,  etiquette,  worship,  ceremonies  for  the  living  and  the 
dead,"  etc. :  the  propitiation  of  living  persons  and  the  propitiation  of 
dead  persons  and  deities  have  a  supreme  regulative  centre  in  common. 
Western  peoples,  among  whom  during  the  Christian  era  differen- 
tiation of  the  divine  from  the  human  has  become  very  decided,  show 
us  in  a  less  marked  manner  the  homology  between  the  ceremonial 
organization  and  the  ecclesiastical  organization.  Still  it  is,  or  rather, 
was  once,  clearly  traceable.  In  feudal  days,  beyond  the  lord-high 
chamberlains,  grand-masters  of  ceremonies,  ushers,  and  so  forth,  be- 
longing to  royal  courts,  and  the  kindred  officers  found  in  the  house- 
holds of  subordinate  rulers  and  nobles — officers  who  conducted  pro- 
pitiatory observances — there  were  the  heralds.  These  formed  a  class 
of  ceremonial  functionaries,  in  various  ways  resembling  a  priesthood. 
Just  noting  as  significant  the  remark  of  Scott  that,  "  so  intimate  was 
the  union  betwixt  chivalry  and  religion  esteemed  to  be,  that  the  sev- 
eral gradations  of  the  former  were  seriously  considered  as  parallel  to 
those  of  the  Chui-ch,"  I  go  on  to  point  out  that  these  officers,  per- 
taining to  the  institutions  of  chivalry,  formed  a  body  which,  where  it 
was  highly  organized,  as  in  France,  had  five  ranks  :  chevaucheur, 
poursuivant  Cannes,  heraut  dParmes,  roi  cfarmes,  and  roi  (Parmes  de 
France.  Into  these  ranks  its  members  were  successively  initiated  by 
a  species  of  baptism — wine  being  substituted  for  water.  They  held 
periodic  chapters  in  the  church  of  Saint-Antoine.  When  bearing  man- 
dates and  messages  they  were  similarly  dressed  with  their  masters, 
royal  or  noble,  and  were  similarly  honored  by  those  to  whom  they 
were  sent,  having  thus  a  deputed  dignity  akin  to  the  deputed  sacred- 
ness  of  priests.  By  the  chief  king-at-arms  and  five  others,  local  visi- 
tations were  made  for  inquiry  and  discipline,  as  ecclesiastical  visita- 


CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.  405 

tions  were  made  ;  and  in  various  other  ways  the  functions  of  the 
organization  were  allied  to  priestly  functions.  Heralds  verified  the 
titles  of  those  who  aspired  to  the  distinctions  of  chivalry,  as  priests 
decided  on  the  fitness  of  applicants  for  the  sanctions  of  the  Church ; 
and  on  the  occasions  of  their  visitations  they  were  to  "correct  things 
ill  and  dishonest,"  and  to  advise  princes — duties  allied  to  those  of 
priests.  Besides  announcing  the  wills  of  earthly  rulers,  as  priests  of 
all  religions  announce  the  wills  of  heavenly  rulers,  they  were  glori- 
tiers  of  the  first,  as  priests  were  of  the  last— part  of  their  duty  to  those 
they  served  being  "  to  publish  their  praises  in  foreign  lands."  At 
the  burials  of  kings  and  princes,  where  observances  for  honoring  the 
living  and  observances  for  honoring  the  dead  came  in  contact,  the 
kinship  of  a  herald's  function  to  the  function  of  a  priest  was  again 
shown ;  for,  besides  putting  in  the  tomb  the  insignia  of  rank  of  the 
deceased  potentate,  and  in  that  manner  sacrificing  to  him,  the  herald 
had  to  write,  or  to  get  written,  a  eulogy — had  to  initiate  that  worship 
of  the  dead  out  of  which  grow  higher  forms  of  worship.  Similar,  if 
less  elaborate,  was  the  system  in  England.  Heralds  wore  crowns,  had 
royal  dresses,  and  used  the  plural  "  we."  Anciently,  there  were  two 
heraldic  provinces,  with  their  respective  chief  heralds,  like  two  dio- 
ceses. Further  development  produced  a  garter  king-at-arms,  with 
provincial  kings-at-arms  presiding  over  minor  heraldic  officers  ;  and, 
in  1483,  all  were  incorporated  into  the  College  of  Heralds.  As  in 
France,  visitations  were  made  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  existing 
titles  and  honors,  and  authorizing  others  ;  and  funeral  rites  were  so 
far  under  heraldic  control  that,  among  the  nobility,  no  one  could  be 
buried  without  the  assent  of  the  herald. 

Why  these  structures  which  discharged  ceremonial  functions  once 
conspicuous  and  important  dwindled,  while  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
structures  developed,  it  is  easy  to  see.  Propitiation  of  the  living  has 
been,  from  the  outset,  necessarily  more  localized  than  propitiation  of 
the  dead.  The  existing  ruler  can  be  worshiped  only  in  his  presence, 
or,  at  any  rate,  within  his  dwelling  or  in  its  neighborhood.  Though 
in  Peru  adoration  was  paid  to  images  of  the  living  Yncas  ;  and  though 
in  Madagascar  King  Radama,  when  absent,  had  his  praises  sung  in 
the  words,  "  God  is  gone  to  the  west,  Radama  is  a  mighty  bull ; " 
yet,  generally,  the  obeisances  and  laudations  expressing  subordination 
to  the  great  man  while  alive,  are  not  made  when  they  cannot  be  wit- 
nessed by  him  or  his  immediate  dependents.  But  when  the  great 
man  dies  and  there  begin  the  awe  and  fear  of  his  ghost,  conceived  as 
able  to  reappear  anywhere,  propitiations  are  no  longer  so  narrowly 
localized  ;  and  in  proportion  as,  with  formation  of  larger  societies, 
there  comes  development  of  deities  greater  in  supposed  power  and 
range,  dread  of  them  and  reverence  for  them  are  felt  simultaneously 
over  wide  areas.  Hence  the  official  propitiators,  multiplying  and 
spreading,  severally  carry  on  their  worships  in  many  places  at  the 


4o6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

same  time — there  arise  large  bodies  of  ecclesiastical  officials.  Not  for 
these  reasons  alone,  however,  does  the  ceremonial  organization  fail  to 
grow  as  the  other  organizations  do:  their  development  causes  its  de- 
cay. Though,  during  early  stages  of  social  integration,  local  rulers 
have  their  local  courts  with  appropriate  officers  of  ceremony,  the  pro- 
cess of  consolidation  and  increasing  subordination  to  a  central  govern- 
ment, results  in  decreasing  dignity  of  the  local  rulers,  and  disappear- 
ance of  the  official  upholders  of  their  dignities.  Among  ourselves  in 
past  times,  "  dukes,  marquises,  and  earls,  were  allowed  a  herald  and 
pursuivant ;  viscounts,  and  barons,  and  others  not  ennobled,  even 
knights  bannerets,  might  retain  one  of  the  latter ; "  but,  as  the  regal 
power  grew,  "  the  practice  gradually  ceased ;  there  were  none  so  late 
as  Elizabeth's  reign."  Yet  further,  the  structure  carrying  on  cere- 
monial control  slowly  falls  away,  because  its  functions  are  gradually 
encroached  upon.  Political  and  ecclesiastical  regulations,  though  at 
first  insisting  mainly  on  conduct  expressing  obedience  to  rulers,  divine 
and  human,  develop  more  and  more  in  the  directions  of  equitable  re- 
straints on  conduct  between  individuals,  and  ethical  precepts  for  the 
guidance  of  such  conduct ;  and  in  doing  this  they  trench  more  and 
more  on  the  sphere  of  the  ceremonial  organization.  In  France,  be- 
sides having  the  semi-priestly  functions  we  have  noted,  the  heralds 
were  "judges  of  the  crimes  committed  by  the  nobility  ; "  and  they 
were  empowered  to  degrade  a  transgressing  noble,  confiscate  his 
goods,  raze  his  dwellings,  lay  waste  his  lands,  and  strip  him  of  his 
arms.  In  England,  too,  certain  civil  duties  were  discharged  by  these 
officers  of  ceremony.  Till  1688,  the  provincial  kings-at-arms  had 
"  visited  their  divisions,  receiving  commissions  for  that  purpose  from 
the  sovereign,  by  which  means  the  funeral  certificates,  the  descents, 
and  alliances  of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  had  been  properly  registered 
in  this  college"  (of  heralds).  "These  became  records  in  all  the  courts 
at  law."  Evidently  the  assumption  of  functions  of  these  kinds  by 
ecclesiastical  and  political  agents  has  joined  in  reducing  the  cere- 
monial structures  to  those  rudiments  which  now  remain,  in  the  almost- 
forgotten  Heralds'  College,  and  in  the  court  officials  who  regulate  in- 
tercourse with  the  sovereign. 

Before  passing  to  a  detailed  account  of  ceremonial  government 
under  its  various  aspects,  it  will  be  well  to  sum  up  the  results  of  this 
preliminary  survey.     They  are  these: 

That  control  of  conduct  which  we  distinguish  as  ceremony  pre- 
cedes the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  controls.  It  begins  with  sub-human 
types  of  creatures ;  it  occurs  among  otherwise  ungoverned  savages ; 
it  often  becomes  highly  developed  where  the  other  kinds  of  rule  are 
little  developed  ;  it  is  ever  being  spontaneously  generated  afresh  be- 
tween individuals  in  all  societies  ;  and  it  envelops  the  more  definite 
restraints  which  state  and  church  exercise.  The  primitiveness  of 
ceremonial  government  is  further  shown   by  the  fact  that,  at  first, 


GEYSERS   AND    HOW   THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.    407 

political  and  religious  governments  do  little  more  than  maintain  sys- 
tems of  ceremony,  directed  toward  particular  persons  living  and 
dead :  the  codes  of  law  enforced  by  the  one,  and  the  moral  codes 
enunciated  by  the  other,  come  later.  There  is,  again,  the  evidence 
derived  from  the  possession  of  certain  elements  in  common  by  the 
three  controls,  social,  political,  and  religious ;  for  the  forms  observ- 
able in  social  intercourse  occur  also  in  the  political  and  religious  inter- 
course as  forms  of  homage  and  forms  of  worship.  More  significant 
still  is  the  circumstance  that  ceremonies  may  mostly  be  traced  back 
to  certain  spontaneous  acts  which  manifestly  precede  legislation,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical.  Instead  of  arising  by  dictation  or  by  agreement, 
which  would  imply  the  preestablished  organization  required  for  mak- 
ing and  enforcing  rules,  they  arise  by  modifications  of  acts  performed 
for  personal  ends  ;  and  so  prove  themselves  to  grow  out  of  individual 
conduct  before  social  arrangements  exist  to  control  it.  Lastly,  we 
note  that  when  there  arises  a  political  head,  who,  demanding  subordi- 
nation, is  at  first  his  own  master  of  the  ceremonies,  and  who  presently 
collects  round  him  subservient  attendants  performing  propitiatory  acts, 
which  by  repetition  are  made  definite  and  fixed,  there  arise  ceremonial 
officials.  Though,  along  with  the  growth  of  organizations  which  en- 
force civil  laws  and  enunciate  moral  precepts,  there  has  been  such  a 
decay  of  the  ceremonial  organization  as  to  render  it  among  ourselves 
inconspicuous;  yet  in  early  stages  the  body  of  officials  who  conduct 
propitiation  of  living  rulers,  supreme  and  subordinate,  homologous 
with  the  body  of  officials  who  conduct  propitiation  of  dead  apotheo- 
sized rulers,  major  and  minor,  is  a  considerable  element  of  the  social 
structure;  and  it  dwindles  only  as  fast  as  the  structures,  political 
and  ecclesiastical,  which  exercise  controls  more  definite  and  detailed, 
usurp  its  functions. 

Carrying  with  us  these  general  conceptions,  let  us  now  pass  to 
the  several  components  of  ceremonial  rule.  We  will  deal  with  them 
under  the  heads — Trophies,  Mutilations,  Presents,  Obeisances,  Forms 
of  Address,  Titles,  Badges  and  Costumes,  Further  Class  Distinctions, 
Fashion,  Past  and  Future  of  Ceremony. 


GEYSERS   AND  HOW  THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.1 

By  Prof.  JOSEPH  LE  CONTE. 

A  GEYSER  may  be  defined  as  a  periodically  eruptive  spring. 
They  are  found  only  in  Iceland,  in  the  Yellowstone  Park,  Unit- 
ed States,  and  in  New  Zealand.  The  so-called  geysers  of  California 
are  rather  fumaroles.  Those  of  Iceland  have  been  long  studied;  we 
will,  therefore,  describe  these  first. 

1  From  Le  Conte's  "  Elements  of  Geology." 


408 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Iceland  is  an  elevated  plateau  about  two  thousand  feet  high,  with 
a  narrow  marginal  habitable  region  sloping  gently  to  the  sea.  The 
elevated  plateau  is  the  seat  of  every  species  of  volcanic  action,  viz., 
lava-eruptions,  solfataras,  mud-volcanoes,  hot  springs,  and  geysers. 


These  last  exist  in  great  numbers  ;  more  than  one  hundred  are  found 
in  a  circle  of  two  miles  diameter.  One  of  these,  the  Great  Geyser, 
has  long  attracted  attention. 

The  Great  Geyser  is  a  basin  or  pool  fifty-six  feet  in  diameter,  on 
the  top  of  a  mound  thirty  feet  high.     From  the  bottom  of  the  basin 


GEYSERS   AND   HOW   THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.   409 


descends  a  funnel-shaped  pipe  eighteen  feet  in  diameter  at  top,  and 
seventy-eight  feet  deep.  Both  the  basin  and  the  tube  are  lined  with 
silica,  evidently  deposited  from  the  water.  The  natural  inference  is, 
that  the  mound  is  built  up  by  deposit  from  the  water,  in  somewhat 
the  same  manner  as  a  volcanic  cone  is  built  up  by  its  own  ejections. 
In  the  intervals  between  the  eruptions  the  basin  is  filled  to  the  brim 
with  perfectly  transparent  water,  having  a  temperature  of  about  170° 
to  180°. 

1.  Immediately  preceding  the  eruption  sounds  like  cannonading  are 
heard  beneath,  and  bubbles  rise  and  break  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
2.  A  bulging  of  the  surface  is  then  seen,  and  the  water  overflows  the 
basin.  3.  Immediately  thereafter  the  whole  of  the  water  in  the  tube 
and  basin  is  shot  upward  one  hundred  feet  high,  forming  3  fountain 
of  dazzling  splendor.  4.  The  eruption  of  water  is  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  the  escape  of  steam  with  a  roaring  noise.  These  last  two 
phenomena  are  repeated  several  times,  so  that  the  fountain  continues 
to  play  for  several  minutes,  until  the  water  is  sufficiently  cooled,  and 
then  all  is  again  quiet  until  another  eruption.  The  eruptions  occur 
tolerably  regularly  every  ninety  minutes,  and  last  six  or  seven  min- 
utes. Throwing  large  stones  into  the  tube  has  the  effect  of  bringing 
on  the  eruption  more  quickly. 

In  magnificence  of  geyser  displays,  however,  Iceland  is  far  sur- 
passed by  the  Yellowstone  geysei-s  in  the  basin  of  Firehole  River. 
This  wonderful  geyser  region  is  situated  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
Wyoming,  on  an  elevated  volcanic  plateau  near  the  head-waters  of  the 
Madison  River,  a  tributary 
of  the  Missouri,  and  of  the  ! 


Snake  River,  a  tributary 
of  the  Columbia.  The  ba- 
sin is  only  about  three 
miles  wide.  About  it  are 
abundant  evidences  of  pro- 
digious volcanic  activity 
in  former  times,  and,  al- 
though primary  volcanic 
activity  has  ceased,  sec- 
ondary volcanic  phenom- 
ena are  developed  on  a 
stupendous    scale    and   of 


kind,    viz.  :     hot 


Fig.  2. — Chimney-like  Vents  (after  Haydeu). 


every 

springs,      carbonated 

springs,   fumaroles,   mud-volcanoes,   and   geysers.      In    this   vicinity 

there  are  more  than  10,000  vents  of  all  kinds.     In  some  places,  as  on 

Gardiner's  River,  the  hot  springs  are  mostly  lime-depositing ;  in  others, 

as  on  Firehole  River,  they  are  geysers  depositing  silica. 

In  the  upper  geyser  basin  the  valley  is  covered  with  a  snowy  de- 


4io 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


Fig.  3.— The  Turban  (after  Hayrteii). 


-    P1   ■ 


mm 


mwm 


\ 


Vi"»«a 


"  liwlfl 


J   I        ft  V 


»p: 


Fig.  4.— Giant  Geyser  (after  Hayden). 


GEYSERS   AND   HOW   THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.   411 

posit  from  the  hot  geyser-waters.  The  surface  of  the  mound-like, 
chimney-like,  and  hive-like  elevations,  immediately  surrounding  the 
vents,  is,  in  some  cases,  ornamanted  in  the  most  exquisite  manner  by 
deposits  of  the  same,  in  the  form  of  scalloped  embroidery  set  with 
pearly  tubercles  ;  in  others,  the  siliceous  deposits  take  the  most  fan- 


Fig.  5.— Beehive  Geyser  (from  a  Drawing  by  Holmes). 

tastic  forms  (Figs.  1,  2,  3).  In  some  places  the  silica  is  deposited  in 
large  quantities,  three  or  four  inches  deep,  in  a  gelatinous  condition 
like  starch-paste.  Trunks  and  branches  of  trees  immersed  in  these 
waters  are  speedily  petrified. 

We  can  only  mention  a  few  of  the  grandest  of  these  geysers  : 

1.  The  "  Grand  Geyser,"  according  to  Hayden,  throws  up  a  col- 


412 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


umn  of  water  six  feet  in  diameter  to  the  height  of  200  feet,  while  the 
steam  ascends  1,000  feet  or  more.  The  eruption  is  repeated  every 
thirty-two  hours,  and  lasts  twenty  minutes.  In  a  state  of  quiescence 
the  temperature  of  the  water  at  the  surface  is  about  150°. 

2.  The  "  Giantess  "  throws  up  a  large  column  twenty  feet  in  di- 
ameter to  a  height  of  sixty  feet,  and  through  this  great  mass  it  shoots 
up  five  or  six  lesser  jets  to  a  height  of  250  feet.  It  erupts  about  once 
in  every  eleven  hours,  and  plays  twenty  minutes. 

3.  The  "  Giant "  (Fig.  4)  throws  a  column  five  feet  in  diameter 
140  feet  high,  and  plays  continuously  for  three  hours. 

4.  The  "  Beehive "  (Fig.  5),  so  called  from  the  shape  of  its 
mound,  shoots  up  a  splendid  column  two  or  three  feet  in  diameter  to 
the  height  by  measurement  of  219  feet,  and  plays  fifteen  minutes. 

5.  "  Old  Faithful,"  so  called  from  the  frequency  and  regularity  of 
its  eruptions,  throws  up  a  column  six  feet  in  diameter  to  the  height 
of  100  to  150  feet  regularly  every  hour,  and  plays  each  time  fifteen 
minutes. 


Fig.  6.— Forms  of  Geysek-Cratehs  (after  Haydeu). 


The  water  of  geysers  is  not  volcanic  water,  but  simple  spring- 
water.  A  geyser  is  not,  therefore,  a  volcano  ejecting  water,  but  a 
true  spring.  There  has  been  much  speculation  concerning  the  cause 
of  their  truly  wonderful  eruptions. 

According  to  Mackenzie,  the  eruptions  of  the  Great  Geyser  may 
be  accounted  for  by  supposing  its  pipe  connected  by  a  narrow  conduit 
with  the  lower  part  of  a  subterranean  cave,  whose  walls  are  heated 
by  the  near  vicinity  of  volcanic  fires.  Fig.  1  represents  a  section 
through  the  basin,  tube,  and  supposed  cave.  Now,  if  meteoric  water 
should  run  into  the  cave   through   fissures  more   rapidly  than  it  can 


GEYSERS   AND   HOW  THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.    413 


evaporate,  it  would  accumulate  until  it  rose  above,  and  therefore 
closed,  the  opening  at  a,  The  steam,  now  having  no  outlet,  would 
condense  in  the  chamber  b  until  its  pressure  raised  the  water  into  the 
pipe,  and  caused  it  to  overflow  the  basin.  The  pressure  still  continu- 
ing, all  the  water  would  be  driven  out  of  the  cave,  and  partly  up  the 
pipe.  Now,  the  pressure  which  sustained  the  whole  column  a  d  would 
not  only  sustain,  but  eject  with  violence,  the  column  c  d.  The  steam 
would  escape,  the  ejected  water  would  cool,  and  a  period  of  quiescence 
would  follow.  If  there  were  but  one  geyser  in  Iceland,  this  would  be 
rightly  considered  a  very  ingenious  and  probable  hypothesis,  for  with- 
out doubt  we  may  conceive  of  a  cave  and  conduit  so  constructed  as  to 
account  for  the  phenomena.     But  there  are  many  eruptive  springs  in 

Iceland,  and  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  all  of  them 
should  have  caves  and 
conduits  so  peculiarly 
constructed.  This  the- 
ory is  therefore  entirely 
untenable. 

The  investigations 
of  Bunsen  and  his  theory 
of  the  eruption  and  the 
formation  of  geysers  are 
among  the  most  beauti- 
ful illustrations  of  sci- 
entific induction  which  we  have  in  geology.  We  therefore  give  it, 
perhaps,  more  fully  than  its  strict  geological  importance  warrants. 

Bunsen  examined  all  the  phenomena  of  hot  springs  in  Iceland. 
1.  He  ascertained  that  geyser-water  is  meteoric  water,  containing  the 
soluble  matters  of  the  igneous  rocks  in  the  vicinity.  He  formed  iden- 
tical water  by  digesting  Iceland  rocks  in  hot  rain-water.  2.  He  as- 
certained that  there  are  two  kinds  of  hot  springs  in  Iceland,  viz.,  acid 
springs  and  alkaline-carbonate  springs,  and  that  only  alkaline-carbon- 
ate springs  contain  any  silica  in  solution.  The  reason  is  obvious : 
alkaline  waters,  especially  if  hot,  are  the  natural  solvents  of  silica. 
3.  He  ascertained  that  only  the  silicated  springs  form  geysers.  Here 
is  one  important  step  taken — one  condition  of  geyser-formation  dis- 
covered. Deposit  of  silica  is  necessary  to  the  existence  of  geysers. 
The  tube  of  a  geyser  is  not  an  accidental  conduit,  but  is  built  up  by 
its  own  deposit.  4.  Of  silicated  springs,  only  those  with  long  tubes 
erupt — another  condition.  5.  Contrary  to  previous  opinion,  the  silica 
in  solution  does  not  deposit  on  cooling,  but  only  by  drying.  This 
would  make  the  building-up  of  a  geyser-tube  an  inconceivably  slow 
process,  and  the  time  proportionally  long.  This,  however,  is  not  true, 
for  the  Yellowstone  geyser-waters,  which  deposit  abundantly  by  cool- 
ing, evidently  because  they  contain  much  more  silica  than  those  of 


Fig.  7.— Mackenzie's  Theory  or  Eruption. 


4H 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Pressure  in 
Atmospheres. 

Boiling-Point. 

1  Atmos. 

2 

3        " 

4 

212° 
250° 
275° 
293° 

Iceland.  6.  The  temperature  of  the  water  in  the  basin  was  found  to 
be  usually  170°  to  180°,  and  that  in  the  tube  to  increase  rapidly, 
though  not  regularly,  with  depth.  Moreover,  the  temperature,  both 
at  the  surface  and  at  all  depths,  increased  regularly  as  the  time  of 
eruption  approached.  Just  before  the  eruption  it  was,  at  the  depth 
of  about  forty-five  feet,  very  near  the  boiling-point  for  that  depth. 

1.  It  is  well  known  that  the  boiling-point  of  water  rises  as  the 
pressure  increases.  This  is  shown  in  the  adjoining  table.  2.  It  fol- 
lows from  the  above  that  if  water  be  under 
strong  pressure,  and  at  high  temperature, 
though  below  its  boiling-point  for  that  press- 
ure, and  the  pressure  be  diminished  sufficient- 
ly, it  will  immediately  flash  into  steam.  3. 
Water  heated  beneath,  if  the  circulation  be 
unimpeded,  is  very  nearly  the  same  tempera- 
ture throughout.  That  it  is  never  the  same  temperature  precisely  is 
shown  by  the  circulation  itself,  which  is  caused  by  difference  of  tem- 
perature, producing  difference  in  density.  The  phenomenon  of  sim- 
mering is  also  a  well-known  evidence  of  this  difference  of  temperature, 
since  it  is  produced  by  the  collapse  of  steam-bubbles  rising  into  the 
cooler  water  above.  4.  But  if  the  circulation  be  impeded,  as  when 
the  water  is  contained  in  long,  narrow,  irregular  tubes,  and  heated 
with  great  rapidity,  the  temperature  may  be  greater  below  than  above 
to  any  extent,  and  the  boiling-point  may  be  reached  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  tube,  while  it  is  far  from  this  point  in  the  upper  part. 

We  will  suppose  a  geyser  to  have  a  simple  but  irregular  tube,  with- 
out a  cave,  heated  below  by  volcanic  fires,  or  by  still  hot  volcanic 
ejections.  Now,  we  have  already  seen  that  the  temperature  of  the 
water  in  the  tube  increases  rapidly  with  the  depth,  but  is,  at  every 
depth  to  which  observation  extends,  short  of  the  boiling-point  for  that 

depth.  Let  absciss  a  d  (Fig.  8)  repre- 
sent depth  in  the  tube,  and  also  press- 
ures ;  and  the  corresponding  temper- 
ature be  measured  on  the  ordinate 
If,  then,  a  b,  b  c,  c  d,  represent 


CT  i-* 


1  Atmos. 


o  o 

rt     © 


2  Atmos. 
33.3  ft. 


3  Atmos. 
66.6  ft. 


4  Atmos. 
100  ft. 


/ 

e 
/ 

/ 

a 
b 

r 

'/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

,1 

a  n. 


equal  depths  of  thirty-three  or  more 
feet,  which  is  equal  to  one  atmospheric 
pressure,  the  curve  e/passing  through 
210°,  250°,  275°,  and  293°,  at  the  hori- 
zontal lines,  representing  one  atmos- 
phere, two  atmospheres,  three  atmos- 
pheres, etc.,  would  correctly  repre- 
sent the  increasing  boiling-points  as 
we  pass  downward.  We  shall  call 
this  line,  ef,  the  curve  of  boiling-point. 
The  line  a  g  commencing  at  the   surface  at  180°,  and  gradually  ap- 


/«/ 


Pig.  8. 


GEYSERS   AND   HOW   THEY  ARE  EXPLAINED.   415 


proaching  the  boiling-point  line,  but  everywhere  within  it,  would  rep- 
resent the  actual  temperature  in  a  state  of  quiescence.  Now,  Bunsen 
found  that,  as  the  time  of  eruption  approached,  the  temperature  at 
every  depth  approached  the  boiling-point  for  that  depth,  i.  e.,  the  line 
a  g  moved  toward  the  line  ef  There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that,  at 
the  moment  of  eruption,  at  some  point  below  the  reach  of  observation, 
the  line  a  g  actually  touches  the  line  ef — the  boiling-point  for  that 
depth  is  actually  reached.  As  soon  as  this  occurs,  a  quantity  of  water 
in  the  lower  portion  of  the  tube,  or  perhaps  even  in  the  subterranean 
channels  which  lead  to  the  tube,  would  be  changed  into  steam,  and 
the  expanding  steam  would  lift  the  whole  column  of  water  in  the  tube, 
and  cause  the  water  in  the  basin  to  bulge  and  overflow.  As  soon  as 
the  water  overflowed,  the  pressure  would  be  diminshed  in  every  part 
of  the  tube,  and  consequently  a  large  quantity  of  water  before  very 
near  the  boiling-point  would  flash  into  steam  and  instantly  eject  the 
whole  of  the  water  in  the  pipe ;  and  the  steam  itself  would  rush  out 
immediately  afterward.  The  premonitory  cannonading  beneath  is  evi- 
dently produced  by  the  collapse  of  large  steam-bubbles  rising  through 
the  cooler  water  of  the  upper  part  of  the  tube ;  in  other  words,  it  is 
simmering  on  a  huge  scale.  An  eruption  is  more  quickly  brought  on 
by  throwing  stones  into  the  throat  of  the  geyser,  because  the  circula- 
tion is  thus  more  effectually  impeded. 

The  theory  given  above  is  substantially  that  of  Bunsen  for  the 
eruption  of  the  Great  Geyser,  but  modified  to  make  it  applicable  to 
all  geysers.  In  the  Great  Geyser,  as  already  stated,  Bunsen  found  a 
point,  forty-five  feet  deep,  where  the  temperature  was  nearer  the 
boiling-point  than  at  any  with- 
in reach  of  observation,  though 
doubtless  beyond  the  reach  of 
observation  the  temperature 
again  approached  and  touched 
the  boiling-point.  This  point, 
forty-five  feet  deep,  plays  an 
important  part  in  Bunsen's 
theory.  To  illustrate  :  if  ef 
(Fig.  9)  represent  again  the 
curve  of  boiling-point,  then 
the  curve  of  actual  tempera- 
ture in  the  Great  Geyser  tube 
would  be  the  irregular  line  a 
g  h.  At  the  moment  of  erup- 
tion, this  line  touched  boiling-point  at  some  depth,  h,  beyond  the  reach 
of  observation.  Then  followed  the  lifting  of  the  column,  the  overflow 
of  the  basin,  the  relief  of  pressure  by  which  the  point  g  was  brought 
to  the  boiling-point,  the  instantaneous  formation  of  steam  at  g,  and 
the  phenomena  of  an  eruption.     But  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  this 


a 


Fig.  9. 


h33-ft 


66ft 


d  100  ft 


41 6 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


necessary 


condition  should  exist  in  all  geysers ;    neither  is  it  at  all 
in  order  to  explain  the  phenomenon  of  an  eruption. 

To  prove  beyond  question  the  truth  of  his  theory,  Bun- 
sen  constructed  an  artificial  geyser.  The  apparatus  (Fig. 
10)  consisted  of  a  tube  of  tinned  sheet-iron  about  ten  feet 
long,  expanded  into  a  dish  above  for  catching  the  erupted 
water.  It  may  or  may  not  be  expanded  below  for  the  con- 
venience of  heating.  It  was  heated,  also,  a  little  below  the 
middle,  by  an  encircling  charcoal  chauffer,  to  represent 
the  point  of  nearest  approach  to  the  boiling-point  in  the 
geyser-tube.  When  this  apparatus  was  heated  at  the  two 
points,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  the  phenomena  of  geyser- 
eruption  were  completely  reproduced ;  first,  the  violent 
explosive  simmering,  then  the  overflow,  then  the  eruption, 
and  then  the  state  of  quiescence.  In  Bunsen's  experiment, 
the  eruptions  occurred  about  every  thirty  minutes. 

According  to  Bunsen,  a  geyser  does  not  find  a  cave,  or 
even  a  perpendicular  tube,  ready  made,  but,  like  volcanoes, 
makes  its  own  tube.  Fig.  1 1  is  an  ideal  section  of  a  geyser- 
mound,  showing  the  manner  in  which,  according  to  this 
view,  it  is  formed.  The  irregular  line,  b  a  c,  is  the  original 
surface,  and  a  the  position  of  a  hot  spring.  If  the  spring 
be  not  alkaline,  it  will  remain  an  ordinary  hot  spring  ;  but, 
if  it  be  alkaline,  it  will  hold  silica  in  solution,  and  the  silica 
will  be  deposited  about  the  spring.  Thus  the  mound  and 
tube  are  gradually  built  up.     For  a  long  time  the  spring  § 

will  not  be  eruptive,  for  the  circulation  will  maintain  a  fig.  io.—  Aim- 
nearly  equal    temperature    in   every  part   of  the   tube —  ricIAL Geyser. 

it  may  be  a  boiling,  but  not 
an  eruptive  spring.  But,  as 
the  tube  becomes  longer,  and 
the  circulation  more  and  more 
impeded,  the  difference  of 
temperature  between  the  up- 
per and  lower  parts  of  the 
tube  becomes  greater  and 
greater,  •  until,  finally,  the 
boiling-point  is  reached  be- 
low, while  the  water  above 
is  comparatively  cool.  Then 
the  eruption  commences.  Fi- 
nally, from  the  gradual  failure  of  the  subterranean  heat,  or  from  the 
increasing  length  of  the  tube  repressing  the  formation  of  steam,  the 
eruptions  gradually  cease.  Bunsen  found  geysers  in  every  stage  of 
development — some  playful  springs  without  tubes  ;  some  with  short 
tubes,  not  yet  eruptive;  some  with  long  tubes,  violently  eruptive; 


Fig. 


11.— Ideal  Section  of  a  Geyser-Tube 
(according  to  Bunsen). 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        417 

some  becoming  old  and  indisposed  to  erupt  unless  angered  by  throw- 
ins:  stones  down  the  throat. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  Bunsen's  theory  of  geyser-eruption  is 
independent  of  his  theory  of  geyser-formation.  A  tube  or  fissure  of 
any  kind,  and  formed  in  any  way,  if  long  enough,  would  give  rise  to 
the  same  phenomena.  The  Yellowstone  geysers  have  mounds  or  chim- 
ney-like cones,  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  whole  length  of 
their  eruptive  tubes  has  been  built  up  by  siliceous  deposit.  Bunsen's 
theory  of  eruption  none  the  less,  however,  applies  to  these  also.  The 
more  chimney-like  form  of  the  craters  in  the  case  of  the  Yellowstone 
geysers  is  probably  due  to  the  greater  abundance  of  silica  in  solution. 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE  OF  PLANTS. 

Br  MAX  VON  PETTENKOFER. 

THE  animal  kingdom  is,  as  we  know,  dependent  on  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  which  must  have  existed  on  the  earth  before  men  and 
animals  could  live  upon  it.  We  may,  therefore,  rightly  call  plants 
children  of  the  earth.  But,  in  so  doing  we  use  the  language  of  meta- 
phor, as  when  we  speak  of  "  Mother  Earth."  The  earth  does  not  di- 
rectly bring  forth  either  plants  or  animals.  Every  plant  is  the  child 
of  a  mother-plant,  descends  from  one  of  its  own  kind  like  ourselves; 
but  plants  derive  their  nourishment  directly  from  earth,  air,  and 
water,  and,  although  generated  by  plants,  are  nourished  directly  by 
the  inorganic  breasts  of  Nature,  and  imply  no  other  organic  life  but 
their  own.  Had  plants  a  voice,  they  would  more  correctly  speak  of 
"Mother  Earth"  than  ourselves. 

Plants  live  directly  on  the  lifeless  products  of  earth,  and  we  live 
directly  on  the  products  of  plants  or  on  animals  which  live  on  them  ; 
our  existence  implies  other  organic  life,  and  our  nourishment  is  not 
derived  so  directly  from  the  earth  as  that  of  plants.  Since  the  vege- 
table world  comes  between  us,  ice  should  rather  call  earth  our  grand- 
mother than  our  mother.  At  all  events  it  is  an  affectionate  rela- 
tionship. 

We  have  a  natural  feeling  of  close  affinity  with  the  vegetable 
world,  which  expresses  itself  not  only  in  our  love  of  foliage  and  flow- 
ers, but  in  our  fondness  for  metaphors  derived  from  the  vegetable 
world  and  its  processes.  If  we  were  to  reckon  up  how  many  meta- 
phors in  every-day  life  and  in  poetry  are  derived  from  the  vegetable 
world,  and  how  many  from  other  spheres  of  Nature,  we  should  find  a 
great  excess  of  the  former. 

Our  material  relations  to  plants  are  also  very  numerous.     The 

question  we  are  now  concerned  with  is  not  what  food  or  what  medi- 
vol.  xii. — 27 


4i 8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

cinal  remedies  plants  provide  us  with,  but  the  value  of  plants  and 
plantations  in  dwellings  and  in  the  open  air  in  conducing  to  health 
or  preventing  disease.  We  have  given  the  subject  very  little  consid- 
eration until  quite  recently,  just  as  we  have  thought  very  little  of  the 
way  in  which  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  fine  raiment,  comfortable 
dwellings,  and  many  other  things,  conduce  to  our  well-being.  Mean- 
while we  have  been  guided  by  our  instincts,  which,  like  Nature  in 
general,  have,  on  the  whole,  guided  us  rightly.  Even  now  there  is 
not  much  scientific  knowledge  on  the  subject ;  still  there  is  a  little, 
and  something  is  gained  when  we  begin  seriously  to  reflect  on  any- 
thing, for  knowledge  is  sure  then  to  increase.  All  that  man  has  ever 
aspired  to  and  attained  has  always  existed  much  earlier  in  idea  than 
in  reality.  Ideas  are  never  fully  realized,  as  we  all  know,  and  it  is 
only  very  gradually  that  they  are  realized  at  all. 

It  is  generally  asserted  that  vegetation  purifies  the  air,  and  chiefly 
by  three  functions  :  firstly,  because  plants  absorb  carbonic  acid ;  sec- 
ondly, because  under  the  influence  of  sunlight  they  exhale  an  equiva- 
lent in  oxygen  ;  and,  lastly,  because  they  produce  ozone.  These  facts 
I  need  not  demonstrate,  as  they  have  been  placed  beyond  doubt  by 
vegetable  physiologists,  chemists,  and  meteorologists.  My  task  is  to 
show  what  the  direct  sanitary  effect  of  these  three  functions  is. 

I  must  at  once  state  that  none  whatever  can  be  proved  to  exist. 
And,  as  this  assertion  will  contradict  the  prepossessions  of  many  read- 
ers, I  feel  bound  to  prove  my  proposition. 

As  to  carbonic  acid,  the  first  question  is :  What  is  the  proper  and 
normal  proportion  of  this  gas  in  the  air,  next  how  much  more  carbonic 
acid  is  contained  in  air  which  is  notoriously  bad;  and,  lastly,  whether 
the  air  on  a  surface  without  vegetation  contains  essentially  more  car- 
bonic acid  than  one  having  vegetation  upon  it  ? 

The  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  open  air  has  been  often  deter- 
mined, and  is  confined  within  very  narrow  limits.  It  may  be  said — 
leaving  severe  storms  or  very  thick  fogs  out  of  the  question — to  vary 
between  three  and  four  parts  in  each  10,000  of  the  volume  of  the  air. 

Experiments  have  also  been  made  on  the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid 
in  apartments  occupied  by  man,  and  it  is  generally  taken  as  the  crite- 
rion of  the  quality  of  the  air,  ventilation  being  regulated  by  it.  In 
very  bad  air  which  is  undoubtedly  deleterious,  it  has  been  found  to 
amount  to  from  three  to  five  per  mille.  One  per  mille  marks  the 
boundary-line  between  good  and  bad  air  in  a  room. 

We  next  inquire  whether  the  atmosphere  over  a  vast  tract  of 
country  destitute  of  vegetation  contains  more  carbonic  acid  than  one 
abounding  in  vegetation,  whether  in  the  former  case  the  amount  of 
carbonic  acid  approaches  one  per  mille.  In  1830  De  Saussure  began 
to  make  researches  into  the  variations  in  the  quantity  of  carbonic 
acid  in  Geneva,  and  they  were  continued  about  ten  years  later  by 
Verver  in  Holland,  and  Boussingault  in  Paris;  in  more  recent,  and 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        419 

very  recent  times,  a  great  number  of  experiments  have  been  made  on 
the  subject  by  Roscoe  in  Manchester,  Schulze  at  Rostock,  and  myself 
and  my  pupils,  particularly  Dr.  "Wolff  htigel,  at  Munich.  The  result 
is,  in  the  main,  that  the  variations — very  small  from  the  hrst — have 
been  found  to  be  still  smaller  as  the  methods  of  determining  carbonic 
acid  have  been  perfected. 

Saussure,  who  worked  by  a  method  liable  to  give  an  excess,  found 
from  3.7  to  6.2  parts  in  10,000.  He  considered  that  there  were  also 
slight  variations  between  summer  and  winter,  day  and  night,  town 
and  country,  land  and  sea,  mountains  and  valleys,  which  might  be 
ascribed  to  vegetation.  Boussingault,  however,  found  the  carbonic 
acid  in  the  air  to  be  rather  less,  and  the  same  on  an  average  in  Paris 
and  St.-Cloud :  in  Paris  4.13  and  at  St.-Cloud  4.14  in  10,000,  which 
surprised  him  the  more  as  he  had  reckoned  that  in  Paris  at  least 
2,944,000,000  litres  of  carbonic  acid  were  exhaled  by  men,  animals, 
and  fuel. 

Roscoe  made  experiments  on  the  air  at  a  station  in  the  middle  of 
Manchester,  and  at  two  stations  in  the  country.  He  was  originally  of 
opinion  that  the  vast  manufactures  of  Manchester,  chiefly  dependent 
on  the  consumption  of  coal,  must  produce  a  perceptible  effect  on  the 
carbonic  acid  in  the  air ;  but  he  also  discovered  that  the  air  in  the 
space  in  front  of  Owens  College  contained  no  more  than  the  air  at 
the  country  stations.  He  also  observed  occasional  variations :  but, 
when  the  carbonic  acid  increased  or  diminished  in  the  city,  it  was 
generally  just  the  same  in  the  country.  Roscoe  found  the  greatest 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  during  one  of  the  thick  fogs  preva- 
lent in  England. 

Schulze  found  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  at  Rostock  to 
be  between  two  and  half  and  four  parts  in  10,000.  On  an  average  it 
was  somewhat  higher  when  the  wind  blew  off-shore  than  off  the  sea. 

In  Munich,  Wolffhiigel  found  the  carbonic  acid  to  be  between 
three  and  four  parts  in  10,000.  Now  and  then,  but  very  seldom,  he 
observed  variations,  the  maximum  being  6.9  parts  in  10,000  in  a  very 
thick  fog,  the  minimum  1.5  part  in  10,000  in  a  heavy  snow-storm, 
when  the  mercury  was  very  low  in  the  barometer. 

It  may  be  asked  how  the  immense  production  of  carbonic  acid  in 
a  city  like  Paris  or  Manchester  can  thus  vanish  in  the  air.  The  answer 
is  very  simple  :  by  rarefaction  in  the  currents  of  the  atmosphere.  We 
are  apt  not  to  take  this  factor  into  account,  but  think  rather  of  the  air 
as  stagnant.  The  average  velocity  of  the  air  with  us  is  three  metres 
per  second,  and  even  in  apparently  absolute  calm  it  is  more  than  half 
a  metre.  If  we  therefore  assume  a  column  of  air  100  feet  high  and  of 
average  velocity,  it  may  be  reckoned  that  the  carbonic  acid  from  all 
the  lungs  and  chimneys  of  Paris  or  Manchester  is  not  sufficient  to 
increase  its  amount  so  as  to  be  detected  by  our  methods. 

From  this  fact  it  may  be  logically  concluded  that,  if  no  increase 


42o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

in  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  is  observable,  no  diminution  will  be 
observable  from  vegetation. 

It  is  a  universally  recognized  and  incontrovertible  fact  that  the 
carbonic  acid  contained  in  all  the  vegetable  life  on  earth  is  derived 
from  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  air,  in  water,  and  the  soil.  Many  con- 
clude, therefore,  that  the  air  in  a  green  wood  must  contain  less  car- 
bonic acid  than  that  in  a  city  or  that  of  an  extensive  tract  of  waste 
land.  But  I  can  assure  them  that  the  air  in  the  Sahara,  so  called,  of 
Munich,  formerly  called  the  Dultplatz,  contains  no  more  carbonic 
acid  than  the  neighboring  Eschen-grounds.  Of  this  I  can  give  incon- 
testable proof,  an  argument  ad  hominem.  Dr.  Zittel  brought  me 
several  specimens  of  air  in  hermetically-sealed  glass  tubes,  from  his 
travels  in  the  Libyan  Desert,  from  sandy  wastes  and  from  oases,  on 
which  I  could  conveniently  make  experiments  at  Munich.  The 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  does  not  differ  in  the  least  in  the  air  from  the 
barren  waste  and  the  greenest  oases.  The  case  is  just  the  same  with 
the  amount  of  oxygen  in  the  air.  It  was  formerly  thought,  when  im- 
perfect methods  were  employed,  that  perceptible  variations  could  be 
proved.  Thus,  for  example,  the  outbreak  of  cholera  in  1831  was  at- 
tributed to  a  diminution  of  oxygen  in  the  air,  and  here  and  there  ex- 
periments were  made  which  seemed  to  confirm  the  opinion.  The 
hypothesis  did  not  seem  improbable,  for  it  was  concluded  with  cer- 
tainty that  in  tropical  swamps,  which  are  the  home  of  cholera,  the 
oxygen  in  the  air  might  have  been  in  course  of  time  diminished  by 
the  vast  masses  of  decaying  matter.  But,  since  the  method  of  gas 
analysis  has  been  arranged  by  Von  Bunsen,  the  amount  of  oxygen  in 
the  air  on  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc  has  not  been  found  to  differ  from 
that  in  a  city  or  in  the  swamps  of  Bengal.  Neither  is  it  greater  in 
forest  or  sea  air  than  in  the  air  of  the  desei't. 

This  absence  of  demonstrable  variation,  in  spite  of  the  production 
of  oxygen  by  living  plants  and  the  absorption  of  it  by  the  processes 
of  combustion  and  decay,  becomes  intelligible  when  we  consider  first 
the  mobility,  and  then  the  mass  of  the  air  encompassing  our  earth. 
The  weight  of  this  mass  is,  as  the  barometer  tells  us,  equal  to  that  of 
a  layer  of  mercury  which  would  cover  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  the 
depth  of  760  millimetres  (more  than  three-quarters  of  a  metre).  From 
the  weight  of  this,  several  billion  kilometres,  some  idea  can  be  formed 
of  the  volume  of  the  air,  when  we  consider  that  air,  even  beneath  a 
pressure  of  760  millimetres  of  mercury,  is  yet  10,395  times  lighter  than 
mercury.  In  masses  like  these,  variations  such  as  those  we  speak  of 
go  for  nothing.  The  amount  of  carbonic  acid  and  oxygen  might  per- 
haps be  essentially  changed  in  Paris  or  Manchester  if  all  organic 
matter  on  and  in  the  earth  were  burning  at  once. 

Even  if  it  is  granted,  however,  in  face  Of  these  incontrovertible 
facts,  that  vegetation  exercises  no  perceptible  influence  upon  the  com- 
position of  the  atmosphere  in  the  open  air,  many  persons  will  not  be 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        421 

disposed  to  give  up  the  idea  that  the  air  in  rooms  can  be  improved  by- 
plants,  because,  as  is  well  known,  every  green  leaf  absorbs  carbonic 
acid  and  gives  out  oxygen  under  the  influence  of  light.  This  idea 
may  seem  the  more  justifiable,  because,  although  the  production  of 
carbonic  acid  is  not  perceptible  in  the  greatest  assemblages  of  human 
beings  in  the  open  air,  it  is  always  observed  in  confined  spaces,  al- 
though the  actual  production  is  but  small.  In  the  air  of  a  closed 
apartment,  every  person  and  every  light  burning  makes  a  perceptible 
difference  in  the  increase  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air.  Must  not,  there- 
fore, every  plant  in  a  pot,  every  spray,  any  plant  with  leaves,  make  a 
perceptible  difference  in  a  room  ?  Every  lover  of  flowers  may  be 
pardoned  for  wishing  to  see  this  question  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
Have  not  even  medical  men  proposed  to  adorn  school-rooms  with 
plants  in  pots  instead  of  ventilating  them  better,  in  order  that  their 
leaves  and  stems  might  absorb  carbonic  acid  from  the  mouths  of  the 
children,  and  give  out  oxygen  in  its  stead?  But  hygiene  cannot 
agree  even  to  this.  Hygiene  is  a  science  of  economics,  and  every 
such  science  has  to  ask  not  only  what  exists  and  whether  it  exists, 
but  how  much  there  is  and  whether  enough.  The  power  of  twenty- 
pots  of  plants  would  not  be  nearly  sufficient  to  neutralize  the  carbonic 
acid  exhaled  by  a  single  child  in  a  given  time.  If  children  were  de- 
pendent on  the  oxygen  given  off  by  flowers,  they  would  soon  be  suf- 
focated. It  must  not  be  forgotten  what  a  slow  process  the  production 
of  matter  by  plants  is — matter  which  the  animal  organism  absorbs 
and  again  decomposes  in  a  very  short  time,  whereby  as  much  oxygen 
is  used  up  as  has  been  set  free  in  the  production  of  it.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  such  great  extents  of  vegetation  are  required  for  the  sus- 
tenance of  animals  and  man.  The  grass  or  hay  consumed  by  a  cow 
in  a  cow-house  grows  upon  a  space  of  ground  on  which  a  thousand 
head  of  cattle  could  stand.  How  slow  is  the  process  of  the  growth  of 
wheat  before  it  can  be  eaten  as  bread,  which  a  man  will  eat,  digest, 
and  decompose,  in  twenty-four  hours  !  The  animal  and  human  organ- 
ism consumes  and  decomposes  food  as  quickly  as  a  stove  burns  the 
wood  which  took  so  many  thousand  times  longer  to  grow  in  the 
forest. 

It  would  scarcely  be  intelligible  if  I  were  to  calculate  how  much 
carbonic  acid  and  oxygen  a  rose,  a  geranium,  or  a  bignonia,  would 
absorb  and  give  out  in  a  room  in  a  day,  and  to  what  extent  the  air 
might  be  changed  by  it,  taking  into  account  the  inevitable  change  of 
air  always  going  on.  I  will  draw  attention  to  a  concrete  case  which 
every  one  can  understand  : 

When  the  Royal  Winter  Garden  in  Munich  was  completed  and  in 
use,  it  occurred  to  me  to  make  experiments  on  the  effect  of  the  whole 
garden  on  the  air  within  it.  There  could  not  be  a  more  favorable 
opportunity  for  experimenting  on  the  air  in  a  space  full  of  vegetation. 
This  green  and  blooming  space  was  not  exposed  to  the  free  currents 


422  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  air  which  at  once  immensely  rarefy  all  gaseous  exhalations,  but  was 
kept  warm  under  a  dome  of  glass,  through  which  only  the  light  of 
heaven  penetrated.  Although  not  hermetically  sealed,  the  circulation 
of  air  in  such  a  building,  compared  with  that  in  the  open  air,  is  re- 
duced over  a  hundred-thousandfold. 

I  asked  permission  to  make  experiments  for  several  days  at 
various  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  which  was  readily  granted.  Now, 
what  was  the  result?  The  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  in 
the  winter  garden  was  almost  as  high  as  in  the  open  air.  This  greatly 
surprised  me,  but  I  hoped  at  any  rate  to  have  one  of  my  traditional 
ideas  confirmed :  I  hoped  to  find  less  carbonic  acid  in  the  day  than  in 
the  night,  supported  by  the  fact  that  the  green  portions  of  plants 
under  the  influence  of  light  decompose  carbonic  acid  and  develop 
oxygen.  But  even  here  I  was  disappointed.  I  generally  found  car- 
bonic acid  increasing  from  morning  till  evening,  and  decreasing  from 
night  till  morning.  As  this  seemed  really  paradoxical,  I  doubled  my 
tests  and  care,  but  the  result  remained  the  same.  At  that  time  I 
knew  nothing  of  the  large  amount  of  carbonic  acid  of  the  air,  in  the 
soil,  the  air  of  the  ground,  or  I  should  probably  have  been  less  sur- 
prised. 

One  day  it  suddenly  became  clear  to  me  why  there  was  always 
more  carbonic  acid  by  day  than  by  night.  I  had  been  thinking  only 
of  the  turf,  the  shrubs,  and  trees,  which  consume  carbonic  acid  and 
produce  oxygen,  and  not  of  the  men  and  birds  in  the  winter  garden. 
One  day,  when  there  were  considerably  more  men  at  work  there  than 
usual,  the  carbonic  acid  rose  to  the  highest  point,  and  sank  again  to 
the  average  during  the  night.  The  production  of  carbonic  acid  by 
the  working  and  breathing  of  human  beings  was  so  much  greater  than 
that  consumed  by  the  plants  in  the  same  time. 

The  oxygen  in  the  winter  garden  was  rather  higher  than  in  the 
open  air;  there  it  was  about  twenty-one  per  cent.,  and  in  the  winter 
garden  twenty-two  to  twenty-three  per  cent. 

I  did  not  make  any  experiments  on  ozone,  for  reasons  which  I  will 
give  by-and-by. 

The  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  in  the  winter  garden  can- 
not be  reckoned  as  telling  for  or  against  the  hygienic  value  of  vege- 
tation in  an  inclosed  space.  Let  us  inquire,  then,  into  the  value  of 
the  slight  increase  of  oxygen. 

There  is  a  wide-spread  opinion  that  the  breathing  of  air  rich  in 
oxygen  effects  a  more  rapid  transformation  of  matter,  a  more  rapid 
combustion,  as  we  say,  in  the  body.  Even  great  inquirers  and 
thinkers  have  considered  that  we  only  eat  and  imbibe  nourishment  to 
satiate  the  oxygen  streaming  through  us,  which  woidd  otherwise 
consume  us.  We  know  now  well  enough  that  the  quantity  of  oxygen 
which  we  imbibe  does  not  depend  on  the  quantity  in  the  air  we 
breathe,  but  far  more  on  previous  changes  in   and  the  amount  of 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        423 

transformation  of  matter  in  the  body,  which  are  regulated  by  the 
requirements  of  breathing.  The  inhalation  of  oxygen  is  not  a  pri- 
mary but  a  secondary  thing.  When  we  inhale  air  at  every  breath 
richer  than  usual  in  oxygen — for  example,  when  breathing  highly- 
compressed  air,  as  divers  do,  or  laborers  on  the  pneumatic  founda- 
tions of  bridge-piers — the  result  is  not  a  larger  consumption  of  matter 
and  an  increased  production  of  carbonic  acid,  but  merely  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  inhalations.  If  in  air  of  ordinary  density  we  make 
about  sixteen  respirations  in  a  minute,  in  air  of  greater  density  we 
should  involuntarily  make  only  twelve,  ten,  or  eight,  according  to  the 
density  and  our  need  of  oxygen;  all  else  remains  the  same. 

Lavoisier,  and,  half  a  century  later,  Regnault  and  Reiset,  placed 
animals  for  twenty-four  hours  in  air  very  rich  in  oxygen,  but  they  did 
not  consume  more  of  it  than  in  the  ordinary  air.  An  increase  of  oxy- 
gen in  the  air,  therefore,  or  pure  oxygen  gas,  only  produces  an  effect 
in  certain  mox-bid  conditions,  in  cases  of  difficulty  of  breathing,  or 
where  breathing  has  been  for  some  time  suspended,  because  an  in- 
spiration communicates  more  oxygen  to  the  blood  than  breathing 
ordinary  air.  A  healthy  person  can,  however,  without  difficulty  or 
injury,  compensate  for  considerable  differences,  and  an  increase  or 
decrease  of  one  or  two  per  cent,  of  oxygen  does  no  harm,  for  under 
ordinary  circumstances  we  only  inhale  one-fourth  of  the  oxygen  in 
the  air  we  breathe ;  we  inhale  it  with  twenty-one  per  cent,  and  ex- 
hale it  with  sixteen  per  cent. 

So  far,  therefore,  as  we  feel  ill  or  well  in  a  winter  garden,  it  does 
not  depend  on  the  quantity  of  oxygen  in  the  air,  and  there  is  no 
greater  appreciable  quantity  of  oxygen  in  a  wood  of  thick  foliage 
than  in  a  desert  or  on  the  open  sea. 

Let  us  also  for  a  moment  consider  the  ozone  in  the  air,  which  may 
be  looked  upon  as  polarized  or  agitated  oxygen.  After  its  discovery, 
which  has  immortalized  the  name  of  Schonbein,  was  made  known,  it 
was  thought  for  a  time  that  the  key  had  been  found  for  the  appear- 
ance and  disappearance  of  various  diseases,  in  the  quantity  of  ozone 
in  the  air.  But  one  fact,  which  was  observed  from  the  first,  shows 
that  it  cannot  be  so  ;  for  the  presence  of  ozone  can  never  be  detected 
in  our  dwellings,  not  even  in  the  cleanest  and  best  ventilated.  Now, 
as  it  is  a  fact -that  we  spend  the  greater  part  of  our  lives  in  our 
houses,  and  are  better  than  if  we  lived  in  the  open  air,  the  hygienic 
value  of  ozone  does  not  seem  so  very  great.  Added  to  this,  the 
medical  men  of  Konigsberg  long  had  several  ozone-stations  there, 
during  which  time  various  diseases  came  and  went,  without,  as  appears 
from  the  reports  of  Dr.  Schiefferdecker,  ozone  having  the  slightest 
connection  with  the  appearance  or  disappearance  of  any  of  them. 

Dr.  Wolf  htlgel,  assistant  at  the  Hygienic  Institute  at  Munich,  has 
lately  been  occupied  with  the  question  of  the  sanitary  value  of  ozone, 
but  has  arrived  at  only  negative  results. 


424  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

But  in  saying  this  I  have  no  intention  of  denying  that  ozone  is  of 
great  importance  in  the  atmosphere,  for  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is. 
It  is  the  constant  purifier  of  the  atmosphere  from  all  organic  matter, 
which  passes  into  it  and  might  accumulate.  The  air  -would  have 
been  long  ago  filled  with  the  vapors  of  decomposition  if  it  were  not 
for  ozone,  which  oxidizes  all  that  is  oxidizable,  if  only  time  enough  is 
allowed  for  it,  and  too  much  is  not  expected  at  once ;  for,  generally, 
the  amount  of  ozone  in  the  air  is  so  small  that  it  is  consumed  in 
making  its  way  into  our  houses,  without  disinfecting  them,  and  we 
can  no  more  dispense  with  the  greatest  cleanliness  and  best  ventila- 
tion in  our  homes  than  we  can  essentially  change  the  air  in  our  rooms 
by  means  of  plants  in  pots  and  foliage. 

Some  of  my  readers  will  perhaps  ask  in  some  disappointment,  "  In 
what,  then,  does  the  hygienic  value  of  plants  and  plantations  consist? 
Or  do  I  mean  to  say  that  all  the  money  spent  by  one  and  another  on 
a  parterre  of  flowers  in  his  house  or  on  a  garden,  or  by  a  community 
for  beautiful  grounds,  or  by  a  state  for  the  preservation  of  forests, 
with  the  idea  of  promoting  health,  is  mere  luxury,  without  any  hy- 
gienic value?"  These  questions  alter  our  standpoint,  and  I  believe  I 
shall  be  able  to  show  that  even  hygiene  does  recognize  a  sanitary 
value  in  plants  and  flowers,  in  the  laying  out  of  grounds  and  planta- 
tions, only  it  offers  a  different  explanation  from  the  ordinary  one. 

I  consider  the  impression  which  plants  and  plantations  make  upon 
our  minds  and  senses  to  be  of  hygienic  value  ;  further,  their  influence 
on  the  conformation  of  the  soil,  with  which  health  is  in  many  respects 
connected;  and,  finally,  their  influence  upon  other  qualities  of  the  air, 
than  carbonic  acid,  oxygen,  and  ozone  :  among  these  may  be  men- 
tioned, in  passing,  shade  in  summer,  and  decrease  of  wind  and  dust. 

It  is  an  old  observation,  needing  no  demonstration,  that  the  cheer- 
ful and  happy  man  lives  not  only  an  easier,  but,  on  the  average,  a 
more  healthy  life  than  the  depressed  and  morose  man.  Medical  men, 
and  especially  "  mad  doctors,"  could  tell  us  much  of  the  great  value 
of  a  certain  relative  proportion  of  pleasurable  and  painful  impressions 
upon  health,  and  how  frequently  some  unfortunate  position,  an  ab- 
sence of  pleasure,  or  too  much  of  painful  impression,  is  the  cause  of 
serious  illness.  Man  always  tries,  and  has  an  irresistible  need,  to 
balance  painful  sensations  by  some  kind  of  pleasure  or  other,  so  that 
often,  in  order  to  get  himself  into  a  tolerable  frame  of  mind,  or  to 
deaden  his  feelings  for  a  time,  he  will  have  recourse  to  wine,  beer,  or 
spirits,  though  he  knows  well  enough  that  he  will  be  worse  afterward 
than  before.  A  certain  amount  of  change  and  recreation  is  indispen- 
sable, and,  failing  others,  we  seek  them  by  injurious  means.  There 
are,  doubless,  some  unhappy  and  morbid  natures  who  are  always 
discontented,  to  whom  everything  comes  amiss,  and  whom  it  is  im- 
possible to  help ;  but  the  majority  of  men  are  easily  pleased,  find 
pleasure  in  little  things,  though  it  is  but  a  sorry  life  they  lead.     It 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        425 

is  something  the  same  with  the  pleasures  of  life  as  with  the  pleasures 
of  the  table  ;  we  must  relish  our  food  if  it  is  to  do  us  good.  What 
good  will  the  most  nourishing  diet  do  me  if  it  creates  disgust  ?  Prof. 
C.  Voit  has  clearly  pointed  out,  in  his  experimental  researches  into 
diet,  the  great  value  of  palatable  food,  as  well  as  nourishment,  and 
how  indispensable  a  certain  variety  in  our  meals  is.  We  think  we 
are  only  tickling  the  palate,  and  that  it  is  nothing  to  the  stomach  and 
intestines  whether  food  is  agreeable  to  the  palate  or  not,  since  they 
will  digest  it,  if  it  is  digestible  at  all.  But  it  is  not  so  indiflerent, 
after  all ;  for  the  nerves  of  the  tongue  are  connected  with  other  nerves 
and  with  the  nerve-centres,  so  that  the  pleasures  of  the  palate,  or 
some  pleasure,  at  any  rate,  even  if  it  is  only  imagination,  which  can 
only  originate  in  the  central  organ,  the  brain,  often  has  an  active 
effect  on  other  organs.  This  is  a  matter  of  daily  experience.  If  you 
put  your  finger  down  your  throat,  you  produce  retching  ;  many  peo- 
ple have  only  to  think  of  anything  disgusting  to  produce  the  effect 
of  an  emetic,  just  as  the  thought  of  something  nice  makes  the  mouth 
water  just  as  much  as  tasting  the  most  dainty  morsel.  Voit  showed 
me  one  of  his  dogs  with  a  fistula  in  the  stomach.  So  long  as  this  dog 
is  not  thinking  of  food,  his  stomach  secretes  no  gastric  juice,  but  no 
sooner  does  he  catch  sight  of  a  bit  of  meat,  even  at  a  distance,  than 
the  stomach  prepares  for  digestion  and  secretes  gastric  juice  in  abun- 
dance. Without  this  secretion  the  assimilation  of  nourishment  would 
be  impossible.  If,  therefore,  some  provocatives  induce  and  increase 
certain  sensations  and  useful  processes,  they  are  of  essential  value  to 
health,  and  it  is  no  bad  economy  to  spend  something  on  them. 

I  consider  flowers  in  a  room,  for  all  to  whom  they  give  pleasure,  to 
be  one  of  the  enjoyments  of  life,  like  condiments  in  food.  It  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  harmless  and  refined.  We  cannot  live  on  pleas- 
ure alone ;  but,  to  those  who  have  something  to  put  up  with  in  life, 
their  beloved  flowers  perform  good  service. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  private  gardens  and  public  grounds,  and 
of  the  artistic  perfecting  of  them.  The  more  tastefully  laid  out,  the 
better  the  effect.  Though  tastes  differ,  there  is  a  general  standard  of 
taste  which  lasts  for  several  generations,  though  it  varies  from  time 
to  time,  and  is  subject  to  fashion.  As  their  object  is  to  give  pleasure, 
public  grounds  should  accord  with  the  taste  of  the  age,  or  aim  at  cul- 
tivating it.  This  is  a  justification  for  going  to  some  expense  for 
aesthetic  ends. 

The  influence  of  vegetation  on  the  soil  is  much  more  easy  to  deter- 
mine than  on  the  mind  of  man.  Space  fails  me  to  go  into  all  the 
aspects  of  this  subject,  and  I  will  confine  myself  to  some  of  the  most 
obvious.  The  difference  is  most  apparent  on  comparing  the  soil  of  a 
tract  of  land  covered  with  wood  with  the  soil  outside,  in  other  respects 
alike.  The  Bavarian  Forest  Department  deserves  great  credit  for 
having  established  meteorological  stations  with  special  reference  to 


426  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

forest-culture,  under  the  superintendence  of  Prof.  Ebermayer,  of 
Aschaffenburg.  He  has  published  his  first  year's  observations  in  a 
work  on  "  The  Influence  of  Forests  on  the  Air  and  Soil,  and  their 
Climatic  and  Hygienic  Importance,"  '  which  may  be  i-ecomrnended  to 
every  one  who  wishes  to  study  the  subject. 

Modern  hygiene  has  observed  that  certain  variations  in  the  moist- 
ure of  the  soil  have  a  great  influence  on  the  origin  and  spread  of  cer- 
tain epidemic  diseases,  as  for  instance  cholera  and  typhoid  fever — 
that  these  diseases  do  not  become  epidemic  when  the  moisture  in  the 
soil  is  not  above  or  below  a  certain  level,  and  has  remained  so  for  a 
time.  These  variations  can  be  measured  with  greater  accuracy  by  the 
ground-water  of  the  soil  than  by  the  rainfall,  because  in  the  latter 
case  we  have  to  determine  how  much  water  penetrates  the  ground, 
how  much  runs  off  the  surface,  and  how  much  evaporates  at  once. 
The  amount  of  moisture  in  the  soil  of  a  forest  is  subject  to  consider- 
ably less  variation  than  that  outside.  Ebermayer  has  deduced  the 
following  result  from  his  meteorological  observations  on  forestry : 
"If  from  the  soil  of  an  open  space  100  parts  of  water  evaporate,  then 
from  the  soil  of  a  forest  free  from  underwood  38  parts  would  evapo- 
rate, and  from  a  soil  covered  with  underwood  only  15  parts  would 
evaporate."  This  simple  fact  explains  clearly  why  the  cutting  down 
of  wood  over  tracts  of  country  is  always  followed  by  the  drying  up 
of  wells  and  springs. 

In  India,  the  home  of  cholera,  much  importance  has  been  attached 
in  recent  times  to  plantations  as  preventives  of  it.  It  has  been  al- 
ways observed  that  the  villages  in  wooded  districts  suffer  less  than 
those  in  treeless  plains.  Many  instances  of  this  are  given  in  the 
reports  of  Dr.  Bryden,  President  of  the  Statistical  Office  in  Calcutta, 
and  Dr.  Murray,  Inspector  of  Hospitals.  For  instance,  Bryden2  cotn- 
pares  the  district  of  the  Mahanadda,  one  of  the  northern  tributaries  of 
the  Ganges,  the  almost  treeless  district  of  Rajpoor,  with  the  forest  dis- 
trict of  Sambalpoor.  It  is  stated  that  in  the  villages  in  the  plain  of  Raj- 
poor, sixty  or  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  are  sometimes  swept 
away  by  cholera  in  three  or  four  days,  while  the  wooded  district  of 
Sambalpoor  is  often  free  from  it,  or  it  is  much  less  severe.  The  dis- 
trict commissioner,  who  had  to  make  a  tour  in  the  district  on  account 
of  the  occurrence  of  cholera,  reports,  among  other  things,  as  follows : 

"The  road  to  Sambalpoor  runs  for  sixty  or  seventy  miles  through  the  forest, 
which  round  Petorah  and  Jenkfluss  is  very  dense.  Now,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
but  it  is  a  fact,  nevertheless,  that  on  this  route,  traversed  daily  by  hundreds  of 
travelers,  vehicles,  and  baggage-trains,  the  cholera  rarely  appears  in  this  extent 
of  sixty  miles,  and  when  it  does  appear  it  is  in  a  mild  form  ;  but  when  we  come 
to  the  road  from  Arang,  westward  to  Chicholee  Bungalow,  which  runs  for  about 

1  "  Die  physikalischen  Wirkungen  des  Waldes  auf  Luft  und  Boden  und  seine  klimatolo- 
gische  und  hygienische  Bedeutung." 

2  "  Epidemic  Cholera  in  the  Bengal  Presidency,"  1869,  p.  225. 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE    OF  PLANTS.        427 

ninety  miles  through  a  barren,  treeless  plain,  we  find  the  cholera  every  year  in 
its  more  severe  form,  the  dead  and  dying  lying  by  the  wayside,  and  trains  of 
vehicles  half  of  whose  conductors  are  dead." 

In  the  same  report  Dr.  Bryden  continues  : 

"I  will  mention  one  other  fact  as  a  result  of  my  observations,  namely,  that 
places  surrounded  by  those  vast  and  splendid  groves  which  are  occasionally 
seen,  lying  in  low  and  probably  marshy  situations,  surrounded  by  hills,  and 
which,  from  the  mass  of  decaying  vegetation,  are  very  subject  to  fever  in  Sep- 
tember, October,  and  "November,  are  seldom  visited  by  cholera,  and  if  it  occurs 
there  are  but  few  deaths,  while  places  on  high  ground,  or  in  what  are  called 
fine,  airy  situations,  free  from  trees  and  without  hills  near,  so  that  they  are  thor- 
oughly ventilated,  suffer  very  much  from  cholera." 

Murray  gives  a  number  of  instances  showing  the  influence  of  trees 
on  the  spread  of  cholera.     One  of  these  may  find  a  place  here : 

"  The  fact  is  generally  believed,  and  not  long  ago  the  medical  officer  of  Jatis- 
gar,  in  Central  India,  offered  a  striking  proof  of  it.  During  the  wide-spread 
epidemic  of  cholera  in  Allahabad,  in  1859,  those  parts  of  the  garrison  whose  bar- 
racks had  the  advantage  of  having  trees  near  them  enjoyed  an  indisputable  ex- 
emption, and  precisely  in  proportion  to  the  thickness  and  nearness  of  the  shelter. 
Thus  the  European  Cavalry  in  the  Wellington  Barracks,  which  stand  between 
four  rows  of  mango  trees,  but  are  yet  to  a  certain  extent  open,  suffered  much 
less  than  the  Fourth  European  Eegiment,  whose  quarters  were  on  a  hill  exposed 
to  the  full  force  of  the  wind ;  while  the  Bengal  Horse  Artillery,  who  were  in  a 
thicket  of  mango-trees,  had  not  a  single  case  of  sickness;  and  the  exemption 
cannot  be  regarded  as  accidental,  as  the  next  year  the  comparative  immunity 
was  precisely  the  same."  ' 

We  need  not,  however,  go  to  India  to  observe  similiar  instances 
of  the  influence  of  a  certain  degree  of  moisture  in  the  soil  favored  by 
woods  or  other  conditions  ;  we  can  find  them  much  nearer  home.  In 
the  cholera  epidemic  of  1854,  in  Bavaria,  it  was  generally  observed 
that  the  places  in  the  moors  were  spared,  in  spite  of  the  otherwise 
bad  condition  of  the  inhabitants.  The  great  plain  of  the  Danube 
from  Neuburg  to  Ingolstadt  was  surrounded  by  places  where  it  was 
epidemic,  while  in  the  plain  itself  there  were  but  a  few  scattered 
cases.  The  same  thing  has  been  demonstrated  by  Reinhard,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Saxon  Medical  College.  Cholera  has  visited  Saxony  eight 
times  since  1836,  and  every  time  it  spared  the  northerly  district  be- 
tween Pleisse  and  Spree,  where  ague  is  endemic. 

In  the  English  Garden  at  Munich  there  are  several  buildings,  not 
sparsely  tenanted — the  Diana  Baths,  the  Chinese  Tower,  with  a 
tavern  and  out-buildings,  the  Gendarmerie  Station,  and  the  Kleinkes- 
sellohe.  In  the  three  outbreaks  of  cholera  at  Munich  none  of  these 
places  have  been  affected  by  it.  This  fact  is  the  more  surprising,  as 
three  of  them  comprise  public  taverns  into  which  the  disease  germs 
must  have  been  occasionally  introduced  by  the  public  ;  yet  there  was 
1  "Report  on  the  Treatment  of  Epidemic  Cholera,"  1869,  p.  4. 


428  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

no  epidemic  in  these  houses,  although  it  prevailed  largely  immediately 
beyond  the  English  Garden  and  close  to  the  Diana  Baths  in  1854  and 
1873.  It  must  have  been  accidental  that  no  isolated  cases  occurred, 
as  the  inmates  of  the  Chinese  Tower,  or  the  Kleinkessellohe,  might 
have  caught  it  in  Munich  as  others  did  who  came  from  a  distance, 
but,  had  there  been  single  cases,  probably  no  epidemic  would  have 
occurred  in  these  houses. 

Even  if  these  deductions  must  be  accepted  with  caution  from  an 
etiological  point  of  view,  still,  on  the  whole,  they  indisputably  tell  in 
favor  of  trees  and  woods. 

Surface  vegetation  has  also  other  advantages,  besides  its  use  in 
regulating  the  moisture  in  the  soil ;  it  purifies  it  from  the  drainage  of 
human  habitations,  whereby  it  is  contaminated  and  impregnated.  If 
this  refuse  matter  remains  in  soil  destitute  of  growing  vegetation, 
further  decomposition  sets  in,  and  other  processes  are  induced,  not 
always  of  a  salubrious  nature,  but  often  deleterious,  the  products  of 
which  reach  us  by  means  of  air  or  water,  and  may  penetrate  into  our 
houses.  But  from  this  indisputable  fact  false  conclusions  are  some- 
times drawn.  Many  people  imagine  that  if  a  few  old  trees  are  left 
standing  in  an  open  space  their  roots  will  absorb  all  the  impurities 
from  the  houses  around,  and  render  the  refuse  which  accumulates 
beneath  them  innocuous.  This  idea  is  not  only  false  in  a  sanitary 
point  of  view,  but  very  injurious,  as  it  prevents  people  from  taking 
the  measures  which  alone  can  keep  the  ground  under  our  houses 
pure. 

We  will  now  explain  why  the  shade  of  gardens  and  woods  is  at 
certain  seasons  so  beneficial.  The  human  race  during  its  pilgrimage 
on  earth  and  wanderings  over  it  has  many  difficult  tasks  to  perform. 
One  of  the  most  difficult  is  involved  in  the  necessity  that  all  our  in- 
ternal organs,  and  the  blood,  whether  at  the  equator  or  the  north- 
pole,  should  retain  an  equable  temperature  of  37^°  Centigrade  (98° 
Fahr.).  Deviations  of  but  one  degree  are  signs  of  serious  illness. 
The  blood  of  the  negro  and  that  of  the  Esquimaux  is  of  the  same  tem- 
perature, while  the  one  lives  in  a  temperature  of  40°  above,  and  the 
other  40°  below  zero  (Centigrade).  A  difference  of  80°  has  therefore 
to  be  equalized. 

Our  organism,  doubtless,  possesses  a  special  apparatus  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  colossal  task,  self-acting  sluices  so  to  speak,  by  means 
of  which  more  or  less  of  the  heat  generated  in  the  body  passes  off: 
these  consist  mainly  in  the  increase  or  diminution  of  the  peripheric 
circulation,  and  the  action  of  the  pores  of  the  skin.  But  we  soon  come 
to  the  end  of  our  natural  regulating  appai-atus,  and  have  to  resort  to 
artificial  means.  Against  cold  we  have  excellent  methods  in  clothing, 
dwellings,  and  fires  ;  but  at  present  our  precautions  against  heat  are 
very  limited.  This  is,  doubtless,  the  reason  why  higher  civilization 
has  extended  so  much  farther  toward  the  polar  regions  than  toward 


THE  HYGIENIC  INFLUENCE   OF  PLANTS.        429 

the  equator.  The  Germanic  races,  particularly,  inevitably  degenerate 
after  living  for  a  few  generations  in  the  tropics,  and  must  be  con- 
tinually renewed  by  immigration  if  they  desire  to  retain  supremacy, 
as  is  proved  by  the  case  of  the  English  in  India.  They  will  not  be 
able  to  settle  there  and  maintain  the  characteristics  which  have  made 
them  dominant,  until  means  have  been  found  of  diminishing  the  heat 
of  the  body  at  pleasure,  as  we  are  able  to  maintain  it  in  the  north. 
At  present  our  remedies  against  heat  are  baths,  fans,  and  shade. 

We  lose  the  heat  of  our  bodies  in  three  different  ways :  by  the 
medium  in  which  we  are, generally  the  air,  and  which  can  be  warmed; 
by  the  evaporation  of  perspiration  ;  and  by  radiation  from  bodies  of  a 
lower  temperature,  not  taking  into  account  a  small  portion  of  heat 
which  goes  off  in  mechanical  labor.  Under  ordinary  circumstances 
in  temperate  climates,  we  lose  half  the  heat  generated  by  radiation, 
one-fourth  by  evaporation,  and  one-fourth  by  the  conducting  medium 
in  which  we  are.  In  proportion  as  any  of  these  methods  is  diminished, 
one  or  both  the  others  must  be  increased.  As  long  as  possible,  our 
organisms  are  so  obliging  as  to  open  and  close  the  sluices  themselves 
without  our  cognizance,  provided  that  our  regulating  apparatus  is  in 
order,  that  we  are  not  ill.  It  is  only  when  our  good  servant  the  skin, 
under  certain  conditions,  has  come  to  an  end  of  its  powers,  that  we 
begin  to  feel  that  we  must  lend  our  aid.  And  thus  we  have  found  by 
experience  that,  in  hot  weather,  shade  helps  the  body  to  keep  cool  to 
the  needful  extent.  The  chief  effect  of  shelter  is  to  prevent  the  sun's 
rays  from  striking  us  directly  ;  but,  if  this  were  all,  it  would  be  as 
cool  in  the  height  of  summer  in-doors,  or  even  under  the  leaden  roofs 
of  Venice,  which  have  driven  many  to  frenzy  and  desperation,  as  un- 
der the  shade  of  a  tree  or  in  a  wood.  It  also  makes  a  great  difference 
whether  the  sun's  rays  fall  on  thick  foliage  or  on  a  roof  of  slate  or 
metal.  A  great  deal  of  heat  is  neutralized  by  evaporation  from  the 
leaves ;  another  portion  by  the  decomposition  of  carbonic  acid,  just 
so  much  as  is  set  free  when  we  burn  the  wood  and  other  organic  com- 
binations into  the  composition  of  which  it  enters.  The  heat  produced 
by  burning  wood  in  a  stove  is  derived  from  the  sun ;  it  is  but  the 
captured  rays  of  the  sun  again  set  free  by  combustion.  We  learn 
from  Ebermayer's  work  that  the  temperature  of  the  trees  in  a  forest, 
and  even  in  the  tops  of  them,  is  always  lower  than  the  air  in  the 
forest. 

Besides  this,  shade  in  the  open  air  always  causes  a  certain  draught 
which  acts  as  a  kind  of  fan.  All  must  have  noticed  when  walking  in 
oppressive  heat,  when  the  air  seems  still  as  death,  that  a  refreshing 
breeze  arises  as  soon  as  a  cloud  casts  a  shade.  The  same  thing  may 
often  be  observed  in  summer  in  walking  through  a  street  with  close 
rows  of  houses,  when  the  air  is  still,  and  one  side  is  sunny,  the  other 
in  shade.  On  the  sunny  side  there  is  not  a  breath  of  air,  while  on  the 
other  there  may  be  a  light  breeze.     This  is  easily  explained  ;  so  far  as 


430  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  shade  extends  the  air  is  cooler  than  in  the  sun ;  layers  of  air  of 
unequal  warmth  are  of  different  gravity,  and  this  difference  of  temper- 
ature is  the  cause  of  the  motion  in  the  air. 

The  shade  of  a  single  tree,  therefore,  cools  not  only  by  intercept- 
ing the  sun's  rays,  but  also  by  the  effect  of  gentle  fanning.  The  shel- 
ter of  a  thick  wood,  however,  is  much  more  agreeable  than  that  of  a 
single  tree.  The  air  in  a  wood  is  cooler  than  that  of  an  open  space 
exposed  to  the  sun.  The  air  from  outside  is  drawn  into  the  wood,  is 
cooled  by  it,  and  cools  us  again.  And  it  is  not  only  the  air  that 
cools  us,  but  the  trees  themselves.  Observation  has  shown  that  the 
trunks  of  trees  in  a  wood  breast-high,  even  at  the  hottest  time  of  day, 
are  5°  Centigrade  cooler  than  the  air.  We  therefore  lose  considerable 
heat  by  radiation  to  these  cooler  objects,  and  can  cool  ourselves  more 
easily  at  a  temperature  of  25°  Centigrade  in  a  wood  than  at  a  much 
lower  temperature  in  an  open  space.  When  the  objects  around  us  are 
as  warm  as  ourselves  we  lose  nothing  by  radiation  ;  what  is  radiated 
from  us  is  radiated  back  by  them.  This  is  why  we  are  so  uncomfort- 
able in  heated  and  overcrowded  rooms.  It  is  generally  set  down  to 
bad  air,  and  this  does  certainly  contribute  to  it,  but  it  is  chiefly  the 
result  of  disturbed  distribution  of  heat,  as  has  been  plainly  shown  by 
experiments  on  the  composition  of  such  air,  which  makes  many  people 
feel  ill. —  Contemporary  Mevieto. 


■-•*+- 


COUNTING  BY  THE   AID   OF  THE  FINGERS. 

By  Prof.  JOHN  TEOWBEIDGE. 

ONE  cannot  with  any  reason  contend  that  the  universal  possession 
of  ten  fino-ers  argues  a  natural  tendency  of  the  human  mind 
toward  the  decimal  system  ;  it  is  certainly  true,  however,  that  multi- 
tudes of  men  and  women  find  their  fingers  of  great  assistance  in 
arithmetical  operations.  The  intelligent  school-teacher  is  apt  to  dis- 
courage the  pupil's  use  of  the  fingers  in  addition,  and  to  encourage 
mental  counting  without  their  aid.  I  have  been  interested  to  discover 
the  nature  of  this  mental  process  which  goes  on  apparently  without 
the  aid  of  the  hands.  From  questioning  a  large  number  of  persons,  I 
find  that  five  or  six  is  the  limit  to  the  numbers  of  things  which  one 
can  repeat,  and  also  keep  the  count.  Of  course,  this  limit  can  be 
much  exceeded  by  practice ;  one  person  who  was  interrogated  could 
count  up  to  fifty,  but  he  was  an  astronomer.  Most  persons  reply  to 
the  interrogatory,  "  How  do  you  keep  the  count  ?  "  by  saying,  "  I  run 
up  to  five,  and  then  again  to  five,  and  so  on."  In  most  cases  it  was 
found  that  a  subdivision  into  ones  and  twos  preceded  this  division  into 
fives.     The  division  into  twos  seemed  to  be  the  most  common ;  by 


COUNTING  BY   THE  AID    OF   THE  FINGERS.     431 


accenting  every  second  number  it  is  not  difficult  to  run  up  to  six  or 
eight,  and  still  keep  the  count.  In  reflecting  upon  the  answers  to  my 
interrogatories,  I  was  led  to  believe  that  the  possession  of  ten  fingers 
was  not  the  only  cause  of  our  counting  by  fives  and  tens,  but  that  a 
certain  rhythm  in  a  system  of  counting  by  twos  enabled  us  to  over- 
come a  resistance  to  memory. 

This  point  can  be  elucidated  in  the  following  manner :  If  we  desire 
to  keep  the  count  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  while  we  repeat  their 


names,    we   can 


arrange 


them 


B 


l-l 


Fig.  1. 


advantageously  in  a  system  of 
squares  separated  by  a  clamp 
of  two,  as  in  Fig.  1.  Here  we  A 
have  a  system  of  twos  counting 
up  to  ten.  A  system  of  mental  squares,  so  to  speak,  is  formed,  which 
enables  us  to  hold  the  numbers  apart,  and  to  form  a  distinct  classifi- 
cation.    This  system  is  capable  of  much  extension  :  for  instance,  we 


FIG. I 


FlG.I 


FI6.I 


FlG.I 


0- 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


can  readily  form  another  square  in  which  a  mental  diagram  like  Fig. 
1  is  placed  again  at  the  four  corners  of  a  square,  giving  us  forty ;  and 
the  system  of  squares  is  capable  of  much  further  extension  before  the 
mind  becomes  confused  and  loses  its  count.  In  repeating  these  dia- 
grams in  the  mind,  a  certain  rhythm  will  be  perceived  which  is  want- 
ing when  we  use  the  system  of  triangles  which  is  represented  in  Fig. 
3,  or  a  system  of  pentagons  or  hexagons.  Indeed,  with  the  last-named 
figures  great  mental  confusion  speedily  arises ;  the  mental  resistance 
to  holding  a  clear  image  of  a  square  or  triangle  in  the  mind  is  much 
less  than  that  which  arises  when  we  wish  to  behold  mentally  a  penta- 
gon or  a  hexagon. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  prove  a  close  relation  between  the 
forms  of  verse  and  the  instruments  by  which  a  mathematician  mounts 
to  the  expression  of  thought.  The  commonest  forms  of  verse  are 
written  in  four  or  five  feet.  In  reading  such  lines  the  memory  retains 
the  rhythm  and  the  words  of  each  line  without  effort.  When,  how- 
ever, we  increase  the  number  of  feet  in  the  verse,  their  length  becomes 
cumbrous  and  the  memory  flags.  No  system  of  squares  or  triangles 
can  obviate  this  difficulty.  A  system  of  geometrical  mnemonics  could 
undoubtedly  be  based  upon  the  preceding  exemplifications. 

In  the  early  dawn  of  human  knowledge  the  arrangement  of  points 
in  squares  and  triangles,  and  the  further  conception  of  areas  by  their 
subdivision  into  triangles,  undoubtedly  arose  from  the  inability  of  the 


432  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

human  mind  to  retain  distinct  images  of  figures  more  complicated 
than  rectangles  or  squares.  In  the  case  of  curved  lines,  the  mind  has 
a  tendency  to  refer  all  arcs  to  circles,  since  a  circle  forms  as  definite  a 
conception  as  a  square.  The  fact  that  it  is  made  up  of  an  infinite 
number  of  straight  lines  has  significance  only  to  a  geometer. 


MODERN  LIFE  AND  INSANITY. 

By  DANIEL  HACK  TUKE,  M.  D. 

THE  relation  between  modern  civilized  life  and  insanity  cannot  be 
regarded  as  finally  determined  while  a  marked  difference  of 
opinion  exists  in  regard  to  it  among  those  who  have  studied  the 
subject ;  nor  can  this  difference  be  wondered  at  by  any  one  who  has 
examined  the  data  upon  which  a  conclusion  must  be  formed,  and  has 
found  how  difficult  it  is  to  decide  in  which  direction  some  of  the  evi- 
dence points.  Statistics  alone  may  prove  utterly  fallacious.  Mere 
speculation,  on  the  other  hand,  is  useless,  and  indeed  is  only  mislead- 
ing. It  is  a  matter  on  which  it  is  tempting  to  write  dogmatically, 
but  where  the  honest  inquirer  is  quickly  pulled  up  by  the  hard  facts 
that  force  themselves  on  his  attention.  Nothing  easier  than  to  in- 
dulge in  unqualified  denunciations  of  modern  society;  nothing  more 
difficult  than  a  cautious  attempt  to  connect  the  social  evils  of  the 
present  day  with  the  statistics  of  lunacy.  Nothing  easier  than  to 
make  sweeping  statements  without  proof,  nothing  more  difficult  than 
to  apportion  the  mental  injury  respectively  caused  by  opposite  modes 
of  life;  totally  diverse  social  states  of  a  nation  often  leading  to  the 
same  termination — insanity.  These  are  closely  bound  together  in  the 
complex  condition  of  modern  civilized  society.  No  doubt  if  we  care 
for  truth,  and  avoid  rash  assertions,  we  do  it  at  the  expense  of  a  cer- 
tain loss  of  force  and  incisiveness.  Dogmatic  statements  usually  pro- 
duce more  effect  than  carefully-balanced  and  strictly  logical  positions. 
Honesty,  however,  compels  us  to  speak  cautiously,  and  to  confess  the 
difficulties  to  which  we  have  referred. 

We  shall  not  enter  at  length  into  the  question  which  is  at  once 
raised  by  an  inquiry  into  the  relation  between  modern  life  and  in- 
sanity— whether  lunacy  is  on  the  increase  in  England.  Twenty  years 
ago  there  was  one  lunatic  or  idiot  officially  reported  to  577  of  the 
population;  the  latest  returns  place  it  as  high  as  one  in  370.  Were 
we  to  go  further  back,  the  contrast  would  be  far  greater.  That  the 
increase  of  known  cases  of  insanity  has  been  very  great,  no  one, 
therefore,  disputes.  Further,  that  the  attention  paid  to  the  disease; 
the  provision  made  for  the  insane;  the  prolongation  of  their  lives  in 
asylums,  and  the  consequent  accumulation  of  cases,  and  other  circum- 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  433 

stances  into  which  our  limits  forbid  us  to  enter,  account  for  the  greater 
part  of  this  alarming  apparent  increase,  is  certain.  Whether,  how- 
ever, there  is  not  also  an  actual  increase,  unaccounted  for  by  popula- 
tion, or  by  accumulation,  remains  an  open  question,  which  statistics 
do  not  absolutely  determine.  At  the  same  time  we  think  that  it  is 
quite  probable  that  there  has  been  some  real  increase. 

To  what  social  class  do  the  great  mass  of  our  lunatics  belong,  and 
to  what  grade  of  society  does  the  striking  apparent  increase  of  the 
insane  point?  The  large  majority  of  lunatics  under  legal  restraint 
undoubtedly  belong  to  the  pauper  population.  On  the  1st  of  January, 
1877,  of  the  total  number  of  patients  in  asylums  and  elsewhere  (in 
round  numbers  66,600),  about  59,000  were  pauper,  and  only  7,600 
private  patients.  These  figures,  however,  fail  to  convey  a  correct 
statement  of  the  relative  amount  of  insanity  existing  among  the  class 
of  the  originally  poor  and  uneducated  masses  and  the  class  above 
them,  because  in  a  considerable  number  of  instances  members  of  the 
middle  and  still  higher  classes  have  become  paupers.  Again,  the 
wealthy  insane  remain  very  frequently  at  home,  and  do  not  appear  in 
the  official  returns.  We  believe  this  class  to  be  very  large.  Probably 
we  get  a  glimpse  of  it  from  the  census  of  1871,  which  contained  69,- 
000  lunatics,  idiots,  and  imbeciles  (and  we  have  good  reasons  for 
knowing  that  this  return  was  very  far  short  of  the  truth),  yet  it  ex- 
ceeded the  number  given  by  the  Lunacy  Commissioners  in  the  same 
year  by  12,000!  A  large  number  no  doubt  lived  with  their  families 
because  these  could  well  afford  to  keep  them  at  home.  None  would 
be  in  receipt  of  relief,  or  they  would  have  appeared  in  the  Commis- 
sioners' Report.  Another  most  important  qualifying  consideration 
remains — the  relative  numbers  of  the  classes  of  society  from  which  the 
poor  and  the  well-to-do  lunatics  are  derived.  Several  years  ago  the 
Scotch  commissioners  estimated  the  classes  from  which  private  pa- 
tients are  derived  at  only  about  an  eighth  of  the  entire  population  of 
Scotland  ;  a  proportion  which  would  make  them  at  least  as  relatively 
numerous  as  the  pauper  lunatics.  No  doubt  in  England  the  corre- 
sponding class  of  society  is  a  larger  one ;  but  whatever  it  may  be,1 
a  calculation  based  upon  the  relative  proportion  of  different  social 
strata  in  this  country  would  vastly  reduce  the  apparent  enormously 
different  liability  to  insanity  among  the  well-to-do  and  the  poorer  sec- 
tions of  the  community,  although,  with  this  correction,  the  pauper 
lunatics  would  still  be  relatively  in  the  majority. 

The  disparity  between  the  absolute  number  of  pauper  and  private 

1  We  are  informed  by  Dr.  Fair  that  the  proportion  between  the  upper  and  middle 
classes  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  lower  classes  on  the  other,  is  as  15  to  85.  Calculated 
on  this  basis,  the  proportion  of  private  and  pauper  lunatics  to  their  respective  popula- 
tions would  be  one  in  484  for  the  former,  and  one  in  353  for  the  latter — a  very  different 
result  from  that  obtained  by  the  usual  method  of  calculating  the  ratio  of  private  and 
pauper  lunatics  to  the  whole  population,  viz.,  one  in  3,231,  and  one  in  415. 
vol.  xii. — 28 


434  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

patients  has  greatly  increased  in  recent  years.  In  other  words,  the 
apparent  increase  of  insanity  is  mainly  marked  among  those  who  be- 
come pauper  patients.  This  is  certainly  in  great  measure  accounted 
for  by  the  disproportionate  accumulation  of  cases  in  pauper  asylums, 
for  reasons  into  which  it  is  not  now  needful  to  enter.  It  assuredly 
does  not  prove  that  there  has  been  anything  like  a  corresponding 
growth  of  insanity  among  the  poor  as  compared  with  the  rich. 

In  any  case,  however,  the  illiterate  population  does  yield  a  very 
serious  amount  of  insanity,  and  the  fact  is  so  patent  that  it  shows  be- 
yond a  doubt  that  ignorance  is  no  proof  against  the  inroads.of  the 
disease.  The  absence  of  rational  employment  of  the  mental  powers 
may  lead  to  debasing  habits  and  to  the  indulgence  in  vices  especially 
favorable  to  insanity,  less  likely  to  attract  a  mind  occupied  with  lit- 
erary and  scientific  pursuits.  No  doubt  mental  stagnation  is  in  itself 
bad,  but  the  insanity  arising  out  of  it  is  more  frequently  an  indirect 
than  a  direct  result.  If  a  Wiltshire  laborer  is  more  liable  to  insanity 
than  other  people,  it  may  be  not  merely  because  his  mind  is  in  an  un- 
cultivated condition,  but  rather  because  his  habits,1  indirectly  favored 
by  his  ignorance,  and  the  brain  he  inherited  from  parents  indulging 
in  like  habits,  tend  to  cause  mental  derangement.  It  is  conceivable 
that  he  might  have  had  no  more  mental  cultivation,  and  yet  have 
been  so  circumstanced  that  there  would  have  been  very  little  liability 
to  the  disease.  This  distinction  is  extremely  important  if  we  are 
tracing  causes,  however  true  it  would  remain  that  ignorance  is  a 
great  evil.  A  South-Sea  islander  might  be  much  more  ignorant  than 
the  Wiltshire  laborer,  and  yet  not  be  so  circumstanced  that  he  wTould 
be  likely  to  transgress  the  laws  of  mental  health.  The  ignorance  of 
an  African  tribe  and  that  of  a  village  in  Wilts  may  be  associated,  the 
one  with  very  little,  the  other  with  very  much  lunacy.  Mr.  Bright's 
"residuum"  of  a  civilized  people  and  a  tribe  of  North  American  In- 
dians are  alike  uneducated,  but,  notwithstanding,  present  totally  dif- 
ferent conditions  of  life.  We  have  no  doubt  that  in  a  civilized  com- 
munity there  will  always  be  found  by  far  the  larger  number  of  insane 
persons.  There  are  three  grand  reasons  for  this.  First,  because  those 
who  do  become  insane,  or  are  idiotic  among  savages,  "  go  to  the  wall " 
as  a  general  rule  ;  the  other  reasons  are  to  be  discovered  in  the  mixed 
character  and  influence  of  European  civilization  ;  its  action  on  the 
one  hand  in  evolving  forms  of  mental  life  of  requisite  delicacy  and 
sensibility,  easily  injured  or  altogether  crushed  by  the  rough  blasts 
from  which  they  cannot  escape  in  life  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  in  pro- 
ducing a  state  confounded,  as  we  have  said,  with  savagery,  but  which 
differs  widely  from  it,  and  is,  simply  in  relation  to  mental  disorders, 
actually  worse.     Recklessness,  drunkenness,  poverty,  misery,  charac- 

1  Dr.  Thurnam,  the  late  superintendent  of  the  Wilts  County  Asylum,  found  that  the 
proportion  of  cases  caused  by  drink  in  this  county  was  very  high — in  one  year  (1872) 
amounting  to  thirty-four  per  cent. 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  435 

terize  the  class ;  and  no  wonder  that  from  such  a  source  spring  the 
hopelessly  incurable  lunatics  who  crowd  our  pauper  asylums,  to  the 
horror  of  rate-payers,  and  the  surprise  of  those  who  cannot  understand 
why  the  natives  of  Madagascar,  though  numbering  about  5,000,000, 
do  not  require  a  single  lunatic  asylum.  We  may  add  that  they  do 
not  destroy  the  few  insane  and  idiots  which  they  have. 

It  is  constantly  forgotten  that  while  there  is  nothing  better  than 
true  civilization,  there  is  something  worse  than  the  condition  of  cer- 
tain savages,  and  that  almost  anything  is  better  than  that  stratum  of 
civilized  society  which  is  squalid,  and  drunken,  and  sensual ;  cursed 
with  whatever  of  evil  the  ingenuity  of  civilized  man  has  invented, 
but  not  blessed  with  the  counteracting  advantages  of  civilization. 
The  conclusion,  so  far  from  damping  the  efforts  of  progress  and  mod- 
ern developments  of  science,  should  stimulate  us  to  improve  the 
moral  and  physical  condition  of  this  class,  and  so  lessen  the  dangers 
to  mental  disorder  among  them.  The  belief  that  savages  are  free 
from  some  of  the  insanity-producing  causes  prevalent  in  modern  civil- 
ized England,  is  quite  consistent  with  the  position  taken  in  this  arti- 
cle, that  education,  ample  mental  occupation,  knowledge,  and  the  reg- 
ularly trained  exercise  of  the  faculties,  exert  a  highly-beneficial  influ- 
ence upon  the.  mind,  and  thus  fortify  it  against  the  action  of  some  of 
the  causes  of  insanity. 

The  relative  liability  of  manufacturing  and  agricultural  districts 
to  mental  disease  has  excited  much  discussion.  This  has  partly  arisen 
from  the  assumption  that  the  latter  may  be  taken  as  the  representa- 
tives of  savages.  As  we  have  shown  this  to  be  false,  the  comparison 
between  these  two  districts  does  not,  from  this  point  of  view,  possess 
any  value.  On  other  grounds,  however,  it  would  be  very  interesting 
to  determine  whether  urban  or  rural  lunacy  is  most  rife.  Here,  how- 
over,  the  worthlessness  of  mere  statistics  is  singularly  evidenced,  and 
the  difficulty  of  actually  balancing  the  weight  of  various  qualifying 
circumstances  becomes  more  and  more  apparent.  An  agricultural 
county  may  be  found  here  and  there  with  less  lunacy  than  a  manu- 
facturing county,  but  if  a  group  of  counties  be  taken  in  which  the 
manufacturing  element  is  greatly  beyond  the  average,  and  another 
group  in  which  the  agricultural  element  greatly  preponderates,  we 
find  one  lunatic  to  463  of  the  county  population  in  the  former,  and 
one  to  388  in  the  latter,  showing  an  accumulation  of  more  insane 
paupers  in  the  agricultural  districts.  But  it  is  very  possible  that,  if 
we  knew  how  many  become  insane,  the  result  would  be  very  different 
indeed.  This,  in  fact,  has  been  found  to  be  the  case  in  Scotland, 
where  the  Lunacy  Commissioners  have  taken  great  pains  to  arrive  at 
the  real  truth.  In  a  recent  report  it  is  shown  that  while  three  High- 
land counties  have,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  a  decidedly 
heavier  persistent  burden  of  pauper  lunacy  than  two  manufacturing 
counties  which  are  chosen  for  comparison,  the  number  of  lunatics  re- 


456  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ceiving  relief — that  is,  actually  coming  under  treatment — is  propor- 
tionally larger  in  the  latter  than  in  the  former.  In  other  words,  the 
proportion  of  fresh  cases  of  pauper  lunacy  appearing  on  the  poor-roll 
is  higher  in  urban  than  rural  districts.  The  commissioners  refer  this 
result  partly  to  the  greater  prevalence  of  the  active  and  transitory 
forms  of  mental  disorder — cases  which  before  long  are  discharged — 
and  partly  to  the  greater  facility  of  obtaining  accommodation  in  an 
asylum  free  of  charge  in  a  city,  from  its  being  at  hand ;  and  the 
greater  wealth  of  the  urban  districts  offering  no  obstacle  to  admis- 
sion. They  attribute  the  above-mentioned  persistent  rural  lunacy 
chiefly  to  the  constant  migration  of  the  strong  from  the  rural  to  the 
urban  districts ;  the  necessary  exodus  of  the  physically  and  mentally 
healthy  leaving  behind  an  altogether  disproportionate  number  of  con- 
genital idiots,  imbeciles,  and  chronic  insane,  in  the  agricultural  coun- 
ties. Hence,  returning  to  England,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  mere 
ratio  of  accumulated  pauper  lunacy  to  the  county  population,  which 
is  constantly  relied  upon,  proves  little  or  nothing  as  to  the  relative 
liability  to  insanity  of  the  agricultural  and  manufacturing  districts. 
One  conclusion  only  can  be  safely  drawn  from  such  figures,  until 
minute  investigations  have  been  made  into  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing rural  and  urban  lunacy  in  England  as  has  been  done  in  Scotland 
— namely,  that  while  theory  is  apt  to  say  that  a  country  life,  passed, 
as  it  seems  to  be  supposed,  in  pastoral  simplicity,  will  not  admit  of 
the  entrance  of  madness  into  the  happy  valley,  fact  says  that,  what- 
ever may  be  the  ultimate  verdict  as  to  the  relative  proportion  of  urban 
and  rural  lunacy,  a  large  amount  of  insanity  and  idiocy  does  exist  in 
the  country  districts,  and  that  the  dull  swain,  with  clouted  shoon,but 
too  frequently  finds  his  way  into  the  asylum. 

A  glance  at  the  annual  reports  of  our  lunatic  asylums  reveals  the 
main  occupations  of  the  inmates  and  the  apparent  causes  of  their 
attacks.  In  a  county  asylum  like  Wilts  the  great  majority  of  pa- 
tients are  farm-laborers,  with  their  wives  and  daughters ;  and  next 
in  order,  domestic  servants  and  weavers.  The  number  of  farmers, 
or  members  of  their  families,  is  small.  The  character  of  the  occupa- 
tions in  the  population  of  an  asylum  like  that  for  the  borough  of 
Birmingham  of  course  differs.  Here  we  find  mechanics  and  artisans 
heading  the  lists,  with  their  wives.  Those  engaged  in  domestic  occu- 
pation form  a  large  number.  Shopkeepers  and  clerks  come  next  in 
order.  In  both  asylums  are  to  be  found  a  few  governesses  and  teach- 
ers. Innkeepers,  themselves  the  cause  of  so  much  insane  misery  in 
others,  figure  sparingly  in  these  tables. 

Among  the  causes,  intemperance  unmistakably  takes  the  lead. 
This  is  one  of  those  facts  which,  amid  much  that  is  open  to  difference 
of  opinion,  would  seem  to  admit  of  no  reasonable  doubt.  Secondly 
follows  domestic  trouble,  and  thirdly  poverty.  At  the  Birmingham 
Asylum,  out  of  4*70  admissions  in  three  years,  eleven  cases  were  at- 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  437 

tributed  to  "  over-application  " — a  proportion  much  lower  than  that 
observed  in  private  asylums. 

Recently,  Mr.  Whitcornbe,  assistant  medical  officer  at  the  Bir- 
mingham Borough  Asylum,  has  done  good  service  by  publishing  the 
fact  that,  during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  out  of  3,800  pauper  pa- 
tients admitted  into  that  asylum,  524,  or  fourteen  per  cent.,  had  their 
malady  induced  by  drink,  and  that  the  total  expenditure  thus  caused 
by  intemperance  amounted,  in  maintenance  and  cost  of  building,  etc., 
to  no  less  than  £50,373  during  that  period. 

Some  years  ago  we  calculated  the  percentage  of  cases  caused  by 
intemperance  "in  the  asylums  of  England,  and  found  it  to  be  about 
twelve.  This  proportion  would  be  immensely  increased  were  we  to 
add  those  in  which  domestic  misery  and  pecuniary  losses  owed  their 
origin  to  this  vice.  Although  rate-payers  grumble  about  the  building 
of  large  lunatic  asylums,  it  is  amazing  how  meekly  they  bear  with 
the  great  cause  of  their  burden,  and  how  suicidally  they  resent  any 
attempt  made  to  reduce  by  legislation  the  area  of  this  wide-spread 
and  costly  mischief. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  drink  produces  much  less  insanity  in 
Warwickshire  outside  Birmingham  than  in  Birmingham  itself. 

In  connection  with  this  aspect  of  the  question,  an  interesting  fact, 
recorded  by  Dr.  Yellowlees,  when  superintendent  of  the  Glamorgan 
County  Asylum,  may  be  mentioned:  that  during  a  "  strike"  of  nine 
months  the  male  admissions  fell  to  half  their  former  number,  the 
female  admissions  being  almost  unaffected.  "  The  decrease  is  doubt- 
lessly mainly  due  to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  money  to  spend  in  drink 
and  debauchery."  High  wages,  however,  would  be  infinitely  better 
than  strikes,  if  the  money  were  spent  in  good  food,  house-rent,  and 
clothing. 

The  diet  of  the  children  of  factory-operatives  in  Lancashire  points 
to  one  source  of  mental  degeneration  among  that  class.  Dr.  Fergus- 
son,  of  Bolton,  gave  important  evidence  not  long  ago  which  indicated 
the  main  cause  of  their  debility  and  stunted  development,  whether  or 
not  they  are  worse  now  than  they  were.  He  does  not  consider  that 
factory-labor  in  itself  operates  prejudicially,  and  reports  the  mills  to 
be  more  healthy  to  work  in  now  than  they  were  in  years  past.  The 
prime  cause  producing  the  bad  physical  condition  of  the  factory-pop- 
ulation is,  in  his  opinion,  the  intemperate  habits  of  the  factory -work- 
ers. By  free  indulgence  in  stimulants  and  in  smoking,  the  parents 
debilitate  their  own  constitutions,  and  transmit  feeble  ones  to  their 
children.  Instead  of  rearing  them  on  milk  after  they  are  weaned, 
they  give  them  tea  or  coffee  in  a  morning,  and  in  too  many  instances 
they  feed  them  upon  tea  three  times  a  day.  In  short,  they  get  very 
little  milk. 

Mr.  Redgrave,  the  Senior  Inspector  of  Factories,  does  not  consider 
that  this  miserable  state  of  things  has  increased — we  hope  not — but 


438  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

he  admits  that  more  women  are  employed  in  the  mills  than  formerly, 
and  that  this  is  most  disastrous  to  the  training  of  children.  Some 
curious  figures  have  been  published,  showing  the  weight  of  children 
at  various  years  of  age  in  the  factory  and  agricultural  districts  the 
comparison  being  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

Another  cause  of  deterioration  mentioned  is  that  at  least  one-half 
of  the  boys  in  the  mills  from  twelve  to  twenty  years  of  age  either 
smoke  or  chew  tobacco,  or  do  both — a  habit  most  prejudicial  to  the 
healthy  development  of  the  nervous  system.     It  was  recently  ob- 
served by  Mr.  Mundella  that  the  lad  who  began  at  eight  years  of  age 
in  a  mine  without  education,  and  who  was  associated  with  men  whose 
whole  ambition  was  a  gallon  of  beer  and  a  bull-dog,  was  not  likely  to 
grow  up  to  be  a  Christian  and  a  gentleman.     We  may  add  he  would 
be  very  likely  to  end  his  days  either  in  a  prison  or  in  a  pauper  asylum. 
It  is  observed  in  a  recent  report  of  the  Royal  Edinburgh  Asylum  that 
"  such  coal  and  iron  mining  counties  as  Durham  and  Glamorgan  pro- 
duce, in  twice  the  proportion  we  do,  the  most  marked  and  fatal  of  all 
the  brain-diseases  caused  by  excesses."     It  may  be  stated  that  the 
relation  between  crime  and  insanity,  especially  weak-mindedness,  is 
one  of  the  most  intimate  character,  both  in  regard  to  the  people  who 
commit  criminal  acts  and  their  descendants.     Our  examination  of  the 
mental  condition  of  convicts,  and  of  their  physiognomy  and  cerebral 
development,  has  long  convinced  us  that  a  large  number  of  this  class 
are  mentally  deficient :   sometimes  from  birth;  at  other  times  their 
mental  development  being  arrested  by  their  wretched  bringing  up. 
From  the  reports  of  the  English  convict-prisons  generally,  it  appears 
that  one  in  every  twenty-five  of  the  males  is  of  weak  mind,  insane,  or 
epileptic,  without  including  those  sufficiently  insane  to  be  removed 
to  an  asylum.     The  resident  surgeon  to  the  general  prison  of  Scotland 
at  Perth   (Mr.  Thompson)   gives  a  proportion  of  twelve  per  cent., 
founded  upon  a  prison  population  of  6,000  prisoners. 

Having  referred  to  the  bearing  of  the  habits  of  one  large  portion 
of  the  population  upon  the  manufacture  of  insanity,  we  pass  on  to  the 
consideration  of  the  relation  between  higher  grades  of  modern  society 
and  mental  disorder.  It  has  been  observed  in  institutions  into  which 
private  and  pauper  patients  are  admitted,  that  the  moral  or  psychical 
causes  of  lunacy  are  more  frequently  the  occasion  of  the  attack  with 
the  former  than  the  latter  class.  This  is  not  always  accounted  for — 
as  might  have  been  expected — by  there  having  been  less  drink-pro- 
duced insanity  among  the  well-to-do  patients ;  for  in  the  Royal  Ed- 
inburgh Asylum,  where  this  disparity  strongly  comes  out,  there  is 
even  a  higher  percentage  of  insanity  from  this  cause  among  the  pri- 
vate than  the  pauper  lunatics.  The  history  of  the  daily  mode  of  life 
of  many  members  of  the  Stock  Exchange  would  reveal,  in  the  matter 
of  diet,  an  amount  of  alcoholic  imbibition  in  the  form  of  morning 
"  nips,"  wine  at  luncheon,  and  at  dinner,  difficult  to  realize  by  many 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  439 

of  less  porous  constitutions,  and  easily  explaining  the  disastrous  re- 
sults which  in  many  instances  follow,  sooner  or  later,  as  respects  dis- 
turbances of  the  nervous  system,  in  one  form  or  other.  In  fact,  by 
the  time  dinner  is  due,  the  stomach  is  in  despair,  and  its  owner  finds 
it  necessary  to  goad  a  lost  appetite  by  strong  pickles  and  spirits,  end- 
ing with  black  coffee  and  some  liqueur.  When  either  dyspepsia  or 
over-business  work  is  set  down  as  the  cause  of  the  insanity  of  such 
individuals,  it  should  be  considered  what  influence  the  amount  of 
alcohol  imbibed  has  exerted  upon  the  final  catastrophe  as  well  as 
the  assigned  cause.  But  whatever  may  be  the  relative  amount  of 
insanity  produced  among  the  affluent  and  the  poor,  of  this  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  that  certain  mental  causes  of  lunacy,  as  over-study  and 
business  worry,  produce  more  insanity  among  the  upper  than  the 
lower  classes.  We  have  examined  the  statistics  of  six  asylums  in 
England  for  private  patients  only,  and  have  found  this  to  be  the  case. 
At  one  such  institution,  Ticehurst,  Sussex,  we  find,  from  statistics 
kindly  furnished  us  by  Dr.  Newington,  that  out  of  266  admissions 
29  were  referred  to  over-study,  and  18  to  over-business  work.  Only 
2S  were  referred  to  intemperance.  Allowing  a  liberal  margin  for  the 
tendency  of  friends  to  refer  the  disease  to  the  former  rather  than  the 
latter  class,  the  figures  remain  striking,  as  pointing  to  the  influence 
of  so-called  overwork.  We  say  "  so-called  "  because  there  is  an  ap- 
parent and  fictitious  as  well  as  a  real  overwork.  Both,  however, 
may  terminate  in  nervous  disorder.  Overwork  is  often  confounded 
with  the  opposite  condition — want  of  occupation.  Civilization  and 
mental  strain  are  regarded  by  many  as  identical,  and  in  consequence 
much  confusion  is  caused  in  the  discussion  of  the  present  question. 
It  is  forgotten  that  an  idle  life,  leading  to  hysteria  and  to  actual  in- 
sanity, is  much  more  likely  to  be  the  product  of  civilization  than  of 
savagery  or  barbarism.  This  is  quite  consistent  with  the  other  truth, 
that  without  civilization  we  do  not  see  evolved  a  certain  high  pressure, 
also  injurious  to  mental  health.  A  London  physician,  Dr.  Wilks, 
when  speaking  of  a  common  class  of  cases,  young  women  without 
either  useful  occupation  or  amusements,  in  whom  the  moral  nature 
becomes  perverted,  in  addition  to  the  derangement  of  the  bodily 
health,  observes  that  the  mother's  sympathies  too  often  only  foster 
her  daughter's  morbid  proclivities,  by  insisting  on  her  delicacy  and  the 
necessity  of  various  artificial  methods  for  her  restoration.  It  is  obvi- 
ous that  such  a  case  as  this  is  the  very  child  of  a  highly-organized 
society,  that  is,  of  a  high  state  of  civilization,  and  yet  that  such  a 
young  lady  is  not  the  victim  of  high  pressure  or  mental  strain  in  her 
own  person,  although  it  is  certainly  possible  that  she  may  inherit  a 
susceptible  brain  from  an  overworked  parent.  However,  the  remedy 
is  work,  not  rest ;  occupation,  not  idleness.  We  certainly  do  not 
want  to  make  her  more  refined  or  artificial,  but  more  natural,  and  to 
occupy  herself  with  some  really  useful  work.     A  luxurious,  idle  life  is 


440  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

her  curse.  That  insanity  itself,  as  well  as  mere  hysteria,  is  developed 
by  such  a  mode  of  existence,  we-  fully  believe.  The  mind,  although 
not  uneducated,  deteriorates  for  want  of  either  healthy  intellectual 
excitement,  the  occupation  of  business,  or  the  necessary  duties  of  a 
family.  Life  must  have  an  aim,  although  to  achieve  it  there  ought 
not  to  be  prolonged  worry. 

In  the  same  way  there  is  the  lady  instanced  who  eats  no  breakfast, 
takes  a  glass  of  sherry  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  drinks  tea  all  the  after- 
noon, and  who,  "  when  night  arrives,  has  been  ready  to  engage  in  any 
performance  to  which  she  may  have  been  invited."  Clearly  she  is  the 
product  of  a  highly-artificial  mode  of  life,  found  in  the  midst  of  modern 
civilization.  She  is  certainly  not  suffering  from  mental  strain  ;  at  the 
same  time  she  is  the  outcome  of  the  progress  from  barbarism  and  the 
hardy  forms  of  early  national  life  to  our  present  complex  social  con- 
dition. We  have  particularly  inquired  into  cases  coming  under  our 
own  observation  in  regard  to  the  alleged  influence  of  overwork,  and 
have  found  it  a  most  difficult  thing  to  distinguish  between  it  and 
other  maleficent  agents  which,  on  close  observation,  were  often  found 
to  be  associated  with  it.  We  do  not  now  refer  to  the  circumstances 
which  almost  always  attach  themselves  to  mental  fatigue,  as  sleep- 
lessness, but  to  those  which  have  no  necessary  relation  to  them,  as 
vice.  Here  we  have  felt  bound  to  attribute  the  attack  to  both  causes, 
certainly  as  much  to  the  latter  as  the  former.  In  some  cases,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  could  not  doubt  that  long-continued  severe  mental 
labor  was  the  efficient  cause  of  derangement.  In  a  large  proportion 
of  other  cases  we  satisfied  ourselves  that  overwork  meant  not  only 
mental  strain,  but  the  anxiety  and  harass  which  arose  out  of  the  work 
in  which  a  student  or  literary  man  was  engaged.  The  overwork 
connected  with  business,  also  largely  associated  with  anxiety,  proved 
a  very  tangible  factor  of  insanity.  Indeed  it  is  always  sure  to  be  a 
more  tangible  factor  of  mental  disease  than  overwork  from  study, 
because  of  the  much  greater  liability  to  its  invasion  during  the  busi- 
ness period  of  brain-life  than  the  study  period.  At  Bedlam  Hospi- 
tal, Dr.  Savage  finds  that  there  are  many  cases  in  which  overwork 
causes  a  breakdown,  "  especially  if  associated  with  worry  and  money 
troubles."  Among  the  women,  the  cases  are  few  in  number.  In  one, 
where  there  was  probably  hereditary  tendency,  an  examination,  fol- 
lowed in  two  days  by  an  attack  of  insanity,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
exciting  cause.  Monotonous  work  long  continued  would  seem  to 
exert  an  unfavorable  influence  on  the  mind.  Letter-sorting,  short- 
hand writing,  and  continuous  railway-traveling,  are  instanced.  If 
diversified,  hard  work  is  much  less  likely  to  prove  injurious.  During 
a  year  and  a  half  twenty  men  and  eight  women  were  admitted  whose 
attacks  were  attributed  to  overwork.  The  employments  of  architect, 
surveyor,  accountant,  schoolmaster,  policeman,  and  boot-maker,  were 
here  represented.     Seven  were  clerks,  two  of  whom  were  law-writers; 


MODERN  LIFE  AND  INSANITY.  441 

two  were  students,  one  being  "  an  Oxford  man  who  bad  exhausted 
himself  in  getting  a  double  first,  and  the  other  a  medical  student  pre- 
paring for  his  second  college."  Of  the  women,  five  were  teachers, 
one  a  school-girl,  and  two  dressmakers.  Three  of  the  teachers  were 
in  elementary  schools,  one  a  governess  and  the  other  a  teacher  of 
music  and  languages.  If  overwork  alone  did  not,  strictly  speaking, 
cause  the  mental  breakdown,  still  the  concomitants  must  be  blamed 
for  these  melancholy  results. 

A  late  medical  officer  to  Rugby  School  (Dr.  Farquharson),  in  de- 
fending that  institution  from  a  charge  of  injury  in  the  direction  of 
which  we  now  speak,  considers  that  instances  of  mental  strain  are 
more  common  at  the  universities,  "  for  not  only  are  the  young  men  at 
a  more  sensitive  period  of  life,  but  they  natm-ally  feel  that  to  many 
of  them  this  is  the  great  opportunity — the  great  crisis  of  their  exist- 
ence— and  that  their  success  or  failure  will  now  effectually  make  or 
mar  their  career.  Here  the  element  of  anxiety  comes  into  play,  sleep 
is  disturbed,  exercise  neglected,  digestion  suffers,  and  the  inevitable 
result  follows  of  total  collapse,  from  which  recovery  is  slow  and  per- 
haps never  complete." — (Lancet,  January  1,  1876.)  He  thinks  he  has 
seen  an  increase  of  headaches  and  nervous  complaints  among  poor 
children  since  compulsory  attendance  at  board  schools  was  adopted, 
and  records  a  warning  against  too  suddenly  forcing  the  minds  of 
wretchedly-feeble,  ill-fed  and  ill-housed  children,  and  against  attempts 
to  make  bricks  too  rapidly  out  of  the  straw  which  is  placed  in  our 
hands. 

The  psychological  mischief  done  by  excessive  cramming  both  in 
some  schools  and  at  home  is  sufficiently  serious  to  show  that  the  reck- 
less course  pursued  in  many  instances  ought  to  be  loudly  protested 
against.  As  we  write,  four  cases  come  to  our  knowledge  of  girls  se- 
riously injured  by  this  folly  and  unintentional  wickedness.  In  one, 
the  brain  is  utterly  unable  to  bear  the  burden  put  upon  it,  and  the 
pupil  is  removed  from  school  in  a  highly-excitable  state ;  in  another, 
epileptic  fits  have  followed  the  host  of  subjects  pressed  upon  the 
scholar ;  in  the  third,  the  symptoms  of  brain-fog  have  become  so  ob- 
vious that  the  amount  of  schooling  has  been  greatly  reduced  ;  and,  in 
a  fourth,  fits  have  been  induced  and  complete  prostration  of  brain  has 
followed.  These  cases  are  merely  illustrations  of  a  class,  coming  to 
hand  in  one  day,  familiar  to  most  physicians.  The  enormous  number 
of  subjects  which  are  forced  into  the  curriculum  of  some  schools  and 
are  required  by  some  professional  examinations,  confuse  and  distract 
the  mind,  and  by  lowering  its  healthy  tone  often  unfit  it  for  the  world. 
While  insanity  may  not  directly  result  from  this  stuffing,  and  very 
likely  will  not,  exciting  causes  of  mental  disorder  occurring  in  later 
life  may  upset  a  brain  which,  had  it  been  subjected  to  more  moderate 
pressure,  would  have  escaped  unscathed.  Training  in  its  highest 
sense  is  forgotten  in  the  multiplicity  of  subjects,  originality  is  stunted 


442  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  individual  thirst  for  knowledge  overlaid  by  a  crowd  of  novel  the- 
ories based  upon  yet  unproved  statements.  Mr.  Brudenell  Carter,  in 
his  "Influence  of  Education  and  training  in  preventing  Diseases  of  the 
Nervous  System,"  speaks  of  a  large  public  school  in  London,  from 
which  boys  of  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age  carry  home  tasks  which 
would  occupy  them  till  near  midnight,  and  of  which  the  rules  and 
laws  of  study  are  so  arranged  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  suffi- 
cient recreation.  The  teacher  in  a  high-school  says  that  the  host  of 
subjects  on  which  parents  insist  upon  instruction  being  given  to  their 
children  is  simply  preposterous,  and  disastrous  alike  to  health  and 
to  real  steady  progress  in  necessary  branches  of  knowledge.  The 
other  day  we  met  an  examiner  in  the  street  with  a  roll  of  papers  con- 
sisting of  answers  to  questions.  He  deplored  the  fashion  of  the  day ; 
the  number  of  subjects  crammed  within  a  few  years  of  growing  life ; 
the  character  of  the  questions  which  were  frequently  asked ;  and  the 
requiring  a  student  to  master,  at  the  peril  of  being  rejected,  scientific 
theories,  and  crude  speculations,  which  they  would  have  to  unlearn  in 
a  year  or  two.  He  sincerely  pitied  the  unfortunate  students.  During 
the  last  year  or  two  the  public  have  been  startled  by  the  suicides 
which  have  occurred  on  the  part  of  young  men  preparing  for  exam- 
ination at  the  University  of  London ;  and  the  press  has  spoken  out 
strongly  on  the  subject.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  authorities  appear 
to  be  disposed  to  increase  instead  of  diminish  the  stringency  of  some 
of  the  examinations.  The  Lancet  has  recently  protested  against  this 
course  in  regard  to  the  preliminary  scientific  M.  B.  of  the  London 
University,  and  points  out  that  the  average  of  candidates  who  fail  at 
this  examination  is  already  about  forty  per  cent.,  and  that  these  in- 
clude many  of  the  best  students.  This  further  raising  of  the  standard 
will,  it  is  maintained,  make  a  serious  addition  to  the  labors  of  the  in- 
dustrious student  who  desires  the  M.  D.  degree.  Whether  this  par- 
ticular instance  is  or  is  not  a  fair  example,  we  must  say,  judging  from 
others,  that  it  seems  to  be  thought  that  the  cubic  capacity  of  the  Brit- 
ish skull  undergoes  an  extraordinary  increase  every  few  years,  and 
that  therefore  for  our  young  students  more  subjects  must  be  added  to 
fill  up  the  additional  space. 

The  master  of  a  private  school  informs  us  that  he  has  proof  of  the 
ill  effects  of  overwork  in  the  fact  of  boys  being  withdrawn  from  the 
keen  competition  of  a  public-school  career,  which  was  proving  inju- 
rious to  their  health,  and  sent  to  him,  that  they  might  in  the  less  am- 
bitious atmosphere  of  a  private  school  pick  up  health  and  strength 
again.  He  refers  to  instances  of  boys  who  had  been  crammed  and 
much  pressed  in  order  that  they  might  enter  a  certain  form  or  gain  a 
desired  exhibition,  having  reached  the  goal  successfully,  and  then 
stagnated.  He  says  that  the  too  extensive  curriculum  now  de- 
manded ends  in  the  impossibility  of  doing  the  work  thoroughly 
and  well.      You  must  either  force  unduly  or  not   advance  as  you 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  443 

would  wish  to  do ;  the  former  does  injury,  and  the  latter  causes  dis- 
satisfaction. 

Of  mental  stagnation  among  the  poor  we  have  already  spoken  ; 
an  analogous  condition  among  the  well-to-do  classes,  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  that  of  the  young  lady  already  described  as  seen  in  the 
London  physician's  consulting-room,  deserves  a  passing  observation. 
Excessive  activity  and  excessive  dullness  may  lead  to  the  same  dire 
result.  Hence  both  conditions  must  be  recognized  as  factors  in  the 
causation  of  mental  disease.  We  have  said  that  the  indirect  action 
of  the  latter  it  more  powerful  than  its  direct  action,  but  there  are  no 
doubt  cases  of  insanity  which  arise  from  the  directly  injurious  influ- 
ence of  intellectual  inactivity.  The  intelligence  is  inert ;  the  range 
of  ideas  extremely  limited  ;  the  mind  broods  upon  some  trivial  cir- 
cumstance until  it  becomes  exaggerated  into  a  delusion ;  the  mind 
feeds  upon  itself,  and  is  hyper-sensitive  and  suspicious,  or  it  may  be- 
come absorbed  in  some  morbid  religious  notions  which  at  last  exert  a 
paramount  influence  and  induce  religious  depression  or  exaltation. 
From  the  immediate  surroundings  of  the  individual,  whether  in  con- 
nection with  parental  training  or  from  ecclesiastical  or  theological 
influences,  or  perhaps  a  solitary  condition  of  life,  there  may  be  a  dan- 
gerously restricted  area  of  psychical  activity.  Prejudices  of  various 
kinds  hamper  the  free  play  of  thought ;  the  buoyancy  of  the  man's 
nature  is  destroyed ;  its  elasticity  broken  ;  its  strength  weakened  ; 
and  it  is  in  fine  reduced  to  a  state  in  which  it  is  a  prey  to  almost  any 
assertion  however  monstrous,  if  placed  before  it  with  the  solemn  sanc- 
tions which,  from  education,  habit,  or  predilection,  it  is  accustomed 
to  reverence.  Fantastic  scruples  and  religious  delusions  frequently 
spring  up  in  this  soil.  Such  persons  have  been  saved  from  the  evils 
of  drunkenness  and  vice ;  they  have  also  been  sheltered  from  worry 
and  excitement,  yet,  to  the  astonishment  of  many,  they  become  the 
inmates  of  a  lunatic  asylum.  They  have  in  truth  escaped  the  Scylla 
of  dissipation  or  drink,  only  to  be  shipwrecked  on  the  Charybdis  of  a 
dreary  monotony  of  existence.  On  this  barren  rock  not  a  very  few 
doubtless  perish,  and  if  parents  they  transmit,  to  a  posterity  deserving 
our  sincerest  pity,  mediocre  brains  or  irritably  susceptible  and  unsta- 
ble nerve-tissue. 

On  the  dangers  arising  from  waves  of  religious  excitement,  it 
would  be  easy  to  dilate,  but  we  shall  content  ourselves  with  remark- 
ing that,  if  they  have  been  exaggerated  by  some,  they  have  been  im- 
properly ignored  or  denied  by  others.  They  are  real ;  and  frightful 
is  the  responsibility  of  those  who,  by  excited  utterances  and  hideous 
caricatures  of  religion,  upset  the  mental  equilibrium  of  their  auditors, 
whether  men,  women,  or  children. 

One  remarkable  feature  of  modern  life — spiritualism — has  been 
said  to  produce  an  alarming  amount  of  insanity,  especially  in  America. 
It  has  been  recently  stated  by  an  English  writer  that  nearly  10,000 


444  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

persons  have  gone  insane  on  the  subject,  and  are  confined  in  asylums 
in  the  United  States ;  but  careful  inquiry,  made  in  consequence,  has 
happily  disproved  the  statement,  and  we  learn  that  the  amount  of 
insanity  produced  from  this  cause  is  almost  insignificant — much  less 
than  that  caused  by  religious  excitement. 

Looking  broadly  at  the  facts  which  force  themselves  upon  our  at- 
tention, we  may  say  that  a  study  of  the  relation  between  modern  life 
and  insanity  shows  that  it  is  of  a  many-sided  and  complex  character; 
that  the  rich  and  the  poor,  from  different  causes,  though  certainly  in 
one  respect  the  same  cause,  labor  under  a  large  amount  of  preventable 
lunacy ;  that  beer  and  gin,  mal-nutrition,  a  dreary  monotony  of  toil, 
muscidar  exhaustion,  domestic  distress,  misery  and  anxiety,  account 
largely,  not  only  for  the  number  of  the  poor  who  become  insane  in 
adult  life,  but  who,  from  hereditary  predisposition,  are  born  weak- 
minded  or  actually  idiotic  ;  that  among  the  middle  classes,  stress  of 
business,  excessive  competition,  failures,  and,  also  in  many  cases,  reck- 
less and  intemperate  living,  occasion  the  attack ;  while  in  the  upper 
classes  intemperance  still  works  woe — and  under  this  head  must  be 
comprised  lady  and  gentlemen  dipsomaniacs  who  are  not  confined  in 
asylums ;  that  while  multiplicity  of  subjects  of  study  in  youth  and 
excessive  brain-work  in  after-life  exert  a  certain  amount  of  injurious 
influence,  under-work,  luxurious  habits,  undisciplined  wills,  desultory 
life,  produce  a  crop  of  nervous  disorders,  terminating  not  unfrequently 
in  insanity.  In  a  state  of  civilization  like  ours,  it  must  also  happen 
that  many  children  of  extremely  feeble  mental  as  well  as  bodily  con- 
stitutions will  be  reared  who  otherwise  would  have  died.  These 
either  prove  to  be  imbeciles,  or  they  grow  up  only  to  fall  a  prey  to 
the  upsetting  influence  of  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  the  world.  A 
considerable  number  of  insane  persons  have  never  been  really  whole- 
minded  people ;  there  has,  it  will  be  found  on  careful  inquiry,  been 
always  something  a  little  peculiar  about  them,  and  when  their  past 
life  is  interpreted  by  the  attack  which  has  rendered  restraint  neces- 
sary, it  is  seen  that  there  had  been  a  smouldering  fire  in  the  constitu- 
tion for  a  lifetime,  though  now,  for  the  first  time,  bursting  forth  into 
actual  conflagration. 

Lastly,  modern  society  comprises  a  numerous  class  of  persons, 
well-meaning,  excitable,  and  morbidly  sensitive.  Some  of  these  are 
always  on  the  border-land  between  sanity  and  insanity,  and  their 
friends  are  sometimes  tempted  to  wish  that  they  would  actually  cross 
the  line,  and  save  them  from  constant  harass.  When  they  do,  it  is 
easier  to  make  allowance  for  them  and  their  vagaries. 

Whatever  uncertainty  there  may  attach  to  some  aspects  of  this 
inquiry,  unquestionable  conclusions  have  been  drawn ;  and,  if  these 
only  accord  with  results  arrived  at  from  other  considerations,  they 
are  valuable  as  confirming  them.  Had  there  appeared  to  be  among 
the  poor  and  ignorant  a  striking  immunity  from  attacks  of  insanity, 


MODERN  LIFE  AND   INSANITY.  445 

a  strong  argument  would  have  been  afforded,  and  would  probably 
have  been  employed,  against  the  extension  of  education  at  the  present 
day  to  the  working-classes.  Nothing,  however,  in  our  facts  or  figures 
supports  such  an  anti-progressive  view ;  and,  if  the  educated  classes 
did  not  sin  against  their  mental  health  in  so  many  ways,  they  would 
doubtless  compare  more  favorably  than  they  do,  in  fact  as  well  as  in 
mere  figures,  with  tht  uneducated  poor.  So  again  with  regard  to  in- 
temperance, and  all  that  it  involves,  in  spite  of  the  difficulty  of  dis- 
criminating between  the  many  factors  which  often  go  to  make  up  the 
sum  total  of  causes  of  an  attack,  we  have  no  doubt  of  the  large  influ- 
ence for  mental  evil  exerted  by  drink — always  admitting  that  where 
the  constitution  has  no  latent  tendency  to  insanity,  you  may  do  almost 
what  you  like  with  it,  in  this  or  any  other  way,  without  causing  this 
particular  disease.  A  man  will  break  down  at  his  weak  point,  be  it 
what  it  may. 

Again,  the  lessons  are  taugnt  of  the  importance,  not  of  mere  edu- 
cation, but  a  real  training  of  the  feelings ;  the  evil  of  mental  stagna- 
tion, not  simply  per  se,  but  from  the  train  of  sensual  degradation  in 
one  direction,  and  of  gloomy  fanaticism  in  the  other,  engendered,  and 
the  danger  of  dwelling  too  long  and  intently  on  agitating  religious 
questions,  especially  when  presented  in  narrow  and  exclusive  forms, 
which  drive  people  either  to  despair  or  to  a  perilous  exaltation 
of  the  feelings.  To  true  religious  reformers,  the  physician  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  causation  of  mental  disease  will  award  his  hearti- 
est approval.  Only  as  the  high  claims  of  duty,  demanded  from  man 
by  considerations  of  the  dependence  of  his  work  in  the  world  upon 
mental  health,  of  what  he  owes  to  his  fellow-men,  and  of  what  he 
owes  to  God,  are  fulfilled  as  well  as  acknowledged,  will  civilized  man 
benefit  by  his  civilization,  as  regards  the  prevention  of  insanity.  TTn- 
preventable  lunacy  will  still  exist,  but  a  great  saving  will  be  effected 
for  British  rate-payers  when  that  which  is  preventable  shall  have  been 
reduced  to  a  minimum  by  the  widest  extension  of  a  thorough  but  not 
oppressive  and  too  early  commenced  education,  by  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  ascertained  truths  of  physiological  and  medical  sci- 
ence, and  by  the  influence  of  a  Christianity,  deep  in  proportion  to  its 
breadth,  which  shall  really  lay  hold  of  life  and  conduct,  and  mould 
them  in  accordance  with  itself. — Macmillan's  Magazine. 


446  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


THE  GKOWTH  OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE.1 

By  Pkofessoe  E.  H.  THURSTON, 

OF    THE    STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY. 

IV. 

STEAM-NAVIGATION. 

72.  Among  the  most  interesting  of  the  applications  of  steam- 
power,  to  the  political  economist  and  to  the  historian,  as  well  as  to 
the  engineer,  is  its  use  in  ship-propulsion. 

In  the  modern  marine  engine  we  find  one  of  the  most  important 
adaptations  of  steam  machinery  and  the  greatest  of  all  the  triumphs 
of  the  mechanical  engineer. 

Although,  as  has  been  already  stated  in  previous  lectures,  at- 
tempts had  been  made,  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
to  successfully  effect  this  application  of  the  power  of  steam,  they  did 
not  succeed,  in  any  instance,  as  commercial  enterprises,  until  after 
that  date. 

Indeed,  it  is  but  a  few  years  ago  that  the  passage  across  the  At- 
lantic was  made  by  sailing-vessels  almost  exclusively,  and  that  the 
dangers,  the  discomforts,  and  the  irregularities  of  their  trips  were 
most  serious. 

Now,  hardly  a  day  passes  that  does  not  see  several  large  and 
powerful  steamers  leaving  the  ports  of  New  York  and  Liverpool  to 
make  the  same  voyages ;  and  their  passages  are  made  with  such  regu- 
larity and  safety  that  travelers  can  anticipate,  with  confidence,  the 
time  which  will  mark  the  termination  of  their  voyage,  predicting  the 
day  and  almost  the  hour  of  their  arrival,  and  can  cross  with  safety 
and  comparative  comfort,  even  amid  the  storms  of  winter. 

Yet,  all  that  we  to-day  see  of  the  extent  and  the  efficiency  of 
steam-navigation  has  been  the  work  of  the  present  century ;  and  it 
may  well  excite  both  our  wonder  and  our  admiration. 

73.  The  history  of  this  development  of  the  use  of  steam-power 
illustrates,  more  perfectly  than  any  other,  that  process  of  the  growth 
of  this  invention  which  has  been  already  referred  to.  We  can  here 
trace  it,  step  by  step,  from  the  earliest  and  rudest  devices  up  to  those 
most  recent  and  most  perfect  designs,  which  represent  the  most  suc- 
cessful existing  types  of  the  heat-engine — whether  considered  with 
reference  to  its  design  and  construction,  or  as  the  highest  application 
of  known  scientific  principles — that  have  yet  been  found  attainable  in 
even  the  present  advanced  state  of  the  mechanic  arts. 

74.  This  application  of  the  force  of  steam  was  very  possibly  anti- 

1  An  abstract  of  "  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine,"  to  be  published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


447 


cipated  800  years  ago  by  Roger  Bacon,  that  learned  Franciscan  monk 
who,  in  an  age  of  ignorance  and  intellectual  torpor,  wrote: 

"  I  will  now  mention  some  wonderful  works  of  art  and  Nature,  in  which 
there  is  nothing  of  magic  and  which  magic  could  not  perform. 

"  Instruments  may  be  made  by  which  the  largest  ships,  with  only 'one  man 
guiding  them,  will  be  carried  with  greater  velocity  than  if  they  were  full  of 
sailors,"  etc. 

For  many  years  before  even  the  first  promising  effort  had  been 
made,  the  minds  of  the  more  intelligent  had  been  prepared  to  appre- 
ciate the  invention  when  it  should  finally  be  brought  forward,  and 
were  ready  for  even  greater  wonders  than  have  yet  been  accom- 
plished. 

75.  The  earliest  attempt  to  propel  a  vessel  by  steam  is  claimed, 
by  Spanish  authorities,  as  it  has  been  stated,  to  have  been  made  by 
Blasco  de  Garay  in  the  harbor  of  Barcelona,  Spain,  in  1543. 

The  account  seems  somewhat  apocryphal,  and  the  experiment,  if 
made,  certainly  led  to  no  useful  results. 

76.  In  an  anonymous  English  pamphlet,  published  in  1651,1  which 
is  supposed,  by  Stuart,  to  have  been  written  by  the  Marquis  of 
Worcester,  an  indefinite  reference  to  what  may  probably  have  been 
the  steam-engine  is  made,  and  it  is  there  stated  to  be  capable  of  suc- 
cessful application  to  propelling  boats. 

77.  In  1690  Papin  proposed  to  use  his  piston-engine  to  drive 
paddle-wheels  to  propel  vessels;  and  in  1707  he  applied  the  steam- 
engine,  which  he  had  proposed  as  a  pumping-engine,  to  driving  a 
model  boat  on  the  Fulda,  at  Cassel. 

In  this  trial  he  probably  used  the  arrangement  of  which  a  sketch 


Fig.  44.— Papin's  Mabink  Engine,  1707. 

is  here  shown.     His  pumping-engine  forced  up  water  to  turn  a  water- 
wheel,  which,  in  turn,  was  made  to  drive  the  paddles,  as  in  Fig.  44. 

1  "Inventions  of  Engines  of  Motion,  recently  brought  to  Perfection,"  London,  1651. 
A  number  of  such  treatises,  vaguely  hinting  at  new  motors  for  propulsion  of  vessels,  ap- 
Deared  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 


448 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


An  account  of  bis  experiment  is  to  be  found  in  manuscript  in  the 
correspondence  between  Leibnitz  and  Papin,  preserved  in  tbe  Royal 
Library  at  Hanover. 

78.  December  21, 1736,  Jonathan  Hulls  took  out  an  English  patent 
for  the  use  of  a  steam-engine  for  ship-propulsion,  proposing  to  employ 
his  steamboat  in  towing. 

In  1737  he  published  a  well-written  pamphlet1  describing  this  ap- 
paratus, an  engraving  of  which  is  here  shown  in  fac-simile. 


:ii^!Bft&BfiSitee5*^S3&2art$!^iie§lfe 


Fig.  45.— Hulls's  Steam  Towboat,  1787. 


He  proposed  using  the  Newcomen  engine,  fitted  with  a  counter- 
poise weight,  and  a  system  of  ropes  and  grooved  wheels,  which,  by  a 
peculiar  ratchet-like  action,  gave  a  continuous  rotary  motion. 

There  is  no  positive  evidence  that  Hulls  ever  put  his  scheme  to 
the  test  of  experiment,  although  tradition  does  say  that  he  made  a 
model,  which  he  tried  with  such  ill  success  as  to  prevent  his  further 
prosecution  of  the  experiment.  Doggerel  rhymes  are  still  extant 
which  were,  it  is  said,  sung  by  his  neighbors  in  derision  of  his  folly, 
as  they  considered  it. 

79.  William  Henry,  of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  is  said  to 
have  constructed  a  model  steamboat  in  1763.  It  was  a  failure,  al- 
though not  a  discouraging  one. 

80.  In  1774  the  Comte  d'Auxiron,  a  French  nobleman,  and  a  gen- 
tleman of  some  scientific  attainments,  constructed  a  steamboat,  and 
tried  it  on  the  Seine,  with  the  aid  of  M.  Perier. 

This  experiment  proving  unsuccessful,  M.  Perier  built  another 
boat,  which  lie  tried  independently  in  1775,  but  was  again  unsuccess- 
ful, owing  principally  to  the  small  power  of  his  engine. 

81.  In  1778,  and  again  in  1781  or  1 782,  the  French  Marquis  de 
Jouffroy,  who,  in  his  later  experiments,  used  quite  a  large  vessel, 
succeeded  in  obtaining  such  good  results  as  to  encourage  him  to  per- 
severe, but,  political  disturbances  driving  him  from  his  country,  his 
labors  terminated  abruptly. 

1  "  A  Description  and  Draught  of  a  Newly-invented  Machine  for  carrying  Vessels  or 
Ships  out  of  or  into  any  Harbor,  Port,  or  River,  against  Wind  and  Tide,  and  in  a  Calm," 
London,  1737. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  +49 

82.  About  1785  John  Fitch  and  James  Rumsey,  two  ingenious 
American  mechanics,  were  engaged  in  experiments  having  in  view 
the  application  of  steam  to  navigation. 

83.  Rumsey's  experiments  began  in  1774,  and  in  1786  he  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  a  boat  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour  against  the 
current  of  the  Potomac,  at  Shepardstown,  Maryland. 

Rumsey  employed  his  engine  to  drive  a  great  pump,  which  forced 
a  stream  of  water  aft,  thus  propelling  the  boat  forward. 

This  same  method  has  been  recently  tried  again  by  the  British 
Admiralty  in  the  Water-witch,  a  gunboat  of  moderate  size,  using  a 
centrifugal  pump  to  set  in  motion  the  propelling  stream,  and  with 
some  other  modifications  which  are  decided  improvements  upon  Rum- 
sey's rude  arrangements,  but  which  have  not  done  much  more  than 
did  his  toward  the  introduction  of  "hydraulic  propulsion,"  as  it  is 
now  called. 

Rumsey  died  of  apoplexy  while  explaining  some  of  his  schemes 
before  a  London  society  a  short  time  later. 

84.  John  Fitch  was  an  unfortunate  and  eccentric,  but  very  ingen- 
ious, Connecticut  mechanic. 

After  roaming  about  until  forty  years  of  age,  he  finally  settled  on 
the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  where  he  built  his  first  steamboat. 

In  1788  he  obtained  a  patent  for  the  application  of  steam  to  navi- 


gation. 


His  boat  is  shown  in  Fig.  40 ;  it  was  sixty  feet  long  and  twenty 


Fig.  46—  John  Fitch,  1788. 

feet  wide.  The  propelling  apparatus  was  a  system  of  paddles,  which 
were  suspended  by  the  upper  ends  of  their  shafts,  and  moved  by  a 
series  of  cranks,  one  to  each,  taking  hold  at  the  middle,  and  giving 
them  almost  exactly  the  motion  which  is  imparted  to  his  paddle  by 
the  Indian  in  his  canoe. 

VOL.  XII. — 29 


45° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


Fig.  47  exhibits  a  sketch,  reengraved  from  a  French  work,  which 
illustrates  at  once  another  of  Fitch's  steamboats  and  the  Gallic  ar- 
tist's idea  of  the  flora  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware. 

Fitch,  while  urging  the  importance  and  the  advantages  of  his 
plan,  confidently  stated  his  belief  that   the    ocean  would  soon   be 


.'Vv^B&jiffiiSgffiy^MftpBI 

^^*^p^^M 

;  ^JR 

.^Js?"7rV  ..*■■■ 

^B^i 

1  %hB 

a"^7*^ 

^^^                 /'//'- 

3P> 

Fig.  47.— An  Ideal  Sketch  of  the 
Delaware. 


Fig.  48. — Steamboat  on  Dalswlnton  Lake,  178S. 


crossed  by  steam-vessels,  and  that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
would  also  become  exclusively  a  steam-navigation. 

Fitch's  boat,  when  tried  at  Philadelphia,  was  found  capable  of 
making  eight  miles  an  hour.     It  was  laid  up  in  1792. 

85.  In  1788  Patrick  Miller,  James  Taylor,  and  William  Symming- 
ton,  attached  a  steam-engine  to  a  boat  with  paddle-wheels,  which  had 
been  built  by  the  first-named,  and  tried  it  for  the  first  time  on  Dal- 
swinton  Lake,  in  Dumfriesshire,  Scotland. 

This  boat,  having  attained  a  speed  of  five  miles  an  hour,  another 
was  constructed  (Fig.  48),  and  was  tried  in  1789.     This  vessel  was 


£Sip0&> 


Fig.  49.— The  Charlotte  Dundas,  1801. 


driven  by  an  engine  of  twelve-horse  power,  and  made  seven  miles  an 
hour.  This  result,  encouraging  as  it  was,  led  to  no  further  immediate 
action,  the  funds  of  the  experimenters  having  failed. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


451 


86.  In  1801,  however,  Syrnmington  was  employed  by  Lord  Dun- 
das  to  construct  a  steamboat,  with  the  design  of  substituting  steam 
for  horse-power  on  canals. 

After  several  trials,  Symmington,  whose  experience,  with  Miller 
and  Taylor,  had  been  of  much  service  in  directing  his  experiments, 
completed  a  towboat,  of  which  a  sectional  view  is  seen  in  Fig.  49, 
which  he  fitted  with  a  stern-paddle  wheel  and  a  double-acting  crank- 
engine  of  twenty-two  inches  diameter  of  cylinder  and  four  feet  stroke. 
This  boat  attained  a  speed  of  six  miles  an  hour;  but  was  laid  aside, 
although  perfectly  successful,  in  consequence  of  a  fear  of  injuring  the 
banks  of  the  canal  by  the  waves  produced  by  it. 


Robert  Fulton. 


The  Charlotte  Dundas,  as  this  boat  was  named,  was  so  evidently 
a  success  that  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater  ordered  eight  similar  ves- 
sels for  his  canal ;  but  his  death,  soon  afterward,  prevented  the  order 
being  filled. 

87.  At  this  time,  several  American  mechanics  were  also  still  work- 
ing at  this  attractive  problem. 

In  1802-'3,  Robert  Fulton,  with  our  other  distinguished  country- 
man, Mr.  Joel  Barlow,  the  patentee  of  the  "  Barlow  boiler  "  (Fig.  50), 
in  whose  family  he  resided,  and  Chancellor  Livingston,  who  had  at 
that  time  taken  up  a  temporary  residence  in  Paris,  commenced  a 
small  steamboat  eighty-six  feet  long  and  of  eight  feet  beam.  The 
hull  was  altogether  too  slight  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  machinery, 
and,  when  almost  completed,  the  little  craft  literally  broke  in  two, 
and  sank  at  her  moorings. 


452 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


The  wreck  was  promptly  recovered  and  rebuilt,  and  in  August, 
1803,  the  trial-trip  was  made  in  presence  of  a  large  party  of  invited 

guests. 


Fig.  50.— Water-tube  Boiler  of  Fulton  and  Barlow,  1793. 

88.  The  experiment  was  sufficiently  successful  to  induce  Fulton 
and  Livingston  to  order  an  engine  ©f  Messrs.  Boulton  and  Watt, 
directing  it  to  be  sent  to  America,  where  Livingston  soon  returned. 
In  1806  Fulton  followed,  reaching  New  York  in  December,  and  at 
once  going  to  work  on  the  vessel  for  which  the  English  firm  sent  the 
engine,  without  being  informed  of  its  intended  use. 

In  the  spring  of  1807  the  Clermont   (Fig.  51),  as  the  new  boat 


Fig.  51— The  Clermont,  1807. 


was  christened,  was  launched  from  the  ship-yard  of  Charles  Brown, 
on  the  East  River,  New  York. 

In  August,  the  machinery  was  on  board,  and  in  successful  opera- 
tion. The  hull  of  this  boat  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  feet 
long,  eighteen  feet  beam,  and  seven  feet  in  depth. 

The  boat  soon  afterward  made  a  trip  to  Albany,  making  the  dis- 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


453 


tance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  thirty-two  hours  running  time, 
and  returning  in  thirty  hours.  The  sails  were  not  used  on  either 
occasion. 

This  was  the  first  voyage  of  considerable  length  ever  made  by  a 
steam- vessel,  and  the  Clermont  was  soon  after  regularly  employed 
as  a  passenger-boat  between  the  two  cities. 

Fulton,  though  not  to  be  classed  with  James  Watt  as  an  inventor, 
is  entitled  to  the  great  honor  of  having  been  the  first  to  make  steam- 
navigation  an  every-day  commercial  success,  and  of  having  thus 
made  the  first  application  of  the  steam-engine  to  ship-propulsion 
which  was  not  followed  by  the  retirement  of  the  experimenter  from 
the  field  of  his  labors  before  success  was  permanently  insured. 

89.  The  engine  of  the  Clermont   (Fig.  52),  was  of  rather   pecu- 


Fig.  52.— Engine  of  the  Cleemont,  18C7. 


liar  form,  the  engine  being  coupled  to  the  crank-shaft  by  a  bell-crank, 
and  the  paddle-wheel  shaft  being  separated  from  the  crank-shaft,  but 
connected  with  the  latter  by  gearing.  The  cylinders  were  twenty- 
four  inches  in  diameter  and  of  four  feet  stroke.  The  paddle-wheels 
had  buckets  four  feet  long,  with  a  dip  of  two  feet. 

An  old  drawing  made  by  Fulton's  own  hand,  showing  this  engine 
as  it  was  improved  in  1808,  is  in  the  relic-corner  of  the  lecture-room 
of  the  author  at  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology. 

The  voyage  of  this  steamer  to  Albany  was  attended  with  some 
ludicrous  incidents,  which  found  their  counterparts  whenever  subse- 
quently steamers  were  for  the  first  time  introduced. 

90.  Mr.  Colden,  the  biographer  of  Fulton,  says  that  she  was  de- 
scribed by  persons  who  had  seen  her  passing  at  night,  "  as  a  monster 
moving  on  the  waters,  defying  wind  and  tide,  and  breathing  flames 
and  smoke." 

This  first  steamboat  used  dry  pine-wood  for  fuel,  and  the  flame 
rose  to  a  considerable  distance  above  the  smoke-pipe,  and,  when  the 
fires  were  disturbed,  mingled  smoke  and  sparks  rose  high  in  the  air. 

"  This  uncommon  light,"  says  Colden,  "  first  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  crews  of  other  vessels.  Notwithstanding  the  wind  and 
tide  were  averse  to  its  approach,  they  saw  with  astonishment  that  it 
was  rapidly  coming  toward  them,  and,  when  it  came  so  near  that  the 


454 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


noise  of  the  machinery  and  paddles  was  heard,  the  crews  (if  what 
was  said  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time  be  true),  in  some  instances, 
shrunk  beneath  their  decks  from  the  terrific  sight,  and  left  their  ves- 
sels to  go  on  shore  ;  while  others  prostrated  themselves,  and  besought 
Providence  to  protect  them  from  the  approach  of  the  horrible  mon- 
ster which  was  marching  on  the  tides,  and  lighting  its  path  by  the 
fires  which  it  vomited." 

91.  Subsequently,  Fulton  built  several  steamers  and  ferry-boats,  to 
ply  about  the  waters  of  the  States  of  New  York  and  of  Connecticut. 

The  Clermont  was  a  boat  of  but  160  tons  burden ;  the  Car  of 
Neptune,  built  in  1807,  was  295  tons ;  the  Paragon,  in  1811,  measured 
331 ;  the  Richmond,  1813,  370  tons ;  and  the  Fulton,  the  first  built  in 
1814-'15,  measured  2,475  tons.  The  latter  vessel,  who§e  size  was  sim- 
ply enormous  for  that  time,  was  what  was  then  considered  an  exceed- 
ingly formidable  steam-battery,  and  was  built  for  the  United  States 
Navy. 

Before  the  completion  of  this  vessel,  Fulton  died  of  disease  result- 
ing from  exposure,  February  24,  1815,  and  his  death  was  mourned  as 
a  national  calamity. 

92.  But  Fulton  had  some  active  and  enterprising  rivals. 


Oliver  Evans. 


Oliver  Evans  had,  in  1801  or  1802,  sent  one  of  his  engines,  of  about 
150  horse-power,  to  New  Orleans,  for  the  purpose  of  using  it  to  propel 
a  vessel,  owned  by  Messrs.  McKeever  and  Valcourt,  which  was  there 
awaiting  it. 


THE  MAGNETIC   OBSERVATORY  AT  MADISON.     455 

The  engine  was  actually  set  up  in  the  boat,  but  at  a  low  stage  of 
the  river,  and  no  trial  could  be  made  until  the  river  should  again  rise, 
some  months  later.  Having  no  funds  to  carry  them  through  so  long  a 
period,  Evans's  agents  were  induced  to  remove  the  engine  again,  and 
to  set  it  up  in  a  saw-mill,  where  it  created  great  astonishment  by  its 
extraordinary  performance  in  sawing  lumber. 


THE  MAGNETIC  OBSERVATORY  AT  MADISON,  WIS- 
CONSIN. 

By  E.   W.   DAVIS. 

A  VISITOR  to  the  grounds  of  the  State  University  at  Madison, 
Wisconsin,  might  perhaps  wonder  what  could  be  the  use  of 
three  small  chimneys  to  be  seen  standing  out  of  the  south  side  of  the 
university  hill.  On  being  told  that  under  the  ground  is  one  of  the 
two  magnetic  observatories  of  this  country,  he  may  be  curious  to  see 
more.  If  so,  he  will  go  on  down  some  distance  past  the  chimneys, 
and,  turning  into  a  moderately  deep  cut,  will  enter  the  observatory 
through  a  tunnel  in  the  hill-side. 

Having  divested  himself  of  whatever  iron  he  may  have  about  him 
— his  keys,  his  knife,  and  even  his  watch — two  doors  are  successively 
thrown  open,  and  he  is  ushered  into  a  low,  vaulted  chamber  measuring 
seventeen  feet  square.  The  darkness,  which  would  be  absolute  but 
for  the  faint  gleams  of  light  escaping  through  the  close  coverings  of 
three  lamps ;  the  silence,  broken  only  by  the  ticking  of  two  clocks,  or 
the  tread  upon  the  paved  floor;  the  strange  character  of  the  instru- 
ments, which  he  begins  dimly  to  see — all  unite  to  create  a  feeling  of 
oppression,  as  though  one  breathed  the  air  of  some  sorcerer's  den. 

Though  the  visitor  may  be  interested  in  what  there  is  to  be  seen, 
yet,  in  the  short  time  he  is  allowed  to  stay,  he  can  get  but  an  imper- 
fect Idea  of  it  all.  He  will  learn,  it  may  be,  the  names  of  the  several 
instruments,  and  gain  a  slight  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
observations  are  recorded.  He  will  be  told  that  the  observatory  was 
established  at  Madison  in  the  autumn  of  1876  by  the  United  States 
Coast  Survey ;  and  also,  perhaps,  that  the  instruments  employed  were 
in  use  at  Key  West,  Florida,  and  then  at  Washington,  D.  O,  being 
moved  from  the  latter  place  in  order  not  to  be  so  nearly  upon  the 
meridian  of  a  magnetic  observatory  at  Quebec,  Canada.  If  desired, 
the  person  in  charge  will  show  him  some  of  the  traces,  one  of  these 
being  nothing  more  than  the  crooked  path  which  a  moving  spot  of 
light,  reflected  from  a  mirror  attached  to  either  of  the  magnets,  has 
left  upon  sensitive  paper. 


456  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

In  order  to  really  profit  by  his  visit,  he  should  have  gained,  he- 
forehand,  some  idea  of  what  is  to  be  observed  and  the  manner  of  ob- 
serving. This  information  I  shall  try  to  give  the  readers  of  this 
article;  and  then  proceed  with  a  description  of  the  observatory  and 
its  equipments. 

The  force  called  terrestrial  magnetism  is  subject  to  variations 
both  in  intensity  and  in  direction.  There  are  three  ways  in  which  a 
varying  force  of  this  kind  may  be  measured  : 

1.  It  may  be  resolved  into  components  acting  along  three  axes, 
and  the  intensity  of  these  components  measured.  I  am  not  aware 
that  this  method  has  ever  been  applied  to  the  measurement  of  terres- 
trial magnetism  ;  probably,  because  one  of  the  components  would  be 
so  small  as  not  without  great  difficulty  to  be  directly  measured. 

2.  We  may  measure  its  intensity  along  some  fixed  axis,  and  its 
angular  variation  of  direction  from  that  axis,  in  each  of  two  planes 
intersecting  the  same.  This  method  is  frequently  employed.  The 
fixed  axis  taken  is  the  intersection  of  the  plane  of  the  magnetic  merid- 
ian and  the  plane  of  the  horizon,  and  the  angular  variations  from  the 
axis  are  measured  in  these  planes,  the  variation  in  the  horizontal  plane 
being  called  the  "  declination,"  and  that  in  the  plane  of  the  magnetic 
meridian  the  "  dip." 

3.  We  may  measure  the  intensity  of  its  components  along  two 
axes  and  its  angular  variation  in  direction  from  the  plane  of  those  two 
axes.  This  last  is  the  method  in  use  at  the  observatory.  The  axes 
assumed  are  horizontal  and  vertical,  and  their  plane  is  that  of  the 
magnetic  meridian.  Angular  variations  from  this  plane  may  be  meas- 
ured in  any  plane  at  right  angles  to  it,  as  the  plane  of  the  horizon, 
and  are,  therefore,  changes  of  declination. 

The  instruments  used  for  making  the  measurements  are  the  decli- 
nometer, the  bi-filar  magnetometer,  and  the  balance  magnetometer. 

The  declinometer  consists,  essentially,  of  a  bar  magnet  so  sus- 
pended as  to  turn  freely  in  the  horizontal  plane.  Changes  in  the 
position  assumed  by  the  bar  show  changes  in  declination. 

The  magnet  of  the  bi-filar  magnetometer  likewise  turns  in  the  ver- 
tical  plane ;  but,  while  the  magnet  of  the  declinometer  is  free  to  assume 
any  position  in  that  plane,  the  magnet  of  this  instrument  is  pulled  by  a 
constant  force  into  a  position  at  right  angles  to  the  magnetic  meridian. 

The  magnet  of  the  balance-magnetometer,  like  that  of  the  last  two 
instruments,  is  in  a  position  at  right  angles  to  the  magnetic  meridian ; 
but,  unlike  either  of  the  other  two,  it  turns  in  the  vertical  plane. 

The  only  effect  of  the  horizontal  force  is  to  press  the  magnet 
against  its  bearings,  and  were  the  magnet  suspended  at  its  centre  of 
gravity,  the  north-seeking  pole  would  point  directly  downward  in 
obedience  to  the  vertical  force.  In  reality,  the  magnet  is  so  sus- 
pended as  to  assume  a  position  approximately  horizontal.  The  force 
of  gravity  remaining  constant,  the  magnet  wTill  not  change  its  posi- 


THE  MAGNETIC   OBSERVATORY  AT  MADISON.     457 

tion,  except  with  a  variation  in  the  intensity  of  the  vertical  component 
of  terrestrial  magnetism. 

In  making  the  observations,  care  must  he  taken  that  the  tempera- 
ture be  kept  as  nearly  constant  as  possible,  a  magnet  losing  about  one 
ten-thousandth  part  of  its  power  for  each  degree  Fahrenheit  of  in- 
crease in  temperature ;  also,  that  no  magnetic  bodies  are  present  to 
influence  the  magnets ;  that  the  instruments  be  secured  from  all  me- 
chanical  interference ;  and  that  all  the  adjustments  be  true. 

Let  us  see  how  these  requirements  are  met.  The  observatory  has 
been  built  underground,  and  has  double  walls  and  roof,  there  being  a 
space  of  two  feet  between  the  outside  and  inside  walls.  A  differential 
thermometer  placed  within  shows  a  daily  variation  in  temperature  of 
but  1°  or  2°  Fahr.  In  case  of  artificial  heat  being  required,  a  brick 
stove  has  been  built,  with  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  cause  a 
sudden  change  in  temperature. 

The  observatory  has  been  placed  without  the  influence  of  iron 
water  or  gas  pipes,  and  in  its  construction  and  furnishing  no  iron  has 
been  employed,  all  metallic  supports,  mountings,  etc.,  being  of  brass, 
copper,  or  zinc.  The  reservoirs  of  the  lamps  used  have  to  be  taken 
outside  to  be  filled,  since  to  bring  a  so-called  tin  oil-can  within  the  ob- 
servatory would  seriously  disturb  the  instrument.  As  before  men- 
tioned, visitors  to  the  observatory  leave  outside  whatever  of  iron 
they  may  have  about  them.  An  abnormal  variation  in  the  movements 
of  the  magnets  at  the  Key  West  Observatory  is  thought  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  landing  of  some  heavy  guns  in  the  vicinity,  and  their 
subsequent  transportation  past  the  observatory. 

The  mounting  of  the  instruments  upon  heavy  blocks  of  stone  and 
their  close  incasement  reduce  the  chance  of  mechanical  interference 
to  a  minimum. 

To  still  further  guard  against  errors  of  observation,  there  are 
special  adjustments  in  the  several  instruments. 

The  magnet  of  the  declinometer  is  suspended  by  a  skein  of  one 
hundred  fibres  of  silk,  the  utmost  pains  being  taken  to  reduce  the 
torsion  to  a  minimum.  The  length  of  skein  is  at  least  three  feet,  so 
that  any  residual  torsion  has  the  less  effect.  It  seems  impossible, 
however,  to  entirely  get  rid  of  this  disturbing  element.  The  records 
of  the  Key  West  observations  show  that  the  torsion  of  the  suspension 
skein  changed  rapidly  during  the  first  five  months  after  the  suspension 
of  the  magnet,  and  did  not  become  constant  even  after  six  years. 

As  variations  in  temperature  do  not  affect  the  direction  of  the  line 
of  action  of  the  magnetic  force,  no  temperature  adjustment  is  required 
for  the  declinometer. 

The  magnet  of  the  bi-filar  magnetometer  is  rigidly  cennected  with 
a  small  glass  rod  of  the  same  length  as  the  magnet.  Over  the  ends 
of  this  rod  slip  two  zinc  tubes,  of  such  length  as  to  reach  within  about 
five  millimetres  of  its  centre.     At  the  inner  end  of  each  tube  is  at- 


458  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

tacbed  one  end  of  a  suspension  skein,  that  passes  over  a  glass  pulley 
three  feet  above  the  magnet.  The  diameter  of  the  pulley  is  fourteen 
millimetres  ;  it  should,  however,  equal  the  distance  between  the  ends 
of  the  suspension  skein — ten  millimetres.  The  present  pulley  is  to  be 
changed  for  one  of  that  diameter. 

The  pulley  is  turned  into  such  a  position  that  the  pull  of  the  sus- 
pension skein  brings  the  magnet  approximately  at  right  angles  to  the 
magnetic  meridian.  The  magnet  is  in  equilibrium  under  the  action 
of  three  forces :  gravity,  the  pull  of  the  threads,  and  the  horizontal 
component  of  the  earth's  magnetism.  The  first  two  forces  being  con- 
stant, the  equilibrium  is  not  destroyed  save  by  a  variation  in  the  in- 
tensity of  the  third  force.  The  changes  in  the  direction  of  that  force 
are  never  sufficiently  great  to  appreciably  alter  the  position  of  this 
magnet.  The  diameter  of  the  pulley  being  greater  than  it  should  be, 
increases  the  leverage  of  the  pull  of  the  threads,  and  so  lessens  the 
ratio  of  the  variation  of  the  horizontal  force  to  the  sum  of  the  oppos- 
ing forces.     The  delicacy  of  the  instrument  is  thus  slightly  impaired. 

On  each  side  of  the  point  of  suspension  of  the  magnet  is  a  place  for 
a  small  weight.  By  weighting  the  magnet  its  angular  position  is 
slightly  changed.  A  comparison  of  the  effect  thus  produced  with  the 
changes  due  to  variations  in  the  horizontal  force  gives  us  a  measure 
of  that  force.     It  is,  in  truth,  weighing  the  magnetism. 

Observe  what  takes  place  when  the  instrument  is  heated.  Neither 
the  glass  pulley  nor  the  glass  rod  would  be  sensibly  affected.  The 
magnet,  however,  woidd  lose  some  of  its  power,  and  consequently  be 
less  strongly  pulled  by  the  horizontal  force,  which  we  wish  to  meas- 
ure. To  counterbalance  this  loss  of  magnetic  power,  the  effect  of  one 
of  the  opposing  forces  must  be  diminished  by  an  equal  amount.  This 
is  effected  by  the  zinc  tubes,  whose  expansion  brings  the  ends  of  the 
suspension  skein  nearer  together,  and  thus  lessens  the  pull  of  that 
skein. 

I  now  come  to  the  most  delicate  of  all  the  instruments — the  balance- 
magnetometer.  Attached  rigidly  to  the  axis  of  this  instrument,  and 
at  right  angles  to  the  same,  is  an  axis,  resting,  through  the  interposi- 
tion of  agate  knife-edges,  upon  an  agate  plate.  By  changing  the 
position  of  small  brass  balls  that  screw  upon  vertical  and  horizontal 
arms  of  this  axis,  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  instrument  may  be  ac- 
curately adjusted  to  any  desired  position.  None  of  these  balls  weigh 
over  fifty  grains,  and  the  distance  between  two  successive  threads  of 
the  screw  upon  which  they  work  is  only  the  hundredth  part  of  an 
inch ;  yet,  if  one  of  those  for  shifting  the  centre  of  gravity  horizontal- 
ly be  turned  through  so  much  as  the  twentieth  part  of  a  revolution, 
thus  advancing  it  the  two-thousandth  of  an  inch,  the  instrument  will 
be  so  tilted  as  never  to  right  itself.  This  extreme  delicacy  is  attained 
by  bringing  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  instrument  close  up  under 
the  axis  of  suspension.     To  prevent  unnecessary  wear  of  the  agate 


THE  MAGNETIC   OBSERVATORY  AT  MADISON.     459 

knife-edges,  there  is  an  arrangement  for  lifting  the  instrument  off  of 
its  bearings,  when  not  in  use. 

The  balance-magnetometer  requires  a  delicate  temperature  adjust- 
ment. For  this  purpose  there  is  attached  to  the  side  of  the  magnet  a 
small  tube  containing  mercury.  Such  is  the  position  of  the  tube  that 
the  shifting  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  magnetometer,  due  to  the 
expansion  or  contraction  of  the  mercury,  shall  just  balance  the  ten- 
dency of  the  north-seeking  pole  of  the  magnet  to  rise  or  fall  with  the 
temperature.  Adjusting  the  tube  to  its  proper  position  occupied  Mr. 
Suess  for  five  days. 

The  variations  of  these  several  instruments  are  recorded  by  pho- 
tography, each  instrument,  with  its  recording  apparatus,  constituting 
a  magnetograph.  A  cylinder,  turned  by  clock-work,  carries  the  sen- 
sitive paper  upon  which  the  record  is  to  be  made.  A  single  cylinder, 
with  its  sensitive  paper,  suffices  for  both  the  declinometer  and  the  bi- 
filar  magnetometer,  the  cylinder  turning  between  the  two  instruments 
and  receiving  the  two  records  at  its"  opposite  ends.  A  second  and 
vertical  cylinder  is  required  for  the  balance  magnetometer.  The 
record  of  all  the  instruments  is  made  in  the  same  way.  The  light 
from  a  German  student-lamp,  after  passing  through  a  narrow  slit,  is 
received  upon  a  concave  mirror  carried  by  the  magnet.  The  mirror 
throws  a  thread-like  image  of  the  slit  upon  two  cylindrical  lenses 
fixed  in  the  case  of  the  recording  instrument.  By  these  lenses  the  line 
of  light  is  shortened  to  a  dot,  to  be  received  by  the  sensitive  paper. 

Were  the  spot  of  light  stationary,  a  straight  line  would  be  traced 
upon  the  sensitive  paper,  since,  by  the  revolution  of  the  cylinder,  the 
paper  would  be  carried  directly  forward  from  in  under  the  light. 
But,  by  the  movement  of  the  magnet,  the  image  of  the  slit  is  made  to 
travel  back  and  forth  along  the  lenses  and  a  more  or  less  eccentric 
trace  left  upon  the  sensitive  paper. 

In  order  that  the  trace  may  not  go  beyond  the  limits  of  the  paper, 
the  magnet  must  be  kept  from  swinging  through  more  than  a  small 
arc.  This  is  effected,  in  the  bi-filar  magnetometer,  by  the  pull  of  the 
suspension  skein  acting  against  the  magnetic  force.  In  fact,  owing 
to  the  too  great  size  of  the  glass  pulley,  the  magnet  does  not  swing 
quite  freely  enough. 

In  the  other  two  instruments  a  special  arrangement  is  adopted. 
Surrounding  the  magnet  and  forming  a  closed  circuit,  is  a  rectangle 
of  four  flat  copper  bars.  Any  movement  of  the  magnet  gives  rise  to 
a  current  in  the  circuit,  which  tends  to  pull  the  magnet  back  again. 
Thus,  if  the  north-seeking  pole  of  the  magnet  in  the  declinometer  be 
deflected  toward  the  east,  a  current  will  be  generated,  running  from 
south  to  north  along  the  upper  bar  of  the  rectangle,  and  back  along 
the  lower  bar.  The  current,  in  turn,  acts  upon  the  magnet,  checking 
it  in  its  swing  toward  the  east,  so  that  the  paper  can  receive  the 
entire  trace. 


460  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

In  addition  to  the  concave  mirror,  each  magnet  carries  a  plane 
mirror  to  receive  the  reflection  of  a  scale  attached  to  the  back  of  a 
small  telescope.  The  telescopes  are  mounted  upon  the  stands  of  the 
recording  instruments,  and  for  convenience  of  observation  are  pro- 
vided with  diagonal  eye-pieces.  On  looking  into  either  telescope  one 
sees  its  scale  reflected  in  the  plane  mirror  carried  by  one  of  the  mag- 
nets. When  the  mirror  turns  with  the  swing  of  the  magnet,  the  scale 
appears  to  the  observer  to  traverse  the  mirror's  face.  At  the  begin- 
ning and  again  at  the  end  of  each  trace  a  record  is  made  of  the  divis- 
ion of  the  scale  then  covered  by  the  cross-wires  of  the  telescope. 
Knowing  the  times  at  which  each  trace  was  started  and  stopped,  and 
the  readings  of  the  scale  at  those  times,  it  is  easy  to  divide  off  the  paper 
into  spaces  corresponding  to  the  hours  of  the  day  and  into  other  spaces 
at  right  angles  to  these  corresponding  to  divisions  of  the  scale.  An 
exact  record  is  thus  made  of  all  magnetic  variations. 

Particular  interest  attaches  to  magnetic  observations  on  account 
of  the  way  in  which  the  magnetic  state  of  the  earth  seems  to  be  influ- 
enced by  the  position  of  the  sun,  and  to  a  slight  degree  by  the  posi- 
tion of  the  moon;  also  from  the  connection  between  auroral  displays 
and  magnetic  variations,  curves  representing  the  frequency  of  either 
agreeing  quite  closely  with  curves  representing  the  area  of  the  sun 
covered  by  spots.  It  is  well  to  remark  that  the  curves  representing 
magnetic  variations  and  auroras  lag  about  six  months  behind  those 
representing  the  sun-spot  variations.  The  sun-spot  area  seems  in 
some  way  to  depend  upon  the  position  of  the  planets.  Not  only  is 
the  earth's  magnetism  thus,  seemingly  at  least,  influenced  by  the  sun- 
spots,  but  also  some  of  the  phenomena  of  the  weather.  These  last  are, 
of  course,  in  general,  masked  by  local  disturbances ;  but,  lately,  a  very 
remarkable  agreement  has  been  shown  to  exist  between  certain  mag- 
netic and  barometric  traces.  Investigations  into  the  causes  of  mag- 
netic variations  and  the  laws  under  which  these  variations  occur  are 
made  by  officers  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey ;  and  to  the  head- 
quarters of  this  survey,  at  Washington,  are  forwarded,  each  month, 
the  traces  obtained  at  Madison. 


-»-»♦- 


THE  CHEMISTRY  OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.1 

By  ALBEET  B.   PEESCOTT, 

PROFESSOR   OF   CHEMISTRY   IN  THE   UNIVERSITY    OF    MICHIGAN. 

TO  form  the  seed  seems  to  be  the  chief  end  of  the  plant,     When 
in  the  vigor  of  its  own  maturity,  and  when   receiving  the  sun's 
strongest  rays  and  the  earth's  richest  nourishment,  the  plant  gathers 

'From  the  forthcoming  "Transactions  of  the,  Michigan  Pomological  Society"  for 
1877 ;  furnished  by  the  author  for  The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 


THE   CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  461 

all  its  resources,  and  devotes  them  to  the  building  of  the  seed.  When 
done,  the  seed  itself,  the  embryo,  commonly  possesses  little  substance 
and  serves  little  use  beyond  its  primary  purpose,  the  reproduction  of 
the  plant.  But  in  the  coatings  and  coverings  of  the  seed  we  find  a 
large  and  abundant  supply  of  substances,  in  variety  and  quantity  the 
rarest  and  richest  stock  in  the  vegetable  commonwealth.  Indeed,  the 
wrappings  of  seed-germs  constitute  the  especial  provision  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  human  race.  The  seeds  enveloped  with  starch 
and  albuminoids,  as  in  the  cereal  grains,  make  up  "the  staff  of  life" 
for  man.  Seeds  with  oily  coatings,  including  the  nuts,  present  a  good 
supply  of  fats  for  food.  The  seeds  with  succulent  coverings,  the 
fruits,  yield  a  great  number  of  sharply-defined  substances,  most  of 
which  claim  the  approval  of  man,  and  some  of  which  require  for  their 
due  application  the  best  efforts  of  the  human  intellect.  Without  the 
grains,  the  fruits,  and  the  nuts,  man  would  be  left  to  browse  with  the 
ox  and  prey  with  the  wolf. 

In  this  abundant  material  gathered  around  the  seed-germs,  chem- 
istry has  achieved  more  success  than  elsewhere  in  the  organic  world. 
It  is  well  understood  that  chemists  have  no  reason  to  boast  of  what 
they  can  do  with  the  products  of  living  cells.  In  an  analysis  of  vege- 
table or  animal  products,  there  is  always  a  percentage,  and  often  a 
large  percentage,  of  unknown  matter:  It  might  be  named  "  chemist's 
dirt ;"  not  "  matter  out  of  place,"  but  simply  "  matter  unknown."  It 
has  weight,  it  may  have  color  and  consistence,  but  it  responds  to  no 
inquiries  and  yields  to  no  suggestions.  Like  an  open  polar  sea,  it 
baffles  and  invites  and  baffles  again.  But,  with  all  due  reservation 
for  unknown  bodies,  the  condition  of  organic  analysis  gives  good 
ground  for  encouragement.  Especially  in  this  material  about  the 
seed,  the  analyst  finds  numerous  compounds  of  clearly  definite  chemi- 
cal character,  many  of  them  capable  of  sure  identification  and  exact 
separation,  even  when  taken  in  complex  mixtures.  Working  with 
some  of  these  compounds,  an  insight  into  their  chemical  structure  has 
been  obtained  ;  so  that  the  chemist  can  brins;  together  the  materials 
and  conditions  for  their  production.  In  the  products  of  the  peach,  at 
every  autumn's  ripening,  certain  chemical  changes  occur  in  the  kernel 
under  your  hand — changes  as  well  known  to  science  and  capable  of  as 
exact  quantitative  statement  as  the  local  changes  of  the  planets  in  the 
solar  system.  Forty-four  years  ago,  Liebig  and  his  fellow-workers 
discovered  certain  links  in  those  chemical  changes,  in  the  products 
of  the  almond  family,  and  the  discovery  was  an  era  in  chemical 
science. 

The  chemistry  of  the  covered  seed  is  of  interest  not  only  for  the 
quality  of  the  compounds  found  in  it,  but,  quite  as  much,  for  the  his- 
tory of  these  compounds,  the  chemical  changes  of  seed  and  fruit-ripen- 
ing in  the  plant.  These  changes  differ  in  their  general  character  from 
other  changes  of  plant  chemistry,  coinciding  more  nearly  with  the 


462 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


changes  of  animal  chemistry.  Taking  for  study  the  ripening  of  seeds 
icith  succulent  coverings,  the  fruits — the  proper  subject  of  this  article 
— we  may  undertake  to  compare  fruit-ripening  with  vegetable  nutri- 
tion on  the  one  hand,  and  with  animal  nutrition  on  the  other  hand,  as 
follows : 


In  Vegetable  Nutrition. 


1.  Oxygen   is   given  to  the 

air. 

2.  Carbonic   acid    is   taken 

from  the  air. 

3.  The  service  of  plant-green 

is  required. 

4.  Simple     compounds    are 

changed  to  those  more 
complex. 

5.  The  expended   power  of 

the  sun  is  stored. 

6.  Heat  is  absorbed. 

1.  The  changes  represent  re- 
ductions and  syntheses, 
difficult  to  the  chemist, 
and  hindered  by  atmos- 
pheric conditions. 

8.  Opposed  to  fermentations, 
and  to  other  changes 
classed  under  the  term 
organic  decomposition. 


In  Fruit-Ripening. 


Oxygen  is  taken  from  the 
air. 

Carbonic  acid  is  given  to 
the  air. 

The  service  of  plant-green 
is  dismissed. 

Complex  compounds  are 
changed  to  those  more 
simple. 

The  stored-up  power  of  the 
sun  is  expended. 

Heat  is  liberated. 

The  changes  represent  com- 
bustions and  dissocia- 
tions, and  are  mostly 
favored  by  atmospheric 
conditions. 

The  changes  include  a  great 
number  of  distinct  fer- 
mentations, some  of 
which  are  spontaneous 
in  the  air,  or  occur  in 
cooking  food. 

The  important  compounds  of  the  vegetable  kingdom — 
cellulose,  starch,  sugar,  and  many  acids  and  other 
products — are  common  to  the  fruit  and  other  parts 
of  the  plant. 


In  Animal  Nutrition. 


Oxygen   is   taken  from  the 

air. 
Carbonic  acid  is  given  to  the 

air. 


Complex  compounds  are 
changed  to  those  more 
simple. 

The  stored-up  power  of  the 
sun  is  expended. 

Heat  is  liberated. 

The  changes  represent  com- 
bustions and  dissocia- 
tions, such  as  are  fa- 
vored by  atmospheric 
conditions. 

Some  of  the  changes  are  al- 
lied to  fermentations,  but 
are  mostly  not  liable  to 
occur  without  the  living 
body. 

Only  a  few  animal  products 
are  found  in  the  vegeta- 
ble kingdom. 


Fruit-ripening,  then,  coincides  with  vegetable  nutrition  in  acting 
with  the  same  substances,  and  coincides  with  animal  nutrition  in 
moving  in  the  same  direction. 

To  inquire,  now,  somewhat  in  detail,  into  the  more  obvious  of  the 
changes  which  constitute  fruit-ripening,  we  may  examine  the  propor- 
tion and  formation  of  the  following  five  classes  of  Fruit-Products  : 

1.  Sugars  (starches). 

2.  Pectous  substances  and  gums. 

3.  Acids,  tannin,  and  other  glucosides. 

4.  Ethers. 

5.  Alkaloids. 

The  analyses  of  fruits  hitherto  reported  have  mostly  been  made 
by  European  chemists.  The  fullest  reports  of  ripe  fruits,  upon  which 
I  am  in  good  part  dependent,  were  made  by  Fresenius,  from  analyses 
under  his  direction,  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  and  represent  the  fruits 
of  the  Rhine  district,  obtained  at  Wiesbaden. 

1.  Sugars. — The  prevailing  sugar  in  fruits  is  glucose  (dextrose), 


THE   CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  463 

often  termed  grape-sugar.  It  is  the  same  compound  that  is  largely 
manufactured  from  starch,  and  called  starch-sugar.  It  is  much  less 
sweet  than  cane-sugar,  and  less  abundantly  soluble  in  water,  having 
an  oily  or  "  mealy  "  taste.  As  made  from  starch,  it  is  now  much  used 
in  certain  candies.  When  in  the  uncrystallizable  form,  glucose  (Icevu- 
lose)  is  the  same  as  "  fruit-sugar,"  the  uncrystallizable  product  ob- 
tained to  some  extent  in  manufacturing  cane-sugar,  and  which  forms 
a  part  of  the  sirups  of  the  market.  Many  of  the  fruits  contain  cane- 
sugar  (which  is  the  same  as  beet-sugar  and  maple-sugar),  and  certain 
rare  varieties  of  sugar  are  found  in  some  fruits. 

Buignet  decided  that  the  apple,  peach,  plum,  raspberry,  orange, 
and  pineapple,  contain  cane-sugar,  with  glucose  (mostly  as  Icevidose). 
The  sugar  of  the  grape,  cherry,  gooseberry,  and  fig,  consists  wholly 
of  glucose. 

The  average  proportion  of  sugars  in  ripe  fruits  is  given,  by  Frese- 
nius,  as  follows  (the  smallest  percentages  being  placed  first) : 

Peaches,  1.6  per  cent,  (not  varying  very  widely). 

Apricots,  1.8  per  cent,  (from  1.1  to  2.7). 

Plums,  round  red,  2.1  per  cent,  (from  2.0  to  3.5). 

Greengages,  3.1  per  cent. 

Raspberries,  4.0  per  cent,  (from  3.0  to  5.0). 

Blackberries,  4.4  per  cent. 

Strawberries,  5.7  per  cent,  (from  3.2  to  7.0). 

Currants,  6.1  per  cent,  (from  4.8  to  6.6). 

Gooseberries,  7.1  per  cent,  (from  6.0  to  8.2). 

Pears,  red,  7.4  per  cent. 

Apples,  8.4  per  cent,  (from  5.9  to  10.4). 

Cherries,  9.8  per  cent,  (from  8.5  to  13.1). 

[Summer  peaches,  11.6  per  cent.     Berard's  analysis.] 

Grapes,  14.9  per  cent,  (from  13  to  19). 

It  is  seen  from  this  list  that  the  sweetness  of  fruit  has  but  slight 
correspondence  with  its  proportion  of  sugar.  Currants  were  found 
to  have  more  sugar  than  raspberries,  blackberries,  or  strawberries, 
and  over  three  times  as  much  as  the  peaches  examined  by  Fresenius. 
All  analysts  agree  in  the  predominance  of  grapes  for  their  quantity 
of  sugar.  The  sweetness  of  fruit  is  probably  favored  less  by  large 
proportions  of  sugar  than  by  three  other  conditions,  namely :  1.  Small 
proportions  of  acids;  2.  Large  proportions  of  pectous  substances;  3. 
Presence  of  cane-sugar  instead  of  grape-sugar. 

The  sugar  of  fruits  is  chiefly  formed  or  deposited  in  them  during 
their  ripening.  Berard  found  that  the  pulp  of  cherries,  unripe,  con- 
tained only  1.1  per  cent,  of  sugar;  ripe,  18.1  per  cent.;  gooseberries, 
unripe,  0.5  per  cent. ;  ripe,  6.02  per  cent.  In  1862  Hilger  determined 
the  sugar  of  grapes,  at  ten  periods  during  their  growth  and  ripening, 
as  follows  {Landw.  Versicchsstat,  xvii.,  245 ;  Journal  of  the  Chemical 
Society,  xxviii.,  281) : 


464  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

(5. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 


Austrian. 


June  27th |  1.37  per  cent. 

August  10th 1.33  "  " 

August  22(1 :  2.18  "  " 

August  28th j  4.25  "  " 

September  1st 2.53  "  " 

September  12th j  4.49  "  " 

September  17th '  5.33  "  " 

September  23d ,  7.71  "  " 

October  10th |  9.90  "  " 

November  10th I  9.90  "  " 


Riesling. 


1.01  per  cent. 

1.23  "  " 

1.81  "  " 

2.39  "  " 

2.58  "  " 

2.89  "  " 

3.87  "  " 

7.70  "  " 

8.64  "  " 

8.21  "  " 


Whether  the  sugar  of  fruits  is  formed  within  them,  or  introduced 
through  the  stem,  and,  if  formed  in  the  fruits,  from  what  substance 
formed,  are  questions  which  have  been  investigated,  but  not  wholly 
settled.  It  has  been  pretty  generally  held  that  starch  in  the  unripe 
fruits  is  converted  into  sugar  in  the  ripe  fruits;  the  fruit  acids  induc- 
ing the  change,  as  we  know  they  have  power  to  do.  But  starch  is 
not  found  in  the  unripe  stage  of  all  fruits,  and,  in  the  cases  where 
found,  its  quantity  is  sometimes  too  small  to  serve  as  the  source  of  all 
the  sugar  of  the  ripened  fruit.  In  the  investigation  of  Hilger,  above 
quoted,  the  immature  fruit  was  at  no  time  found  by  microscopic  ex- 
amination to  contain  starch.  It  appeared  in  the  fruit-stalks  in  June ; 
after  August  it  almost  wholly  disappeared  from  the  fruit-stalks,  and 
was  found  only  in  the  wood  of  the  vines.  Payen  {Comptes  Hendus, 
liii,  313)  reported  that  he  had  demonstrated  the  presence  of  starch  in 
unripe  fruits  and  its  conversion  to  sugar  during  ripening ;  but  did  not 
ascertain  how  much  of  the  sugar  of  fruits  is  formed  in  this  way. 

It  has  been  advanced  that  sugar  is  formed  from  malic  and  other 
acids,  during  ripening,  either  in  the  fruit  or  in  the  parts  of  the  plant 
supplying  juices  to  the  fruit.  Six  molecules  of  malic  acid  and  six 
molecules  of  tartaric  acid,  with  nine  molecules  (eighteen  atoms)  of 
oxygen,  would  furnish  the  atoms  for  formation  of  four  molecules  of 
glucose,  twelve  molecules  of  water,  and  twenty-four  molecules  of  car- 
bonic anhydride.  Mercadante  (Gazetta  Chimica Italiana, cxxv. ;  Jour- 
nal of  the  Chemical  Society,  xxviii.  [1875],  904)  made  a  series  of  de- 
terminations of  the  malic  acid  and  sugar  in  plums,  commencing  May 
20th.  The  quantities  of  both  acid  and  sugar  increased  in"  the  fruit  so 
long  as  it  was  green  and  emitting  oxygen  in  the  daylight;  the 
branches  which  bore  the  fruit  containing  acid  and  pectous  substances 
but  no  sugar.  During  the  same  time,  the  pectous  and  gummy  sub- 
stances in  the  green  fruit  had  decreased  from  six  per  cent,  of  the  pulp 
to  three  per  cent,  of  the  pulp.  The  investigator  believed  the  sugar 
of  the  green  fruit  to  have  been  chiefly  formed,  in  the  fruit,  from  the 
pectous  and  gummy  substances,  under  contact  of  the  acids.  As  soon 
as  the  fruit,  losing  green  color,  began  to  emit  carbonic  acid  in  the 
daylight,  the  acid  in  it  began  steadily  to  decrease  as  the  sugar  in- 
creased. The  increase  of  sugar  at  expense  of  the  acid  in  the  pulp  of 
plums  is  shown  as  follows : 


THE   CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  465 


Sugar. 

Malic  Acid. 

June  20th 

16.52 
16.64 
16.78 
17.05 
17.38 

2.76  (per  cent. 

2.46 

2.16 

1.57 

0.82 

in  pulp). 

u 

June  24th 

June  30th 

u 

Julv  4th 

u 

July  12th 

1( 

The  green  plums  contain  tannin,  which  commenced  to  diminish  as 
soon  as  the  fruit  began  to  emit  carbonic  acid  in  the  daylight,  wholly 
disappearing  by  June  20th,  the  date  at  which  the  malic  acid  began  to 
diminish.  It  is  well  known  to  every  one  that  many  green  fruits  are 
very  astringent,  and  that  their  tannin  decreases  and  sometimes  dis- 
appears during  ripening.  Also,  it  is  a  familiar  fact  in  the  chemistry 
of  tannin  that  it  readily  undergoes  changes  producing  sugar.  This, 
then,  is  the  source  of  a  portion  of  the  sugar  of  many  fruits.  The 
formation  of  sugar  from  tannin  will  be  discussed  under  the  head  of 
the  glucosides  of  fruits. 

Several  chemists  have  reported  the  presence  of  sugar-producing 
substances  peculiar  to  fruits.  Buignet  describes  a  fruit  constituent, 
astringent  like  tannin,  and  combining  with  iodine  like  starch,  and 
serving  as  the  source  of  sugar. 

The  proportion  of  cane-sugar,  in  most  fruits,  is  generally  believed 
to  diminish  by  transformation  into  glucose,  as  fruits  become  fully 
ripe  or  overripe.  But  Berthelot  and  Buignet  ( Comptes  Bendus,  li., 
1094)  found  that,  in  oranges,  the  proportion  of  cane-sugar  increased 
during  ripening,  the  quantity  of  glucose  remaining  unchanged. 

The  increase  of  weight  of  fruits,  during  ripening,  is  no  doubt 
largely  owing  to  deposition  of  sugar.  Berard  found  that  100  parts 
of  unripe  summer  peaches  yielded  179  parts  of  ripe  fruit,  and  100 
parts  of  unripe  apricots  increased  in  ripening  to  200  parts. 

The  maturity  of  fruit  is  the  period  of  its  maximum  quantity  of 
sugar.  Sooner  or  later,  the  quantity  of  sugar  begins  to  diminish,  and 
then  the  fruit  is  overripe.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  sugar  often 
begins  to  decompose  during  the  life  of  the  fruit;  that  is  to  say,  fruit 
becomes  overripe  during  its  life.  It  would  be  difficult,  however,  to 
fix  on  the  termination  of  the  life  of  fruit.  We  certainly  cannot  say 
that  life  ceases  when  the  circulation  with  the  plant  is  cut  off;  and  we 
cannot  say  that  life  continues  in  the  sarcocarp  until  it  is  wholly  dis- 
integrated. Now  it  is  within  the  limits  of  our  subject  to  inquire  by 
what  changes  the  sugar  begins  to  disappear. 

In  general  terms,  sugar  sutlers  oxidation  in  ripe  fruits,  small  por- 
tions being  oxidized  away  even  during  the  production  of  larger  por- 
tions, and  before  perfect  maturity.  We  do  not  know  what  fruit  con- 
stituents, if  any,  result  in  this  oxidation.  The  final  products  of  oxi- 
dation, carbonic  acid  and  water,  are  exhaled  during  ripening,  and 
with  greater  rapidity  after  maturity  has  been  passed. 

It  seems  to  be  established  that  sugar  in  fruits  is  liable  to  traces  of 

VOL.  XII. — 30 


^66  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  alcoholic  fermentation,  even  before  maturity  is  passed.  H.  Gut- 
zeit  (Zeitscher  Oest.  Ap.  Ver.,  1875,  p.  337;  Pro.  Am.  Phar.  Asso., 
1876,  p.  287)  reports  finding  alcohol,  or  other  simple  compound  of 
ethyl,  in  the  fruits  of  a  number  of  plants.  Some  of  the  fruits  were 
not  quite  ripe,  and  none  were  overripe.  De  Luca  ( Comptes  He)idus, 
lxxxiii.,  512;  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  187G,  ii.,  649)  reports  obtaining  prod- 
ucts of  the  alcoholic  and  acetic  fermentations  from  the  fresh  fruits, 
leaves,  and  flowers,  of  several  plants.  In  all  these  cases  the  quantities 
of  alcohol  obtained  were  very  minute.  The  investigator  first  above 
named  found  methyl-alcohol,  in  some  cases,  with  the  ethyl-alcohol. 
Pasteur  states  that  the  germs  which  excite  alcoholic  fermentation  are 
very  abundant  on  the  bunches  of  ripe  grapes,  where  very  rare  in  the 
atmosphere.  Also,  that  the  fermentive  germs  are  found  on  ripe  straw- 
berries, cherries,  and  currants,  but  not  on  the  same  fruits  unripe.  The 
formation  of  methyl-alcohol,  above  referred  to,  is  closely  allied  to  the 
formation  of  metliyl-salicylate  or  wintergreen-oil.  A  number  of  the 
essential  or  volatile  oils,  with  which  plants  and  fruits  are  perfumed 
and  flavored,  contain  alcohol  radicals  in  union  as  compound  ethers. 
It  is  probable,  from  every  point  of  view,  that  the  slight  occurrence  of 
the  vinous  fermentation  in  fruits  belongs  to  an  important  class  of 
chemical  formations,  by  means  of  which  a  multitude  of  odor-giving 
substances  are  scattered  throughout  vegetation.  We  shall  inquire 
more  carefully  into  the  fruit-flavor  compounds  and  their  formation 
further  on. 

2.  The  Pectous  Substances. — These  are,  in  general  terms,  the 
constituents  of  plant-jelly.  As  vegetable  products,  they  correspond 
to  the  varieties  of  gelatine  obtained  from  animal  tissues.  Unlike 
gelatine,  however,  they  are  non-nitrogenous.  They  are  found  in  the 
soft  parts  of  plants  generally,  as  in  the  tuber  of  the  potato  and  the 
root  of  the  carrot;  but  it  is  in  fruits  that  they  have  most  impor- 
tance for  edible  value.  The  immediate  origin  of  the  pectous  sub- 
stances is  pretty  well  known,  being  due  to  a  specific  fermentation,  a 
prominent  feature  in  fruit-ripening.  The  material  from  which  all  the 
pectous  substances  proceed  is  the  fermentable  body  called  pectose,  an 
insoluble,  tasteless  substance,  found  abundantly  in  unripe  fruits,  also 
to  some  extent  in  immature  roots  and  tubers,  and  having  no  more 
value  for  food  than  cellulose.  Now,  there  is  formed  along  with  this 
substance  a  "  ferment,"  as  it  is  called,  a  body  which  by  contact  in- 
duces a  specific  fermentation — a  definite  chemical  change.  Pectase  is 
the  name  of  the  ferment.  Just  as,  in  the  germinating  seed,  starch, 
by  contact  with  diastase,  suffers  fermentation  with  production  of 
sugar,  and  as,  in  bruised  and  wetted  mustard-seeds,  sinigrin,  by  con- 
tact with  nvyrosin,  splits  up  into  pungent  oil  of  mustard  and  sugar, 
etc.,  so  the  crude  pectose  of  green  fruits,  by  contact  of  their  pectase 
at  the  time  of  ripening,  changes  to  the  edible  plant-jellies  or  pectous 
substances.     Long  boiling  with  water  alone  effects  the  same  change. 


THE   CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  467 

Why  this  fermentation  occurs  just  at  the  ripening-time,  and  not 
earlier  or  later,  we  do  not  precisely  know.  It  may  be  that  the  pec- 
tose  has  just  then  become  capable  of  fermentation,  or  the  pectase  then 
acquires  potency  for  its  office,  or  then,  and  not  before,  are  other  con- 
ditions of  the  change  established.  We  know  only  that  the  fermenta- 
tion gives  us  the  before-mentioned  pectous  substances,  which,  more- 
over, succeed  each  other,  during  ripening,  by  repeated  changes.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  these  products  have  been  but  imperfectly  de- 
fined, but  as  a  class  their  chief  properties  are  known.  They  are  given 
by  chemists  as  follows  (distinctions  having  value  only  in  analysis  be- 
ing omitted)  : 

Pectine:  readily  soluble  in  hot  or  cold  water,  gelatinizing  when  concen- 
trated, and  more  perfectly  by  addition  of  sugar;  changed  by  very  long  boiling 
to  parapectine. 

Pectic  acid:  gelatinous,  insoluable  in  cold  water,  and  but  slightly  soluble  in 
hot  water;  hardened  in  jelly  by  solution  of  sugar,  slowly  changed  by  boiling 
to  parapeptic  acid,  and  afterward  to  metapeptic  acid.  Pectine  and  pectic  acid 
result  from  long  boiling  of  the  crude  pectose. 

Parapectine:  soluble  in  water,  capable  of  gelatinizing  slightly,  changed  by 
boiling  to  metapectine. 

Parapeptic  acid :  soluble  in  water,  the  solution  changing  into  one  of  meta- 
peptic acid.     Not  gelatinous. 

Metapectine:  soluble  in  water,  not  gelatinous.     (Found  in  overripe  fruits.) 

Metapectic  acid:  soluble  in  water,  incapable  of  gelatinizing.  (Found  in 
overripe  fruits;  produced  by  fermentation  in  overripening  from  all  the  other 
pectous  substances.  Also  produced,  from  most  of  the  other  pectous  substances, 
by  long  boiling,  much  more  readily  if  acids  are  present.) 

Alkalies  change  pectine  and  parapectine  and  metapectine  to  salts 
of  pectic  acid. 

The  properties  of  the  separated  pectous  compounds  represent  cer- 
tain well-known  characteristics  of  fruits,  as  these  are  found  in  cooking. 
Moist  heat,  as  In  any  mode  of  cooking,  produces  upon  these  sub- 
stances the  chief  results  of  ripening,  and,  if  continued  long  enough, 
the  results  of  overripening.  Unripe  fruits  are  made  more  edible  and 
wholesome  by  cooking,  owing  to  its  artificial  (imperfect)  ripening  of 
pectose.  Fruit-jellies  owe  their  substance  to  pectic  acid,  pectine, 
and  slightly  to  pai'apectine,  the  products  of  early  maturity,  with  the 
cooperation  of  sugar.  For  jellies,  it  is  well  known,  the  use  of  over- 
ripe fruits  must  be  avoided,  and  too  long  boiling  in  the  preparation 
must  be  avoided.  If  the  fruit  be  underripe,  the  juice  should  be 
boiled  much  longer  than  if  the  fruit  be  fully  ripe,  and  if  the  fruit  be 
overripe,  boiling  should  be  maintained  no  longer  than  necessary  to 
clarify,  and  standing  in  hot  solution  should  be  avoided.  Grapes  bear 
full  ripening  for  jellies. 

The  following  statements  of  the  quantities  of  pectous  substances 
and  of  pectose  are  compiled  from  the  reports  of  Fresenius.    It  should 


468 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


be  mentioned  that  Fresenius  found  widely-different  quantities  in  the 
different  varieties  of  the  same  fruit,  and  the  average  here  drawn  from 
the  varieties  of  each  fruit  would  greatly  vary  from  an  average  ob- 
tained from  other  varieties  of  the  same.  The  percentage  in  the  fresh 
fruit  is  first  given,  and  then  percentage  of  solids,  or  strictly  dry  fruit, 
as  obtained  by  calculation  from  the  percentage  of  water  : 


Pectous  Substances 
(soluble). 

Pectose  (insoluble). 

Of  Fresh  Fr't. 

Of  Solids. 

Fresh  Fruit. 

Solids. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Peaches — mean  of  two  varieties 

8.45 

42.25 

085 

4.25 

Apples — mean  of  four    arieties 

5.85 

34.41 

1.23 

6.59 

3.84 
1.42 

22.58 
10.14 

0.97 
0.24 

5.70 

Raspberries — mean  of  three  varieties . . 

1.71 

Gooseberries — mean  of  six  varieties. . . . 

1.17 

8.36 

0.65 

4.64 

Cherries — mean  of  three  varieties 

1.59 

7.23 

0.78 

3.54 

Grapes — mean  of  two  varieties 

0.36 

2.00 

0.84 

4.66 

0.17 

1.13 

0.84 

5.66 

Strawberries — mean  of  three  varieties . . 

0.10 

0.79 

0.50 

3.85 

As  food-materials,  the  pectous  substances  seem  to  be  wellnigh 
indispensable  to  the  health  of  man.  They  are  not  very  nutritious; 
it  is  not  known  that  they  are  fully  digested  into  material  which  can 
be  appropriated  ;  and,  being  non-nitrogenous,  they  could  scarcely 
yield  tissue-building  matter.  What  service  they  perform  is  not 
clearly  understood.  They  may  supply  liquids  important  in  digestion 
or  assimilation.  We  obtain  them  in  acidulous  fruits,  and  in  starchy 
tubers,  and  it  is  not  clear  how  much  of  the  value  of  each  of  these 
sorts  of  food  is  due  to  their  pectous  constituents  ;  but,  when  all 
food  containing  pectine  is  cut  off,  the  scurvy  is  liable  to  ensue,  and 
then  any  food  supplying  pectine  will  serve  as  a  remedy.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  found  that  pectous  food  is  needed  only  in  small  quan- 
tities ;  large  proportions  proving  not  only  innutritious  but  injurious^ 
causing  derangements  of  digestion  and  excretion. 

3.  Acids. — The  principal  fruit-acids,  not  astringent,  are  the  follow- 
ing, given  in  the  order  of  their  importance  : 

Malic  acid :  Very  widely  distributed ;  predominating  in  apples,  pears,  cher- 
ries, gooseberries,  strawberries,  raspberries,  and  mountain-ash  berries.  Not 
extracted  for  use. 

Citric  acid:  Found  in  lemons,  oranges,  tomatoes,  currants,  gooseberries,, 
raspberries,  strawberries,  and  a  large  number  of  other  fruits,  generally  with 
malic  and  tartaric  acids.     Obtained  from  lemons  for  use. 

Tartaric  acid:  Also  widely  distributed  in  most  fruits  not  forming  the  chief 
acid,  but  constituting  the  acid  of  the  grape.  Manufactured  from  the  deposit  of 
fermenting  grape-juice ;  used  in  baking-powders  and  in  its  salts,  cream-of -tar- 
tar, and  Eochelle  salt. 

Oxalic  acid  is  sometimes  found  in  small  proportions  in  a  few 
fruits.     Reports  vary  as  to  its  existence  in  the  tomato. 


THE    CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  469 

Fresenius's  analyses  give  the  following  as  the  average  proportions 
of  total  acid,  reduced  to  equivalent  of  malic  acid  : 

Currant 2.04  per  cent. 

Raspberry 1.48  "  " 

Strawberry 1.31  "  " 

Sour  cherry 1.28  "  " 

Apple 0.75  "  " 

Grape 0.74  "  " 

Peach 0.67  "  " 

Red  pear 0.07  "  " 

The  quantity  of  acids  in  fruits  usually  diminishes  during  ripening. 
The  diminution  is  not,  however,  nearly  so  great  as  it  appears  to  the 
taste,  because  the  acid  of  ripe  fruits  is  masked  to  the  taste  by  the 
larger  proportions  of  sugar  and  the  pectous  substances  then  present. 
The  removal  of  acids  is  chiefly  due  to  oxidation.  It  is  not  found  that 
acids  are  neutralized,  to  any  considerable  extent,  during  ripening,  by 
alkalies  conveyed  through  the  stem.  The  diminution  of  the  acid  in 
plums  was  shown  definitely  by  the  series  of  analyses  before  given 
from  Mercadante.  It  is  stated  that  the  acids  continue  to  oxidize 
away,  after  the  sugar  has  reached  its  maximum  and  before  it  begins 
to  diminish.  Hence,  perfect  ripeness  in  fruit  has  been  defined  as  that 
period  during  the  maximum  quantity  of  sugar  when  the  quantity  of 
acid  is  least.  This  wTill  be,  of  course,  just  before  the  sugar  begins  to 
diminish. 

It  has  been  stated  that  both  citric  and  malic  acids  are  often  found 
in  unripe  grapes,  and  are  substituted  by  tartaric  acid  during  the 
ripening.  Oxalic  acid  is  more  often  found  in  unripe  than  in  ripe 
fruits.  It  is  to  be  desired  that  closer  determinations  should  be  made 
as  to  the  presence  and  proportion  of  oxalic  acid  in  tomatoes  and 
some  other  fruits.  Any  article  of  food  containing  oxalic  acid  (as  the 
garden  pie-plant)  should  probably  be  eaten  with  moderation,  if  at  all. 

A  misapprehension  sometimes  occurs,  from  lack  of  reflection,  as  to 
the  effect  of  sugar  on  the  acidity  of  fruits.  Sugar  has  no  chemical 
effect  upon  acids.  Its  very  sweet  taste  masks  or  overpowers  to  the 
sense  the  sour  taste  of  free  acids;  but  the  acids  remain  free,  all  the 
same.  Whatever  effect  the  sugar  eaten  with  fruits  has  on  digestion 
and  nutrition  is  due  to  the  sugar  itself;  not  to  any  change  of  the 
acids  by  the  sugar,  for  there  is  no  such  change.  Indeed,  sugar  ap- 
proaches to  the  nature  of  an  acid,  though  properly  classed  as  a  neu- 
tral body. 

The  varieties  of  tannic  acids  classed  together  as  tannin  are  quite 
unlike  the  fruit  acids  above  mentioned,  both  in  sensible  properties  and 
in  chemical  relations.  Only  a  few  of  the  ripe  edible  fruits  contain 
astringent  acids,  though  these  are  found  in  many  unripe  fruits  and  in 
numerous  ripe  fruits  not  used  for  food.  Most  varieties  of  colored 
grapes   contain   a  little   tannin,   deposited  mostly  in   the   skins   and 


470  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

seeds,  and  imparting  a  slight  astringency  to  the  juice,  retained  after 
fermentation.  In  the  red  wines  from  0.08  to  0.2  per  cent,  of  tannin  is 
found.  The  decomposition  of  tannin,  by  a  fermentation  producing 
sugar,  has  been  mentioned  under  the  head  of  sugars.  Tannin  is  also 
liable  to  oxidation  with  various  products  not  including  sugar. 

The  vegetable  kingdom  furnishes  numerous  compounds,  known  as 
gltjcosides,  which  are  capable  of  definite  and  distinctive  fermenta- 
tions, one  of  the  fermentation-products  in  each  instance  being  sugar. 
A  number  of  these  glucosides  are  found  in  fruits.  One  of  the  most 
important  of  these  is  amygdalin,  a  glucoside  found  in  the  fruits, 
leaves,  etc.,  of  plants  of  the  almond  family,  especially  in  the  kernels 
of  the  bitter-almond,  peach,  and  cherry,  the  leaves  of  the  cherry-lau- 
rel, and  the  bark  of  the  wild-cherry. 

Amygdalin,  when  obtained  pure,  is  a  white,  odorless  solid,  with  a 
taste  both  sweet  and  bitter.  Taken  alone  it  is  not  poisonous,  even  in 
■considerable  quantities.  But  if  mixed  with  a  substance  named  emul- 
sin, and  wetted,  amygdalin  begins  at  once  to  break  up,  with  forma- 
tion of  three  other  compounds,  as  follows : 

Amygdalin,  457  parts  (by  contact  with  (  L  Bitter-almond  oil,  106  parts. 

emulsin  and  cooperation  with  wa-  \  2"  Hydrocyanic     acid     (or     "pnissic 
ter),  produces :  |  acid "),  27  parts. 

13.  Glucose,  360  parts. 

In  the  plant,  amygdalin  is  accompanied  with  the  emulsin  needful 
for  its  fermentation.  During  the  ripening  of  the  fruit,  and  in  the 
maturity  of  the  leaves  and  other  parts,  the  amygdalin  is  constantly, 
though  slowly,  being  transformed  into  the  three  products  above 
named.  The  bitter-almond  oil  and  hydrocyanic  acid  are  volatile  and 
odorous,  and  give  the  pleasant  odor  of  peach-kernels,  almonds,  etc., 
familiar  to  every  one.  The  rapidity  of  the  chemical  change  is  chiefly 
governed  by  the  proportion  of  moisture,  being  greatly  accelerated  by 
wetting  the  bruised  kernels  or  leaves,  and  stopped  altogether  by 
drying,  while  the  moisture  of  the  living  plant  permits  only  a  gradual 
rate  of  the  transformation.  One  of  the  products  of  this  change  is 
poisonous,  the  well-known  hydrocyanic  acid,  or  prussic  acid,  one- 
tenth  of  a  grain  of  which  is  a  full  medicinal  dose.  The  bitter-almond 
oil  (known  to  chemists  as  benzoic  aldehyde,  and  easily  oxidized  to 
benzoic  acid)  is  not  in  the  least  poisonous  (when  separated  from  the 
hydrocyanic  acid).  It  will  be  seen  from  the  numbers  of  parts  result- 
ing from  the  change  (as  given  above)  that  one  part  of  hydrocyanic 
acid  and  four  of  bitter-almond  oil  are  produced  by  sixteen  parts  of 
pure  amygdalin.  The  amygdalin  of  the  shops,  in  Europe,  where  it  is 
somewhat  used  to  generate  hydrocyanic  acid  in  medicine,  yields  from 
aV  t0  "2~V  °f  ^ts  weight  of  hydrocyanic  acid.  In  exposure  to  the  air, 
the  hydrocyanic  acid,  being  very  volatile,  is  quickly  dissipated,  while 
the  bitter-almond  oil  vaporizes  more  slowly.     In  most  fruits  of  the 


THE    CHEMISTRY   OF  FRUIT-RIPENING.  471 

almond  family  the  amygdalin  and  its  products  are  obtained  chiefly 
or  only  from  the  kernel,  hence  the  well-known  flavoring  effect  of 
leaving  in  the  stones,  or  a  few  cracked  stones,  in  canned  fruits.  Some 
of  these  fruits,  however,  have  the  amygdalin  deposited  in  the  sarco- 
carp  (or  edible  portion).  This  is  stated  to  be  the  case  with  black 
cherries. 

The  almond-flavor  is  a  very  grateful  accompaniment  of  fruits  and 
flowers,  and  it  is  provided  by  Nature  in  safe  and  wholesome  propor- 
tions, but  it  has  been  so  tampered  with  by  the  art  of  man  that  its  use 
is  now  beset  with  dangers  of  several  sorts.  In  the  first  place,  there 
is  the  danger  in  concentrating  what  the  Creator  has  diluted.  The 
oxygen  of  the  air  itself  is  poisonous  when  concentrated.  Bungling 
art  is  almost  sure  to  "  o'erstep  the  modesty  of  Nature  "  by  using  good 
things  in  hurtful  excess.  The  essential  oil  of  bitter-almonds  extracted 
from  cherry-laurel  leaves,  or  from  bitter-almond  kernels,  is  liable  to 
retain  a  poisonous  proportion  of  the  hydrocyanic  acid,  and  its  use  in 
flavoring  extracts,  for  pastry,  etc.,  has  now  and  then  produced  illness 
and  even  fatal  results,  more  frequently  with  children.  If  made  free 
from  hydrocyanic  acid,  as  the  manufacturers  should  do,  the  essential 
oil  is  harmless  in  any  quantity,  and  the  essences,  extracts,  waters,  etc., 
made  from  it  can  be  used  with  entire  safety.  If  long  exposed  to  the 
air,  the  oil  deposits  a  slight  sediment  of  benzoic  acid,  which  is  harm- 
less. The  danger  in  the  use  of  bitter-almond  oil  from  the  amygdaline 
of  plants  lies  in  possible  neglect  of  removing  the  hydrocyanic  acid. 
Then,  in  the  next  place,  there  is  another  substance  which  has  the  same 
odor  as  bitter-almond  oil,  viz.,  a  substance  named  nitrobenzine  and 
sometimes  designated  "oil  of  mirbane,"  a  body  which  is  in  itself  very 
poisonous,  either  when  taken  into  the  stomach  or  inhaled  into  the 
lungs.  It  it  is  a  very  cheap  substitute  for  actual  bitter-almond  oil, 
which  it  resembles  only  in  the  odor.  It  has  been  manufactured  for 
twenty  years,  from  coal-tar,  great  quantities  of  it  being  used  in 
making  aniline  dyes.  It  is  from  this  article  that  many  cheap  grades 
of  soap  have  been  saturated  with  the  smell  of  almond,  of  late  years, 
quite  to  the  discredit  of  the  flavor.  Unscrupulous  manufacturers  have 
used  it  in  confectionery,  and  the  danger  of  its  substitution  in  culinary 
extracts  besets  the  public,  who  cannot  employ  analysts  for  the  exami- 
11  ition  of  every  manufactured  article  purchased  for  the  kitchen.  But 
if  chemical  art  furnished  a  temptation  for  the  improper  substitution 
of  nitrobenzine,  it  has  lately  compensated  for  it  by  discovering  the 
manufacture  of  actual  bitter-almond  oil  itself,  a  pure  article,  at  once 
real  and  artificial,  and  by  means  so  cheap  that  they  are  likely  to  re- 
move the  temptation  to  use  nitrobenzine.  German  samples  of  this  new 
product  were  on  exhibition  at  the  Centennial  last  summer. 

4.  Flavoring  Ethers. — Many  other  odor-giving  constituents,  be- 
sides that  of  the  almond,  are  subjects  of  chemical  manufacture.  For 
example,  oil  of  wintergreen  (found  in  the  berry  and  other  parts)   is 


472  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

well  known  to  be  chiefly  salicylate  of  methyl,  readily  prepared  from 
salicylic  acid  and  wood-alcohol ;  and  the  oil  or  essence  of  pineapple 
is  precisely  butyric  ether,  manufactured  largely  from  waste  materials. 
Acetate  of  amyl  and  valerate  of  amyl  are  supposed  to  represent  the 
flavor  of  the  apple  and  the  pear,  but  how  accurately  they  coincide 
with  the  actual  flavor-substances  of  these  fruits  has  not  been  demon- 
strated. Formate  of  ethyl,  another  compound  ether,  is  used  in  so- 
called  peach-essence.  Numerous  fruit-flavors,  used  for  culinary  ex- 
tracts and  largely  for  soda-fountain  sirups,  are  manufactured  as 
mixtures  of  ethers,  by  recipes  varying  with  different  manufacturers. 
Many  of  these,  resting  on  no  due  authority,  are  unwholesome  mixt- 
ures, often  spurious  imitations  of  the  true  fruit-flavors,  and  again 
hurtful  by  reason  of  excessive  proportions.  As  to  the  chemistry  of 
the  production  of  flavoring  ethers  in  plants,  some  guesses  were  pre- 
sented under  the  head  of  sugar  fermentation. 

5.  Alkaloids. — Substances  strongly  affecting  the  nervous  system, 
as  medicines  or  poisons,  of  course  do  not  occur  in  the  edible  fruits, 
and  we  are  not  in  the  habit  of  placing  potent  compounds  among  the 
constituents  of  fruits  as  a  class;  nevertheless,  when  we  think  of  it,  no 
small  proportion  of  the  banes  and  antidotes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom 
is  matured  in  seeds  and  their  coverings.  In  the  poppy-fruit,  the  cap- 
sule or  pericarp  furnishes  at  least  sixteen  distinct  alkaloids,  including 
morphine,  while  the  seeds  are  harmless,  and  yield  an  oil  much  used 
for  food.  In  the  fruit  of  the  nux-vomica,  the  seeds  are  deadly  with 
strychnine  and  other  poisonous  alkaloids,  while  the  juicy  pulp  is  but 
very  slightly  impregnated  with  these  bitter  poisons  (Fluckiger  and 
Hanbury,  "Pharmacographia,"  p.  384).  The  seeds  of  henbane,  and 
stramonium,  and  the  Calabar-bean,  contain  potent  alkaloids.  The 
unripe  tomato  often  contains  traces  of  solanine,  a  poisonous  alkaloid, 
which  disappears  during  ripening,  probably  by  a  glucosic  fermenta- 
tion. Tlie  same  alkaloid  is  sometimes  found  in  the  green  or  exposed 
parts  of  potato-tubers. 

Many  of  the  vegetable  alkaloids  are  stable  compounds,  having 
clearly-marked  chemical  characteristics.  Some  of  the  opium-alkaloids 
closely  resemble  others  in  their  composition.  Different  species  of  the 
same  family  often  yield  the  same  alkaloids.  The  theobromine  of  the 
chocolate-nut  can  be  changed  bv  the  chemist  into  caffeine,  the  alka- 
loid  of  the  coffee-berry.  Such  an  insight  has  been  obtained  of  the 
structure  of  conine,  the  alkaloid  of  the  classic  poison  hemlock,  that  it 
has  been  formed  from  inorganic  materials,  through  the  processes  of 
the  laboratory.  But  no  evidence  has  been  obtained  as  to  the  steps 
through  which  alkaloids  are  formed  in  the  living  plants. 

It  is  little  enough  we  know  of  the  productive  chemistry  of  plants. 
As,  at  the  beginning,  we  had  need  to  plead  ignorance  of  plant-con- 
stituents, still  more,  at  the  end  of  our  brief  survey,  must  we  declare 
ignorance  of  the  chemical  genesis  of  those  constituents.     We  can 


ADDRESSES    OF  ELIOT  AND   MARSH.  473 

only  obtain  such  glimpses  of  the  progressive  order  of  plant-chemistry, 
and  we  have  only  such  a  distant  view  of  chemical  action  itself,  as  can 
give  us  some  hints  of  the  order,  harmony,  and  grandeur,  of  the  molec- 
ular changes  going  on  in  ripening  fruits  before  us.  None  the  less 
for  our  ignorance,  the  forces  each  season  complete  their  work  and 
drop  their  bountiful  products  into  our  hands. 


-♦*♦- 


ADDRESSES  OF  ELIOT  AND  MARSH, 

AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

Address  of  President  C.  W.  Eliot. 

IN  whose  honor  are  the  chief  personages  of  the  nation,  State,  and 
city,  here  assembled  ?  Whose  palace  is  this  ?  What  divinity  is  wor- 
shiped in  this  place  ?  We  are  assembled  here  to  own  with  gratitude 
the  beneficent  power  of  natural  science ;  to  praise  and  thank  its  vota- 
ries, and  to  dedicate  this  splendid  structure  to  its  service.  The  power 
to  which  we  here  do  homage  is  the  accumulated  intelligence  of  our 
race  applied  generation  after  generation  to  the  study  of  Nature ;  and 
this  palace  is  the  storehouse  of  the  elaborated  materials  which  that 
intelligence  has  garnered,  ordered,  and  illuminated.  What  has  natu- 
ral science  done  for  mankind  that  it  should  be  thus  honored?  In  the 
brief  moments  allotted  to  me  I  can  but  mention  three  pregnant  results 
of  the  scientific  study  of  Nature. 

In  the  first  place,  natural  science  has  engendered  a  peculiar  kind  of 
human  mind — the  searching,  open,  humble  mind,  which,  knowing  that 
it  cannot  attain  unto  all  truth,  or  even  to  much  new  truth,  is  yet  pa- 
tiently and  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of  such  little  new 
truth  as  is  within  its  grasp,  having  no  other  end  than  to  learn,  prizing 
above  all  things  accuracy,  thoroughness,  and  candor,  in  research,  proud 
and  happy  not  in  its  own  single  strength,  but  in  the  might  of  that 
host  of  students,  whose  past  conquests  make  up  the  wondrous  sum  of 
present  knowledge,  whose  sure  future  triumphs  each  humblest  worker 
in  imagination  shares.  Within  the  last  four  hundred  years  this  typi- 
cal scientific  mind  has  gradually  come  to  be  the  kind  of  philosophic 
mind  most  admired  by  the  educated  class ;  indeed,  it  has  come  to  be 
the  only  kind  of  mind,  except  the  poetic,  which  commands  the  respect, 
of  scholars,  whatever  their  department  of  learning.  In  every  field  of 
study,  in  history,  philology,  philosophy,  and  theology,  as  well  as  in 
natural  history  and  physics,  it  is  now  the  scientific  spirit,  the  scien- 
tific method,  which  prevails.  The  substitution  in  the  esteem  of  rea- 
sonable men  of  this  receptive,  fore-reaching  mind  for  the  dogmatic, 
overbearing,  closed  mind,  which  assumes  that  it  already  possesses  all 
essential  truth,  and  is  entitled  to  the  exclusive  interpretation  of  it,  is 


474  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

a  most  beneficent  result  of  the  study  of  natural  history  and  physics. 
It  is  an  achievement  which  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  modern  in- 
crease of  liberty  in  human  society,  liberty  individual,  political  and 
religious ;  it  is  an  achievement  of  the  highest  promise  for  the  future 
of  the  race. 

The  second  result  which  I  wish  to  specify  is  the  stupendous  doc- 
trine of  hereditary  transmission,  which  during  the  past  thirty  years, 
or  within  the  lifetime  of  most  of  those  who  hear  me,  natural  science 
has  developed  and  enforced  by  observations  and  comparisons  covering 
the  whole  field  of  organized  life.  This  conception  is  far  from  being  a 
new  one.  Our  race  has  long  practised,  though  fitfully  and  empirically, 
upon  some  crude  and  fragmentary  forms  of  this  idea.  Tribes,  clans, 
castes,  orders  of  nobilitv,  and  reigning  families,  are  familiar  illustra- 
tions  of  the  sway  of  this  idea;  in  killing,  banishing,  and  confining 
criminals  mankind  has  in  all  ages  been  defending  itself,  blindly,  to  be 
sure,  but  effectually,  against  evils  which  incidentally  flow  from  heredi- 
tary transmission  ;  but  it  has  been  reserved  for  natural  science  in  this 
generation  to  demonstrate  the  universality  of  this  principle,  and  its 
controlling  influence  upon  the  families,  nations,  and  races  of  men,  as 
well  as  upon  all  lower  orders  of  animate  beings.  It  is  fitting  that 
natural  history  should  have  given  this  demonstration  to  the  world; 
for  the  basis  of  systematic  natural  history  is  the  idea  of  species,  and 
the  idea  of  species  is  itself  founded  upon  the  sureness  of  hereditary 
transmission,  upon  the  ultimate  fact  that  individual  characteristics  are 
hereditable.  As  the  knowledge  of  heredity,  recently  acquired  by  sci- 
ence, permeates  society,  it  will  profoundly  aflect  social  customs,  pub- 
lic legislation,  and  governmental  action.  It  will  throw  additional 
safeguards  around  the  domestic  relations;  enhance  the  natural  inter- 
est in  vigorous  family  stocks ;  guide  wisely  the  charitable  action  of 
the  community ;  give  a  rational  basis  for  penal  legislation ;  and  pro- 
mote both  the  occasional  production  of  illustrious  men  and  the  gradual 
improvement  of  the  masses  of  mankind.  These  moral  benefits  will 
surely  flow  from  our  generation's  study  of  heredity. 

Finally,  modern  science  has  discovered  and  set  forth  the  magnifi- 
cent idea  of  the  continuity  of  creation.  It  has  proved  that  the  devel- 
opment of  the  universe  has  been  a  progress  from  good  to  better,  a 
progress  not  without  reactions  and  catastrophes,  but  still  a  benign 
advance  toward  ever  higher  forms  of  life,  with  ever  greater  capacities 
for  ever  finer  enjoyments.  It  has  laid  a  firm  foundation  for  man's  in- 
stinctive faitb  in  his  own  future.  From  the  sight  and  touch  of  what 
the  eternal  past  has  wrought,  it  deduces  a  sure  trust  in  what  the  eter- 
nal future  has  in  store. 

"  And  present  gratitude 
Insures  the  future's  good ; 
And  for  the  things  I  see 
I  trust  the  things  to  he." 


ADDRESSES    OE  ELIOT  AND   MARSH.  475 

It  has  thus  exalted  the  idea  of  God — the  greatest  service  which 
can  be  rendered  to  humanity.  "Each  age  must  worship  its  own 
thought  of  God,"  and  each  age  may  be  judged  by  the  worthiness  of 
that  thought.  In  displaying  the  uniform,  continuous  action  of  unre- 
penting  Nature  in  its  march  from  good  to  better,  science  has  inevita- 
bly directed  the  attention  of  men  to  the  most  glorious  attributes  of 
that  Divine  intelligence  which  acts  through  Nature  with  the  patience 
of  eternity  and  the  fixity  of  all-foreseeing  wisdom.  Verily,  the  in- 
finite, present  Creator  is  worshiped  in  this  place.  A  hundred  life- 
times ago  a  Hebrew  seer  gave  utterance  to  one  of  the  grandest 
thoughts  that  ever  mind  of  man  conceived,  but  applied  it  only  to  his 
own  little  nation,  and  coupled  it  with  barbarous  denunciation  of  that 
nation's  enemies.  This  thought,  tender  and  consoling  toward  human 
weakness  and  insignificance  as  a  mother's  embrace,  but  sublime  also 
as  the  starry  heights  and  majestic  as  the  onward  sweep  of  ages, 
science  utters  as  the  sum  of  all  its  teachings,  as  the  supreme  result 
of  all  its  searching  and  its  meditation,  and  applies  alike  to  the  whole 
universe  and  to  its  last  atom — "  the  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and 
underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms." 

Address  of  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh. 

The  opening  of  this  Museum  to  day  is  an  important  event  in  the 
annals  of  American  science,  and  one  from  which  great  results  are  sure 
to  follow.  We  see  around  us  here,  already,  treasures  of  Nature  from 
every  land,  and  representing  all  periods  of  the  earth's  history.  Not 
merely  a  few  typical  specimens,  as  in  most  new  museums,  but  rich 
series,  illustrating  the  marvelous  diversity  of  Nature,  both  in  the 
present  and  in  the  past.  Such  treasures,  arranged  with  system,  and 
to  the  best  advantage,  as  here,  arrest  the  attention  of  every  observer, 
and  invite  study.  This  alone  is  a  grand  work  accomplished,  and  yet, 
we  are  told,  this  is  but  the  beginning. 

The  great  museums  of  the  world  are  in  the  great  cities ;  and  it  is 
fitting  that  New  York,  one  of  the  few  great  centres  of  culture,  should 
at  last  take  her  proper  place  in  science,  and  found  a  museum,  worthy 
of  herself,  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  her  citizens.  But 
there  is  something  higher  than  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  to  strive 
for  here,  and  that  is  the  increase  of  knowledge.  The  old  idea  of  a 
museum  was  a  show-room ;  the  modern  idea  makes  it  a  workshop  as 
well.  If  this  institution  is  to  hold  high  rank  in  science,  as  we  hope, 
it  will  not  be  in  consequence  of  the  spacious  halls  before  us,  crowded 
though  they  be  with  the  rarest  of  Nature's  products ;  but,  rather,  it 
will  come  through  the  small  work-rooms  in  the  attic,  where  the  natu- 
ralist, with  microscope  or  scalpel,  has  patiently  worked  out  discoveries 
that  add  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge.  This  Museum  will  fail  of 
its  highest  good,  fail  even  to  achieve  more  than  a  local  influence,  un- 


476  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

less  the  work-rooms  above  are  made  the  most  important  feature  of  the 
whole.  These  vast  collections  will  spread  the  elements  of  natural 
science  among  the  people  of  New  York,  and  the  surrounding  region  ; 
but  the  quiet  workers  in  the  attic,  who  pursue  science  for  its  own 
sake,  will  bring  the  Museum  renown  throughout  the  world. 

There  is  yet  a  more  important  reason  for  making  this  institution 
a  centre  for  original  research.  The  science  of  to-day  stands  face  to 
face  with  great  problems.  The  antiquity  of  man,  the  origin  of  the 
human  race,  and  even  the  origin  of  life  itself,  are  among  the  ques- 
tions which  the  present  age  submits  to  science,  and  to  which  it  de- 
mands an  answer.  If  these  problems  are  to  be  solved  by  science, 
America  must  do  her  full  share  of  the  work,  for  the  materials  are 
here.  In  all  that  pertains  to  ancient  life,  the  Western  Continent 
possesses  countless  treasures,  unknown  in  other  lands.  These,  as  I 
believe,  are  to  unlock  many  mysteries  in  biology,  and  render  impor- 
tant aid  toward  the  solution  of  the  profounder  questions  I  have 
named.  American  science  can  thus  repay  its  debt  to  the  Old  World, 
where  science  began,  and  gathering  new  facts,  from  broader  and 
richer  fields  within  her  own  borders,  carry  forward,  with  the  vigor 
and  enthusiasm  of  youth,  the  never-ending  search  for  truth. 

If  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  opened  to-day  under 
such  favorable  auspices,  does  not  take  a  prominent  part  in  this  great 
work,  it  will  not  do  justice  to  its  founders,  or  to  its  opportunities. 
But  with  such  a  foundation  as  we  have  here,  and  such  resources  as 
wait  to  unfold  their  secrets  within  walls  yet  to  be  reared  on  this  com- 
manding site,  I  venture  to  predict  for  natural  science  in  America 
greater  triumphs  than  have  hitherto  been  won  in  any  land. 


SPONTANEOUS  GENEEATION. 

By  Prof.  JOHN  TYNDALL,  F.  R.  S. 


WITHIN  ten  minutes'  walk  of  a  little  cottage  which  I  have  re- 
cently built  in  the  Alps,  there  is  a  small  lake,  fed  by  the  melted 
snows  of  the  upper  mountains.  During  the  early  weeks  of  summer 
no  trace  of  life  is  to  be  discerned  in  this  water ;  but  invariably  tow- 
ard the  end  of  July,  or  the  beginning  of  August,  swarms  of  tailed 
organisms  are  seen  enjoying  the  sun's  warmth  along  the  shallow  mar- 
gins of  the  lake,  and  rushing  with  audible  patter  into  the  deeper  water 
at  the  approach  of  danger.  The  origin  of  this  periodic  crowd  of  liv- 
ing things  is  by  no  means  obvious.  For  years  I  had  never  noticed  in 
the  lake  either  an  adult  frog,  or  the  smallest  fragment  of  frog  spawn  ; 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  477 

so  that,  were  I  not  otherwise  informed,  I  should  have  found  the  con- 
clusion of  Mathiole  a  natural  one,  namely,  that  tadpoles  are  generated 
in  lake-mud  by  the  vivifying  action  of  the  sun. 

The  checks  which  experience  alone  can  furnish  being  absent,  the 
spontaneous  generation  of  creatures  quite  as  high  as  the  frog  in  the 
scale  of  being  was  assumed  for  ages  to  be  a  fact.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
the  dominant  mind  of  Aristotle  stamped  its  notions  on  the  world  at 
large.  For  nearly  twenty  centuries  after  him  men  found  no  difficulty 
in  believing  in  cases  of  spontaneous  generation  which  would  now  be 
rejected  as  monstrous  by  the  most  fanatical  supporter  of  the  doc- 
trine. Shell-fish  of  all  kinds  were  considered  to  be  without  parental 
origin.  Eels  were  supposed  to  spring  spontaneously  from  the  fat  ooze 
of  the  Nile.  Caterpillars  were  the  spontaneous  products  of  the 
leaves  on  which  they  fed,  while  winged  insects,  serpents,  rats,  and 
mice,  were  all  thought  capable  of  being  generated  without  sexual 
intervention. 

The  most  copious  source  of  this  life  without  an  ancestry  was  putre- 
fying flesh,  and,  lacking  the  checks  imposed  by  fuller  investigation, 
the  conclusion  that  flesh  possesses  and  exerts  this  generative  power  is 
a  natural  one.  I  well  remember  when  a  child  of  ten  or  twelve  seeing 
a  joint  of  imperfectly  salted  beef  cut  into,  and  coils  of  maggots  laid 
bare  within  the  mass.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  I  jumped  to  the 
conclusion  that  these  maggots  had  been  spontaneously  generated  in 
the  meat.  I  had  no  knowledge  which  could  qualify  or  oppose  this 
conclusion,  and  for  the  time  it  was  irresistible.  The  childhood  of  the 
individual  typifies  that  of  the  race,  and  the  belief  here  enunciated  was 
that  of  the  world  for  nearly  two  thousand  years. 

To  the  examination  of  this  very  point  the  celebrated  Francesco 
Redi,  physician  to  the  Grand-dukes  Ferdinand  II.  and  Cosmo  III.  of 
Tuscany,  and  a  member  of  the  Academy  del  Cimento,  addressed  him- 
self in  1668.  He  had  seen  the  maggots  of  putrefying  flesh,  and  re- 
flected on  their  possible  origin.  But  he  was  not  content  with  mere 
reflection,  nor  with  the  theoretic  guess-work  which  his  predecessors 
had  founded  upon  their  imperfect  observations.  Watching  meat  dur- 
ing its  passage  from  freshness  to  decay,  prior  to  the  appearance  of 
maggots  he  invariably  observed  flies  buzzing  round  the  meat  and  fre- 
quently alighting  on  it.  The  maggots,  he  thought,  might  be  the  half- 
developed  progeny  of  these  flies. 

The  inductive  guess  precedes  experiment,  by  which,  however,  it 
must  be  finally  tested.  Redi  knew  this,  and  acted  accordingly. 
Placing  fresh  meat  in  a  jar  and  covering  the  mouth  with  paper,  he 
found  that  though  the  meat  putrefied  in  the  ordinary  way,  it  never 
bred  maggots,  while  the  same  meat  placed  in  open  jars  soon  swarmed 
with  these  organisms.  For  the  paper  cover  he  then  substituted  fine 
gauze,  through  which  the  odor  of  the  meat  could  rise.  Over  it  the 
flies  buzzed,  and  on  it  they  laid  their  eggs,  but,  the  meshes  being  too 


478  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

small  to  permit  the  eggs  to  fall  through,  no  maggots  were  generated 
in  the  meat.  They  were,  on  the  contrary,  hatched  upon  the  gauze. 
By  a  series  of  such  experiments  Redi  destroyed  the  belief  in  the 
spontaneous  generation  of  maggots  in  meat,  and  with  it  doubtless 
many  related  beliefs.  The  combat  was  continued  by  Vallisneri, 
Schwammerdam,  and  Reaumur,  who  succeeded  in  banishing  the  notion 
of  spontaneous  generation  from  the  scientific  minds  of  their  day.  In- 
deed, as  regards  such  complex  organisms  as  those  which  formed  the 
subject  of  their  researches,  the  notion  was  banished  forever. 

But  the  discovery  and  improvement  of  the  microscope,  though 
giving  a  death-blow  to  much  that  had  been  previously  written  and 
believed  regarding  spontaneous  generation,  brought  also  into  view  a 
world  of  life  formed  of  individuals  so  minute — so  close  as  it  seemed 
to  the  ultimate  particles  of  matter — as  to  suggest  an  easy  passage 
from  atoms  to  organisms.  Animal  and  vegetable  infusions  exposed 
to  the  air  were  found  clouded  and  crowded  with  creatures  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  unaided  vision,  but  perfectly  visible  to  an  eye  strengthened 
by  the  microscope.  With  reference  to  their  origin  these  organisms 
were  called  "infusoria."  Stagnant  pools  were  found  full  of  them,  and 
the  obvious  difficulty  of  assigning  a  germinal  origin  to  existences  so 
minute  furnished  the  precise  condition  necessary  to  give  new  play  to 
the  notion  of  heterogenesis  or  spontaneous  generation. 

The  scientific  world  was  soon  divided  into  two  hostile  camps,  the 
leaders  of  which  alone  can  here  be  briefly  alluded  to.  On  the  one 
side  we  have  Buffon  and  Needham,the  former  postulating  his  "organic 
molecules,"  and  the  latter  assuming  the  existence  of  a  special  "vege- 
tative force"  which  drew  the  molecules  together  so  as  to  form  living 
things.  On  the  other  side  we  have  the  celebraled  Abbe  Lazzaro 
Snallanzani,  who  in  1877  published  results  counter  to  those  announced 
by  Needham  in  1748,  and  obtained  by  methods  so  precise  as  to  com- 
pletely overthrow  the  convictions  based  upon  the  labors  of  his  prede- 
cessor. Charging  his  flasks  with  organic  infusions,  he  sealed  their 
necks  with  the  blow-pipe,  subjected  them  in  this  condition  to  the  heat 
of  boiling  water,  and  subsequently  exposed  them  to  temperatures 
favorable  to  the  development  of  life.  The  infusions  continued  un- 
changed for  months,  and  when  the  flasks  were  subsequently  opened 
no  trace  of  life  was  found. 

Here  I  may  forestall  matters  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  success  of 
Spallanzani's  experiments  depended  wholly  on  the  locality  in  which 
he  worked.  The  air  around  him  must  have  been  free  from  the  more 
obdurate  infusorial  germs,  for  otherwise  the  process  he  followed 
would,  as  was  long  afterward  proved  by  Wyman,  have  infallibly 
yielded  life.  But  his  refutation  of  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  gen- 
eration is  not  the  less  valid  on  this  account.  Nor  is  it  in  any  way 
upset  by  the  fact  that  others  in  repeating  his  experiments  obtained 
life  when  he  obtained  none.    Rather  is  the  refutation  strengthened  by 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  479 

such  differences.  Given  two  experimenters  equally  skillful  and  equal- 
ly careful,  operating  in  different  places  on  the  same  infusions,  in  the 
same  way,  and  assuming  the  one  to  obtain  life  while  the  other  fails  to 
obtain  it ;  then  its  well-established  absence  in  the  one  case  proves 
that  some  ingredient  foreign  to  the  infusion  must  be  its  cause  in  the 
other. 

Spallanzani's  sealed  flasks  contained  but  small  quantities  of  air, 
and  as  oxygen  was  afterward  shown  to  be  generally  essential  to  life, 
it  was  thought  that  the.  absence  of  life  observed  by  Spallanzani  might 
have  been  due  to  the  lack  of  this  vitalizing  gas.  To  dissipate  this 
doubt,  Schulze  in  1836  half-tilled  a  flask  with  distilled  water,  to  which 
animal  and  vegetable  matters  were  added.  First  boiling  his  infusion 
to  destroy  whatever  life  it  might  contain,  Schulze  sucked  daily  into 
his  flask  air  which  had  passed  through  a  series  of  bulbs  containing 
concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  where  all  germs  of  life  suspended  in  the 
air  were  supposed  to  be  destroyed.  From  May  to  August  this  pro- 
cess was  continued  without  any  development  of  infusorial  life. 

Here,  again,  the  success  of  Schulze  was  due  to  his  working  in  com- 
paratively pure  air,  but  even  in  such  air  his  experiment  is  a  very  risky 
one.  Germs  will  pass,  unwetted  and  unscathed,  through  sulphuric 
acid,  unless  the  most  special  care  is  taken  to  detain  them.  I  have 
repeatedly  failed,  by  repeating  Schulze's  experiments,  to  obtain  his 
results.  Others  have  failed  likewise.  The  air  passes  in  bubbles 
through  the  bulbs,  and,  to  render  the  method  secure,  the  passage  of 
the  air  must  be  so  slow  as  to  cause  the  whole  of  its  floating  matter, 
even  to  the  core  of  each  bubble,  to  touch  the  surrounding  liquid.  But, 
if  this  precaution  be  observed,  water  will  be  found  quite  as  effectual 
as  sulphuric  acid.  By  the  aid  of  an  air  pump,  in  a  highly-infective 
atmosphere,  I  have  thus  drawn  air  for  weeks  without  intermission, 
first  through  bulbs  containing  water,  and  afterward  through  vessels 
containing  organic  infusions,  without  any  appearance  of  life.  The 
germs  were  not  killed,  but  they  were  effectually  intercepted,  while 
the  objection  that  the  air  had  been  injured  by  being  brought  into  con- 
tact with  strongly  corrosive  substances  was  avoided. 

The  brief  paper  of  Schulze,  published  in  Poggendorfs  Annalen  for 
1830,  was  followed  in  1837  by  another  short  and  pregnant  communi- 
cation by  Schwann.  Redi,  as  we  have  seen,  traced  the  maggots  of 
putrefying  flesh  to  the  eggs  of  flies.  But  he  did  not  and  he  could  not 
know  the  meaning  of  putrefaction  itself.  He  had  not  the  instrumen- 
tal means  to  inform  him  that  it  also  is  a  phenomenon  attendant  on  the 
development  of  life.  This  was  first  proved  in  the  paper  now  alluded 
to.  Schwann  placed  flesh  in  a  flask  filled  to  one-third  of  its  capacity 
with  water,  sterilized  the  flask  by  boiling,  and  then  supplied  it  for 
months  with  calcined  air.  Throughout  this  time  "  there  appeared  no 
mould,  no  infusoria,  no  putrefaction  ;  the  flesh  remained  unaltered, 
while  the  liquid  continued  as  clear  as  it  was  immediately  after  boiling." 


480  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Schwann  then  varied  his  experimental  argument,  with  no  alteration  in 
the  result.  His  final  conclusion  was,  that  putrefaction  is  due  to  decom- 
positions of  organic  matter  attendant  on  the  multiplication  therein  of 
minute  organisms.  These  organisms  were  derived  not  from  the  air, 
but  from  something  contained  in  the  air,  which  was  destroyed  by  a 
sufficiently  high  temperature.  There  never  was  a  more  determined 
opponent  of  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation  than  Schwann, 
though  a  strange  attempt  was  made  a  year  and  a  half  ago  to  enlist 
him  and  others  equally  opposed  to  it  on  the  side  of  the  doctrine. 

The  physical  character  of  the  agent  which  produces  putrefaction 
was  further  revealed  by  Helmholtz  in  1843.  By  means  of  a  membrane 
he  separated  a  sterilized  putrescible  liquid  from  a  putrefying  one.  The 
sterilized  infusion  remained  perfectly  intact.  Hence  it  was  not  the 
liquid  of  the  putrefying  mass — for  it  could  freely  diffuse  through  the 
membrane — but  something  contained  in  the  liquid,  and  which  was 
stopped  by  the  membrane,  that  caused  the  putrefaction.  In  1854 
Schroeder  and  Von  Dusch  struck  into  this  inquiry,  which  was  subse- 
quently followed  up  by  Schroeder  alone.  These  able  experimenters 
employed  plugs  of  cotton-wool  to  filter  the  air  supplied  to  their  infu- 
sions. Fed  with  such  air,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  putres- 
cible liquids  remained  perfectly  sweet  after  boiling.  Milk  formed  a 
conspicuous  exception  to  the  general  rule.  It  putrefied  after  boiling, 
though  supplied  with  carefully-filtered  air.  The  researches  of  Schroe- 
der bring  us  up  to  the  year  1859. 

In  that  year  a  book  was  published  which  seemed  to  overturn  some 
of  the  best-established  facts  of  previous  investigators.  Its  title  was 
"  Heterogenic,"  and  its  author  was  F.  A.  Pouchet,  Director  of  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  at  Rouen.  Ardent,  laborious,  learned, 
full  not  only  of  scientific  but  of  metaphysical  fervor,  he  threw  his 
whole  energy  into  the  inquiry.  Never  did  a  subject  require  the  exer- 
cise of  the  cold,  critical  faculty  more  than  this  one — calm  study  in  the 
unraveling  of  complex  phenomena,  care  in  the  preparation  of  experi- 
ments, care  in  their  execution,  skillful  variation  of  conditions,  and  in- 
cessant questioning  of  results,  until  repetition  had  placed  them  beyond 
doubt  or  question.  To  a  man  of  Pouchet's  temperament,  the  subject 
was  full  of  danger — danger  not  lessened  by  the  theoretic  bias  with 
which  he  approached  it.  This  is  revealed  by  the  opening  words  of 
his  preface  :  "  Lorsque,  par  la  meditation,  il  fut  evident  pour  moi  que 
la  generation  spontanee  etait  encore  Tun  des  moyens  qu'emploie  la 
nature  pour  la  reproduction  des  etres,  je  m'appliquai  a  decouvrir  par 
quels  proced6s  on  pouvait  parvenir  a  en  mettre  les  phenomenes  en 
evidence."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  a  prepossession  required  a 
strong  curb.  Pouchet  repeated  the  experiments  of  Schulze  and 
Schwann  with  results  diametrically  opposed  to  theirs.  He  heaped 
experiment  upon  experiment,  and  argument  upon  argument,  spicing 
with  the  sarcasm  of  the  advocate  the  logic  of  the  man  of  science.     In 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION  481 

view  of  the  multitudes  required  to  produce  the  observed  results,  be 
ridiculed  the  assumption  of  atmospheric  germs.  This  was  one  of  his 
strongest  points.  "  Si  les  Proto-organismes  que  nous  voyons  pulluler 
partout  et  dans  tout,  avaient  leurs  germes  dissembles  dans  l'atmos- 
phere,  dans  la  proportion  mathematiquement  indispensable  a  cet  effet, 
l'air  en  serait  totalement  obscurci,  car  ils  devraient  s'y  trouver  beau- 
coup  plus  serres  que  les  globules  d'eau  qui  forment  nos  nuages  epais. 
II  n'y  a  pas  la  la  moindre  exageration."  Recurring  to  the  subject, 
he  exclaims,  "  L'air  dans  lequel  nous  vivons  aurait  presque  la  den- 
site  du  fer."  There  is  often  a  virulent  contagion  in  a  confident  tone, 
and  this  hardihood  of  argumentative  assertion  was  sure  to  influence 
minds  swayed  not  by  knowledge,  but  by  authority.  Had  Pouchet 
known  that  "  the  blue  ethereal  sky "  is  formed  of  suspended  parti- 
cles, through  which  the  sun  freely  shines,  he  would  hardly  have  vent- 
ured upon  this  line  of  argument. 

Pouchet's  pursuit  of  this  inquiry  strengthened  the  conviction  with 
which  he  began  it,  and  landed  him  in  downright  credulity  in  the  end. 
I  do  not  question  his  ability  as  an  observer,  but  the  inquiry  needed  a 
disciplined  experimenter.  This  latter  implies  not  mere  ability  to  look 
at  things  as  Nature  offers  them  to  our  inspection,  but  to  force  her  to 
show  herself  under  conditions  prescribed  by  the  experimenter  himself. 
Here  Pouchet  lacked  the  necessary  discipline.  Yet  the  vigor  of  his 
onset  raised  clouds  of  doubt,  which  for  a  time  obscured  the  whole 
field  of  inquiry.  So  difficult  indeed  did  the  subject  seem,  and  so  inca- 
pable of  definite  solution,  that  when  Pasteur  made  known  his  inten- 
tion to  take  it  up,  his  friends  Biot  and  Dumas  expressed  their  regret, 
earnestly  exhorting  him  to  set  a  definite  and  rigid  limit  to  the  time 
he  purposed  spending  in  this  apparently  unprofitable  field.1 

Schooled  by  his  education  as  a  chemist,  and  by  special  researches 
on  the  closely  related  question  of  fermentation,  Pasteur  took  up  this 
subject  under  particularly  favorable  conditions.  His  work  and  his 
culture  had  given  strength  and  finish  to  his  natural  aptitudes.  In 
1862,  accordingly,  he  published  a  paper  "  On  the  Organized  Corpus- 
cles existing  in  the  Atmosphere,"  which  must  forever  remain  classical. 
By  the  most  ingenious  devices  he  collected  the  floating  particles  of 
the  air  surrounding  his  laboratory  in  the  Rue  d'Ulm,  and  subjected 
them  to  microscopic  examination.  Many  of  them  he  found  to  be  or- 
ganized particles.  Sowing  them  in  sterilized  infusions,  he  obtained 
abundant  crops  of  microscopic  organisms.  By  more  refined  methods 
he  repeated  and  confirmed  the  experiments  of  Schwann,  which  had 
been  contested  by- Pouchet,  Montegazza,  Joly,  and  Musset.  He  also 
confirmed  the  experiments  of  Schroeder  and  Von  Dusch.     He  showed 

1  "  Je  ne  conseillerais  a  pcrsonne,"  said  Dumas  to  his  already  famous  pupil,  "  de 
rester  trop  longtcmps  dans  ce  sujet." — ("  Annales  de  Chemie  et  de  Physique,"  1862,  vol. 
lxiv.,  p.  22.)     Since  that  time  the  illustrious  Perpetual  Secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences has  had  good  reason  to  revise  this  "  counsel." 
voi,.  XII. — 31 


482  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

that  the  cause  which  communicated  life  to  his  infusions  was  not  uni- 
formly diffused  through  the  air ;  that  there  were  aerial  interspaces 
which  possessed  no  power  to  generate  life.  Standing  on  the  Mer  de 
Glace,  near  the  Montanvert,  he  snipped  off  the  ends  of  a  number  of 
hermetically-scaled  flasks  containing  organic  infusions.  One  out  of 
twenty  of  the  flasks  thus  supplied  with  glacier  air  showed  signs  of  life 
afterward,  while  eight  out  of  twenty  of  the  same  infusions,  supplied 
with  the  air  of  the  plains,  became  crowded  with  life.  He  took  his 
flasks  into  the  caves  under  the  Observatory  of  Paris,  and  found  the 
still  air  in  these  caves  devoid  of  generative  power.  These  and  other 
experiments,  carried  out  with  a  severity  perfectly  obvious  to  the  in- 
structed scientific  reader,  and  accompanied  by  a  logic  equally  severe, 
restored  the  conviction  that,  even  in  these  lower  reaches  of  the  scale 
of  being,  life  does  not  appear  without  the  operation  of  antecedent  life. 

The  main  position  of  Pasteur,  though  often  assailed,  has  never  yet 
been  shaken.  It  has,  on  the  contrary,  been  strengthened  by  practical 
researches  of  the  most  momentous  kind.  He  has  applied  the  knowl- 
edge won  from  his  inquiries  to  the  preservation  of  wine  and  beer,  to 
the  manufacture  of  vinegar,  to  the  staying  of  the  plague  which  threat- 
ened utter  destruction  to  the  silk-husbandry  of  France,  and  to  the  ex- 
amination of  other  formidable  diseases  which  assail  the  higher  animals, 
including  man.  His  relation  to  the  improvements  which  Prof.  Lister 
has  introduced  into  surgery  is  shown  by  a  letter  quoted  in  his  "  Etudes 
sur  la  Biere."  '  Prof.  Lister  there  expressly  thanks  Pasteur  for  having 
given  him  the  only  principle  which  could  have  conducted  the  anti- 
septic system  to  a  successful  issue.  The  strictures  regarding  Pasteur's 
defects  of  reasoning,  to  which  we  have  been  lately  accustomed,  deliv- 
ered with  a  tone  of  supercilious  contempt,  where  reverent  teachable- 
ness would  have  been  the  fitting  state  of  mind,  throw  abundant  light 
upon  their  author,  but  none  upon  Pasteur. 

Redi,  as  we  have  seen,  proved  the  maggots  of  putrefying  flesh  to 
be  derived  from  the  eggs  of  flies ;  Schwann  proved  putrefaction  itself 
to  be  the  concomitant  of  far  lower  forms  of  life  than  those  dealt  with 
by  Redi.  Our  knowledge  here,  as  elsewhere  in  connection  wTith  this 
subject,  has  been  vastly  extended  by  Prof.  Cohn,  of  Breslau.  "No 
putrefaction,"  he  says,  "  can  occur  in  a  nitrogenous  substance  if  its 
bacteria  be  destroyed  and  new  ones  prevented  from  entering  it.  Pu- 
trefaction begins  as  soon  as  bacteria,  even  in  the  smallest  numbers, 
are  admitted  either  accidentally  or  purposely.  It  progresses  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  multiplication  of  the  bacteria,  it  is  retarded  when 
they  exhibit  low  vitality,  and  is  stopped  by  all  influences  which  either 
hinder  their  development  or  kill  them.  All  bactericidal  media  are 
therefore  antiseptic  and  disinfecting."2     It  was  these  organisms  act- 

1  P.  43. 

2  In  Ms  last  excellent  memoir,  Cohn  expresses  himself  thus:  "Wer  noch  heut  die 
Fanlniss  von  einer  spontanen  Dissociation  der  Proteinmolecule,  oder  von  einem  unorgani- 


SPONTANEOUS   GENERATION.  483 

ing  in  wound  and  abscess  which  so  frequently  converted  our  hospitals 
into  charnel-houses,  and  it  is  their  destruction  by  the  antiseptic  sys- 
tem that  now  renders  justifiable  operations  which  no  surgeon  would 
have  attempted  a  few  years  ago.  The  gain  is  immense — to  the  prac- 
tising surgeon  as  well  as  to  the  patient  practised  upon.  Contrast  the 
anxiety  of  never  feeling  sure  whether  the  most  brilliant  operation 
might  not  be  rendered  nugatory  by  the  access  of  a  few  particles  of 
unseen  hospital-dust,  with  the  comfort  derived  from  the  knowledge 
that  all  power  of  mischief  on  the  part  of  such  dust  has  been  surely 
and  certainly  annihilated.  But  the  action  of  living  contagia  extends 
beyond  the  domain  of  the  surgeon.  The  power  of  reproduction  and 
indefinite  self-multiplication  which  is  characteristic  of  living  things, 
coupled  with  the  undeviating  fact  of  contagia  "  breeding  true,"  has 
given  strength  and  consistency  to  a  belief  long  entertained  by  pene- 
trating minds  that  epidemic  diseases  generally  are  the  concomitants 
of  parasitic  life.  "There  begins  to  be  faintly  visible  to  us  a  vast  and 
destructive  laboratory  of  Nature  wherein  the  diseases  which  are  most 
fatal  to  animal  life,  and  the  changes  to  which  dead  organic  matter  is 
passively  liable,  appear  bound  together  by  what  must  at  least  be 
called  a  very  close  analogy  of  causation."  '  According  to  this  view, 
which,  as  I  have  said,  is  daily  gaining  converts,  a  contagious  disease 
may  be  defined  as  a  conflict  between  the  person  smitten  by  it  and  a 
specific  organism  which  multiplies  at  his  expense,  appropriating  his 
air  and  moisture,  disintegrating  his  tissues,  or  poisoning  him  by  the 
decompositions  incident  to  its  growth. 

During  the  ten  years  extending  from  1859  to  1869,  researches  on 
radiant  heat  in  its  relations  to  the  gaseous  form  of  matter  occupied 
my  continual  attention.  When  air  was  experimented  on,  I  had  to 
cleanse  it  effectually  of  floating  matter,  and,  while  doing  so,  I  was  sur- 
prised to  notice  that,  at  the  ordinary  rate  of  transfer,  such  matter 
passed  freely  through  alkalies,  acids,  alcohols,  and  ethers.  The  eye 
being  kept  sensitive  by  darkness,  a  concentrated  beam  of  light  was 
found  to  be  a  most  searching  test  for  suspended  matter  both  in  water 
and  in  air — a  test  indeed  indefinitely  more  searching  and  severe  than 
that  furnished  by  the  most  powerful  microscope.  With  the  aid  of 
such  a  beam  I  examined  air  filtered  by  cotton-wood,  air  long  kept  free 
from  agitation,  so  as  to  allow  the  floating  matter  to  subside,  calcined 
air,  and  air  filtered  by  the  deeper  cells  of  the  human  lungs.  In  all 
cases  the  correspondence  between  my  experiments  and  those  of 
Schroeder,  Pasteur,  and  Lister,  in  regard  to  spontaneous  generation, 
was  perfect.     The  air  which  they  found  inoperative  was  proved  by 

sirten  Ferment  ableitet,  oder  gar  aus  '  Stickstoffsplittern '  die  Balken  zur  Stiitze  seiner 
Faulnisstheorie  zu  zimmern  versucht,  hat  zuerst  den  Satz  '  keine  Faulniss  ohne  Bacte- 
rium Termo '  zu  widerlegen." 

1  "  Report  of  the  Medical  Officer  of  the  Privy  Council,"  1874,  p.  5. 


484  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  luminous  beam  to  be  optically  pure  and  therefore  germless. 
Having  worked  at  the  subject  both  by  experiment  and  reflection,  on 
Friday  evening,  the  2lst  of  January,  1870,  I  brought  it  before  the 
members  of  the  Royal  Institution.  Two  or  three  months  subse- 
quently, for  sufficient  practical  reasons,  I  ventured  to  direct  public 
attention  to  the  subject  in  a  letter  to  the  Times.  Such  was  my  first 
contact  with  this  important  question. 

This  letter,  I  believe,  gave  occasion  for  the  first  public  utterance 
of  Dr.  Bastian  in  relation  to  this  question.  He  did  me  the  honor  to 
inform  me,  as  others  had  informed  Pasteur,  that  the  subject  "  pertains 
to  the  biologist  and  physician."  He  expressed  "  amazement  "  at  my 
reasoning,  and  warned  me  that  before  what  I  had  done  could  be  un- 
done "  much  irreparable  mischief  might  be  occasioned."  With  far 
less  preliminary  experience  to  guide  and  warn  him,  Dr.  Bastian  was 
far  bolder  than  Pouchet  in  his  experiments,  and  far  more  adventurous 
in  his  conclusions.  With  organic  infusions  he  obtained  the  results  of 
his  celebrated  predecessor,  but  he  did  far  more — the  atoms  and  mole- 
cules of  inorganic  liquids  passing  under  his  manipulation  into  those 
more  "complex  chemical  compounds"  which  we  dignify  by  calling 
them  "  living  organisms."  '  For  five  years,  or  thereabouts,  Dr.  Bas- 
tian ploughed  the  field  without  impediment  from  me,  and,  now  that 
one  can  overlook  the  work,  I  am  bound  in  truth  to  say  that  very  won- 
derful ploughing  it  has  been.  As  regards  the  public  who  take  an 
interest  in  such  things,  and  apparently  also  as  regards  a  large  portion 
of  the  medical  profession,  he  certainly  succeeded  in  restoring  the 
subject  to  a  state  of  uncertainty  similar  to  that  which  followed  the 
publication  of  Pouchet's  Arolume  in  1859. 

It  is  desirable  that  this  uncertainty  should  be  removed  from  the 
public  mind,  and  doubly  desirable  on  practical  grounds  that  it  should 
be  removed  from  the  minds  of  medical  men.  In  the  present  article, 
therefore,  I  propose  discussing  this  question  face  to  face  with  some 
eminent  and  fair-minded  member  of  the  medical  profession  who,  as 
regards  spontaneous  generation,  entertains  views  adverse  to  mine. 
Such  a  one  it  would  be  easy  to  name ;  but  it  is  perhaps  better  to  rest 
in  the  impersonal.  I  shall  therefore  simply  call  my  proposed  co-in- 
quirer my  friend.  With  him  at  my  side  I  shall  endeavor,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  so  to  conduct  this  discussion  that  he  who  runs  may 
read,  and  that  he  who  reads  may  understand. 

Let  us  begin  at  the  beginning.  I  ask  my  friend  to  step  into  the 
laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institution,  where  I  place  before  him  a  basin 
of  thin  turnip-slices  barely  covered  with  distilled  water  kept  at  a 
temperature  of  120°  Fahr.     After  digesting  the  turnip  for  four  or 

1  "  It  is  further  held  that  bacteria  or  allied  organisms  are  prone  to  be  engendered  as 
correlative  products,  coming  into  existence  in  the  several  fermentations,  just  as  inde- 
pendently as  other  less  complex  chemical  compounds." — (Bastian,  "Transactions  of  the 
Pathological  Society,"  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  258.) 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION. 


485 


five  hours  we  pour  off  the  liquid,  boil  it,  filter  it,  and  obtain  an  infu- 
sion as  clear  as  filtered  drinking-water.  We  cool  the  infusion,  test 
its  specific  gravity,  and  find  it  to  be  1006  or  higher— water  being 
1000.  A  number  of  small,  clean,  empty  flasks,  of  the  shape  here 
shown,  are  before  us.  One  of  them  is  slightly 
warmed  with  a  spirit-lamp,  and  its  open  end  is 
then  dipped  into  the  turnip-infusion.  The 
warmed  glass  is  afterward  chilled,  the  air 
within  the  flask  cools,  contracts,  and  is  followed 
in  its  contraction  by  the  infusion.  Thus  we 
get  a  small  quantity  of  liquid  into  the  flask. 
We  now  heat  this  liquid  carefully.  Steam  is 
produced,  which  issues  from  the  open  neck, 
carrying  the  air  of  the  flask  along  with  it. 
After  a  few  seconds'  ebullition,  the  open  neck 
is  again  plunged  into  the  infusion.  The  steam 
within  the  flask  condenses,  the  liquid  enters  to  supply  its  place,  and 
in  this  way  we  fill  our  little  flask  to  about  four-fifths  of  its  volume. 
This  description  is  typical ;  we  may  thus  fill  a  thousand  flasks  with 
a  thousand  different  infusions. 

I  now  ask  my  friend  to  notice  a  trough  made  of  sheet-copper, 
with  two  rows  of  handy  little  Bunsen  burners  underneath  it.  This 
trough,  or  bath,  is  nearly  filled  with  oil ;  a  piece  of  thin  plank  consti- 
tutes a  kind  of  lid  for  the  oil-bath.  The  wood  is  perforated  with 
circular  apertures  wide  enough  to  allow  our  small  flask  to  pass 
through  and  plunge  itself  in  the  oil,  which  has  been  heated,  say,  to 
250°  Fahr.  Clasped  all  round  by  the  hot  liquid,  the  infusion  in  the 
flask  rises  to  its  boiling-point,  which  is  not  sensibly  over  212°  Fahr. 
Steam  issues  from  the  open  neck  of  the  flask,  and  the  boiling  is  con- 
tinued for  five  minutes.  With  a  pair  of  small  brass  tongs  an  assist- 
ant now  seizes  the  neck  near  its  junction  with  the  flask,  and  partially 
lifts  the  latter  out  of  the  oil.  The  steam  does  not  cease  to  issue,  but 
its  violence  is  abated.  With  a  second  pair  of  tongs  held  in  one  hand, 
the  neck  of  the  flask  is  seized  close  to  its  open  end,  wrhile  with  the 
other  hand  a  Bunsen's  flame  or  an  ordinary  spirit-flame  is  brought 
under  the  middle  of  the  neck.  The  glass  reddens,  whitens,  softens, 
and  as  it  is  gently  drawn  out  the  neck  diminishes  in  diameter,  until 
the  canal  is  completely  blocked  up.  The  tongs  with  the  fragment  of 
severed  neck  being  withdrawn,  the  flask,  with  its  contents  diminished 
by  evaporation,  is  lifted  from  the  oil-bath  perfectly  sealed  hermeti- 
cally. 

Sixty  such  flasks  filled,  boiled,  and  sealed,  in  the  manner  described, 
and  containing  strong  infusions  of  beef,  mutton,  turnip,  and  cucum- 
ber, are  carefully  .packed  in  saw-dust  and  transported  to  the  Alps. 
Thither,  to  an  elevation  of  about  7,000  feet  above  the  sea,  I  invite  my 
co-inquirer  to    accompany  me.      It  is  the  month  of  July,  and  the 


486  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

weather  is  favorable  to  putrefaction.  We  open  our  box  at  the  Bel- 
Alp,  and  count  out  fifty-four  flasks,  with  their  liquids  as  clear  as  fil- 
tered drinking-water.  In  six  flasks,  however,  the  infusion  is  found 
muddy.  We  closely  examine  these,  and  discover  that  every  one  of 
them  has  had  its  fragile  end  broken  off  in  the  transit  from  London. 
Air  has  entered  the  flasks,  and  the  observed  muddiness  is  the  result. 
My  colleague  knows  as  well  as  I  do  what  this  means.  Examined 
with  a  pocket-lens,  or  even  with  a  microscops  of  insufficient  power, 
nothing  is  seen  in  the  muddy  liquid ;  but  regarded  with  a  magnifying 
power  of  a  thousand  diameters  or  so,  what  an  astonishing  appearance 
does  it  present !  Leeuwenhoek  estimated  the  population  of  a  single 
drop  of  stagnant  water  at  500,000,000  :  probably  the  population  of  a 
drop  of  our  turbid  infusion  Avould  be  this  many  times  multiplied.  The 
field  of  the  microscope  is  crowded  with  organisms,  some  wabbling 
slowly,  others  shooting  rapidly  across  the  microscopic  field.  They 
dart  hither  and  thither  like  a  rain  of  minute  projectiles  ;  they  pirou- 
ette and  spin  so  quickly  round,  that  the  retention  of  the  retinal  im- 
pression transforms  the  little  living  rod  into  a  twirling  wheel.  And 
yet  the  most  celebrated  naturalists  tell  us  that  they  are  vegetables. 
From  the  rod-like  shape  which  they  so  frequently  assume,  these 
organisms  are  called  bacteria — a  term,  be  it  here  remarked,  which 
covers  organisms  of  very  diverse  kinds. 

Has  this  multitudinous  life  been  spontaneously  generated  in  these 
six  flasks,  or  is  it  the  progeny  of  living  germinal  matter  carried  into 
the  flasks  by  the  entering  air?  If  the  infusions  have  a  self-gen erative 
power,  how  are  the  sterility  and  consequent  clearness  of  the  fifty-four 
uninjured  flasks  to  be  accounted  for?  My  colleague  may  urge — and 
fairly  urge — that  the  assumption  of  germinal  matter  is  by  no  means 
necessary;  that  the  air  itself  may  be  the  one  thing  needed  to  wake 
up  the  dormant  infusions.  We  will  examine  this  point  immediately. 
But  I  would  meanwhile  remind  my  friend  that  I  am  working  on  the 
exact  lines  laid  down  by  our  most  conspicuous  heterogenist.  He  dis- 
tinctly affirms  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  atmospheric  pressure  above 
the  infusion  favors  the  production  of  organisms;  and  he  accounts  for 
their  absence  in  tins  of  preserved  meat,  fruit,  and  vegetables,  by  the 
hypothesis  that  fermentation  has  begun  in  such  tins,  that  gases  have 
been  generated,  the  pressure  of  which  has  stifled  the  incipient  life  and 
stopped  its  further  development.1  This  is  Dr.  Bastian's  theory  of 
preserved  meats.  Its  author  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  pierced  a 
tin  of  preserved  meat,  fruit,  or  vegetable,  under  water  with  a  view 
of  testing  its  truth.  Had  he  done  so,  he  would  have  found  it  erro- 
neous. In  well-preserved  tins  I  have  invariably  found,  not  an  out- 
rush  of  gas,  but  an  inrush  of  water,  when  the  tin  was  perforated. 
I  have  noticed  this  recently  in  tins  which  have  lain  perfectly  good  for 
sixty-three  years  in  the  Royal  Institution.     Modern  tins,  subjected  to 

1  "Beginnings  of  Life,"  vol.  i.,  p.  418. 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  487 

the  same  test,  yielded  the  same  result.  From  time  to  time,  moreover, 
during  the  last  two  years,  I  have  placed  glass  tubes,  containing  clear 
infusions  of  turnip,  hay,  beef,  and  mutton,  in  iron  bottles,  and  sub- 
jected them  to  air-pressures  varying  from  ten  to  twenty-seven  atmos- 
pheres— pressures,  it  is  needless  to  say,  far  more  than  sufficient  to 
tear  a  preserved  meat-tin  to  shreds.  After  ten  days  these  infusions 
were  taken  from  their  bottles  rotten  with  putrefaction  and  teeming 
with  life.  Thus  collapses  an  hypothesis  which  had  no  rational  founda- 
tion, and  which  could  never  have  seen  the  light  had  the  slightest  at- 
tempt been  made  to  verify  it. 

Our  fifty-four  vacuous  and  pellucid  flasks  also  declai-e  against  this 
heterogenist.  We  expose  them  to  a  warm  Alpine  sun  by  day,  and 
at  night  we  suspend  them  in  a  warm  kitchen.  Four  of  them  have 
been  accidentally  broken ;  but  at  the  end  of  a  month  we  find  the  fifty 
remaining  ones  as  clear  as  at  the  commencement.  There  is  no  sign 
of  putrefaction  or  of  life  in  any  of  them.  We  divide  these  flasks  into 
two  groups  of  twenty-three  and  twenty-seven  respectively  (an  acci- 
dent of  counting  rendered  the  division  uneven).  The  question  now  is 
whether  the  admission  of  air  can  liberate  any  generative  energy  in 
the  infusions.  Our  next  experiment  will  answer  this  question  and 
something  more.  We  carry  the  flasks  to  a  hay-loft,  and  there,  with  a 
pair  of  steel  pliers,  snip  off  the  sealed  ends  of  the  group  of  twenty- 
three.  Each  snipping-off  is  of  course  followed  by  an  inrush  of  air. 
We  now  carry  our  twenty-seven  flasks,  our  pliers,  and  a  spirit-lamp, 
to  a  ledge  overlooking  the  Aletsch  glacier,  about  two  hundred  feet 
above  the  hay-loft,  from  which  ledge  the  mountain  falls  almost  pre- 
cipitously to  the  northeast  for  about  a  thousand  feet.  A  gentle  wind 
blows  towai'd  us  from  the  northeast — that  is,  across  the  crests  and 
snow-fields  of  the  Oberland  mountains.  We  are,  therefore,  bathed  by 
air  which  must  have  been  for  a  good  while  out  of  practical  contact 
with  either  animal  or  vegetable  life.  I  stand  carefully  to  leeward  of 
the  flasks,  for  no  dust  or  particle  from  my  clothes  or  body  must  be 
blown  toward  them.  An  assistant  ignites  the  spirit-lamp,  into  the 
flame  of  which  I  plunge  the  pliers,  thereby  destroying  all  attached 
germs  or  organisms.  Then  I  snip  off  the  sealed  end  of  the  flask. 
Prior  to  every  snipping  the  same  process  is  gone  through,  no  flask 
being  opened  without  the  previous  cleansing  of  the  pliers  by  the  flame. 
In  this  way  we  charge  our  twenty-seven  flasks  with  clean  vivifying 
mountain-air. 

We  place  the  fifty  flasks,  with  their  necks  open,  over  a  kitchen- 
stove,  in  a  temperature  varying  from  50°  to  90°  Fahr.,  and  in  three 
days  find  twenty-one  out  of  the  twenty-three  flasks  opened  on  the 
hay-loft  invaded  by  organisms — two  only  of  the  group  remaining  free 
from  them.  After  three  weeks'  exposure  to  precisely  the  same  condi- 
tions, not  one  of  the  twenty-seven  flasks  opened  in  free  air  had  given 
way.     No  germ  from  the  kitchen-air  had  ascended  the  narrow  necks, 


488  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  flasks  being  shaped  to  produce  this  result.  They  are  still  in  the 
Alps,  as  clear,  I  doubt  not,  and  as  free  from  life  as  they  were  when 
sent  off  from  London.1 

What  is  my  colleague's  conclusion  from  the  experiment  before  us  ? 
Twenty-seven  putrescible  infusions,  first  in  vacuo,  and  afterward  sup- 
plied with  the  most  invigorating  air,  have  shown  no  sign  of  putrefac- 
tion or  of  life.  And  as  to  the  others,  I  almost  shrink  from  asking  him 
whether  the  hay-loft  has  rendered  them  spontaneously  generative.  Is 
not  the  inference  here  imperative  that  it  is  not  the  air  of  the  loft — which 
is  connected  through  a  constantly-open  door  with  the  general  atmos- 
phere— but  something  contained  in  the  air,  that  has  produced  the 
effects  observed  ?  What  is  this  something  ?  A  sunbeam  glinting 
through  a  chink  in  the  roof  or  wall,  and  traversing  the  air  of  the  loft, 
would  show  it  to  be  laden  with  suspended  dust-particles.  Indeed,  the 
dust  is  distinctly  visible  in  the  diffused  daylight.  Can  it  have  been 
the  origin  of  the  observed  life?  If  so,  are  we  not  bound  by  all  ante- 
cedent experience  to  regard  these  fruitful  particles  as  the  germs  of 
the  life  observed  ? 

The  name  of  Baron  Liebig  has  been  constantly  mixed  up  with 
these  discussions.  "  We  have,"  it  is  said,  "  his  authority  for  assuming 
that  dead  decaying  matter  can  produce  fermentation."  True,  but 
with  Liebig  fermentation  was  by  no  means  synonymous  with  life. 
It  will  be  observed,  by  the  careful  reader  of  Dr.  Bastian's  works,  that 
whenever  their  author  refers  to  this  alleged  power  of  decaying  matter, 
he  invariably  couples  with  it  the  vague  term  "fermentation,"  thus 
softening  the  shock  of  the  hypothesis  which  he  insinuates  rather  than 
asserts.  But  our  present  intention  is  to  brush  all  vagueness  aside. 
We  therefore  ask,  "Does  the  life  of  our  flasks  proceed  from  dead 
particles  ?"  If  my  co-inquirer  should  reply  "Yes,"  then  I  would  ask 
him:  "What  warrant  does  Nature  offer  for  such  an  assumption? 
Where,  amid  the  multitude  of  vital  phenomena  in  which  her  opera- 
tions have  been  clearly  traced,  is  the  slightest  countenance  given  to 
the  notion  that  the  sowing  of  dead  particles  can  produce  a  living 
crop?"  With  regard  to  Baron  Liebig,  had  he  studied  the  revela- 
tions of  the  microscope  in  relation  to  these  questions,  a  mind  so  pene- 
trating could  never  have  missed  the  significance  of  the  facts  revealed. 
He,  however,  neglected  the  microscope,  and  fell  into  error — but  not 
into  error  so  gross  as  that  in  support  of  which  his  authority  has  been 
invoked.  Were  he  now  alive,  he  would,  I  doubt  not,  repudiate  the 
use  often  made  of  his  name — Liebig's  view  of  fermentation  was  at 
least  a  scientific  one,  founded  on  profound  conceptions  of  molecular 
instability.  But  this  view  by  no  means  involves  the  notion  that  the 
planting  of  dead  particles — "  Stickstoffsplittern,"  as  Cohn  contemptu- 
ously calls  them — is  followed  by  the  sprouting  of  infusorial  life. 

1  An  actual  experiment  made  three  months  ago  at  the  Bel-Alp  is  here  described. 


SKETCH   OF    WALTER  BAGEHOT.  489 


SKETCH  OF  WALTER  BAGEHOT. 

~TT7~ ALTER  BAGEHOT  was  born  February,  1826,  in  the  west 
W  of  England,  where  his  father,  who  survives  him,  was  a  lead- 
ing partner  in  an  old-established  bank.  A  student  in  the  University 
of°London,  he  took  the  mathematical  scholarship  with  his  Bachelor's 
degree  in  1846,  and  the  gold  medal  in  intellectual  and  moral  philos- 
ophy with  his  Master's  degree  in  1848.  He  then  studied  law  at  Lin- 
coln's Inn,  and  was  called  to  the  bar  ;  he  thoroughly  liked  but  never 
practised  this  profession,  being  induced  to  abandon  it  by  consider- 
ations of  his  health.  Always  delicate,  the  excessive  work  by  which 
alone  the  position  of  a  successful  barrister  can  be  won  and  maintained 
would  doubtless  have  shortened  the  already  too-brief  life. 

He  early  developed  remarkable  talent,  but  in  his  youth  philosophy, 
poetry,  and  theology,  had  a  larger  share  of  his  attention  than  the  nar- 
rower and  more  prosaic  studies  which  occupied  him  later,  and  upon 
which  his  fame  will  rest.  In  deciding,  as  he  wisely  did,  to  join  his 
father  in  business,  he  was  conscious  of  defects  which  might  hinder 
his  career  as  a  banker  and  merchant.  He  was  absent-minded  about 
minutiae,  inattentive  to  trifles — he  used  to  declare  that  he  could  never 
"  add  up,"  and  habitual  inaccuracies  marked  his  mathematical  exer- 
cises in  college.  He  proved,  however,  to  be  very  successful  in  busi- 
ness, and  was  gratified  with  this  success  won  in  practical  pursuits,  in 
spite  of  the  metaphysical  and  poetic  tendency  which  at  one  time 
earned  for  him  the  reputation  of  a  dreamer.  He  somewhere  says  : 
"  The  great  pleasure  in  life  is  doing  what  people  say  you  can't  do. 
Why  did  Mr.  Disraeli  take  the  duties  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
with  so  much  relish  ?  Because  people  said  he  was  a  novelist — an  ad 
captandum  man — who  could  not  add  up.  No  doubt  it  pleased  his 
inmost  soul  to  do  the  work  of  red-tape  people  better  than  those  who 
could  do  nothing  else." 

He  was  always  busy  with  his  pen.  During  the  early  part  of  his 
life  he  wrote  for  the  National  Hevieio,  the  Inquirer,  and  other  peri- 
odicals, and  proved  himself  to  be  a  brilliant  and  able  critic  in  various 
departments — finance,  politics,  and  literature.  His  first  book,  called 
"  Estimates  of  Some  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen,"  published  twenty 
years  ago,  and  now  long  out  of  print,  was  a  very  remarkable  volume 
of  essays,  that  for  some  reason,  perhaps  the  unfortunate  title,  failed 
to  receive  the  attention  it  deserved. 

In  1858  Bagehot  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  James  Wilson, 
proprietor  of  the  Economist.  The  marriage  was  a  happy  one,  and  led 
to  the  production  of  his  most  popular  and  original  books;  it  brought 
him  into  connection  with  the  higher  world  of  politics ;  and  eventually, 
on  the  death  of  his  father-in-law,  to  the  ownership  and  editorial  con- 
trol of  the  Economist,  which  paper  he  carried  to  the  position  of  great 
power  which  it  now  has. 


49o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

His  first  political  work,  a  new  edition  of  which  was  recently  re- 
viewed in  The  Popular  Science  Monthly,  is  an  analysis  and  expla- 
nation of  that  elaborate  piece  of  mechanism — or  rather,  of  that  com- 
plex organism — "The  English  Constitution."  He  dispels  many  illu- 
sions and  corrects  many  misconceptions  concerning  constitutions 
generally,  and  demonstrates  the  impossibility  of  framing  a  written 
document  that  will  fulfill  the  functions  discharged  by  the  unwritten 
Constitution  of  England — the  inevitable  defects  and  weaknesses  of 
made-to-order  instruments  being  illustrated  by  examples  drawn  from 
the  workings  of  our  own  much-vaunted  ordinances,  and  the  more  re- 

O  J 

cent  instrument  under  which  France  is  now  governed. 

In  "Physics  and  Politics,"  Mr.  Bagehot's  first  American  book,  the 
the  growth  of  societies  and  states  is  treated  according  to  the  method 
of  the  evolution  philosophy  ;  it  is  a  book  which  could  only  have  been 
written  by  a  man  having  a  thorough  knowledge  of  practical  affairs, 
and'  a  firm  hold  upon  the  theories  of  Spencer  and  Darwin.  It  is  pro- 
nounced "  clever "  by  the  critics  who  do  not  accept  those  theories, 
but  it  is  much  more. 

"  Lombard  Street,"  as  its  name  indicates,  deals  with  that  abstruse 
and  wayward  subject,  the  "money-market,"  and  is  one  of  the  best 
sources  from  which  to  learn  the  differences  which  exist  between  the 
realities  of  the  "street"  and  the  hypotheses  of  economists. 

At  the  time  of  his  death,  March  24,  1877,  he  was  engaged  upon  a 
book,  some  of  the  earlier  chapters  of  which  were  published  in  the 
Fortnightly  Review  (February  and  May,  1876)  under  the  title  of  "The 
Postulates  of  Political  Economy ; "  they  were  able  and  timely,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  surmise  that  other  of  the  chapters  were  so  far 
forwarded  as  to  warrant  publication  is  correct. 

Since  his  death  his  articles  in  the  Economist  upon  the  silver  ques- 
tion have  been  reprinted,  making  a  thin  octavo  volume  ;  they  lack 
completeness  and  finish,  but  are  still  the  most  valuable  contribution 
to  the  subject,  for  he  was  the  first  to  seek  out  and  correctly  correlate 
the  causes  that  led  to  the  decline  and  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  silver. 

This  brief  list  comprises  all  that  will  be  remembered  as  his 
"  works,"  for,  though  a  busy  writer,  his  labor  was  mostly  given  to 
the  leading  articles  in  his  paper.  It  is  as  a  journalist  that  he  will  be 
chiefly  missed.  Though  dealing  with  abstruse  and  technical  topics, 
he  never  failed  to  make  himself  understood  by  men  of  ordinary  cul- 
tivation and  intelligence.  His  knowledge  was  so  accurate  and  his 
grasp  so  strong  as  to  command  the  respect  of  specialists,  and  yet  his 
articles  had  the  attention  and  interest  of  men  whose  only  concern  in 
or  knowledge  of  the  subjects  was  that  obtained  from  Mr.  Bagehot 
himself.  In  the  abstract  science  with  which  he  dealt  he  had  the  rare 
combination  of  a  conversancy  with  the  abstractions  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  facts.  He  had  the  guessing  faculty  and  the  solid  judgment  of 
the  man  of  business,  and  the  trained  reasoning  power  with  which  to 
test  his  guesses  and  value  his  conclusions. 


CORRESP  ONDENCE. 


491 


COREESPONDEITCE. 


"THE  TIDES." 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

I  MAKE  the  following  comments  on  Prof. 
Schneider's  second  article  about  "  The 
"  Tides."  All  the  objections  to  the  state- 
ments in  the  first  article  remain  in  full  force. 
The  chief  points  of  this  second  installment 
are  two :  1.  The  disturbing  action  of  the 
sun  on  the  moon's  motion ;  2.  The  fall  of 
the  earth  and  the  moon  below  their  respec- 
tive tangents,  whereby  it  is  sought  to  be 
proved  that  the  moon  approaches  the  earth 
at  the  time  of  opposition.  If  these  two 
statements  are  shown  to  be  wholly  in  error, 
the  second  article  goes  the  way  of  the  first. 
On  page  231,  December  number  of  this 
Joprnal,  we  find  this :  "  Thus  our  moon 
moves  faster,  and,  by  a  radius  drawn  to  the 
earth,  describes  an  area  greater  for  the 
time,  and  has  its  orbit  less  curved,  and  there- 
fore approaches  nearer  to  the  earth  in  the 
syzygies  than  in  the  quadratures.  .  .  .  The 
moon's  distance  from  the  earth  in  the  syzy- 
gies is  to  its  distance  in  the  quadratures,  in 
round  numbers,  as  69  to  70." 

This  extract,  which  from  its  form  would 
seem  to  be  from  a  single  paragraph,  is  in 
reality  from  two  widely-separated  parts  of 
Newton's  works,  and  is  besides  inaccurate. 
The  phrase  "  in  round  numbers  "  is  neither 
in  the  original  nor  in  Motte's  translation, 
but  instead  of  it  there  is  cceleris  paribus, 
and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
phrases  are  not  exactly  equivalent.  But  let 
these  slips  pass.  I  give  two  other  extracts 
from  the  "  Principia,"  book  hi.,  prop,  xiv., 
cor.  i.  :  "  The  fixed  stars  are  immovable, 
seeing  they  keep  the  same  positions  to  the 
aphelions  and  the  nodes  of  the  planets." 
Herein  is  a  double  error : 
Again,  book  Hi.,  prop,  xxxvii.,  cor.  3 : 
"  The  density  of  the  moon  is  to  the  density 
of  the  earth.  .  .  .  as  11  to  9." 

This  is  very  far  from  the  truth,  and 
scores  of  other  mistakes  in  the  "  Principia  " 
are  known  to  those  who  are  familiar  with 
that  work.  So  "the  b?st  of  authority"  is 
sometimes  at  fault,  and  his  conclusions  are 
not  always  to  be  accepted  blindly  and  with- 
out investigation.  But  if  they  are  to  be  so 
accepted,  as  Mr.  Schneider's  way  of  parading 
his  authority  seems  to  imply,  would  it  not 
be  better  to  accept  Newton's  theory  of  the 
tides,  which  is  the  true  theory,  and  so  make 
an  end  of  it.  But  that  theory  excludes 
Prof.  Schneider's. 

If  Newton's  statement  concerning  the 
distance  of  the  earth  and  moon  in  the  syzy- 


gies and  quadratures  is  to  be  taken  without 
qualification,  then  it  is  plainly  wrong ;  and 
the  mathematical  proof  that  it  is  wrong  can 
be  found  more  or  less  fully  developed  in  any 
of  the  following  works  on  astronomy,  viz., 
those  of  Woodhouse,  Herschel,  Lardner, 
Gummere,  Loomis,  Norton,  Olmsted,  Robin- 
son, and  others. 

Further,  there  is  the  practical  proof  of 
the  correctness  of  the  other  view  in  the  cal- 
culated and  the  observed  positions  of  the 
moon  for  every  hour  of  every  dety  in  every 
year,  these  positions  being  carefully  noted 
by  a  score  of  observers  every  day.  There 
is  no  more  possibility  of  universal  error  in 
these  observations  and  calculations  than 
there  is  that  a  person  who  says  that  two  and 
two  are  four  should  be  in  error  on  that 
point. 

Prof.  Schneider's  first  statement,  then,  is 
all  wrong;  and,  this  failing,  the  second  goes 
with  it.  But  it  is  also  easily  shown  by  his 
own  figures  that  his  conclusion  should  be 
exactly  the  opposite  to  what  he  makes  it. 
He  says,  "  The  distance  the  earth  falls,  in 
one  second  of  time,  toward  the  sun  is  about 
.12144+  of  an  inch,"  the  moon  toward  the 
sun  .12084  of  an  inch,  and  the  moon  toward 
the  earth  .05386  of  an  inch.  The  expres- 
sion "  falling  toward  the  sun "  evidently 
means  "  falling  from  the  tangent ;"  any  other 
meaning  is  false  and  absurd.  With  the  cor- 
rectness of  these  numbers  I  have  nothing  to 
do.  Consider  them  correct ;  then  at  the 
end  of  a  second  the  earth  and  moon  will  be 
farther  apart  than  they  were  at  the  begin- 
ning.    Here  is  the  proof: 

In  the  accompanying  figure  let  Mhe  the 
place  of  the  moon  at  opposition,  E,  that  of 
the  earth,  and  S  the  sun ;  A,  the  place  of 
the  moon  at  the  end  of  a  second ;  B,  that 
of  the  earth  at  the  same  instant.  Then, 
since  the  moon  at  opposition  moves  in  a 
second  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile  farther 
than  the  earth,  the  curve  MA  is  longer  than 
E  B,  and  A  is  farther  to  the  right  than  B, 
and  the  moon  at  A  is  below  the  point  C  by 
.0538  of  an  inch  :  the  quantity  being  ascer- 
tained by  supposing  the  earth  to  stand  fast, 
while  the  moon  moves  forward  with  the  dif- 
ference of  their  motions.  On  this  there 
can  be  no  disagreement.  The  distance  C  A 
is  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile.  But  if  A  is 
below  the  tangent  .12084  of  an  inch,  and  B 
.12144  of  an  inch  below  its  tangent,  then  B 
is  farther  from  A  then  when  the  bodies  were 
at  M  and  E  respectively.  When  the  earth 
is  at  B  it  is  at  the  same  distance  from  the 
sun  as  it  was  at  E—  i.  e.,  E  S  and  2?  £  are 


492 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


equal,  and  the  earth  must  fall  below  the 
tangent  .12144  in  order  to  keep  its  proper 
distance.  The  same  is  true  of  the  moon : 
in  going  from  C  to  A  it  falls  below  the  tan- 
gent at  C  .0538  of  an  inch,  and  then  is  at 
the  same  distance  from  B  as  it  was  at  C — 
L  e.,  B  C  and  B  A  are  equal.     Prof.  Schnei- 


der's way  of  combining  these  numbers  is 
unique.  It  is  as  if  the  moon  had  dropped 
toward  the  sun  first  .12084  of  an  inch,  then 
.05386,  while  the  earth  had  dropped  toward 
the  sun  only  .12144  of  an  inch.  But  Na- 
ture does  not  proceed  in  that  way.  The 
.05386  is  a  part  of  .12084,  as  the  figure 
plainly  shows.  The  .05386  is  the  moon's 
distance  at  A  below  the  dotted  line  drawn 
from  C,  and  .12084  is  the  moon's  distance 
at  A  below  the  tangent  drawn  from  M.  It 
is  easy  to  see  that  the  latter  includes  the 
former.  In  the  interest  of  science  allow  me 
to  protest  against  such  theories  and  such 
mathematics. 

It  is  eminently  right  that  we  all  should 
be  earnest  seekers  of  the  truth,  and  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  to  suggest  that  the  search 
should  be  diligently  prosecuted  till  the  truth 


is  fotmd,  after  which  there  will  be  ample 
time  for  its  publication. 

R.  W.  McFarland, 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Civil  Engineer- 
ing, Ohio  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College. 
Columbus,  Ohio,  November  24,  1S77. 

We  can  give  no  more  space  to  this  con- 
troversy.— Ed. 


THE   QUESTION   OF   REST   FOE   WOMAN. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

Sir  :  May  I  be  permitted  to  point  out 
certain  passages  in  the  kind  and  careful 
review  of  my  essay  on  the  "  Question  of 
Rest,"  just  published  in  your  valuable  jour- 
nal, in  which  it  seems  to  me  that  the  re- 
viewer has  misunderstood  the  drift  of  the 
statements  he  criticises  ?  Accepting  entirely 
the  general  criticism  on  "  the  defects  due  to 
hasty  preparation,"  I  am  yet  loath  that  this 
haste  should  be  made  to  appear  to  have  had 
a  wider  influence  than  is  really  the  case. 

On  page  242  the  reviewer  observes 
that  the  "  author  traced  this  result — painful 
menstruation — to  a  want  cf  occupation ; 
while  we  should  explain  the  lack  of  occu- 
pation by  the  incapacity  resulting  from  the 
periodical  pain."  I  believe  the  essay  is 
guiltless  of  such  an  absurdity  in  physiolog- 
ical reasoning  as  an  attempt  to  trace  pain 
directly  to  a  negative  circumstance,  which 
could  only  have  an  influence  through  the 
medium  of  various  physiological  conditions 
more  or  less  directly  associated  with  it,  and 
hence  induced  by  it.  The  inference  drawn  by 
the  reviewer  from  the  statistics  is  certainly 
incorrect,  for  the  "unoccupied  persons" 
referred  to  were  so  because  their  fortune 
rendered  paid  labor  unnecessary,  and  for 
this  reason  it  had  not  been  undertaken. 
The  cases  where  work,  once  begun,  had 
been  forcibly  interrupted  by  an  acquired 
habit  of  menstrual  suffering  are  contained 
in  the  tables  of  painful  cases. 

The  reviewer,  page  242,  second  column, 
says  that  the  essay  admits  "  that,  in  regard 
to  rest,  the  above  data  do  not  suffice  to  in- 
form us  of  its  influence,"  and  goes  on  to 
conclude  therefore  that,  "  so  far  as  the  main 
theme  of  the  book  is  concerned,  the  author 
leaves  the  question  of  rest  in  just  the  con- 
dition in  which  she  found  it."  The  state- 
ment quoted  from  the  essay  loses  its  real 
meaning  by  its  abbreviation.  It  is  not  as- 
serted that  the  data  from  the  tables  throw 
no  light  on  the  "  question  of  rest,"  but  only 
that  from  them  we  can  have  no  means  of 
deciding  how  far  those  women  who  acquired 
the  habit  of  menstrual  pain  might  have 
escaped  it,  had  they  from  the  beginning 
"rested"  during  menstruation,  since  in  no 
case  was  rest  found  to  be  taken  until  it  had 
become  unavoidable.     But  the  fact  that  so 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


493 


large  a  percentage  of  women,  even  in  the 
"upper"  classes,  are  shown  never  to  feel 
the  need  of  rest  at  this  period  ;  the  fact  that 
in  so  large  a  proportion  of  those  who  suffer 
the  suffering  dates  from  the  first  menstru- 
ation, and  hence  precedes  the  habits  of  oc- 
cupation sometimes  supposed  to  induce  it ; 
the  fact  that  in  no  case  did  rest  alone  suc- 
ceed in  averting  pain  or  in  curing  its  cause, 
and  hence  proved  anything  but  the  "pana- 
cea "  the  reviewer  supposes  it  to  be  (page 
244) — these  facts  appear  plainly  on  the 
tables  of  the  essay,  and  are  certainly  of  im- 
portance in  regard  to  the  question  at  issue. 

For  the  reason  already  surmised  it  may 
be  that  the  reviewer  has  failed  to  see  that 
the  third  section  of  the  essay,  which  he 
describes  as  "  containing  a  review  of  the 
various  theories  of  menstruation,"  is  de- 
voted not  to  summarizing  these,  but  to  crit- 
icising them  ;  and  that  an  effort  is  made  to 
replace  one  of  the  famous  current  doctrines 
of  menstruation  by  another,  substantially 
in  agreement  with  those  universally  held 
prior  to  the  writings  of  Bischoff  and  Pou- 
chet  and  Raciborski,  but  claiming  to  con- 
tain some  original  details  and  suggestions 
for  a  new  line  of  experiment.  This  effort 
is,  to  the  intention  of  the  author,  the  main 
subject-matter  of  the  essay.  That  the  re- 
viewer has  either  overlooked  this,  or  its 
bearing  on  the  conclusions,  or  has  not 
deemed  it  so  worthy  of  notice  as  lesser  de- 
tails, is  shown  by  his  remark  that  the  "ex- 
periments "  were  made  "  before,  after,  and 
during  ovulation  "  (page  243),  whereas  the 
essay  has  ranged  itself  upon  the  side  of 
those  more  modern  thinkers  whose  re- 
searches are  tending  to  reject  the  famous 
ovulation  theory. 

The  reviewer  further  criticises  the  essay 
for  a  "  strained  meaning  put  upon  the  word 
rhythmic,"  and  for  confounding  "reproduc- 
tion with  the  conditions  essential  to  repro- 
duction "  (page  243).  It  is  true  that  a  philo- 
sophical conception  of  causation  compels  us 
to  regard  every  phenomenon  as  the  result 
of  a  chain  of  sequences,  and  thus  every  in- 
termittent phenomenon  recurring  at  regular 
periods  as  the  result  of  a  rhythmic  chain  of 
sequences  ;  and  thus,  in  one  sense,  there  can 
be  no  antagonism  between  "  periodical "  and 
"  rhythmic."  But  the  essay  was  compelled 
to  consider  not  only  facts  in  themselves,  but 
certain  popular  preoccupations  about  those 
facts,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  inter- 
mittence  of  the  menstrual  haemorrhage.  The 
aim  of  the  essay  has  been  to  show  that  this 
phenomenon  is  only  one  of  a  chain  succeed- 
ing each  other  as  continuously  as  do  those 
involved  in  the  processes  of  digestion,  a  de- 
tail of  a  rhythmic  movement  accomplished 
in  the  organism,  and  not — as  much  popular 
belief  goes — a  periodical  accident  happening 
to  it.  Again,  it  is  true  that  in  the  essay 
the  term  "  reproduction  "  is  used  as  equiva- 


lent for  the  process  by  which  material  is  ac- 
cumulated in  the  parent  organism  for  the 
function  of  reproduction.  This  restriction 
is  justified  by  examples  of  the  eminent  bi- 
ologists who,  studying  reproduction  in  its 
most  general  and  abstract  aspect,  consider 
the  whole  process  as  a  form  of  nutrition. 
(I  may  mention,  as  one  example  out  of  many, 
the  lectures  of  Claude  Bernard,  published  in 
the  "  Revue  des  Cours  Scientifiques "  for 
1874.)  For  all  those  classes  of  animals  in 
whom  the  conjugation  of  reproductive  cells 
is  effected  externally  to  the  parent  organ- 
isms, it  is  evident  that  the  influence  of  re- 
production upon  those  organisms  terminates 
with  the  formation  of  the  reproductive  cells 
and  the  accumulation  of  the  material  re- 
quired for  their  nutrition.  Hence,  philo- 
sophically speaking,  the  most  general  view 
of  reproduction  coincides  exclusively  with 
this  nutritive  process — its  type  is  discover- 
able in  vegetable  organisms,  and  the  vary- 
ing phenomena  of  animal  life  involved  in 
the  conjugation  of  reproductive  cells  may 
be  considered  apart.  For  its  special  pur- 
poses the  essay  was  doubly  justified  in  using 
the  term  "reproduction"  in  the  sense  thus 
defined. 

It  is  because  the  essay  was  exclusively 
concerned  with  menstruation  that  "  the  de- 
rangements due  to  matrimony  receive  no 
attention,"  although  the  reviewer,  in  the 
preceding  rather  singularly-worded  sentence, 
implies  that  they  should. 

In  the  same  sentence  the  reviewer  de- 
clares that  the  "  motive  of  the  book  [is]  to 
demonstrate  woman's  capacity  for  continu- 
ous work  during  certain  periods."  The  only 
"motive"  of  the  book  was  the  desire  to 
inquire  in  what  way  the  relations  of  the  fe- 
male nutrition  to  the  cost  of  reproduction 
might  be  theoretically  expected  to  modify 
the  capacity  for  exertion  of  the  female 
nervo-muscular  system.  The  reviewer  is 
certainly  in  error  in  saying  that  the  author 
"  does  not  inform  us  whether  ill-arrange- 
ment of  work  has  reference  to  time  or  not ; " 
for  many  pages  of  the  essay  are  devoted  to 
showing — at  least  in  the  opinion  of  the 
author — that  the  question  of  time  is  of  great 
importance  in  regard  to  the  nervo-muscular 
energies  of  women,  but  not  time  in  regard  to 
the  period  of  the  menstrual  hemorrhages. 
Morbid  conditions,  entailed  with  other  dis- 
eases of  civilization,  may  compel  reference 
to  such  time ;  but  the  real  necessity  lies 
much  deeper,  and  (theoretically)  should  com- 
pel more  frequent  intermittences  in  exertion, 
in  order,  roughly  speaking,  to  allow  of  the 
accumulation  in  the  blood  of  reproductive 
material.  The  essential  danger  of  overwork 
in  women,  aside  from  the  dangers  common 
to  both  sexes,  is  that,  if  due  provision  be 
not  made  for  "  the  needs  of  supplemental 
nutrition,"  this  will  be  formed  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  nutrition  of  the  parent  organ- 


494 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ism,  which  must,  therefore,  deteriorate.  The 
question  of  rest  has  been  entirely  restated 
in  the  essay.  And  only  by  overlooking  this 
can  the  reviewer  be  led  to  conclude  that 
the  "  author  is  reasoning  against  her  convic- 
tions;" because,  having  admitted  that  ex- 
cessive work  may  become  a  cause  of  men- 
strual pain,  it  is  nevertheless  insisted  upon 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  men- 
struation to  imply  the  necessity  for  rest; 
but  that  the  connection  between  overwork 
and  menstruul  suffering  is  more  recondite 
than  has  generally  been  perceived. 

The  closing  sentence  of  the  essay,  refer- 
ring to  the  large  percentage  of  women  shown 
to  be  real  sufferers  at  menstruation,  ob- 
serves that,  wherever  such  women  are  en- 
gaged in  industrial  or  other  pursuits  under 
an  employer,  humanity  would  dictate  that 
as  much  rest  be  afforded  as  practicable  dur- 
ing the  period  of  suffering.  It  is  difficult, 
therefore,  to  understand  where  the  reviewer 
finds  the  recommendation  for  women  to  con- 
tinue to  work  under  the  "  la'sh  of  necessity 
or  duty,"  if  they  can  help  it  (page  244).  Pain 
is  certainly,  as  the  reviewer  says,  "  the  ideal 
curse  of  humanity,"  but  the  world  is  much 
too  far  from  an  ideal  condition  to  render 
avoidance  of  pain  a  very  practicable  matter 
in  the  immense  majority  of  cases. 

On  page  243  the  reviewer  curiously  mis- 
interprets a  technical  statement  made  in 
the  essay.  It  is  there  asserted  that  pain 
depends  on  an  "  imperfect  power  of  resist- 
ance in  the  nerve-centres,"  an  assertion 
which  is  merely  the  special  application  of 
a  general  truism  in  physiology.  The  tor- 
ments suffered  by  dyspeptics  offer  a  familiar 
illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  a  nor- 
mally painless  process  may  become  a  con- 
stantly-recurring source  of  irritation.  But 
no  one  would  say,  as  does  the  reviewer,  in 
regard  to  the  sentence  quoted  from  the 
essay,  that  "  this  presupposes  an  inherent 
tendency  to  pain  in  all  human  beings  during 
this  act,  its  expression  depending  on  the 
power  of  repression  "  (page  243). 

Finally,  I  would  beg  leave  to  say  that 
the  hope  of  "  closing  the  discussion  and 
furnishing  an  authoritative  canon  to  meas- 
ure the  value  of  the  question  "  was  far  be- 
yond the  ambition  of  the  writer  of  the  essay. 
The  difficulty  on  the  practical  side  is  not 
"  the  innate  delicacy  of  the  sex  in  arms 
against  the  statistician  "  (page  241),  but  the 
difficulty  common  to  all  biological  investi- 
gations upon  organisms  subjected  to  com- 
plex conditions.  Every  one  knows  that  no 
pure  experiment  is  possible  unless  all  con- 
ditions are  eliminated  except  the  one  whose 
influence  is  to  be  estimated.  The  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  exactly  resemble  (for  in- 
stance) those  besetting  Dr.  Bowditch's  re- 
cent important  investigation  concerning  the 
influence  of  damp  soils  in  the  etiology  of 
consumption.     Although  the  statistics  pre- 


sented in  the  essay  are,  unfortunately,  much 
smaller  than  is  desirable,  yet  it  is  fair  to 
add  that  they  are  the  most  extensive  pub- 
lished up  to  this  time  on  the  subject,  with 
the  exception  of  those  of  Brierre  de  Bois- 
mont,  and  quoted  in  the  essay.  Since  the 
addition  of  his  results  to  those  of  the  essay 
does  not  in  any  way  conflict  with  the  con- 
clusions of  the  latter,  I  think  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  more  extensive  general 
statistics  would  throw  any  further  light  on 
the  subject.  To  be  of  value,  further  data 
must  offer  definite  points  of  comparison  in 
regard  to  the  working  and  luxurious  classes 
of  society,  since  it  is  a  matter  of  common 
observation,  not  yet  submitted  to  strict 
analysis,  that  the  liability  to  menstrual  suf- 
fering increases  in  proportion  as  we  re- 
cede from  the  former  class  (at  least  when  it 
is  composed  of  peasantry)  and  approach 
the  latter.  The  conclusion  (provisional  to 
more  exact  investigation)  is  certainly  that 
the  menstrual  disorder  is  not  inherent  in 
the  process,  or  in  habits  of  exertion  during 
the  menstrual  period,  being,  on  the  whole, 
less  in  those  who  work  than  in  those  who 
do  not  work ;  but  that  this  suffering  is 
ultimately  traceable  to  modifications  of  the 
entire  female  organism  imposed  by  one  or 
more  of  the  influences  of  a  complex  civili- 
zation, many  of  which  are  confessedly  per- 
nicious. It  has  been  the  modest  aim  of  the 
essay  to  trace  out  some  of  these  modifica- 
tions, and  indicate  in  what  way  they  might 
be  counteracted. 

Mart  Putnam-Jacgbi. 


"OPEN  AIR  AND  HEALTH." 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

I  trust  you  will  not  think  me  too  intru- 
sive by  a  comment  which  I  desire  to  make 
on  the  article  in  the  December  issue  of  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  on  "  Open  Air 
and  Health."  I  do  this  because  I  am  very  so- 
licitous that  your  journal  will  only  inculcate 
truth,  such  as  we  are  able  to  know  by  the 
best  heads  and  methods.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  article  alluded  to  has  a  private  end 
to  boost,  "  a  movement-cure  institute,"  per- 
haps, and  I  am  fortified  in  this  by  the  false 
points  of  the  essay.  For  instance,  on  page 
221  it  is  said,  "  The  lungs,  like  all  mucous 
surfaces,  secrete  mucus,"  etc.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  the  lungs  proper  do  not  consist 
of  mucous  surface.  This  may,  however,  be 
a  translator's  stumble.  But  the  same  can- 
not be  supposed  of  the  following,  page  223  : 
"In  the  city  night-air  is  always  wholesomer 
than  day-air,  being  both  purer  and  stiller." 
How  stillness  makes  it  wholesome  I  am  un- 
able to  conceive ;  indeed,  with  sewers,  cess- 
pools, and  the  filth  of  a  thousand  points, 
stillness  is  the  most  favorable  for  poisonous 
concentration,    slowly    diffused    throughout 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


495 


the  ambient  air  by  the  chemical  law  of 
gaseous  diffusion.  Does  any  one  suppose 
that,  amid  sources  of  contamination,  stag- 
nant water  would  be  purer  than  running? 
Had  Dr.  Niemeyer  used  his  nose,  or  attended 
to  its  monitions  in  his  midnight  ramblings 
among  the  .sick,  he  could  never  have  penned 
such  an  erroneous  sentence.  Only  solici- 
tation that  your  journal  shall  occupy  the 
highest  grounds  in  all  its  selections  animates 
this  criticism  from  my  pen. 

J.  R.  Black. 
Newark,  Onio,  December  22, 1877. 


"THE  LAW  OF  CONTINUITY." 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

In  the  interest  of  scientific  accuracy,  I 
would  call  attention  to  one  or  two  state- 
ments in  the  article  on  "  The  Law  of  Con- 
tinuity," in  your  November  number,  which 
are  either  greatly  strained  or  positively  erro- 
neous. 

The  author  of  the  article  in  question 
says,  speaking  of  sulphuric  acid  and  water, 
"  In  all  possible  percentages  do  these  liquids 
chemically  combine,  and  this  is  at  variance 
with  the  generally  obeyed  law  of  definite 
proportions  "  (page  32  —  the  italics  are 
mine).  This  is  a  very  loose  use  of  language, 
as  may  be  easily  demonstrated  by  a  com- 
parison of  this  passage  with  the  statement 
of  the  fact  by  any  scientific  authority.  For 
example,  Fownes  ("  Manual  of  Chemistry," 


eleventh  edition,  p.  203)  says:  "The  most 
concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  or  oil  of  vitriol, 
as  it  is  often  called,  is  a  definite  combina- 
tion of  40  parts  sulphuric  oxide  and  9  parts 
water.  ...  Oil  of  vitriol  is  not  the  only  hy- 
drate of  sulphuric  oxide ;  three  others  are 
known  to  exist.  When  the  fuming  oil  of 
vitriol  of  Nordhausen  is  exposed  to  a  low 
temperature,  a  white  crystalline  substance 
separates,  which  is  a  hydrate  containing 
half  as  much  water  as  the  common  liquid 
acid.  Further,  a  mixture  of  98  parts  of 
strong  liquid  acid  and  18  parts  of  water, 
2HoOS03,  or  H2S04H20,  congeals  and  re- 
mains solid  even  at  7.2°  C.  ( 45°  Fahr.)," 
etc.  There  is,  then,  in  the  case  of  sulphuric 
acid  and  water,  at  least,  a  clear  enough 
distinction  between  mechanical  mixture  and 
chemical  combination,  although  Mr.  lies 
quite  loses  sight  of  it. 

Then,  again,  he  says  (p.  30),  "  Science  is 
unable  to  give  us  any  metal  but  gold  in  a 
translucent  state."  The  inability  does  not 
lie  with  "  science."  It  has  long  been  known 
that  silver  may,  by  chemical  means,  be  ob- 
tained in  a  translucent  film.  And  likewise 
platinum,  aluminum,  bismuth,  copper,  lead, 
iron,  nickel,  cobalt,  palladium,  zinc,  cadmi- 
um, magnesium,  and  other  metals,  have  been 
procured  in  a  layer  so  thin  as  to  be  trans- 
parent (Wright,  American  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence and  Arts,  No.  73,  January,  1877).1 

Latncelot  W.  Andrews. 
Springfield,  Mass.,  November  8,  1877. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


COOK  AND   HIS  "-BIOLOGY:" 

THE  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  seems  to 
have  attained  the  position  of  an 
accepted  champion  of  orthodoxy  in  its 
conflict  with  the  science  of  the  time, 
and  as  such  must  have  a  degree  of  at- 
tention to  which  he  is  not  otherwise  en- 
titled. In  the  delivery  of  the  lectures 
which  compose  his  volume  on  biology, 
he  was  listened  to,  we  are  told,  by 
large  audiences  of  cultivated  and  schol- 
arly men,  who  applauded  him  enthu- 
siastically ;  while  the  book  has  been 
highly  praised  by  eminent  theologians 
and  numerous  newspapers,  and  has  had 
a  brisk  and  extensive  sale.  Yet  we  ob- 
serve that  the  tide  of  encomium  is  per- 
ceptibly falling,  and  shrewd  orthodox 
people  are  beginning  to  see  that  they 


cannot  too  quickly  relieve  themselves  of 
responsibility  in  regard  to  his  work.  In 
an  able  review,  in  the  January  New- 
Englander,  the  scientific  charlatanry  of 
Mr.  Cook's  book  is  thoroughly  exposed; 
its  taste  and  rhetoric  are  pronounced 
"execrable,"  and  the  writer  closes  by 
saying  that  "this  production  is  not  one 
for  orthodoxy  to  be  proud  of,  and  that 
it  is  best  to  declare  this  opinion  plainly 
and  promptly." 

Nevertheless  there  is  a  startling  sig- 
nificance in  the  fact  that  such  a  work 
could  have  received  from  an  intelligent 
Christian  community  the  measure  of 
commendation  that  has  been  accorded 


1  It  is  but  fair  to  s=ay  that  the  article  in  ques- 
tion was  written  and  in  the  hands  of  the  editor 
six  months  before  Prof.  Wright's  researches 
were  published.— Ed. 


496 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


to  it.  Any  infidel  book  that  had  gone 
as  far  toward  extirpating  the  miracu- 
lous from  Christianity  would  have  been 
pitched  into  the  flames  as  blasphemous 
by  every  devout  believer.  The  grand 
central  miracle  of  Christianity,  among 
all  orthodox  people  held  as  a  belief  too 
sacred  to  be  approached  in  a  rationalis- 
tic way,  is  the  supernatural  genesis  of 
its  divine  founder.  And  yet  this  rev- 
erend biologist  of  Boston  attacks  the 
subject  with  the  microscope,  quotes 
Haeckel  to  prove  that  bees  multiply 
without  the  intervention  of  the  male, 
claims  that  this  principle  "extends  to 
the  higher  forms  of  life,"  and,  "in  the 
presence  of  Almighty  God,"  suggests 
that  Christ  may  have  originated  in  the 
same  natural  way.  He  even  thinks 
that  if  this  fact  of  parthenogenesis  in 
natural  history  had  been  sufficiently 
known  it  would  have  been  potent  in 
saving  men  from  skepticism  by  reliev- 
ing their  perplexities  respecting  the 
parentage  of  the  Saviour,  and  he  cites 
a  conspicuous  illustration,  as  follows : 
"  When  a  great  soul  like  the  tender 
spirit  of  our  sainted  Lincoln,  in  his  ear- 
ly days,  with  little  knowledge,  but  with 
great  thoughtf  ulness,  was  troubled  with 
this  difficulty,  and  almost  thrown  into 
infidelity  by  not  knowing  that  the  law 
that  there  must  be  two  parents  is  not 
universal,  I  am  willing  to  allude,  even 
in  such  a  presence  as  this,  to  the  latest 
science  concerning  miraculous  concep- 
tion." "  The  latest  science  !  "  Perhaps 
Mr.  Lincoln,  after  all,  with  his  "  little 
knowledge,"  was  not  so  ignorant  as 
our  biological  lecturer,  who  seems  not 
to  know  that  the  Swiss  naturalist,  Bon- 
net, had  established  asexual  multiplica- 
tion, in  the  case  of  plant-lice,  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  before  Lincoln 
was  born. 

AVe  must  not,  however,  expect  too 
much,  and  are  glad  of  any  earnest  sci- 
entific discussion  in  theological  quar- 
ters. A  book  from  a  clergyman,  bearing 
the  title  of  "  Biology,"  has  not  only 
the  commendable  merit  of  novelty,  but 


it  is  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times, 
and  a  promising  precedent  for  the  fu- 
ture. Nor  should  we  be  too  exacting  in 
regard  to  the  quality  of  first  efforts,  as 
theology  is  certainly  not  the  best  prepa- 
ration for  biology.  Yet  when  a  Chris- 
tian preacher  takes  up  the  science,  and 
we  allow  for  the  imperfections  of  treat- 
ment to  be  naturally  expected  of  an 
inquirer  in  an  unfamiliar  region,  we  are 
still  entitled  to  demand  candor,  fair- 
ness, and  conscientious  painstaking 
honesty  of  statement.  Though  we  may 
not  get  intelligence,  we  ought,  at  least, 
to  have  common  morality.  We  propose 
briefly  to  test  Mr.  Cook's  book  by  this 
very  moderate  standard,  and  will  take 
his  first  position  as  a  sample.  We  shall 
thus  be  enabled  not  only  to  get  a  good 
measure  of  the  claims  of  his  work,  but 
to  correct  a  popular  misapprehension 
of  some  consequence. 

It  is  generally  known  that  Prof. 
Huxley,  a  few  years  ago,  examined  a 
substance  brought  up  from  the  sea- 
bottom,  and  announced  it  as  a  newly- 
discovered  form  of  protoplasm,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Bathyoius  ; 
and  it  is  currently  supposed  that  he  af- 
terward abandoned  this  view  as  erro- 
neous. Mr.  Cook  begins  his  biology 
with  an  account  of  this  matter.  Its 
first  sentence  is  as  follows:  "In  1868 
Prof.  Huxley,  in  an  elaborate  paper  in 
the  Microscopical  Journal,  announced 
his  belief  that  the  gelatinous  substance 
found  in  the  ooze  of  the  beds  of  the 
deep  seas  is  a  sheet  of  living  matter, 
extending  around  the  globe."  We  have 
carefully  read  that  article,  and  have 
found  no  such  statement,  and  nothing 
equivalent  to  it,  there.  Dr.  A.  P.  Pea- 
body,  of  Harvard  University,  reviewing 
the  book  we  are  now  considering,  says 
that  "Mr.  Cook's  reasonings  are  based 
in  no  instance  on  his  own  statement  of 
physical  or  scientific  truth  or  fact ;  but 
always  on  the  expressly-quoted  words  of 
writers  of  universally  admitted  author- 
ity." This  is  contradicted  by  the  very 
first  utterance  of  Mr.  Cook,  in  which 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


497 


Prof.  Huxley's  words  are  neither  "  ex- 
pressly quoted  "  nor  quoted  at  all,  and  in 
which  the  substance  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  article  cited. 

The  second  paragraph  of  the  book 
opens  thus :  "  To  this  amazingly  strateg- 
ic and  haughtily-trumpeted  substance 
found  at  the  lowest  bottoms  of  the 
oceans,  Huxley  gave  the  scientific  name 
Bathybius,  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  deep  and  sea,  and  assumed 
that  it  was  in  the  past,  and  would  be 
in  the  future,  the  progenitor  of  all  the 
life  on  the  planet."  It  is  not  true  that, 
in  the  article  cited  by  Mr.  Cook,  Prof. 
Huxley  made  any  such  assumption  as  is 
alleged,  any  more  than  it  is  true  that 
the  word  Bathybius  has  the  derivation 
here  assigned  to  it.  This  characteriza- 
tion of  the  announcement  of  Bathybius 
is  simply  a  slanderous  misrepresenta- 
tion. That  Mr.  Cook  intended  it  to 
apply  to  Huxley  is  obvious  from  the 
connection,  and  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  on  page  69  he  again  refers  to 
it  as  "the  haughty  claim  of  Huxley." 
Nothing  could  be  more  false,  as  we  shall 
presently  show,  than  the  impression  con- 
veyed by  this  language. 

On  the  third  page  we  are  told  that 
"Dr.  Carpenter  rejected  Huxley's  tes- 
timony on  this  matter  of  fact,"  but 
where,  or  in  what  form,  he  has  done 
so  is  not  mentioned.  The  statement  is 
entirely  improbable,  as  Dr.  Carpenter 
had  himself  observed  the  living  Bathy- 
bius dredged  up  on  the  expedition  of 
the  Porcupine,  samples  of  which  he 
furnished  to  Huxley ;  while  so  late  as 
1875  he  speaks  in  his  work  on  the  mi- 
croscope "of  these  indefinite  expan- 
sions of  protoplasmic  substance,  which 
there  is  much  reason  to  regard  as  gen- 
erally spread  over  the  deep-sea  bed." 

Having  introduced  Bathybius  to  the 
attention  of  his  auditors,  in  the  manner 
here  indicated,  Mr.  Cook  announced  to 
them,  with  due  rhetorical  flourish,  that 
it  is  now  nothing  but  an  exploded  myth. 
We  shall  be  better  able  to  judge  of  the 
truthfulness,  both  of  his  former  state- 
vol.  xii. — 32 


ments  and  of  this  assertion,  by  briefly 
glancing  at  the  history  of  the  substance. 
The  paper  of  1868  here  referred  to 
is  entitled  "On  some  Organisms  liv- 
ing at  Great  Depths  in  the  North  At- 
lantic Ocean."  In  the  first  part  of  this 
article  he  referred  to  a  report,  which  he 
had  himself  drawn  up,  concerning  the 
sticky  mud  obtained  by  Captain  Day- 
man in  sounding  the  North  Atlantic  in 
1857;  the  report  of  Prof.  Huxley  being 
published  in  1858.  In  his  observations 
upon  this  mud  he  discovered  some  cu- 
rious little  microscopic  bodies,  which 
at  first  suggested  an  organic  origin,  but 
which  Prof.  Huxley  concluded  were  not 
of  this  character.  The  language  in  the 
original  report  is  as  follows:  "I  find 
in  almost  all  these  deposits  a  multitude 
of  very  curious  rounded  bodies,  to  all 
appearance  consisting  of  several  con- 
centric layers  surrounding  a  minute, 
clear  centre,  and  looking,  at  first  sight, 
somewhat  like  single  cells  of  the  plant 
])rotococcu8 ;  as  these  bodies,  however, 
are  rapidly  and  completely  dissolved 
by  dilute  acids,  they  cannot  be  organic, 
and  I  will,  for  convenience'  sake,  simply 
call  them  coccoliths." 

Some  observations  made  by  Dr. 
Wallich  and  Mr.  Sorby  led  them  to 
think  that  Prof.  Huxley  had  been  mis- 
taken in  the  conclusion  here  given,  and 
that  the  objects  which  he  supposed  to 
be  of  a  mineral  nature  were  really  of 
organic  origin.  Prof.  Huxley  was  then 
led  to  reconsider  the  subject,  of  which 
he  made  a  prolonged  study  with  higher 
microscopic  powers,  and  the  result  was 
that  he  came  to  the  same  conclusion  as 
the  observers  referred  to,  that  the  mi- 
nute microscopic  objects  belonged  to 
the  lowest  forms  of  the  living  world. 
Certain  minute  albuminous  or  proto- 
plasmic bodies  of  the  very  lowest  type 
had  been  discovered  by  Prof.  Haeckel, 
and  named  moners,  and  it  was  Prof. 
Huxley's  opinion  that  the  minute  ob- 
jects he  had  been  studying  from  the 
sea-slime  belong  to  this  class.  We 
quote  the  passages  from  the  article  in 


498 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


the  Microscopical  Journal  of  1868,  in 
which  his  conclusions  are  stated : 
"Such,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
determine  them,  are  the  facts  of  struct- 
ure to  he  observed  in  the  gelatinous 
matter  of  the  Atlantic  mud,  and  in  the 
coccoliths  and  coccospheres.  I  have 
hitherto  said  nothing  about  their  mean- 
ing, as,  in  an  inquiry  so  difficult  and 
fraught  with  interest  as  this,  it  seems 
to  be  in  the  highest  degree  important 
to  keep  the  questions  of  fact  and  the 
questions  of  interpretation  well  apart." 

Again :  "I  conceive  that  the  gran- 
ule-heaps and  the  transparent  gelatin- 
ous matter,  in  which  they  are  imbed- 
ded, represent  masses  of  protoplasm. 
Take  away  the  cysts  which  characterize 
the  radiolaria,  and  the  dead  spherozonm 
would  very  nearly  resemble  one  of  the 
masses  of  this  deep-sea  Urschleim,  which 
must,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  anew  form 
of  those  simple  animated  beings  which 
have  recently  been  so  well  described 
by  Haeckel,  in  his  'Monographic  der 
Moneren.'  I  propose  to  confer  upon 
this  new  monera  the  generic  name  of 
Bathybius,  and  to  call  it  after  the  emi- 
nent Professor  of  Zoology  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Jena,  B.  HaeckeliV 

This  modest  and  cautious  statement 
is  the  whole  of  the  announcement  of 
Bathybius.  It  is  made  by  a  scientific 
man  in  the  true  spirit  of  science,  and 
when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cook  charges  Hux- 
ley with  "  haughtiness  "  in  regard  to  it, 
his  statement  has  no  value  except  as  an 
exemplification  of  the  trustworthiness 
of  his  book.  "What  the  nature  of  the 
evidence  was  for  the  existence  of  this 
protoplasmic  substance  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea  will  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing statements : 

Those  eminent  zoologists,  Sir  AVy- 
ville  Thomson  and  Dr.  William  13.  Car- 
penter, while  engaged  in  a  deep-sea  ex- 
ploring expedition  in  the  North  At- 
lantic with  the  war-ship  Porcupine,  had 
abundant  opportunity  to  examine  the 
ooze  of  the  ocean-bed,  and  they  write 
in  the  Magazine  of  Natural  History 


(1869),  "  This  ooze  was  actually  living  ; 
it  collected  in  lumps,  as  though  albu- 
men had  been  mixed  with  it ;  and  un- 
der the  microscope  the  sticky  mass  was 
seen  to  be  living  sarcode."  The  pro- 
toplasmic character  of  this  simplest- 
formed  materia]  of  low  animal  life  was 
still  further  attested  by  Sir  Wyville 
Thomson  in  his  "Depths  of  the  Sea" 
(page  410,  second  edition,  1874) :  "  If  a 
little  of  the  mud,  in  which  this  viscid 
condition  is  most  marked,  be  placed  in 
a  drop  of  sea-water  under  the  micro- 
scope, we  can  usually  see,  after  a  time, 
an  irregular  network  of  matter  resem- 
bling white  of  egg,  distinguishable  by 
its  maintaining  its  outline  and  not 
mixing  with  the  water.  This  network 
may  be  seen  gradually  altering  in  form, 
and  entangled  granules  •  and  foreign 
bodies  change  their  relative  positions. 
The  gelatinous  matter  is,  therefore,  ca- 
pable of  a  certain  amount  of  movement, 
and  there  can  he  no  doubt  that  it  mani- 
fests the  phenomena  of  a  very  simple 
form  of  life." 

Dr.  Emil  Bessels,  who  accompanied 
the  expedition  of  the  Polaris,  writes  to 
a  German  journal  of  natural  history : 
"  I  found  in  Smith  Sound,  at  the  depth 
of  ninety-two  fathoms,  great  masses 
of  free,  undifferentiated  homogeneous 
protoplasm,"  which  he  names  Proto- 
bathybius.  He  adds:  "I  would  simply 
say,  in  this  place,  that  these  masses 
consisted  of  pure  protoplasm,  in  which 
calcareous  particles  occurred  only  by 
accident.  They  appeared  to  be  very 
sticky,  mesh-like  structures,  with  per- 
fect amoeboid  movements  ;  they  took 
up  particles  of  carmine  and  other  for- 
eign substances,  and  there  was  active 
motion  of  the  nuclei." 

And  now,  to  nullify  the  effect  of 
such  direct,  positive,  and  concurrent 
observations  made  and  verified,  again 
and  again,  by  experienced  men,  what 
have  we?  Only  this:  the  ship  Chal- 
lenger started  around  the  world  to 
dredge  the  sea-bottom,  and  its  observ- 
ers sought  Bathybius  and  did  not  find 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


499 


it.  But  this  negative  evidence  is  worth 
nothing,  except  to  correct  the  error  of 
those  who  supposed  Bathybius  to  be 
universally  distributed  over  the  sea- 
bottom.  It  does  not  touch  the  question 
of  its  existence.  Sir  Wyville  Thom- 
son, in  charge  of  the  Challenger  expe- 
dition, wrote  to  Huxley  that  they  had 
not  only  failed  to  discover  Bathybius, 
but  that  it  was  seriously  suspected  that 
the  thing  to  which  the  name  had  been 
given  is  little  more  than  sulphate  of 
lime,  precipitated  in  a  flocculent  state 
from  sea-water  by  spirits  of  wine.  Prof. 
Huxley  immediately  communicated  this 
report  of  Sir  Wyville  Thomson  to  Na- 
ture,1 and  he  adds :  "  Prof.  Thomson 
speaks  very  guardedly,  and  does  not 
consider  the  fate  of  Bathybius  to  be  as 
yet  absolutely  decided.  But,  since  I  am 
mainly  responsible  for  the  mistake,  if 
it  be  one,  of  introducing  this  singular 
substance  into  the  list  of  living  things, 
I  think  I  shall  err  on  the  right  side  in 
attaching  even  greater  weight  than  he 
does  to  the  view  which  he  suggests." 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  sole 
question  here  is  as  to  the  interpreta- 
tion to  be  given  to  observations  on 
sea-slime.  But  such  observations  had 
been  made  elsewhere  over  and  over 
again,  in  many  places,  and  by  numerous 
microscopists.  The  flocculent  gypsum 
precipitate  in  sea-water  had  been,  more- 
over, known  to  everybody  who  had  pre- 
served marine  animals  in  alcohol.  It 
was,  of  course,  a  proper  question  to  raise, 
how  -far  such  an  effect  might  not  be 
mistaken  for  reactions  of  protoplasm ; 
but  to  suppose  that  anything  was  here 
finally  decided  is  simply  preposterous — 
much  more  so,  that  all  previous  observa- 
tions on  sea-bottom  protoplasm  were 
proved  worthless.  The  "suspicion" 
was  quite  legitimate,  but  it  was  only  a 
suspicion,  and  was  offered  as  nothing 
more.  Huxley  expressed  himself  sim- 
ply in  the  terms  of  courtesy  that  were 
suitable  to  the  occasion.     Sir  Wyville 

1  See  Popular  Science  Monthly,  October, 
1877,  p.  648. 


Thomson  spoke  cautiously ;  and  Huxley 
accorded  to  his  statement  all  possible 
weight.  If  he  had  been  disposed  to 
contest  the  matter,  this  would  not  have 
been  the  appropriate  time,  as  his  object 
was  nothing  more  than  to  communicate 
to  the  public  what  had  been  sent  to  him 
for  that  purpose.  Mr.  Cook  makes  a 
great  ado  about  Huxley's  "  recantation,'' 
but,  so  far  from  recanting,  he  does  not 
even  admit  that  he  had  been  mistaken. 
He  gave  Sir  Wyville  Thomson  the  fullest 
benefit  of  his  doubt,  and  there  left  the 
matter  for  further  investigation.  The 
Kev.  Mr.  Cook,  however,  returns  to  the 
subject  in  his  third  lecture,  and  edifies 
his  intelligent  Boston  audience  by  clos- 
ing with  the  following  whoop  :  '"That 
Bathybius  has  been  discovered  in  1875 
by  the  ship  Challenger,  to  be — hear  O 
heavens!  and  give  ear,  0  earth! — sul- 
phate of  lime.     (Applause.)  " 

We  may  here  note  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  theological  biology  which  so 
evoked  the  plaudits  of  Boston  ortho- 
doxy and  biology  of  the  common  sci- 
entific kind.  It  was  evidently  a  part  of 
Mr.  Cook's  polemical  tactics  to  open  his 
course  of  lectures  by  a  sensational  dash 
that  should  make  a  breach  in  the  sci- 
entific ranks  which  it  was  the  object 
of  the  "  Monday  lectureship  "  to  rout, 
and  for  this  purpose  nothing  could  be 
more  telling  than  to  discredit  Prof. 
Huxley  at  the  outset.  So  much  had 
been  said,  and  so  little  was  really 
known,  about  "Huxley's  Bathybius," 
that  this  seemed  to  offer  the  most  vul- 
nerable point  of  attack.  But  had  Mr. 
Cook  not  been  talking  to  people  who 
know  nothing  about  the  difficulties  of  ar- 
riving at  the  truths  of  Nature — nothing 
of  the  inexorable  disciplines  of  science 
— and  who  pride  themselves  on  never 
giving  up  a  dogma  once  professed ;  had 
he  not,  in  short,  been  catering  to  the 
"  closed,  dogmatic  "  mind  of  a  locality 
proverbial  for  pride  of  opinion,  his  effort 
would  hardly  have  been  greeted  with 
the  reported  applause.  Had  Prof. 
Huxley   been  in   error,   would   it  not 


500 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


have  been  to  Ms  credit  to  retract  it? 
How  else  have  the  truths  of  science 
and  the  laws  of  Nature  been  estab- 
lished, except  by  righting  wrong  con- 
clusions, committing  mistakes  and  then 
correcting  them,  and  escaping  from  er- 
roneous opinions  by  showing  them  to 
be  false?  This  is  the  essential  method, 
and  the  constant  work  of  science,  and 
it  is  exactly  here  that  it  becomes  the 
antagonist  of  that  method  which  tacit- 
ly or  openly  affirms  infallibility  of  be- 
lief, and  holds  it  to  be  a  reproach  and 
a  disgrace  to  acknowledge  that  one  has 
ever  been  mistaken.  If  there  had  been 
no  revolt  against  this  spirit,  we  should 
never  have  had  any  such  thing  as  sci- 
ence. 

We  dismiss  this  much-landed  book 
with  one  more  illustration  of  its  qual- 
ity. Having  got  through  the  sixth  lec- 
ture, still  devoted  to  his  main  thesis — 
the  deduction  of  immortality  from  pro- 
toplasm— Mr.  Cook  pointed  the  moral  of 
the  occasion  in  the  following  character- 
istic way.  He  said:  "Here  is  the  last 
white  and  mottled  bird  that  flew  to  us 
out  of  the  tall  Tribune  tower ;  and  softly 
folded  under  its  wing  are  these  words 
concerning  Darwin,  from  Thomas  Car- 
lyle,  at  his  own  fireside  in  London." 
He  then  read  the  sensational  story  that 
has  for  some  time  past  been  going  the 
rounds  of  the  newspapers  about  Car- 
lyle's  declaring  the  Darwins  to  be  "athe- 
ists all,"  with  some  stupid  rant  about 
the  gospel  of  dirt,  and  men  coming  from 
monkeys  and  frog-spawn,  and  winding 
up  with  his  standing  on  the  brink  of 
eternity  and  reviving  the  lessons  of  his 
catechism.  Mr.  Cook  then  calls  im- 
pressively upon  "Boston,  and  the  New 
England  colleges,  and  all  tender  and 
thoughtful  souls,  to  listen  to  Thomas 
Carlyle  as  he  stands  on  the  brink  of 
eternity." 

Now,  we  never  doubted  that  this  rep- 
resentation, so  greedily  caught  by  press 
and  pulpit,  was  essentially  a  lie.  Not 
that  Mr.  Carlyle  may  not  have  included 
Darwinism    among  the  multitudinous 


modern  things  that  he  has  been  wont 
to  rave  about,  but  this  circumstantial 
statement  had  all  the  internal  evidence 
of  fabrication  and  falsehood.  Mr.  Cook 
says  it  was  an  "  extract  from  a  letter 
from  Carlyle,  published  in  Scotland,  and 
quoted  in  the  London  Times.'1''  Yet  long 
before  Mr.  Cook  published  his  book  the 
story  was  contradicted  in  that  journal 
"  on  the  best  authority."  The  "  Monday 
lectureship  "  was,  however,  "abreast  of 
the  times  "  only  for  the  purpose  of  cir- 
culating the  scandal.  The  following 
note,  printed  in  the  London  Times  of 
January  20,  1877,  neither  appears  in  the 
"Biology,"  nor,  so  far  as  we  have  ob- 
served, has  appeared  in  the  American 
newspapers  which  gave  such  swift  pass- 
port to  the  first  statement : 

MR.   CARLYLE    ON   DARWINISM. 

"  L."  writes  :  "  Allow  me  to  state  on  the 
best  authority  that  the  letter  about  Darwin 
and  his  doctrines,  which  was  quoted  in  the 
Times  on  the  17th  inst.  from  the  Ardrossan 
and  Saltcoats  Herald,  was  not  written  by 
him." 

This  should  have  been  quite  sufficient 
to  stop  the  story,  but  some  people  are 
incredulous  when  dirty  gossip  is  to 
be  checked,  and  demand  responsible 
names.  It  may,  therefore,  be  proper  to 
say  that  we  happen  to  have  been  in- 
formed by  Herbert  Spencer  that  the 
note  to  the  Times  was  communicated  by 
Mrs.  Lecky,  the  wife  of  the  historian, 
and  that  she  stated  to  Mr.  Spencer  before 
its  publication  that,  while  Mr.  Carlyle, 
in  pursuance  of  his  practice  of  never 
noticing  misstatements,  would  not  con- 
tradict it  himself,  he  had  authorized 
her  to  make  the  contradiction.  It  thus 
appears  that  a  party  in  England  forges 
a  libelous  letter,  in  the  interest  of  ortho- 
doxy, which  is  made  to  do  duty  in  New 
England  in  the  same  interest,  while  the 
solemn  adjuration  to  listen  to  the  libel- 
ous forgery  is  responded  to  with  the 
usual  "  applause." 

It  is  the  frequent  custom  of  clergy- 
men to  characterize  much  of  the  work  of 
modern  scientific  thinkers  as  "pseudo- 


LITERAR  Y  N 0  TJC£S. 


501 


science,"  "sham  science,"  and  "science 
falsely  so  called ; "  but  truly  does  the 
Kev.  Joseph  Cook's  "  Biology  "  answer 
to  their  ideal  of  a  genuine  thing  ?  And 
must  we  not  conclude,  from  the  way 
they  praise  it,  that  our  orthodox  friends 
are  rather  hard  pressed  for  champion- 
ship ? 


OPENING   OF  THE  MUSEUM. 

It  is  not  often  that  we  get  so  much 
momentous  thought  in  so  narrow  a 
compass  as  was  furnished  by  Professors 
Eliot  and  Marsh,  in  their  addresses  at 
the  recent  opening  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History  in  this  city. 
President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  summed 
up  in  a  few  weighty  words  the  grandest 
characteristic  of  modern  science,  and 
pointed  out  two  of  its  most  profound 
and  far-reaching  results.  The  comple- 
tion of  a  new  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory seemed  the  fitting  occasion  to  rec- 
ognize that  science  has  given  a  kind  of 
new  birth  to  the  human  mind — a  new 
method  and  spirit  of  thought  in  essen- 
tial contrast  with  the  old  dogmatic  dis- 
pensation. This  grand  result,  not  yet 
very  widely  recognized,  and  where 
recognized  not  yet  very  courageously 
avowed,  nevertheless  many  times  out- 
weighs in  import  all  the  material  con- 
quests of  scientific  research.  The  doc- 
trine of  heredity,  in  its  comprehensive 
application  to  man  and  social  institu- 
tions, and  the  doctrine  of  continuity  in 
Nature,  and  the  slow  unfolding  of 
higher  and  better  conditions,  are  cred- 
ited with  an  exalted  place  among  the 
later  achievements  of  the  scientific 
mind.  We  cannot  forbear  expressing 
our  gratification  at  so  unqualified  an 
indorsement  from  such  a  distinguished 
source,  and  on  such  a  conspicuous  occa- 
sion, of  ideas  which  The  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly  has  earnestly  sought  to 
diffuse  ever  since  it  was  started. 

Prof.  Marsh  made  a  telling  appeal 
for  the  encouragement  of  original  scien- 
tific work.  He  called  attention  to  the 
danger  that  such  museums  are  liable 


to  degenerate  into  mere  shows,  and 
pointed  out  that  their  higher  service  is 
to  facilitate,  encourage,  and  keep  alive, 
that  spirit  of  investigation  by  which 
alone  knowledge  is  developed  and  per- 
fected. His  suggestions  were  pertinent 
and  timely,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  they 
will  be  heeded,  and  that  due  provision 
will  be  made  for  students  who  wish 
to  engage  in  the  promotion  of  original 
work. 


LITERARY   NOTICES. 

Elements  of  Geologv  :  A  Text-Book  for 
Colleges  and  for  the  General  Reader. 
By  Joseph  Le  Conte,  Professor  of  Ge- 
ology in  the  University  of  California. 
903  Illustrations.  New  York:  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.     Pp.  588.     Price,  $4. 

Sir  John  Herschel  has  somewhere  re- 
marked that,  in  the  vastness  and  sublimity 
of  its  leading  ideas,  geology  is  the  rival  of 
astronomy ;  for,  as  the  latter  has  to  deal 
with  immeasurable  space,  the  former  opens 
the  conception  of  immeasurable  time.  There 
is  a  splendor  about  the  science  of  celestial 
phenomena  that  is,  of  course,  unrivaled ; 
but  there  is  a  deep  fascination  about  the 
history  of  the  development  of  our  planet 
that  comes  from  the  immensity  of  the  pe- 
riods involved,  the  stupendous  scale  of  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place,  and  the 
practical  results  derived  from  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  constitution  of  the  earth's  crust. 

These  noble  elements  of  the  science  must 
ever  give  geology  a  powerful  claim  upon  the 
attention  of  cultivated  people,  and  they  have 
gained  for  it,  and  will  secure  to  it,  a  leading 
place  in  all  our  higher  courses  of  study. 
But  scientific  education  is  yet  in  its  infancy, 
and  its  incorporation  with  the  traditional 
culture  has  thus  far  been  very  much  a  mat- 
ter of  accident,  caprice,  or  indifference.  Ge- 
ology has  perhaps  suffered  more  than  any 
other  science  from  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  relations  between  scientific  and  literary 
culture.  Not  that  the  subject  has  been 
neglected,  but  it  has  been  treated  without 
judicious  and  adequate  preparation.  We 
have  had  admirable  elaborate  works  for  the 
information  of  professional  geologists  and 
the  training  of  students  who  design  to  be- 
come geologists ;  and  we  have  had  excellent 


5 


02 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


rudimentary  books  for  introducing  begin- 
ners to  the  subject  and  for  use  in  ordinary 
schools.  But  a  good  college  text-book  of 
geology  has  hitherto  been  wanting.  There 
has  been  no  American  work  for  high-class 
institutions  which  treats  the  subject  so  as 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  intelligent  and 
scholarly  people,  who  yet  do  not  expect  to 
become  independent  cultivators  of  geologi- 
cal science.  This  manifest  gap  has  now 
been  filled  by  the  publication  of  the  work 
before  us,  and  a  careful  examination  of  the 
volume  convinces  us  that  it  has  been  ex- 
ecuted with  great  judgment  with  reference 
to  the  present  needs  of  higher  education. 
In  his  preface  Prof.  Le  Conte  thus  states 
the  purpose  he  had  in  view  in  writing  the 
work  :  "  I  have  attempted  to  realize  what 
I  conceive  to  be  comprised  in  the  word 
elements  as  contradistinguished  from  man- 
ual. I  have  attempted  to  give  a  really  sci- 
entific presentation  of  all  the  departments 
of  the  wide  field  of  geology,  at  the  same 
time  avoiding  too  great  multiplication  of 
detail.  I  have  desired  to  make  a  work 
which  shall  be  both  interesting  and  profit- 
able to  the  intelligent  general  reader,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  suitable  text-book  for 
the  higher  classes  of  our  colleges.  In  the 
selection  of  material  and  mode  of  presenta- 
tion, I  have  been  guided  by  long  experience 
as  to  what  it  is  possible  to  make  interesting 
to  a  class  of  young  men,  somewhat  advanced 
in  general  culture  and  eager  for  knowledge, 
but  not  expecting  to  become  special  geolo- 
gists. In  a  word,  I  have  tried  to  give  such 
knowledge  as  every  thoroughly  cultured 
man  ought  to  have,  and  at  the  same  time  is 
a  suitable  foundation  for  the  further  pros- 
ecution of  the  subject  to  those  who  so 
desire.  The  work  is  the  substance  of  a 
course  of  lectures  to  a  senior  class,  organ- 
ized, compacted,  and  disencumbered  of  too 
much  detail  by  representation  for  many  suc- 
cessive years,  and  now  for  the  first  time 
reduced  to  writing." 

But,  besides  preparing  a  comprehensive 
text-book,  suited  to  present  demands,  which 
was  the  author's  main  design,  he  has  also 
given  us  a  volume  of  great  value  as  an  ex- 
position of  the  subject,  thoroughly  up  to 
date.  It  is  well  known  that  geology  is  one 
of  the  most  rapidly  progressive  of  the  sci- 
ences, but  in  recent  years  its  advances  have 


been  very  remarkable.  Not  only  are  its 
facts  multiplying  at  an  unprecedented  rate, 
through  the  labors  of  the  increasing  multi- 
tude of  geological  observers  in  all  lands,  but 
its  progress  is  to  a  still  greater  degree  sig- 
nalized by  the  light  thrown  upon  it  by  vari- 
ous other  sciences,  and  by  the  working  out 
of  fundamental  principles  by  which  its  mul- 
titudinous details  are  organized  into  more 
perfect  method.  The  law  of  evolution  is 
now  the  key  to  geology.  A  vague  principle 
of  progress  has  long  been  obscurely  recog- 
nized in  geological  phenomena,  but  that 
principle  has  now  been  brought  out,  ampli- 
fied, formulated,  and  established,  as  the  all- 
interpreting  law  that  has  governed  the  un- 
folding of  the  globe.  Much  remains  to  be 
done,  no  doubt,  in  the  elucidation  of  this 
grand  principle,  but  its  imperfection  now 
becomes  a  measure  of  the  imperfection  of 
geology  itself,  and  no  presentation  of  that 
science  is  any  longer  possible  which  does 
not  give  prominence  to  the  doctrine  of  evo- 
lution. Prof.  Le  Conte  not  only  accepts  it, 
but  puts  it  to  its  proper  scientific  use,  as 
his  volume  bears  abundant  witness,  and  as 
he  explains  in  the  following  words  from  the 
preface:  "In  the  historical  part,  I  have 
found  much  more  difficulty  in  being  scien- 
tific without  being  tiresome,  and  in  being 
interesting  without  being  superficial  and 
wordy.  I  have  attempted  to  accomplish 
this  difficult  task  by  making  evolution  the 
central  idea  about  which  many  of  the  facts 
are  grouped.  I  have  tried  to  keep  this  idea 
in  view,  as  a  thread  running  through  the 
whole  history,  sometimes  very  slender — 
sometimes,  indeed,  invisible ;  but  reappear- 
ing from  time  to  time  to  give  consistency 
and  meaning  to  the  history." 

The  examples  and  applications  of  Prof. 
Le  Conte's  work  are  almost  entirely  derived 
from  this  country,  so  that  the  treatise  may 
be  properly  considered  an  American  geol- 
ogy. This  involves  no  narrowness  or  in- 
completeness ;  for,  although  science  is  as 
wide  as  Nature,  yet  the  illustrations  of  geol- 
ogy are  necessarily  local,  and  an  important 
point  is  gained  when  those  are  selected 
which  will  be  most  naturally  observed  by 
the  great  mass  of  students  for  whom  the 
volume  was  designed.  The  region  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Western  portions 
of  the  continent,  as  is  well  known,  have 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


5°3 


recently  yielded  the  most  striking  and  im- 
portant contributions  to  the  subject,  both 
in  dynamical  and  structural  geology,  and  in 
the  department  of  ancient  life.  Prof.  Le 
Conte's  residence  in  California,  for  the  last 
few  years,  has  been  favorable  to  the  culti- 
vation of  this  field,  of  which  he  has  fully 
availed  himself  by  excursions  of  observa- 
tions, and  vacation-rambles  with  parties  of 
students  and  graduates,  through  regions 
especially  rich  in  geological  interest.  His 
book  contains  the  results  of  these  personal 
inquiries,  and  those  of  other  observers,  in- 
cluding the  revelations  of  remarkable  fos- 
sils by  Prof.  Marsh  and  the  naturalists  who 
have  devoted  themselves  to  paleontological 
exploration. 

The  volume  is  written  with  great  clear- 
ness and  with  admirable  judgment  in  re- 
spect to  the  proportions  of  space  allotted 
to  its  multifarious  topics.  A  prime  object 
with  the  author  has  been  to  interest  his 
readers,  and  for  this  purpose  he  has  given 
prominence  to  principles  and  subordinated 
details,  so  that  his  work  will  prove  attract- 
ive to  the  general  reader  as  well  as  to  the 
class-room  student.  It  is  profusely  and  ele- 
gantly illustrated,  in  a  style  of  which  the 
reader  will  be  enabled  to  judge  by  referring 
to  the  article  on  "  Geysers,"  in  the  present 
number  of  the  Monthly,  which  is  borrowed 
from  the  volume.  This  treatise  is  by  an 
eminent  working  geologist,  one  who  knows" 
the  subject  thoroughly  in  its  latest  aspects, 
and  we  can  commend  it  without  qualifica- 
tion to  all  who  desire  an  intelligent  ac- 
quaintance with  the  science,  as  fresh,  lucid, 
full,  authentic,  the  result  of  enthusiastic 
study  and  of  long  experience  in  the  art  of 
teaching  mature  classes. 

Deterioration  and  Race  Education,  with 
Practical  Application  to  the  Condi- 
tion of  the  People  and  Industry.  By 
Samuel  Royce.  New  York  :  Printed  by 
Edward  0.  Jenkins,  20  North  William 
Street.     Pp.  504.     Price,  $4.50. 

In  this  book  education  is  considered 
from  a  broad,  humanitarian  point  of  view, 
and  in  connection  with  the  great  causes  of 
decay  and  deterioration  that  are  operating 
in  society.  The  wealth  of  facts  and  materi- 
als of  all  kinds  that  the  author  has  brought 
together  seems  to  have  proved  somewhat 
embarrassing  to  him,  as  he  has  hardly  suc- 


ceeded in  bringing  them  into  close  logical 
method.  But  he  has  collected  a  great  deal 
of  interesting  material,  interspersed  with 
valuable  observations  and  reflections,  and 
the  volume  is  pervaded  by  a  reformatory 
and  progressive  spirit.  Mr.  Royce's  chap- 
ter on  "  Classical  and  Scientific  Education  " 
contains  much  good  sense,  and  his  opinions 
are  very  decided,  as  the  following  passage 
illustrates :  "  Emerson  says  that  he  has 
not  met  in  all  his  travels  in  America  with 
half  a  dozen  men  who  could  read  Plato 
profitably.  This  whole  Greek  and  Latin 
scholarship  is  an  imposture,  the  writing  of 
miserable  verses  in  these  languages  in- 
cluded. There  is  not  one  teacher  in  ten 
who  has  sufficient  knowledge  of  these  lan- 
guages to  derive  from  them  a  higher  cult- 
ure. The  learned  apparatus  requisite  for 
their  thorough  understanding  requires  the 
study  of  a  lifetime.  Must  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  students  in  the  land  throw 
away  their  years  and  opportunities  for  the 
sake  of  a  few  hundred  Latin  and  Greek 
roots,  which  can  be  learned  by  any  English 
student  with  the  help  of  an  etymological 
hand-book  in  a  few  weeks,  if  not  days  ?  " 

Notes  on  Leather.  By  Lieutenant  D.  A. 
Lyle. 

These  "Notes,"  published  by  order  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  use  of  the  Ord- 
nance Department  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  con- 
tain a  large  amount  of  useful  and  practical 
information  concerning  hides  and  the  manu- 
facture of  leather.  Sundry  fraudulent  prac- 
tices used  in  tanning  are  pointed  out,  and 
their  effects  on  the  leather  described.  The 
author  does  not  undertake  to  give  judgment 
on  the  comparative  merits  of  oak-tanned 
and  hemlock-tanned  leather ;  it  would  re- 
quire an  exhaustive  series  of  experiments  to 
decide  this  question  ultimately. 

Transactions  of  the  Kansas  Academy  of 
Sciences.  Topeka :  Kansas  Publishing- 
House.     Vol.  V.     Pp.  75. 

Among  the  papers  published  in  this  vol- 
ume are  several  natural  history  catalogues 
relating  to  the  botany  and  entomology  of 
Kansas,  a  meteorological  summary  for  1 8*76, 
essays  on  evidences  of  ancient  forests  in 
Kansas,  on  river-bluffs,  the  habits  of  prairie- 
dogs,  the  influence  of  food-selection  upon 
animal  life,  etc. 


5°4 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


The  A,  B,  C,  of  Finance.  By  Simon  New- 
comb,  LL.  D.  New  York:  Harper  & 
Brothers.     Pp.115.     Price,  25  cents. 

Prof.  Newcomb  is  an  astronomer,  and 
of  course  mostly  interested  in  the  stars,  but 
he  finds  time  to  give  a  portion  of  his  atten- 
tion to  the  affairs  of  his  country,  and  he, 
moreover,  makes  a  contribution  where  it  is 
most  needed.  It  is  in  the  field  of  finance 
that  the  nation  now  needs  the  greatest  help, 
and  we  agree  with  Prof.  Newcomb  that  the 
popular  instruction  at  present  most  urgently 
demanded  is  in  the  A,  B,  C,  of  financial  sci- 
ence. In  the  miniature  form  of  "  Harper's 
Half-Hour  Series"  the  author  has  brought 
out  a  succession  of  chapters  on  "  Labor," 
"  Capital,"  "  Wages,"  "  Value,"  the  "  Differ- 
ent Kinds  of  Money,"  "  Public  Faith,"  and 
the  "  Lessons  of  History,"  which  are  written 
in  a  clear,  simple,  instructive,  and  most  con- 
vincing manner.  Such  nimble  little  pocket- 
books,  pointedly  summing  up  these  large 
subjects,  are  wanted  by  the  people,  and  are 
capable  of  doing  more  efficient  service  than 
larger  books. 

Robinson  Crusoe's  Money  :  ou,  The  Re- 
markable Financial  Fortunes  and  Mis-  j 

FORTUNES    OF    A    REMOTE    ISLAND    COMMU- 
NITY.   By  David  A.  Wells.    New  York :  I 
Harper  &  Brothers.     Pp.   118.     Price, 
50  cents. 

In  this  small  volume  Mr.  Wells  inculcates 
the  lessons  of  political  economy  through  a 
sort  of  allegorical  artifice,  in  which  com- 
mercial and  financial  truths  and  absurdities 
are  brought  out  in  a  dramatic  way  that  is 
both  amusing  and  instructive.  Many  who 
would  not  like  a  dry,  didactic  treatise  on 
economics  would  be  pleasantly  beguiled  by 
Mr.  Wells's  imaginary  narration,  while  the 
characteristic  illustrations,  by  Nast,  will 
serve  to  help  on  both  the  fun  and  the  logic 
of  the  text. 

A  New  Treatise  on  Steam-Engineering, 
Physical  Properties  of  Permanent 
Gases,  and  of  Different  Kinds  of 
Vapor.  By  John  W.  Nystrom,  C.  E. 
New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  Pp. 
188.     Price,  $1.50. 

This  book  consists  of  numerous  tables, 
data,  and  information,  which  appear  to  the 
author  to  be  wanting  in  the  profession,  and 
which  have  not  heretofore  been  published. 
Among  the  topics  are  horse-power  of  steam- 


boilers,  chimneys,  combustion,  properties 
of  fuel,  smoke-burning,  'water-gauges,  safe- 
ty-valves, radiation,  steam-boiler  explosion, 
strength  of  steam-boilers,  compression  and 
expansion  of  air,  properties  of  water  and 
steam,  and  various  other  subjects  of  inter- 
est to  engineers.  The  author  rejects  no 
less  than  thirty-eight  terms  or  phrases  that 
have  grown  up,  and  come  into  modern  use 
in  mechanical  science. 

Public  Health  Reports  and  Papers.  "Vol. 
III.  Presented  at  the  Meetings  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association  in 
the  Years  1875-1876.  New  York :  Hurd 
&  Houghton.     Pp.   241.     Price,  £4. 

Among  the  most  important  volumes  is- 
sued from  our  press  are  the  reports  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association.  They 
comprise  papers  on  a  variety  of  important 
topics,  connected  with  the  health  of  the 
community,by  our  most  eminent  sanitarians; 
and  they  will  be  generally  found  valuable  as 
summing  up,  and  stating  in  a  clear  and  read- 
able form,  the  results  of  long  study  and 
well-directed  investigation.  Among  so  ex- 
cellent an  array  of  articles  as  the  present 
volume  furnishes,  it  seems  invidious  to  dis- 
criminate, and  in  especially  commending  the 
papers  of  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  on  "  Food  in  its 
Relations  to  Personal  and  Public  Health  ; " 
of  Prof.  Washburn,  on  "Expert  Testimony 
and  the  Public  Service  of  Experts  ; "  and  of 
Mr.  Charlton  Lewis,  on  "  The  Influence  of 
Civilization  on  the  Duration  of  Life,"  we  do 
not  for  a  moment  imply  that  the  other  dis- 
cussions of  the  volume,  all  of  them  on  im- 
portant subjects,  are  not  of  equal  interest 
and  ability.  This  series  of  reports  should 
be  found  in  the  libraries  of  all  who  take  in- 
terest in  the  vital  subject  of  personal  and 
public  hygiene. 

From  Prof.  C.  V.  Riley  we  have  received 
a  reprint  of  five  papers  contributed  by  him 
to  the  "Transactions"  of  the  St.  Louis 
Academy  of  Sciences ;  their  titles  are  as  fol- 
lows: "Larval  Characters  and  Habits  of 
the  Blister  Beetles  belonging  to  the  Genera 
Macrobasis  and  Epiccmla  ;  "  "  On  a  Remark- 
able New  Genus  in  Meloidce ; "  "Notes  on 
Megathymus  yuccce ;"  "Remarks  on  Pro- 
nuba  yuccasdla  ;  "  "Differences  between 
Anisoptcryx  pomdaria  (Harr.)  and  Aniso- 
pteryx  cescularia  (W.-V.)." 


LITERAR  Y  N 0  TICES. 


5°5 


Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Regents 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  the 
Year  1S76.  Government  Printing-Offiee, 
Washington.     Pp.  488. 

In  addition  to  the  report  of  the  secreta- 
ry, on  the  operations,  expenditures,  and  con- 
ditions of  the  Institution,  this  volume  con- 
tains the  following  elaborate  and  important 
papers.  "Eulogy  on  Gay-Lussac,"  by  M. 
Arago ;  "  Biographical  Sketch  of  Dom  Pe- 
dro II.,  Emperor  of  Brazil,"  by  Anpriso 
Fialho ;  "  Kinetic  Theories  of  Gravitation," 
by  Wm.  B.  Taylor ;  "  The  Revolutions  of 
the  Crust  of  the  Earth,"  by  Prof.  George 
Pilar;  "Ethnology,"  by  Otis  T.  Mason. 

The  Religious  Feeling,  a  Study  for  Faith. 
By  Newman  Smyth.  New  York  :  Scrib- 
ner,  Armstrong  &  Co.  Pp.  1*71.  Price, 
$1.25. 

This  is  an  earnest,  and  intended  to  be 
a  philosophic  and  liberal,  discussion  of  the 
modern  problems  of  religious  thought  in  re- 
lation to  science,  positivism,  and  Darwinian 
and  Spencerian  doctrines.  It  is  too  brief  to 
have  finished  up  the  inquiry ;  but  its  issue 
is  thus  stated  by  the  author :  "  The  problem 
of  problems,  upon  which  the  thought  of 
our  time  labors,  may  be  reduced  in  the  last 
analysis  to  the  simple  alternative:  is  man, 
through  whatever  intermediate  forms  he 
may  have  descended,  the  son  of  God,  or  is 
he  the  unintended  product  of  molecular 
forces  ?  "  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
the  writer  accepts  the  former  alternative, 
and  vigorously  belabors  the  school  of  think- 
ers which  he  charges  with  holding  the  latter 
opinion. 

Sanitary  Condition  of  City  and  Country 
Houses.  By  G.  E.  Waring,  Jr.  Pp.  145. 
Magnetism  of  Iron  Vessels.  By  F. 
Rogers.  New  York  :  Van  Nostrand. 
Pp.  126.     Price,  50  cents  each. 

The  first  of  these  little  volumes  contains 
two  papers  read  by  Mr.  Waring  at  meetings 
of  the  American  Health  Association,  togeth- 
er with  the  rather  voluminous  correspond- 
ence occasioned  by  their  publication  in  the 
American  Architect.  In  this  correspondence 
some  of  the  author's  facts  and  conclusions 
are  criticised  by  other  sanitarians.  Mr. 
Waring's  replies  to  these  strictures  form  a 
very  valuable  appendix  to  the  original  pa- 
pers. Of  the  other  volume  named  above, 
we  need  only  say  that  it  was  originally  pre- 


pared for  a  manual  designed  to  be  published 
by  the  Navy  Department.  The  publication 
of  the  manual  having  been  abandoned,  the 
treatise  was  incorporated  into  Van  Nos- 
trand's  "  Science  Series." 

How  to  use  the  Microscope.  By  John 
Phin.  New  York:  Industrial  Publica- 
tion Co.     Pp.  181.     Price,  75  cents. 

Two  years  ago  we  noticed  the  first  edi- 
tion of  this  little  manual  for  beginners  with 
the  microscope,  and  now  we  have  to  record 
the  appearance  of  a  second  edition,  fully 
illustrated  and  greatly  enlarged.  Its  essen- 
tial character  as  an  elementary  treatise  is, 
however,  still  rigidly  preserved. 

Anales  del  Museo  Nacional  de  Mexico. 
Mexico:  Imprenta  de  C.  Ramiro.  Vol. 
I.,  Part  I.     Pp.  40.  .  With  Plate. 

This  initial  number  of  the  "Anales"  is 
devoted  mainly  to  Mexican  archaBology. 
The  principal  paper  is  a  description,  by  Don 
Manual  Orozco  y  Berra,  of  a  curious  cylin- 
drical monument  of  stone,  the  Cuauhxicalli 
of  Tizoc,  supposed  to  be  a  sacrificial  stone 
employed  in  human  sacrifices.  This  mon- 
ument is  elaborately  engraved  with  human 
figures.  The  second  paper  is  by  Dr.  G.  Men- 
doza,  and  describes  an  Aztec  idol  of  Chi- 
nese type,  found  in  a  tumulus  in  the  State 
of  Puebla.  The  third  and  last  paper  is  a 
general  introduction  to  the  "  Paleontology 
of  Mexico,"  by  Mariano  Barcena. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Why  we  Trade  and  How  we  Trade,  pp.  67; 
The  Silver  Question,  pp.  47,  both  by  D.  A.  Wells; 
The  Tariff  Question  by  H.  White,  pp.  30.  New 
York  :  Putnam's  Sons.    26  cents  each. 

Rotation  of  the  Earth.  By  W.  L.  Walker. 
New  York  :  S.  W.  Green.     Pp.  64. 

The  Kabbala,  or  True  Science  of  Light.  By 
Dr.  S.  Pancoast.  Philadelphia  :  J.  M.  Stoddart 
&  Co.    Pp.  312.    $9. 

Transcendentalism.  Bv  J.  Cook.  Boston: 
J.  R.  Osgood  &  Co.    Pp.  305.    $1.50. 

Manual  of  Heating  and  Ventilation.  By  F. 
Schumann,  C.  E.  New  York :  Van  Nostrand. 
Pp.89.    $1.50. 

Daily  Bulletin  of  the  Signal  Service,  United 
States  Army,  for  September,  1874. 

What  was  He?  or,  Jesus  in  the  Light  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century.  By  Y/.  Denton.  Welles- 
ley,  Mass. :  The  author.  Pp.  259.  Paper,  $1 : 
cloth,  $1.25. 

The  Spiritual  Aspect  Nature  presents.  By 
J.Wilmshurst.  Boston:  Colby  &  Rich.  Pp.151. 
35  cents. 

The  Silver  Country  of  the  Southwest.    By  A. 


;o6 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


D.  Anderson.    New  York:  Putnam's  Sons.   Pp. 
221.    $1.75. 

Mechanics  of  Ventilation.    By  G.  W.  Rafter, 

C.  E.    New  York:  Van  Nostrand.    Pp.  96.    50 
cents. 

Golden  Songs  of  Great  Poets.  New  York : 
Sarah  H.  Leggett.    Profusely  illustrated.    $5. 

The  Action  of  Medicines.  By  Dr.  I.  Ott. 
Philadelphia:  Lindsay  &  Blakistou.  Pp.  108. 
$2. 

Notes  from  Chemical  Laboratory  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University.    Nos.  4-8. 

Mausill's  Almanac  of  Planetary  Meteorology. 
1878.  Rock  Island,  111. :  R.  Crampton.  Pp.  GO. 
50  cents. 

Ueber  die  als  echt  nachweisbaren  Assonan- 
zen  der  Chanson  de  Roland.  Von  A.  Rambeau. 
Pp.  38. 

Are  the  Indians  dying  out  ?  Washington : 
Government  Printing-Office.    Pp.  42. 

Mound-making  Ants  of  the  Allegheuies.  By 
Rev.  H.  C.  McCook.  Philadelphia :  Sold  by  J. 
A.  Black.    With  Plates.    Pp.  43.    75  cents. 

Relation  of  Moisture  in  Air  to  Health.    By 
R.  Briggs.    Philadelphia:  W.  P.  Kildare  print 
Pp.  33. 

Papers  read  before  the  Pi  Eta  Scientific  So- 
ciety.   Troy:  The  Society.    Pp.40. 

The  Preliminary  Arctic  Expedition.  Wash- 
ington: Be reslbrd  print.    Pp.32. 

Report  of  the  Asylum  at  Walnut  Hill,  Hart- 
ford, Conn.    Pp.  20. 

The  Heavenly  Bodies  ;  How  they  move.    By 

D.  McDonald.    Montreal:  Gazelle  print.    Pp.45. 

Immortality.  By  W.  Bross.  Chicago:  Jan- 
sen,  McClurg  '&  Co.    Pp.  8. 

Direct  Process  of  making  Iron  and  Steel. 
By  C.  M.  Du  Pny,  C.  E.  Philadelphia:  W.  P. 
Kildare  print.    Pp.  12. 

Medical  Jurisprudence  of  Insanity.  By  Dr. 
H.  Howard.    Montreal :  Gazette  print.    Pp.  13. 

Every  Saturday  (weekly).  Buffalo :  D. 
Welch.    Pp.  12. 

A  Decimal  Gauge  for  Sheet-Metal  and  Wire. 
By  R.  Briggs.  C.  E.  Philadelphia :  W.  P.  Kil- 
dare print.    Pp.  13. 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

Meyer's  Electrical  Apparatus  for  Begin- 
ners.— We  some  time  ago  noticed  the  admi- 
rable little  work  on  electricity  by  Prof.  Tyn- 
dall,  which  grew  out  of  a  course  of  holiday 
lectures  to  a  juvenile  audience  at  the  Royal 
Institution.  This  book,  "  Lessons  in  Elec- 
tricity," is  designed  as  a  guide  for  beginners 
to  go  through  a  course  of  electrical  experi- 
menting. The  main  purpose  that  he  had  in 
view,  in  preparing  this  little  volume,  is  thus 
stated:  "I  had  heard  doubts  expressed  as 
to  the  value  of  science-teaching  in  schools, 
and  I  had  heard  objections  urged  on  the 
score  of  expensiveness  of  apparatus.  Both 
doubts  and  objections  would,  I  considered, 
be  most  practically  met  by  showing  what 
could  be  done  in  the  way  of  discipline  and 
instruction  by  experimental  lessons,  involv- 


ing the  use  of  apparatus  so  simple  and  inex- 
pensive as  to  be  within  everybody's  reach." 
Of  course  there  can  be  no  experimenting 
without  the  necessary  instruments,  and,  if  the 
work  is  to  be  pursued  so  as  to  yield  its  proper 
benefits,  the  apparatus  must  be  sufficient  to 
cover  a  definite  field  of  study.  Prof.  Tyndall 
has  marked  this  out  in  his  little  volume,  and 
given  figures  of  the  various  articles  that 
will  be  required.  An  ingenious  pupil  can 
do  something — after  a  time  he  can  do  much 
— in  the  way  of  widening  his  resources  for 
making  experiments,  but  he  will  at  first  re- 
quire that  the  tools  be  ready  at  hand.  A 
philosophical-instrument  maker  of  New 
York,  Mr.  Curt  W.  Meyer,  having  been  ap- 
plied to  for  various  articles  suitable  for  ru- 
dimentary experiments  in  electricity,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  meeting  this  demand  by 
preparing  the  complete  set  of  instruments 
needed  for  the  illustration  of  Prof.  Tyndall's 
book.  These  he  has  manufactured  and  put 
up  in  cases  for  transportation,  so  that  those 
who  wish  to  enter  upon  such  a  course  of  ex- 
periments will  be  spared  all  trouble  in  se- 
lecting or  making  the  instruments  necessary 
for  the  purpose.  The  price  is  such  that 
many  boys  will  probably  be  unable  to  pro- 
cure it,  but  there  are  not  many  schools  that 
by  a  little  effort  could  not  get  the  apparatus 
for  the  use  of  their  pupils.  Electricity  is  ad- 
mirably adapted  on  many  accounts  for  intro- 
ducing the  young  to  the  scientific  study  of 
natural  objects  and  agents,  and  in  furnish- 
ing them  with  the  facilities  and  equipments 
for  the  work  Mr.  Meyer  has  done  them  a 
very  useful  service. 

Discovery  of  Mont  Blanc. — Mont  Blanc, 
the  highest  of  the  Alps,  is,  strange  to  say, 
a  modern  discovery.  At  least,  no  mention 
is  made  of  this  colossus  of  European  peaks 
in  any  itinerary,  or  in  any  literary  work 
whatever,  till  recent  times.  M.  Charles 
Durier,  in  his  work  "  Le  Mont  Blanc," 
says:  "This  mountain  rises  in  the  centre 
of  the  most  populous  and  civilized  states 
of  Europe ;  it  is,  in  fact,  the  axis  around 
which  European  civilization  has  revolved 
and  still  does  revolve ;  its  height  is  con- 
siderable ;  it  dominates  everything  in  its 
vicinity,  and,  to  make  $ts  appearance  more 
striking  on  the  background  of  the  blue  sky, 
its   summit,   though    placed   in  a   favored, 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 


507 


temperate  latitude,  is  ever  covered  with  a 
mantle  of  snow.  And  yet  during  twenty 
centuries  no  historian,  no  traveler,  no  sa- 
vant, no  poet,  names  it,  or  so  much  as  al- 
ludes to  it.  As  the  sun  describes  his  daily 
track,  that  peak  throws  its  shadow  upon 
at  least  three  countries  possessing  different 
languages,  but  still  it  was  profoundly  ig- 
nored." The  same  author  informs  us  of  a 
map  of  the  region  round  about  Mont  Blanc, 
published  in  the  second  half  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  but  which  gives  no  hint  as 
to  the  existence  of  the  mountain,  which, 
nevertheless,  is  visible  from  all  sides  at  dis- 
tances of  sixty  leagues. 

Earthquakes  in  Japan. — It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  the  number  of  earthquakes 
in  any  given  region  liable  to  such  disturb- 
ances is  greatest  in  that  part  of  the  month 
when  the  moon  cooperates  the  most  effec- 
tively with  the  sun  in  producing  an  attrac- 
tion upon  the  earth. 

Out  of  forty-eight  earthquakes,  observed 
in  the  years  1875  and  1S76,  I  find  that 
thirty-seven  occurred  on  one  of  the  five 
days  immediately  preceding,  or  on  one  of 
the  five  days  immediately  following,  full 
moon  :  in  other  words,  that  in  a  period  of 
twenty-eight  days  there  were  only  eleven 
earthquakes  falling  within  a  limit  of  seven- 
teen days,  while  on  the  remaining  eleven 
there  occurred  thirty-seven — a  dispropor- 
tion too  great  not  to  be  taken  into  account. 

I  may  add  that,  thus  far,  the  shocks  ob- 
served in  1877  are  even  more  noticeably  in 
accordance  with  the  above  facts. 

W.  E.  Parson. 
Tokio,  Japan,  November  3, 18T7. 

An  Agricultural  Detective  Agency. — We 

have  received  the  "Bulletin"  for  October 
of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  at  New  Haven,  containing  analy- 
ses of  thirty-one  specimens  of  fertilizers. 
This  "  station"  is  prepared  to  test  all  kinds 
of  fertilizers,  seeds,  cattle-foods,  etc.,  free 
of  charge,  for  the  use  and  advantage  of 
citizens  of  Connecticut.  The  establishment, 
therefore,  is  clearly  one  of  great  public 
utility,  and  deserving  of  generous  support. 
Farmers  are  too  often  the  victims  of  char- 
latans, who  palm  off  upon  them  their  worth- 
less fertilizers,  insect-destroyers,  seeds,  etc., 


at  prices  enormously  in  excess  of  their  real 
value.  This  agricultural  station  will  in  time 
put  a  stop  to  such  fraud  in  Connecticut. 
As  an  instance  of  the  sort  of  work  to  be 
expected  from  the  very  competent  chemists 
who  make  the  analyses,  we  may  cite  the  first 
table  given  in  the  present  circular.  Here, 
two  kinds  of  fertilizing  compositions  are  an- 
alyzed, and  shown  to  possess  about  the  same 
value  as  harbor-mud,  but  the  purchaser  was 
made  to  pay  a  very  high  price,  indeed,  for 
this  mud,  when  dubbed  "  composition  for 
vegetables,"  or  "  composition  for  grass." 

A  New  Species  of  Monkey. — There  are 
now  in  the  Alexandra  Palace,  London,  six 
live  specimens  of  a  monkey  new  to  science, 
the  Macacus  geluda,  a  native  of  the  moun- 
tains of  Abyssinia,  where  it  lives  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  from  7,000  to  8,500  feet  above  the 
sea-level.  One  of  these  monkeys  is  an  adult 
male.  It  is  hairy  over  the  whole  of  the 
body,  with  the  exception  of  a  pink  patch 
free  from  hair  on  the  chest,  and  a  space 
around  the  throat  of  the  same  color.  When 
the  animal  becomes  angry  or  excited,  these 
pink  patches  turn  bright-red.  The  nostrils 
are  high  up  from  the  upper  jaw,  and  the 
upper  lip  is  so  mobile  that  it  is  often  turned 
up  so  as  to  show  the  whole  of  the  upper 
teeth  and  gums.  The  tail  is  long  and  thick, 
and  ends  in  a  tuft  resembling  somewhat  a 
lion's  tail.  The  color  of  the  hair  is  brown, 
except  around  the  breast,  where  it  is  gray. 
The  bare  part  of  the  chest  shows  two  male 
indications  of  teats.  The  female  has  not 
such  long  hair  as  the  male,  and  on  the  bare 
spot  in  front  are  two  well-developed  teats. 
The  young  monkey  takes  one  in  each  hand, 
and  sucks  from  both  at  once.  While  these 
animals  have  rejected  all  fruits,  they  have 
eaten  Indian-corn  and  grass,  taking  the 
grass,  pulling  it  apart,  and  making  it  into 
little  balls.  In  their  native  habitat,  these 
monkeys  sleep  in  caves,  and  in  London 
they  sleep  in  a  large  box,  the  old  male  re- 
maining on  guard  near  the  entrance. 

Invention  of  the  Torpedo. — Perhaps  the 
earliest  of  all  torpedoes  was  that  invented  by 
David  Bushnell,  of  Connecticut,  a  little  over 
one  hundred  years  ago.  Bushnell's  idea 
was,  to  fix  a  small  powder-magazine  to  the 
bottom  of  a  vessel,  and  to  explode  it  by  a 


508 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


clock-work  arrangement.  In  order  to  do 
this,  he  contrived  a  tortoise-shaped  diving- 
boat  of  iron  plate,  which  contained  air 
enough  to  supply  a  man  for  half  an  hour. 
This  boat  was  propelled  by  a  sort  of  screw, 
and  guided  by  means  of  a  compass  made 
visible  by  phosphorus.  The  torpedo  was 
carried  outside  of  the  boat,  but  could  be 
detached  by  the  concealed  operator  with- 
in. It  was  connected  by  a  line  to  a 
screw,  which  was  to  be  driven  into  the  bot- 
tom of  the  hostile  ship.  As  soon  as  this 
was  effected,  the  torpedo  was  to  be  cast 
off,  when  it  floated  against  the  vessel's  side. 
The  action  of  casting-off  set  the  clock-work 
going  and  then  the  operator  had  time  to 
retire  to  a  safe  distance  before  the  catas- 
trophe. This  torpedo  and  submarine  boat 
were  actually  tested  against  an  English  sixty- 
four-gun  brig  early  in  the  War  of  Indepen- 
dence, but  the  attempt  to  blow  up  the  ves- 
sel was  unsuccessful.  No  further  effort  ap- 
pears to  have  been  made  to  turn  this  inven- 
tion to  account.  Nevertheless,  to  Bushnell 
the  honor  belongs  of  having  been  the  first 
to  destroy  a  vessel  by  a  torpedo.  In  an 
attack  on  the  Cerberus  frigate  with  a  towed 
torpedo,  he  blew  up  a  schooner  astern  of 
the  frigate,  and  killed  three  or  four  men  on 
board.  This  schooner  was  the  first  vessel 
ever  so  destroyed. 

Human  Stature— Treating  of  "  Human 
Stature,"  a  writer  in  the  Revue  &  Anthropo- 
logic gives  1.585  metre  (about  5.199  feet) 
as  the  lowest  mean  stature  of  males  among 
the  Esquimaux,  while  in  some  tribes  of  the 
same  race  the  mean  reaches  the  compara- 
tively high  figure  of  1.708  metre  (about 
5.60225  feet).  This  flatly  contradicts  the 
belief  that  cold  climates  produce  only  men 
of  low  stature.  Among  the  Lapps  the 
mean  stature  of  men  is  1.535  metre,  and  of 
women  1.421  metre.  The  Fuegians,  so  far 
from  being  diminutive,  are  above  the  aver- 
age stature  of  the  human  race.  The  Bush- 
men rank  among  the  most  diminutive,  the 
average  stature  of  both  sexes  being  under 
1.400  metre.  The  Akkas  attain  precisely 
the  same  average.  The  mean  stature  of  six 
Obongo  women,  measured  by  Du  Chaillu, 
was  1.428  metre.  Neither  the  Negritos  nor 
the  Andaman-Islanders  can  compare  for  lit- 
tleness with  the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa. 


On  the  other  hand,  according  to  this  author, 
the  highest  stature  is  attained  by  the  Nor- 
wegians, in  Europe,  the  Kaffirs  in  South  Af- 
rica, some  Indian  tribes  in  North  America, 
the  Polynesians,  and  the  Patagonians.  The 
mean  stature  of  the  last-named  people,  ac- 
cording to  the  statements  of  the  most  trust- 
worthy observers,  is  1.781  metre  (5.84169 
feet) ;  the  mean  of  natives  of  the  different 
Polynesian  archipelagoes  is  1.762  metre 
(5.77937  feet).  The  mean  stature  of  the 
human  race  is  about  1.600  metre  (five  feet 
three  inches). 

Artificial  Ice.— We  select  from  a  report 
in  the  Lancet,  on  "  Ice-making  Machines,"  a 
description  of  a  machine  designed  to  pro- 
duce ice  on  the  large  scale.  A  cistern, 
somewhat  like  a  tubular  boiler,  contains 
some  ether,  which  is  the  refrigerating  agent. 
The  vapor  escaping  from  the  ether  is 
pumped,  by  a  double-action  air-pump,  into 
a  condenser  surrounded  by  cold  water; 
thence  the  ether,  now  once  more  liquid, 
flows  back  to  the  cistern.  The  evaporation 
of  the  ether  causes  the  cistern  to  become 
intensely  cold,  and  this  cold  is  rapidly  com- 
municated to  a  strong  solution  of  common 
salt,  in  which  the  cistern  is  immersed.  The 
very  cold  brine  so  obtained  is  caused  to 
circulate  through  flat,  hollow,  and  vertical 
partitions  of  tinned  copper,  in  a  tank  filled 
with  pure  water.  Ice  quickly  forms  in 
smooth  slabs  on  the  partitions,  and  is  from 
time  to  time  removed  as  the  slabs  acquire 
the  requisite  thickness.  The  ice  so  ob- 
tained is,  of  course,  exceedingly  pure,  and 
is  said  to  waste  less  and  cost  less  than 
natural  ice.  In  this  machine  the  ether  is 
condensed  again  and  again  with  scarcely  any 
loss,  and  the  only  expenses  after  the  origi- 
nal outlay  are,  therefore,  for  rent,  fuel,  and 
labor. 

Mineral  Caoutchouc. — In  presenting  to 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadel- 
phia specimens  of  mineral  caoutchouc  from 
South  Australia,  Mr.  Galloway  C.  Morris 
stated  that  the  substance  is  found  during 
the  dry  season  in  a  limited  area  of  country 
of  a  swampy  nature  in  the  Coorong  district. 
It  occurs  in  sheets  from  the  thickness  of 
writing-paper  to  about  five-eighths  of  an 
inch.     It  is  made  into  illuminating  oil.     Of 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


509 


the  basin  in  which  it  is  found  the  surface  is 
sand,  either  white  and  barren  or  brown  and 
loamy,  with  occasional  ridges  or  distribu- 
tions of  limestone.  Next  below  this  is  segre- 
gated limestone,  hard  and  approaching  crys- 
tallization, the  interstices  filled  with  light- 
brown  tenacious  clay,  followed  by  compact 
light-red  sandstone  of  various  thickness, 
fading  in  color  and  consistence  until  it 
touches  the  water  and  merges  into  quick- 
sand. On  the  lowest  flats  fissures  occur  in 
the  limestone;  the  orifices  are  very  small 
and  irregular,  but  reach  to  the  underlying 
quicksand..  The  following  is  the  result  of 
an  analysis  of  this  mineral  caoutchouc : 

Moisture 0.4682 

Carbon 64.7300 

Hydrogen 11.6300 

Ash 1.7900 

Fixed  carbon 1.0050 

Oxygen,  and  other  unestimated 

matters 20.3768 

100.0000 

Living  Ont-of-Doors. — A  retreat  for  con- 
sumptives should  possess  above  all  things 
an  equable  temperature  throughout  the 
year,  so  as  to  favor  living  out-of-doors  at 
all  seasons.  The  advantages  possessed  in 
this  respect  by  the  Hawaiian  or  Sandwich 
Islands  can  hardly  be  surpassed.  The  cli- 
mate there,  says  Dr.  H.  B.  White,  in  the 
"  Proceedings  "  of  the  Kings  County  Medi- 
cal Society,  in  its  average  temperature  and  in 
equability,  may  be  said  to  be  perfect.  These 
islands  are  situated  between  19°  and  22° 
north  latitude,  where  the  trade-winds  blow 
with  great  regularity  about  ten  months  of 
the  year.  Though  lying  within  the  tropics, 
the  temperature  is  modified  by  the  constant 
fresh  breezes.  In  the  language  of  Hawaii, 
there  is  no  word  for  weather.  The  most 
favorable  situations  for  consumptives  are, 
according  to  Dr.  White,  Honolulu,  Lahaina, 
Ulepalekua,  Kailua,  and  Ewa.  The  main 
temperature  on  and  near  the  coasts  is  75° 
to  79°  for  the  warmest  months,  and  72°  for 
the  coldest.  During  Dr.  White's  four  years' 
residence  at  Lahaina  the  maximum  was  84°, 
and  the  minimum  61°,  while  the  general 
average  for  the  summer  months  was  82°  for 
mid-day,  and  about  72°  for  the  winter 
months.  By  ascending  the  mountains  a  few 
miles  inland,  almost  any  degree  of  tempera- 
ture can  be  obtained. 


"  Farewell." 

Farewell  !  I  thought  you  loved  me  once— that 

dream  is  past  forever  ! 
Farewell  I  I  must  forget  you  now ;  that  is,  I 

must  endeavor. 
From  all  your  vows  of  constancy  I  set  you  free 

henceforth, 
And  you  needn't  try  them  on  again,  I  know  now 

what  they're  woith. 

You  have  quite  ceased  to  care  for  me ;  with 

science  you've  been  bitten, 
Since  you  read  that  very  stupid  book  that  Mr. 

Darwin's  written. 
I  can't  think  what  it  signifies  ;  I'm  sure  I  never 

wondered 
Whether  we  all  descended  from  one  "  type"  or 

from  a  hundred. 

If  you  remained  unaltered,  I  shouldn't  care  the 

least 
About  the  variability  of  any  bird  or  beast ; 
But  you  carry  out  the  principle  of  change  and 

variation, 
So  I  leave  you  to  your  science— may  it  prove  a 

consolation ! 

I  call  it  such  a  waste  of  time,  bothering  about 

these  things, 
Racking  one's  brains  to  find  out  why  opossums 

haven't  wings. 
Of  course,  it's  very  curious  spiders  should  live 

on  flies, 
And  that  the  tails  of  peacocks  should  be  so  full 

of  eyes. 

Of  course,  it's  all  most  interesting,  there's  not 

a  doubt  about  it, 
But  I  think  that  you  and  I,  dear,  were  happier 

without  it ; 
So  I  act  on  this  idea  of  Natural  Selection, 
And  beg  yon  to  accept  of  my  definitive  rejection. 

Yet  the  light  of  all  my  life  is  quenched,  my  hap- 
piness gone  by; 

I  sha'n't  "  struggle  for  existence ; "  I  shall  just 
lie  down  and  die. 

Each  hour  I  live  apart  from  you  my  misery  in- 
creases, 

And  it's  all  through  Mr.  Darwin  and  his  "Ori- 
gin of  Species." 

Improvements  in  Photography.— Both 
the  chemist  and  the  practical  photographer 
will  be  interested  in  a  communication  from 
Mr.  M.  Carey  Lea,  published  in  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science,  for  July  on  certain 
new  means  of  developing  the  latent  photo- 
graphic image.  It  has  been  supposed  that 
only  very  few  bodies  possess  this  singular 
power  of  developing,  but  Mr.  Lea's  re- 
searches show — 1.  That,  on  the  contrary, 
such  bodies  are  very  numerous ;  2.  That, 
contrary  to  what  has  been  generally  held, 


r:0 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


potash  is  a  more  powerful  developing  agent 
than  ammonia ;  3.  That,  so  far  from  it  being 
true  that  the  most  energetic  form  of  devel- 
opment, when  no  soluble  salt  of  silver  is 
present,  is  that  which  depends  on  the  use  of 
free  alkali,  a  most  powerful  development 
may  be  had  without  free  alkali;  4.  That 
ferrous  salts  do  not  act  only  in  the  presence 
of  a  soluble  salt  of  silver.  We  have  not 
space  to  describe  the  method  followed  by 
the  author  in  his  researches,  but  must  con- 
tent ourselves  with  simply  stating  the  prin- 
cipal results,  referring  the  reader  who  desires 
fuller  information  to  the  pages  of  our  con- 
temporary. Among  the  bodies  found  by 
Mr.  Lea  to  possess  the  power  of  developing 
the  latent  image  are  sugars,  manna  being 
especially  noteworthy  as  producing,  under 
certain  conditions,  "  an  image  as  bold  and 
strong  as  any  substance  hitherto  known." 
Of  the  glucosides  some  give  good  images. 
Of  several  organic  acids  tried,  only  one, 
cevadic  acid,  exhibited  tolerable  developing 
power.  The  resins  exhibit  more  or  less  de- 
veloping power,  guaiacum  being  nearly  as 
energetic  as  pyrogallol  itself.  Among  the 
essential  oils,  the  oil  of  cloves  yields  a  strong, 
clear  image,  and  good  results  are  also  ob- 
tained from  oil  of  Roman  camomile  and 
oil  of  peppermint.  The  organic  bases  ex- 
hibit little  developing  power.  Concerning 
pyrogallol  the  author  writes  that  with  potas- 
sium formate  it  gives  better  results  than 
with  any  other  substance.  A  large  number 
of  vegetable  substances  were  tried,  with 
varying  results.  Finally,  the  author  experi- 
mented with  cuprous  oxide  and  with  ferrous 
salts :  a  colorless  solution  of  the  former  in 
ammonia  develops  a  strong  image ;  but  the 
salts  of  ferrous  oxide  "  proved  to  be  the 
most  interesting  and  remarkable  of  all  the 
bodies  examined,   in   their  action   on   the 


Preservation  of  Wood  by  eh  airing  and 
tarring. — A  writer  in  the  Industrie-Matter, 
in  remarking  on  the  methods  of  preserving 
wooden  posts  by  charring  and  coating  with 
tar,  says  that  these  methods  are  effectual 
only  when  both  are  applied.  If  the  posts 
are  only  charred,  the  charcoal  formed  on 
the  surface  acts  only  as  an  absorber  of 
moisture,  and  really  hastens  decay.  By 
applying  tar  without  previously  charring, 


the  tar  only  forms  a  casing  about  the  wood. 
Timber  that  is  exposed  to  the  action  of 
water  or  let  into  the  ground  should  first  be 
charred,  and  then  while  still  warm  should 
be  treated  with  tar  till  it  is  fully  impreg- 
nated. The  acetic  acid  and  oils  contained 
in  the  tar  are  evaporated  by  the  heat  and 
only  the  resin  left  behind,  which  penetrates 
the  pores  of  the  wood  and  forms  an  air- 
tight and  water-proof  coating.  It  is  impor- 
tant to  impregnate  the  posts  a  little  above 
the  line  of  exposure,  for  here  it  is  that  the 
process  of  decay  affects  the  wood  first,  and 
where  the  break  always  occurs  when  a  post 
is  removed  from  the  earth  or  strained  in 
testing. 

Earthworms  in  Agriculture.— That  the 
earthworm  is  of  great  service  to  the  ag- 
riculturist is  shown  by  the  author  of  a 
paper,  the  substance  of  which  we  find  in 
Die  Natur.  Not  only  does  the  earthworm 
not  attack  or  injure  the  roots  of  plants ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  aids  them  in  their  growth 
by  excavating  passages  through  which  they 
can  penetrate  into  strata  otherwise  inacces- 
sible to  them.  And,  as  the  overground  por- 
tion of  a  plant  is  always  proportioned  to  the 
length  and  number  of  its  roots,  it  is  plain 
that  the  earthworm  is  of  great  benefit  to 
the  plants  in  its  neighborhood.  The  author 
placed  an  earthworm  in  a  flower-pot  con- 
taining a  growing  Dracwna  two  and  a  half 
feet  in  height.  The  worm  was  left  undis- 
turbed for  some  time,  and  soon  it  was  found 
that  it  had  passed  through  itself  at  least 
one-half  of  the  earth  in  the  flower-pot.  The 
soil  was  in  this  way  improved,  many  in- 
soluble constituents  being  rendered  soluble. 
The  author's  conclusion  was  that,  inasmuch 
as  he  could  discover  no  injury  done  to  the 
roots  of  the  Dracama,  the  worm  had  fed  on 
the  remains  of  plants  in  the  earth,  utilizing 
and  decomposing  them  thoroughly. 

Drowning  -  Accidents. — The  advantages 
of  "  paddling  "  aud  "  treading  water,"  as  a 
means  of  escaping  from  drowning  when  one 
is  suddenly  precipitated  into  deep  water,  are 
set  forth  by  a  writer  in  the  Sanitary  Record. 
The  motions  performed  in  the  acts  of  pad- 
dling and  treading  require  no  previous  in- 
struction, and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases 
would  save  life.     In  swimming,  the  mouth 


NOTES. 


5ii 


is  on  a  level  with  the  water  in  the  intervals 
of  the  strokes  ;  in  paddling,  the  head  is  well 
elevated ;  the  individual  is  able  to  look 
about,  he  can  deliberate  as  to  what  is  best 
to  be  done,  and  he  is  much  less  liable  to 
take  water  into  the  larynx  or  glottis.  With- 
out prejudice  to  the  art  of  swimming,  chil- 
dren should  be  exercised  from  the  tenderest 
age  in  the  act  of  paddling  and  treading 
water,  so  as  to  impart  confidence  to  them. 
Even  without  any  preliminary  practice  what- 
ever, there  is  nothing  to  hinder  man,  woman, 
or  child,  from  beating  the  water  with  the 
hands  and  feet,  just  as  the  lower  animals 
do,  and  so  keeping  themselves  afloat  for  a 
protracted  period — a  period  that  in  a  mul- 
titude of  instances  would  be  sufficient  to 
invite  rescue,  and  preserve  life.  The  action 
of  the  feet  alone  will  sustain  the  body ;  a 
fortiori,  the  action  of  both  feet  and  hands 
will  prove  yet  more  effectual.  In  this,  as 
in  many  other  things,  man  is  too  often  un- 
aware of  his  own  immense  capacities. 

Peppernihit-Cnltnrc. — We  take  from  the 
Polytechnic  Review  the  following  notes  on 
the  cultivation  of  the  peppermint-plant  in 
the  United  States  :  Of  the  entire  crop,  fully 
two-thirds  is  produced  in  Michigan.  The 
soils  best  suited  for  the  cultivation  of  pep- 
permint are  the  black-ash  swamps  of  West- 
ern New  York,  and  river-bottoms.  The 
land  must  be  drained  to  allow  it  being 
worked  early  in  spring.  The  one-year  roots 
are  planted  in  ploughed  land  in  rows,  the 
space  between  the  rows  being  from  eighteen 
to  thirty-six  inches.  During  the  first  year 
the  ground  mnst  be  kept  free  from  weeds. 
The  plant  contains  most  oil  at  the  period  of 
blossoming,  or  just  afterward,  and  the  crop 
must  be  gathered  on  a  dry  day.  Within  a 
day  or  two  after  cutting  it  is  carried  to  the 
still  and  the  oil  extracted.  There  must  be 
a  good  supply  of  water  to  make  distilling 
successful.  If  dried  too  much,  there  is  a 
loss  in  leaves  falling  off,  and  the  yield  of  oil 
greatly  diminished.  The  mint-straw,  on  be- 
ing dried,  is  readily  eaten  by  animals  in 
winter.  The  annual  product  is  about  70,- 
000  pounds,  the  greater  part  of  it  being  ex- 
ported to  Europe. 

Uses  of  Castor-Oil  in  the  Arts. — Castor- 
oil  was  formerly  employed  only  as  a  medici- 
nal agent ;  but  now  its  uses  in  the  arts  are 


manifold,  and  its  manufacture  has  come  to 
be  a  considerable  industry.  St.  Louis  is  the 
centre  of  this  industry  in  the  United  States, 
and  nearly  all  the  castor-beans  grown  in 
this  country  are  produced  within  a  circle 
of  about  200  miles  south  and  southwest 
of  that  city.  The  chief  uses  of  castor-oil 
in  the  arts  are,  according  to  the  Shoe  and 
Leather  Reporter,  as  a  lubricator  for  coach 
and  carriage  axles,  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
best  shoe-blacking,  as  a  dressing  for  calf- 
skins, for  treeing  boots,  as  a  substitute  for 
neat's -foot  oil,  and  keeping  leather  soft,  mel- 
low, and  pliable.  Crude  castor-oil  is  used 
largely  in  the  manufacture  of  morocco.  It 
will  not  "fry"  or  "gum,"  and  imparts  soft- 
ness and  weight,  and  leather  prepared  with 
it  remains  mellow  and  pliable.  The  crop  of 
castor-beans  for  the  year  1S75  was  303,498 
bushels;  in  1876  the  crop  was  only  about 
one-half  as  large.  Last  year  a  firm  in  St. 
Louis  made,  from  125,000  bushels  of  beans, 
7,000  barrels  (47  gallons  each)  of  crude 
castor-oil. 


NOTES. 

There  will  be  two  solar  eclipses  this  year, 
one  on  the  1st  of  February,  the  other  on 
the  29th  of  July.  The  former  will  be  central 
and  annular  as  observed  from  high  southern 
latitudes;  the  latter  will  be  total  in  the 
western  part  of  North  America.  It  will  be 
best  observed  at  Denver,  Colorado. 

The  "  Copley  Medal "  for  1877  has  been 
awarded  by  the  London  Royal  Society  to 
Prof.  James  Dwight  Dana,  of  Yale  College, 
for  his  biological,  geological,  and  minera- 
logical  investigations  carried  on  through 
half  a  century,  and  for  the  valuable  works 
in  which  his  conclusions  and  discoveries 
have  been  published. 

A  prize  of  $20,000  is  offered  by  the 
Council  General  of  Guadeloupe  for  the  best 
new  process  for  extracting  the  juice  from 
sugar-cane,  the  cost  not  to  exceed  40  per 
cent,  of  the  market  value  of  the  product. 
The  prize  is  open  to  competition  till  June  1, 
1880. 

Numerous  facts  are  cited  by  the  Aus- 
tralian explorer,  Landsborough,  which  go  to 
prove  that  dense  forests  are  on  the  increase 
in  Australia,  that  the  climate  is  growing 
moister,  and  that  even  the  great  central 
desert  may,  in  course  of  time,  become  inhab- 
itable. The  frequency  of  fires,  prior  to  the 
introduction  of  sheep-farming,  when  there 
was  nothing  to  keep  down  the  grass,  was 


512 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


terribly  destructive  to  trees  and  to  all  vege- 
tation. Now  these  ravages  are  becoming 
limited  in  extent. 

Karl  Ludwig  von  Littrow,  Professor 
of  Astronomy,  and  Director  of  the  Imperial 
Observatory  at  Vienna,  died  at  Venice,  No- 
vember 10th,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of 
his  age. 

The  mean  distance  of  the  sun,  as  de- 
duced by  the  British  Astronomer  Royal,  Sir 
George  Airy,  from  a  comparison  of  the  re- 
sults obtained  by  the  English  telescopic  ob- 
servations of  the  transit  of  Venus  in  1874, 
is  equal  to  93,300,000  miles.  But,  as  the 
photographs  of  the  transit  are  yet  to  be 
worked  up,  this  estimate  must  be  regarded 
as  provisional  only. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Yarrow,  of  the  Army  Medical 
Museum,  Washington,  is  collecting  materials 
for  a  memoir  on  the  burial-customs  of  the 
North  American  Indians,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  and  earnestly  solicits  information 
so  as  to  enable  him  to  treat  the  subject 
with  all  possible  fullness.  Correspondents 
are  requested  to  state  as  exactly  as  may  be 
the  name  of  the  tribe  concerning  which  they 
give  information,  its  locality,  its  manner  of 
burial,  ancient  and  modern,  its  funereal  and 
other  mortuary  ceremonies,  etc.  Dr.  Yar- 
row's address  is  1,747  F  Street,  N.  W., 
Washington. 

Douglas  A.  Spalding,  author  of  many 
suggestive  papers  on  certain  obscure  ques- 
tions in  psychology  which  have  appeared  in 
the  Monthly,  died  on  the  31st  of  October,  in 
the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  From  a 
notice  in  Nature  we  learn  that  Mr.  Spalding 
was  in  his  early  manhood  a  slater  at  Aber- 
deen; in  1862,  through  the  kindness  of 
Prof.  Bain,  he  was  allowed  to  attend  free 
of  charge  the  classes  in  literature  and  phi- 
losophy in  the  university.  Later  he  went 
to  London,  and  tried  to  earn  a  livelihood  by 
teaching,  at  the  same  time  studying  law. 
His  paper  on  the  instinctive  movements  of 
young  birds,  read  at  the  British-American 
meeting  of  1872,  first  brought  him  to  the 
notice  of  the  world  of  science. 

At  a  conversazione  lately  held  in  Guy's 
Hospital,  London,  a  filter  invented  by  a 
Major  Crease  was  exhibited.  It  reduced 
strong  tea  and  logwood  infusion  to  clear, 
tasteless  water.  The  nature  of  the  filtering 
medium  is  at  present  a  secret. 

A  prize  of  $25,000  is  offered  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  India  for  the  best  machine  or 
process  for  preparing  rhea  or  ramie-fibre  ; 
also  a  prize  of  $5,000  for  the  second  best. 
The  conditions  of  winning  the  prize  are 
that  the  machine  or  process  shall  be  capa- 
ble of  producing  by  animal,  water,  or  steam 
power,  one  ton  of  dressed  fibre  at  a  total 


cost  not  exceeding  $75  at  any  port  in  India, 
or  $150  in  England.  The  machines  must 
be  in  readiness  at  Saharanpar  by  August 
15,  1879. 

A  solution  of  bicarbonate  of  sodium 
applied  to  burns  promptly  and  permanently 
relieves  all  pain.  A  laboratory  assistant  in 
Philadelphia  having  severely  burned  the  in- 
side of  the  last  phalanx  of  the  thumb  while 
bending  glass  tubing,  applied  the  solution 
of  bicarbonate  of  soda,  and  not  only  was 
the  pain  allayed  but  the  thumb  could  be  at 
once  freely  used  without  inconvenience. 

Munke  quotes  from  the  "Talmud"  a 
passage  in  which  mention  is  made  of  iron 
as  a  means  of  "  protection  from  lightning 
and  thunder  ;"  and  Wiedemann  adds  that 
the  ancient  Egyptians  appear  to  have  used 
gilded  masts  "  for  w aiding  oft'  the  bad 
weather  coming  from  heaven." 

On  board  the  British  iron-clad  ship  Te- 
meraire,  besides  the  great  engines  for  pro- 
pulsion, there  are  no  less  than  thirty-four 
small  engines  for  the  following  purposes : 
two  turning,  two  starting,  four  feed,  two 
circulating,  two  fan,  two  bilge,  one  capstan, 
one  steering,  four  pumping,  four  ash-lifters, 
two  hydraulic  gear- workers,  one  torpedo 
reservoir-charger,  one  to  work  the  electric 
machine'  which  lights  the  bridge,  and  four 
others. 

Nearly  all  the  salt  used  for  domestic 
purposes  passes  out  with  the  sewage,  and  is 
inseparable  from  it ;  the  proportion  of  salt 
(chloride  of  sodium)  found  in  water  is  there- 
fore a  pretty  accurate  measure  of  the  degree 
of  contamination  by  sewage.  Hence,  says 
Prof.  Lattimore,  of  Rochester,  "  whenever 
the  proportion  of  salt  in  well-water  rises 
above  a  very  {ew  grains  per  gallon,  con- 
tamination by  sewage  or  house-drainage 
may  be  confidently  asserted." 

A  singularly  interesting  discovery  has 
been  made  by  Reichenbach,  with  regard  to 
the  embryo  of  the  crawfish.  He  finds  that 
the  "  food-yelk "  of  the  egg  is  not  merely 
absorbed  by  the  embryonic  cells  by  a  pas- 
sive process  of  diffusion,  but  that  these  lat- 
ter actually  devour  the  yelk-globules  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner  as  an  amoeba  devours 
diatoms  or  desmids.  The  cells  throw  out 
pseudopod-like  processes,  and  with  these 
envelop  the  yelk-globules  and  drag  them 
into  their  interior,  where  they  undergo  di- 
gestion. 

The  sermon  of  Henry  Ward  Bcecher  on 
the  subject  of  future  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, concerning  which  there  has  been 
such  gross  misrepresentation,  is  published 
in  full  in  the  Christian  Union  (New  York) 
of  December  26th.  It  is  entitled  "The 
Background  of  Mystery." 


ZTL       I '■ 


Recent. 
Post  Tertiary. 


Pliocene. 


Miocene. 


Eocene. 


Tapir,  Peccary,  Bison,  Llama. 
Equus.       Megatherium,  Mylodon. 


Equus  Beds. 
Pliohippus  Beds. 


Miohippus  Beds. 
Oreodon  Beds. 
Brontotherium  B. 


Equus,  Tapirus.      Elephas. 

(  Pliohippus,  Tapiravus,  Mastodon. 

(  Protohippus,  Aceratherium,  Bos. 


Diplacodon  Beds. 
Dlnoceras  Beds, 

(Green  River  B.) 
Coryphodon  Beds, 


Miohippus,  Diceratherium,  Thinohyus. 

J  Edentates  (Moropus),  Hycenodon, 
( Eporeodon,  Hyracodon. 

Mesohippus,  Menodus,  Elotherium. 


Epihippus,  Amynodon. 

Tinoceras,  Uintatherium,  Limnohyus, 
Orohippus,     Helaletes,    Colonoceras. 


Eohippus,  Monkeys,  Carnivores,  Ungu- 
lates, Tillodonts,  Rodents,  Serpents. 


Hadrosa  urus,  Dryptosaurus. 


Birds  with  Teeth  ( Odontornithex) ,  Hesper- 
ornis,  lchthyornis.  Mosasaurs 
Edest(>s<iurus,Lestosauriis,Tylosauru8 
Pterodactyls,  Plesiosaurs. 


Dinosaurs,  Apatosaurus,  Allosaums, 
Mctnosaurus.    Turtles,    Diptosaurus. 


First  Mammals  (Marsupials),  (Droma- 

therium). 
Dinosaur  Footprints,  Amphisaurus. 

Crocodiles  (Belodon). 


Cambrian. 


Archaean. 


Primordial. 


Huronian. 


Laurentian. 


First  Reptiles  (?) 


First  known  Amphibians  (Labyrinth- 
odonts). 


First  known  Fishes. 


a 

o 

a 


Section   of   the    Earth's    Crust. 

TO    ILLUSTRATE    VERTEBRATE    LIFE    IN    AMERICA. 


THE 


POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


MAECH,  1878. 


INTRODUCTION  AND  SUCCESSION  OF  VERTEBRATE 

LIFE  IN  AMERICA.1 

By  Prof.  0.  C.  MARSH. 

THE  origin  of  life  and  the  order  of  succession  in  which  its  various 
forms  have  appeared  upon  the  earth  offer  to  science  its  most  in- 
viting and  most  difficult  field  of  research.  Although  the  primal  origin 
of  life  is  unknown,  and  may  perhaps  never  be  known,  yet  no  one  has 
a  right  to  say  how  much  of  the  mystery  now  surrounding  it  science 
cannot  remove.  It  is  certainly  within  the  domain  of  science  to  de- 
termine when  the  earth  was  first  fitted  to  receive  life,  and  in  what 
form  the  earliest  life  began.  To  trace  that  life  in  its  manifold  changes 
through  past  ages  to  the  present  is  a  more  difficult  task,  but  one  from 
which  modern  science  does  not  shrink.  In  this  wide  field,  every 
earnest  effort  will  meet  some  degree  of  success  ;  every  year  will  add 
new  and  important  facts ;  and  every  generation  will  bring  to  light  some 
law,  in  accordance  with  which  ancient  life  has  been  changed  into  life 
as  we  see  it  around  us  to-day.  That  such  a  development  has  taken 
place,  no  one  will  doubt  who  has  carefully  traced  any  single  group  of 
animals  through  its  past  history,  as  recorded  in  the  crust  of  the  earth. 
The  evidence  will  be  especially  conclusive,  if  the  group  selected  be- 
longs to  the  higher  forms  of  life,  which  are  sensitive  to  every  change 
in  their  surroundings.  But  I  am  sure  I  need  offer  here  no  argument 
for  evolution  ;  since  to  doubt  evolution  to-day  is  to  doubt  science,  and 
science  is  only  another  name  for  truth. 

Taking,  then,  evolution  as  a  key  to  the  mysteries  of  past  life  on 
the  earth,  I  invite  your  attention  to  the  subject  I  have  chosen  :  "The 
Introduction  and  Succession  of  Vertebrate  Life  in  America." 

In  the  brief  hour  allotted  to  me,  I  could  hardly  hope  to  give  more 
than  a  very  incomplete  sketch  of  what  is  now  known  on  this  subject. 

1  An  address  delivered  before  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  August  30,  1877,  by  Prof.  0.  C.  Marsh,  Vice-President. 
vol.  xii. — 33 


5 14  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

I  shall,  therefore,  pass  rapidly  over  the  lower  groups,  and  speak  more 
particularly  of  the  higher  vertebrates,  which  have  an  especial  interest 
for  us  all,  in  so  far  as  they  approach  man  in  structure,  and  thus  indi- 
cate his  probable  origin.  These  higher  vertebrates,  moreover,  are 
most  important  witnesses  of  the  past,  since  their  superior  organization 
made  them  ready  victims  to  slight  climatic  changes,  which  would  oth- 
erwise have  remained  unrecorded. 

In  considering  the  ancient  life  of  America,  it  is  important  to  bear 
in  mind  that  I  can  only  offer  you  a  brief  record  of  a  few  of  the  count- 
less forms  that  once  occupied  this  continent.  The  review  I  can  bring 
before  you  will  not  be  like  that  of  a  great  army,  wdien  regiment  after 
regiment  with  full  ranks  moves  by  in  orderly  succession,  until  the  entire 
host  has  passed.  My  review  must  be  more  like  the  roll-call  after  a 
battle,  when  only  a  few  scarred  and  crippled  veterans  remain  to  an- 
swer to  their  names.  Or,  rather,  it  must  resemble  an  array  of  relics, 
dug  from  the  field  of  some  old  Trojan  combat,  long  after  the  contest, 
when  no  survivor  remains  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  strife.  From  such  an 
ancient  battle-field,  a  Schliemann  might  unearth  together  the  bronze 
shield,  lance-head,  and  gilded  helmet,  of  a  prehistoric  leader,  and  learn 
from  them  with  certainty  his  race  and  rank.  Perhaps  the  skull  might 
still  retain  the  barbaric  stone  weapon  by  which  his  northern  foe  had 
slain  him.  Near  by,  the  explorer  might  bring  to  light  the  commingled 
coat-of-mail  and  trappings  of  a  horse  and  rider,  so  strangely  different 
from  the  equipment  of  the  chief  as  to  suggest  a  foreign  ally.  From 
these,  and  from  the  more  common  implements  of  war  that  fill  the  soil, 
the  antiquary  could  determine,  by  patient  study,  what  nations  fought, 
and  perhaps  when  and  why. 

By  this  same  method  of  research  the  more  ancient  strata  of  the 
earth  have  been  explored,  and  in  our  Western  wilds  veritable  battle* 
fields,  strewed  with  the  fossil  skeletons  of  the  slain,  and  guarded 
faithfully  by  savage  superstition,  have  been  despoiled,  yielding  to 
science  treasures  more  rare  than  bronze  or  gold.  "Without  such  spoils, 
from  many  fields,  I  could  not  have  chosen  the  present  theme  for  my 
address  to-nis;ht. 


*&• 


According  to  present  knowledge,  no  vertebrate  life  is  known  to 
have  existed  on  this  continent  in  the  Archaean,  Cambrian,  or  Silurian 
period;  yet  during  this  time  more  than  half  of  the  thickness  of 
American  stratified  rocks  was  deposited.  It  by  no  means  follows  that 
vertebrate  animals  of  some  kind  did  not  exist  here  in  those  remote 
ages.  Fishes  are  known  from  the  Upper  Silurian  of  Europe,  and 
there  is  every  probability  that  they  will  yet  be  discovered  in  our 
strata  of  the  same  age,  if  not  at  a  still  lower  horizon. 

In  the  shore-deposits  of  the  early  Devonian  sea,  known  as  the 
Schoharie  Grit,  characteristic  remains  of  fishes  were  preserved,  and  in 
the  deeper  sea  that  followed,  in  which  the  Corniferous  limestone  was 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  5i5 

laid  down,  this  class  was  well  represented.  During  the  remainder  of 
the  Devonian,  fishes  continue  abundant  in  the  shallower  seas,  and,  so 
far  as  now  known,  were  the  only  type  of  vertebrate  life.  These  fishes 
were  mainly  Ganoids,  a  group  represented  in  our  present  waters  by 
the  gar-pike  (Lepidosteus)  and  Sturgeon  (Acipenser),  but,  in  the 
Devonian  sea,  chiefly  by  the  Placoderms,  the  exact  affinities  of  which 
are  somewhat  in  doubt.  With  these  were  Elasmobranchs,  or  the 
Shark  tribe,  and  among  them  a  few  Chimaeroids,  a  peculiar  type,  of 
which  one  or  two  members  still  survive.  The  Placoderms  were  the 
monarchs  of  the  ocean.  All  were  well  protected  by  a  massive  coat  of 
armor,  and  some  of  them  attained  huge  dimensions.  The  American 
Devonian  fishes  now  known  are  not  so  numerous  as  those  of  Europe, 
but  they  were  larger  in  size,  and  mostly  inhabitants  of  the  open  sea. 
Some  twenty  genera  and  forty  species  have  been  described. 

The  more  important  genera  of  Placoderms  are — Dinichthys,  Aspid- 
ichthys,  and  Diplognathus,  our  largest  Palaeozoic  fishes.  Others  are 
— Acanthaspis,  Acantholepis,  Coccosteus,  MacropetaUchthys,  and  Ony- 
chodus.  Among  the  Elasmobranchs  were — Cladodus,  Ctenacanthus, 
31achoer  acanthus,  Rhynchodus,  and  Ptyctodus,  the  last  two  being 
regarded  as  Chinueroids.  In  the  Chemung  epoch,  the  great  Dipterian 
family  was  introduced  with  Dipterus,  Heliodus,  and  possibly  Cera- 
todus.  Species  of  the  European  genera,  Bothriolepis  and  Holopty- 
chius,  have  likewise  been  found  in  our  Devonian  deposits. 

With  the  close  of  the  Devonian,  came  the  almost  total  extinction 
of  the  great  group  of  Placoderms,  while  the  Elasmobranchs,  which 
had  hitherto  occupied  a  subordinate  position,  increase  in  numbers  and 
size,  and  appear  to  be  represented  by  Sharks,  Rays,  and  Chiimeras. 
Among  the  members  of  this  group  from  the  Carboniferous,  were 
numerous  Cestracionts,1  species  of  Cochliodus  of  large  size,  with  oth- 
ers of  the  genera  Deltodus,  Helodus,  Psammodus,  and  Sandalodus. 
Of  the  Petalodonts  there  were  Antliodus,  Chomatodus,  Ctenoptychius, 
Petalodus,  and  Petalorhynchus  ;  and  of  the  Hybodonts,2  the  genera 
Cladodus,  Carcharopsis,  and  Dlplodus.  These  Elasmobranchs  were  the 
rulers  of  the  Carboniferous  open  sea,  and  more  than  one  hundred 
species  have  been  found  in  the  lower  part  of  this  formation  alone. 
The  Ganoids,  although  still  abundant,  were  of  smaller  size,  and  deni- 
zens of  the  more  shallow  and  confined  waters.  The  latter  group  of 
fishes  was  represented  by  true  Lepidostidse,  of  the  genera  Palcea- 
niscus,  Amblypterus,  Platysomus,  and  Eurylepis.  Other  genera  are 
— Rhizodus,  Megalichthys,  Ctenodus,  Edestus,  Orodus,  Ctenacanthus, 
Gyracanthus,  and  Coelacanthus.  Most  of  these  genera  occur  also  in 
Europe. 

From  the  Permian  rocks  of  America  no  vertebrate  remains    are 

1  (Ceslracion  —  sharp  tool) — a  group  of  sharks,  so  named  from  their  denticulated  dor- 
sal spines. 

2  (Hybodus  =  hump-tooth) — a  group  of  sharks. 


5i6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

known,  although  in  the  same  formation  of  Europe  Ganoids  are  abun- 
dant;  and  with  them  are  remains  of  sharks,  and  some  other  fishes,  the 
affinities  of  which  are  doubtful.  The  Palaeozoic  fishes  at  present  known 
from  this  country  are  quite  as  numerous  as  those  found  in  Europe. 

In  the  Mesozoic  age,  the  fishes  of  America  begin  to  show  a  de- 
cided approach  to  those  of  our  present  waters.  From  the  Triassic 
rocks,  Ganoids  only  are  known,  and  they  are  all  more  or  less  closely 
related  to  the  modern  gar-pike,  or  Lepidosteus.  They  are  of  small 
size,  and  the  number  of  individuals  preserved  is  very  large.  The 
characteristic  genera  are —  Catopterus,  Ischypterus,  Ptycholepis,  Mhab- 
dolepis,  and  Turseodus.  From  the  Jurassic  deposit  no  remains  of 
fishes  are  known,1  but  in  the  Cretaceous,  ichthyic  life  assumed  many 
and  various  forms ;  and  the  first  representatives  of  the  Teleosts,  or 
bony  fishes,  the  characteristic  fishes  of  to-day,  make  their  appearance. 
In  the  deep  open  sea  of  this  age,  Elasmobranchs  were  the  prevailing 
forms,  Sharks  and  Chimaaroids  being  most  numerous.  In  the  great 
inland  Cretaceous  sea  of  North  America,  true  osseous  fishes  were 
most  abundant,  and  among  them  were  some  of  carnivorous  habits 
and  immense  size.  The  more  sheltered  bays  and  rivers  were  shared 
by  the  Ganoids  and  Teleosts,  as  their  remains  testify.  The  more 
common  genera  of  Cretaceous  Elasmobranchs  were —  Otodus,  Oxyrhina^ 
Galeocerdo,  Zamna,  and  Ptychodus.  Among  the  osseous  fishes,  Be- 
ryx,  Enchodus,  Portheus,  and  Saurocephalus,  were  especially  common, 
while  the  most  important  genus  of  Ganoids  was  Zepidotvs. 

The  Tertiary  fishes  are  nearly  all  of  modern  types,  and  from  the 
beginning  of  this  period  there  was  comparatively  little  change.  In 
the  marine  beds,  Sharks,  Rays,  and  Chimseroids,  maintained  their 
supremacy,  although  Teleosts  were  abundant,  and  many  of  them  of 
large  size.  The  Ganoids  were  comparatively  few  in  number.  In  the 
earliest  Eocene  fresh-water  deposits,  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  the 
modern  Gar-pike,  and  Amia,  the  dogfish  of  our  Western  lakes,  which 
by  their  structure  are  seen  to  be  remnants  of  a  very  early  type,  are 
well  represented  by  species  so  closely  allied  to  them  that  only  an 
anatomist  could  separate  the  ancient  from  the  modern.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding beds,  these  fishes  are  still  abundant,  and  with  them  are  Silu- 
roids  nearly  related  to  the  modern  catfish  (Pimelodus).  Many  small 
fishes,  allied  apparently  to  the  modern  herring  (Chq^ea),  left  their 
remains  in  great  numbers  in  the  same  deposits,  and,  with  them  has 
been  recently  found  a  landlocked  ray  {Heliobatis). 

The  almost  total  absence  of  remains  of  fishes  from  the  Miocene 
lake-basins  of  the  West  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  perhaps  may  best 
be  explained  by  the  theory  that  these  inland  waters,  like  many  of  the 
smaller  lakes  in  the  same  region  to-day,  were  so  impregnated  with 
mineral  matters  as  to  render  the  existence  of  vertebrate  life  in  them 

1  A  species  of  Ccraiodiis  has  recently  been  found  in  the  upper  Jurassic  of  Colorado, 
and  named  by  the  writer  C.  Guniheri. — 0.  C.  M. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IJY  AMERICA.  517 

impossible.  No  one  who  has  tasted  such  waters,  or  has  attempted  to 
ford  one  of  the  modern  alkaline  lakes  which  are  often  met  with  on  the 
present  surface  of  the  same  deposits,  will  doubt  the  efficiency  of  this 
cause,  or  the  easy  entombment  of  the  higher  vertebrates  that  ventured 
within  their  borders.  In  the  Pliocene  lake-basins  of  the  same  region, 
remains  of  fishes  were  not  uncommon,  and  in  some  of  them  are  very 
numerous.  These  are  all  of  modern  types,  and  most  of  them  are 
Cyprinoids,  related  to  the  modern  carp.  The  Post-pliocene  fishes  are 
essentially  those  of  to-day. 

In  this  brief  synopsis  of  the  past  ichthyic  life  of  this  continent,  I 
have  mentioned  only  a  few  of  the  more  important  facts,  but  sufficient, 
I  trust,  to  give  an  outline  of  its  history.  Of  this  history,  it  is  evident 
that  we  have  as  yet  only  a  very  imperfect  recond.  We  have  seen 
that  the  earliest  remains  of  fishes  known  in  this  country  are  from  the 
lower  Devonian;  but  these  old  fishes  show  so  great  a  diversity  of 
form  and  structure  as  to  clearly  indicate  for  the  class  a  much  earlier 
origin.  In  this  connection,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  two  lowest 
groups  of  existing  fishes  are  entirely  without  osseous  skeletons,  and 
hence,  however  abundant,  would  leave  no  permanent  record  in  the 
deposits  in  which  remains  of  fishes  are  usually  preserved.  It  is  safe 
to  infer,  from  the  knowledge  which  we  now  possess  of  the  simpler 
forms  of  life,  that  even  more  of  the  early  fishes  were  cartilaginous,  or 
so  destitute  of  hard  parts  as  to  leave  no  enduring  traces  of  their  ex- 
istence. Without  positive  knowledge  of  such  forms,  and  considering 
the  great  diversity  of  those  we  have,  it  would  seem  a  hopeless  task  at 
present  to  attempt  to  trace  successfully  the  genealogy  of  this  class. 
One  line,  however,  appears  to  be  direct,  from  our  modern  gar-pike, 
through  the  lower  Eocene  Lepidosteus  to  the  Lepidotus  of  the  Creta- 
ceous, and  perhaps  on  through  the  Triassic  Ischypterus  and  Carbo- 
niferous Palceoniscus  ;  but  beyond  this,  in  our  rocks,  it  is  lost.  The 
living  Chimcera  of  our  Pacific  coast  has  nearly  allied  forms  in  the 
Tertiary  and  Cretaceous,  more  distant  relatives  in  the  Carboniferous, 
and  a  possible  ancestor  in  the  Devonian  Rhynchodus.  Our  sharks 
likewise  can  be  traced  with  some  certainty  back  to  the  Palaeozoic ; 
and  even  the  Lepidosiren,  of  South  America,  although  its  immediate 
predecessors  are  unknown,  has  some  peculiar  characters  which  strongly 
point  to  a  Devonian  ancestry.  These  suggestive  lines  indicate  a  rich 
field  for  investigation  in  the  ancient  life-history  of  American  fishes. 

The  Amphibians,  the  next  higher  class  of  vertebrates,  are  so 
closely  related  to  the  fishes  in  structure  that  some  peculiar  forms  of 
the  latter  have  been  considered  by  anatomists  as  belonging  to  this 
group.  The  earliest  evidence  of  Amphibian  existence,  on  this  conti- 
nent, is  in  the  Sub-Carboniferous,  where  footprints  have  been  found 
which  were  probably  made  by  Labyrinthodonts,  the  most  ancient 
representatives  of  the  class.     Well-preserved  remains  are  abundant 


5i8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

in  the  Coal-Measures,  and  show  that  the  Labyrinthodonts  differed  in 
important  particulars  from  all  modern  Amphibians,  the  group  which 
includes  our  frogs  and  salamanders.  Some  of  these  ancient  animals 
resemble  a  salamander  in  shape,  while  others  were  serpent-like  in  form. 
None  of  those  yet  discovered  were  frog-like,  or  without  a  tail,  although 
the  restored  Labyrinthodont  of  the  text-books  is  thus  represented. 
All  were  protected  by  large  pectoral  bony  plates,  and  an  armor  of 
small  scutes  on  the  ventral  surface  of  the  body.  The  walls  of  their 
teeth  were  more  or  less  folded,  whence  the  name  Labyrinthodont. 
The  American  Amphibians  known  from  osseous  remains  are  all  of  mod- 
erate size,  but  the  footprints  attributed  to  this  group  indicate  animals 
larger  than  any  of  the  class  yet  found  in  the  Old  World.  The  Car- 
boniferous Amphibians  were  abundant  in  the  swampy  tropical  forests 
of  that  period,  and  their  remains  have  been  found  imbedded  in  the  coal 
then  deposited,  as  well  as  in  hollow  stumps  of  the  trees  left  standing. 

The  principal  genera  of  this  group  from  American  Carboniferous 
rocks  are — Sauropus,  known  only  from  footprints,  Baphetes,  Den- 
drerpeton,  Hylonomus,  Hylerpeton,  Paniceps,  Pelion,  Leptophr actus, 
Molgophis,  Ptyonius,  Amphibamus,  Cocytinns,  and  Ceraterpeton.  The 
last  genus  occurs  also  in  Europe.  Certain  of  these  genera  have 
been  considered  by  some  writers  to  be  more  nearly  related  to  the 
lizards,  among  true  reptiles.  Some  other  genera  known  from  frag- 
mentary remains  or  footprints  in  this  formation  have  likewise  been 
referred  to  the  true  reptiles,  but  this  question  can  perhaps  be  settled 
only  by  future  discoveries. 

No  Amphibia  are  known  from  American  Permian  strata,  but  in 
the  Triassic  a  few  characteristic  remains  have  been  found.  The  three 
genera,  Dictyocephalus,  I)isp>elor,  and  Pariostegus,  have  been  described, 
but,  although  apparently  all  Labyrinthodonts,  the  remains  preserved 
are  not  sufficient  to  add  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  group.  The 
Triassic  footprints  which  have  been  attributed  to  Amphibians  are  still 
more  unsatisfactory,  and  at  present  no  important  conclusions  in  regard 
to  this  class  can  be  based  upon  them.  From  the  Jurassic  and  Creta- 
ceous beds  of  this  continent  no  remains  of  Amphibians  are  known. 
A  few  only  have  been  found  in  the  Tertiary,  and  these  are  all  of 
modern  types. 

The  Amphibia  are  so  nearly  allied  to  the  Ganoid  fishes  that  we 
can  hardly  doubt  their  descent  from  some  member  of  that  group. 
With  our  present  limited  knowledge  of  the  extinct  forms,  however, 
it  would  be  unprofitable  to  attempt  to  trace  in  detail  their  probable 
genealogy. 

The  authors  to  whom  especial  credit  is  due  for  our  knowledge  of 
American  fossil  Fishes  and  Amphibians,  are  Newberry,  Leidy,  Cope, 
Dawson,  Agassiz,  St.  John,  Gibbes,  Wyman,  Kedfield,  and  Emmons, 
and  the  principal  literature  of  the  subject  will  be  found  in  their  pub- 
lications. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  519 

Reptiles  and  birds  form  the  next  great  division  of  vertebrates, 
the  /SaurojJsida,  and  of  these  the  reptiles  are  the  older  type,  and  may- 
be first  considered.  While  it  may  be  stated  with  certainty  that  there 
is  at  present  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this  group  in  American 
rocks  older  than  the  Carboniferous,  there  is  some  doubt  in  regard 
to  their  appearance  even  in  this  period.  Various  footprints  which 
strongly  resemble  those  made  by  lizards,  a  few  well-preserved  re- 
mains similar  to  the  corresponding  bones  in  that  group,  and  a  few 
characteristic  specimens,  nearly  identical  with  those  from  another  order 
of  this  class,  are  known  from  American  Coal-Measures.  These  facts, 
and  some  others  which  point  in  the  same  direction,  render  it  probable 
that  we  may  soon  have  conclusive  evidence  of  the  presence  of  true 
reptiles  in  this  formation,  and  in  our  overlying  Permian,  which  is  essen- 
tially a  part  of  the  same  series.  In  the  Permian  rocks  of  Europe 
true  reptiles  have  been  found. 

The  Mesozoic  period  has  been  called  the  Age  of  Reptiles,  and 
during  its  continuance  some  of  the  strangest  forms  of  reptilian  life 
made  their  appearance,  and  became  extinct.  Near  its  commencement, 
while  the  Triassic  shales  and  sandstones  were  being  deposited,  true 
reptiles  were  abundant.  Among  the  most  characteristic  remains  dis- 
covered are  those  of  the  genus  Belodon,  which  is  well  known  also  in 
the  Trias  of  Europe.  It  belongs  to  the  Thecodont  division  of  reptiles, 
which  have  teeth  in  distinct  sockets,  and  its  nearest  affinities  are  with 
the  Crocodilia,  of  which  order  it  may  be  considered  the  oldest  known 
representative.  In  the  same  strata  in  which  the  Belodonts  occur, 
remains  of  Dinosaurs  are  found,  and  it  is  a  most  interesting  fact  that 
these  highest  of  reptiles  should  make  their  appearance,  even  in  a  gen- 
eralized form,  at  this  stage  of  the  earth's  history.  The  Dinosaurs, 
although  true  reptiles  in  all  their  more  important  characters,  show 
certain  well-marked  points  of  resemblance  to  existing  birds  of  the 
order  Hatitce,  a  group  which  includes  the  ostriches ;  and  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  they  were  the  parent-stock  from  which  birds  originated. 

During  Triassic  time,  the  Dinosaurs  attained  in  America  an  enor- 
mous development  both  in  variety  of  forms  and  in  size.  Although 
comparatively  few  of  their  bones  have  as  yet  been  discovered  in  the 
rocks  of  this  country,  they  have  left  unmistakable  evidence  of  their 
presence  in  the  footprints  and  other  impressions  upon  the  shores  of 
the  waters  which  they  frequented.  The  Triassic  sandstone  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley  has  long  been  famous  for  its  fossil  footprints, 
especially  the  so-called  "  bird-tracks,"  which  are  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  made  by  birds,  the  tracks  of  which  many  of  them  closely 
resemble.  A  careful  investigation,  however,  of  nearly  all  the  speci- 
mens yet  discovered  has  convinced  me  that  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
evidence  that  any  of  these  fossil  impressions  were  made  by  birds. 
Most  of  these  three-toed  tracks  were  certainly  not  made  by  birds ; 
but  by  quadrupeds,  which  usually  walked  upon  their  hind-feet  alone, 


52o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  only  occasionally  put  to  the  ground  theh'  smaller  anterior  extremi- 
ties. I  have  myself  detected  the  impressions  of  these  anterior  limbs  in 
connection  with  the  posterior  footprints  of  nearly  all  of  the  supposed 
"bird-tracks"  described,  and  have  little  doubt  that  they  will  event- 
ually be  found  with  all.  These  double  impressions  are  precisely  the 
kind  which  Dinosaurian  reptiles  would  make,  and,  as  the  only  char- 
acteristic bones  yet  found  in  the  same  rocks  belong  to  animals  of  this 
group,  it  is  but  fair  to  attribute  all  these  footprints  to  Dinosaurs, 
even  where  no  impressions  of  fore-feet  have  been  detected,  until  some 
evidence  appears  that  they  were  made  by  birds.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
birds  existed  at  this  time,  although  at  present  the  proof  is  wanting. 

The  principal  genera  of  Triassic  reptiles  known  from  osseous  re- 
mains in  this  country  are — Arnphisaurus  (Megadactylus),  from  the 
Connecticut  Valley ;  Bathygnathus,  from  Prince  Edward's  Island ; 
Belodon,  and  Clepsysaurus.  Other  generic  names  which  have  been 
applied  to  footprints  and  to  fragmentary  remains  need  not  here  be 
enumerated.  A  few  remains  of  reptiles  have  been  found  in  undoubted 
Jurassic  rocks  of  America,  but  they  are  not  sufficiently  well  deter- 
mined to  be  of  service  in  this  connection.1  Others  have  been  reported 
from  supposed  Jurassic  strata,  which  are  now  known  to  be  Cretaceous. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  although  reptilian  life  was  especially  abun- 
dant during  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  periods,  but  few  bones  have 
been  found.  This  is  owing  in  part  to  the  character  of  most  of  the 
rocks  then  formed,  which  were  not  well  fitted  for  preserving  such 
remains,  although  admirably  adapted  to  retain  footprints. 

During  the  Cretaceous  period,  reptilian  life  in  America  attained 
its  greatest  development,  and  the  sediments  laid  down  in  the  open 
seas  and  estuaries  were  usually  most  favorable  for  the  preservation 
of  a  faithful  record  of  its  various  phases.  Without  such  a  perfect 
matrix  as  some  of  these  deposits  afford,  many  of  the  most  interesting 
vertebrates  recently  brought  to  light  from  this  formation  would  prob- 
ably have  remained  unknown.  The  vast  extent  of  these  beds  insures, 
moreover,  many  future  discoveries  of  interest. 

In  the  lowest  Cretaceous  strata  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region, 
the  Dakota  group,  part  of  which  at  least  represents  the  Wealden  of 
Europe,  remains  of  Chelonia,  or  Turtles,  Crocodiles,  and  Dinosaurs 
occur,  the  last  being  especially  abundant.  The  Chelonia;  although 
known  from  the  Jurassic  of  Europe,  here  appear  for  the  first  time  in 
American  rocks.  Some  of  the  earliest  forms  are  allied  to  the  modern 
genus  Trionyx.  In  the  higher  Cretaceous  beds,  some  Chelonians  of 
enormous  size  have  been  found.  They  belong  to  the  genus  Atlan- 
tochelys,  which  has  the  ribs  separate,  as  in  the  existing  Sphargis,* 

1  Since  this  address  was  delivered,  I  have  determined  the  beds  containing  gigantic 
Dinosaurs,  on  the  flanks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  be  upper  Jurassic,  and  called  them 
Atlantosaurus  Beds.  (See  frontispiece,  section.)  These  strata  were  formerly  referred 
to  the  Dakota  group,  or  base  of  the  Cretaceous. — 0.  C.  M. 

2  Sphargis,  a  genus  of  turtles  inhabiting  the  Atlantic  and  Mediterranean.     They  are 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  521 

and  presents  other  embryonic  characters.  A  few  genera  appear  to 
be  related  to  the  modern  genus  Chelone.  The  remaining  Cretaceous 
species  were  mostly  of  the  Emydoid l  type  ;  and  others  were  related 
to  Ghelydra.  The  more  important  genera  of  Cretaceous  Chelonians 
known  from  characteristic  specimens  are — Atlantochelys  (Protoste- 
ya),  Adocus,  Pothrernys,  Compsemys,  Plastomenus,  Osteopyyis,  Pro- 
pleura,  Zytoloma,  and  Taphrosphys.  Most  of  these  genera  were 
represented  by  several  species,  and  the  individuals  were  numerous. 
No  land-tortoises  have  as  yet  been  found  in  this  formation.  In 
American  Tertiary  deposits,  Chelonians  are  abundant,  especially  in 
the  fresh-water  beds.  They  all  show  near  affinities  with  modern 
types,  and  most  of  them  can  be  referred  to  existing  genera.  In  the 
Tertiary  lake-basins  of  the  West,  land-tortoises  are  very  numerous, 
and  with  them  are  many  fresh-water  forms  of  Trionyx  and  allied 
genera. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  American  Cretaceous  fauna,  as  contrasted 
with  that  of  Europe,  is  the  almost  entire  absence  in  our  strata  of 
species  of  Ichthyosaurus  and  Plesiosaurus,  which  abound  in  many 
other  regions,  but  here  seem  to  be  replaced  by  the  Mosasaurs.  A 
few  fragmentary  remains  have  indeed  been  referred  to  these  genera, 
but  the  determination  may  fairly  be  questioned.  This  is  more  than 
true  of  the  proposed  new  order  Streptosauria,  which  was  founded 
wholly  on  error.  The  order  Plesiosaicria,  however,  is  well  repre- 
sented, but  mainly  by  forms  more  nearly  related  to  the  genus  Plio- 
saurus  than  to  the  type  of  the  group.  These  were  marine  reptiles, 
all  of  large  size,  while  some  of  them  attained  vast  dimensions.  So 
far  as  at  present  identified,  they  may  be  referred  to  the  genera  Vimo- 
liosaicrus,  Discosaurus  (Elasmosaurus),  and  Pliosaurus.  The  num- 
ber of  species  is  comparatively  few,  and  none  are  known  above  the 
Cretaceous.  The  important  suggestion  of  Gegenbaur,  that  the  Hali- 
satiria,  which  include  the  Plesiosaurs,  branched  off  from  the  fishes 
before  the  Amphibians,  finds  some  support  in  American  specimens 
recently  discovered. 

The  Reptiles  most  characteristic  of  our  American  Cretaceous 
strata  are  the  Mosasauria,  a  group  with  very  few  representatives  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  In  our  Cretaceous  seas,  they  ruled  supreme, 
as  their  numbers,  size,  and  carnivorous  habits,  enabled  them  to  easily 
vanquish  all  rivals.  Some  were  at  least  sixty  feet  in  length,  and  the 
smallest  ten  or  twelve.  In  the  inland  Cretaceous  sea  from  which  the 
Rocky  Mountains  were  beginning  to  emerge,  these  ancient  "  sea-ser- 
pents" abounded  ;  and  many  were  entombed  in  its  muddy  bottom. 
On  one  occasion,  as  I  rode  through  a  valley  washed  out  of  this  old 
ocean-bed,  I  saw  no  less  than  seven  different  skeletons  of  these  raon- 

the  largest  of  all  turtles,  and  have  the  body  covered  with  a  thick  coriaceous  skin  instead 
of  a  hard  shell. 

1  Emys,  a  genus  of  small  land  and  fresh-water  tortoises. 


522  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

sters  in  sight  at  once.  The  Mosasaurs  were  essentially  swimming  liz- 
ards, with  four  well-developed  paddles,  and  they  had  little  affinity 
with  modern  serpents,  to  which  they  have  been  compared.  The  species 
are  quite  numerous,  but  they  belong  to  comparatively  few  genera,  of 
which  Ifosasaurus,  Tylosaurus,  Lestosaurus,  and  JZdestosmcrus,  have 
alone  been  identified  with  certainty.  The  genus  Mosasaums  was 
first  found  in  Europe.  All  the  known  species  of  the  group  are  Cre- 
taceous. 

The  Crocodilia  are  abundant  in  rocks  of  Cretaceous  age  in  Amer- 
ica, and  two  distinct  types  are  represented.  The  older  type,  which 
is  foreshadowed  by  Belodon  of  the  Trias,  has  biconcave  vertebras,  and 
shows  marked  affinities  with  the  genus  2'eleosaurics,  from  the  Jura  of 
Europe.  The  best-known  genus  is  Hyposaicrus,  of  which  there  are 
several  species,  all  more  or  less  resembling  in  form  the  modern  gavial 
of  the  Ganges.  A  peculiar  intermediate  form  is  seen  in  Dip>losaurus, 
from  the  Wealden  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  second  type,  which 
now  makes  its  appearance  for  the  first  time,  has  proccelian 1  vertebra?, 
and  in  other  respects  resembles  existing  crocodiles.  The  genera  de- 
scribed are  Bottosaurus,  Holops,  and  Thoracosaurus,  none  of  which,  so 
far  as  known,  pass  above  the  Cretaceous.  Of  Crocodilia  with  opis- 
thocoelous  x  vertebra?,  America,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  none.  Speci- 
mens similar  to  those  so  termed  in  Europe  are  not  uncommon  here, 
but  they  pertain  to  Dinosaurs. 

In  the  Eocene  fresh-water  beds  of  the  West,  Crocodilians  are  espe- 
cially abundant,  and  all,  with  the  exception  of  Limnosaurus,  belong 
apparently  to  the  genus  Crocodilus,  although  some  species  show  cer- 
tain points  of  resemblance  to  existing  alligators.  The  Miocene  lake- 
basins  of  the  same  region  contain  no  remains  of  crocodiles,  so  far  as 
known,  and  the  Pliocene  deposits  have  afforded  only  a  single  species. 
The  Tertiary  marine  beds  of  the  Atlantic  coast  contain  compara- 
tively few  Crocodilian  remains,  and  all  are  of  modern  types;  the 
genus  Gavialis  having  one  Eocene  species,  and  the  alligator  being 
represented  only  in  the  latest  deposits. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  mention,  in  this  connection,  that  no  true 
JOacertilia,  or  Lizards,  and  no  Ophidia,  or  Serpents,  have  yet  been 
detected  in  American  Cretaceous  beds  ;  although  their  remains,  if 
present,  would  hardly  have  escaped  observation  in  the  regions  ex- 
plored. The  former  will  doubtless  be  found,  as  several  species  occur 
in  the  Mesozoic  of  Europe ;  and  perhaps  the  latter,  although  the  Ophid- 
ians are  apparently  a  more  modern  type.  In  the  Eocene  lake-basins 
of  Western  America,  remains  of  lizards  are  very  numerous,  and  indi- 
cate species  much  larger  than  any  existing  to-day.     Some  of  these, 

1  Vertebra)  which  have  centra  concave  at  each  end  have  been  conveniently  termed 
amphicoslous  ;  those  with  a  cavity  in  front  and  a  convexity  behind,  proccelous  ;  where  the 
position  of  the  concavity  and  convexity  is  reversed,  they  are  opistkoccehus. — (Huxley, 
"Anatomy  of  Vertebrated  Animals.") 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  523 

the  Glyptosauridce,  were  protected  by  a  highly-ornamented  bony  coat- 
of-mail,  and  others  were  covered  with  scales,  like  recent  lizards.  A 
few  resembled,  in  their  more  important  characters,  the  modern  igua- 
na. The  genera  best  represented  in  the  Eocene  are —  Glyptosaurus, 
Iguanavus,  Oreosaurus,  T/iinosaurus,  Tinosaurus,  and  Saniva.  Some 
of  these  genera  appear  to  have  continued  into  the  Miocene,  but  here, 
as  well  as  in  the  Pliocene,  few  remains  of  this  group  have  been  found. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  some  of  our  extinct  Reptiles  may  prove  to 
belong  to  Pi/nchocephala,  but  at  present  this  is  uncertain.  The  genus 
JVbtosaurus,  from  Brazil,  has  biconcave  vertebrse,  and  some  other 
characters  which  point  to  that  group.  No  Dicynodonts '  or  Therio- 
donts 2  have  as  yet  been  found  in  this  country. 

The  first  American  serpents,  so  far  as  now  known,  appear  in  the 
Eocene,  which  contains  also  the  oldest  European  species.  On  the  At- 
lantic border,  the  genus  Titanophis  (Dinophis)  is  represented  by 
several  species  of  large  size,  one  at  least  thirty  feet  in  length,  and  all 
doubtless  inhabitants  of  the  sea.  In  the  fresh-water  "Western  Eocene, 
remains  of  snakes  are  abundant,  but  all  are  of  moderate  size.  The 
largest  of  these  were  related  to  the  modern  boa-constrictors.  The 
genera  described  are  JBoavus,  Ziithophis,  and  Limnophis.  The  Mio- 
cene and  Pliocene  snakes  from  the  same  region  are  known  only  from 
a  few  fragmentary  remains. 

The  Pterosauria,  or  flying-lizards,  are  among  the  most  interesting 
reptiles  of  Mesozoic  time,  and  many  of  them  left  their  remains  in  the 
soft  sediments  of  our  inland  Cretaceous  sea.  These  were  veritable 
dragons,  having  a  spread  of  wings  of  from  ten  to  twenty-five  feet. 
They  differed  essentially  from  the  smaller  Pterodactyls  found  in  the 
Old  World,  in  the  entire  absence  of  teeth,  showing  in  this  respect  a  re- 
semblance to  modern  birds;  and  they  possess  other  distinctive  charac- 
ters. They  have  therefore  been  placed  in  a  new  order,  Pteranodontia, 
from  the  typical  genus  Pteranodon,  of  which  five  species  are  known. 
The  only  other  genus  is  JSTyctosaurus,  represented  by  a  single  species. 
All  the  specimens  yet  found  are  from  essentially  the  same  horizon,  in 
the  chalk  of  Kansas.  The  reported  discovery  of  remains  of  this  order 
from  older  formations  in  this  country  is  without  foundation. 

The  strange  reptiles  known  as  X>inosauria,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  numerous  during  the  deposition  of  our  Triassic  shales  and 
sandstones,  have  not  yet  been  found  in  American  Jurassic,3  but  were 
well  represented  here  throughout  the  Cretaceous,  and  at  its  close  be- 
came extinct.     These  animals  possess  a  peculiar  interest  to  the  anato- 

1  Dicynodonts  (two  canine  teeth),  a  singular  group  of  extinct  reptiles  from  South 
Africa,  India,  and  the  Ural  Mountains.  The  family  name  alludes  to  the  two  enormous 
canine  teeth  which  grow  from  the  upper  jaw. 

2  Theriodonts  (beast-tooth),  a  group  of  extinct  reptiles,  having,  according  to  Owen, 
some  characters  which  point  toward  the  Mammalia. 

3  See  note  on  page  520. 


524  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

mist,  since,  although  reptilian  in  all  their  main  characters,  they  show 
clear  affinities  with  the  birds,  and  have  some  features  which  may  point 
to  mammals.  The  Cretaceous  Dinosaurs  were  all  of  large  size,  and 
most  of  them  walked  on  the  hind-feet  alone,  like  modern  struthious 
birds.  Two  well-marked  types  may  be  distinguished  among  the  re- 
mains discovered  in  deposits  of  this  age:  the  herbivorous  forms, 
represented  mainly  by  JIadrosaunis,  a  near  ally  of  the  Iguanodon  of 
Europe  ;  and  their  carnivorous  enemies,  of  which  Bryptosaurus 
(Lcelaps)  may  be  considered  typical  in  this  country,  and  Megalosau- 
rus  in  Europe.  Near  the  base  of  our  Cretaceous  formation,  in  beds 
which  I  regard  as  the  equivalent  of  the  European  Wealden,  the 
most  gigantic  forms  of  this  order  yet  discovered  have  recently  been 
brought  to  light.  One  of  these  monsters  (Titanosaurus  montanus),1 
from  Colorado,  is  by  far  the  largest  land-animal  yet  discovered ;  its 
dimensions  being  greater  than  was  supposed  possible  in  an  animal 
that  lived  and  moved  upon  the  land.  It  was  some  fifty  or  sixty  feet 
in  length,  and,  when  erect,  at  least  thirty  feet  in  height !  It  doubt- 
less fed  upon  the  foliage  of  the  mountain  forests,  portions  of  which 
are  preserved  with  its  remains.  "With  Titanosaurus,  the  bones  of 
smaller  Dinosaurs,  one  ( Nanosaums),  not  larger  than  a  cat,  as  well  as 
those  of  crocodiles  and  turtles,  are  not  uncommon.3  The  recent  dis- 
covery of  these  interesting  remains,  many  and  various,  in  strata  that 
had  long  been  pronounced  by  professional  explorers  barren  of  verte- 
brate fossils,  should  teach  caution  to  those  who  decline  to  accept  the 
imperfection  of  our  knowledge  to-day  as  a  fair  plea  for  the  supposed 
absence  of  intermediate  forms. 

In  the  marine  Cretaceous  beds  of  the  West,  only  a  single  Dinosaur 
(LTadrosaurus  agilis)  has  been  found,  but  in  the  higher  fresh-water 
beds,  which  mark  the  close  of  this  formation,  their  remains  are  numer- 
ous, and  indicate  several  well-marked  species  if  not  genera.  In  the 
marine  beds  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  bones  of  Dinosaurs  are  fre- 
quently met  with,  and  in  the  Upper  Cretaceous  Greensand  of  New  Jer- 
sey, the  type  specimens  of  Hadrosaurus  and  Dryptosaurus  were  found. 
In  Cretaceous  fresh-water  deposits  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  remains  of 
this  order  occur,  but  the  specimens  hitherto  discovered  are  not  suffi- 
ciently characteristic  for  accurate  determination.  This  is  unfortu- 
nately true  of  many  Dinosaurian  fossils  from  North  America,  but  the 
great  number  of  these  reptiles  which  lived  here  during  the  Cretaceous 
Period  promises  many  future  discoveries,  and  substantial  additions  to 
our  present  knowledge  of  the  group. 

1  This  generic  name  proved  to  be  preoccupied,  and  I  have  substituted  for  it,  Atlanto- 
saurus. — 0.  C.  M. 

2  A  new  order  of  huge  reptiles  (Slegosauria),  apparently  allied  to  the  Dinosaurs  and 
Chelonia,  and  two  new  genera  of  Dinosaurs  (Apatosanrus  and  AUosaums),  have  since 
been  described  by  the  writer  from  the  same  Upper  Jurassic  horizon. — (American  Journal 
of  Science,  December,  187Y.) 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  525 

The  first  appearance  of  birds  in  America,  according  to  our  present 
knowledge,  was  during  the  Cretaceous  Period,  although  many  an- 
nouncements have  been  made  of  their  existence  in  preceding  epochs. 
The  evidence  of  their  presence  in  the  Trias,  based  on  footprints  and 
other  impressions,  is,  at  present,  as  we  have  seen,  without  value ; 
although  we  may  confidently  await  their  discovery  there,  if  not  in 
older  formations.  Archmopteryx,  from  the  European  Jura,  the  oldest 
bird  known,  and  now  fortunately  represented  by  more  than  a  single 
specimen,  clearly  indicates  a  much  higher  antiquity  for  the  class. 
The  earliest  American  forms  at  present  known  are  the  Odontornithes, 
or  birds  with  teeth,  which  have  been  exhumed,  within  the  last  few 
years,  from  the  chalk  of  Kansas.  The  two  genera  Hesperornis  and 
Ichthyomis  are  types  of  distinct  orders,  and  differ  from  each  other 
and  from  Archozopteryx  much  more  than  do  any  existing  birds  among 
themselves;  thus  showing  that  Birds  are  now  a  closed  type,  and  that 
the  key  to  the  history  of  the  class  must  be  sought  for  in  the  distant  past. 

In  Hesperornis,  we  have  a  large  aquatic  bird,  nearly  six  feet  in 
length,  with  a  strange  combination  of  characters.  The  jaws  are  pro- 
vided with  teeth,  set  in  grooves;  the  wings  were  rudimentary 
and  useless ;  while  the  legs  were  very  similar  to  those  of  modern 
diving  birds.  This  last  feature  was  merely  an  adaptation,  as  the 
more  important  characters  are  struthious,  showing  that  Hesperornis 
was  essentially  a  carnivorous  swimming  ostrich.  Ichthyomis,  a  small 
flying  bird,  was  stranger  still,  as  the  teeth  were  in  sockets,  and  the 
vertebrse  biconcave,  as  in  fishes  and  a  few  reptiles.  Apatomis  and 
other  allied  forms  occur  in  the  same  beds,  and  probably  all  were  pro- 
vided with  teeth.  It  is  strange  that  the  companions  of  these  ancient 
toothed  birds  should  have  been  Pterodactyls  without  teeth.  In  the 
later  Cretaceous  beds  of  the  Atlantic  coast  various  remains  of  aquatic 
birds  have  been  found,  but  all  are  apparently  distinct  from  those  of 
the  West.  The  known  genera  of  American  Cretaceous  birds  are — 
Apatornis,  JBaptomis,  Graculavus,  Hesperornis,  Ichthyomis,  laomis, 
Lestornis,  Palceotringa,  and  Telmatomis.  These  are  represented  by 
some  twenty  species.  In  Europe,  but  two  species  of  Cretaceous  birds 
are  known,  and  both  are  based  upon  fragmentary  specimens. 

During  the  Tertiary  period,  birds  were  numerous  in  this  country, 
and  all  yet  discovered  appear  to  have  belonged  to  modern  types. 
The  Eocene  species  described  are  mostly  wading  birds,  but  here,  and 
in  the  later  Tertiary  deposits,  some  characteristic  American  forms 
make  their  appearance,  strongly  foreshadowing  our  present  avian 
fauna.  The  extinct  genera  are  the  Eocene  Uintomis,  related  to  the 
woodpeckers,  and  Aletornis,  which  includes  several  species  of  waders. 
Among  the  existing  genera  found  in  our  Tertiary  beds  are — Aquila, 
Bubo,  Meleagris,  Grus,  Graculus,  Puffinus,  and  Catarractes.  The 
great  auk  (Alca  impennis),  which  was  once  very  abundant  on  our 
northeast  coast,  has  become  extinct  within  a  few  years. 


5 26  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

In  this  brief  summary  of  the  past  life  of  reptiles  and  birds  in  Amer- 
ica, I  have  endeavored  to  exclude  doubtful  forms,  and  those  very  im- 
perfectly known,  preferring  to  present  the  conclusions  reached  by 
careful  study,  incomplete  though  they  be,  rather  than  weary  you  with 
a  descriptive  catalogue  of  all  the  fossils  to  which  names  have  been 
applied.  Even  this  condensed  review  can  hardly  fail  to  give  you 
some  conception  of  the  wealth  of  our  continent  in  the  extinct  forms 
of  these  groups,  and  thus  to  suggest  what  its  actual  life  must  have 
been. 

Although  the  Trias  offers  at  present  the  first  unquestioned  evidence 
of  true  reptiles,  we  certainly  should  not  be  justified  in  supposing  for 
a  moment  that  older  forms  did  not  exist.  So  too  in  considering  the 
different  groups  of  reptiles,  which  seem  to  make  their  first  appearance 
at  certain  horizons,  flourish  for  a  time,  and  then  decline,  or  disappear, 
every  day  brings  evidence  to  show  that  they  are  but  fragments  of  the 
unraveled  strands  which  converge  in  the  past  to  form  the  mystic  cord 
uniting  all  life.  If  the  attempt  is  made  to  follow  back  any  single 
thread,  and  thus  trace  the  lineage  of  a  group,  Ave  are  met  by  difficul- 
ties which  the  science  of  to-day  can  only  partially  remove.  And  yet 
the  anatomist  constantly  sees  in  the  fragments  which  he  studies 
hints  of  relationship  which  are  to  him  sure  prophecies  of  future  dis- 
coveries. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Chelonia  is  at  present  unknown,  and  our 
American  extinct  forms,  so  far  as  we  now  have  them,  throw  little 
light  on  their  ancestry.  This  is  essentially  true,  also,  of  our  Plesio- 
sauria,  JOacertilia,  and  Ophidia,  although  suggestive  facts  are  not 
wanting  to  indicate  possible  lines  of  descent.  With  the  Crocodilia, 
however,  the  case  seems  to  be  different,  and  Huxley  has  clearly  pointed 
out  the  path  for  investigation.  It  is  probable  that  material  already 
exists  in  our  museums  for  tracing  the  group  through  several  impoi'tant 
steps  in  its  development.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  modern 
proccelian  type  of  this  oi-der  goes  back  only  to  the  Upper  Cretaceous, 
while  the  Eelodonts,  of  our  Triassic  rocks,  with  their  biconcave  verte- 
brae, are  the  oldest  known  Crocodilians.  Our  Jurassic,  unfortunately, 
throws  but  little  light  on  the  intermediate  forms,  but  we  know  that 
the  line  was  continued,  as  it  was  in  the  Old  World  through  Teleosaiirus. 
The  beds  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Wealden '  have  just  furnished  us 
with  a  genuine  "  missing  link,"  a  saurian  (Dlplosaurus)  with  essen- 
tially the  skull  and  teeth  of  a  modern  crocodile,  and  the  vertebra?  of 
its  predecessor  from  the  Trias.  This  peculiar  reptile  clearly  represents 
an  important  stage  in  the  progressive  series,  and  evidently  one  soon 
after  the  separation  of  the  crocodile  branch  from  the  main  stem.  The 
modern  Gavial  type  appears  to  have  been  developed  about  the  same 
time,  as  the  form  was  well  established  in  the  Upper  Cretaceous  genus, 
Thoracosaurus.     The  Teleosaurian  group,  with  biconcave  vertebrae, 

1  See  note  on  page  520,  also  section. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  527 


c 


evidently  the  parent  stock  of  Crocodilians,  became  extinct  with  Hy- 
posaurus  of  the  same  horizon,  leaving  the  crocodile  and  gavial,  with 
their  more  perfect  procoelian  vertebras,  to  contend  for  the  supremacy. 
In  the  early  Eocene,  both  of  these  types  were  abundant,  but  some  of 
the  crocodiles  possessed  characters  pointing  toward  the  alligators, 
which  do  not  appear  to  have  been  completely  differentiated  until 
later. 

Nothing  is  really  known  to-day  of  the  earlier  genealogy  of  the 
Pterosauria ;  but  our  American  forms,  without  teeth,  are  clearly  the 
last  stage  in  their  development  before  this  peculiar  group  became 
extinct.  The  oldest  European  form,  Dimorphodon,  from  the  Lower 
Lias,  had  the  entire  jaws  armed  with  teeth,  and  was  provided  with  a 
long  tail.  The  later  genus,  Pterodactylus,  retained  the  teeth,  but  had 
essentially  lost  the  tail;  while  JRamphorhynchus  had  retained  the 
elongated  tail,  but  had  lost  the  teeth  from  the  fore-part  of  both  jaws. 
In  the  genus  Pteranodon,  from  the  American  Cretaceous,  the  teeth 
are  entirely  absent,  and  the  tail  is  a  mere  rudiment.  In  the  gradual 
loss  of  the  teeth  and  tail,  these  reptiles  followed  the  same  path  as 
birds,  and  might  thus  seem  to  approach  them,  as  many  have  supposed. 
This  resemblance,  however,  is  only  a  superficial  one,  as  a  study  of  the 
more  important  characters  of  the  Pterodactyls  shows  that  they  are  an 
aberrant  type  of  reptiles,  totally  off  the  line  through  which  the  birds 
were  developed.  The  announcement  made  not  long  since  in  Europe, 
and  accepted  by  some  American  authors,  that  the  Pterosauria,  in 
consequence  of  certain  points  in  their  structure,  were  essentially  birds, 
is  directly  disproved  by  American  specimens,  far  more  perfect  than 
those  on  which  the  conclusion  was  based. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted,  by  biologists  who  have  made  a  study 
of  the  vertebrates,  that  birds  have  come  down  to  us  through  the  Dino- 
saurs, and  the  close  affinity  of  the  latter  with  recent  struthious  birds 
will  hardly  be  questioned.  The  case  amounts  almost  to  a  demonstra- 
tion, if  we  compare,  with  Dinosaurs,  their  contemporaries,  the  Mesozoic 
birds.  The  classes  of  Birds  and  Reptiles,  as  now  living,  are  separated 
by  a  gulf  so  profound  that  a  few  years  since  it  was  cited  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  evolution  as  the  most  important  break  in  the  animal  series, 
and  one  which  that  doctrine  could  not  bridge  over.  Since  then,  as 
Huxley  has  clearly  shown,  this  gap  has  been  virtually  filled  by  the 
discovery  of  bird-like  reptiles  and  reptilian  birds.  Compsognathus  and 
Archceopteryx  of  the  Old  World,  and  Ichthyomis  and  Hesperornis  of 
the  New,  are  the  stepping-stones  by  which  the  evolutionist  of  to-day 
leads  the  doubting  brother  across  the  shallow  remnant  of  the  gulf 
once  thought  impassable. 

[To  be  continued.'] 


528 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


THE   GKOWTH  OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE.1 

By  Professor  E.  H.  THURSTON, 

OF    THE    STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY. 

V. 
STEAM-NAVIGATION"  (continued). 

93.  The  prize  gained  by  Fulton  was,  however,  most  closely  con- 
tested by  Colonel  John  Stevens,  of  Hoboken,  who  has  been  already 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  early  history  of  railroads,  and  who 
had  been,  since  1791,  engaged  in  similar  experiments. 

In  1789  he  had  petitioned  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York  for  an  act  similar  to  that  granted  Livingston,  and  stated  that 
his  plans  were  complete,  and  on  paper. 

In  1804,  while  Fulton  was  in  Europe,  Stevens  had  completed  a 
steamboat  (Fig.  53)  sixty-eight  feet  long  and  fourteen  feet  beam, 
which  combined  novelties  and  merits  of  design  in  a  manner  that  was 


o~^S^ 


Fig. .53.— John  Stevens's  Screw-Steamer,  1804. 


the  best  possible  evidence  of  remarkable  inventive  talent,  as  well  as  of 
the  most  perfect  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  the  problem  which  he 
had  proposed  to  himself  to  solve. 

The  machinery  of  this  interesting  vessel  is  carefully  preserved 
among  the  collections  of  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology.  Its 
boiler,  shown  in  section,  in  Fig.  54,  is  of  what  is  now  known  as  the 
water  tubular  variety.  The  inventor  says  in  his  specifications:  "The 
principle  of  this  invention  consists  of  forming  a  boiler  by  means  of 
a  system  or  combination  of  small  vessels,  instead  of  using,  as  is  the 
common  mode,  one  laro-e  one:  the  relative  strength  of  the  materials 

1  An  abstract  of  "  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine,"  to  be  published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


THE   GROWTH   OF  THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


529 


Fig.  54.— Stevens's  "Sectional"  Boiler, 
1804. 


of  which  these  vessels  are  composed  increasing  in  proportion  to  the 
diminution  of  capacity."  The  steamboat  boiler  of  1804  was  built  to 
bear  a  working  pressure  of  over  fifty  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  at  a 
time  when  the  usual  pressures  were 
from  four  to  seven  pounds.  It  con- 
sists of  two  sets  of  tubes,  closed  at 
one  end  by  solid  plugs,  and  at  their 
opposite  extremities  screwed  into  a 
stayed  water  and  steam  reservoir, 
which  was  strengthened  by  hoops. 
The  whole  of  the  lower  portion  was 
inclosed  in  a  jacket  of  iron  lined 
with  non-conducting  material.  The 
fire  was  built  at  one  end,  in  a  fur- 
nace inclosed  in  this  jacket.  The  furnace-gases  passed  among  the 
tubes,  down  under  the  body  of  the  boiler,  up  among  the  opposite  set 
of  tubes,  and  thence  to  the  smoke-pipe.  In  another  form,  as  applied 
to  a  locomotive  in  1825,  the  tubes  were  set  vertically  in  a  double  cir- 
cle surrounding  the  fire. 

The  engine  (Fig.  55)  was  a  direct-acting,  high-pressure  condensing 
engine  of  ten  inches  diameter  of  cylinder,  two  feet  stroke  of  piston, 
and  drove  a  screw  of  four  blades,  and  of  a  form  which,  even  to-day, 
appears  quite  good.  The  hub  and  one  blade  of  this  screw  are  still  pre- 
served. The  whole  is  a  most  remarkable  piece  of  early  engineering. 
The  use  of  such  a  boiler  seventy  years  ago  is  even  more  remark- 
able than  the  adoption  of  the  screw-propeller  in  such  excellent  propor- 
tions thirty  years  before  the  labors  of  Smith  and  of  Ericsson  brought 
the  screw  into  general  use.  We  have,  in  this  strikingly  original  com- 
bination, as  good  evidence  of  the  existence  of  unusual  engineering 
talent,  in  this  fellow-countryman  of  ours,  as  we  found  of  his  political 
and  statesman-like  ability  in  those  efforts  to  forward  the  introduction 
of  railways  already  described. 

Colonel  Stevens  designed  a  peculiar  form  of  iron-clad  in  the  year 
1812,  which  has  been  since  reproduced  by  no  less  distinguished  and 
successful  an  engineer  than  the  late  John  Elder,  of  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land. It  consisted  of  a  saucer-shaped  hull,  carrying  a  heavy  battery 
and  plated  with  iron  of  ample  thickness  to  resist  the  shot  fired  from 
the  heaviest  ordnance  then  known.  This  vessel  was  secured  to  a 
swrivel,  and  was  anchored  in  the  channel  to  be  defended.  A  set  of 
screw-propellers  driven  by  steam-engines  and  situated  beneath  the 
vessel,  where  they  were  safe  against  injury  by  shot,  were  so  arranged 
as  to  permit  the  vessel  to  be  rapidly  revolved  about  its  centre.  As 
each  gun  was  brought  into  line  of  fire  it  was  discharged,  and  was  then 
reloaded  before  coming  around  again.  This  was  probably  the  earliest 
embodiment  of  the  now  well-established  "Monitor"  principle. 

This  great  engineer  and  inventor  was  therefore  far  in  advance  of 


VOL.   XII. 


-34 


53° 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


his  time.  The  sectional  steam-boiler  only  just  becoming  a  standard 
type ;  high-pressure  steam  with  condensation  has  just  become  gen- 
erally adopted  ;  the  screw  only  came  in  use  forty  years  later,  when 
Ericsson,  Smith,  and  Woodcroft,  came  forward  with  it,  and  twin- 


Fig.  55.— Machinery  of  Twin-Screw  Steamer  or  1804. 

screws  are  hardly  yet  familiar  to  engineers.  The  revolving  battery 
protected  by  iron  plating  is  another  of  what  are  generally  considered 
recent  devices ;  and  the  peculiar  Stevens  revolving  ship  is  reproduced 
by  Elder  sixty  years  later. 

A  model  of  the  little  steamer  built  in  1804  is  preserved  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the  department  of  mechanical  engineering  at  the 
Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  and  the  machinery  itself  (Fig.  55), 
the  high-pressure  "  section  "  or  "  safety  "  tubular  boiler  as  it  would 
be  called  to-day,  the  high-pressure  condensing  engine  with  rotating 
valves,  and  with  twin-screw  propellers,  is  given  a  place  of  honor  in 
the  model-room  or  museum,  where  it  contrasts  singularly  with  the 
mechanism  contributed  to  the  collection  by  manufacturers  and  invent- 
ors of  our  own  time. 

94.  The  first  of  Stevens's  boats  performed  so  well  that  he  immedi- 


Fig.  56.— Stevens's  Twin-Sckewb,  1S05. 

ately  built  another  one,  using  the  same  engine  as  before,  but  employing 
a  larger  boiler,  and  propelling  the  vessel  by  ticin-screws  (Fig.  56  '),  the 
latter  being  another  instance  of  his  use  of  a  device  brought  forward 
long  afterward  as  new,  and  since  frequently  adopted. 

1  These  cuts  are  facsimiles  of  steel  engravings  made  for  Stevens. 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


53i 


This  boat  was  sufficiently  successful  to  indicate  the  probability  of 
making  steam-navigation  a  commercial  success,  and  Stevens,  assisted 
by  his  sons,  built  a  boat  which  he  named  the  Phoenix,  and  made 
the  first  trial  in  1807,  just  too  late  to  anticipate  Fulton.  This  boat 
was  driven  by  paddle-wheels. 

The  Phoenix,  shut  out  of  the  waters  of  the  State  of  New  York 
by  the  monopoly  held  by  Fulton  and  Livingston,  was  placed  for  a 
time  on  a  route  between  Hoboken  and  New  Brunswick  ;  and  then, 
anticipating  a  better  pecuniary  return,  it  was  concluded  to  send  her 
to  Philadelphia  to  ply  on  the  Delaware. 

At  that  time,  no  canal  offered  the  opportunity  to  make  an  inland 
passage,  and,  in  June,  1808,  Robert  L.  Stevens,  a  son  of  John,  started 
with  Captain  Bunker  to  make  the  passage  by  sea. 

Although  meeting  a  gale  of  wind,  he  arrived  at  Philadelphia  safe- 
ly, having  been  the  first  to  trust  himself  on  the  open  sea  in  a  vessel 
relying  entirely  upon  steam-power. 

95.  From  this  time  forward  the  Messrs.  Stevens,  father  and  sons, 
continued  to  construct  steam-vessels. 


Robert  L.  Stevens. 


After  Fulton  and  Stevens  had  led  the  way,  steam-navigation  was 
introduced  very  rapidly  on  both  sides  the  ocean,  and  on  the  Missis- 
sippi the  number  of  boats  set  afloat  was  soon  large  enough  to  fulfill 
Evans's  prediction  that  the  navigation  of  that  river  would  become 


a  steam-navigation. 


Except  in  Stevens's  earlier  boats,  and  in  the  boats  plying  on  the 


532 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Western  rivers,  all  steamers  were  then  propelled,  as  they  are  still,  by 
condensing  engines.  The  instrument  of  propulsion  was  also,  even  in 
Stevens's  own  boats  after  his  earlier  experiments,  the  paddle-wheel. 
The  use  of  the  screw  did  not  become  general,  even  in  deep  water, 
until  within  the  last  twenty  years. 

96.  The  steam-engine  in  most  general  use  for  sea-going  ships  when 
the  introduction  of  the  screw  compelled  its  withdrawal,  with  the  pad- 
dle-wheel which  it  drove,  was  that  shown  in  Fig.  57,  which  repre- 
sents the  side-lever  engine  of  the  steamer  Pacific,  as  designed  by 
Charles  W.  Copeland. 

In  the  sketch,  A  is  the  steam-cylinder;  B  C  the  side-rods,  or 
links,  connecting  the  cross-head  in  the  piston-rod  with  the  end-centres 


Fig.  57.— The  Side-Lever  Engine,  1849. 


D,  of  the  side-lever  D  E  F,  which  vibrates  about  the  main   centre 

E,  like  the  overhead  beams.  A  cross-tail  at  G  is  connected  with  the 
side-lever  and  with  the  connecting-rod  G  If,  which  latter  communi- 
cates motion  to  the  crank  I «/",  turning  the  main  shaft  J.  The  air- 
pump  and  condenser  are  seen  at  0  31.  This  engine  wras  one  of  the 
earliest  and  best  examples  of  the  type,  and  perhaps  the  first  ever 
fitted  with  a  framing  of  wrought-iron. 

97.  After  the  experiments  of  Stevens,  we  find  no  evidence  of  the 
use  of  the  sci-ew,  although  schemes  were  proposed  and  various  forms 
were  even  patented,  until  about  1836. 

In   1836  Francis  P.  Smith,  an  English  farmer,  who  had  become 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


533 


interested  in  the  subject,  experimented  with  a  screw  made  of  wood, 
and  fitted  in  a  boat  built  with  funds  furnished  by  a  Mr.  Wright,  a 
London  banker.  He  exhibited  it  on  the  Thames  and  on  the  Padding- 
ton  Canal  for  several  months.  In  February,  1837,  by  an  accident,  a 
part  of  the  screw-blade  was  broken  off,  and  the  improved  perform- 
ance of  the  boat  called  attention  to  the  advisability  of  determining 
its  best  proportions. 


Fig.  58.— The  Side-Wheel  Ocean-Steamer,  1850. 


In  1837  Smith  exhibited  bis  courage  and  his  faith  in  the  reliabil- 
ity of  his  little  steamer  by  making  a  coasting-voyage  in  quite  heaAry 
weather,  and  the  performance  of  his  vessel  was  such  as  to  fully  jus- 
tify the  confidence  felt  in  it  by  its  designer. 

The  British  Admiralty  soon  had  its  attention  called  to  the  per- 
formance of  this  vessel,  and  to  the  very  excellent  results  attained  by 
the  Archimedes,  a  vessel  of  237  tons  burden,  which  was  built  by 
Smith  and  his  coadjutors  in  1838,  and  tried  in  1839,  attaining  a 
speed  of  eight  knots  an  hour.  By  the  performance  of  the  Archime- 
des, the  advantages  of  screw-propulsion,  especially  for  naval  pur- 
poses, were  rendered  so  evident  that  the  British  Government  built  its 
first  screw-vessel,  the  Rattler,  and  Brunei  adopted  the  screw  in  the 
iron  steamer  Great  Britain,  which  had  been  designed  originally  as  a 
paddle-steamer. 

98.  Simultaneously  with  Smith,  Captain  John  Ericsson  was  en- 
gaged in  the  same  project. 

He  patented,  July,  1836,  a  propeller  which  was  found  at  the  first 
trial  to  be  of  such  good  form  and  proportions  as  to  give  excellent 
results. 

His  first  vessel  was  the  Francis  B.  Ogden,  named  after  the  United 
States  consul  at  Liverpool,  who  had  lent  the  inventor  valuable  aid  in 
his  work.     The  boat  was  forty-five  feet  long,  eight  feet  beam,  and  drew 


534  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

three  feet  of  water.  It  attained  a  speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  and 
towed  an  American  packet-ship,  the  Toronto,  four  and  a  half  miles 
an  hour  on  the  Thames.     This  was  a  splendid  success. 

Ericsson  built  several  screw-boats,  and  finally,  meeting  Captain 
Robert  F.  Stockton,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  that  gentleman  was 
so  fully  convinced  of  the  merits  of  Ericsson's  plans  that  he  ordered 
an  iron  vessel  of  seventy  feet  length  and  ten  feet  beam,  with  engines 
of  fifty-horse  power. 

The  trial  of  the  Stockton,  in  1839,  was  eminently  satisfactory. 
The  vessel  was  sent  to  America  under  sail,  and  the  designer  was  soon 
induced  to  follow  her  to  this  country,  where  his  later  achievements 
are  well  known. 

The  engines  of  the  Stockton  were  direct-acting,  the  first  examples 
of  engines  coupled  directly  to  the  crank-shaft  without  intermediate 
gearing,  that  we  meet  with  after  that  of  John  Stevens. 

99.  Soon  after  Ericsson  arrived  in  the  United  States,  he  obtained 
an  opportunity  to  design  a  screw-steamer  for  the  United  States  Navy, 
the  Princeton,  and,  at  about  the  same  time,  the  English  and  French 
Governments  had  screw-steamers  built  from  his  plans,  or  from  those 
of  his  agent  in  England,  the  Count  de  Posen. 

In  these  ships — the  Amphion  and  the  Pomone — the  first  horizon- 
tal, direct-acting  engines  ever  built  were  used.  They  were  fitted  with 
double-acting  air-pumps,  having  canvas  valves  and  other  novel  feat- 
ures. 

From  1840  the  screw  gained  favor  rapidly,  and  finally  began  to 
displace  the  paddle  for  deep-water  navigation.  Progress  in  this  di- 
rection was  at  first  somewhat  slow. 

In  1840,  and  during  the  following  ten  years,  many  experiments 
were  instituted  between  the  performance  of  screw  and  paddle  steam- 
ers without  definitely  settling  engineering  practice. 

100.  The  reason  was,  probably,  that  the  introduction  of  the  rapid- 
ly-revolving screw,  in  place  of  the  slow-moving  paddle-wheel,  neces- 
sitated a  complete  revolution  in  the  design  of  their  steam-engines. 
And  the  unavoidable  change  from  the  heavy,  long-stroked,  low-speed 
engines,  previously  in  use,  to  the  light  engines,  with  small  cylinders 
and  high  piston-speed,  called  for  by  the  new  system  of  propulsion, 
wTas  one  that  necessarily  occurred  slowly,  and  was  accompanied  by 
its  share  of  those  engineering  blunders  and  accidents  that  invariably 
take  place  during  such  periods  of  transition. 

Engineers  had  first  to  learn  to  design  such  engines  as  should  be 
reliable  under  the  then  novel  conditions  of  screw-propulsion,  and 
their  experience  coidd  only  be  gained  through  the  occurrence  of 
many  mishaps  and  costly  failures.  The  best  proportions  of  engines 
and  screws  for  a  given  ship  were  determined  only  by  long  experience, 
although  great  assistance  was  derived  from  the  extensive  series  of 
experiments  made  on  the  French  steamer  Pelican.     It  also  became 


THE    GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


S35 


necessary  to  train  up  a  body  of  engine-drivers  who  should  be  capable 
of  managing  these  new  engines,  for  they  required  the  exercise  of  a 
then  unprecedented  amount  of  care  and  skill.  Finally,  with  the  ac- 
complishment of  these  two  requisites  to  success,  must  simultaneously 
occur  the  enlightenment  of  the  public,  professional  as  well  as  non- 
professional, in  regard  to  their  advantages. 

Thus  it  happens  that  it  is  only  very  recently  that  the  screw  has 


s 

w 

02 

« 
w 
p 
o 

w 

w 

b* 


attained  its  proper  place  as  an  instrument  of  propulsion,  and  has  only 
now  driven  the  paddle-wheel  almost  out  of  use,  except  in  shoal  water. 
Now  our  large  screw-steamers  are  of  higher  speed  than  any  pad- 
dle-steamers on  the  ocean,  sometimes  crossing  the  Atlantic  from  New 


536  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

York  to  Queenstown  in  a  week,  making  their  passages  with  wonder- 
ful regularity,  and  developing  their  power  at  far  less  cost  than  the 
old  side-wheel  steamers.  This  increased  economy  is  due,  not  only  to 
the  use  of  a  more  efficient  propelling  instrument,  but,  perhaps  in  even 
a  higher  degree,  to  the  economy  which  has  followed  as  a  consequence 
of  the  accompanying  changes  in  structure  of  the  steam-engine  driv- 
ing it. 

101.  The  earliest  clays  of  screw  propulsion  witnessed  the  use  of 
steam  of  ten  or  fifteen  pounds'  pressure,  in  a  geared  engine  using  jet 
condensation,  and  giving  a  horse-power  at  an  expense  of,  perhaps, 
seven  or  eight  pounds  of  coal  per  hour. 

A  little  later  came  direct-acting  engines  with  jet  condensation, 
and  steam  at  twenty  pounds'  pressure,  costing  about  five  or  six 
pounds  per  horse-power  per  hour.  The  steam-pressure  rose  a  little 
higher  with  the  use  of  greater  expansion,  and  the  economy  of  fuel 
was  further  increased.  The  introduction  of  the  surface-condenser, 
which  began  to  be  generally  adopted  some  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago, 
brought  down  the  cost  of  power  to  between  three  and  four  pounds  in 
the  better  class  of  engines. 

At  about  the  same  time,  this  change  to  surface-condensation  help- 
ing greatly  to  overcome  the  troubles  arising  from  boiler-incrustation, 
which  had  checked  the  rise  in  steam-pi-essure  above  about  twenty-five 
pounds,  and,  it  being  at  the  same  time  learned  by  engineers  that  the 
deposit  of  the  scale  and  sulphate  of  lime  in  the  marine  boiler  was  de- 
termined by  temperature  rather  than  by  the  degree  of  concentration, 
and  that  all  the  lime  entering  the  boiler  was  deposited  at  the  pressure 
just  mentioned,  a  sudden  advance  took  place. 

Careful  design,  good  workmanship,  and  skillful  management, 
made  the  surface-condenser  an  efficient  apparatus,  and,  the  dangers 
of  incrustation  being  thus  lessened,  the  movement  toward  higher 
pressures  recommenced  and  progressed  so  rapidly  that,  now,  seventy- 
five  pounds  per  square  inch  is  very  usual,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  has  been  attained  in  marine  engines  built  by  the  Messrs.  Per- 
kins, who  are  said  to  have  reached  the  remarkable  economy  of  a 
horse-power  for  each  pound  of  combustible  consumed  in  the  boiler. 

102.  These  high  pressures,  and  the  greater  expansion  of  the  steam, 
have,  in  turn,  produced  another  revolution  in  engine-construction. 

It  has  at  last  become  generally  known,  as  was  seen  by  well-in- 
formed and  scientific  engineers  long  ago,  that  one  of  the  most  serious 
losses  of  heat,  and  consequently  of  power,  in  the  steam-engine,  when 
expansion  is  carried  to  a  considerable  extent,  occurs  in  consequence 
of  condensation  and  the  deposition  of  moisture  upon  the  interior  of 
the  cylinder,  which  moisture,  when  the  exhaust  takes  place,  carries, 
by  its  reevaporation,  large  quantities  of  heat  into  the  condenser,  with- 
out deriving  any  power  from  it. 

The  steam-jacket  furnishes  one  means  of  reducing  the  amount  of 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE.  537 

this  loss  by  keeping  up  the  temperature  of  the  interior  of  the  cylinder, 
and  thus  preventing,  in  some  degree,  this  deposition,  and  by  reevap- 
orating  this  moisture  during  expansion,  and  thus  deriving  useful  effect 
from  heat  so  expended  before  the  exhaust-valve  opens,  and  it  is 
thx*own  unutilized  into  the  condenser. 

James  Watt,  therefore,  applied  the  steam-jacket  more  wisely  than 
he  knew,  for  this  matter  was  not,  in  his  time,  understood.  Indeed,  he 
gave  up  its  use,  thinking  it  could  have  no  possible  economical  value, 
but  the  consequent  falling  off  in  the  duty  of  the  engine  induced  him 
to  restore  it,  and  we  still  find  it  on  the  Cornish  engine  of  to-day. 

103.  This  loss  is  also,  in  some  degree,  prevented,  by  dividing  the 
expansive  working  of  the  steam  among  two  or  more  cylinders,  as  in 
the  compound  or  Woolf  system  described  in  the  preceding  lectures. 

Here  the  heat  wasted  in  either  cylinder  is  less,  in  consequence  of 
the  lessened  range  of  temperature,  and  that  lost  by  one  cylinder  is 
carried  into  the  second,  and  then,  to  some  extent,  utilized. 

The  amount  of  saving  effected  by  these  means  is  quite  consider- 
able— so  great,  in  fact,  as  to  have  produced  a  complete  revolution  in 
engineering  practice  in  the  construction  of  marine  engines  by  the 
best-known  builders. 


They  have,  under  the  lead  of  John  Elder,  adopted  the  Woolf 
engine,  which  had,  in  earlier  times,  with  lower  steam,  less  expansion, 
and  less  intelligent  engineering,  proved  apparently  a  failure. 

104.  To-day,  nearly  all  sea-going  steamers  are  fitted  with  such 


53§ 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE   MONTHLY. 


engines  having  surface-condensers,  and  with  tubular  boilers,  which 
are  fitted,  frequently,  with  superheaters.  One  of  the  best  examples 
of  these  steamers,  the  City  of  Peking,  a  screw-steamer  built  by  Roach 


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for  the  Pacific  Mail  Company,  is  a  vessel  of  5,000  tons.  There  are  two 
pairs  of  compound-engines,  having  cylinders  of  51  and  88  inches  diam- 
eter, and  4|-  feet  stroke  of  piston.     The  crank-shafts  are  18  inches  in 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


539 


diameter.  Steam  is  carried  at  GO  pounds,  and  is  expanded  nine  times. 
The  boilers  are  ten  in  number,  cylindrical  in  form,  and  with  cylindri- 
cal flues  ;  they  are  13  feet  in  diameter,  10-|  feet  long,  with  shells  of 
iron  H  inch  thick,  and  have  520  feet  of  grate-surface,  16,500  square 
feet  of  heating-surface,  and  1,600  square  feet  of  superheating-surface. 
The  smoke-funnels,  or  stacks,  are  8-|  feet  in  diameter  and  70  feet  high. 

Fig.  60  shows  a  section  of  the  simplest  and  the  least  costly  form 
of  compound-engine,  as  it  is  now  built  on  the  Clyde,  in  Great  Britain, 
and  in  the  United  States,  on  the  Delaware. 

Here,  the  cranks  IT  Z  are  coupled  at  an  angle  of  ninety  degrees, 
only  two  cylinders,  A  H,  being  used,  and  an  awkward  distribution 
of  pressure  is  avoided  by  having  a  considerable  volume  of  steam-pipe, 
or  by  a  steam-reservoir,  O  P,  between  the  two  cylinders. 

The  valves,  y  y,  are  set  like  those  of  an  ordinary  engine,  the  pecu- 
liarity being  that  the  steam  exhausted  by  the  one  cylinder,  A,  is  used 
again  in  the  second  and  larger  one,  B.  In  this  combination,  the  ex- 
pansion is  generally  carried  to  about  six  times,  the  pressure  of  steam 
in  the  boiler  being  usually  between  sixty  and  seventy-five  pounds  per 
square  inch. 


Fig.  61.— The  Mississippi  Steamboat,  1876. 


105.  The  revolution  by  which  the  screw  has  superseded  the  paddle- 
wheel  elsewhere,  has  not  taken  place  in  our  shallow  American  rivers, 
where  there  is  not  depth  enough  for  the  screw. 

In  the  West,  boats  ai*e  driven  by  the  horizontal  high-pressure  en- 
gine usually,  as  in  the  days  of  Oliver  Evans,  and  retain  their  peculi- 
arities of  construction.     Some  of  the  Mississippi  steamboats  (Fig.  61) 


54° 


THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


make  the  trip  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans — about  1,200  miles — in 
four  days,  and  can  make,  in  still  water,  more  than  twenty  miles  an 
hour. 

In  the  East,  we  have  a  form  of  engine  which  is  distinctively  known 
as  the  American  steamboat-engine.     It  is  shown  in  Fig.  62. 


.  n  n  i  i  \m  m  i  o  l  nrM  i  :i  i  a  a  i  a  1 I 1 " 

Fig.  62.— The  American  Beam-Engine. 


This  engine  is  recognized  throughout  the  engineering  world  as 
one  of  the  most  complete  and  thoroughly  perfected  of  known  types  of 
steam-engine. 

106.  This  peculiarly  effective  and  easy-working  engine,  and  the 
equally  peculiar  vessel  (Fig.  63)  which  is  usually  impelled  by  it,  are, 
in  all  their  peculiarities,  characteristically  American. 

The  "  skeleton-beam,"  which  is  one  of  the  prominent  features,  was 
first  used  by  Robert  L.  Stevens  on  the  ferry-boat  Hoboken,  in  1822. 

The  valve-gear  is  usually  that  known  as  the  "  Stevens  valve- 
gear."  It  was  invented  by  Messrs.  Robert  L.  and  Francis  B.  Stevens, 
in  1841.     The  "gallows-frame"  took  its  present  form  in  the  hands  of 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


541 


Messrs.  Stevens.  The  hull  of  the  Phoenix  had  hollow  water-lines 
sixty-five  years  ago,  and  this  important  characteristic  of  modern  ves- 
sels is,  therefore,  an  American  improvement. 


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The  North  America  (Fig.  64)  was  built  in  1827.  The  hull  was 
stiffened  by  the  "  hog-frame,"  now  as  distinctive  a  characteristic  of 
the  vessel  as  are  the  gallows-frame  and  the  skeleton-beam  of  the 


engine. 


This  engine  is  not  usually  quite  as  economical  in  fuel  as  are  the 
screw-engines  last  described ;  but  it  has  the  advantages — which  are 
so  extremely  important  in  the  shallow,  flexible  hulls  of  our  river-boats 


542 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE   MONTHLY 


— of  being  the  easiest  working  and  least  easily  injured,  by  "  getting 
out  of  line,"  of  all  known  forms  of  engines. 

The  British  and  Continental  engineers  also  still  retain  the  paddle- 
wheel  in  some  of  the  steamers  plying  in  their  narrower  and  more 


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closely-crowded   rivers   and  harbors,  in  consequence  of  the  greater 
facility  which  it  gives  for  manoeuvring. 

107.  The  magnitude  of  our  modern  steamships  excites  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  even  the  people  of  our  own  time.  There  is  certain- 
ly no  ci*eation  of  art  that  can  be  grander  in  appearance  than  a  trans- 
atlantic steamer,  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  length,  and  weighing, 


THE    GROWTH    OF   THE   STEAM-ENGINE. 


543 


with  her  stores,  5,000  or  6,000  tons,  as  she  starts  on  her  voyage, 
moved  by  engines  more  than  equal  in  power  to  the  united  strength 
of  5,000  horses.  Nothing  can  more  thoroughly  awaken  a  feeling  of 
awe  than  the  sight  of  immense  structures  like  the  great  modern  iron- 
clads (Fig.  65),  vessels  having  a  total  weight  of  8,000  to  10,000  tons, 


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and  propelled  by  steam-engines  of  8,000  or  10,000  horse-power,  carry- 
ing guns  whose  shot  penetrate  solid  h'on  fifteen  inches  thick,  and 
having  a  power  of  impact,  when  steaming  moderately,  sufficient  to 
raise  35,000  tons  a  foot  high. 

108.  Far  more  huge  than  the  Monarch  among  the  iron-clads  even 
is  that  prematurely-built  monster,  the  Great  Eastern  (Fig.  66),  more 


544 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


than  the  eighth  of  a  mile  (680  feet)  long,  of  84  feet  beam,  and 
drawing  thirty  feet  of  water  at  load-draught,  when  the  weight  of 
ship  and  contents  amounts  to  over  25,000  tons.     This  great  vessel 


Fig.  66. — The  Great  Eastern. 

is  driven  by  steam-engines  of  10,000  horse-power,  turning  huge  pad- 
dle-wheels 56  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  screw-propeller  having  a  diam- 
eter of  24  feet. 

109.  We  are  evidently  fulfilling  at  least  a  part  of  that  well-known 
poetical  prophecy  which  Darwin  wrote  in  the  early  days  of  the 
steam-engine,  and  possibly  before  Watt  had  told  him  of  the  great 
advance  which  had  been  produced  by  his  inventive  genius : 

"  Soon  shall  thy  arm,  unconquered  steam,  afar 
Drag  the  slow  barge,  or  drive  the  rapid  car  ; 
Or,  on  wide-waving  wings  expanded,  bear 
The  flying  chariot  through  the  fields  of  air." 


Note. — We  are  compelled  to  omit  the  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  stationary 
engine,  and  for  it  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  publication  of  which  this  is  an  abstract. 
We  shall  conclude  this  series  by  an  abstract  of  that  portion  which  outlines  the  Philoso- 
phy of  the  Steam-Engine,  and  exhibits  the  direction  of  improvement,  and  the  changes 
which  must  precede  the  production  of  a  possible  new  type,  "  the  steam-engine  of  the 
future." 

1  "Botanic  Garden,"  London,  1781. 


EVOLUTION   OF  CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT. 


545 


EVOLUTION  OF  CEREMONIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

By  HERBERT  SPENCER. 
II.   TROPHIES. 

EFFICIENCY  of  every  kind  is  a  source  of  self-satisfaction ;  and 
proofs  of  it  are  prized  as  bringing  applause.  The  sportsman, 
narrating  his  successes  when  opportunity  serves,  keeps  such  spoils  of 
the  chase  as  he  conveniently  can.  Is  he  a  fisherman  ?  Then,  occa- 
sionally, the  notches  cut  on  the  butt  of  his  rod  show  the  number  and 
lengths  of  his  salmon  ;  or,  in  a  glass  case,  there  is  preserved  the  great 
Thames-trout  he  once  caught.  Has  he  stalked  deer?  Then  in  his 
hall,  or  dining-room,  are  fixed  up  their  heads;  which  he  greatly  es- 
teems when  the  attached  horns  have  many  "  points."  Still  more,  if 
he  is  a  successful  hunter  of  tigers,  does  he  value  the  skins  demon- 
strating his  prowess. 

Trophies  of  such  kinds,  even  among  ourselves,  give  to  their  owner 
some  influence  over  those  around  him.  A  traveler  who  has  brought 
from  Africa  a  pair  of  elephant's  tusks,  or  the  formidable  horn  of  a 
rhinoceros,  impresses  those  who  come  in  contact  with  him  as  a  man 
of  courage  and  resource,  and,  therefore,  as  one  not  to  be  trifled  with. 
A  vague  kind  of  governing  power  accrues  to  him. 

Naturally,  by  primitive  men,  whose  lives  are  predatory,  and  whose 
respective  values  largely  depend  on  their  powers  as  hunters,  animal- 
trophies  are  still  more  prized,  and  tend,  in  a  greater  degree,  to  bring 
honor  and  influence.  Hence  the  fact  that  rank  in  Vate  is  indicated 
by  the  number  of  bones  of  all  kinds  suspended  in  the  house.  Of  the 
Shoshone  warrior  we  are  told  that,  "  killing  a  grizzly  bear  also  en- 
titles him  to  this  honor,  for  it  is  considered  a  great  feat  to  slay  one  of 
these  formidable  animals,  and  only  he  who  has  performed  it  is  allowed 
to  wear  their  highest  insignia  of  glory,  the  feet  or  claws  of  the  vic- 
tim." Among  the  Santals  "it  is  customary  to  hand  these  trophies 
(skulls  of  beasts,  etc.)  down  from  father  to  son."  And  when,  with 
such  facts  to  give  us  the  clews,  we  read  that  the  habitation' of  the  king 
of  the  Koossas  "  is  no  otherwise  distinguished  than  by  the  tail  of  a  lion 
or  a  panther  hanging  from  the  top  of  the  roof,"  we  can  scarcely  doubt 
that  this  symbol  of  royalty  was  originally  a  trophy  displayed  by  a 
chief  whose  prowess  had  gained  him  supremacy. 

But,  as,  among  the  uncivilized  and  semi-civilized,  human  enemies 
are  more  to  be  feared  than  beast  enemies,  and  conquests  over  men  are 
therefore  occasions  of  greater  triumphs  than  conquests  over  animals, 
it  results  that  proofs  of  such  conquests  are  usually  still  more  valued. 
A  brave  who  returns  from  battle  does  not  get  honor  if  his  boasts  are 
unsupported  by  evidence ;  but  if  he  proves  that  he  has  killed  his  man 
vol.  xii. — 35 


546  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

by  bringing  back  some  part  of  him — especially  a  part  which  the  corpse 
could  not  yield  in  duplicate — he  raises  his  character  in  the  tribe  and 
increases  his  power.  Preservation  of  trophies,  with  a  view  to  display 
and  consequent  strengthening  of  personal  influence,  therefore  becomes 
an  established  custom.  In  Ashantee  "  the  smaller  joints,  bones,  and 
teeth  of  the  slain  are  worn  by  the  victors  about  their  persons."  Among 
the  Ceris  and  Opatas  of  North  Mexico,  "  many  cook  and  eat  the  flesh 
of  their  captives,  reserving  the  bones  as  trophies."  And  another  Mex- 
ican race,  "  the  Chichimecs,  carried  with  them  a  bone  on  which,  when 
they  killed  an  enemy,  they  marked  a  notch,  as  a  record  of  the  num- 
ber each  had  slain."  The  meaning  of  trophy-taking,  and  its  social 
effects,  being  recognized,  let  us  consider  in  groups  the  various  forms 
of  it. 

Of  parts  cut  from  the  bodies  of  the  slain,  heads  are  the  common- 
est ;  probably  as  being  the  most  unmistakable  proofs  of  victory. 

We  need  not  go  far  afield  for  illustrations  both  of  the  practice  and 
its  motives.  The  most  familiar  of  books  contains  them.  In  Judges 
vii.  25,  we  read:  "  And  they  took  two  princes  of  the  Midianites,  Oreb 
and  Zeeb  ;  and  they  slew  Oreb  upon  the  rock  Oreb,  and  Zeeb  they 
slew  at  the  wine-press  of  Zeeb,  and  pursued  Midian,  and  brought  the 
heads  of  Oreb  and  Zeeb  to  Gideon  on  the  other  side  Jordan."  The 
decapitation  of  Goliath  by  David,  followed  by  carrying  of  his  head  to 
Jerusalem,  further  illustrates  the  custom.  And,  if,  by  so  superior  a 
race,  heads'  were  taken  home  as  trophies,  we  shall  not  wonder  at  find- 
ing the  custom  of  so  taking  them  among  inferior  races  all  over  the 
globe.  By  the  Chichimecs  in  North  America  "  the  heads  of  the  slain 
were  placed  on  poles  and  paraded  through  their  villages  in  token  of 
victory,  the  inhabitants  meanwhile  dancing  round  them."  In  South 
America,  by  the  Abipones,  heads  are  brought  back  from  battle  "tied 
to  their  saddles  ;  "  and  the  Mundrucus  "ornament their  rude  and  mis- 
erable cabanas  with  these  horrible  trophies."  Of  Malay o-Polynesians 
having  a  like  habit,  may  be  named  the  New-Zealanders;  they  dry 
and  treasure  up  the  heads  of  their  slain  foes.  In  Madagascar,  during 
Queen  Ranavalona's  reign,  heads  raised  on  poles  were  placed  along 
the  coast.  Skulls  of  enemies  are  preserved  as  trophies  by  the  natives 
on  the  Congo,  and  by  other  African  peoples:  "The  skull  and  thigh- 
bones of  the  last  monarch  of  Dinkira  are  still  trophies  of  the  court  of 
Ashantee."  Among  the  Hill-tribes  of  India,  the  Kukis  may  be  in- 
stanced as  having  this  practice.  Morier  tells  us  that  in  Persia,  under 
the  stimulus  of  money-payments,  "  prisoners"  (of  war)  "  have  been  put 
to  death  in  cold  blood,  in  order  that  the  heads,  which  are  immediate- 
ly dispatched  to  the  king  and  deposited  in  heaps  at  the  palace-gate, 
might  make  a  more  considerable  show."  And  that  among  other 
Asiatic  races  head-taking  persists  spite  of  semi-civilization,  we  are 
reminded  by  the  recent  doings  of  the  Turks,  who  have  in  some  cases 
exhumed  the  bodies  of  slain  foes  and  decapitated  them. 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL   GOVERNMENT.    547 

This  last  instance  draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  barbarous 
custom  has  been,  and  is,  carried  to  the  greatest  extremes,  along 
with  militancy  the  most  excessive.  Among  ancient  examples  there 
are  the  doings  of  Timour,  with  his  exaction  of  90,000  heads 
from  Bagdad.  Of  modern  examples  the  most  notable  comes  from 
Dahomey.  "The  sleeping-apartment  of  a  Dahoman  king,"  says 
Burton,  "  was  paved  with  the  skulls  of  neighboring  princes  and 
chiefs,  placed  there  that  the  king  might  tread  upon  them."  And, 
according  to  Dalzel,  the  king's  statement,  that  "his  house  wanted 
thatch,"  was  "used  in  giving  orders  to  his  generals  to  make  war, 
and  alludes  to  the  custom  of  placing  the  heads  of  the  enemy  killed 
in  battle,  or  those  of  the  prisoners  of  distinction,  on  the  roofs  of  the 
guard-houses  at  the  gates  of  his  palaces." 

But  now,  ending  instances,  let  us  observe  how  this  taking  of 
heads  as  trophies  initiates  a  means  of  strengthening  political  power ; 
how  it  becomes  a  factor  in  sacrificial  ceremonies  ;  and  how  it  enters 
into  social  intercourse  as  a  controlling  influence.  That  the  pyramids 
and  towers  of  heads  built  by  Timour  at  Bagdad  and  Aleppo,  must 
have  conduced  to  his  supremacy  by  striking  terror  into  the  subju- 
gated, as  well  as  by  exciting  dread  of  vengeance  for  insubordination 
among  his  followers,  cannot  be  doubted;  and  that  living  in  a  dwelling 
paved  and  decorated  with  skulls,  implies,  in  a  Dahoman  king,  a 
character  generating  fear  among  enemies  and  obedience  among  sub- 
jects, is  obvious.  In  Northern  Celebes,  where,  before  1822,  "  human 
skulls  were  the  great  ornaments  of  the  chiefs'  houses,"  these  proofs  of 
victory  in  battle,  used  as  symbols  of  authority,  could  not  fail  to  exer- 
cise a  governmental  effect. 

That  heads  are  offered  in  propitiation  of  the  dead,  and  that  the 
ceremony  of  offering  them  is  thus  made  part  of  a  quasi-worship, 
there  are  clear  proofs.  One  is  supplied  by  the  people  just  named. 
"When  a  chief  died  his  tomb  must  be  adorned  with  two  fresh  human 
heads,  and  if  those  of  enemies  could  not  be  obtained  slaves  were 
killed  for  the  occasion."  Among  the  Dyaks,  who,  though  in  many 
respects  advanced,  have  retained  this  barbarous  practice  sanctified  by 
tradition,  it  is  the  same :  "  the  aged  warrior  could  not  rest  in  his  grave 
till  his  relatives  had  taken  a  head  in  his  name."  By  the  Kukis  of 
Northern  India  sacrificial  head-taking  is  carried  still  further.  Making 
raids  into  the  plains  to  procure  heads,  they  "have  been  known  in  one 
night  to  carry  off  fifty.  These  are  used  in  certain  ceremonies  per- 
formed at  the  funerals  of  the  chiefs,  and  it  is  always  after  the  death 
of  one  of  their  rajahs  that  these  incursions  occur." 

That  the  possession  of  these  grisly  tokens  of  success  gives  an 
influence  in  social  intercourse,  proof  is  yielded  by  the  following 
passage  from  St.  John :  "  Head-hunting  is  not  so  much  a  religious 
ceremony  among  the  Pakatans,  Borneo,  as  merely  to  show  their 
bravery  and  manliness.     When  they  quarrel,  it  is  a  constant  phrase, 


548  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

'How  many  heads  did  your  father  or  grandfather  get?'  If  less  than 
his  own  number,  '  Well,  then,  you  have  no  occasion  to  be  proud.'  " 

The  head  of  an  enemy  is  of  inconvenient  bulk ;  and  when  the 
journey  home  is  long  there  arises  a  question — cannot  proof  that  an 
enemy  has  been  killed  be  given  by  carrying  back  a  part  only? 
In  some  places  the  savage  infers  that  it  can,  and  acts  on  the  infer- 
ence. 

This  modification  and  its  meaning  are  well  shown  in  Ashantee, 
where  "the  general  in  command  sends  to  the  capital  the  jawbones 
of  the  slain  enemies;"  and  where,  as  Ramseyer  further  tells  us,  "a 
day  of  rejoicing  occurred  on  July  3d,  when  nineteen  loads  of  jaws 
arrived  from  the  seat  of  war  as  trophies  of  victory."  When  first 
found,  the  Tahitians,  too,  carried  away  the  jawbones  of  their  enemies; 
and  Cook  saw  fifteen  of  them  fastened  up  at  the  end  of  a  house. 
Similarly  of  Vate,  where  "the  greater  the  chief,  the  greater  the  dis- 
play of  bones,"  we  read  that,  if  a  slain  enemy  was  "  one  who  spoke  ill 
of  the  chief,  his  jaws  are  hung  up  in  the  chiefs  house  as  a  trophy :  "  a 
tacit  threat  to  others  who  vilified  him.  A  recent  account  of  another 
Papuan  race  inhabiting  Boigu,  on  the  coast  of  New  Guinea,  further 
illustrates  the  practice,  and  also  its  social  effect.  Mr.  Stone  writes: 
"  By  nature  these  people  are  bloody  and  warlike  among  themselves, 
frequently  making  raids  to  the  '  Big  Land,'  and  returning  in  triumph 
with  the  heads  and  jawbones  of  their  slaughtered  victims,  the  latter 
becoming  the  property  of  the  murderer,  and  the  former  of  him  who 
decapitates  the  body.  The  jawbone  is  consequently  held  as  the  most 
valued  trophy,  and  the  more  a  man  possesses  the  greater  he  becomes 
in  the  eyes  of  his  fellow-men."  It  may  be  added  that,  by  the  Tupis 
of  South  America,  trophies  of  an  allied  kind  were  worn.  In  honoring 
a  victorious  warrior,  "among  some  tribes  they  rubbed  his  pulse  with 
one  of  the  eyes  of  the  dead,  and  hung  the  mouth  upon  his  arm  like  a 
bracelet." 

With  the  display  of  jaws  as  trophies,  there  may  be  named  a 
kindred  use  of  teeth.  America  furnishes  instances.  The  Caribs 
"  strung  together  the  teeth  of  such  of  their  enemies  as  they  had  slain 
in  battle,  and  wore  them  on  their  legs  and  arms."  The  Tupis,  after 
devouring  a  captive,  preserved  "  the  teeth  strung  in  necklaces."  The 
Moxos  Avomen  wore  "  a  necklace  made  of  the  teeth  of  enemies  killed 
by  their  husbands  in  battle."  In  the  times  of  the  Spanish  invaders, 
the  Central  Americans  made  an  image,  "  and  in  its  mouth  were  in- 
serted teeth  taken  from  the  Spaniards  whom  they  had  killed."  And 
a  passage  quoted  above  specifies  teeth  as  among  the  trophies  worn  by 
the  Ashantees. 

Other  parts  of  the  head,  easily  detached  and  carried,  also  serve. 
Where  many  enemies  are  slain,  the  collected  ears  yield  in  small  bulk 
a  means  of  counting ;  and  probably  Zenghis  Khan  had  this  end  in  view 
when,  in  Poland,  he  "  filled  nine  sacks  with  the  right  ears  of  the 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    549 

slain."  Noses,  again,  are  in  some  cases  chosen  as  easily-enumerated 
trophies.  Anciently,  by  Constantine  V.,  "  a  plate  of  noses  was  ac- 
cepted as  a  grateful  offering ;  "  and,  at  the  present  time,  the  noses 
they  have  taken  are  carried  by  soldiers  to  their  leaders  in  Montenegro. 
That  the  slain  Turks  thus  deprived  of  their  noses,  even  to  the  extent 
of  500  on  one  battle-field,  were  so  treated  in  retaliation  for  the  de- 
capitations the  Turks  had  been  guilty  of,  is  true ;  but  this  excuse 
does  not  alter  the  fact  that  "the  Montenegrin  chiefs  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  give  up  the  practice  of  paying  their  clansmen  for  the 
number  of  noses  produced." 

The  ancient  Mexicans,  having  for  gods  their  deified  cannibal  an- 
cestors, in  whose  worship  the  most  horrible  rites  were  daily  performed, 
in  some  cases  took  as  trophies  the  entire  skins  of  the  vanquished. 
"  The  first  prisoner  made  in  a  war  was  flayed  alive.  The  soldier  who 
had  captured  him  dressed  himself  in  his  bleeding  skin,  and  thus,  for 
some  days,  served  the  god  of  battles.  .  .  .  He  who  was  dressed  in 
the  skin  walked  from  one  temple  to  another;  men  and  women  followed 
him,  shouting  for  joy."  While  we  here  see  that  the  trophy  was 
taken  by  the  victor  primarily  as  a  proof  of  his  prowess,  we  are  also 
shown  how  there  resulted  a  religious  ceremony  :  the  trophy  was  dis- 
played for  the  supposed  gratification  of  deities  delighting  in  blood- 
shed. There  is  further  evidence  that  this  was  the  intention.  "At 
the  festival  of  the  goldsmiths'  god  Totec,  one  of  the  priests  put  on 
the  skin  of  a  captive,  and,  being  so  dressed,  he  was  the  image  of  that 
god  Totec."  Nebel  (plate  3,  Fig.  1)  gives  the  basalt  figure  of  a  priest 
(or  idol)  clothed  in  a  human  skin  ;  and  additional  evidence  is  yielded 
by  the  custom  of  the  neighboring  state  of  Yucatan,  where  "the 
bodies  were  thrown  down  the  steps,  flayed,  the  priest  put  on  the 
skins,  and  danced,  and  the  body  was  buried  in  the  yard  of  the  tem- 
ple. They  took  prisoners  in  war  for  these  sacrifices,  and  condemned 
some  of  their  own  people  to  them." 

Usually,  however,  the  skin-trophy  is  relatively  small:  the  require- 
ment being  simply  that  it  shall  be  one  of  which  the  body  yields  no 
duplicate.  The  origin  of  it  is  well  shown  by  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  a  practice  among  the  Abipones.  They  preserve  the  heads  of 
enemies,  and — 

"  When  apprehension  of  approaching  hostilities  obliges  them  to  remove  to 
places  of  greater  security,  they  strip  the  heads  of  the  skin,  cutting  it  from  ear 
to  ear  beneath  the  nose,  and  dexterously  pulling  it  off  along  with  the  hair.  .  .  . 
That  Abipon  who  has  most  of  these  skins  at  home  excels  the  rest  in  military 


renown." 


Evidently,  however,  the  whole  skin  is  not  needful  to  prove  previous 
possession  of  a  head:  the  part  covering  the  crown  of  the  head,  dis- 
tinguished from  other  parts  by  the  arrangement  of  its  hairs,  serves 
the  purpose :  hence  scalping.     Tales  of  Indian  life  have  so  far  familiar- 


550  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ized  us  with  this  custom  that  illustrations  are  needless.  How  in  some 
cases,  after  a  victory,  "  scalps  are  fixed  on  a  pole  "  and  danced  round 
— how  they  are  "  highly  prized  as  trophies,  and  publicly  exhibited  at 
feasts,"  need  not  be  proved  in  detail.  But  one  piece  of  evidence, 
supplied  by  the  Shoshones,  may  be  named ;  because  it  clearly  shows 
us  the  use  of  the  trophy  as  an  accepted  evidence  of  victory — a  kind 
of  legal  proof  regarded  as  alone  conclusive.     We  read  that — 

"  Taking  an  enemy's  scalp  is  an  honor  quite  independent  of  the  act  of  van- 
quishing him.  To  kill  your  adversary  is  of  no  importance  unless  the  scalp  is 
brought  from  the  field  of  battle ;  and  were  a  warrior  to  slay  any  number  of  his 
enemies  in  action,  and  others  were  to  obtain  the  scalps  or  first  touch  the  dead, 
they  would  have  all  the  honors,  since  they  have  borne  off  the  trophy." 

Though  we  usually  think  of  scalp-taking  in  connection  with  the  North 
American  Indians,  yet  it  is  not  restricted  to  them.  Herodotus  de- 
scribes the  Scythians  as  scalping  their  conquered  enemies;  and  at  the 
present  time  the  Nagas  of  the  Indian  hills  take  scalps  and  preserve 
them. 

Preservation  of  hair  alone,  as  a  trophy,  is  less  general;  doubtless 
because  the  evidence  of  victory  which  it  yields  is  inconclusive;  one 
head  might  supply  hair  for  two  trophies.  Still  there  are  cases  in 
which  an  enemy's  hair  is  displayed  in  proof  of  success  in  war.  Speak- 
ing of  a  Naga,  Grange  says  his  shield  "  was  covered  over  with  the 
hair  of  the  foes  he  had  killed."  The  tunic  of  a  Mandan  chief  is  de- 
scribed by  Catlin  as  "  fringed  with  locks  of  hair  taken  by  his  own 
hand  from  the  heads  of  his  enemies."  And  we  are  told  of  the  Cochi- 
mis  that  "at  certain  festivals  their  sorcerers  ....  wore  long  robes 
of  skins,  ornamented  with  human  hair." 

Among  easily-transported  parts  carried  home  to  prove  victory, 
may  next  be  named  hands  and  feet.  By  the  Mexican  tribes,  Ceris 
and  Opatas,  "  the  slain  are  scalped,  or  a  hand  is  cut  off,  and  a  dance 
performed  round  the  trophies  on  the  field  of  battle."  So,  too,  of  the 
Californian  Indians,  who  also  took  scalps,  we  are  told  that  "the  yet 
more  barbarous  habit  of  cutting  off  the  hands,  feet,  or  head,  of  a  fallen 
enemy,  as  trophies  of  victory,  prevailed  more  widely.  They  also 
plucked  out  and  carefully  preserved  the  eyes  of  the  slain."  Though 
this  is  not  said,  we  may  assume  that  either  the  right  or  the  left  foot 
or  hand  was  the  trophy;  since,  in  the  absence  of  any  distinction,  vic- 
tory over  two  enemies  instead  of  one  might  be  alleged.  Hands  were 
trophies  among  ancient  peoples  of  the  Old  World  also.  The  inscrip- 
tion on  a  tomb  at  El  Kab  in  Upper  Egypt  tells  how  Aahmes,  the  son 
of  Abuna,  the  chief  of  the  steersmen,  "  when  he  had  won  a  hand  "  (in 
battle),  "he  received  the  king's  commendation,  and  the  golden  neck- 
lace in  token  of  his  bravery ; "  and  a  wall-painting  in  the  temple  of 
Medinet  Abou,  at  Thebes,  shows  the  presentation  of  a  heap  of  hands 
to  the  king. 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL   GOVERNMENT.    551 

This  last  instance  introduces  us  to  yet  another  kind  of  trophy. 
Along  with  the  heap  of  hands  thus  laid  before  the  king,  there  is  rep- 
resented a  phallic  heap  ;  and  an  accompanying  inscription,  narrating 
the  victory  of  Meneptah  I.  over  the  Libyans,  besides  mentioning  the 
"  cut  hands  of  all  their  auxiliaries,"  as  being  carried  on  donkeys  fol- 
lowing the  returning  ai-my,  mentions  these  other  trophies  as  taken 
from  men  of  the  Libyan  nation.  And  here  a  natural  transition  brings 
us  to  trophies  of  an  allied  kind,  the  taking  of  which,  once  common, 
has  continued  in  the  neighborhood  of  Egypt  down  to  modern  times. 
The  great  significance  of  the  account  Bruce  gives  of  a  practice  among 
the  Abyssinians  must  be  my  excuse  for  quoting  part  of  it.     He  says  : 

"  At  the  end  of  a  day  of  battle,  each  chief  is  obliged  to  sit  at  the  door  of  his 
tent,  and  each  of  his  followers,  who  has  slain  a  man,  presents  himself  in  his 
turn,  armed  as  in  fight,  with  the  bloody  foreskin  of  the  man  he  has  slain.  .  .  . 
If  he  has  killed  more  than  one  man,  so  many  more  times  he  returns.  .  .  .  After 
this  ceremony  is  over,  each  man  takes  his  bloody  conquest,  and  retires  to  pre- 
pare it  in  the  same  manner  the  Indians  do  their  scalps.  .  .  .  The  whole  army 
...  on  a  particular  day  of  review,  throws  them  before  the  king,  and  leaves 
them  at  the  gate  of  the  palace." 

Here  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  trophy,  first  serving  to  demonstrate  a 
victory  gained  by  the  individual  warrior,  is  subsequently  made  an 
offering  to  the  ruler,  and  further  becomes  a  means  of  recording  the 
number  slain — facts  verified  by  the  more  recent  French  traveler 
d'Hericourt.  That  like  purposes  were  similarly  served  among  the 
Hebrews,  proof  is  yielded  by  the  passage  which  narrates  Saul's  en- 
deavor to  betray  David  when  offering  him  Michal  to  wife  :  "And 
Saul  said,  Thus  shall  ye  say  to  David,  The  king  desireth  not  any 
dowry,  but  an  hundred  foreskins  of  the  Philistines,  to  be  avenged  of 
the  king's  enemies ; "  and  David  "  slew  of  the  Philistines  two  hundred 
men  ;  and  David  brought  their  foreskins,  and  gave  them  in  full  tale 
to  the  king." 

Associated  with  the  direct  motive  for  taking  trophies  there  is  an 
indirect  motive,  which  probably  aids  considerably  in  developing  the 
custom.  Numerous  facts  unite  to  prove  that  the  unanalytical  mind 
of  the  savage  thinks  the  qualities  of  any  object  reside  in  all  its  parts ; 
and  that,  among  others,  the  characteristics  of  human  beings  are  thus 
conceived  by  him»  From  this  we  found  there  arise  such  customs  as 
swallowing  parts  of  the  bodies  of  dead  relatives,  or  their  ground 
bones  in  water,  with  the  view  of  inheriting  their  virtues  ;  devouring 
the  heart  of  a  slain  brave  to  gain  his  courage,  or  his  eyes  in  the  ex- 
pectation of  seeing  further;  avoiding  the  flesh  of  certain  timid  ani- 
mals, lest  their  timidity  should  be  acquired.  A  further  implication 
of  this  belief  that  the  spirit  of  each  person  is  diffused  throughout  him 
is,  that  possession  of  a  part  of  his  body  gives  possession  of  a  part  of 
his  spirit,  and,  consequently,  a  power  over  his  spirit :  one  corollary 


552  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

being  that  anything  done  to  a  preserved  part  of  a  corpse  is  done  to 
the  corresponding  part  of  the  ghost ;  and  that  thus  a  ghost  may  he 
coerced  by  maltreating  a  relic.  Hence  the  origin  of  sorcery  all  over 
the  world  ;  hence  the  rattle  of  dead  men's  bones  so  prevalent  with 
primitive  medicine-men  ;  hence  "  the  powder  ground  from  the  bones 
of  the  dead  "  used  by  the  Peruvian  necromancers  ;  hence  the  portions 
of  corpses  which  our  own  traditions  of  witchcraft  name  as  used  in 
composing  charms. 

Besides  proving  victory  over  an  enemy,  the  trophy  therefore 
serves  for  the  subjugation  of  his  ghost ;  and  that  possession  of  it  is, 
at  any  rate,  in  some  cases,  supposed  to  make  his  ghost  a  slave,  we 
have  good  evidence.  The  primitive  belief  everywhere  found,  that 
the  doubles  of  men  and  animals  slain  at  the  grave  accompany  the 
double  of  the  deceased,  to  serve  him  in  the  other  world — the  belief 
which  leads  here  to  the  immolation  of  wives,  who  are  to  manage  the 
future  household  of  the  departed,  there  to  the  sacrifice  of  horses 
needed  to  carry  him  on  his  journey  after  death,  and  elsewhere  to  the 
killing  of  dogs  as  guides — is  a  belief  which,  in  many  places,  initiates 
the  kindred  belief  that,  by  placing  portions  of  bodies  on  his  tomb,  the 
men  and  animals  they  belonged  to  are  made  subject  to  the  deceased. 
Hence  the  bones  of  cattle,  etc.,  wTith  which  graves  are  in  many  cases 
decorated ;  hence  the  placing  on  graves  the  heads  of  enemies  or 
slaves,  as  above  indicated  ;  and  hence  a  like  use  of  the  scalp.  Con- 
cerning the  Osages,  Mr.  Tylor  cites  from  McCoy  and  Waitz  the  fact 
that  they  sometimes  "  plant  on  the  cairn  raised  over  a  corpse  a  pole 
with  an  enemy's  scalp  hanging  to  the  top.  Their  notion  was  that,  by 
taking  an  enemy  and  suspending  his  scalp  over  the  grave  of  a  de- 
ceased friend,  the  spirit  of  the  victim  became  subjected  to  the  spirit 
of  the  buried  warrior  in  the  land  of  spirits."  The  Ojibways  have  a 
like  practice,  of  which  a  like  idea  is  probably  the  cause. 

A  collateral  devolopment  of  trophy-taking,  which  eventually  has 
a  share  in  governmental  regulation,  must  not  be  forgotten.  I  refer 
to  the  display  of  parts  of  the  bodies  of  criminals. 

In  our  more  advanced  minds  the  enemy,  the  criminal,  and  the 
slave,  are  well  discriminated ;  but  they  are  little  discriminated  by 
the  primitive  man.  Almost  or  quite  devoid  as  he  is  of  the  feelings 
and  ideas  we  call  moral — holding  by  force  whatever  he  owns,  wrest- 
ing from  the  weaker  the  woman  or  other  object  he  has  possession  of, 
killing  his  own  child  without  hesitation  if  it  is  an  incumbi*ance,  or  his 
wife  if  she  offends  him,  and  sometimes  proud  of  being  a  recognized 
killer  of  his  fellow-tribesmen — the  savage  has  no  distinct  ideas  of 
right  and  wrong  in  the  abstract.  The  immediate  pleasures  or  pains 
they  give  are  his  sole  reasons  for  classing  things  and  acts  as  good  or 
bad.  Hence,  hostility  and  the  injuries  he  suffers  from  it  excite  in 
him  the  same  feeling,  whether  the  aggressor  is  without  the  tribe  or 


EVOLUTION    OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    553 

within  it :  the  enemy  and  the  felon  are  undistinguished.  This  con- 
fusion, now  seeming  strange  to  us,  we  shall  understand  better  on 
remembering  that,  even  in  early  stages  of  civilized  nations,  the  family- 
groups  which  formed  the  units  of  the  national  group  were  in  large 
measure  independent  communities,  standing  to  one  another  on  terms 
much  like  those  on  which  the  nation  stood  to  other  nations ;  that  they 
had  their  small  blood-feuds  as  the  nation  had  its  great  blood-feuds; 
that  each  family-group  was  responsible  to  other  family-groups  for 
the  acts  of  its  members,  as  each  nation  to  other  nations  for  the  acts 
of  its  citizens ;  that  vengeance  was  taken  on  innocent  members  of  a 
sinning  family,  as  vengeance  was  taken  on  innocent  citizens  of  a 
sinning  nation  ;  and  that  so  the  inter-family  aggressor  (answering  to 
the  modern  criminal)  stood  in  a  like  relative  position  with  the  inter- 
national aggressor.  Hence  the  naturalness  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
similarly  treated.  Already  we  have  seen  how,  in  mediaeval  days,  the 
heads  of  slain  family-enemies  (murderers  of  its  members  or  stealers 
of  its  property)  were  exhibited  as  trophies.  And  from  the  Salic  law 
we  also  learn  "  that  there  was  beside  each  dwelling  a  forked  gibbet, 
as  there  was  beside  the  public  tribunals."  Since,  at  the  same  time, 
the  heads  of  foes  slain  in  battle  were  brought  back  and  displayed — 
since  it  is  alleged  by  Lehuerou,  on  the  authority  of  Strabo,  that 
sometimes  such  heads  were  nailed  up  to  the  chief  door  of  the  house 
along  with  those  of  private  foes — we  have  evidence  that  identification 
of  the  public  and  the  private  foe  was  associated  with  the  practice  of 
taking  trophies  from  them  both.  A  kindred  alliance  is  traceable  in 
the  usages  of  the  Jews.  Along  with  the  slain  Nicanor's  head,  Judas 
orders  that  his  hand  be  cut  off;  and  he  brings  both  with  him  to  Jeru- 
salem as  trophies:  the  hand  being  that  which  he  had  stretched  out  in 
blasphemous  boasts.  And  this  treatment  of  the  transgressor  who  is 
an  alien  is  paralleled  by  the  treatment  of  non-alien  transgressors  by 
David,  who,  besides  hanging  up  the  corpses  of  the  men  who  had  slain 
Ishbosheth,  "cut  off  their  hands  and  their  feet." 

It  may,  then,  be  reasonably  inferred  that  the  display  of  executed 
felons  on  gibbets,  or  their  heads  on  spikes,  originates  from  the  bring- 
ing back  of  trophies  taken  from  slain  enemies.  Though  usually  a 
part  only  of  the  slain  enemy  is  fixed  up,  yet  sometimes  the  whole 
body  is,  as  when  the  dead  Saul,  minus  his  head,  was  fastened  by  the 
Philistines  to  the  wall  of  Bethshan  ;  and  that  fixing  up  the  whole 
body  of  the  felon  is  more  frequent,  probably  arises  from  the  fact  that 
it  has  not  to  be  brought  from  a  great  distance,  as  would  usually  have 
to  be  the  body  of  an  enemy. 

Though  no  direct  connection  exists  between  trophy-taking  and 
ceremonial  government,  the  foregoing  facts  reveal  such  indirect  con- 
nections as  make  it  needful  to  note  the  custom.  It  enters  as  a  factor 
into  the  three  forms  of  control — social,  political,  and  religious. 


554  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

If,  in  primitive  states,  men  are  honored  according  to  their  prowess 
— if  their  prowess  is  estimated  here  hy  the  number  of  heads  they  can 
show,  there  hy  the  number  of  jawbones,  and  elsewhere  by  the  number 
of  scalps — if  such  trophies  are  treasured  up  for  generations,  and  the 
pride  of  families  is  proportioned  to  the  number  of  them  taken  by  an- 
cestors— if  of  the  Gauls  in  the  time  of  Posidonius  we  read  that  "  the 
heads  of  their  enemies  that  were  the  chiefest  persons  of  quality  they 
carefully  deposit  in  chests,  embalming  them  with  the  oil  of  cedars, 
showing  them  to  strangers,  glory  and  boast "  that  they  or  their  fore- 
fathers had  refused  great  sums  of  money  for  them — then,  obviously, 
a  kind  of  class-distinction  is  initiated  by  trophies.  On  reading  that 
in  some  places  a  man's  rank  varies  with  the  quantity  of  bones  in  or 
upon  his  dwelling,  we  cannot  deny  that  the  display  of  these  proofs  of 
personal  superiority  originates  a  regulative  influence  in  social  inter- 
course. 

As  political  control  evolves,  trophy-taking  becomes  in  several 
ways  instrumental  to  the  maintenance  of  authority.  Beyond  the  awe 
felt  for  the  chief  whose  many  trophies  show  his  powers  of  destruction, 
there  comes  the  greater  awe  which,  on  growing  into  a  king  with  sub- 
ordinate chiefs  and  dependent  tribes,  he  excites  by  accumulating  the 
trophies  others  take  on  his  behalf;  rising  into  dread  when  he  ex- 
hibits in  numbers  the  relics  of  slain  rulers.  As  the  practice  assumes 
this  developed  form,  the  receipt  of  such  vicariously-taken  trophies 
passes  into  a  political  ceremony.  The  heap  of  hands  laid  before  an 
ancient  Egyptian  king  served  to  propitiate ;  as  now  serves  the  mass 
of  jawbones  sent  by  an  Ashantee  captain  to  the  court.  When  we 
read  of  Timour's  soldiers  that  "their  cruelty  was  enforced  by  the  per- 
emptory command  of  producing  an  adequate  number  of  heads,"  we 
are  conclusively  shown  that  the  presentation  of  trophies  hardens  into 
a  form  expressing  obedience.  Nor  is  it  thus  only  that  a  political  effect 
results.  There  is  the  derived  kind  of  governmental  restraint  produced 
by  fixing  up  the  bodies  or  heads  of  felons. 

Though  offering  part  of  a  slain  enemy  to  propitiate  a  ghost  does 
not  enter  into  what  is  commonly  called  religious  ceremonial,  yet  it 
obviously  .so  enters  when  the  aim  is  to  propitiate  a  god  developed 
from  an  ancestral  ghost.  We  are  shown  the  transition  by  such  a  fact 
as  that,  in  a  battle  between  two  tribes  of  Khonds,  the  first  man  who 
"slew  his  opponent  struck  off  his  right  arm  and  rushed  with  it  to 
the  priest  in  the  rear,  who  bore  it  off  as  an  offering  to  Laha  Pennoo 
in  his  grave;"  Laha  Pennoo  being  their  "  god  of  arms."  Joining 
with  this  such  other  facts  as  that,  before  the  Tahitian  god  Oro,  human 
immolations  were  frequent,  and  the  preserved  relics  were  built  into 
walls  "formed  entirely  of  human  skulls,"  which  were  "principally,  if 
not  entirely,  the  skulls  of  those  who  have  been  slain  in  battle,"  we 
are  shown  that  gods  are  worshiped  by  bringing  to  them,  and  accumu- 
lating round  their  shrines,  these  portions  of  enemies  killed — killed, 


OPIUM  AND  ITS  ANTIDOTE.  555 

not  unfrequently,  in  fulfillment  of  their  supposed  commands.  And  the 
inference  is  verified  on  seeing  similarly  used  other  kinds  of  spoils. 
The  Philistines,  besides  otherwise  displaying  relics  of  the  dead  Saul, 
put  "his  armor  in  the  house  of  Ashtaroth."  By  the  Greeks  the 
trophy,  formed  of  arms,  shields,  and  helmets,  taken  from  the  defeated, 
was  consecrated  to  some  divinity ;  and  the  Romans  deposited  the 
spoils  brought  back  from  battle  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus. 
Similarly  of  the  Feejeeans,  who  are  solicitous  in  every  way  to  propi- 
tiate their  bloodthirsty  deities,  we  read  that,  "  when  flags  are  taken 
they  are  always  hung  up  as  trophies  in  the  mbure"  or  temple.  That 
hundreds  of  gilt  spurs  of  French  knights  vanquished  by  the  Flemish 
in  the  battle  of  Courtrai  were  deposited  in  the  church  of  that  place, 
and  that  in  France  flags  taken  from  enemies  were  suspended  from  the 
vaults  of  churches  (a  practice  not  unknown  in  Protestant  England), 
are  facts  that  might  be  joined  with  these,  did  not  so  joining  them  im- 
ply the  impossible  supposition  that  Christians  think  to  please  "  the 
God  of  love  "  by  acts  like  those  used  to  please  the  diabolical  gods  of 
cannibals. 

Because  of  inferences  to  be  hereafter  drawn,  one  remaining  gen- 
eral truth  must  be  named,  though  it  is  so  obvious  as  to  seem  scarcely 
worth  mention.  Trophy-taking  is  directly  related  to  militancy.  It 
begins  during  a  primitive  life  that  is  wholly  occupied  in  hostilities 
with  men  and  animals;  it  develops  with' the  growth  of  conquering 
societies  in  which  perpetual  wars  generate  the  militant  type  of  struct- 
ure ;  it  diminishes  as  growing  industrialism  more  and  more  substi- 
tutes productive  activities  for  destructive  activities ;  and  it  is  a  truism 
to  say  that  complete  industrialism  necessitates  entire  cessation  of  it. 

The  chief  significance  of  trophy-taking,  however,  has  yet  to  be 
pointed  out.  The  reason  for  dealing  with  it  under  the  general  head 
of  Ceremonial  Government,  though  in  itself  scarcely  to  be  classed  as 
a  ceremony,  is  that  it  furnishes  us  with  the  key  to  a  large  class  of 
ceremonies  which  have  prevailed  all  over  the  world  among  the  unciv- 
ilized and  semi-civilized.  From  the  practice  of  cutting  off  and  taking 
away  portions  of  the  dead  body,  there  grows  up  the  practice  of  cut- 
ting off  portions  of  the  living  body. 


-♦♦♦- 


OPIUM  AND  ITS  ANTIDOTE.1 

By  CHAELES  EICHET. 

OPIUM  is  the  juice  of  the  poppy,  and,  as  there  are  many  varieties 
of  the  poppy,  so  too  are  there  many  kinds  of  opium ;  the  mode 
of  collecting  the  juice  is,  however,  always    the  same.      In  Egypt, 
Syria,  and  India,  the  three  countries  which  produce  opium,  a  number 
1  From  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  ;  translated  and  condensed  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  M. 


55 6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  semicircular  incisions  are  made  in  the  capsule  of  the  poppy,  and 
the  juice  which  exudes  is  carefully  gathered.  This  juice,  on  being 
dried  in  the  sun,  becomes  of  a  dark  color,  thickens,  and  forms  a  brown, 
firm  paste :  this  is  opium.  Laudanum  is  a  solution  of  opium  in  alcohol 
and  water.  Both  opium  and  laudanum  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  mix- 
ture of  several  similar  but  not  identical  substances.  Since  the  time  of 
Derosne  (1804)  and  Robiquet  (181*7),  who  first  isolated  narcotine  and 
morphine,  chemists  have  very  carefully  investigated  the  different 
chemical  compounds  occurring  in  opium.  Thus  they  have  discovered 
codeine,  narceine,  theba'ine,  papaverine,  and  other  substances,  all  of 
them  bases,  i.  e.,  bodies  that  unite  with  acids  to  form  crystallizable 
salts. 

These  bases  do  not  all  affect  in  the  same  way  the  organic  func- 
tions. Thus,  narcotine  possesses  very  little  or  no  soporific  power : 
two  grammes  of  it  can  be  injected  without  perceptible  effect,  while  a 
centigramme  of  morphine  is  quite  sufficient  to  produce  therapeutic  and 
physiological  results.  Theba'ine  does  not  cause  sleep,  and  in  animals 
produces  convulsions  like  those  caused  by  strychnine,  while  morphine 
in  the  same  dose  produces  deep  comatose  sleep.  Another  curious 
thing  about  these  opium  alkaloids  is,  that  they  do  not  act  alike  on 
man  and  animals,  as  has  been  demonstrated  by  Claude  Bernard. 
Man  is  specially  sensitive  to  the  action  of  morphine,  while  theba'ine 
is  almost  without  effect  upon  his  nervous  system :  animals,  on  the 
other  hand,  feel  the  effects  of  morphine  only  when  it  is  given  in  large 
doses,  while  theba'ine  is  for  them  a  violent  poison.  So,  too,  with  bel- 
ladonna, and  atropine,  its  active  principle,  they  are  a  deadly  poison 
for  man,  but  almost  without  effect  on  rabbits :  the  dose  of  atropine 
that  would  suffice  to  kill  ten  men  would  hardly  be  enough  to  kill  one 
rabbit.  The  difference  is  not  so  great  with  respect  to  morphine,  yet 
morphine  specially  affects  man ;  hence  in  this  article  we  will  consider 
only  this  one  opium  alkaloid. 

When,  in  "  Le  Malade  imaginaire,"  honest  Argan  is  asked  why 
opium  causes  sleep,  his  artless  reply  is,  "  Quia  habet  proprietatem 
dormitivam."  Nowadays  we  are  not  content  with  this  kind  of  ex- 
planation, and  some  authors  have  sought  for  the  "  dormitive  prop- 
erty "  of  opium  in  the  state  of  the  cerebral  circulation  ;  and,  though 
the  true  cause  has  not  yet  been  certainly  established,  still  it  is  some- 
thing that  research  has  been  made. 

It  is  not  yet  positively  decided  whether  opium  produces  anaemia 
or  whether  it  produces  congestion  of  the  brain  ;  indeed,  we  know  lit- 
tle more  than  did  Argan,  namely,  that  it  sets  one  asleep.  This  sleep, 
however,  is  in  some  respects  different  from  ordinary  sleep.  From 
thirty  to  sixty  minutes  after  taking  opium  one  feels  a  slight  excita- 
tion ;  there  is  a  general  feeling  of  buoyancy  and  contentment,  soon 
followed  by  drowsiness  and  a  state  of  reverie  rather  than  of  dream- 
ing.    There  is  a  pleasurable  feeling  of  abandon,  and  an  agreeable 


OPIUM  AND   ITS  ANTIDOTE.  557 

sense  of  torpor  creeps  over  the  whole  frame ;  the  thoughts  are  like 
the  ever-shifting  scenes  of  a  phantasmagoria,  on  which  we  passively 
gaze,  without  will  or  effort  to  alter  the  series.  Still,  so  long  as  the 
intoxication  is  not  deep,  such  effort  is  possible.  One  feels  that  he  is 
falling  asleep,  and  that  if  he  would  but  bestir  himself  he  might  over- 
come his  drowsiness.  But  little  by  little  the  legs  grow  heavy,  the 
arms  fall  to  the  sides  almost  powerless,  and  the  weighted  eyelids 
refuse  to  remain  open.  A  dreamy,  rambling  sort  of  thinking  still 
goes  on,  and  there  is  as  yet  no  sleep  ;  we  are  still  conscious  of 
the  world  around.  We  indistinctly  hear  the  tic-tac  of  the  clock 
and  the  rumble  of  passing  vehicles,  but  it  is  as  though,  so  to  speak, 
another  person  were  listening  and  not  we.  The  active,  conscious 
Me  exists  no  more,  and  auother  personality  seems  to  have  taken  its 
place.  Gradually  everything  becomes  more  and  more  indistinct,  our 
thoughts  are  enveloped  in  a  haze,  we  feel  ourselves  detached  from 
matter,  detached  from  our  bodies,  and  transformed  into  thought, 
which  flits  about,  so  to  speak,  becoming  more  and  more  brilliant,  but 
at  the  same  time  more  and  more  confused.  Then  the  outer  world  dis- 
appears, and  there  remains  only  an  inner  world,  sometimes  full  of 
tumult  and  delirium,  and  producing  feverish  excitement,  or,  as  is 
more  frequently  the  case,  calm  and  quiet,  and  full  of  delightful  re- 
pose. This  intoxication  is  purely  psychical,  and  far  superior  to  the 
intoxication  produced  by  alcohol  or  hasheesh,  for,  though  hasheesh 
gives  one  a  few  hours  of  insanity,  opium  gives  sleep,  and  with  this 
boon  there  is  nothing  that  can  compare.  One  must  have  suffered  from 
insomnia  in  order  to  appreciate  the  value  of  opium.  It  brings  sleep, 
and  it  banishes  pain. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  agents  we  possess  for  modifying 
the  sensibility,  but  whether  it  does  this  by  acting  upon  the  sensor 
nerves  or  on  the  brain  we  know  not  with  certainty.  Even  where  it 
does  not  procure  sleep,  it  has  the  singular  power  of  calming  the  ex- 
citability of  the  nerves,  and  of  subduing  that  morbid  state  of  the 
sensibility  called  by  physicians  hyperesthesia.  It  has  been  observed 
that  when  it  reduces  hyperesthesia  it  does  not  cause  sleep,  all  its 
force  seemingly  being  spent  in  combating  pain.  In  cases  of  stubborn 
neuralgia  opium  appeases  suffering,  and  a  larger  dose  is  required  to 
produce  sleep.  But  is  it  not  enough  that  it  allays  the  irritability 
of  a  diseased  nerve  ?  Some  persons  cannot  live  without  opium,  and 
they  swallow  enormous  quantities  of  it  without  perceptible  effect. 
Herein  opium  differs  widely  from  alcohol.  Alcohol  is  cumulative  in 
its  effects,  and  the  more  one  is  addicted  to  its  use,  the  more  easily  is 
he  intoxicated  by  it.  One  does  not  become  habituated  to  alcohol  in- 
toxication, but  with  opium  the  case  is  different ;  one  may  become  so 
accustomed  to  it  as  to  be  able  to  drink  daily  a  litre  of  laudanum, 
twenty  drops  of  which  would  be  a  strong  enough  medicinal  dose  for 
a  non-habituated  person. 


558  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

In  China  there  is  the  same  popular  demand  for  opium  that  exists 
in  Europe  for  alcohol  and  tobacco.  The  use  of  opium  does  not  date 
very  far  back,  and  it  is  probably  the  only  innovation  that  China  has 
adopted  from  the  West.  The  importation  of  opium  from  India  into 
China  amounted  in  1798  to  300  tons,  in  1863  to  3,000  tons,  in  1866  to 
3,903,  and  since  then  the  increase  has  been  still  more  rapid.1 

Opium  is  chewed,  or  smoked  in  a  pipe,  the  latter  mode  of  using  it 
being  the  more  common.  The  bowl  of  a  long-stemmed  pipe  is  filled 
with  the  drug,  and,  as  the  opium  swells  and  adheres  to  the  pipe,  a 
needle  is  in  constant  use  to  keep  open  an  air-passage.  As  the  drug 
burns  with  difficulty,  the  smoker  must  have  a  light  ready  at  hand  for 
use  whenever  his  pipe  goes  out. 

The  number  of  opium-smokers  is  considerable,  but  the  great  ma- 
jority of  them  use  the  drug  only  in  moderation.  The  wealthiest 
mandarins,  the  most  intelligent  merchants,  smoke  opium,  as  do  the 
humblest  coolies.  The  use  of  opium  is  like  the  use  of  tobacco  among 
ourselves;  nor  does  it  produce  any  greater  mischief,  at  least  among 
the  well-to-do  classes  ;  but  with  the  common  people  it  is  different. 
There  are  establishments  specially  devoted  to  opium — smoking-places 
where,  for  a  trifling  sum  of  money,  one  may  gratify  this  appetite. 
Rarely  does  a  smoker  leave  before  he  is  fully  under  the  influence  of 
the  drug,  just  as  the  drunkard  does  not  quit  the  gin-shop  until  he  is 
fuddled.  So  used,  opium  is  certainly  a  dangerous  poison,  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  all  travelers,  the  wretches  who  daily  commit 
such  excesses  speedily  fall  to  a  fearful  state  of  degradation,  both 
moral  and  physical.  Pale,  wan,  gaunt,  shambling  along  with  diffi- 
culty, they  must  have  recourse  to  artificial  stimulation  in  order  to 
regain  a  part  of  their  wasted  energy.  Still  the  injurious  effects  of 
opium  have  in  all  probability  been  very  much  exaggerated  :  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  caused  by  the  abuse  of  the  drug  is  not  very  great ;  and 
many  of  those  who  smoke  it,  even  in  considerable  quantity,  retain 
unimpaired  their  mental  faculties.  True,  the  digestive  functions 
rarely  escape  impairment.  Dyspepsia  and  general  emaciation  are  the 
result  of  this  sad  habit ;  but,  however  that  may  be,  China  is  not  yet 
by  any  means  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  and,  if  she  is  in  a  state  of  deca- 
dence, the  blame  does  not  attach  to  opium. 

Opium  has  its  antidote  :  just  as  we  can  produce  sleep,  so  too  can 
we  produce  sleeplessness,  by  the  employment  of  a  mind-poison  whose 
effects  are  diametrically  opposite  to  those  of  the  other.  The  antidote 
of  opium  is  coffee.  One  hundred  years  ago  coffee  was  almost  unknown, 
but  now  there  is  hardly  another  beverage  that  is  so  widely  distrib- 
uted. Every  one  has  it  in  his  power  to  judge  of  the  effects  of  coffee. 
For  some  persons  it  is  a  stimulus  necessary  for  the  performance  of 
intellectual  work.     In  others  it  produces  a  painful  state  of  insomnia: 

1  The  native  production  of  opium  has  of  late  years  attained  very  considerable  propor- 
tions.—  Trans. 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT    WORKS.  559 

taken  even  in  weak  doses  it  causes  restlessness  and  anxiety,  a  sort  of 
feverish  activity  altogether  different  from  the  indolent  activity  of 
opium.  Under  the  action  of  opium  the  will  seems  to  be  lulled  to 
sleep  and  the  imagination  runs  riot.  But  under  the  influence  of  coffee 
the  imagination  is  hardly  stimulated  at  all,  while  there  does  appear 
to  be  excitation  of  the  will.  Did  I  not  fear  being  suspected  of  hav- 
ing a  theory  to  defend,  I  should  say  that  the  faculties  of  will  and 
consciousness  seem  to  be  superexcited  :  there  is,  as  it  were,  a  constant 
strain  on  attention  and  memory,  whereas  in  the  case  of  alcohol,  hash- 
eesh, and  opium,  there  is  a  relaxing  of  attention.  Hence  coffee  pro- 
duces a  true  intoxication  that  fatigues  one  far  more  than  does  the 
somnolent  intoxication  of  opium,  but  it  leads  to  the  same  result.  In 
striving  to  do  too  much,  the  mind  does  less  :  under  stimulation  the 
will  is  impaired  ;  and  the  perfect  equilibrium  of  the  mental  faculties 
is  disturbed  as  well  by  excess  as  by  defect  of  will. 

Coffee  is  said  to  produce  cerebral  anaemia,  while  opium  and  alco- 
hol cause  congestion  ;  but  this  theorv  still  needs  confirmation.  Nev- 
ertheless,  the  part  played  by  coffee  in  general  nutrition  is  very  well 
understood.  It  retards  organic  combustion,  and  hence  it  is  an  aliment 
cTepargne — a  food-stuff  that  effects  a  saving  of  other  food-stuffs.  In 
the  normal  state  there  is  always  going  on  within  our  tissues  a  multi- 
tude of  chemical  actions,  the  final  result  of  which  is  heat-production 
and  liberation  of  carbonic  acid.  This  carbonic  acid  passes  into  the 
venous  blood,  and  the  venous  blood,  on  reaching  the  lungs,  parts  with 
its  carbonic  acid.  Thus  the  quantity  of  the  carbonic  acid  is,  to  some 
extent,  the  expression  of  the  nutritive  activity.  Now,  on  taking 
coffee,  though  no  greater  quantity  of  oxygen  be  inhaled,  and  without 
increasing  the  ration  of  food,  the  quantity  of  the  carbonic  acid  is  re- 
duced, and  yet  the  amount  of  force  is  not  lessened.  As  illustrating  this 
doctrine,  it  is  usual  to  cite  a  fact  observed  among  Belgian  miners, 
who  can  perform  a  considerable  amount  of  work  almost  without  food, 
their  strength  being  maintained  solely  by  the  absorption  of  a  large 
quantity  of  coffee.  Hence  coffee  is  a  food-stuff  which  moderates 
nutrition  by  lessening  the  activity  of  the  chemical  transformations 
incessantly  going  on  within  the  tissues. 


-♦*♦- 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT  WORKS. 

By  GEORGE  M.  SHAW. 

AMONG  the  innumerable  uses  of  electricity  none  is  more  remark- 
able than  its  employment  for  the  transmission  of  sound.  The 
ultimate  mystery  of  the  action  we  cannot,  of  course,  undertake  to 
explain,  but  the  mechanism  by  which  it  is  produced  is  by  no  means 
difficult  to  understand. 


560 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Fig.  1. 


If  a  wire,  from  a  galvanic  battery  such  as  is  shown  in  Fig.  1, 
through  which  a  current  of  electricity  is  passing,  be  wound  around  a 
piece  of  steel  or  soft  iron,  as  represented  in  Fig.  2,  some  curious 
things  will  happen.  If  the  bar  be  soft  iron,  it  will  be  made  magnetic, 
and  kept  in  that  condition  as  long  as  the  current  continues  to  pass 

round  it,  and  its  ends  will  then  at- 
tract and  hold  bits  of  iron,  but  drop 
them  when  the  battery  is  taken 
away.  If  the  bar  be  of  steel,  in- 
stead of  soft  iron,  it  will  be  mag- 
netized and  attract  iron  just  as  be- 
fore; but,  unlike  the  soft-iron  bar, 
it  will  keep  its  magnetism  and  at- 
tract the  iron  even  after  the  battery 
is  removed.  Its  magnetism  will  be 
permanent.  Since,  however,  elec- 
tricity made  the  magnet,  we  can,  in 
turn,  make  the  magnet  a  source  of 
electricity.  Suppose  the  magnetized 
steel  bar  has  attracted  and  is  hold- 
ing on  to  a  piece  of  iron.  We  can  now  take  the  battery  away  and 
join  the  ends  of  the  wire,  as  in  Fig.  8 ;  then,  if  the  piece  of  iron  be 
pulled  off  and  stuck  on  again,  a  current  of  electricity  will  run  through 
the  wire  every  time  it  is  done.  Electricity  produced  in  this  way  is 
called  magneto-electricity,  and  the  current  in  the  wire  is  said  to  be  an 
induced  electric  current.  If,  now,  the  wire  from  bar  No.  1  (Fig.  4), 
be  extended  to  a  distance,  and  coiled  around  another  magnetized  bar 

(No.  2),  the  currents  induced  in  it,  by  mak- 
^^^^^jg^^^g^^^'    ing  and  breaking  the  contact  of  the  piece 

of  soft  iron  with  the  first  magnet,  will 
simultaneously  affect  the  magnetism  in  the 
distant  magnet  also.  Though  the  magnets  be  a  mile  or  a  hundred 
miles  apart,  the  disturbance  in  one  is  immediately  and  equally  mani- 
fested in  the  other. 

But,  what  is  still  more  remarkable,  these  induced  currents  may  be 
sent  through  the  wire  without  the  actual  contact  of  the  soft  iron  with 
the  steel  bar.  If  this  piece  of  iron  is  brought  very  near  to  one 
magnet  without  touching  it,  and  then  withdrawn,  an  electric  thrill  or 
wave  is  induced  in  the  wire  which  is  felt  in  the  distant  magnet,  just 
as  if  the  contact  had  been  actually  made  and  broken.  And  so  if  we 
play  the  piece  of  soft  iron  backward  and  forward,  before  the  magnet, 
no  matter  how  rapidly  or  slightly,  each  motion  is  felt  as  an  electric 
pulse  in  the  magnet  at  the  other  end.  To  borrow  a  metaphor  from 
life,  it  is  as  if  the  close  approach  and  quick  oscillation  of  the  piece 
of  soft  iron  fretted  or  tantalized  the  magnet,  and  sent  a  series  of 
electrical  shudders  through  the  iron  nerve. 


Fig.  2. 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT   WORKS. 


561 


We  have  here  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  telephone.  No 
galvanic  battery  is  employed  to  furnish  an  electrical  current,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  telegraph  ;  but  the  currents  in  the  wires  are  produced  by 
the  motions  of  the  piece  of  soft  iron  near  the  magnet.  Thus  far  we 
have  represented  these  motions  in  a  very  rude  and  coarse  way,  as  if 
the  piece  of  iron  were  vibrated  backward  and  forward  by  the  hand ; 
but  what  we  have  really  to  deal 
with  is  something  infinitely  more 
delicate  than  this.  The  piece  of 
soft  iron  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  shown  at  a,  Figs.  3  and 
4,  represents  what  is  called  the 
diaphragm     of    the     telephone,  Fig.  3. 

which  is  a  thin,  circular  sheet  of 

iron,  a  couple  of  inches  in  diameter,  held  by  its  rim,  and  adjusted  so 
that  its  centre  comes  very  close  to  the  end  of  the  magnetized  bar.  And 
the  motions  which  now  concern  us  are  simply  the  vibrations  produced 
in  this  iron  membrane  by  the  beats  against  it  of  agitated  air.  Every- 
body knows  that  sounds  are  propagated  through  the  aerial  medium 
by  waves  that  travel  swiftly  from  their  sources,  and  that  we  hear 
them  because  the  waves  strike  in  rapid  succession  upon  the  drum 
of  the  ear.  It  is  also  well  understood  that  these  waves  differ  greatly 
in  their  rates,  depending  upon  the  rapidity  of  vibration  in  the  sound- 
ing body;  and,  moreover,  that  the}'  are  very  complex,  there  being 
waves  within  waves  of  various  orders  in  a  single  tone.  It  is  the 
special  complexity  of  these  wave-systems,  in  the  different  cases,  that 
gives  those  peculiarities  of  tone  that  mark  different  musical  instru- 
ments  and   distinguish   the   voice   in   different   individuals.      These 


Fig.  4. 


waves,  started  by  a  person  talking,  beat  against  the  diaphragm 
of  the  telephone  as  they  beat  against  the  tympanum  of  the  ear,  and 
throw  it  into  vibrations,  which  are  reproduced  in  the  thrills  of  the 
magnet  that  again  excite  tremors  in  the  wires,  and  these,  affecting 
the  magnet,  at  the  other  end  set  the  other  diaphragm  into  vibration, 
and  this  gives  out  a  new  set  of  air-waves  which,  falling  on  the  tym- 
panum of  the  listener,  reproduces  the  original  sound  or  voice.  The 
arrangement  being  the  same  at  each  end,  the  machine,  of  course, 
works  both  ways,  so  that  when  a  person  is  talking  to  the  distant 
diaphragm  the  direction  is  reversed,  and  the  sounds  are  emitted  by 
vol.  xii. — 36 


562 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  diaphragm  near  by,  and  thus  the  original  talker  gets  his  response. 
The  action  set  up  in  one  telephone  is  instantaneously  repeated  or 
copied  by  the  other.  And  so  by  this  marvelous  chain  of  effects  a  per- 
son discoursing,  apparently,  to  a  piece  of  iron,  may  be  intelligibly 
heard  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  a  conversation  kept  up  between 
the  distant  parties  as  if  they  were  in  the  same  room.  The  "  ear-shot" 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  has  been  but  a  few  hundred  feet ;  by 
the  invention  of  this  little  contrivance  it  is  now  extended  to  hundreds 
of  miles. 

So  much  for  the  theory  of  the  telephone  ;  let  us  now  note  how  it 
may  be  practically  constructed.  To  make  one,  procure  a  tube,  bb 
(Fig.  5),  of  thin  sheet-brass,  one  inch  long,  two  inches  in  diameter, 


Fig.  5. 


and  with  a  flange  one-half  inch  wide.  Then  from  a  ferrotype-plate — 
the  photographer's  "  tin-type  " — cut  a  round  plate,  shown  edgewise, 
at  c  c,  to  cover  the  tube  b  b  over  the  flange.  This  is  the  vibrator  or 
diaphragm.  Next  cut  a  wooden  ring  or  "washer,"  dd,  the  width  of  the 
flange,  and  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick.  Then  make  a  spool,  e  e, 
one  inch  long,  of  thin  sheet-brass  again,  with  one  flange  wide  enough 
to  cover  the  wooden  ring,  the  tube  of  the  spool  being  made  so  as  to  fit 
tightly  the  magnet  g,  which  is  a  strongly-magnetized  steel  rod,  four 
inches  long  and  three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  parts  will 
then  fit  together,  and  may  be  screwed  firmly  through  the  flanges  b  b. 
The  least  polished  side  of  the  plate  c  c  should  face  the  magnet,  and  it  is 
well  to  scrape  the  part  opposite  the  end  of  the  bar,  so  as  to  expose  the 
iron.  The  spool  is  to  be  wound  with  about  fifty  yards  of  No.  36  or  38 
silk-covered  copper  wire,  the  thickness  of  a  bristle.  The  magnet  is  then 
shoved  in,  till  it  nearly  touches  the  plate  cc.  After  joining  the  ends 
of  the  spool-wire  to  the  line-wires  ff,  that  run  to  another  instrument 
just  like  it,  the  telephone  will  be  ready  for  use.  It  is  important  to 
concentrate  the  voice  upon  a  narrow  space  at  the  middle  of  the  plate, 
and  for  this  purpose  a  movable  wooden  mouth-piece,  a  a,  is  used,  with 
an  opening  at  the  bottom  about  the  size  of  a  dime.  This  mouth-piece 
should  fit  neatly,  and  reach  to  within  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  of 
the  diaphragm. 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT    WORKS. 


563 


Fig.  6  represents  a  section  of  Bell's  telephone.  E E  is  the  dia- 
phragm, F  the  tube,  B  the  silk-covered  wire  wound  upon  the  spool, 
extending  0  C,  to  the  binding-screws  D  D,  where  they  are  con- 
nected with  the  line-wires.  The  magnet  A  has  its  distance  from  the 
diaphragm  adjusted  by  the  screw  at  the  opposite  end.  Fig.  1  repre- 
sents the  form  and  aspect  of  the  instrument  as  used.  It  is  about  five 
or  six  inches  long  and  two  and  a  half  inches  broad  at  its  widest 
part.     In  sending  a  message,  the  instrument  is  held  to  the  mouth, 


Fig.  6. 

and  the  words  distinctly  spoken  in  ordinary  tones  or  even  a  whis- 
per. The  instrument  is  then  held  to  the  ear  to  receive  the  answer. 
Instead  of  this,  two  telephones  connected  may  be  used  at  each  station, 
so  that  one  may  be  held  to  the  ear  all  the  time,  while  the  other  is  used 
for  telephoning,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  8 ;  and  this  one,  too,  in  hearing 
a  long  message,  or  in  a  noisy  room,  may  be  held  to  the  other  ear,  and 
so  shut  out  all  other  sounds.  This  also  gives  two  persons  a  chance  to 
hear  at  the  same  time,  by  giving  a  telephone  to  each. 

Several  telephones  may  be  connected  together  in  one  office,  so  that 
any  number  of  persons,  by  having  one  each,  may  hear  the  game  message. 
In  singing,  each  singer  has  a  telephone.  At  the  late  fair  of  the  Ameri- 
can Institute,  we  were  one  evening  listening  to  a  quartet  of  college- 
boys,  uproariously  singing  "Upidee  i-dee-i-da,"  in  the  Tribune  Build- 
ing, through  six  miles  of  wire,  when  suddenly  all  was  still.  "  Hello !" 
we  shouted.  "Hello  you!"  was  answered  back.  "What's  the  mat- 
ter?" "Big  fire  in  Leonard  Street.  The  fire  is — "  "Never  mind 
the  fire  ;  go  on  with  the  singing,"  we  rejoined,  and  the  singing  went 
on  with  "  The  Red,  White,  and  Blue."  The  impression  produced  by 
listening  to  a  communication  through  this  instrument  has  been  aptly 
described  as  follows:  "The  voice,  whether  in  speaking  or  singing, 
has  a  wreird,  curious  sound  in  the  telephone.  It  is  in  a  measure  ven- 
triloqual  in  character;  and,  with  the  telephone  held  an  inch  or  two 
from  the  ear,  it  has  the  effect  as  if  some  one  were  singing  far  off  in 
the  building,  or  the  sound  were  coming  up  from  a  vaulted  cellar  or 
through  a  massive  stone-wall."  The  singing  or  speaking  is  heard 
microscopically,  as  it  were,  or  rather  microphonically,  but  wonderful- 
ly distinct  and  clear  in  character.  The  enchantment  of  distance  is 
there,  and  one  listens  as  to  sounds  from  fairy-land. 


564 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


Fig.  7. 


The  longest  distance  at  which  conversation  has  been  carried  on, 
so  far,  through  the  telephone,  is  about  250  miles.     With  a  submarine 

cable  conversation  has  been  carried  on  between 
England  and  France  across  the  English  Chan- 
nel. Conversation  has  also  been  held  through 
the  bodies  of  sixteen  persons  standing  hand-in- 
hand. 

The  telephone  has  been  regarded  as  a  toy, 
or  a  curiosity  to  be  played  with  ;  but,  while  it 
is  undoubtedly  extremely  interesting  as  a  nov- 
elty, it  is  very  much  more  than  this ;  it  is,  sci- 
entifically and  practically,  a  great  success. 
There  are,  undoubtedly,  difficulties  in  its  use, 
but,  considering  that  it  is  a  contrivance  but  of 
yesterday,  the  wonder  is  that  it  is  so  perfect. 
The  telegraph  was  much  longer  regarded  as 
an  impracticable  invention,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  say  how  soon  the  telephone  may  not  take 
rank  among  the  necessities  of  common  life. 
If  we  may  trust  the  analogies  of  experience, 
its  difficulties  are  certain  to  be  overcome, 
although  it  will  probably  never  meet  the  ex- 
aggerated expectations  of  many  people.  Some  of  the  obstacles  to 
the  realization  of  the  popular  impression  of  its  capabilities  have  been 
so  well  stated  in  Chambers's  Journal,  by  a  gentleman  skilled  in  the 
working  of  the  telegraph,  and  who  made  a  series  of  interesting  ex- 
periments *on  the  telephone,  that  we  may  fitly  close  our  article  by  mak- 
ing free  extracts  from  his  paper,  accompanied  by  some  slight  revision : 
"  When  a  telegraphist  first  gets  into  his  hand  this  beautifully  simple 
and  electrically  delicate  instrument,  his  first  inclination  is  to  test  its 
carrying-power.  This  is,  of  course,  a  closet  experiment,  not  working 
with  actual  telegraph-line,  but  with  '  resistance  '  equivalent  to  a  tele- 
graph-line of  stated  length.  An  experiment  of  this  nature  gives  bet- 
ter results  than  could  be  obtained  by  a  veritable  line,  because  the 
insulation  is,  so  to  speak,  perfect.  No  leakage  at  undesigned  points 
of  contact,  or  disturbance  from  unfavorable  atmospheric  conditions,  is 
felt,  and  the  experiment  is  entirely  under  the  observer's  control.  The 
apparatus  used  is  designed  to  offer  the  same  labor  for  the  electric  cur- 
rent to  overcome  as  would  be  offered  by  a  stated  length  of  outside 
telegraph-line.  This  artificial  resistance  is  nicely  graduated,  and,  as 
the  method  of  testing  was  suggested  by  Ohm,  a  German  electrician, 
the  unit  of  resistance  is  termed  an  '  ohm.'  Removing  the  telephone 
to  such  a  distance  that  the  two  observers  were  '  out  of  ear-shot,'  the 
test  with  resistance  was  tried,  and  with  a  resistance  of  1,000  ohms — 
roughly  speaking,  equal  to  seventy  miles  of  a  well-constructed  line — 
the  sound  was  perfect,  although  not  very  loud.     Every  articulation  of 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT    WORKS. 


565 


the  speaker  at  the  other  end  could  be  distinguished  so  long  as  silence 
was  maintained  in  the  room,  or  so  long  as  no  heavy  lorry  rumbling 
over  the  stones  outside  sent  in  harsh  noises  which  drowned  the  faint 
whisper  of  the  instrument.  The  resistance  was  gradually  raised  to 
4,000  ohms — nearly  300  miles — with  like  favorable  results  ;  and  for 
some  little  distance  beyond,  articulation  could  still  be  made  out.  But, 
by  the  time  10,000  ohms  had  been  applied,  putting  the  speaker  at  a 
distance  of,  say,  700  miles,  sound  only,  but  not  articulate  sound, 
reached  the  ear.  The  tone  was  there,  and  every  inflection  of  the 
voice  could  be  followed ;  but  articulation  was  absent,  although  the 
listener  strained  every  nerve  to  catch  the  sound,  which  the  speaker,  as 


Fig.  8. 


was  afterward  ascertained,  was  shouting  in  a  loud,  clear  voice.  The 
prolonged  notes  of  an  air  sung  could  be  heard  with  the  resistance 
named,  but  again  no  words  could  be  distinguished." 

The  next  experiment  was  to  join  up  the  telephones  in  the  office 
with  different  line-wires  in  succession  going  to  various  distances,  and 
working  with  different  kinds  of  telegraph-instruments.  "  When  this 
was  done,  the  real  obstacle  to  telephonic  progress  at  once  asserted 
itself  in  the  shape  of  '  induction.'  The  first  wire  experimented  with 
was  partly  'overhouse'  and  partly  underground,  and  the  offices  upon 
it  were  working  A  B  C,  or  printing-instruments.  It  is  difficult  to  ren- 
der clear  to  the  person  ignorant  of  telegraphic  phenomena  the  idea 


5 66  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

expressed  by  the  word  induction.  Briefly,  it  may  be  put  thus:  that, 
when  a  strong  electric  current  is  passing  on  a  wire,  it  has  the  faculty 
of  setting  up  a  current  of  opposite  character  in  any  wire  not  then 
working,  or  working  with  a  feebler  current,  that  may  be  in  its  vicin- 
ity. The  why  or  the  wherefore  cannot  be  explained,  but  there  is  the 
fact. 

"  In  various  recent  articles  on  the  telephone,  mention  has  been 
made  of  'contact '  as  the  cause  of  disturbance.  This  word,  however 
although  it  has  been  used  by  telegraphists,  is  misleading,  and  can 
only  be  used  as  an  endeavor  to  express  popularly  an  electric  fact. 
Actual  contact  of  one  wire  with  another  would  spoil  the  business  alto- 
gether. A  wire  bearing  an  electric  current  seems  to  be  for  the  time 
surrounded,  to  an  undefined  distance,  by  an  electric  atmosphere,  and 
all  wires  coming  within  this  atmosphere  have  a  current  in  an  oppo- 
site direction  set  up  in  them.  This  is  as  near  an  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  of  induction  as  the  state  of  telegraph  science  at  present 
affords.  Now,  the  telephone  works  with  a  very  delicate  magnetic 
current,  and  is  easily  overpowered  by  the  action  of  a  stronger  current 
in  any  wii-e  near  which  the  telephone-wire  may  come.  To  work  prop- 
erly, it  '  requires  a  silent  line.' 

"  In  the  place  where  the  observations  were  made,  there  were  a 
large  number  of  wires  traveling  under  the  floor,  along  passages  to  the 
battery-room,  and  to  a  pole  on  the  outside,  whence  they  radiate,  or 
out  to  a  pipe  underground,  where  many  gutta-percha-covered  wires 
lie  side  by  side.  On  applying  the  ear  to  a  telephone  joined  into  a  cir- 
cuit working  in  such  an  office,  a  curious  sound  is  heard,  comparable 
most  nearly  to  the  sound  of  a  pot  boiling.  But  the  practised  ear 
could  soon  separate  the  boiling  into  distinct  sounds.  There  was  one 
masterful  Morse  instrument— probably  on  the  wire  lying  nearest  the 
one  on  which  we  were  joined  up — whose  peremptory  '  click,  cli-i-i-ck, 
click,'  representing  '  dot,  dash,  dot '  on  the  printed  slip  we  read  from, 
could  be  heard  over  all.  Then  there  was  the  rapid  whir  of  a  fast- 
speed  transmitter  sending  dots  and  dashes  at  express  speed  by  me- 
chanical means  ;  and,  most  curious  of  all,  the  '  rrrrr-op,  rr-op,  rrrrrrr- 
rrrrrr-op,  rrrrr-op,  rr-op '  of  the  A  B  C,  or  printing-instrument,  the 
deadliest  foe  to  the  telephone  in  its  endeavors  to  gain  admission  into 
the  family  of  telegraph-instruments.  There  may  be  reason  in  this,  for 
as  the  ABC,  or  printing-instrument,  is  the  instrument  used  for  pri- 
vate telegraphy,  or  for  the  least  important  public  offices,  because  it 
requires  no  '  code '  to  be  learned  by  the  manipidator,  so  it  would 
likely  be  the  first  to  be  displaced  if  an  acoustic  telegraph  permanently 
took  the  field.  So  the  sentient  little  ABC  opens  its  mitrailleuse-fire 
on  the  intruder,  on  whose  delicate  currents,  in  the  words  of  an  accom- 
plished electrician,  it  plays  'old  Harry.'  The  peculiar  character  of 
the  sounds  we  borrow  on  the  telephone  from  this  instrument  arises 
from  the  fact  that,  as  the  needle  flies  round  the  dial,  a  distinct  current 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT    WORKS.         567 

or  pulsation  passes  for  each  letter,  and  the  final  '  op '  we  have  tried  to 
represent  shows  the  stoppage  of  the  needle  at  the  letters  as  words 
were  spelled  out. 

"  It  must  not  be  understood  that  the  sounds  of  those  various  in- 
struments are  actually  heard  in  the  telephone.  What  happens  is,  that 
the  currents  stealing  along  the  telephone-wire  by  induction  produce 
vibrations  in  the  diaphragm  of  that  instrument,  the  little  metal  mem- 
brane working  on  the  magnet  in  ready  response  to  every  current  set 
up  the  latter.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  principle  of  the  tele- 
phone is  that  the  sound-caused  vibrations  in  the  filmy  diaphragm  at 
one  end  create  similar  but  magnetically-caused  vibrations  in  the  dia- 
phragm at  the  other  end,  and  so  reproduce  the  sound,  it  will  be  obvi- 
ous why  the  rapid  roll  of  the  ABC  currents,  or  the  swift  sending  of 
the  fast-speed  transmitter,  when  brought  by  induction  into  the  tele- 
phone-wire, cause  disturbances  in  the  sound-vibrations,  and  thereby 
cripple  the  instrument.  One  instrument  of  either  kind  named  would 
have  a  certain  effect,  but  one  Morse  would  not  have  any  greatly  preju- 
dicial effect.  But  a  number  of  Morses  going  together,  such  as  were 
heard  in  our  experiments,  would  combine  to  be  nearly  as  bad  as  one 
A  B  C  or  fast-speed  Morse.  So  delicate  is  the  diaphragm  to  sound 
(and  necessarily  so)  that,  in  all  experiments  with  the  telephone  itself? 
every  sound  from  without  broke  in,  giving  an  effect  like  the  well- 
known  '  murmur  of  the  shell.'  " 

"  Joining  up  our  wire  now  to  a  more  distant  station  at  some  miles 
along  the  railway,  and  having  on  its  poles  a  number  of  what  are 
known  as  'heavy'  circuits,  the  pot-boiling  sound  assumed  even  more 
marked  characteristics.  The  A  B  C  no  longer  affected  us ;  but  a  num- 
ber of  Morse  instruments  were  in  full  gear,  and  the  fast-speed  trans- 
mitter was  also  at  work.  While  we  were  listening,  the  circuit  to 
which  we  were  joined  began  to  work,  and  the  effect  was  literally  elec- 
trical. Hitherto  we  had  only  borrowed  currents — or,  seeing  they 
were  so  unwelcome,  we  might  call  them  currents  thrust  upon  us — 
and  the  sounds,  though  sharp  and  incessant,  were  gentle  and  rather 
low.  But,  when  the  strong  current  was  set  up  in  the  wire  itself,  the 
listener  who  held  one  of  our  telephones  nearly  jumped  from  the  floor 
when  an  angry  '  pit-pat,  ^pit-pat,  pit-pat-pit '  assailed  his  ear,  causing 
him  to  drop  the  instrument  as  if  he  had  been  shot.  It  was  a  result 
none  of  us  had  expected,  for  it  did  not  seem  possible  that  the  delicate 
metal  diaphragm  and  the  little  magnet  of  the  telephone  could  produce 
a  sound  so  intense.  Of  course,  it  was  only  intense  when  the  ear  was 
held  close  to  the  orifice  of  the  instrument.  Held  in  the  hand  away 
from  the  ear,  the  telephone  now  made  a  first-rate  '  sounder,'  and  we 
could  tell  without  difficulty  not  only  the  signals  that  were  passing, 
but  found  in  it  a  more  comfortable  tone  than  that  given  by  tfee  Morse 
sounder  in  common  use. 

"  Other  experiments  of  a  like  character  led  to  results  so  similar 


5 68  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

that  they  may  be  left  unnoticed ;  and  we  proceed  now  to  describe  one 
of  a  different  character,  designed  to  test  the  telephone  itself.  At  a 
distance  of  about  half  a  mile,  access  was  obtained  to  a  Morse  instru- 
ment in  private  use,  and  joined  to  the  office  by  'overhouse'  wire. 
Dividing  our  party  and  arranging  a  programme  of  operations,  two 
remained  with  a  telephone  in  the  office,  while  other  two,  of  whom  the 
writer  was  one,  proceeded  with  the  second  telephone  to  the  distant 
instrument.  By  an  arrangement  which  a  practical  telegraphist  will 
understand,  the  key  of  the  Morse  was  kept  in  circuit,  so  that  signals 
could  be  exchanged  in  that  way.  It  may  be  noticed,  however,  that 
this  was  hardly  necessary,  as  the  diaphragm  of  the  telephone  can  be 
used  as  a  key,  with  the  linger  or  a  blunt  point,  so  that  dot  and 
dash  signals  are  interchangeable,  should  the  voice  fail  to  be  heard. 
As  the  wire  in  this  instance  traveled  almost  alone  over  part  of  its 
course,  we  were  in  hopes  that  induced  currents  would  be  conspicuous 
by  their  absence.  In  this  we  were,  however,  disappointed,  for  the 
pot  was  boiling  away,  rather  more  faintly,  but  with  the  'plop-plop- 
plop'  distinctly  audible,  and  once  more  a  sharp  masterful  Morse 
click  was  heard  coming  in  now  and  again.  The  deadly  ABC  was, 
however,  absent,  so  that  our  experiment  proved  highly  successful. 
For  some  reason  or  another — probably  an  imperfect  condition  of  the 
wire,  or  the  effects  of  'induction'  over  and  above  what  made  itself 
audible  to  us — the  spoken  sounds  were  deficient  in  distinctness ;  but 
songs  sung  at  either  end  were  very  beautifully  heard,  and,  indeed,  the 
sustained  note  of  sung  words  had  always  a  better  carrying-power  than 
rapidly-spoken  words.  Every  syllable  and  every  turn  of  melody  of 
such  a  song  as  '  My  Mother  bids  me  bind  my  Hair,'  sung  by  a  lady  at 
one  end,  or  '  When  the  Heart  of  a  Man,'  sung  at  the  other,  could  be 
distinctly  heard,  but  with  the  effect  before  noticed,  that  the  voice  was 
muffled  or  shut  in,  as  if  the  singer  were  in  a  cellar,  while  it  was  not 
always  possible  to  say  at  once  whether  the  voice  was  that  of  a  man  or 
a  woman. 

"  In  the  course  of  some  domestic  experiments  it  was  remarked  that, 
in  playing  the  scale  downward  from  C  in  alt.  on  the  piano,  the  result 
to  the  listener  was  a  'tit'  only  for  the  four  upper  notes,  although  all 
below  that  had  a  clear  'ting,'  and  the  octaves  below  were  mostly  dis- 
tinct, although  at  the  low  notes  of  the  piano  the  sound  was  again  lost. 
The  ringing  notes  of  a  musical-box  were  not  so  successful,  but,  with 
close  attention,  its  rapid  execution  of  '  Tommy  Dodd '  could  be  well 
enough  made  out.  An  endeavor  was  made  to  catch  the  ticking  of  a 
watch,  but  this  was  not  successful,  and  the  experiment  is  not  recom- 
mended, as  the  near  presence  of  a  watch  to  a  magnet  is  not  desirable ; 
and  the  watch  exposed  to  it  in  this  instance  was,  it  is  thought,  affected 
for  a  short  time  thereafter,  although  it  received  no  permanent  damage. 

"The  observations  made  in  the  course  of  these  experiments  con- 
vinced those  present  that  the  telephone  presents  facilities  for  the 


THE   TELEPHONE  AND   HOW  IT    WORKS.  569 

dangerous  practice  of  '  tapping  the  wires,'  which  may  make  it  useful 
or  dangerous,  according  as  it  is  used  for  proper  or  improper  purposes. 
It  might  be  an  important  addition  for  a  military  commander  to  make 
to  his  flying  cavalry ;  as  an  expert  sound-reader,  accompanying  a  col- 
umn sent  to  cut  off  the  enemy's  telegraph-connections,  might  precede 
the  act  of  destruction  by  robbing  him  of  some  of  his  secrets.  The 
rapidity  and  simplicity  of  the  means  by  which  a  wire  could  be 
'  milked,'  without  being  cut  or  put  out  of  circuit,  struck  the  whole  of 
the  party  engaged  in  the  various  trials  that  are  described  above.  Of 
course,  the  process  of  tapping  by  telephone  could  not  be  carried  out 
if  the  instrument  in  use  was  an  A  B  C  or  single  needle,  or  if  the  wire 
was  being  worked  duplex  or  with  a  fast-speed  Morse,  for  in  these 
cases  the  sounds  are  too  rapid  or  too  indefinite  to  be  read  by  ear. 
The  danger  is  thus  limited  to  ordinary  sounder  or  Morse  telegraphs ; 
but  these  still  form  the  mainstay  of  every  public  system. 

"  Since  the  trials  above  described  were  made,  the  newspapers  have 
recorded  a  beautiful  application,  by  Sir  William  Thomson,  of  the  elec- 
tric part  of  the  telephone  to  exhibit  at  a  distance  the  motions  of  an 
anemometer;  the  object  being  to  show  the  force  of  air-currents  in 
coal-mines.  This  is  a  useful  application  of  an  electric  fact,  and  doubt- 
less points  the  way  to  further  discoveries.  But  it  is  to  be  noticed 
that  the  experiment,  interesting  as  it  is,  hardly  comes  under  the  head 
of  a  telephone,  what  is  reproduced  at  a  distance  being  not  sound  but 
motion. 

"  Obviously  the  invention  cannot  rest  where  it  is ;  and  no  one 
more  readily  than  the  practical  telegraphist  will  welcome  an  instru- 
ment at  once  simple,  direct,  and  reliable.  Even  in  its  present  form 
the  telephone  may  be  successfully  used  where  its  wire  is  absolutely 
isolated  from  all  other  telegraph-wires.  But  the  general  impression  is 
that  its  power  of  reproducing  the  sound  must  be  intensified  before  its 
use  can  become  general,  or  come  up  to  the  popular  expectation." 

The  realization  of  so  marvelous  a  device  as  the  telephone  cannot 
fail  to  stimulate  speculation  as  to  where  such  wonders  will  stop. 
If  words  may  be  converted  into  electricity  and  back  again  into 
words,  what  is  to  hinder  their  being  converted  into  something  more 
lasting  than  electricity — something  that  will  endure,  so  that  spoken 
words  may  be  reproduced  in  the  future  exactly  as  spoken  now;  that 
persons,  though  dead,  may  yet  speak?  What  is  to  hinder?  Nothing  ! 
The  thing  is  already  done  ;  the  spirit  of  the  Phonograph  has  taken 
on  more  than  a  shadowy  form,  as  will  be  explained  to  our  readers 
next  month.     And  what  next  ? — 

"  Ah !    Science,  give  us  one  more  link, 
That  we  may  hear  our  neighbors  think." 


570  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

TECHNICAL    EDUCATION.1 

By  Psof.  T.  H.  HUXLEY,  F.  E.  S. 

ANY  candid  observer  of  the  phenomena  of  modern  society  will 
readily  admit  that  bores  must  be  classed  among  the  enemies  of 
the  human  race  ;  and  a  little  consideration  will  probably  lead  him  to 
the  further  admission  that  no  species  of  that  extensive  genus  of  nox- 
ious creatures  is  more  objectionable  than  the  educational  bore.  Con- 
vinced, as  I  am,  of  the  truth  of  this  great  social  generalization,  it  is 
not  without  a  certain  trepidation  that  I  venture  to  address  you  on  an 
educational  topic.  For,  in  the  course  of  the  last  ten  years,  to  go  back 
no  further,  I  am  afraid  to  say  how  often  I  have  ventured  to  speak  of 
education,  from  that  given  in  the  primary  schools  to  that  which  is  to 
be  had  in  the  universities  and  medical  colleges ;  indeed,  the  only  part 
of  this  wide  region  into  which  as  yet  I  have  not  adventured  is  that  into 
which  I  propose  to  intrude  to-day. 

Thus  I  cannot  but  be  aware  that  I  am  dangerously  near  becoming 
the  thing  which  all  men  fear  and  fly.  But  I  have  deliberately  elected 
to  run  the  risk.  For,  when  you  did  me  the  honor  to  ask  me  to  address 
you,  an  unexpected  circumstance  had  led  me  to  occupy  myself  seri- 
ously with  the  question  of  technical  education ;  and  I  had  acquired 
the  conviction  that  there  are  few  subjects  respecting  which  it  is  more 
important  for  all  classes  of  the  community  to  have  clear  and  just 
ideas  than  this,  while  certainly  there  is  none  which  is  more  deserv- 
ing of  attention  by  the  Working-Men's  Club  and  Institute  Union. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  express  an  opinion  whether  the  considerations 
which  I  am  about  to  submit  to  you  will  be  proved  by  experience  to 
bejustornot;  but  I  will  do  my  best  to  make  them  clear.  Among 
the  many  good  things  to  be  found  in  Lord  Bacon's  works,  none  is 
more  full  of  wisdom  than  the  saying  that  "truth  more  easily  comes 
out  of  error  than  out  of  confusion."  Clear  and  consecutive  wrong- 
thinking  is  the  next  best  thing  to  right-thinking;  so  that,  if  I  suc- 
ceed in  clearing  your  ideas  on  this  topic,  I  shall  have  wasted  neither 
your  time  nor  my  own. 

"  Technical  education,"  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  ordinarily 
used,  and  in  which  I  am  now  employing  it,  means  that  sort  of  educa- 
tion which  is  specially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  men  whose  business  in 
life  it  is  to  pursue  some  kind  of  handicraft ;  it  is,  in  fact,  a  fine  Greco- 
Latin  equivalent  for  what  in  good  vernacular  English  would  be  called 
"  the  teaching  of  handicrafts."  And  probably,  at  this  stage  of  our 
progress,  it  may  occur  to  many  of  you  to  think  of  the  story  of  the 
cobbler  and  his  last,  and  to  say  to  yourselves,  though  you  will  be  too 

1  An  address  delivered  to  the  Working-Men's  Club  and  Institute  Union,  December, 
1, 1811. 


TECHNICAL   EDUCATION.  571 

polite  to  put  the  question  openly  to  me :  "  What  does  the  speaker 
know  practically  about  this  matter?  What  is  his  handicraft?"  I 
think  the  question  is  a  very  proper  one,  and,  unless  I  were  prepared 
to  answer  it,  I  hope  satisfactorily,  I  should  have  chosen  some  other 
theme. 

The  fact  is,  I  am,  and  have  been  any  time  these  thirty  years,  a 
man  who  works  with  his  hands — a  handicraftsman.  I  do  not  say  this 
in  the  broadly  metaphorical  sense  in  which  fine  gentlemen,  with  all 
the  delicacy  of  Agag  about  them,  trip  to  the  hustings  about  election- 
time,  and  protest  that  they,  too,  are  working-men.  I  really  mean  my 
words  to  be  taken  in  their  direct,  literal,  and  straightforward  sense. 
In  fact,  if  the  most  nimble-fingered  watchmaker  among  you  will  come 
to  my  workshop,  he  may  set  me  to  put  a  watch  together,  and  I  will 
set  him  to  dissect,  say,  a  black-beetle's  nerves.  I  do  not  wish  to  vaunt, 
but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  I  shall  manage  my  job  to  his  satisfac- 
tion sooner  than  he  will  do  his  piece  of  work  to  mine. 

In  truth,  anatomy,  which  is  my  handicraft,  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult kinds  of  mechanical  labor,  involving,  as  it  does,  not  only  lightness 
and  dexterity  of  hand,  but  sharp  eyes  and  endless  patience.  And  you 
must  not  suppose  that  my  particular  branch  of  science  is  especially 
distinguished  for  the  demand  it  makes  upon  skill  in  manipulation.  A 
similar  requirement  is  made  upon  all  students  of  physical  science.  The 
astronomer,  the  electrician,  the  chemist,  the  mineralogist,  the  botanist, 
are  constantly  called  upon  to  perform  manual  operations  of  exceeding 
delicacy.  The  progress  of  all  branches  of  physical  science  depends 
upon  observation,  or  on  that  artificial  observation  which  is  termed 
experiment,  of  one  kind  or  another;  and  the  further  we  advance  the 
more  practical  difficulties  surround  the  investigation  of  the  conditions 
of  the  problems  offered  to  us;  so  that  mobile  and  yet  steady  hands, 
guided  by  clear  vision,  are  more  and  more  in  request  in  the  workshops 
of  science. 

Indeed,  it  has  struck  me  that  one  of  the  grounds  of  that  sympathy 
between  the  handicraftsmen  of  this  country  and  the  men  of  science, 
by  which  it  has  so  often  been  my  good  fortune  to  profit,  may,  perhaps, 
lie  here.  You  feel  and  we  feel  that,  among  the  so-called  learned 
folks,  we  alone  are  brought  into  contact  with  tangible  facts  in  the  way 
that  you  are.  You  know  well  enough  that  it  is  one  thing  to  write  a 
history  of  chairs  in  general,  or  to  address  a  poem  to  a  throne,  or  to 
speculate  about  the  occult  powers  of  the  chair  of  St.  Peter ;  and  quite 
another  thing  to  make  with  your  own  hands  a  veritable  chair,  that 
will  stand  fair  and  square,  and  afford  a  safe  and  satisfactory  resting- 
place  to  a  frame  of  sensitiveness  and  solidity. 

So  it  is  with  us,  when  we  look  out  from  our  scientific  handicrafts 
upon  the  doings  of  our  learned  brethren,  whose  work  is  untrammeled 
by  anything  "  base  and  mechanical,"  as  handicrafts  used  to  be  called 
when  the  world  was  younger,  and,  in  some  respects,  less  wise  than 


572  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

now.  We  take  the  greatest  interest  in  their  pursuits;  we  are  edified 
by  their  histories  and  are  charmed  with  their  poems,  whicli  some- 
times illustrate  so  remarkably  the  powers  of  man's  imagination ;  some 
of  us  admire  and  even  humbly  try  to  follow  them  in  their  high  philo- 
sophical excursions,  though  we  know  the  risk  of  being  snubbed  by  the 
inquiry  whether  groveling  dissectors  of  monkeys  and  black-beetles 
can  hope  to  enter  into  the  empyreal  kingdom  of  speculation.  But  still 
we  feel  that  our  business  is  different:  humbler  if  you  will,  though  the 
diminution  of  dignity  is,  perhaps,  compensated  by  the  increase  of 
reality ;  and  that  we,  like  you,  have  to  get  our  work  done  in  a  region 
where  little  avails,  if  the  power  of  dealing  with  practical,  tangible 
facts  is  wanting.  You  know  that  clever  talk  touching  joinery  will 
not  make  a  chair;  and  I  know  that  it  is  of  about  as  much  value  in  the 
physical  sciences.  Mother  Nature  is  serenely  obdurate  to  honeyed 
words ;  only  those  who  understand  the  ways  of  things,  and  can  silently 
and  effectually  handle  them,  get  any  good  out  of  her. 

And  now,  having,  as  I  hope,  justified  my  assumption  of  a  place 
among  handicraftsmen,  and  put  myself  right  with  you  as  to  my  quali- 
fication, from  practical  knowledge,  to  speak  about  technical  education, 
I  will  proceed  to  put  before  you  the  results  of  my  experience  as  a 
teacher  of  a  handicraft,  and  tell  you  what  sort  of  education  I  should 
think  best  adapted  for  a  boy  whom  one  wanted  to  make  a  professional 
anatomist. 

I  should  say,  in  the  first  place,  let  him  have  a  good  English  element- 
ary education.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  shall  be  able  to  pass  in  such 
and  such  a  standard — that  may  or  may  not  be  an  equivalent  expres- 
sion— but  that  his  teaching  shall  have  been  such  as  to  have  given  him 
command  of  the  common  implements  of  learning  and  created  a  desire 
for  the  things  of  the  understanding. 

Further,  I  should  like  him  to  know  the  elements  of  physical  sci- 
ence, and  especially  of  physics  and  chemistry,  and  I  should  take  care 
that  this  elementary  knowledge  was  real.  I  should  like  my  aspirant 
to  be  able  to  read  a  scientific  treatise  in  Latin,  French,  or  German, 
because  an  enormous  amount  of  anatomical  knowledge  is  locked  up  in 
those  languages.  And  especially  I  should  require  some  ability  to  draw 
—I  do  not  mean  artistically,  for  that  is  a  gift  which  may  be  cultivated 
but  cannot  be  learned,  but  with  fair  accuracy.  I  will  not  say  that 
everybody  can  learn  even  this;  for  the  negative  development  of  the 
faculty  of  drawing  in  some  people  is  almost  miraculous.  Still  every- 
body, or  almost  everybody,  can  learn  to  write;  and,  as  writing  is  a 
kind  of  drawing,  I  suppose  that  the  majority  of  the  people  who  say 
they  cannot  draw,  and  give  copious  evidence  of  the  accuracy  of  their 
assertion,  could  draw,  after  a  fashion,  if  they  tried.  And  that  "  after 
a  fashion  "  would  be  better  than  nothing  for  my  purposes. 

Above  all   things,  let   my  imaginary  pupil  have   preserved  the 


TECHNICAL   EDUCATION.  573 

freshness  and  vigor  of  youth  in  his  mind  as  well  as  his  body.  The 
educational  abomination  of  desolation  of  the  present  day  is  the  stim- 
ulation of  young  people  to  work  at  high  pressure  by  incessant  com- 
petitive examinations.  Some  Avise  man  (who  probably  was  not  an 
early  riser)  has  said  of  early  risers  in  general,  that  they  are  conceited 
all  the  forenoon  and  stupid  all  the  afternoon.  Now,  whether  this  is 
true  of  early  risers  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word  or  not,  I 
will  not  pretend  to  say;  but  it  is  too  often  true  of  the  unhappy  chil- 
dren who  are  forced  to  rise  too  early  in  their  classes.  They  are  con- 
ceited all  the  forenoon  of  life,  and  stupid  all  its  afternoon.  The  vigor 
and  freshness,  which  should  have  been  stored  up  for  the  purposes  of 
the  hard  struggle  for  existence  in  practical  life,  have  been  washed  out 
of  them  by  precocious  mental  debauchery — by  book-gluttony  and  les- 
son-bibbing. Their  faculties  are  worn  out  by  the  strain  put  upon 
their  callow  brains,  and  they  are  demoralized  by  worthless  childish 
triumphs  before  the  real  work  of  life  begins.  I  have  no  compassion 
for  sloth,  but  youth  has  more  need  for  intellectual  rest  than  age;  and 
the  cheerfulness,  the  tenacity  of  purpose,  the  power  of  work  which 
make  many  a  successful  man  what  he  is,  must  often  be  placed  to  the 
credit,  not  of  his  hours  of  industry,  but  to  that  of  his  liours  of  idle- 
ness, in  boyhood.  Even  the  hardest  worker  of  us  all,  if  he  has  to  deal 
with  anything  above  mere  details,  will  do  well,  now  and  again,  to  let 
his  brain  lie  fallow  for  a  space.  The  next  crop  of  thought  will  cer- 
tainly be  all  the  fuller  in  the  ear  and  the  weeds  fewer. 

This  is  the  sort  of  education  which  I  should  like  any  one  who  was 
going  to  devote  himself  to  my  handicraft  to  undergo.  As  to  knowing 
anything  about  anatomy  itself,  on  the  whole  I  would  rather  he  left 
that  alone  until  he  took  it  up  seriously  in  my  laboratory.  It  is  hard 
work  enough  to  teach,  and  I  should  not  like  to  have  superadded  to 
that  the  possible  need  of  unteaching. 

Well,  but,  you  will  say,  this  is  Hamlet  with  the  Prince  of  Den- 
mark left  out ;  your  "  technical  education  "  is  simply  a  good  education, 
with  more  attention  to  physical  science,  to  drawing,  and  to  modern 
languages,  than  is  common,  and  there  is  nothing  specially  technical 
about  it. 

Exactly  so  ;  that  remark  takes  us  straight  to  the  heart  of  what  I 
have  to  say,  which  is,  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  preparatory  educa- 
tion of  the  handicraftsman  ought  to  have  nothing  of  what  is  ordinarily 
understood  by  "  technical"  about  it. 

The  workshop  is  the  only  real  school  for  a  handicraft.  The  edu- 
cation which  precedes  that  of  the  workshop  should  be  entirely  devoted 
to  the  strengthening  of  the  body,  the  elevation  of  the  moral  faculties, 
and  the  cultivation  of  the  intelligence  ;  and  especially  to  the  imbuing 
the  mind  with  a  broad  and  clear  view  of  the  laws  of  that  natural  world 
with  the  components  of  which  the  handicraftsman  will  have  to  deal. 
And  the  earlier  the  period  of  life  at  which  the  handicraftsman  has  to 


574  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

enter  into  actual  practice  of  his  craft,  the  more  important  is  it  that  he 
should  devote  the  precious  hours  of  preliminary  education  to  things 
of  the  mind,  which  have  no  direct  and  immediate  bearing  on  his 
branch  of  industry,  though  they  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  realities. 

Now  let  me  apply  the  lessons  I  have  learned  from  my  handicraft 
to  yours.  If  any  of  you  were  obliged  to  take  an  apprentice,  I  sup- 
pose you  would  like  to  get  a  good,  healthy  lad,  ready  and  willing  to 
learn,  handy,  and  with  his  fingers  not  all  thumbs,  as  the  saying  goes. 
You  would  like  that  he  should  read,  write,  and  cipher  well;  and,  if 
you  were  an  intelligent  master,  and  your  trade  involved  the  applica- 
tion of  scientific  principles,  as  so  many  trades  do,  you  would  like  him 
to  know  enough  of  the  elementary  principles  of  science  to  understand 
what  was  going  on.  I  suppose  that  in  nine  trades  out  of  ten  it  would 
be  useful  if  he  could  draw ;  and  many  of  you  must  have  lamented 
your  inability  to  fkid  out  for  yourselves  what  foreigners  are  doing  or 
have  done.  So  that  some  knowledge  of  French  and  German  might, 
in  many  cases,  be  very  desirable. 

So  it  appears  to  me  that  what  you  want  is  pretty  much  what  I 
want ;  and  the  practical  question  is,  How  you  are  to  get  what  you 
need,  under  the  actual  limitations  and  conditions  of  life  of  handicrafts- 
men in  this  country? 

I  think  I  shall  have  the  assent  both  of  the  employers  of  labor  and 
of  the  employed  as  to  one  of  these  limitations;  which  is,  that  no 
scheme  of  technical  education  is  likely  to  be  seriously  entertained 
which  will  delay  the  entrance  of  boys  into  working-life,  or  prevent 
them  from  contributing  toward  their  own  support,  as  early  as  they  do 
at  present.  Not  only  do  I  believe  that  any  such  scheme  could  not  be 
carried  out,  but  I  doubt  its  desirableness,  even  if  it  were  practicable. 

The  period  between  childhood  and  manhood  is  full  of  difficulties 
and  dangers,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances ;  and  even 
among  the  well-to-do,  who  can  afford  to  surround  their  children  with 
the  most  favorable  conditions,  examples  of  a  career  ruined,  before  it 
has  well  begun,  are  but  too  frequent.  Moreover,  those  who  have  to 
live  by  labor  must  be  shaped  to  labor  early.  The  colt  that  is  left  at 
grass  too  long  makes  but  a  sorry  draught-horse,  though  his  way  of 
life  does  not  bring  him  within  the  reach  of  artificial  temptations. 
Perhaps  the  most  valuable  result  of  all  education  is  the  ability  to 
make  yourself  do  the  thing  you  have  to  do,  when  it  ought  to  be  done, 
whether  you  like  it  or  not ;  it  is  the  first  lesson  that  ought  to  be 
learned  ;  and,  however  early  a  man's  training  begins,  it  is  probably 
the  last  lesson  that  he  learns  thoroughly. 

There  is  another  reason  to  which  I  have  already  adverted,  and 
which  I  would  reiterate,  why  any  extension  of  the  time  devoted  to 
ordinary  school-work  is  undesirable.  In  the  newly-awakened  zeal  for 
education,  we  run  some  risk  of  forgetting  the  truth  that,  while  un- 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION.  575 

der-instruction  is  a  bad  thing,  over-instruction  may  possibly  be  a 
worse. 

Success  in  any  kind  of  practical  life  is  not  dependent  solely,  or 
indeed  chiefly,  upon  knowledge.  Even  in  the  learned  professions 
knowledge,  alone,  is  of  less  consequence  than  people  are  apt  to  sup- 
pose. And,  if  much  expenditure  of  bodily  energy  is  involved  in  the 
day's  work,  mere  knowledge  is  of  still  less  importance  when  weighed 
against  the  probable  cost  of  its  acquirement.  To  do  a  fair  day's  work 
with  his  hands,  a  man  needs,  above  all  things,  health,  strength,  and 
the  patience  and  cheerfulness  which,  if  they  do  not  always  accompany 
these  blessings,  can  hardly  in  the  nature  of  things  exist  without  them  ; 
to  which  we  must  add  honesty  of  purpose  and  a  pride  in  doing  what 
is  done  well. 

A  good  handicraftsman  can  get  on  very  well  without  genius,  but  he 
will  fare  badly  without  a  reasonable  share  of  what  is  a  more  useful 
possession  for  work-a-day  life,  namely,  mother-wit ;  and  he  will  be  all 
the  better  for  a  real  knowledge,  however  limited,  of  the  ordinary  laws 
of  Nature,  and  especially  of  those  which  apply  to  his  own  business. 

Instruction  carried  so  far  as  to  help  the  scholar  to  turn  his  store  of 
mother-wit  to  account,  to  acquire  a  fair  amount  of  sound  elementary 
knowledge,  and  to  use  his  hands  and  eyes,  while  leaving  him  fresh, 
vigorous,  and  with  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  his  own  calling,  whatever 
it  may  be,  if  fairly  and  honestly  pursued,  cannot  fail  to  be  of  invalu- 
able service  to  all  those  who  come  under  its  influence. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  school  instruction  is  carried  so  far  as  to 
encourage  bookishness  ;  if  the  ambition  of  the  scholar  is  directed,  not 
to  the  gaining  of  knowledge,  but  to  the  being  able  to  pass  examina- 
tions successfully ;  especially  if  encouragement  is  given  to  the  mis- 
chievous delusion  that  brain-work  is,  in  itself,  and  apart  from  its 
quality,  a  nobler  or  more  respectable  thing  than  handiwork — such 
education  may  be  a  deadly  mischief  to  the  workman,  and  lead  to  the 
rapid  ruin  of  the  industries  it  is  intended  to  serve. 

I  know  that  I  am  expressing  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  largest  as 
well  as  the  most  enlightened  employers  of  labor,  when  I  say  that 
there  is  a  real  danger  that,  from  the  extreme  of  no  education,  we  may 
run  to  the  other  extreme  of  over-education  of  handicraftsmen.  And 
I  apprehend  that  what  is  true  for  the  ordinary  hand-worker  is  true  for 
the  foreman.  Activity,  probity,  knowledge  of  men,  i-eady  mother- 
wit,  supplemented  by  a  good  knowledge  of  the  general  principles 
involved  in  his  business,  are  the  making  of  a  good  foreman.  If  he 
possess  these  qualities,  no  amount  of  learning  will  fit  him  better  for 
his  position ;  while  the  course  of  life  and  the  habit  of  mind  required 
for  the  attainment  of  such  learning  may,  in  various  direct  and  indi- 
rect ways,  act  as  direct  disqualifications  for  it. 

Keeping  in  mind,  then,  that  the  two  things  to  be  avoided  are,  the 
delay  of  the  entrance  of  boys  into  practical  life,  and  the  substitution 


576  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  exhausted  bookworms  for  shrewd,  handy  men  in  our  works  and 
factories,  let  us  consider  what  may  be  wisely  and  safely  attempted  in 
the  way  of  improving  the  education  of  the  handicraftsman. 

First,  I  look  to  the  elementary  schools  now  happily  established  all 
over  the  country.  I  am  not  going  to  criticise  or  find  fault  with  them ; 
on  the  contrary,  their  establishment  seems  to  me  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant and  the  most  beneficent  result  of  the  corporate  action  of  the 
people  in  our  day.  A  great  deal  is  said  of  British  interests  just  now, 
but,  depend  upon  it,  that  no  Eastern  difficulty  needs  our  intervention 
as  a  nation  so  seriously  as  the  putting  down  both  the  Bashi-Bazouks 
of  ignorance  and  the  Cossacks  of  sectarianism  at  home.  What  4ms 
already  been  achieved  in  these  directions  is  a  great  thing ;  you  must 
have  lived  some  time  to  know  how  great.  An  education,  better  in  its 
processes,  better  in  its  substance,  than  that  which  was  accessible  to 
the  great  majority  of  well-to-do  Britons  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  is 
now  obtainable  by  every  chjld  in  the  land.  Let  any  man  of  my  age 
go  into  an  ordinary  elementary  school,  and,  unless  he  was  unusually 
fortunate  in  his  youth,  he  will  tell  you  that  the  educational  method, 
the  intelligence,  patience,  and  good  temper,  on  the  teachers'  part, 
which  are  now  at  the  disposal  of  the  veriest  waifs  and  wastrels  of 
society,  are  things  of  which  he  had  no  experience  in  the  costly  middle- 
class  schools  ;  which  were  so  ingeniously  contrived  as  to  combine  all 
the  evils  and  shortcomings  of  the  great  public  schools  wTith  none  of 
their  advantages.  Many  a  man,  whose  so-called  education  cost  a  good 
deal  of  valuable  money  and  occupied  many  a  year  of  invaluable  time, 
leaves  the  inspection  of  a  well-ordered  elementary  school  devoutly 
wishing  that,  in  his  young  days,  he  had  had  the  chance  of  being  as 
well  taught  as  these  boys  and  girls  are. 

But  while,  in  view  of  such  an  advance  in  general  education,  I 
willingly  obey  the  natural  impulse  to  be  thankful,  I  am  not  willing 
altogether  to  rest.  I  want  to  see  instruction  in  elementary  science 
and  in  art  more  thoroughly  incorporated  in  the  educational  system. 
At  present,  it  is  being  administered  by  driblets,  as  if  it  were  a  potent 
medicine,  "a  few  drops  to  be  taken  occasionally  in  a  teaspoon." 
Every  year  I  notice  that  that  earnest  and  untiring  friend  of  yours 
and  of*  mine,  Sir  John  Lubbock,  stirs  up  the  government  of  the  day  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  this  subject;  and  also  that,  every  year,  he, 
and  the  few  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  such  as  Mr.  Playfair, 
who  sympathize  with  him,  are  met  with  expressions  of  warm  admira- 
tion for  science  in  general,  and  reasons  at  large  for  doing  nothing  in 
particular.  But  now  that  Mr.  Forster,  to  whom  the  education  of  the 
country  owes  so  much,  has  announced  his  conversion  to  the  right 
faith,  I  begin  to  hope  that,  sooner  or  later,  things  will  mend. 

I  have  given  what  I  believe  a  good  reason  for  the  assumption  that 
the  keeping  at  school  of  boys  who  are  to  be  handicraftsmen  beyond 
the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  is  neither  practicable  nor  desirable; 


TECHNICAL   EDUCATION.  577 

and  as  it  is  quite  certain  that,  with  justice  to  other  and  no  less  im- 
portant branches  of  education,  nothing  more  than  the  rudiments  of 
science  and  art  teaching  can  be  introduced  into  elementary  schools, 
we  must  seek  elsewhere  for  a  supplementary  training  in  these  sub- 
jects, and,  if  need  be,  in  foreign  languages,  which  may  go  on  after  the 
workman's  life  has  begun. 

The  means  of  acquiring  the  scientific  and  artistic  part  of  this  train- 
ing already  exists  in  full  working  order,  in  the  first  place,  in  the  classes 
of  the  Science  and  Art  Department,  whicli  are  for  the  most  part  held 
in  the  evening,  so  as  to  be  accessible  to  all  who  choose  to  avail  them- 
selves of  them  after  working-hours.  The  great  advantage  of  these 
classes  is  that  they  bring  the  means  of  instruction  to  the  doors  of  the 
factories  and  workshops;  that  they  are  no  artificial  creations, but  by 
their  very  existence  prove  the  desire  of  the  people  for  them ;  and, 
finally,  that  they  admit  of  indefinite  development  in  proportion  as 
they  are  wanted.  I  have  often  expressed  the  opinion,  and  I  repeat  it 
here,  that,  during  the  eighteen  years  they  have  been  in  existence, 
these  classes  have  done  incalculable  good  ;  and  I  can  say,  of  my  own 
knowledge,  that  the  department  spares  no  pains  and  trouble  in  try- 
ins:  to  increase  their  usefulness  and  insure  the  soundness  of  their 
work. 

No  one  knows  better  than  my  friend  Colonel  Donnelly,  to  whose 
clear  views  and  great  administrative  abilities  so  much  of  the  success- 
ful working  of  the  science  classes  is  due,  that  there  is  much  to  be 
done  before  the  system  can  be  said  to  be  thoroughly  satisfactory. 
The  instruction  given  needs  to  be  made  more  systematic,  and  espe- 
cially more  practical;  the  teachers  are  of  very  unequal  excellence, 
and  not  a  few  stand  much  in  need  of  instruction  themselves,  not  only 
in  the  subjects  which  they  teach,  but  in  the  objects  for  which  they 
teach.  I  dare  say  you  have  heard  of  that  proceeding,  reprobated  by 
all  true  sportsmen,  which  is  called  "  shooting  for  the  pot."  Well, 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  "teaching  for  the  pot" — teaching,  that  is, 
not  that  your  scholar  may  know,  but  that  he  may  count  for  payment 
among  those  who  pass  the  examination ;  and  there  are  some  teachers, 
happily  not  many,  who  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  examiners  of  the 
department  regard  them  as  poachers  of  the  worst  description. 

Without  presuming  in  any  way  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  de- 
partment, I  think  I  may  say,  as  a  matter  which  has  come  under  my 
own  observation,  that  it  is  doing  its  best  to  meet  all  these  difficulties. 
It  systematically  promotes  practical  instruction  in  the  classes ;  it 
affords  facilities  to  teachers  who  desire  to  learn  their  business  thor- 
oughly ;  and  it  is  always  ready  to  aid  in  the  suppression  of  pot-teach- 
ing. 

All  this  is,  as  you  may  imagine,  highly  satisfactory  to  me.  I  see 
that  spread  of  scientific  education,  about  which  I  have  so  often  per- 
mitted myself  to  worry  the  public,  become,  for  all  practical  purposes, 

VOL.  XII. — 37 


578  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

an  accomplished  fact.  Grateful  as  I  am  for  all  that  is  now  being  done, 
in  the  same  direction,  in  our  higher  schools  and  universities,  I  have 
ceased  to  have  any  anxiety  about  the  wealthier  classes.  Scientific 
knowledge  is  spreading  by  what  the  alchemists  called  a  "  distillatio 
per  ascensum ; "  and  nothing  now  can  prevent  it  from  continuing 
to  distill  upward  and  permeate  English  society,  until,  in  the  re- 
mote future,  there  shall  be  no  member  of  the  Legislature  who  does 
not  know  as  much  of  science  as  an  elementary  schoolboy ;  and  even 
the  heads  of  houses  in  our  venerable  seats  of  learning  shall  acknowl- 
edge that  natural  science  is  not  merely  a  sort  of  university  back-door, 
through  which  inferior  men  may  get  at  their  degrees.  Perhaps  this 
apocalyptic  vision  is  a  little  wild  ;  and  I  feel  I  ought  to  ask  pardon 
for  an  outbreak  of  enthusiasm,  which,  I  assure  you,  is  not  my  com- 
monest failing. 

I  have  said  that  the  Government  is  already  doing  a  great  deal  in 
aid  of  that  kind  of  technical  education  for  handicraftsmen  which,  to 
my  mind,  is  alone  worth  seeking.  Perhaps  it  is  doing  as  much  as  it 
ought  to  do,  even  in  this  direction.  Certainly  there  is  another  kind 
of  help  of  the  most  important  character,  for  which  we  may  look  else- 
where than  to  the  Government.  The  great  mass  of  mankind  have 
neither  the  liking,  nor  the  aptitude,  for  either  literary,  or  scientific, 
or  artistic,  pursuits ;  nor,  indeed,  for  excellence  of  any  sort.  Their 
ambition  is  to  go  through  life  with  moderate  exertion  and  a  fair  share 
of  ease,  doing  common  things  in  a  common  way.  And  a  great  bless- 
ing and  comfort  it  is  that  the  majority  of  men  are  of  this  mind ;  for 
the  majority  of  things  to  be  done  are  common  things,  and  are  quite 
well  enough  done  when  commonly  done.  The  great  end  of  life  is  not 
knowledge,  but  action.  What  men  need  is  as  much  knowledge  as  they 
can  assimilate  and  organize  into  a  basis  for  action;  give  them  more 
and  it  may  become  injurious.  One  knows  people  who  are  as  heavy 
and  stupid  from  undigested  learning  as  others  are  from  over-fullness 
of  meat  and  drink.  But  a  small  percentage  of  the  population  is  born 
with  that  most  excellent  quality,  a  desire  for  excellence,  or  with  spe- 
cial aptitudes  of  some  sort  or  another ;  Mr.  Galton  tells  us  that  not 
more  than  one  in  four  thousand  maybe  expected  to  attain  distinction, 
and  not  more  than  one  in  a  million  some  share  of  that  intensity  of  in- 
stinctive aptitude,  that  burning  thirst  for  excellence,  which  is  called 
genius. 

Now,  the  most  important  object  of  all  educational  schemes  is  to 
catch  these  exceptional  people  and  turn  them  to  account  for  the  good 
of  society.  No  man  can  say  where  they  will  crop  up ;  like  their 
opposites,  the  fools  and  knaves,  they  appear  sometimes  in  the  palace 
and  sometimes  in  the  hovel ;  but  the  great  thing  to  be  aimed  at,  I 
was  almost  going  to  say  the  most  important  end  of  all  social  arrange- 
ments, is  to  keep  these  glorious  sports  of  Nature  from  being  either 
corrupted  by  luxury  or  starved  by  poverty,  and  to  put  them  into  the 


TECHNICAL   EDUCATION.  579 

position  in  which  they  can  do  the  work  for  which  they  are  specially 
fitted. 

Thus,  if  a  lad  in  an  elementary  school  showed  signs  of  special 
capacity,  I  would  try  to  provide  him  with  the  means  of  continuing 
his  education  after  his  daily  working-life  had  begun ;  if,  in  the  even- 
ing classes,  he  developed  special  capabilities  in  the  direction  of  sci- 
ence or  of  drawing,  I  would  try  to  secure  him  an  apprenticeship  to 
some  trade  in  which  those  powers  would  have  applicability.  Or,  if 
he  chose  to  become  a  teacher,  he  should  have  the  chance  of  so  doing. 
Finally,  to  the  lad  of  genius,  the  one  in  a  million,  I  would  make 
accessible  the  highest  and  most  complete  training  the  country  could 
afford.  Whatever  that  might  cost,  depend  upon  it  the  investment 
would  be  a  good  one.  I  weigh  my  words  when  I  say  that,  if  the 
nation  could  purchase  a  potential  Watt,  or  Davy,  or  Faraday,  at  the 
cost  of  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  down,  he  would  be  dirt-cheap  at 
the  money.  It  is  a  mere  commonplace  and  every-day  piece  of  knowl- 
edge, that  what  these  three  men  did  has  produced  untold  millions  of 
wealth,  in  the  narrowest  economical  sense  of  the  word. 

Therefore,  as  the  sum  and  crown  of  what  is  to  be  done  for  technical 
education,  I  look  to  the  provision  of  a  machinery  for  winnowing  out 
the  capacities  and  giving  them  scope.  When  I  was  a  member  of  the 
London  School  Board,  I  said,  in  the  course  of  a  speech,  that  our  busi- 
ness was  to  provide  a  ladder,  reaching  from  the  gutter  to  the  univer- 
sity, along  which  every  child  in  the  three  kingdoms  should  have  the 
chance  of  climbing  as  far  as  he  was  fit  to  go.  This  phrase  was  so 
much  bandied  about  at  the  time,  that,  to  say  truth,  I  am  rather  tired 
of  it ;  but  I  know  of  no  other  which  so  fully  expresses  my  belief,  not 
only  about  education  in  general,  but  about  technical  education  in 
particular. 

The  essential  foundation  of  all  the  organization  needed  for  the 
promotion  of  education  among  handicraftsmen  will,  I  believe,  exist 
in  this  country  when  every  working-lad  can  feel  that  society  has  done 
what  lies  in  its  power  to  remove  all  needless  and  artificial  obstacles 
from  his  path  ;  that  there  is  no  barrier,  except  such  as  exist  in  the 
nature  of  things,  between  himself  and  whatever  place  in  the  social 
organization  he  is  fitted  to  fill ;  and,  more  than  this,  that,  if  he  has 
capacity  and  industry,  a  hand  is  held  out  to  help  him  along  any  path 
which  is  wisely  and  honestly  chosen. 

I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  to  you  that  a  great  deal  of  such  an 
organization  already  exists ;  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  add  that 
there  is  a  good  prospect  that  what  is  wanting  will,  before  long,  be 
supplemented. 

Those  powerful  and  wealthy  societies,  the  livery  companies  of  the 
city  of  London,  remembering  that  they  are  the  heirs  and  represent- 
atives of  the  trade-guilds  of  the  middle  ages,  are  interesting  them- 
selves in  the  question.     So  far  back  as  1872  the  Society  of  Arts  or- 


58o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ganized  a  system  of  instruction  in  technology  of  arts  and  manufact- 
ures, for  persons  actually  employed  in  factories  and  workshops,  who 
desired  to  extend  and  improve  their  knowledge  of  the  theory  and 
practice  of  their  particular  avocations; '  and  a  considerable  subsidy 
was  liberally  granted  in  aid  of  the  efforts  of  the  Society  by  the  Cloth- 
workers'  Company.  We  have  here  the  hopeful  commencement  of  a 
rational  organization  for  the  promotion  of  excellence  among  handi- 
craftsmen. Quite  recently  other  of  the  livery  companies  have  deter- 
mined upon  giving  their  powerful  and,  indeed,  almost  boundless  aid 
to  the  improvement  of  the  teaching  of  handicrafts.  They  have  al- 
ready gone  so  far  as  to  appoint  a  committee  to  act  for  them  ;  and  I 
betray  no  confidence  in  adding  that,  some  time  since,  the  committee 
sought  the  advice  and  assistance  of  several  persons,  myself  among  the 
number. 

Of  course,  I  cannot  tell  you  what  may  be  the  result  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  committee  ;  but  we  may  all  fairly  hope  that,  before  long, 
steps  which  will  have  a  weighty  and  a  lasting  influence  on  the  growth 
and  spread  of  sound  and  thorough  teaching  among  the  handicrafts- 
men2 of  this  country  will  be  taken  by  the  livery  companies  of  London. 
— Fortnightly  Review. 


■♦«♦ 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF  COINAGES. 

By  E.  E.  LELAND. 

IN  primitive  days  the  parties  to  a  trade  had  in  every  case  first  to 
agree  as  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  articles  to  be  exchanged. 
When  gold  and  silver  first  made  their  appearance  in  the  list  of  com- 
modities they  were,  along  with  other  metals,  in  an  unfashioned  state, 
and  the  processes  of  barter  were  carried  on  with  them  precisely  as 
with  more  bulky  and  inconvenient  articles,  so  that  at  each  trans- 
fer it  became  necessary  to  determine  their  quality  and  quantity,  that 
is,  their  purfty  and  weight,  by  the  crude  methods  which  then  ob- 
tained. Such  is  still  the  case  among  some  of  the  far-away,  half-civil- 
ized nations,  and  in  the  early  days  of  California  and  Australia  gold- 
digging,  "  nuggets  "  and  "  dust  "  were  in  common  use  as  currency. 

With  all  the  perfection  of  modern  scientific  appliances  the  work 
of  assaying  is  one  of  great  difficulty  and  nicety,  and  it  must  have  been 
impossible  for  primitive  merchants  to  reach  anything  but  the  rudest 
approximations.  To  do  even  this  involved  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and 
loss  of  time,  so  that  the  necessity  of  devising  some  means  by  which 

1  See  the  "Programme"  for  1878,  issued  by  the  Society  of  Arts,  p.  14. 

2  It  is  perhaps  advisable  to  remark  that  the  important  question  of  the  professional 
education  of  managers  of  industrial  works  is  not  touched  in  the  foregoing  remarks. 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF   COINAGES.  581 

the  weight  and  fineness  of  a  piece  of  gold  or  silver  could  be  easily- 
determined  was  early  felt. 

The  first  forms  which  could  be  called  by  the  name  of  money  were 
ingots  in  various  shapes,  stamped  or  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  ruler 
as  a  certificate  of  the  quality  and  weight  of  the  piece,  no  attempt 
being  made  to  so  fashion  the  coin  as  to  guard  against  alteration  of 
weight.  Some  of  the  early  pieces  were  stamped  on  but  one  side,  and 
it  was  only  by  very  gradual  steps  that  the  handsome  circular  pieces 
which  we  know  as  coins  were  evolved.  But  these  are  still  defined 
by  Jevons  as  "  ingots,  of  which  the  weight  and  fineness  are  certified 
by  the  integrity  of  the  designs  impressed  upon  the  surface  of  the 
metal." 

The  stamping  of  the  bits  of  metal  has  always  been  assumed  as  a 
prerogative  of  the  ruler,  and  to  supply  the  people  with  coin  has  come 
to  be  generally  considered  a  function  of  government.  It  will  be  well 
to  bear  the  above  definition  of  coin  in  mind ;  for  the  fashioning,  stamp- 
ing, and  certification,  have  often  caused  a  very  important  fact  to  be 
lost  sight  of,  which  is,  that  throughout  these  changes  the  metals  con- 
tinue to  be  commodities  and  nothing  more.  The  stamp  works  no  al- 
teration in  the  metal,  any  more  than  does  the  label  on  a  bolt  of  mus- 
lin, showing  the  width  and  the  number  of  yards,  convert  it  into  some- 
thing other  than  cotton  cloth.  The  conversion  of  the  unfashioned 
metal  into  coin  in  no  way  affects  the  principle  of  exchanges,  and  its 
transfer  is  barter  just  as  much  as  it  was  in  the  beginning. 

Coins  command  other  commodities  by  the  amount  of  pure  metal 
in  them. 

The  silver  dollar  buys  just  as  much  food  or  clothing  as  would  so 
many  grains  of  silver  in  any  other  shape ;  and  the  stamp — whether  it 
show  the  classical  features  of  Kaiser  William  or  the  graceful  figure  of 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty — does  not  increase  its  purchasing  power,  except 
to  the  very  slight  degree  which  is  the  measure  of  the  convenience  of 
having  it  converted  from  bullion  into  coin  at  public  cost,  but  this 
percentage  is  so  small  that  it  may  for  present  purposes  be  neglected. 

But  it  has  come  about  that,  instead  of  being  looked  upon  as  simply 
certified  bullion,  coin  is  frequently  regarded  as  something  mysterious 
in  its  nature  and  function. 

Gold  and  silver,  from  their  physical  properties,  are  the  most  fit  of 
all  known  substances  for  mediums  of  exchange.  From  their  general 
use  as  money  they  are  commonly  spoken  of  as  measures  of  value,  and 
there  is  no  objection  to  this  expression  if  it  be  understood  to  mean 
that  they  constitute  a  term  or  factor  constantly  used  in  arriving  at 
the  ratio  which  exists  between  the  various  articles  of  commerce ;  but 
it  should  be  remembered  that  this  factor  is  not  constant,  though  for 
purposes  of  convenience  it  is  generally  assumed  to  be  so.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  gold  and  silver  measure  the  value  of  commodities  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  way  that  the  commodities  measure  the  value  of  gold 


5 82  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

and  silver.  Value  is  based  on  utility,  but  utility  is  not  intrinsic  in 
any  substance ;  and  a  thing  is  only  useful  so  far  as  it  is  supplied  in 
needful  quantities  at  the  right  time,  the  degree  of  utility  constantly 
varying.  And  so,  although  we  may  get  the  value  of  x  (gold  and  sil- 
ver) in  terms  of  y  (other  commodities),  and  the  value  of  y  in  terms 
of  x,  both  x  and  y  remain  unknown  and  variable  quantities,  however 
glibly  we  may  talk  about  them. 

Although  the  same  difficulty  confronts  us  here  that  is  met  in  all 
attempts  at  the  ultimate  analysis  of  things,  none  the  less  is  it  im- 
perative that  there  should  be  a  fixity  of  standards,  rigidly  adhered  to. 
To  define  a  pound  avoirdupois  is  as  difficult  as  to  define  a  pound  ster- 
ling; but  commerce  and  science  are  alike  dependent  upon  absolute 
adherence  to  certain  standards  of  weight,  and  upon  the  assumption 
that  the  law  of  gravitation,  by  which  weight  is  determined,  is  in- 
flexible. 

Until  the  indestructibility  of  matter  and  the  persistence  of  force 
were  demonstrated,  there  was  nothing  absurd  in  the  supposition  that 
matter  could  be  created  and  annihilated, force  produced  and  destroyed ; 
and  men  of  genius  and  learning  vainly  sought  to  turn  dross  to  gold, 
to  find  the  elixir  of  life,  to  construct  machines  which  should  create 
their  own  force.  Modern  chemistry  has  dispelled  the  dreams  of  the 
alchemist ;  physiology  has  determined  the  laws  of  waste  and  supply 
and  fixed  pretty  definitely  the  limitations  of  life;  and  the  discoveries 
of  Meyer  and  Joule  have  shown  the  fallacy  of  perpetual  motion. 
These  things  are  now  pretty  generally  understood,  although  a  lunatic 
is  still  occasionally  to  be  found  who  wastes  his  life  because  of  his  ina- 
bility to  comprehend  them  :  but  it  is  not  so  generally  recognized  that 
the  principle  of  the  correlation  of  forces  is  universal;  that  it  applies 
rigidly  to  all  human  activities;  and  that  it  is  quite  as  impossible 
in  economical  dynamics  as  elsewhere  to  get  something  for  nothing. 

That  coins  are  simply  stamped  bullion,  and  that  the  purchasing 
power  of  money  is  regulated  by  the  quantity  of  pure  metal  only  is 
now  conceded  by  all  economic  writers ;  but  the  establishment  of  this 
principle  is  comparatively  recent.  In  early  times  most  extraordinary 
delusions  prevailed  on  this  subject,  nor  are  they  yet  wholly  dissipated. 
It  will  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  note  some  of  the  mutations 
which  have  been  caused  in  the  world's  coinage  by  the  numerous  royal 
and  legislative  attempts  to  make  a  part  equal  to  the  whole. 

The  coins  of  all  countries  seem  to  have  been  called  by  the  same 
name  as  the  weights  used  in  them,  and  to  have  originally  contained 
the  quantity  of  metal  indicated  by  their  names.  The  coins  used  in 
Greece,  Italy,  France,  and  England,  weighed  in  the  first  instance  just 
a  talent,  an  as,  or  pond,  a  livre,  or  a  pound. 

The  Roman  as,  or  libra,  at  first  contained  twelve  ounces  of  copper, 
and  was  divided  into  twelve  parts  or  uncice,  a  division  which  was  main- 
tained for  a  long  time.     It  is  not  known  who  first  falsified  the  certifi- 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF   COINAGES.  583 

cate  and  gained  an  illusory  augmentation  of  wealth  by  reducing  the 
weight  of  metal  in  the  as,  still  calling  it  by  the  same  name.  But  this 
fraudulent  plan,  once  adopted,  was  worked  with  such  assiduity  by  the 
successive  emperors,  that  in  175  b.  c.  the  as  contained  but  half  an 
ounce  of  copper,  or  fa  part  of  its  original  weight.  In  the  case  of  so 
cheap  a  metal,  diminishing  the  quantity  was  the  only  way  in  which 
the  coin  could  be  degraded.  The  principal  silver  coin  was  the  dena- 
rius, rated  at  ten  asses,  and  weighing  one-seventh  of  an  ounce.  Its 
weight  was  tolerably  well  maintained,  but  adulteration  was  carried  to 
its  utmost  extent,  and  eventually  the  imperial  denarii  came  to  be  only 
copper  coins  plated  with  silver !  Similar  vicissitudes  marked  the  ca- 
reer of  Roman  gold.  When  first  coined,  204  b.  c,  the  aureus  weighed 
TV  part  of  a  pound  of  pure  gold,  but  through  various  degradations 
came  to  be  only  T^  part  of  a  pound  in  weight,  and  this  bore  20  per  cent, 
of  alloy. 

The  French  money-unit,  the  livre,  up  to  the  reign  of  Charlemagne, 
contained  exactly  a  pound  weight  of  pure  silver,  and  was  divided  into 
20  sols.  It  was  reserved  for  Philip  I.  to  violate  this  standard.  He 
considerably  diminished  the  amount  of  silver  contained  in  a  sol,  and 
his  example  was  followed  with  such  zeal  that  by  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lution the  livre  contained  less  than  a  seventy-eighth  part  of  the  silver 
which  it  had  in  the  eleventh  century. 

Nor  is  this  an  extreme  case.  In  1220  the  Spanish  maravedi 
weighed  84  grains  of  gold,  and  was  equal  in  value  to  about  $3.50  ;  it 
descended  until  it  became  a  small  copper  coin  valued  at  one-third  of 
a  cent. 

The  German  florin  was  originally  a  gold  coin  worth  $2.50;  when 
abolished  it  was  40  cents'  worth  of  silver. 

These  examples  are  taken  from  the  history  of  the  most  stable  and 
best-governed  European  states,  and  from  them  may  be  inferred  the 
rapacity  and  swindling  of  the  lawless,  irresponsible  feudal  princes 
during  the  middle  ages,  which  caused  this  particular  fraud  to  fall 
into  the  deepest  discredit  even  in  those  early  days. 

The  Chinese  probably  illustrate  in  the  most  extreme  manner  the 
length  to  which  loose  views  concerning  currency  can  be  carried.  The 
history  of  their  currency  presents  that  mingling  of  the  grotesque  with 
the  tragic  which  most  of  their  actions  have  when  viewed  through 
"Western  eyes.  Coined  money  was  known  among  them  as  early  as 
the  eleventh  century  before  Christ,  but  their  inability  to  comprehend 
the  principles  upon  which  a  currency  should  be  based  has  led  them 
into  all  sorts  of  extravagances,  which  have  been  attended  by  disorder, 
famine,  and  bloodshed.  Coins  came  at  last  to  be  made  so  thin  that 
1,000  of  them  piled  together  were  only  three  inches  high  ;  then  gold 
and  silver  were  abandoned ;  and  copper,  tin,  shells,  skins,  stones,  and 
paper,  were  given  a  fixed  value,  and  used  until,  by  abuse,  all  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  money  were  lost,  and  there 


584  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

was  nothing  left  for  the  people  to  do  but  to  go  back  to  barter,  and 
this  they  did  more  than  once.  They  cannot  be  said  now  to  have  a 
coinage ;  2,900  years  ago  they  made  round  coins  with  a  square  hole 
in  the  middle,  and  they  have  made  no  advance  beyond  that  since. 
The  well-known  cash  is  a  cast-brass  coin  of  that  description,  and,  al- 
though it  is  valued  at  about  one  mill  and  a  half  of  our  money,  and 
has  to  be  strung  in  lots  of  1,000  to  be  computed  with  any  ease,  it  is 
the  sole  measure  of  value  and  legal  tender  of  the  country.  Spanish, 
Mexican,  and  our  new  trade-dollars,  are  employed  in  China ;  they 
pass  because  they  are  necessary  for  larger  operations,  and  because 
faith  in  their  standard  value  has  become  established  ;  but  they  are 
current  simply  as  stamped  ingots,  with  their  weight  and  fineness  in- 
dicated. 

The  coinage  of  England,  although  it  has  suffered  less  than  that  of 
any  of  the  older  countries,  has  still  undergone  great  debasement, 
which  has  begotten  misery  and  trouble  enough  to  make  her  experience 
of  great  value.  At  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest  the  silver  or 
money  pound  weighed  12  ounces,  the  system  of  coinage  being  the  same 
as  that  of  Charlemagne,  and  it  was  continued  untouched  until  the  year 
1300,  when  the  standard  was  tampered  with  by  Edward  I.  By  in- 
creasing the  number  of  shillings  made  from  a  pound,  he  set  a  perni- 
cious example  which  was  followed  only  too  well,  so  that  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  58  shillings  instead  of  20  shillings  were  coined  out 
of  the  pound  weight  of  silver.  Up  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  al- 
though the  weight  was  decreased,  the  sterling  fineness  of  coins  was 
not  debased;  but  that  eminent  head  of  the  Church,  after  dissipating 
the  immense  wealth  which  he  received  from  his  father,  resorted  to  the 
most  disgraceful  means  to  supply  his  riot  and  extravagance.  He  so 
adulterated  and  degraded  the  silver  coinage  that  the  pound  sterling 
contained  but  four  ounces  of  silver,  £2  8s.  of  it  being  equivalent  to  the 
pound  sterling  of  500  years  before.  Under  the  reigns  of  his  children, 
Edward  VI.,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth,  the  fineness  of  the  coin  was  grad- 
ually restored,  and  its  degradation  arrested,  so  that  it  was  the  boast 
of  Elizabeth  that  she  "  had  conquered  now  that  monster  which  so 
long  had  devoured  her  people."  The  coinage  of  England  has  had 
nothing  further  to  endure  at  the  hands  of  her  princes. 

The  reign  of  James  II.,  bad  enough  in  all  ways,  was  in  no  instance 
more  disgraceful  than  the  state  to  which  he  brought  the  coinage  of 
Ireland  during  his  brief  kingship  there.  His  coins  of  gun-metal,  cop- 
per, brass,  pewter,  the  sorriest  tokens,  were  made  unlimited  tender, 
and  forced  into  circulation  by  every  device.  His  loyal  Irish  subjects 
were  the  sufferers  from  this  swindle,  for  they  had  in  their  possession 
nearly  the  whole  of  his  worthless  money.  As  he  was  compelled  to 
abandon  England  before  his  necessities  became  very  great,  her  money 
escaped  violation. 

Of  course,  all  this  tampering  with  money  has  been  accompanied 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF   COINAGES.  585 

by  tyrannical  laws  which  were  intended  to  make  the  debased  coin 
pass  for  just  as  much  as  the  pure.  Nothing  would  be  gained  unless 
this  could  be  done.  Mint-officers  were  sworn  to  secrecy,  but  the 
nialting-pot  revealed  the  fraud.  Proclamations  were  issued  by  Ed- 
ward II.,  commanding,  under  heavy  penalties,  that  the  money  should 
be  kept  current  at  the  stamped  value,  and  that  no  one  should  enhance 
the  price  of  his  goods  on  that  account,  for  it  was  the  king's  pleasure 
that  the  coins  should  be  kept  up  to  the  same  value  they  were  wont  to 
bear !  Later,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  when  the  debasement  reached 
its  lowest  depths,  a  maximum  was  set  on  the  price  of  corn,  and  those 
who  refused  to  carry  their  grain  to  market  were  to  be  punished. 

Absurd  as  such  compulsory  laws  may  seem  to  us,  they  are  perfectly 
logical  outcomes  of  any  attempts  to  lower  the  standard  of  money. 
There  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  debasing  coinage  unless  the  opera- 
tions of  commerce  can  be  regulated  upon  the  assumption  that  a  part 
is  equal  to  the  whole.  Edward's  proclamation,  that  it  was  his  pleasure 
that  the  coins  should  be  kept  up  to  the  value  that  they  were  wont  to 
bear,  and  that  people  should  be  compelled  to  market  their  goods  at 
the  old  prices,  was  more  difficult  of  enforcement,  but  not  different  in 
principle,  no  whit  more  dishonest,  than  a  law  which  shall  make  90 
cents  a  legal  tender  for  100,  in  the  discharge  of  all  debts. 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  a  higher  standard  of  morality 
would  be  found  among  subjects  than  that  held  to  by  their  rulers. 
The  tampering  was  begun  by  the  people  on  their  own  account,  the 
more  readily  as  the  nature  of  the  coin  made  this  an  easy  matter. 
In  making  the  coins  the  metal  was  divided  with  shears,  and  afterward 
shaped  and  stamped  by  hand  with  the  hammer.  They  were  not  exact 
in  size  or  weight :  some  contained  more,  and  some  less,  than  the  cor- 
rect quantity  of  silver;  few  pieces  were  exactly  round  ;  and,  as  the 
edges  were  smooth,  nothing  was  easier  than  to  take  a  slight  paring 
from  the  pieces  as  they  passed  from  hand  to  hand. 

Coin-clipping  was  discovered  to  be  profitable  and  comparatively 
safe,  and  it  was  practised  with  great  industry.  As  early  as  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth  it  was  prohibited,  on  the  pain  of  life  and  limb,  and  the 
forfeiture  of  all  lands.  But  the  practice  was  too  lucrative  to  be  thus 
checked,  and  by  the  time  of  the  Restoration  the  larger  part  of  the  sil- 
ver in  circulation  was  mutilated.  Macaulay  has  described  in  most 
graphic  manner  this  episode  in  the  history  of  British  coinage.  All 
trade  and  industry  was  deranged  by  the  confusion  which  arose  from 
the  disgraceful  state  of  the  money.  "  Nothing  could  be  purchased 
without  a  dispute.  Over  every  counter  there  was  wrangling  from 
morning  till  night.  The  workman  and  his  employer  had  a  quarrel  as 
regularly  as  the  Saturday  came  round." 

Guineas,  which  had  originally  been  coined  to  be  equal  to  20s.,  rose 
as  the  silver  grew  worse,  till  they  were  current  at  30s.  of  the  base 
trash  which  passed  by  the  name  of  silver  coin.     The  shrinkage  on  the 


5 86  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

average  of  the  pieces  in  circulation  amounted  to  nearly  or  quite  50 
per  cent.  The  most  rigorous  and  cruel  laws  were  passed,  but  they 
were  ineffectual,  and,  while  scores  of  miserable  wretches  were  dangling 
from  the  gibbets,  clipping  was  as  rife  as  ever. 

Clipping  is  here  referred  to  at  some  length,  because  it  differs  from 
other  degradations  of  coinage  only  in  respect  to  the  parties  by  whom 
it  is  done.  It  is  reducing  the  value  of  coin  without  public  authority, 
and  is  the  least  mischievous  of  the  two  forms,  because,  as  no  one  is 
compelled  to  take  clipped  coins,  the  loss  is  forced  on  no  one. 

The  first  effort  to  correct  the  evils  which  had  thus  arisen  was,  by 
furnishing  a  large  supply  of  fresh,  honest,  milled  coins.  The  poli- 
ticians of  that  day  believed  that,  if  the  people  were  given  plenty  of 
new  and  good  money,  it  would  soon  displace  the  old ;  and  so  the 
mints  were  run  to  their  utmost  capacity,  but  the  new  coins  vanished 
from  sight  as  fast  as  they  were  put  ont.  Gresham's  law,  that  "  bad 
money  drives  out  good  money,  but  that  good  money  cannot  drive 
out  bad  money,"  although  not  then  formulated,  worked  its  inevitable 
result.  The  statesmen  marveled  that  men  would  not  pay  12  ounces 
of  silver  when  10  could  be  made  to  serve  the  purpose,  but  they  per- 
sistently refused  to  do  so.  By  the  time  of  William  III.,  the  necessity 
of  resorting  to  some  measures  which  should  be  effectual  was  generally 
felt. 

It  was  evident  to  all  that  the  old  coinage  must  in  some  way  be 
supplanted  by  a  new,  but  the  manner  in  which  this  should  be  done 
was  warmly  disputed.  Mr.  William  Lowndes,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  was  ordered  to  make  a  report  and  did  so,  recommending 
that  the  standard  of  the  new  coin  should  be  depreciated  to  the  level 
of  the  trash  in  circulation,  by  making  the  new  shilling  worth  nine- 
pence  or  thereabouts.  He  asserted,  and  attempted  to  prove,  "  that 
making  the  pieces  less,  or  ordaining  the  respective  pieces  (of  the 
present  weight)  to  be  current  at  a  higher  rate,  might  equally  raise 
the  value  of  silver  in  our  coins;  "and  seriously  argued  that,  if  an  ounce 
of  silver  were  but  cut  up  finer,  other  nations  would  be  induced  to  sell 
their  products  for  a  smaller  number  of  ounces.  He  had  a  consider- 
able following,  composed,  Macaulay  says,  "  partly  of  dull  men  who 
really  believed  what  he  told  them,  and  partly  of  shrewd  men  who 
were  perfectly  willing  to  be  authorized  by  law  to  pay  a  hundred 
pounds  with  eighty"— a  description  which  fits  with  sufficient  accu- 
racy the  advocates  of  the  Bland  Bill. 

Lowndes's  fallacies  were  exposed  with  great  ability  by  Locke,  and 
fortunately  wiser  counsels  prevailed.  The  old  standard  was  main- 
tained in  the  new  issues,  and  the  clipped  coins  were  called  in,  the  loss 
falling,  as  it  should  do,  on  the  public  at  large.  Space  forbids  the  in- 
troduction here  of  the  arguments  by  which  this  wise  course  was  sus- 
tained. The  controversy  is  interesting  and  instructive,  and  deserves 
attention,  for  it  was  revived  116  years  later  when  Bank-of-England 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF   COINAGES.  587 

notes  became  depreciated,  and  is  raging  now  that  silver  has  under- 
gone a  similar  decline.  It  is  true  that  the  situation  is  not  precisely 
the  same,  but  the  principle  involved  is :  the  arguments  against  re- 
storing a  degraded  coinage  or  degrading  an  established  one  are  sub- 
stantially the  same. 

The  object  of  the  Bland  Bill  and  similar  measures,  though  nomi- 
nally a  restoration  of  a  former  standai'd,  is  in  fact  a  debasement  of  the 
present  one.  The  value  fixed  for  the  United  States  dollar  under  the 
act  of  1792  was  by  accident  put  below  that  of  the  dollars  with  which 
it  then  came  into  competition.  The  act  provided  that  the  dollar 
should  be  of  the  value  of  the  Spanish  milled  dollar,  and  also  provided 
that  it  should  contain  371£  grains  of  pure  silver,  whereas  the  Spanish 
dollar  contained  377£  grains.  This  discrepancy  resulted  from  a 
blunder  in  assaying  the  Spanish  coin,  but  was  perpetuated  until  the 
old  silver  dollar  was  abolished.  Owing  to  the  unprecedented  fall  in 
the  price  of  silver,  the  real  value  of  37l£  grains  is  now  only  about 
ninety  cents  in  the  market,  a  decline  which  would  be  a  very  serious 
matter  if  this  accidental  dollar  were  still  a  legal  tender  and  in  use  in 
trade  ;  but  fortunately  the  act  of  1873  put  it  where  it  is  incapable  of 
doing  mischief. 

It  is  one  of  the  compensations  of  the  disordered  state  of  our 
finances  growing  out  of  irredeemable  war-issues,  that,  coin  being  vir- 
tually out  of  circulation,  we  could  put  our  coinage  on  the  footing 
aimed  at  by  all  great  commercial  nations,  without  incurring  the  loss 
and  distress  which  such  revolutions  are  apt  to  involve.  And  now  it 
is  proposed  to  undo  all  this,  to  restore  this  impaired  dollar  to  its  old 
position,  and  put  upon  the  nation  all  the  loss  and  inconvenience  which 
would  grow  out  of  such  a  change.  For  states  of  transition  are  always 
states  of  suffering  and,  were  there  two  or  three  hundred  millions  of 
silver  in  the  hands  of  the  people  to-day,  the  statesman  well  might 
hesitate  to  raise  the  standard  of  the  old  dollar,  making  it  equivalent  to 
the  gold  one.  The  load  of  silver  which  France  is  carrying  interferes 
seriously  with  her  efforts  to  resume  on  her  paper  currency,  and  yet 
she  very  propei-ly  hesitates  to  enter  upon  an  experience  similar  to 
that  which  Germany  has  recently  had  ;  but  we,  virtually  starting  anew 
with  our  coinage  system,  with  the  experience  of  all  the  past  to  light 
us,  are  asked  to  plunge  into  a  quagmire  from  which  we  could  only 
emerge  after  much  floundering  and  defilement ! 

And  who  is  to  be  benefited  by  the  remonetization  of  silver  ?  If 
remonetization  will,  as  is  claimed  for  it,  enhance  the  price  of  silver,  so 
that  it  will  make  the  dollar  of  1792  and  the  gold  dollar  equal,  then 
the  holders  of  silver  and  they  only  will  reap  the  advantage.  Is  the 
disposable  silver  stock  of  the  world  held  by  the  class  of  men  into 
whose  pockets  the  Western  voters  are  anxious  to  legislate  money  ? 
The  American  mine-owners  hold  a  large  amount  in  the  shape  of  ore ; 
the  German  Empire  has  ninety  millions  of  surplus  she  would  be  glad 


5 88  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

to  dispose  of;  the  Bank  of  France  has  one  hundred  and  forty  odd 
millions  in  its  vaults,  that  is  a  source  of  great  present  disquietude ; 
England  has  a  fair  stock,  and  as  creditor  of  India  is  likely  to  become 
the  holder  of  much  more ;  she  is  deeply  interested  in  seeing  the  price 
of  silver  sustained,  and  would  be  very  grateful  for  relief  from  any 
quarter.  It  is  from  these  sources  the  silver  would  flow  if  the  United 
States  should  decide  to  assume  the  function  of  pulling  chestnuts  for 
the  entire  commercial  world,  and  these  are  the  men  who  would  profit 
by  remonetization — provided  that  step  should  have  the  effect  on  the 
price  of  silver  that  is  claimed  for  it.  But  the  assumption  that  it 
will  bring  the  gold  and  silver  dollar  upon  a  par  is  entirely  unwar- 
ranted. 

The  Monetary  Commission,  of  which  Mr.  Jones  was  chairman  and 
Mr.  Bland  a  member,  are  at  great  pains  to  show,  in  their  report,  that, 
owing  to  the  magnitude  of  the  stocks  of  silver  and  gold  in  the  world, 
the  value  of  the  precious  metals  cannot  be  visibly  affected  by  current 
production;  that  no  current  supply  was  ever  yet  sufficiently  great  to 
affect  the  value  of  the  metals  except  slowly  and  by  almost  imper- 
ceptible degrees.  This  may  or  may  not  be  so,  but  it  is  a  little  curious 
to  note  that  the  same  gentlemen  who  in  their  report  maintained  that 
the  effect  of  an  annual  supply  of  $65,000,000  or  $70,000,000  would  have 
no  appreciable  effect  on  the  price  of  silver,  are  now  gravely  arguing 
that  an  annual  demand  of  say  $25,000,000 — the  utmost  capacity  of  our 
mints — would  at  once  enhance  the  price  by  10  per  cent.  Here  they 
forget  the  insignificance  of  the  amount  in  comparison  with  the  enor- 
mous accumulated  stock  of  the  world. 

A  further  decline  in  the  price  of  silver  is  far  more  probable  than 
an  advance,  and  it  is  only  because  the  old  silver  dollar  is  worth  but 
90  cents,  and  likely  to  be  worth  less  rather  than  more,  that  it  is  so 
loudly  clamored  for.  The  avowed  object  of  its  restoration  is  to  re- 
lieve those  who  have  debts  to  pay. 

Neither  in  motive  nor  in  method  does  this  differ  from  the  dis- 
reputable frauds  of  the  feudal  princes  who  adulterated  their  coins 
that  they  might  pay  their  debts  more  easily.  Both  the  act  and  its 
consequences  are  identical.  The  image  and  the  superscription  of  the 
monarch  lied  in  the  older  example  :  in  the  modern  instance  the  image 
and  the  superscription  are  no  less  lying  ones.  And  the  consequences 
will  in  no  wise  differ.  Henry  VIII.  was  enabled  to  cheat  his  creditors 
in  precisely  the  same  unscrupulous  way  that  is  proposed  for  the 
United  States  to  cheat  theirs,  by  paying  them  in  coins  of  diminished 
value  ;  and  the  losses  he  entailed  upon  his  subjects — far  exceeding  his 
own  gains — were  precisely  those  we  should  suffer.  All  creditors  are 
placed  in  the  position  of  the  creditors  of  the  swindling  government. 
Debtors  are  indiscriminately  benefited  at  the  expense  of  creditors. 
To  pay  the  public  debt  in  a  depreciated  currency,  whether  it  can  be 
done  legally  or  not,  is  to  weaken  if  not  destroy  public  faith.     If  they 


THE  DEBASEMENT   OF   COINAGES.  589 

had  a  rational  conception  of  what  national  credit  is,  this  considera- 
tion alone  would  give  the  agitators  pause.  When  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  ago  England  was  struggling  to  restore  order  to  her  finances, 
William  III.  pressed  upon  the  House  of  Commons  the  importance  of 
taking  care  of  the  public  credit,  and  assured  them  that  it  could 
only  be  preserved  by  keeping  sacred  the  maxim  that  "  they  shall 
never  be  losers  who  trust  to  a  parliamentary  security."  Our  national 
credit  has  rapidly  advanced  to  the  very  first  rank,  and  with  upright 
dealing  can  easily  be  maintained  there.  It  would  not  be  necessary 
to  perfect  a  great  deal  of  the  kind  of  legislation  that  is  now  being 
urged  to  put  it  on  a  level  with  the  credit  of  Spain,  or  the  defaulting 
states  of  South  America. 

There  is  a  prevailing  misconception  as  to  where  the  gains  and 
losses  arising  from  the  proposed  change  will  fall. 

A  depreciated  coinage  will  diminish  the  revenue  of  the  Govern- 
ment by  a  far  greater  amount  than  will  be  saved  in  the  payment  of 
the  bonds,  so  that  the  burden  of  taxes  cannot  be  lightened  in  that 
way.  It  will  cripple  all  institutions  of  learning  and  of  charity  that 
are  maintained  by  endowments;  it  will  tithe  the  assets  of  all  the 
savings-banks  and  life-insurance  companies ;  it  will  curtail  the  trust 
funds  of  widows  and  orphans,  no  matter  in  what  form  they  may  be 
held  ;  it  will  defraud  the  frugal  and  prudent  wholesale,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  improvident  and  reckless.  Relatively,  the  loss  will  fall  heavi- 
est on  those  who  are  too  poor  to  get  in  debt,  who  work  for  wages  or 
a  salary.  Those  of  the  bond-holders  to  whom  the  now  familiar  term 
of  "  money-sharks"  will  in  any  degree  apply  will  be  found  quite  com- 
petent to  take  care  of  themselves.  They  live  in  the  money-centres  of 
the  world ;  their  finger  is  on  the  arteries  of  commerce,  and  they  can 
watch  the  pulsations  and  guard  against  the  perturbations  ;  in  the  un- 
settled condition  of  things  which  would  attend  such  a  change,  they 
will  be  best  able,  because  in  the  best  position,  to  hedge  against  their 
losses.  Prices  will,  of  course,  adjust  themselves  to  the  new  standard, 
but  the  adjustment  will  not  be  so  sharp  and  rapid  or  exact  as  to 
cause  the  loss  to  fall  just  where  it  is  intended  it  shall  fall.  The 
"  sharks,"  we  may  be  sure,  will  get  from  under,  and  the  brunt  of  the 
suffering  will  strike  just  where  it  does  in  most  cases — upon  the  poor, 
the  ill-informed,  the  unready. 

Of  the  ability  of  this  nation  to  pay  its  debts  in  full,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  question,  and  it  is  essentially  dishonest  for  a  debtor  to 
compound  at  90  cents  when  he  can  pay  100  ;  but,  if  it  be  determined 
that  it  is  necessary  and  right  for  the  Government  and  other  debtors  to 
make  such  a  composition — if  it  can  be  shown  that  it  is  a  step  dictated 
by  a  sincere  desire  to  execute  fair  and  impartial  justice — we  shall  still 
be  as  much  entitled  as  ever  to  object  to  its  being  done  by  reducing 
the  standard  of  money.  It  is  an  attempt  to  accomplish  by  mean  and 
paltry  subterfuge  that  which,  if  done  at  all,  should  be  done  in  a  manly 


59o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

way.  If  debts  are  to  be  scaled,  let  it  be  done  openly,  and  the  divi- 
dends, whatever  they  may  be,  paid  in  money  at  par. 

A  proposition  to  restore  the  old  dollar,  and  make  it  a  legal  tender 
for  everything  except  the  interest  and  principal  of  the  public  debt  and 
for  customs  duties,  is  said  to  find  considerable  favor.  It  is  hard  to 
understand  how,  after  our  prolonged  experience  of  the  derangement 
caused  by  having  two  unequal  kinds  of  currency,  such  a  scheme  should 
be  advocated.  With  one  currency  fit  for  paying  bonds,  customs 
duties,  and  foreign  payments,  and  another  not  so  fit,  and  therefore,  of 
course,  at  a  discount,  we  have  a  condition  of  affairs  that  is  profitable 
to  "  money-sharks  "  and  brokers  alone.  Every  dollar  which  is  paid  as 
brokerage,  growing  out  of  the  use  of  two  kinds  of  currency,  is  a  tax 
levied  upon  the  people.  If  the  sums  which  have  been  annually  paid 
by  consumers  in  the  way  of  brokers'  commissions  since  1862,  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  depreciation  of  our  currency,  could  be  stated,  and  it  could 
be  shown  by  whom  this  tax  has  ultimately  been  paid,  it  would  raise  a 
party  in  favor  of  a  single  standard  that  would  sweep  everything  before 
it.  The  tax  has  been  levied  indirectly,  and  paid  unknowingly,  but 
this  has  not  lessened  the  burden  of  it — economic  laws  are  none  the 
less  inexorable  when  their  workings  are  obscure.  And  now,  when  we 
have  almost  emerged  from  under  this  load,  it  is  proposed  to  put  us 
back  under  it,  not  temporarily,  but  permanently,  without  even  a  dis- 
tant hope  of  release. 

There  is  one  other  proposition  in  regard  to  the  reissue  of  silver : 
it  is,  to  coin  a  silver  dollar  which  shall  contain  enough  metal  to  make 
it  the  equal  of  the  present  gold  dollar.  To  this  there  is  no  moral  ob- 
jection, but  there  are  grave  economic  ones.  The  rapid  and  violent 
fluctuations  of  the  silver-market  during  the  last  two  years  show  that 
forces  are  at  work  which  are  unusual  in  their  nature  and  not  yet  un- 
derstood, and  the  appeal  can  well  be  made  to  all  prudent  men  whether 
it  would  not  be  better  to  wait  a  little  before  reintroducing  into  our 
currency  so  unstable  an  element.  When  the  disturbing  forces  have 
expended  themselves,  and  the  silver-market  has  settled  down  to  a 
normal  condition,  so  that  we  may  know  what  the  price  of  silver  really 
is  in  relation  to  other  commodities,  it  will  then  be  time  enough  to 
try  to  establish  some  fixed  ratio  between  it  and  gold,  and  admit  it  as 
a  legal  tender. 

But  obvious  as  the  lessons  of  history  are,  and  pitilessly  as  the 
fallacies  of  those  who  think  to  make  90  equal  100  have  been  criticised, 
both  by  the  pens  of  economists  and  the  workings  of  natural  laws, 
there  is  too  much  ground  to  fear  that  no  reliance  can  be  placed  on 
the  clearness  or  rectitude  of  popular  convictions,  and  that  we  shall 
be  called  upon  to  vindicate  once  more  the  principles  of  monetary 
economy  in  the  most  painful  and  expensive  way.  There  does  not 
seem  to  be  among  our  leaders  either  knowledge  or  virtue  enough  to 
protect  us.     A  minority  of  the  press  and  the  business-men  of  the 


SPONTANEOUS   GENERATION  591 

larger  towns  of  the  country  are  alone  opposing  this  scheme  com- 
pounded of  fraud  and  folly,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  their  political 
influence  is  quite  inadequate  to  stand  against  the  urgency  of  the  great 
majorities  of  the  West  and  South. 


-♦♦♦- 


SPONTANEOUS   GENEKATION. 

By  Pkof.   JOHN   TYNDALL,  F.  R.  S. 

II. 

LET  us  now  return  to  London  and  fix  our  attention  on  the  dust  of 
its  air.  Suppose  a  room  in  which  the  house-maid  has  finished 
her  work  to  be  completely  closed,  with  the  exception  of  an  aperture 
in  a  shutter  through  which  a  sunbeam  enters  and  crosses  the  room. 
The  floating  dust  reveals  the  track  of  the  light.  Let  a  lens  be  placed 
in  the  aperture  to  condense  the  beam.  Its  parallel  rays  are  now  con- 
verged to  a  cone,  at  the  apex  of  which  the  dust  is  raised  to  almost 
unbroken  whiteness  by  the  intensity  of  its  illumination.  Defended 
from  all  glare,  the  eye  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  this  scattered  light. 
The  floating  dust  of  London  rooms  is  organic,  and  may  be  burned 
without  leaving  visible  residue.  The  action  of  a  spirit-lamp  flame 
upon  the  floating  matter  has  been  elsewhere  thus  described : 

"  In  a  cylindrical  beam  which  strongly  illuminated  the  dust  of  our  laboratory, 
I  placed  an  ignited  spirit-lamp.  Mingling  with  the  flame,  and  round  its  rim, 
were  seen  curious  wreaths  of  darkness  resembling  an  intensely  black  smoke.  On 
placing  the  flame  at  some  distance  below  the  beam,  the  same  dark  masses  stormed 
upward.  They  were  blacker  than  the  blackest  smoke  ever  seen  issuing  from  the 
funnel  of  a  steamer ;  and  their  resemblance  to  smoke  was  so  perfect  as  to  prompt 
the  conclusion  that  the  apparently  pure  flame  of  the  alcohol-lamp  required  but  a 
beam  of  sufficient  intensity  to  reveal  its  clouds  of  liberated  carbon. 

"  But  is  the  blackness  smoke  ?  This  question  presented  itself  in  a  moment,  and 
was  thus  answered:  A  red-hot  poker  was  placed  underneath  the  beam  ;  from  it 
the  black  wreaths  also  ascended.  A  large  hydrogen-flame,  which  emits  no  smoke, 
was  next  employed,  and  it  also  produced  with  augmented  copiousness  those 
whirling  masses  of  darkness.  Smoke  being  out  of  the  question,  what  is  the 
darkness  ?  It  is  simply  that  of  stellar  space ;  that  is  to  say,  blackness  resulting 
from  the  absence  from  the  track  of  the  beam  of  all  matter  competent  to  scatter 
its  light.  When  the  flame  was  placed  below  the  beam,  the  floating  matter  was 
destroyed  in  situ  ;  and  the  heated  air,  freed  from  this  matter,  rose  into  the  beam, 
jostled  aside  the  illuminated  particles,  and  substituted  for  their  light  the  dark- 
ness due  to  its  own  perfect  transparency.  Nothing  could  more  forcibly  illustrate 
the  invisibility  of  the  agent  which  renders  all  things  visible.  The  beam  crossed, 
unseen,  the  black  chasm  formed  by  the  transparent  air,  while,  at  both  sides  of 
the  gap,  the  thick-strewed  particles  shone  out  like  a  luminous  solid  under  the 
powerful  illumination." ' 

1  "  Fragments  of  Science,"  fifth  edition,  pp.  12S,  129. 


592  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE   MONTHLY. 

Supposing  an  infusion  intrinsically  barren,  but  readily  susceptible 
of  putrefaction  when  exposed  to  common  air,  to  be  brought  into  con- 
tact with  this  unilluminable  air,  what  would  be  the  result  ?  It  would 
never  putrefy.  It  might,  however,  be  urged  that  the  air  is  spoiled 
by  its  violent  calcination.  Oxygen  passed  through  a  spirit-lamp  flame 
is,  it  may  be  thought,  no  longer  the  oxygen  suitable  for  the  develop- 
ment and  maintenance  of  life.  We  have  an  easy  escape  from  this 
difficulty,  which  is  based,  however,  upon  the  unproved  assumption 
that  the  air  has  been  affected  by  the  flame.  Let  a  condensed  beam 
be  sent  through  a  large  flask  or  bolt-head  containing  common  air. 
The  track  of  the  beam  is  seen  within  the  flask — the  dust  revealing  the 
light,  and  the  light  revealing  the  dust.  Cork  the  flask,  stuff  its  neck 
with  cotton-wool,  or  simply  turn  it  mouth  downward  and  leave  it  un- 
disturbed for  a  day  or  two.  Examined  afterward  with  the  luminous 
beam,  no  track  is  visible  ;  the  light  passes  through  the  flask  as  through 
a  vacuum.  The  floating  matter  has  abolished  itself,  being  now  at- 
tached to  the  interior  surface  of  the  flask.  "Were  it  our  object,  as  it 
will  be  subsequently,  to  effectually  detain  the  dirt,  we  might  coat  that 
surface  with  some  sticky  substance.  Here,  then,  without  "torturing" 
the  air  in  any  way,  we  have  found  a  means  of  ridding  it,  or  rather  of 
enabling  it  to  rid  itself,  of  floating  matter. 

We  have  now  to  devise  a  means  of  testing  the  action  of  such  spon- 
taneously purified  air  upon  putrescible  infusions.  Wooden  chambers, 
or  cases,  are  accordingly  constructed  having  glass  fronts,  side-windows, 
and  back-doors.  Through  the  bottoms  of  the  chambers  test-tubes  pass 
air-tight,  their  open  ends,  for  about  one-fifth  of  the  length  of  the 
tubes,  being  within  the  chambers.  Provision  is  made  for  a  free  con- 
nection through  sinuous  channels  between  the  inner  and  the  outer 
air.  Through  such  channels,  though  open,  no  dust  will  reach  the 
chamber.  The  top  of  each  chamber  is  perforated  by  a  circular  hole 
two  inches  in  diameter  and  closed  air-tight  by  a  sheet  of  India-rubber. 
This  is  pierced  in  the  middle  by  a  pin,  and  through  the  pin-hole  is 
pushed  the  shank  of  a  long  pipette,  ending  above  in  a  small  funnel. 
The  shank  also  passes  through  a  stuffing-box  of  cotton-wool  moistened 
with  glycerine  ;  so  that,  tightly  clasped  by  the  rubber  and  wool,  the 
pipette  is  not  likely  in  its  motions  up  and  down  to  carry  any  dust 
into  the  chamber.  The  annexed  woodcut  shows  a  chamber  with  six 
test-tubes,  its  side-windows  to  w,  its  pipette  p  (7,  and  its  sinuous  chan- 
nels a  b  which  connect  the  air  of  the  chamber  with  the  outer  air. 

The  chamber  is  carefully  closed  and  permitted  to  remain  quiet  for 
two  or  three  days.  Examined  at  the  beginning  by  a  beam  sent 
through  its  windows,  the  air  is  found  laden  with  floating  matter, 
which  in  three  days  has  wholly  disappeared.  To  prevent  its  ever 
rising  again  into  the  chambers,  the  internal  surface  is  coated  with 
glycerine.  The  fresh  but  putrescible  liquid  is  introduced  into  the  six 
tubes  in  succession  by  means  of  the  pipette.     Permitted  to  remain 


SP  ONTA  NE  0  US    GENERA  TI  ON. 


593 


without  further  precaution,  every  one  of  the  tubes  would  putrefy  and 
till  itself  with  life.  The  liquid  has  been  in  contact  with  dust-laden 
air  by  which  it  has  been  infected,  and  the  infection  must  be  destroyed. 
This  is  done  by  plunging  the  six 
tubes  into  a  bath  of  heated  oil  and 
boiling  the  infusion.  The  time  re- 
quisite to  destroy  the  infection  de- 
pends wholly  upon  its  nature.  Two 
minutes'  boiling  suffices  to  destroy 
some  contagia,  whereas  two  hun- 
dred minutes'  boiling  fails  to  de- 
stroy others.  After  the  infusion 
has  been  sterilized,  the  oil-bath  is 
withdrawn,  and  the  liquid,  whose 
putrescibility  has  been  in  no  way 
affected  by  the  boiling,  is  aban- 
doned to  the  air  of  the  chamber. 

With  such  chambers  I  tested, 
in  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1875- 
'76,  infusions  of  the  most  various 
kinds,  embracing  natural  animal 
liquids,  the  flesh  and  viscera  of 
domestic  animals,  game,  fish,  and 
vegetables.  More  than  fifty  mote- 
less  chambers,  each  with  its  series 
of  infusions,  were  then  tested,  many 
of  them  repeatedly.  There  was  no 
shade  of  uncertainty  in  any  of  the 
results.  In  every  instance  we  had, 
within  the  chamber,  perfect  lim- 
pidity and  sweetness,  which  in  some  cases  lasted  for  more  than  a 
year — without  the  chamber,  with  the  same  infusion,  putridity,  and  its 
characteristic  smells.  In  no  instance  was  the  least  countenance  lent 
to  the  notion  that  an  infusion  deprived  by  heat  of  its  inherent  life, 
and  placed  in  contact  with  air  cleansed  of  its  visibly  suspended  mat- 
ter, has  any  power  whatever  to  generate  life  anew. 

Remembering,  then,  the  number  and  variety  of  the  infusions  em- 
ployed, and  the  strictness  of  our  adherence  to  the  rules  of  preparation 
laid  down  by  the  heterogenists  themselves  ;  remembering  that  we 
have  operated  upon  the  very  substances  recommended  by  them  as 
capable  of  furnishing  even  in  untrained  hands  easy  and  decisive  proofs 
of  spontaneous  generation,  and  that  we  have  added  to  their  substances 
many  others  of  our  own — if  this  pretended  generative  power  were  a 
reality,  surely  it  must  have  manifested  itself  somewhere.  Speaking 
roundly,  I  should  say  that  at  least  500  chances  have  been  given  to  it, 
but  it  has  nowhere  appeared 


The  argument  is  now  to  be  closed  and 


vol.  xii. — 38 


594  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

clinched  by  an  experiment  which  will  remove  every  residue  of  doubt 
as  to  the  ability  of  the  infusions  to  sustain  life.  We  open  the  back- 
doors of  our  sealed  chambers,  and  permit  the  common  air  with  its 
floating  particles  to  have  access  to  our  tubes.  For  three  months  they 
have  remained  pellucid  and  sweet — flesh,  fish,  and  vegetable  extracts, 
purer  than  ever  cook  manufactured.  Three  days'  exposure  to  the 
dusty  air  suffices  to  render  them  muddy,  fetid,  and  swarming  with 
infusorial  life.  The  liquids  are  thus  proved,  one  and  all,  ready  for 
putrefaction  when  the  contaminating  agent  is  applied.  I  invite  my 
colleague  to  reflect  on  these  facts.  How  will  he  account  for  the  abso- 
lute  immunity  of  a  liquid  exposed  for  months  in  a  warm  room  to  opti- 
cally pure  air,  and  its  infallible  putrefaction  in  a  few  days  when 
exposed  to  dust-laden  air?  He  must,  I  submit,  bow  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  dust-particles  are  the  cause  of  putrefactive  life.  And,  unless 
he  accepts  the  hypothesis  that  these  particles,  being  dead  in  the  air, 
are,  in  the  liquid,  miraculously  kindled  into  living  things,  he  must 
conclude  that  the  life  we  have  observed  springs  from  germs  or  organ- 
isms diffused  through  the  atmosphere. 

The  experiments  with  hermetically-sealed  flasks  have  reached  the 
number  of  940.  A  sample  group  of  130  of  them  were  laid  before  the 
Royal  Society  on  January  13, 1876.  They  were  utterly  free  from  life, 
having  been  completely  sterilized  by  three  minutes'  boiling.  I  took 
special  care  that  the  temperatures  to  which  the  flasks  were  exposed 
should  include  those  previously  alleged  to  be  efficient.  I  copied, 
indeed,  accurately  the  conditions  laid  down  by  our  most  conspicuous 
heteroo-enist,  but  I  failed  to  corroborate  him.  He  then  laid  stress  on 
the  question  of  warmth,  suddenly  adding  30°  to  the  temperatures 
with  which  both  he  and  I  had  previously  worked.  Waiving  all  argu- 
ment or  protest  against  the  caprice  thus  manifested,  I  met  this  new 
requirement  also.  The  sealed  tubes,  which  had  proved  barren  in 
the  Royal  Institution,  were  suspended  in  perforated  boxes,  and 
placed  under  the  supervision  of  an  intelligent  assistant  in  the  Turkish 
Bath  in  Jerrayn  Street.  From  two  to  six  days  had  been  allowed  for 
the  generation  of  organisms  in  hermetically-sealed  tubes.  Mine  re- 
mained in  the  washing-room  of  the  bath  for  nine  days.  Thermome- 
ters placed  in  the  boxes,  and  read  off  twice  or  three  times  a  day, 
showed  the  temperature  to  vary  from  a  minimum  of  101°  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  112°  Fahr.  At  the  end  of  nine  days  the  infusions  were  as 
clear  as  at  the  beginning.  They  were  then  removed  to  a  warmer 
position.  A  temperature  of  115°  had  been  mentioned  as  particularly 
favorable  to  spontaneous  generation.  For  fourteen  days  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  Turkish  bath  hovered  about  this  point,  falling  once  as  low 
as  106°,  reaching  116°  on  three  occasions,  118°  on  one,  and  119°  on 
two.  The  result  was  quite  the  same  as  that  just  recorded.  The  high- 
er temperatures  proved  perfectly  incompetent  to  develop  life. 

Taking  the  actual  experiment  we  have  made  as  a  basis  of  calcula- 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  595 

tion,  if  our  940  flasks  were  opened  on  the  hay-loft  of  the  Bel  Alp  85S 
of  them  would  become  filled  with  organisms.  The  escape  of  the  re- 
maining 82  strengthens  our  case  against  the  heterogenists,  proving  as 
it  does  conclusively  that  not  in  the  air,  nor  in  the  infusions,  nor  in 
anything  continuous  diffused  through  the  air,  but  in  discrete  particles 
nourished  by  the  infusions,  we  are  to  seek  the  cause  of  life.  Our  ex- 
periment proves  these  particles  to  be  in  some  cases  so  far  apart  on  the 
hay-loft  as  to  permit  10  per  cent,  of  our  flasks  to  take  in  air  without 
contracting  contamination.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  Pasteur 
proved  the  cause  of  "  so-called  spontaneous  generation  "  to  be  discon- 
tinuous. I  have  already  referred  to  his  observation  that  12  out  of  20 
flasks  opened  on  the  plains  escaped  infection,  while  19  out  of  20  flasks 
opened  on  the  Mer  de  Glace  escaped.  Our  own  experiment  at  the 
Bel  Alp  is  a  more  emphatic  instance  of  the  same  kind,  90  per  cent,  of 
the  flasks  opened  in  the  hay-loft  being  smitten,  while  not  one  of  those 
opened  on  the  free  mountain-ledge  was  attacked.  The  power  of  the 
air  as  regards  putrefactive  infection  is  incessantly  changing  through 
natural  causes,  and  we  are  able  to  alter  it  at  will.  Of  a  number  of 
flasks  opened  in  1876  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institution,  42 
per  cent,  were  smitten,  while  58  per  cent,  escaped.  In  1877  the  pro- 
portion in  the  same  laboratory  was  68  per  cent,  smitten  to  32  intact. 
The  greater  mortality,  so  to  speak,  of  the  infusions  in  1877  was  due 
to  the  presence  of  hay  which  diffused  its  germinal  dust  in  the  labora- 
tory air,  causing  it  to  approximate,  as  regards  infective  virulence,  to 
the  air  of  the  Alpine  loft.  I  would  ask  my  friend  to  bring  his  sci- 
entific penetration  to  bear  upon  all  the  foregoing  facts.  They  do  not 
prove  spontaneous  generation  to  be  "impossible."  My  assertions, 
however,  relate  not  to  "  possibilities,"  but  to  proofs,  and  the  experi- 
ments just  described  do  most  distinctly  prove  the  evidence  on  which 
the  heterogenist  relies  to  be  written  on  waste  paper. 

My  friend  will  not,  I  am  persuaded,  dispute  these  results;  but  he. 
may  be  disposed  to  urge  that  other  able  and  honorable  men  working 
at  the  same  subject  have  arrived  at  conclusions  different  from  mine. 
Most  freely  granted,  but  let  me  here  recur  to  the  remarks  already 
made  in  speaking  of  the  experiments  of  Spallanzani,  to  the  effect  that 
the  failure  of  others  to  confirm  his  results  by  no  means  upsets  their 
evidence.  To  fix  the  ideas,  let  us  suppose  that  my  colleague  comes 
to  the  laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institution,  repeats  there  my  experi- 
ments, and  obtains  confirmatory  results;  and  that  he  then  goes  to 
University  or  King's  College,  where,  operating  with  the  same  in- 
fusions, he  obtains  contradictory  results.  Will  he  be  disposed  to 
conclude  that  the  self-same  snbstance  is  barren  in  Albemarle  Street 
and  fruitful  in  Gower  Street  or  the  Strand?  His  Alpine  experience 
has  already  made  known  to  him  the  literally  infinite  differences  exist- 
ing between  different  samples  of  air  as  regards  their  capacity  for 
putrefactive  infection.     And,  possessing  this  knowledge,  will  he  not 


596  THE   POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

substitute,  for  the  adventurous  conclusion  that  an  organic  infusion  is 
barren  at  one  place  and  spontaneously  generative  at  another,  the  more 
rational  and  obvious  one  that  the  air  of  the  two  localities  which  has 
had  access  to  the  infusion  is  infective  in  different  degrees? 

As  regards  workmanship,  moreover,  he  will  not  fail  to  bear  in 
mind  that  fruitfulness  may  be  due  to  errors  of  manipulation,  while 
barrenness  involves  the  presumption  of  correct  experiment.  It  is  only 
the  careful  worker  that  can  secure  the  latter,  while  it  is  open  to  every 
novice  to  obtain  the  former.  Barrenness  is  the  result  at  which  the 
conscientious  experimenter,  whatever  his  theoretic  convictions  may 
be,  ought  to  aim,  omitting  no  pains  to  secure  it,  and  resorting,  only 
when  there  is  no  escape  from  it,  to  the  conclusion  that  the  life  observed 
comes  from  no  source  which  correct  experiment  could  neutralize  or 
avoid.  Let  us  again  take  a  definite  case.  Supposing  my  colleague  to 
operate  with  the  same  apparent  care  on  100  infusions — or  rather  on 
100  samples  of  the  same  infusion — and  that  50  of  them  prove  fruitful 
and  50  barren.  Are  we  to  say  that  the  evidence  for  and  against 
heterogeny  is  equally  balanced?  There  are  some  who  would  not  only 
say  this,  but  who  would  treasure  up  the  50  fruitful  flasks,  as  "posi- 
tive results,  and  lower  the  evidential  value  of  the  50  barren  flasks  by 
labeling  them  "  negative  '■'  results.  This,  as  shown  by  Dr.  William 
Roberts,  is  an  exact  inversion  of  the  true  order  of  the  terms  positive 
and  negative.1  Not  such,  I  trust,  would  be  the  course  pursued  by  my 
friend.  As  regards  the  50  fruitful  flasks  he  would,  I  doubt  not, 
repeat  the  experiment  with  redoubled  care  and  scrutiny,  and,  not  by 
one  repetition  only,  but  by  many,  assure  himself  that  he  had  not  fallen 
into  error.  Such  faithful  scrutiny  fully  carried  out  would  infallibly 
lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  here,  as  in  all  other  cases,  the  evidence 
in  favor  of  spontaneous  generation  crumbles  in  the  grasp  of  the  com- 
petent inquirer. 

The  botanist  knows  that  different  seeds  possess  different  powers 
of  resistance  to  heat.2  Some  are  killed  by  a  momentary  exposure  to 
the  boiling  temperature,  while  others  withstand  it  for  several  hours. 
Most  of  our  ordinary  seeds  are  rapidly  killed,  while  Pouchet  made 
known  to  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences,  in  1866,  that  certain  seeds, 
which  had  been  transported  in  fleeces  of  wool  from  Brazil,  germinated 
after  four  hours'  boiling.  The  germs  of  the  air  vary  as  much  among 
themselves  as  the  seeds  of  the  botanist.  In  some  localities  the  diffused 
germs  are  so  tender  that  boiling  for  five  minutes,  or  even  less,  would 
be  sure  to  destroy  them  all;  in  other  localities  the  diffused  germs  are 

1  See .  his  truly  philosophical  remarks  on  this  head  in  the  British  Medical  Journal, 
18*76,  p.  282. 

2  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Thistleton  Dyer  for  various  illustrations  of  such  differences.  It 
is,  however,  surprising  that  a  subject  of  such  high  scientific  importance  should  not  have 
been  more  thoroughly  explored.  Here  the  scoundrels  who  deal  in  killed  seeds  might  be 
able  to  add  to  our  knowledge. 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  597 

so  obstinate  that  many  hours'  boiling  would  be  requisite  to  deprive 
them  of  their  power  of  germination.  The  absence  or  presence  of  a 
truss  of  desiccated  hay  would  produce  differences  as  great  as  those 
here  described.  The  greatest  endurance  that  I  have  ever  observed — 
and  I  believe  it  is  the  greatest  on  record — was  a  case  of  survival  after 
eight  hours'  boiling.  As  regards  their  power  of  resisting  heat,  the 
infusorial  germs  of  our  atmosphere  might  be  classified  under  the  fol- 
lowing and  intermediate  heads  :  Killed  in  five  minutes;  not  killed  in 
five  minutes  but  killed  in  fifteen ;  not  killed  in  fifteen  minutes  but 
killed  in  thirty ;  not  killed  in  thirty  minutes  but  killed  in  an  hour ;  not 
killed  in  an  hour  but  killed  in  two  hours ;  not  killed  in  two  but  killed 
three  hours ;  not  killed  in  three  but  killed  in  four  hours.  I  have  had 
several  cases  of  survival  after  four  and  five  hours'  boiling,  some  sur- 
vivals after  six,  and  one  after  eight  hours'  boiling.  Thus  far  has 
experiment  actually  reached,  but  there  is  no  valid  warrant  for  fixing 
upon  even  eight  hours  as  the  extreme  limit  of  vital  resistance.  Prob- 
ably more  extended  researches  (though  mine  have  been  very  exten- 
sive) would  reveal  germs  more  obstinate  still.  It  is  also  certain  that 
we  might  begin  earlier,  and  find  germs  which  are  destroyed  by  a  tem- 
perature far  below  that  of  boiling  water.  In  the  presence  of  such 
facts,  to  speak  of  a  death-point  of  bacteria  and  their  germs  would  be 
mere  nonsense — but  of  this  more  anon. 

We  have  now  to  test  one  of  the  principal  foundations  of  the  doc- 
trine of  spontaneous  generation  as  formulated  in  this  country.  With 
this  view,  I  place  before  my  friend  and  co-inquirer  two  liquids  which 
have  been  kept  for  six  months  in  one  of  our  sealed  chambers,  exposed 
to  optically  pure  air.  The  one  is  a  mineral  solution  containing  in 
proper  proportions  all  the  substances  which  enter  into  the  composition 
of  bacteria,  the  other  is  an  infusion  of  turnip — it  might  be  any  one  of 
a  hundred  other  infusions,  animal  or  vegetable.  Both  liquids  are  as 
clear  as  distilled  water,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  life  in  either  of  them. 
They  are,  in  fact,  completely  sterilized.  A  mutton-chop,  over  which 
a  little  water  has  been  poured  to  keep  its  juices  from  drying  up,  has 
lain  for  three  days  upon  a  plate  in  our  warm  room.  It  smells  offen- 
sively. Placing  a  drop  of  the  fetid  mutton-juice  under  a  microscope, 
it  is  found  swarming  with  the  bacteria  which  live  by  putrefaction, 
and  without  which  no  putrefaction  can  occur.  With  a  speck  of  the 
swarming  liquid  I  inoculate  the  clear  mineral  solution  and  the  clear 
turnip-infusion,  as  a  surgeon  might  inoculate  an  infant  with  vaccine 
lymph.  In  four-and-twenty  hours  the  transparent  liquids  have  be- 
come turbid  throughout,  and,  instead  of  being  barren  as  at  first,  they 
are  teeming  with  life.  The  experiment  may  be  repeated  a  thousand 
times  with  the  same  invariable  result.  To  the  naked  eye  the  liquids 
at  the  beginning  were  alike,  being  both  equally  transparent — to  the 
naked  eye  they  are  alike  at  the  end,  being  both  equally  muddy.  In- 
stead of  putrid  mutton-juice  we  might  take  as  a  source  of  infection 


598  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

any  one  of  a  hundred  other  putrid  liquids,  animal  or  vegetable.  So 
long  as  the  liquid  contains  the  living  bacteria,  a  speck  of  it  communi- 
cated to  the  clear  mineral  solution,  or  to  the  clear  turnip-infusion, 
produces  in  twenty-four  hours  the  effect  that  we  have  described. 

We  now  vary  the  experiment  thus:  Opening  the  back-door  of  an- 
other closed  chamber  which  has  contained  for  months  the  pure  mineral 
solution  and  the  pure  turnip-infusion  side  by  side,  I  drop  into  each  of 
them  a  small  pinch  of  laboratory  dust.  The  effect  here  is  tardier  than 
when  the  speck  of  putrid  liquid  was  employed.  In  three  days,  how- 
ever, after  its  infection  with  the  dust,  the  turnip-infusion  is  muddy, 
and  swarming  as  before  with  bacteria.  But  what  about  the  mineral 
solution  which,  in  our  first  experiment,  behaved  in  a  manner  undistin- 
guishable  from  the  turnip-juice  ?  At  the  end  of  three  days  there  is 
not  a  bacterium  to  be  found  in  it.  At  the  end  of  three  weeks  it  is 
equally  innocent  of  bacterial  life.  We  may  repeat  the  experiment 
with  the  solution  and  the  infusion  a  hundred  times,  with  the  same 
invariable  result.  Always  in  the  case  of  the  latter  the  sowing  of  the 
atmospheric  dust  yields  a  crop  of  bacteria — never  in  the  former  does 
the  dry  germinal  matter  kindle  into  active  life.1  What  is  the  infer- 
ence which  the  reflecting  mind  must  draw  from  this  experiment  ?  Is 
it  not  as  clear  as  day  that  while  both  liquids  are  able  to  feed  the 
bacteria  and  to  enable  them  to  increase  and  multiply,  after  they  have 
been  once  fully  developed,  only  one  of  the  liquids  is  able  to  develop 
into  active  bacteria  the  germinal  dust  of  the  air  ? 

I  invite  my  friend  to  reflect  upon  this  conclusion ;  he  will,  I  think, 
see  that  there  is  no  escape  from  it.  He  may,  if  he  prefers  it,  hold  the 
opinion,  which  I  consider  erroneous,  that  bacteria  exist  in  the  air,  not 
as  germs  but  as  desiccated  organisms.  The  inference  remains  that, 
while  the  one  liquid  is  able  to  force  the  passage  from  the  inactive  to 
the  active  state,  the  other  is  not. 

But  this  is  not  at  all  the  inference  which  has  been  drawn  from 
experiments  with  the  mineral  solution.  Seeing  its  ability  to  nourish 
bacteria  when  once  inoculated  with  the  living  active  organism,  and 
observing  that  no  bacteria  appeared  in  the  solution  after  lofig  ex- 
posure to  the  air,  the  inference  was  drawn  that  neither  bacteria  nor 
their  germs  existed  in  the  air.  Throughout  Germany  the  ablest  lit- 
erature of  the  subject,  even  that  opposed  to  heterogeny,  is  infected 
with  this  error;  while  heterogenists  at  home  and  abroad  have  based 
upon  it  a  triumphant  demonstration  of  their  doctrine.  It  is  proved, 
they  say,  by  the  deportment  of  the  mineral  solution  that  neither 
bacteria  nor  their  germs  exist  in  the  air ;  hence,  if,  on  exposing  a 
thoroughly  sterilized  turnip-infusion  to  the  air,  bacteria  appear,  they 
must  of  necessity  have  been  spontaneously  generated.     In  the  words 

1  This  is  the  deportment  of  the  mineral  solution  as  described  by  others.  My  own 
experiments  would  lead  me  to  say  that  the  development  of  the  bacteria,  though  exceed- 
ingly slow  and  difficult,  is  not  impossible. 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  599 

of  Dr.  Bastian,  uttered  not  in  a  popular  book,  but  in  the  "Proceedings 
of  the  Royal  Society,"  '  with  reference  to  this  very  experiment :  "  We 
can  only  infer  that  while  the  boiled  saline  solution  is  quite  incapable 
of  engendering  bacteria,  such  organisms  are  able  to  arise  de  novo  in 
the  boiled  organic  infusion."  I  would  ask  my  eminent  colleague  what 
he  thinks  of  this  reasoning  now  ?  The  datum  is,  "  A  mineral  solu- 
tion exposed  to  common  air  does  not  develop  bacteria : "  the  infer- 
ence is,  "Therefore,  if  a  turnip-infusion  similarly  exposed  develop 
bacteria,  they  must  be  spontaneously  generated."  The  inference,  on 
the  face  of  it,  is  an  unwarranted  one.  But,  while  as  matter  of  logic  it 
is  inconclusive,  as  matter  of  fact  it  is  chimerical.  London  air  is  as 
surely  charged  with  the  germs  of  bacteria  as  London  chimneys  are 
with  smoke.  The  inference  just  referred  to  is  completely  disposed  of 
by  the  simple  question:  "  Why,  when  your  sterilized  organic  infusion 
is  exposed  to  optically  pure  air,  should  this  generation  of  life  de  novo 
utterly  cease  ?  Why  should  I  be  able  to  preserve  my  turnip-juice 
side  by  side  with  your  saline  solution  for  the  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  days  of  the  year,  in  free  connection  with  the  general  atmosphere, 
on  the  sole  condition  that  the  portion  of  that  atmosphere  in  contact 
with  the  juice  shall  be  visibly  free  from  floating  dust,  while  three 
days' exposure  to  that  dust  fills  it  with  bacteria?"  Am  I  over-san- 
guine in  hoping  that,  as  regards  the  argument  here  set  forth,  he  who 
runs  may  read,  and  he  who  reads  may  understand  ?  Let  me  add, 
however,  that  while  exposing  the  fallacy  of  the  inferences  drawn  from 
it,  I  regard  the  observation  that  the  boiled  saline  solution  can  sustain 
the  developed  organisms,  while  it  cannot  develop  them  from  the  dry 
germinal  matter  of  the  air,  as  an  important  addition  to  our  knowledge. 
We  are  indebted  for  it  to  Dr.  Burdon-Sanderson,  who  soon  saw  that 
his  first  interpretation  of  it  went  too  far,  and  who,  in  a  communication 
recently  presented  to  the  Royal  Society,  abandons  the  interpretation 
altogether. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  calm  and  thorough  consideration  of  another 
subject,  more  important  if  possible  than  the  foregoing  one,  but  like 
it  somewhat  difficult  to  seize  by  reason  of  the  very  opulence  of  the 
phraseology,  logical  and  rhetorical,  in  which  it  has  been  set  forth. 
The  subject  now  to  be  considered  relates  to  what  has  been  called  "the 
death-point  of  bacteria."  Those  who  happen  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  modern  English  literature  of  the  question  will  remember  how 
challenge  after  challenge  has  been  issued  to  panspermatists  in  general, 
and  to  one  or  two  home  workers  in  particular,  to  come  to  close  quar- 
ters on  this  cardinal  point.  It  is  obviously  the  stronghold  of  the 
English  heterogenist.  "  Water,"  he  says,  "  is  boiling  merrily  over  a 
fire,  when  some  luckless  person  upsets  the  vessel  so  that  the  heated 
fluid  exercises  its  scathing  influence  upon  an  uncovered  portion  of  the 
body — hand,  arm,  or  face.     Here  at  all  events  there  is  no  room  for 

1  Vol.  xxi.,  p.  130. 


600  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

doubt.  Boiling  water  unquestionably  exercises  a  most  pernicious  and 
rapidly-destructive  effect  upon  the  living  matter  of  which  we  are 
composed."  '  And,  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  it  is  the  high  or- 
ganization which,  in  this  case,  renders  the  body  susceptible  to  heat, 
he  refers  to  the  action  of  boiling  water  on  the  hen's-egg  to  dissipate 
the  notion.  "  The  conclusion,"  he  says,  "  would  seem  to  force  itself 
upon  us  that  there  is  something  intrinsically  deleterious  in  the  action 
of  boiling  water  upon  living  matter — whether  this  matter  be  of  high 
or  of  low  organization."  2  Again,  at  another  place,  "  It  has  been 
shown  that  the  briefest  exposure  to  the  influence  of  boilirg  w7ater  is 
destructive  of  all  living  matter."  3  Throughout  his  prolonged  dis- 
quisitions on  this  subject,  Dr.  Bastian  makes  special  kinds  of  living 
matter  do  duty  for  all  kinds.  To  invalidate  the  foregoing  statements 
it  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  eight  years  before  they  were  made  it 
had  been  known  to  the  wTool-staplers  of  Elbceuf,  andPouchet  had  pub- 
lished the  fact  in  the  Comptes-Rendus  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences* that  the  desiccated  seeds  of  the  Brazilian  plant  medicago  sur- 
vived fully  four  hours'  boiling.  Pouchet  himself  boiled  the  seeds,  and 
found  some  of  them  swollen  and  disintegrated,  while  others  remained 
hard  and  unswollen.  Sown  in  the  same  earth,  the  latter  germinated 
while  the  former  did  not.  So  much  for  the  heterogenist's  mistake 
regarding  ordinary  seeds ;  we  must  now  examine  whether  no  error 
underlies  his  experiments  and  his  reasonings  as  to  "the  death-point 
of  bacteria." 

The  experiments  already  recorded  plainly  show  that  there  is  a 
marked  difference  between  the  dry  bacterial  matter  of  the  air,  and 
the  wet,  soft,  and  active  bacteria  of  putrefying  organic  liquids.  The 
one  can  be  luxuriantly  bred  in  the  saline  solution,  the  others  refuse  to 
be  born  there,  while  both  of  them  are  copiously  developed  in  a  steril- 
ized turnip-infusion.  Inferences,  as  we  have  already  seen,  founded  on 
the  deportment  of  the  one  liquid  cannot  with  the  warrant  of  scientific 
logic  be  extended  to  the  other.  But  this  is  exactly  what  the  heteroge- 
nist  has  done,  thus  repeating,  as  regards  the  death-point  of  bacteria, 
the  error  into  which  he  fell  concerning  the  germs  of  the  air.  Let  us 
boil  our  muddy  mineral  solution  with  its  swarming  bacteria  for  five 
minutes.  In  the  soft,  succulent  condition  in  which  they  exist  in  the 
solution  not  one  of  them  escapes  destruction.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
turnip-infusion  if  it  be  inoculated  with  the  living  bacteria  only— the 
aerial  dust  being  carefully  excluded.  In  both  cases  the  dead  organ- 
isms sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  liquid,  and  without  reinoculation  no 
fresh  organisms  will  arise.  But  the  case  is  entirely  different  when  we 
inoculate  our  turnip-infusion  with  the  desiccated  germinal  matter 
afloat  in  the  air. 

The  "  death-point "  of  bacteria  is   the    maximum  temperature  at 

1  Bastian,  "  Evolution,"  p.  133.  2  Ibid.,  p.  135.  3  Ibid.,  p.  46. 

4  Vol.  Ixiii.,  p.  939. 


SPONTANEOUS   GENERATION.  601 

which  they  can  live,  or  the  minimum  temperature  at  which  they 
cease  to  live.  If,  for  example,  they  survive  a  temperature  of  140°, 
and  do  not  survive  a  temperature  of  150°,  the  death-point  lies  some- 
where between  these  two  temperatures.  Vaccine  lymph,  for  example, 
is  proved  by  Messrs.  Braidwood  and  Vacher  to  be  deprived  of  its 
power  of  infection  by  brief  exposure  to  a  temperature  between  140° 
and  150°  Fahr.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  death-point  of  the 
lymph,  or  rather  of  the  particles  diffused  in  the  lymph,  which  consti- 
tute the  real  contagium.  If  no  time,  however,  be  named  for  the  ap- 
plication of  the  heat,  the  term  "  death-point "  is  a  vague  one.  An 
infusion,  for  example,  which  will  resist  five  hours'  continuous  exposure 
to  the  boiling  temperature,  will  succumb  to  five  days'  exposure  to  a 
temperature  50°  below  that  of  boiling.  The  fully-developed,  soft  bac- 
teria of  putrefying  liquids  are  not  only  killed  by  five  minutes'  boiling, 
but  by  less  than  a  single  minute's  boiling — indeed,  they  are  slain  at 
about  the  same  temperature  as  the  vaccine.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
plastic,  active  bacteria  of  the  turnip-infusion.1  But,  instead  of  choos- 
ing a  putrefying  liquid  for  inoculation,  let  us  prepare  and  employ  our 
inoculating  substance  in  the  following  simple  way :  Let  a  small  wisp  of 
hay,  desiccated  by  age,  be  washed  in  a  glass  of  water,  and  let  a  perfectly 
sterilized  turnip-infusion  be  inoculated  with  the  washing  liquid.  After 
three  hours'  continuous  boiling  the  infusion  thus  infected  will  often 
develop  luxuriant  bacterial  life.  Precisely  the  same  occurs  if  a  turnip- 
infusion  be  prepared  in  an  atmosphere  well  charged  with  desiccated 
hay-germs.  The  infusion  in  this  case  infects  itself  without  special 
inoculation,  and  its  subsequent  resistance  to  sterilization  is  often  very 
great.  On  the  1st  of  March  last  I  purposely  infected  the  air  of  our 
laboratory  with  the  germinal  dust  of  a  sapless  kind  of  hay  mown  in 
1875.  Ten  groups  of  flasks  were  charged  with  turnip  infusion  pre- 
pared in  the  infected  laboratory,  and  were  afterward  subjected  to  the 
boiling  temperature  for  periods  varying  from  15  minutes  to  240  min- 
utes. Out  of  the  ten  groups  only  one  was  sterilized — that,  namely, 
which  had  been  boiled  for  four  hours.  Every  flask  of  the  nine  groups 
which  had  been  boiled  for  15,  30,  45,  60,  75,  90,  105,  120,  and  180 
minutes  respectively,  bred  organisms  afterward.  The  same  is  true 
of  other  vegetable  infusions.  On  the  28th  of  February  last,  for  ex- 
ample, I  boiled  six  flasks,  containing  cucumber-infusion  prepared  in 
an  infected  atmosphere,  for  periods  of  15,  30,  45,  60,  120,  and  180 
minutes.  Every  flask  of  the  group  subsequently  developed  organisms. 
On  the  same  day,  in  the  case  of  three  flasks,  the  boiling  was  prolonged 
to  240,  300,  and  360  minutes  ;  and  these  three  flasks  were  completely 

1  In  my  paper  in  the  "Philosophical  Transactions"  for  1876,  I  pointed  out  and  illus- 
trated experimentally  the  difference,  as  regards  rapidity  of  development,  between  water- 
germs  and  air-germs ;  the  growth  from  the  already  softened  water-germs  proving  to  be 
practically  as  rapid  as  from  developed  bacteria.  This  preparedness  of  the  germ  for  rapid 
development  is  associated  with  its  preparedness  for  rapid  destruction. 


6oz  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

sterilized.  Animal  infusions,  which  under  ordinary  circumstances  are 
rendered  infallibly  barren  by  five  minutes'  boiling,  behave  like  the 
vegetable  infusions  in  an  infective  atmosphere.  On  the  30th  of  March, 
for  example,  five  flasks  were  charged  with  a  clear  infusion  of  beef  and 
boiled  for  60  minutes,  120  minutes,  180  minutes,  240  minutes,  and 
300  minutes  respectively.  Every  one  of  them  became  subsequently 
crowded  with  organisms,  and  the  same  happened  to  a  perfectly  pel- 
lucid mutton-infusion  prepared  at  the  same  time.  The  cases  are  to 
be  numbered  by  hundreds  in  which  similar  powers  of  resistance  were 
manifested  by  infusions  of  the  most  diverse  kinds. 

In  the  presence  of  such  facts  I  would  ask  my  eminent  colleague 
whether  it  is  necessary  to  dwell  for  a  single  instant  on  the  one-sided- 
ness  of  the  evidence  which  led  to  the  conclusion  that  all  living  matter 
has  its  life  destroyed  by  "  the  briefest  exposure  to  the  influence  of 
boiling  water."  An  infusion  proved  to  be  barren  by  six  months'  ex- 
posure to  moteless  air  kept  at  a  temperature  of  90°  Fahr.,  when  inoc- 
ulated with  full-grown,  active  bacteria,  fills  itself  in  two  days  with 
organisms  so  sensitive  as  to  be  killed  by  a  few  minutes'  exposure  to  a 
temperature  much  below  that  of  boiling  water.  But  the  extension  of 
this  result  to  the  desiccated  germinal  matter  of  the  air  is  without 
warrant  or  justification.  This  is  obvious  without  going  beyond  the 
argument  itself.  But  we  have  gone  far  beyond  the  argument  and 
proved  by  multiplied  experiment  the  alleged  destruction  of  all  living 
matter  by  the  briefest  exposure  to  the  influence  of  boiling  water  to 
be  a  delusion.  The  whole  logical  edifice  raised  upon  this  basis  falls, 
therefore,  to  the  ground  ;  and  the  argument  that  bacteria  and  their 
germs  being  destroyed  at  140°  must,  if  they  appear  after  exposure  to 
212°,  be  spontaneously  generated,  is,  I  trust,  silenced  forever. 

Through  the  precautions,  variations,  and  repetitions  observed  and 
executed  with  the  view  of  rendering  its  results  secure,  the  separate  ves- 
sels employed  in  this  inquiry  have  mounted  up  in  two  years  to  nearly 
10,000.  Here,  however,  and  writh  good  reason,  the  editor  cries,  "  Halt ! " 
I  had  hoped,  when  I  began,  to  carry  the  argument  further.  Besides 
the  philosophic  interest  attaching  to  the  problem  of  life's  origin, 
which  will  be  always  immense,  there  are  the  practical  interests  in- 
volved in  the  application  of  the  doctrines  here  discussed  to  surgery 
and  medicine.  The  antiseptic  system,  at  which  J  have  already  glanced, 
illustrates  the  manner  in  which  beneficent  results  of  the  gravest  mo- 
ment follow  in  the  wake  of  clear  theoretic  insight.  Surgery  was  once 
a  noble  art;  it  is  now,  as  well,  a  noble  science.  Prior  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  antiseptic  system,  the  thoughtful  surgeon  could  not 
have  failed  to  learn  empirically  that  there  is  something  in  the  air 
which  often  defeated  the  most  consummate  operative  skill.  That 
something  the  antiseptic  treatment  destroys  or  renders  innocuous. 
At  King's  College  Mr.  Lister  operates  and  dresses  while  a  fine  shower 
of  mixed  carbolic  acid  and  water,  produced  in  the  simplest  manner, 


SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION.  603 

falls  upon  the  wound,  the  lint  and  gauze  employed  in  the  subsequent 
dressing  being  duly  saturated  with  the  antiseptic.  At  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Mr.  Callender  employs  the  dilute  carbolic  acid  without  the 
spray  ;  but,  as  regards  the  real  point  aimed  at — the  preventing  of  the 
wound  from  becoming  a  nidus  for  the  propagation  of  septic  bacteria 
— the  practice  in  both  hospitals  is  the  same.  Commending  itself  as 
it  does  to  the  scientifically-trained  mind,  the  antiseptic  system  has 
struck  deep  root  in  Germany. 

It  would  also  have  given  me  pleasure  to  point  out  the  present 
position  of  the  "  germ-theory  "  in  reference  to  the  phenomena  of  in- 
fectious disease,  distinguishing  arguments  based  on  analogy — which, 
however,  are  terribly  strong — from  those  based  on  actual  observation. 
I  should  have  liked  to  follow  up  the  account  I  have  already  given 1  of 
the  truly  excellent  researches  of  a  young  and  an  unknown  German 
physician  named  Koch,  on  splenic  fever,  by  an  account  of  what  Pas- 
teur has  recently  done  with  reference  to  the  same  subject.  Here  we 
have  before  us  a  living  contagium  of  the  most  fatal  power,  which  we 
can  follow  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  its  life-cycle.2  We  find 
it  in  the  blood  or  spleen  of  a  smitten  animal  in  the  state  say  of  short 
motionless  rods.  We  place  these  rods  in  a  nutritive  liquid  on  the 
warm  stage  of  the  microscope,  and  see  them  lengthening  into  fila- 
ments which  lie  side  by  side,  or,  crossing  each  other,  become  coiled 
into  knots  of  a  complexity  not  to  be  unraveled.  We  finally  see  those 
filaments  resolviug  themselves  into  innumerable  spores,  each  with 
death  potentially  housed  within  it,  yet  not  to  be  distinguished  micro- 
scopically from  the  harmless  germs  of  Bacillus  subtilis.  The  bacte- 
rium of  splenic  fever  is  called  Bacillus  anthracis.  This  formidable 
organism  was  shown  to  me  by  M.  Pasteur  in  Paris  last  July.  His 
recent  investigations  regarding  the  part  it  plays  pathologically  cer- 
tainly rank  among  the  most  remarkable  labors  of  that  remarkable 
man.  Observer  after  observer  had  strayed  and  fallen  in  this  land  of 
pitfalls,  a  multitude  of  opposing  conclusions  and  mutually-destruc- 
tive theories  being  the  result.  In  association  with  his  younger  physi- 
ological colleague  M.  Joubert,  Pasteur  struck  in  amid  the  chaos, 
and  soon  reduced  the  whole  of  it  to  harmony.  They  proved,  among 
other  things,  that  in  cases  where  previous  observers  in  France  had 
supposed  themselves  to  be  dealing  solely  with  splenic  fever,  another 
equally  virulent  factor  was  simultaneously  active.  Splenic  fever  was 
often  overmastered  by  septicaemia,  and  results  due  solely  to  the  latter 
had  been  frequently  made  the  ground  of  pathological  inferences  re- 
garding the  character  and  cause  of  the  former.  Combining  duly  the 
two  factors,  all  the  previous  irregularities  disappeared,  every  result 
obtained  receiving  the  fullest  explanation.     On  studying  the  account 

1  Fortnightly  Review,  November,  18t6. 

2  Dallinger  and  Drysdale  had  previously  shown  what  skill  and  patience  can  accom- 
plish by  their  admirable  observations  on  the  life-history  of  the  monads. 


604  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  this  masterly  investigation,  the  words  wherewith  Pasteur  himself 
feelingly  alludes  to  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  experimenter's 
art  came  home  to  me  with  especial  force  :  "  J'ai  tant  de  fois  6prouve 
que  dans  cet  art  difficile  de  l'experimentation  les  plus  hahiles  bron- 
chent  a  chaque  pas,  et  que  l'interpretation  des  faits  n'est  pas  moins 
perilleuse." ' 


♦»» 


ILLUSTRATIONS   OF  THE   LOGIC   OF   SCIENCE. 

By  C.  S.  PEIRCE, 

ASSISTANT   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES   COAST   SURVEY. 

THIRD   PAPER.— THE   DOCTRINE   OF   CHANCES. 


IT  is  a  common  observation  that  a  science  first  begins  to  be  exact 
when  it  is  quantitatively  treated.  What  are  called  the  exact  sci- 
ences are  no  others  than  the  mathematical  ones.  Chemists  reasoned 
vaguely  until  Lavoisier  showed  them  how  to  apply  the  balance  to  the 
verification  of  their  theories,  when  chemistry  leaped  suddenly  into 
the  position  of  the  most  perfect  of  the  classificatory  sciences.  It  has 
thus  become  so  precise  and  certain  that  we  usually  think  of  it  along 
with  optics,  thermotics,  and  electrics.  But  these  are  studies  of  general 
laws,  while  chemistry  considers  merely  the  relations  and  classification 
of  certain  objects  ;  and  belongs,  in  reality,  in  the  same  category  as 
systematic  botany  and  zoology.  Compare  it  with  these  last,  however, 
and  the  advantage  that  it  derives  from  its  quantitative  treatment  is 
very  evident. 

The  rudest  numerical  scales,  such  as  that  by  which  the  mineral- 
ogists distinguish  the  different  degrees  of  hardness,  are  found  useful. 
The  mere  counting  of  pistils  and  stamens  sufficed  to  bring  botany  out 
of  total  chaos  into  some  hind  of  form.  It  is  not,  however,  so  much 
from  counting  as  from  measuring,  not  so  much  from  the  conception 
of  number  as  from  that  of  continuous  quantity,  that  the  advantage 
of  mathematical  treatment  comes.  Number,  after  all,  only  serves  to 
pin  us  down  to  a  precision  in  our  thoughts  which,  however  beneficial, 
can  seldom  lead  to  lofty  conceptions,  and  frequently  descends  to  pet- 
tiness. Of  those  two  faculties  of  which  Bacon  speaks,  that  which 
marks  differences  and  that  which  notes  resemblances,  the  employment 
of  number  can  only  aid  the  lesser  one;  and  the  excessive  use  of  it 
must  tend  to  narrow  the  powers  of  the  mind.  But  the  conception  of 
continuous  quantity  has  a  great  office  to  fulfill,  independently  of  any 
attempt  at  precision.  Far  from  tending  to  the  exaggeration  of  differ- 
ences, it  is  the  direct  instrument  of  the  finest  generalizations.     When 

1  Comptes  Rendus,  lxxxiii.,  p.  177. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    605 

a  naturalist  wishes  to  study  a  species,  he  collects  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  specimens  more   or  less  similar.     In  contemplating  them,  he 
observes  certain  ones  which  are  more  or  less  alike  in  some  particular 
respect.     They  all  have,  for  instance,  a  certain  S-shaped  marking. 
He  observes  that  they  are  not  precisely  alike,  in  this  respect ;  the  S 
has  not  precisely  the  same  shape,  but  the  differences  are  such  as  to 
lead  him  to  believe  that  forms  could  be  found  intermediate  between 
any  two  of  those  he  possesses.     He,  now,  finds  other  forms  apparently 
quite  dissimilar — say  a  marking  in  the  form  of  a  C — and  the  question 
is,  whether  he  can  find  intermediate  ones  which  will  connect  these  latter 
with  the  others.     This  he  often  succeeds  in  doing  in  cases  where  it 
would  at  first  be  thought  impossible ;  whereas,  he  sometimes  finds 
those  which  differ,  at  first  glance,  much  less,  to  be  separated  in  Nature 
by  the  non-occurrence  of  intermediaries.     In  this  way,  he  builds  up 
from  the  study  of  Nature  a  new  general  conception  of  the  character  in 
question.     He  obtains,  for  example,  an  idea  of  a  leaf  which  includes 
every  part  of  the  flower,  and  an  idea  of  a  vertebra  which  includes  the 
skull.     I  surely  need  not  say  much  to  show  what  a   logical  engine 
there  is  here.     It  is  the  essence  of  the  method  of  the  naturalist.     How 
he  applies  it  first  to  one  character,  and  then  to  another,  and  finally 
obtains  a  notion  of  a  species  of  animals,  the  differences  between  whose 
members,  however  great,  are   confined    within   limits,   is   a   matter 
which  does  not  here  concern  us.     The  whole  method  of  classification 
must  be  considered  later ;  but,  at  present,  I  only  desire  to  point  out 
that  it  is  by  taking  advantage  of  the  idea  of  continuity,  or  the  passage 
from  one  form  to  another  by  insensible  degrees,  that  the  naturalist 
builds  his  conceptions.     Now,  the  naturalists  are  the  gi'eat  builders 
of  conceptions ;  there  is  no  other  branch  of  science  where  so  much  of 
this  work  is  done  as  in  theirs  ;  and  we  must,  in  great  measure,  take 
them  for  our  teachers  in  this  important  part  of  logic.     And  it  will  be 
found  everywhere  that  the  idea  of  continuity  is  a  powerful  aid  to  the 
formation  of  true  and  fruitful  conceptions.    By  means  of  it,  the  great- 
est differences  are  broken  down  and  resolved  into  differences  of  degree, 
and  the  incessant  application  of  it  is  of  the  greatest  value  in  broaden- 
ing our  conceptions.      I  propose  to  make  a  great  use  of  this  idea  in 
the  present  series  of  papers ;   and  the  particular  series  of  important 
fallacies,  which,  arising  from  a  neglect  of  it,  have  desolated  philoso- 
phy, must  further  on  be  closely  studied.    At  present,  I  simply  call  the 
reader's  attention  to  the  utility  of  this  conception. 

In  studies  of  numbers,  the  idea  of  continuity  is  so  indispensable, 
that  it  is  perpetually  introduced  even  where  there  is  no  continuity  in 
fact,  as  where  we  say  that  there  are  in  the  United  States  10.7  in- 
habitants per  square  mile,  or  that  in  New  York  14.72  persons  live 
in  the  average  house.1     Another  example  is  that  law  of  the  distribu- 

1  This  mode  of  thought  is  so  familiarly  associated  with  all  exact  numerical  considera- 
tion, that  the  phrase  appropriate  to  it  is  imitated  by  shallow  writers  in  order  to  produce 


606  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

tion  of  errors  which  Quetelet,  Galton,  and  others,  have  applied  with 
so  much  success  to  the  study  of  biological  and  social  matters.  This 
application  of  continuity  to  cases  where  it  does  not  really  exist  illus- 
trates, also,  another  point  which  will  hereafter  demand  a  separate 
study,  namely,  the  great  utility  which  fictions  sometimes  have  in 
science. 

II. 

The  theory  of  probabilities  is  simply  the  science  of  logic  quantita- 
tively treated.  There  are  two  conceivable  certainties  with  reference 
to  any  hypothesis,  the  certainty  of  its  truth  and  the  certainty  of  its 
falsity.  The  numbers  one  and  zero  are  appropriated,  in  this  calculus, 
to  marking  these  extremes  of  knowledge ;  while  fractions  having 
values  intermediate  between  them  indicate,  as  we  may  vaguely  say, 
the  degrees  in  which  the  evidence  leans  toward  one  or  the  other. 
The  general  problem  of  probabilities  is,  from  a  given  state  of  facts, 
to  determine  the  numerical  probability  of  a  possible  fact.  This  is  the 
same  as  to  inquire  how  much  the  given  facts  are  worth,  considered  as 
evidence  to  prove  the  possible  fact.  Thus  the  problem  of  probabilities 
is  simply  the  general  problem  of  logic. 

Probability  is  a  continuous  quantity,  so  that  great  advantages  may 
be  expected  from  this  mode  of  studying  logic.  Some  writers  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  maintain  that,  by  means  of  the  calculus  of  chances,  every 
solid  inference  may  be  represented  by  legitimate  arithmetical  opera- 
tions upon  the  numbers  given  in  the  premises.  If  this  be,  indeed, 
true,  the  great  problem  of  logic,  how  it  is  that  the  observation  of  one 
fact  can  give  us  knowledge  of  another  independent  fact,  is  reduced  to 
a  mere  question  of  arithmetic.  It  seems  proper  to  examine  this  pre- 
tension before  undertaking  any  more  recondite  solution  of  the  paradox. 

But,  unfortunately,  writers  on  probabilities  are  not  agreed  in  re- 
gard to  this  result.  This  branch  of  mathematics  is  the  only  one,  I 
believe,  in  which  good  writers  frequently  get  results  entirely  errone- 
ous. In  elementary  geometry  the  reasoning  is  frequently  fallacious, 
but  erroneous  conclusions  are  avoided;  but  it  may  be  doubted  if 
there  is  a  single  extensive  treatise  on  probabilities  in  existence  which 
does  not  contain  solutions  absolutely  indefensible.  This  is  partly 
owing  to  the  want  of  any  regular  method  of  procedure ;  for  the  sub- 
ject involves  too  many  subtilties  to  make  it  easy  to  put  its  problems 
into  equations  without  such  an  aid.  But,  beyond  this,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  its  calculus  are  more  or  less  in  dispute.  In  regard  to 
that  class  of  questions  to  which  it  is  chiefly  applied  for  practical  pur- 
poses, there  is  comparatively  little  doubt;  but  in  regard  to  others 
to  which  it  has  been  sought  to  extend  it,  opinion  is  somewhat  un- 
settled. 

the  appearance  of  exactitude  where  none  exists.  Certain  newspapers  which  affect  a 
learned  tone  talk  of  "  the  average  man,"  when  they  simply  mean  most  men,  and  have  no 
idea  of  striking  an  average. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    607 

This  last  class  of  difficulties  can  only  be  entirely  overcome  by 
making  the  idea  of  probability  perfectly  clear  in  our  minds  in  the 
way  set  forth  in  our  last  paper. 

III. 

To  get  a  clear  idea  of  what  we  mean  by  probability,  we  have  to 
consider  what  real  and  sensible  difference  there  is  between  one  degree 
of  probability  and  another. 

The  character  of  probability  belongs  primarily,  without  doubt,  to 
certain  inferences.  Locke  explains  it  as  follows :  After  remarking 
that  the  mathematician  positively  knows  that  the  sum  of  the  three 
angles  of  a  triangle  is  equal  to  two  right  angles  because  he  appre- 
hends the  geometrical  proof,  he  thus  continues:  "But  another  man 
who  never  took  the  pains  to  observe  the  demonstration,  hearing  a 
mathematician,  a  man  of  credit,  affirm  the  three  angles  of  a  triangle 
to  be  equal  to  two  right  ones,  assents  to  it ;  i.  e.,  receives  it  for  true. 
In  which  case  the  foundation  of  his  assent  is  the  probability  of  the 
thing,  the  proof  being  such  as,  for  the  most  part,  carries  truth  with 
it ;  the  man  on  whose  testimony  he  receives  it  not  being  wont  to 
affirm  anything  contrary  to,  or  besides  his  knowledge,  especially  in 
matters  of  this  kind."  The  celebrated  "  Essay  concerning  Humane 
Understanding"  contains  many  passages  which,  like  this  one,  make 
the  first  steps  in  profound  analyses  which  are  not  further  developed. 
It  was  shown  in  the  first  of  these  papers  that  the  validity  of  an 
inference  does  not  depend  on  any  tendency  of  the  mind  to  accept  it, 
however  strong  such  tendency  may  be ;  but  consists  in  the  real  fact 
that,  when  premises  like  those  of  the  argument  in  question  are  true, 
conclusions  related  to  them  like  that  of  this  argument  are  also  true. 
It  was  remarked  that  in  a  logical  mind  an  argument  is  always  con- 
ceived as  a  member  of  a  genus  of  arguments  all  constructed  in  the 
same  way,  and  such  that,  when  their  premises  are  real  facts,  their 
conclusions  are  so  also.  If  the  argument  is  demonstrative,  then  this 
is  always  so  ;  if  it  is  only  probable,  then  it  is  for  the  most  part  so. 
As  Locke  says,  the  probable  argument  is  "such  as  for  the  most  part 
carries  truth  with  it." 

According  to  this,  that  real  and  sensible  difference  between  one  de- 
gree of  probability  and  another,  in  which  the  meaning  of  the  distinc- 
tion lies,  is  that  in  the  frequent  employment  of  two  different  modes 
of  inference,  one  will  carry  truth  with  it  oftener  than  the  other.  It 
is  evident  that  this  is  the  only  difference  there  is  in  the  existing  fact. 
Having  certain  premises,  a  man  draws  a  certain  conclusion,  and  as  far 
as  this  inference  alone  is  concerned  the  only  possible  practical  ques- 
tion is  whether  that  conclusion  is  true  or  not,  and  between  existence 
and  non-existence  there  is  no  middle  term.  "  Being  only  is  and  noth- 
ing is  altogether  not,"  said  Parmenides ;  and  this  is  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  the  analysis  of  the  conception  of  reality  given  in  the  last 


608  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

paper.  For  we  found  that  the  distinction  of  reality  and  fiction  de- 
pends on  the  supposition  that  sufficient  investigation  would  cause  one 
opinion  to  he  universally  received  and  all  others  to  he  rejected.  That 
presupposition  involved  in  the  very  conceptions  of  reality  and  figment 
involves  a  complete  sundering  of  the  two.  It  is  the  heaven-and-hell 
idea  in  the  domain  of  thought.  But,  in  the  long  run,  there  is  a  real 
fact  which  corresponds  to  the  idea  of  prohahility,  and  it  is  that  a  given 
mode  of  inference  sometimes  proves  successful  and  sometimes  not,  and 
that  in  a  ratio  ultimately  fixed.  As  we  go  on  drawing  inference  after 
inference  of  the  given  kind,  during  the  first  ten  or  hundred  cases  the 
ratio  of  successes  may  he  expected  to  show  considerahle  fluctuations; 
hut  when  we  come  into  the  thousands  and  millions,  these  fluctuations 
hecome  less  and  less;  and  if  we  continue  long  enough,  the  ratio  will 
approximate  toward  a  fixed  limit.  We  may  therefore  define  the  proh- 
ahility of  a  mode  of  argument  as  the  proportion  of  cases  in  which  it 
carries  truth  with  it. 

The  inference  from  the  premise,  A,  to  the  conclusion,  B,  depends, 
as  we  have  seen,  on  the  guiding  principle,  that  if  a  fact  of  the  class  A 
is  true,  a  fact  of  the  class  B  is  true.  The  prohahility  consists  of  the 
fraction  whose  numerator  is  the  number  of  times  in  which  both  A  and 
B  are  true,  and  whose  denominator  is  the  total  number  of  times  in 
which  A  is  true,  whether  B  is  so  or  not.  Instead  of  speaking  of  this 
as  the  probability  of  the  inference,  there  is  not  the  slighest  objection 
to  calling  it  the  probability  that,  if  A  happens,  B  happens.  But  to 
speak  of  the  probability  of  the  event  B,  without  naming  the  condition, 
really  has  no  meaning  at  all.  It  is  true  that  when  it  is  perfectly  ob- 
vious what  condition  is  meant,  the  ellipsis  may  be  permitted.  But 
we  should  avoid  contracting  the  habit  of  using  language  in  this  way 
(universal  as  the  habit  is),  because  it  gives  rise  to  a  vague  way  of 
thinking,  as  if  the  action  of  causation  might  either  determine  an  event 
to  happen  or  determine  it  not  to  happen,  or  leave  it  more  or  less  free 
to  happen  or  not,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  an  inherent  chance  in  regard  to 
its  occurrence.  It  is  quite  clear  to  me  that  some  of  the  worst  and 
most  persistent  errors  in  the  use  of  the  doctrine  of  chances  have  arisen 
from  this  vicious  mode  of  expression.1 

IV. 

But  there  remains  an  important  point  to  he  cleared  up.  Accord- 
ing to  what  has  been  said,  the  idea  of  probability  essentially  belongs 
to  a  kind  of  inference  which  is  repeated  indefinitely.  An  individ- 
ual inference  must  be  either  true  or  false,  and  can  show  no  effect  of 
probability;  and,  therefore,  in  reference  to  a  single  .case  considered  in 

1  The  conception  of  probability  here  set  forth  is  substantially  that  first  developed  by 
Mr.  Venn,  in  his  "  Logic  of  Chance."  Of  course,  a  vague  apprehension  of  the  idea  had 
always  existed,  but  the  problem  was  to  make  it  perfectly  clear,  and  to  him  belongs  the 
credit  of  first  doing  this. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    609 

itself,  probability  can  have  no  meaning.  Yet  if  a  man  bad  to  choose 
between  drawing  a  card  from  a  pack  containing  twenty-five  red  cards 
and  a  black  one,  or  from  a  pack  containing  twenty-five  black  cards 
and  a  red  one,  and  if  the  drawing  of  a  red  card  were  destined  to 
transport  him  to  eternal  felicity,  and  that  of  a  black  one  to  consign 
him  to  everlasting  woe,  it  would  be  folly  to  deny  that  he  ought  to  pre- 
fer the  pack  containing  the  larger  proportion  of  red  cards,  although, 
from  the  nature  of  the  risk,  it  could  not  be  repeated.  It  is  not  easy 
to  reconcile  this  with  our  analysis  of  the  conception  of  chance.  But 
suppose  he  should  choose  the  red  pack,  and  should  draw  the  wrong 
card,  what  consolation  would  he  have?  He  might  say  that  he  had 
acted  in  accordance  with  reason,  but  that  would  only  show  that  his 
reason  was  absolutely  worthless.  And  if  he  should  choose  the  right 
card,  how  could  he  regard  it  as  anything  but  a  happy  accident  ?  He 
could  not  say  that  if  he  had  drawn  from  the  other  pack,  he  might 
have  drawn  the  wrong  one,  because  an  hypothetical  proposition  such 
as,  "  if  A,  then  B,"  means  nothing  With  reference  to  a  single  case. 
Truth  consists  in  the  existence  of  a  real  fact  corresponding  to  the  true 
proposition.  Corresponding  to  the  proposition,  "  if  A,  then  B,"  there 
may  be  the  fact  that  whenever  such  an  event  as  A  happens  such  an 
event  as  B  happens.  But  in  the  case  supposed,  which  has  no  parallel 
as  far  as  this  man  is  concerned,  there  would  be  no  real  fact  whose 
existence  could  give  any  truth  to  the  statement  that,  if  he  had  drawn 
from  the  other  pack,  he  might  have  drawn  a  black  card.  Indeed, 
since  the  validity  of  an  inference  consists  in  the  truth  of  the  hypotheti- 
cal proposition  that  if  the  premises  be  true  the  conclusion  will  also 
be  true,  and  since  the  only  real  fact  which  can  correspond  to  such  a 
proposition  is  that  whenever  the  antecedent  is  true  the  consequent  is 
so  also,  it  follows  that  there  can  be  no  sense  in  reasoning  in  an  isolated 
case,  at  all. 

These  considerations  appear,  at  first  sight,  to  dispose  of  the  diffi- 
culty mentioned.  Yet  the  case  of  the  other  side  is  not  yet  exhaust- 
ed. Although  probability  will  probably  manifest  its  effect  in,  say,  a 
thousand  risks,  by  a  certain  proportion  between  the  numbers  of  suc- 
cesses and  failures,  yet  this,  as  we  have  seen,  is  only  to  say  that  it 
certainly  will,  at  length,  do  so.  Now  the  number  of  risks,  the  num- 
ber of  probable  inferences,  which  a  man  draws  in  his  whole  life,  is  a 
finite  one,  and  he  cannot  be  absolutely  certain  that  the  mean  result 
will  accord  with  the  probabilities  at  all.  Taking  all  his  risks  collec- 
tively, then,  it  cannot  be  certain  that  they  will  not  fail,  and  his  case 
does  not  differ,  except  in  degree,  from  the  one  last  supposed.  It  is  an 
indubitable  result  of  the  theory  of  probabilities  that  every  gambler, 
if  he  continues  long  enough,  must  ultimately  be  ruined.  Suppose  he 
tries  the  martingale,  which  some  believe  infallible,  and  which  is,  as  I 
am  informed,  disallowed  in  the  gambling-houses.  In  this  method  of 
playing,  he  first  bets  say  $1 ;  if  he  loses  it  he  bets  $2 ;  if  he  loses  that 

VOL.  XII. — S9 


610  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

he  bets  $4;  if  he  loses  that  he  bets  $8;  if  be  then  gains  he  has  lost 
I  +  2  +  4  =  7,  and  he  has  gained  $1  more  ;  and  no  matter  how  many 
bets  he  loses,  the  first  one  he  gains  will  make  him  $1  richer  than  he 
was  in  the  beginning.     In  that  way,  he  will  probably  gain  at  first ; 
but,  at  last,  the  time  will  come  when  the  run  of  luck  is  so  against  him 
that  he  will  not  have  money  enough  to  double,  and  must  therefore  let 
his  bet  go.     This  will  probably  happen  before  he  has  won  as  much  as 
he  had  in  the  first  place,  so  that  this  run  against  him  will  leave  him 
poorer  than  lie  began ;  some  time  or  other  it  will  be  sure  to  happen. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  always  a  possibility  of  hjs  winning  any  sum 
the  bank  can  pay,  and  we  thus  come  upon  a  celebrated  paradox  that, 
though  he  is  certain  to  be  ruined,  the  value  of  his  expectation  calcu- 
lated according  to  the  usual  rules  (which  omit  this  consideration)  is 
large.     But,  whether  a  gambler  plays  in  this  way  or  any  other,  the 
same  thing  is  true,  namely,  that  if  plays  long  enough  he  will  be  sure 
some  time  to  have  such  a  run  against  him  as  to  exhaust  his  entire  for- 
tune.    The  same  thing  is  true  of  an  insurance  company.     Let  the  di- 
rectors take  the  utmost  pains  to  be  independent  of  great  conflagra- 
tions and  pestilences,  their  actuaries  can  tell  them  that,  according  to 
the  doctrine  of  chances,  the  time  must  come,  at  last,  when  their  losses 
will  bring  them  to  a  stop.     They  may  tide  over  such  a  crisis  by  ex- 
traordinary means,  but  then  they  will  start    again   in   a  weakened 
state,  and  the  same  thing  will  happen  again  all  the  sooner.     An  act- 
uary might  be  inclined  to  deny  this,  because  he  knows  that  the  ex- 
pectation of  his  company  is  large,  or  perhaps  (neglecting  the  interest 
upon  money)  is  infinite.     But  calculations  of  expectations  leave  out 
of  account  the  circumstance  now  under  consideration,  which  reverses 
the   whole  thing.     However,   I  must  not  be  understood   as   saying 
that  insurance  is  on  this  account  unsound,  more  than  other  kinds  of 
business.     All  human  affairs  rest  upon  probabilities,  and  the  same 
tiling  is  true  everywhere.     If  man  were  immortal  he  could  be  per- 
fectly sure  of  seeing  the  day  when  everything  in  which  he  had  trusted 
should  betray  his  trust,  and,  in  short,  of  coming  eventually  to  hope- 
less misery.     He  would  break  down,  at  last,  as  every  great  fortune, 
as  every  dynasty,  as  every  civilization  does.     In   place  of  this  we 

have  death. 

But  what,  without  death,  would  happen  to  every  man,  with  death 
must  happen  to  some  man.  At  the  same  time,  death  makes  the  num- 
ber of  our  risks,  of  our  inferences,  finite,  and  so  makes  their  mean 
result  uncertain.  The  very  idea  of  probability  and  of  reasoning  rests 
on  the  assumption  that  this  number  is  indefinitely  great.  We  are 
thus  landed  in  the  same  difficulty  as  before,  and  I  can  see  but  one 
solution  of  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  driven  to  this,  that  logi- 
cality inexorably  requires  that  our  interests  shall  not  be  limited. 
They  must  not  stop  at  our  own  fate,  but  must  embrace  the  whole 
community.     This  community,  again,  must  not  be  limited,  but  must 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    611 

extend  to  all  races  of  beings  with  whom  we  can  come  into  immediate 
or  mediate  intellectual  relation.  It  must  reach,  however  vaguely,  be- 
yond this  geological  epoch,  beyond  all  bounds.  He  who  would  not 
sacrifice  his  own  soul  to  save  the  whole  world,  is,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
illogical  in  all  his  inferences,  collectively.  Logic  is  rooted  in  the 
social  principle. 

To  be  logical  men  should  not  be  selfish;  and,  in  point  of  fact,  they 
are  not  so  selfish  as  they  are  thought.  The  willful  prosecution  of 
one's  desires  is  a  different  thing  from  selfishness.  The  miser  is  not 
selfish  ;  his  money  does  him  no  good,  and  he  cares  for  what  shall  be- 
come of  it  after  his  death.  We  are  constantly  speaking  of  our  pos- 
sessions on  the  Pacific,  and  of  our  destiny  as  a  republic,  where  no 
personal  interests  are  involved,  in  a  way  which  shows  that  we  have 
wider  ones.  We  discuss  with  anxiety  the  possible  exhaustion  of  coal 
in  some  hundreds  of  years,  or  the  cooling-off  of  the  sun  in  some 
millions,  and  show  in  the  most  popular  of  all  religious  tenets  that  we 
can  conceive  the  possibility  of  a  man's  descending  into  hell  for  the 
salvation  of  his  fellows. 

Now,  it  is  not  necessary  for  logicality  that  a  man  should  himself 
be  capable  of  the  heroism  of  self-sacrifice.  It  is  sufficient  that  he 
should  recognize  the  possibility  of  it,  should  perceive  that  only  that 
man's  inferences  who  has  it  are  really  logical,  and  should  consequent- 
ly regard  his  own  as  being  only  so  far  valid  as  they  would  be  accepted 
by  the  hero.  So  far  as  he  thus  refers  his  inferences  to  that  standard, 
he  becomes  identified  with  such  a  mind. 

This  makes  logicality  attainable  enough.  Sometimes  we  can  per- 
sonally attain  to  heroism.  The  soldier  who  runs  to  scale  a  wall 
knows  that  he  will  probably  be  shot,  but  that  is  not  all  he  cares  for. 
He  also  knows  that  if  all  the  regiment,  with  whom  in  feeling  he  iden- 
tifies himself,  rush  forward  at  once,  the  fort  will  be  taken.  In  other 
cases  we  can  only  imitate  the  virtue.  The  man  whom  we  have  sup- 
posed as  having  to  draw  from  the  two  packs,  who  if  he  is  not  a  lo- 
gician will  draw  from  the  red  pack  from  mere  habit,  will  see,  if  he  is 
logician  enough,  that  he  cannot  be  logical  so  long  as  he  is  concerned 
only  with  his  own  fate,  but  that  that  man  who  should  care  equally  for 
what  was  to  happen  in  all  possible  cases  of  the  sort  could  act  logi- 
cally, and  would  draw  from  the  pack  with  the  most  red  cards,  and 
thus,  though  incapable  himself  of  such  sublimity,  our  logician  would 
imitate  the  effect  of  that  man's  courage  in  order  to  share  his  logicality. 

But  all  this  requires  a  conceived  identification  of  one's  interests 
with  those  of  an  unlimited  community.  Now,  there  exist  no  reasons, 
and  a  later  discussion  will  show  that  there  can  be  no  reasons,  for 
thinking  that  the  human  race,  or  any  intellectual  race,  will  exist  for- 
ever.    On  the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  reason  against  it ;  *  and, 

1  I  do  not  here  admit  an  absolutely  unknowable.      Evidence  could  show  us  what 
would  probably  be  the  case  after  any  given  lapse  of  time ;  and  though  a  subsequent  time 


612  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

fortunately,  as  the  whole  requirement  is  that  we  should  have  certain 
sentiments,  there  is  nothing  in  the  facts  to  forbid  our  having  a  hope, 
or  calm  and  cheerful  wish,  that  the  community  may  last  beyond  any 
assignable  date. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  I  should  put  forward  three  sentiments, 
namely,  interest  in  an  indefinite  community,  recognition  of  the  possi- 
bility of  this  interest  being  made  supreme,  and  hope  in  the  unlimited 
continuance  of  intellectual  activity,  as  indispensable  requirements  of 
logic.  Yet,  when  we  consider  that  logic  depends  on  a  mere  struggle 
to  escape  doubt,  which,  as  it  terminates  in  action,  must  begin  in  emo- 
tion, and  that,  furthermore,  the  only  cause  of  our  planting  ourselves 
on  reason  is  that  other  methods  of  escaping  doubt  fail  on  account  of 
the  social  impulse,  why  should  we  wonder  to  find  social  sentiment 
presupposed  in  reasoning?  As  for  the  other  two  sentiments  which  I 
find  necessary,  they  are  so  only  as  supports  and  accessories  of  that. 
It  interests  me  to  notice  that  these  three  sentiments  seem  to  be  pretty 
much  the  same  as  that  famous  trio  of  Charity,  Faith,  and  Hope,  which, 
in  the  estimation  of  St.  Paul,  are  the  finest  and  greatest  of  spiritual 
gifts.  Neither  Old  nor  New  Testament  is  a  text-book  of  the  logic 
of  science,  but  the  latter  is  certainly  the  highest  existing  authority 
in  regard  to  the  dispositions  of  heart  which  a  man  ought  to  have. 


Such  average  statistical  numbers  as  the  number  of  inhabitants  per 
square  mile,  the  average  number  of  deaths  per  week,  the  number  of 
convictions  per  indictment,  or,  generally  speaking,  the  number  of  oc's 
per  y,  where  the  cc's  are  a  class  of  things  some  or  all  of  which  are  con- 
nected with  another  class  of  things,  their  y's,  I  term  relative  numbers. 
Of  the  two  classes  of  things  to  which  a  relative  number  refers,  that 
one  of  which  it  is  a  number  may  be  called  its  relate,  and  that  one 
per  which  the  numeration  is  made  may  be  called  its  correlate. 

Probability  is  a  kind  of  relative  number;  namely,  it  is  the  ratio 
of  the  number  of  arguments  of  a  certain  genus  which  carry  truth  with 
them  to  the  total  number  of  arguments  of  that  genus,  and  the  rules 
for  the  calculation  of  probabilities  are  very  easily  derived  from  this 
consideration.  They  may  all  be  given  here,  since  they  are  extremely 
simple,  and  it  is  sometimes  convenient  to  know  something  of  the  ele- 
mentary rules  of  calculation  of  chances. 

Rule  I.  Direct  Calculation. — To  calculate,  directly,  any  relative 
number,  say  for  instance  the  number  of  passengers  in  the  average  trip 
of  a  street-car,  we  must  proceed  as  follows : 

Count  the  number  of  passengers  for  each  trip ;  add  all  these  num- 
bers, and  divide  by  the  number  of  trips.  There  are  cases  in  which 
this  rule  may  be  simplified.     Suppose  we  wish  to  know  the  number 

might  be  assigned  which  that  evidence  might  not  cover,  yet  further  evidence  would 
cover  it. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    613 

of  inhabitants  to  a  dwelling  in  New  York.  The  same  person  cannot 
inhabit  two  dwellings.  If  he  divide  his  time  between  two  dwellings 
he  ought  to  be  counted  a  half-inhabitant  of  each.  In  this  case  we 
have  only  to  divide  the  total  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  New  York 
by  the  number  of  their  dwellings,  without  the  necessity  of  counting 
separately  those  which  inhabit  each  one.  A  similar  proceeding  will 
apply  wherever  each  individual  relate  belongs  to  one  individual  cor- 
relate exclusively.  If  we  want  the  number  of  sk's  per  y,  and  no  x  be- 
longs to  more  than  one  y,  we  have  only  to  divide  the  whole  number 
of  jc's  of  y's  by  the  number  of  y's.  Such  a  method  would,  of  course, 
fail  if  applied  to  finding  the  average  number  of  street-car  passengers 
per  trip.  We  could  not  divide  the  total  number  of  travelers  by  the 
number  of  trips,  since  many  of  them  would  have  made  many  passages. 
To  find  the  probability  that  from  a  given  class  of  premises,  A,  a 
given  class  of  conclusions,  B,  follow,  it  is  simply  necessary  to  ascer- 
tain what  proportion  of  the  times  in  which  premises  of  that  class  are 
true,  the  appropriate  conclusions  are  also  true.  In  other  words,  it  is 
the  number  of  cases  of  the  occurrence  of  both  the  events  A  and  B,  di- 
vided by  the  total  number  of  cases  of  the  occurrence  of  the  event  A. 

Rule  II.  Addition  of  Relative  Numbers. — Given  two  relative 
numbers  having  the  same  correlate,  say  the  number  of  jc's  per  y, 
and  the  number  of  z's  per  y  •  it  is  required  to  find  the  number  of  tc's 
and  s's  together  per  y.  If  there  is  nothing  which  is  at  once  an  x  and 
a  z  to  the  same  y,  the  sum  of  the  two  given  numbers  would  give  the 
required  number.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  we  had  given  the  aver- 
age number  of  friends  that  men  have,  and  the  average  number  of 
enemies,  the  sum  of  these  two  is  the  average  number  of  persons  in- 
terested in  a  man.  On  the  other  hand,  it  plainly  would  not  do  to  add 
the  average  number  of  persons  having  constitutional  diseases  to  the 
average  number  over  military  age,  and  to  the  average  number  ex- 
empted by  each  special  cause  from  military  service,  in  order  to  get 
the  average  number  exempt  in  any  way,  since  many  are  exempt  in 
two  or  more  ways  at  once. 

This  rule  applies  directly  to  probabilities.  Given  the  probability 
that  two  different  and  mutually  exclusive  events  will  happen  under  the 
same  supposed  set  of  circumstances.  Given,  for  instance,  the  proba- 
bility that  if  A  then  B,  and  also  the  probability  that  if  A  then  C, 
then  the  sum  of  these  two  probabilities  is  the  probability  that  if  A 
then  either  B  or  C,  so  long  as  there  is  no  event  which  belongs  at 
once  to  the  two  classes  B  and  C. 

Rule  III.  Ifultiplication  of  Relative  Numbers. — Suppose  that  we 
have  given  the  relative  number  of  x's  per  y  •  also  the  relative  num- 
ber of  z's  per  x  of  y  ;  or,  to  take  a  concrete  example,  suppose  that  we 
have  given,  first,  the  average  number  of  children  in  families  living  in 


6i4  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

New  York ;  and,  second,  the  average  number  of  teeth  in  the  head  of 
a  New  York  child — then  the  product  of  these  two  numbers  would 
give  the  average  number  of  children's  teeth  in  a  New  York  family. 
But  this  mode  of  reckoning  will  only  apply  in  general  under  two  re- 
strictions. In  the  tirst  place,  it  would  not  be  true  if  the  same  child 
could  belong  to  different  families,  for  in  that  case  those  children  who 
belonged  to  several  different  families  might  have  an  exceptionally 
large  or  small  number  of  teeth,  which  would  affect  the  average  num- 
ber of  children's  teeth  in  a  family  more  than  it  would  affect  the  aver- 
age number  of  teeth  in  a  child's  head.  In  the  second  place,  the  rule 
would  not  be  true  if  different  children  could  share  the  same  teeth,  the 
average  number  of  children's  teeth  being  in  that  case  evidently  some- 
thing different  from  the  average  number  of  teeth  belonging  to  a  child. 

In  order  to  apply  this  rule  to  probabilities,  we  must  proceed  as  fol- 
lows :  Suppose  that  we  have  given  the  probability  that  the  conclusion 
B  follows  from  the  premise  A,  B  and  A  representing  as  usual  certain 
classes  of  propositions.  Suppose  that  we  also  knew  the  probability  of 
an  inference  in  which  B  should  be  the  premise,  and  a  proposition  of  a 
third  kind,  C,  the  conclusion.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  materials  for 
the  application  of  this  rule.  We  have,  first,  the  relative  number  of  B's 
per  A.  We  next  should  have  the  relative  number  of  C's  per  B  fol- 
lowing from  A.  But  the  classes  of  propositions  being  so  selected  that 
the  probability  of  C  following  from  any  B  in  general  is  just  the  same 
as  the  probability  of  C's  following  from  one  of  those  B's  which  is  de- 
ducible  from  an  A,  the  two  probabilities  may  be  multiplied  together, 
in  order  to  give  the  probability  of  C  following  from  A.  The  same 
restrictions  exist  as  before.  It  might  happen  that  the  probability  that 
B  follows  from  A  was  affected  by  certain  propositions  of  the  class  B 
following  from  several  different  propositions  of  the  class  A.  But, 
practically  speaking,  all  these  restrictions  are  of  very  little  conse- 
quence, and  it  is  usually  recognized  as  a  principle  universally  true 
that  the  probability  that,  if  A  is  true,  B  is,  multiplied  by  the  proba- 
bility that,  if  B  is  true,  C  is,  gives  the  probability  that,  if  A  is  true, 
Cis. 

There  is  a  rule  supplementary  to  this,  of  which  great  use  is  made. 
It  is  not  universally  valid,  and  the  greatest  caution  has  to  be  exercised 
in  making  use  of  it — a  double  care,  first,  never  to  use  it  when  it  will 
involve  serious  error ;  and,  second,  never  to  fail  to  take  advantage  of  it 
in  cases  in  which  it  can  be  employed.  This  rule  depends  upon  the  fact 
that  in  very  many  cases  the  probability  that  C  is  true  if  B  is,  is  substan- 
tially the  same  as  the  probability  that  C  is  true  if  A  is.  Suppose,  for 
example,  we  have  the  average  number  of  males  among  the  children 
born  in  New  York  ;  suppose  that  we  also  have  the  average  number  of 
children  born  in  the  winter  months  among  those  born  in  New  York. 
Now,  we  may  assume  without  doubt,  at  least  as  a  closely  approxi- 
mate proposition  (and  no  very  nice  calculation  would  be  in  place  in 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    615 

regard  to  probabilities),  that  the  proportion  of  males  among  all  the 
children  born  in  New  York  is  the  same  as  the  proportion  of  males  born 
in  summer  in  New  York,  and,  therefore,  if  the  names  of  all  the  chil- 
dren born  during  a  year  were  put  into  an  urn,  we  might  multiply  the 
probability  that  any  name  drawn  would  be  the  name  of  a  male  child 
by  the  probability  that  it  would  be  the  name  of  a  child  born  in 
summer,  in  order  to  obtain  the  probability  that  it  would  be  the 
name  of  a  male  child  born  in  summer.  The  questions  of  proba- 
bility, in  the  treatises  upon  the  subject,  have  usually  been  such  as  re- 
late to  balls  drawn  from  urns,  and  games  of  cards,  and  so  on,  in 
which  the  question  of  the  independence  of  events,  as  it  is  called — that 
is  to  say,  the  question  of  whether  the  probability  of  C,  under  the 
hypothesis  B,  is  the  same  as  its  probability  under  the  hypothesis 
A,  has  been  very  simple ;  but,  in  the  application  of  probabilities  to 
the  ordinary  questions  of  life,  it  is  often  an  exceedingly  nice  ques- 
tion whether  two  events  may  be  considered  as  independent  with  suf- 
ficient accuracy  or  not.  In  all  calculations  about  cards  it  is  assumed 
that  the  cards  are  thoroughly  shuffled,  which  makes  one  deal  quite  in- 
dependent of  another.  In  point  of  fact  the  cards  seldom  are,  in  prac- 
tice, shuffled  sufficiently  to  make  this  true  ;  thus,  in  a  game  of  whist, 
in  which  the  cards  have  fallen  in  suits  of  four  of  the  same  suit,  and 
are  so  gathered  up,  they  will  lie  more  or  less  in  sets  of  four  of  the 
same  suit,  and  this  will  be  true  even  after  they  are  shuffled.  At  least 
some  traces  of  this  arrangement  will  remain,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  number  of  "short  suits,"  as  they  are  called — that  is  to  say,  the 
number  of  hands  in  which  the  cards  are  very  unequally  divided  in  re- 
gard to  suits — is  smaller  than  the  calculation  would  make  it  to  be  ;  so 
that,  when  there  is  a  misdeal,  where  the  cards,  being  thrown  about 
the  table,  get  very  thoroughly  shuffled,  it  is  a  common  saying  that  in 
the  hands  next  dealt  out  there  are  generally  short  suits.  A  few  years 
ago  a  friend  of  mine,  who  plays  whist  a  great  deal,  was  so  good  as  to 
count  the  number  of  spades  dealt  to  him  in  165  hands,  in  which  the 
cards  had  been,  if  anything,  shuffled  better  than  usual.  According  to 
calculation,  there  should  have  been  85  of  these  hands  in  which  my 
friend  held  either  three  or  four  spades,  but  in  point  of  fact  there  were 
94,  showing  the  influence  of  imperfect  shuffling. 

According  to  the  view  here  taken,  these  are  the  only  fundamental 
rules  for  the  calculation  of  chances.  An  additional  one,  derived  from 
a  different  conception  of  probability,  is  given  in  some  treatises,  which 
if  it  be  sound  might  be  made  the  basis  of  a  theory  of  reasoning. 
Being,  as  I  believe  it  is,  absolutely  absurd,  the  consideration  of  it 
serves  to  bring  us  to  the  true  theory ;  and  it  is  for  the  sake  of  this 
discussion,  which  must  be  postponed  to  the  next  number,  that  I  have 
brought  the  doctrine  of  chances  to  the  reader's  attention  at  this  early 
stage  of  our  studies  of  the  logic  of  science. 


616  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

LIQUEFACTION  OF  GASES.1 

By  GASTON  TISSANDIEK. 

EVERY  one  knows  that  the  matter  which  constitutes  the  various 
natural  bodies  occurs  iu  three  different  forms,  namely,  the  solid, 
the  liquid,  and  the  gaseous  states.  So,  too,  every  one  knows  that 
the  state  of  a  body  is  not  at  all  immutable :  a  solid  may  be  fused 
and  volatilized  ;  a  liquid  may  become  a  solid,  or  be  transformed  into 
vapor ;  a  gas  may  be  changed  into  a  liquid  or  a  solid — all  these 
changes  occurring  according  to  the  conditions  of  temperature  or  of 
pressure  to  which  the  solids,  liquids,  or  gases,  are  subjected.  Water 
turns  into  ice  under  the  action  of  cold ;  into  steam  under  the  action 
of  heat.  Sulphur,  phosphorus,  tJie  metals,  and  most  solid  bodies,  may 
in  like  manner  assume  these  three  states.  Chlorine,  protoxide  of  ni- 
trogen, carbonic  acid,  etc.,  may  be  liquefied  or  solidified.  To  this  end 
we  have  only  to  bring  the  molecules  nearer  to  one  another  by  com- 
pressing them,  or  subjecting  them  to  the  action  of  cold. 

Faraday  succeeded  in  liquefying  a  certain  number  of  gases  by 
compression  and  refrigeration,  but  there  still  remained  a  number  that 
proved  absolutely  refractory  to  the  most  powerful  agencies  ;  hence 
these  gases  were  called  permanent.  They  are  hydrogen,  nitrogen, 
oxygen,  carbonic  oxide,  bioxide  of  nitrogen,  and  formene  (marsh-gas). 
Chemists,  it  is  true,  were  quite  confident  that  these  gases,  like  all 
others,  were  subject  to  the  general  laws  of  bodies  ;  it  was  held  to  be 
certain  that  the  gases  just  named  would,  like  the  others,  yield  to  suffi- 
ciently his;h  pressure  or  refrigeration.  But,  nevertheless,  they  still 
remained  bodies  sui  generis,  defying,  so  to  speak,  the  powers  of  the 
chemist,  and  their  change  of  state  presented  itself  as  a  weighty  prob- 
lem, the  solution  of  which  was  all  the  more  alluring  in  proportion  to 
the  difficulties  with  which  it  was  surrounded.  Berthelot,  as  we  know, 
subjected  them  to  the  enormous  pressure  of  800  atmospheres,  and  to  a 
refrigeration  of  more  than  100°  below  zero,  Centigrade;  but  all  was 
in  vain,  and  the  permanent  gases  justified  their  name. 

This  is  so  no  longer.  A  retired  manufacturer,  who  at  the  same 
time  is  a  distinguished  man  of  science,  M.  Cailletet,  has  subdued  the 
permanent  gases,  having  succeeded  in  liquefying  and  solidifying  them. 
This  result,  which  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  achievements  of  our 
time,  must  unquestionably  be  regarded  as  a  new  and  a  grand  conquest 
of  matter  by  science. 

Nearly  at  the  same  moment,  another  ingenious  investigator  and 
inventor,  M.  Raoul  Pictet,  reached  the  same  result  with  regard  to 
oxygen  gas.     We  will  pass  in  review  successively  the  experiments  of 

1  Translated  from  the  French  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  M. 


LIQUEFACTION   OF   GASES. 


617 


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< 


&H 


618  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

these  two  chemists,  commencing  with  those  of  Cailletet.  Our  en- 
graving (Fig.  1)  shows  the  great  apparatus  constructed  by  M.  Cail- 
letet in  his  shops  at  Chatillon-sur-Seine.  It  consists  of  a  hollow  cylin- 
der of  steel,  A,  firmly  secured  on  a  bed  of  cast-iron  by  means  of  the 
clamps  B  B.  A  cylindrical  rod  of  untempered  steel,  serving  as  a 
plunger-piston,  enters  this  cylinder,  which  must  be  filled  with  water. 
The  opposite  extremity  of  the  rod  terminates  in  a  square-threaded 
screw,  passing  through  the  bronze  nut  F  attached  to  the  wheel  M. 
According  to  the  direction  given  to  the  wheel  by  means  of  the  pins 
at  its  circumference,  the  plunger-piston  may  be  made  to  advance  or 
retreat  in  the  axis  of  the  pump-barrel.  A  packing  of  leather  prevents 
the  compressed  liquid  from  escaping  from  the  cylinder. 

In  introducing  the  water,  or  other  liquid  designed  to  be  com- 
pressed, it  is  poured  into  the  glass  cup  (r,  which  communicates  with 
the  inside  of  the  apparatus.  A  steel  screw,  with  conical  point,  closes 
the  narrow  passage  through  which  the  liquid  enters.  This  screw  ter- 
minates in  a  small  wheel  with  handle-pins,  0.  By  this  arrangement 
we  can  suddenly  release  the  compressed  gases,  and  see  a  dense  mist 
form  in  the  capillary  glass  tube  containing  them.  (This  tube  is  seen 
in  the  middle  of  the  cylinder  m.)  The  mist  is  formed  under  the 
influence  of  the  external  cold  produced  by  the  sudden  removal  of 
pressure,  and  it  is  an  infallible  sign  of  the  liquefaction,  or  even  the 
congelation,  of  the  gases  which  hitherto  have  been  regarded  as  per- 
manent. 

a  is  a  steel  reservoir,  capable  of  bearing  a  pressure  of  900  or  even 
1,000  atmospheres;  it  is  connected  with  the  compression-apparatus 
by  a  capillary  tube  of  metal.  The  water  in  the  cylinder,  under  the 
pressure  of  the  piston,  enters  this  reservoir,  and  acts  on  mercury 
which  compresses  the  gas. 

b  is  the  ajutage  which  receives  the  glass  apparatus  designed  to 
hold  the  gas  under  experiment ;  it  is  connected  with  the  top  of  the 
reservoir  by  a  nut.  Fig.  2  represents  the  arrangement  of  this  part, 
half  the  actual  size. 

m  is  a  flint-glass  cylinder,  inclosing  another  glass  cylinder,  in  the 
middle  of  which  is  seen  the  fine  tube  in  which  the  gas  is  to  be  lique- 
fied. Thus  this  capillary  tube  can  be  surrounded  with  freezing  mixt- 
ures, or  with  liquid  protoxide  of  nitrogen.  The  outer  cylinder  m, 
which  is  concentric  with  the  inner  one,  and  contains  substances 
which  have  a  strong  affinity  for  moisture,  prevents  the  deposit  of  ice 
or  vapor  on  the  cooled  tube,  which  would  hinder  observation. 

p  is  a  cast-iron  stand  to  hold  the  reservoir  a.  Screws  d  d  serve  to 
raise  or  lower  the  reservoir  for  the  purpose  of  spectroscopic  exami- 
nation, or  of  projecting  the  experiments  on  a  screen. 

An  ajutage  S  connects  together  the  metallic  capillary  tubes  which 
transmit  the  pressure  to  the  various  portions  of  the  apparatus. 

Aris  a  modified  Thomasset  manometer,  verified  by  means  of  an 


LIQUEFACTION   OF   GASES. 


619 


open  manometer  on  the  flanks  of  a  hill  near  the  laboratory  of  Chatil- 
lon-sur-Seine. 

JST'  is  a  glass  manometer  which  serves  to  check  the  readings  of  the 
mercurial  apparatus. 

This  notable  apparatus  involves  no  danger,  for  the  glass  tube  in 
which  the  gas  is  compressed  presents  a  very  small  surface,  and  no 
serious  result  could  follow  were  it  to  break. 

A  few  years  ago  an  English  phys- 
icist, Thomas  Andrews,  was  led  to 
infer  that,  for  permanent  gases,  there 
exists  a  critical  point  of  pressure  and 
temperature,  above  which  they  cannot 
be  brought  to  the  liquid  state.  This 
opinion  is  confirmed  by  Cailletet's  ex- 
periments. Each  gas  requires  that  a 
certain  pressure  be  combined  with 
a  certain  reduction  of  temperature : 
either  the  one  or  the  other  of  these 
two  conditions  might  be  employed 
separately  without  any  effect,  even 
supposing  them  to  reach  a  high  inten- 
sity. 

The  first  of  the  permanent  gases 
liquefied  by  M.  Cailletet  was  bioxide 
of  nitrogen.  As  we  have  just  said, 
unless  the  two  conditions  of  compres- 
sion and  low  temperature  be  united 
according  to  the  critical  points,  the 
gas  does  not  liquefy.  Hence  it  is  that 
bioxide  of  nitrogen  has  remained  gas- 
eous at  a  pressure  of  270  atmospheres 
and  a  temperature  of  +  8°  Cent.  For- 
mene  or  marsh-gas  liquefies  at  180  at- 
mospheres and  + 1°  Cent. 

"If,"  says  M.  Cailletet,  "we  in- 
close oxygen  or  pure  carbonic  oxide 
in  the  compression-apparatus ;   if  we 

reduce  these  gases  to  a  temperature  FlG  2.-Glass  Tube  with  Thick  walls, 
of  —29°  Cent,  by  the  aid  of  sulphurous 
acid  at  a  pressure  of  about  300  atmos- 
pheres, both  gases  still  retain  their 
gaseous  state.  But  if  tiiey  be  released 
suddenly,  so,  according  to  Poisson's 
formula,  producing  a  temperature  of  at  least  200°  below  the  starting- 
point,  we  at  once  see  a  heavy  mist,  caused  by  the  liquefaction  or  even, 
perhaps,  the  solidification  of  the   oxygen   or  carbonic  oxide.      The 


IN   WHICH   GASE8   ARE   LIQUEFIED.     The 

gas  is  compressed  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  tube  by  a  column  of  mercury  forced 
upward  by  hydrostatic  pressure.  The 
gas  condenses  into  a  liquid  drop  or  into 
a  mist,  on  pressure  being  removed.  This 
glass  tube  is  inclosed  within  a  glass  cyl- 
inder holding  the  freezing  mixture. 


62o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

same  phenomenon  is  observed  in  releasing  carbonic  acid,  and  pro- 
toxide and  bioxide  of  nitrogen,  which  have  been  subjected  to  strong 
pressure."  1 

After  having  obtained  these  results,  at  a  session  of  the  Academy 
on  December  31st,  M.  Cailletet  announced  that  he  had  won  a  com- 
plete victoiy  over  the  other  permanent  gases.  M.  Dumas  informed 
the  members  present  at  the  session  that  the  able  experimenter  had 
succeeded  in  liquefying  nitrogen,  atmospheric  air,  even  hydrogen  itself, 
which  would  seem  to  have  been  the  most  refractory  gas  of  them  all. 

We  take  from  the  Comptes  JRendus  the  following  details : 

Nitrogen. — Pure  or  dry  nitrogen,  compressed  under  about  200  atmospheres, 
at  a  temperature  of  nearly  +13°  Cent.,  and  then  suddenly  released,  becomes 
very  clearly  condensed.  There  first  appears  a  body  resembling  a  pulverized 
liquid,  in  drops  of  appreciable  volume,  and  then  this  liquid  gradually  disappears 
from  the  walls  of  the  tube  toward  the  middle,  at  length  forming  a  sort  of  verti- 
cal column  in  the  axis  of  the  tube;  this  phenomenon  persists  for  more  than 
three  seconds.  These  appearances  remove  all  doubt  as  to  the  true  character  of 
the  phenomenon.  M.  Cailletet  first  made  this  experiment  at  home  with  a  tem- 
perature of  —29°  Cent. ;  he  repeated  it  again  and  again  at  the  laboratory  of  the 
Normal  School,  in  the  presence  of  several  men  of  science. 

Hydrogen. — Hydrogen  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  most  refractory  of 
gases,  owing  to  its  slight  density,  and  the  almost  complete  conformity  of  its 
mechanical  properties  to  those  of  the  perfect  gases.  Hence  it  was  with  very 
little  hopes  of  a  favorable  result  that  M.  Cailletet  subjected  this  gas  to  the  same 
tests  which  had  produced  liquefaction  of  all  the  others. 

"In  my  early  experiments,"  says  he,  "I  recognized  nothing  that  was  pecul- 
iar ;  but,  as  often  happens  in  the  experimental  sciences,  the  habit  of  observing 
phenomena  at  last  leads  us  to  recognize  peculiarities  where  before  they  were 
quite  unnoticed.  This  was  what  happened  in  the  case  of  hydrogen.  On  repeat- 
ing my  experiments  to-day,  December  31st,  in  the  presence  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Messrs.  Berthelot,  H.  Sainte-Claire-Deville,  and  Mascart,  I  succeeded  in 
observing  signs  of  the  liquefaction  of  hydrogen,  which  to  these  expert  witnesses 
appeared  to  be  unquestionable. 

"The  experiment  was  repeated  many  times.  Hydrogen  placed  under  a 
pressure  of  280  atmospheres,  and  then  released,  becomes  transformed  into  an 
extremely  fine  and  subtile  mist,  suspended  in  the  tube  throughout  its  entire 
length,  and  then  suddenly  disappearing.  The  production  of  this  mist,  despite 
its  extreme  subtilty,  appeared  to  be  indisputable  to  all  the  scientific  men  who 
witnessed  this  experiment,  and  who  carefully  repeated  it  again  and  again,  under 
such  conditions  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  fact." 

Air. — "Having  liquefied  nitrogen  and  oxygen,  the  liquefaction  of  atmos- 
pheric air  was  ipso  facto  demonstrated.  Nevertheless,  I  concluded  to  make 
this  a  matter  of  direct  experiment ;  and  here,  as  might  have  been  expected,  I 
was  perfectly  successful.  I  need  not  say  that  the  air  had  been  first  dried  and 
deprived  of  every  trace  of  carbonic  acid.  In  this  way,"  adds  M.  Cailletet,  "was 
demonstrated  the  correctness  of  the  views  held  by  the  founder  of  modern  chem- 
istry, Lavoisier,  as  to  the  possibility  of  reducing  air  to  the  state  of  liquidity,  by 
producing  liquids  endowed  with  new  and  unknown  properties." 

1  Comptes  Rendus  de  VAcademie  dcs  Sciences,  December  24,  1877. 


LIQUEFACTION   OF  GASES. 


621 


Plainly,  the  power  of  producing  liquid  air  opens  to  applied  science 
new  horizons.  There  is  no  need  to  prove  that,  from  the  purely  scien- 
tific and  philosophical  point  of  view,  M.  Cailletet's  experiments  are 
of  supreme  importance. 

We  will  conclude  this  article  with  a  description  of  the  little 
lecture-room  or  laboratory  apparatus,  constructed  by  M.  Ducretet, 
to  show  how,  according  to  Cailletet's  process,  gases  are  liquefied. 
It  is  a  copy  of  the  essential  parts  of  the  apparatus  at  Chatillon-sur- 
Seiue.  The  bell-glass  is  modified.  The  screw-press,  too,  is  represent- 
ed here  by  a  more  portable  pump.     The  accompanying  figure,  which 


Fig.  3.— Small  Apparatus  for  liquefying  Gases. 


represents  the  apparatus  in  section,  will  enable  us  to  give  a  more  de- 
tailed description  of  the  system  devised  by  M.  Cailletet. 

T  T  is  a  glass  tube,  containing  the  gas  to  be  compressed ;  a  cur- 


622  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

rent  of  the  gas  has  passed  through  it,  so  as  to  expel  all  the  atmos- 
pheric air.  For  this  purpose  it  is  first  placed  iu  an  horizontal  position ; 
then,  after  it  has  been  rilled  with  the  gas  destined  for  the  experiment, 
the  tube  is  closed  at  its  extremity  p  at  a  lamp,  while  the  other  ex- 
tremity is  closed  by  the  finger  and  introduced  vertically  into  the  iron 
apparatus,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  It  dips  into  a  cylindrical  reservoir 
of  mercury.  The  upper  part  of  the  tube  is  surrounded  with  a  glass 
cylinder,  M,  filled  with  a  freezing  mixture,  as  in  the  larger  apparatus. 
The  whole  is  then  covered  over  with  a  bell-glass,  G.  The  tube  TTI 
connects  with  a  compression-pump,  worked  by  hand,  and  provided 
with  a  manometer,  which  shows  the  degree  of  pressure.  The  water 
compressed  by  the  pump  acts  on  the  surface  of  the  mercury  as  seen 
in  the  figure.  This  mercury  is  thus  forced  into  the  tube  T  T,  dimin- 
ishes the  space  a  #,  occupied  by  the  gas,  and  soon  bears  on  its  top 
little  drops  of  compressed  gas,  which  unite  to  form  a  small  quantity 
of  liquid,  b. 

The  principal  parts  of  the  apparatus  are  B,  a  box  of  wrought- 
iron,  with  very  strong  walls;  HJJS',  nuts  which  can  be  screwed  off  in 
order  to  adjust  the  apparatus  before  the  experiment  begins ;  A,  aju- 
tage;  P  JP,  two  of  the  three  very  strong  legs  supporting  the  appara- 
tus ;  S,  support  of  the  bell-glass  G  and  the  cylinder  M ;  N,  supple- 
mentary screw  used  to  stop  the  mouth  of  the  passage  i?,  while  the 
mercury  is  being  poured  into  the  apparatus. 

We  would  remark  that  the  enlarged  lower  end  of  the  tube  T  is 
subject  to  an  equal  pressure  within  and  without,  and  cannot  break. 
It  is  only  the  upper  portion  of  the  tube  that  has  to  withstand  the  in- 
ternal pressure,  but  its  walls  are  very  strong. 

The  experiment  may  be  projected  on  a  screen  by  the  aid  of  a 
Drummond  light.  The  apparatus  is  very  simple,  and  liquefies  a  great 
number  of  gases.  One  can  with  the  naked  eye  observe  all  the  phases 
of  liquefaction,  and  this  without  any  danger.  Hence  this  instrument 
is  destined  to  render  great  service  in  research  and  in  instruction, 
whether  in  colleges  or  in  the  lecture-room. — La  Nature. 


CORRESP  ONDENCE. 


623 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

SIR :  As  a  student  of  Herbert  Spencer's 
Philosophy,  I  have  waited  impatient- 
ly the  advent  of  his  "  Principles  of  Sociol- 
ogy," and  particularly  so  of  late,  as  I  am 
greatly  interested  in  the  work  of  an  Amer- 
ican writer  on  a  kindred  subject.  I  refer 
to  Mr.  Lewis  H.  Morgan's  "Ancient  Soci- 
ety," lately  published  by  Henry  Holt  & 
Co.  It  is  to  a  comparison  of  the  views  of 
these  writers  on  the  origin  of  the  monoga- 
mian  family  that  I  wish  to  invite  your  at- 
tention. 

In  Mr.  Morgan's  studies  of  consanguin- 
ity and  affinity  he  found  certain  systems 
prevailing  which  could  only  be  explained 
by  the  existence  of  certain  forms  of  mar- 
riage, and  of  the  family  which  produced 
them.  These  forms  he  has  named  the 
"  Consanguine,"  the  "  Punaluan,"  and  the 
"Monogamian."  As  before  stated,  it  is  the 
origin  of  the  latter  form  only  that  I  pro- 
pose to  discuss  at  present.  According  to 
Mr.  Morgan,  the  monogamian  family  is  com- 
paratively modern,  and  came  into  existence 
with  the  growth  of  the  idea  of  property. 
He  says  (page  477):  "  The  growth  of  prop- 
erty and  the  desire  for  its  transmission  to 
children  was,  in  reality,  the  moving  power 
which  brought  in  monogamy  to  insure  legit- 
imate heirs,  and  to  limit  their  number  to 
the  actual  progeny  of  the  married  pair." 
He  maintains  that  exclusive  cohabitation, 
in  the  sense  that  we  understand  it,  was  not 
practised  until  mankind  had  created  prop- 
erty in  masses,  which  they  desired  should 
pass  into  the  hands  of  their  offspring,  and 
that  the  marriage  of  single  pairs  previous 
to  this  did  not  constitute  monogamy,  but 
formed  what  he  terms  the  "Syndyasmian 
or  Pairing  Family,"  which  differed  from 
monogamy  in  several  essential  particulars, 
chief  of  which  was  the  fact  that  "  the  mar- 
riage relation  continued  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  parties,  and  no  longer,"  and,  so  far 
as  the  male  was  concerned,  "  the  absence  of 
an  exclusive  cohabitation."  In  reading 
Mr.  Spencer's  article  on  the  "Evolution 
of  the  Family,"  it  occurred  to  me  that 
Mr.  Morgan's  theory  answered  his  ques- 
tion, "Are  different  forms  of  domestic 
arrangement  associated  with  the  militant 
system  of  organization  and  the  industrial 
system  of  organization  ?  "  even  better 
than  his  own.  Mr.  Spencer  remarks  that, 
"  on  examining  the  facts  more  closely,  we 
discern  general  connections  between  the 
militant  type  and  polygyny,  and  between 


the  industrial  type  and  monogamy."  He 
then  calls  attention  to  the  truth  that  "  the 
contrast  between  the  militant  and  the  in- 
dustrial is  properly  between  a  state  in  which 
life  is  occupied  in  conflict  with  other  be- 
ings, brute  and  human,  and  a  state  in  which 
life  is  occupied  in  peaceful  labor — energies 
spent  in  destruction  instead  of  energies 
spent  in  production."  Now  it  is  obvious 
that  the  latter  state  is  the  one  in  which  the 
growth  of  the  idea  of  property  and  the  de- 
sire to  transmit  it  to  offspring  would  surely 
be  generated,  and  that  if,  as  is  alleged  by 
Mr.  Morgan,  monogamy  owed  its  origin  to 
the  growth  of  these  ideas,  then  necessarily 
monogamy  and  industrialness  would  surely 
be  connected,  and  that  this  is  the  case,  Mr. 
Spencer  thinks  unquestioned.  He  says  : 
"  That  advance  from  the  primitive  preda- 
tory type  to  the  highest  industrial  type 
has  gone  along  with  advance  from  prevalent 
polygyny  to  exclusive  monogamy,  is  unques- 
tionable ;  and  that  the  decrease  of  militancy 
and  increase  of  industrialness  have  been 
the  essential  cause  of  this  change  in  the 
type  of  family,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
this  change  has  occurred  where  such  oth- 
er supposable  causes  as  culture,  religious 
creed,  etc.,  have  not  come  into  play." 

It  seems  to  me  that,  in  applying  the 
term  monogamy  to  all  forms  of  the  pairing 
family,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  Mr. 
Spencer  is  in  error.  He  should,  like  Mr. 
Morgan,  limit  it  to  that  form  in  which  ex- 
clusive cohabitation  is  the  law  for  both  man 
and  woman.  He  should  deal  with  monogamy 
as  an  institution.  In  so  dealing  with  it,  we 
see  that  it  has  arisen,  as  Mr.  Spencer  has 
taught  us,  like  all  other  institutions,  by  the 
action  of  environing  agencies  on  existing 
social  conditions,  and  that  the  principal 
agency  in  the  present  case  is  the  growth  of 
the  idea  of  property.  R.  M. 


"THE  LAW  OP  CONTINUITY." 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Launcelot's  letter  in  the 
Monthly  for  February,  I  would  draw  atten- 
tion to  the  Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society, 
volume  viii.,  page  51,  where  the  late  Prof. 
Graham  records  certain  experiments.  He 
found  that  sulphuric  acid  continued  to 
evolve  heat  when  mixed  even  with  the  fif- 
tieth equivalent  of  water  that  was  added  to 
it,  so  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  distinct 
limit  to  chemical  affinity.  He  concludes, 
"  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  chemical 


624 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


affinity  passes  in  its  lowest  degree  into  the 
attraction  of  aggregation." 

As  to  Mr.  Launcelot's  paragraph,  wherein 
he  states  that  many  metals,  other  than  gold, 


have  been  reduced  to  translucent  tenuity, 
your  note  makes  any  answer  from  me  un- 
necessary. George  Iles. 
Montreal,  January  22, 1878. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  AMERICAN  BIOLOGY. 
TTTE  publish  this  month  the  first 
V  V   half  of  the  able  and  interesting 
address  delivered  by  Prof.  Marsh,  be- 
fore the  American  Association,  at  Nash- 
ville, last  August,  on  the  "Introduction 
and  Succession  of  Vertebrate  Life  in 
America,"  and  which  is  the  first  com- 
plete edition  that  has  appeared  in  any- 
periodical.     The  paper  is,  from  its  na- 
ture, somewhat  technical,  but  the  author 
could  not  help  that,  as,  in  dealing  with 
newly-discovered  forms  of  life,  he  is 
compelled   to  use  new  terras  a  little 
freely,  and  to  make  his  account  com- 
plete he  includes  some  lists  of  genera, 
which  will  be  of  great  service  to  bio- 
logical students,  and  should  not  fright- 
en off  unscientific  readers,  who  will  find 
much  to  interest  them  in  the  general 
treatment  of  the  subject.   There  is  noth- 
ing more  remarkable  in  our  time  than 
the   activity  of  its  scientific  thought, 
and  the  importance  of  the  new  results 
that  are  being  reached  in  all  the  spheres 
of  investigation.     Of  this,  we  have  a 
striking  illustration  in  the  fact  that  four 
months  was  sufficient  almost  to  anti- 


The    interesting    point    here    is,   that 
these   are   all   forms  that   the   evolu- 
tionist  was  expecting  from  our  mar- 
velous   Eocky   Mountain    region,    and 
they  show  how   rapidly    the    biologi- 
cal evidence  of  this  theory  is  accumu- 
lating.    The  whole  address  is  indeed  a 
weighty  contribution  to  the  literature  of 
this  doctrine,  as,  besides  the  mere  rec- 
ord of  ancient  life  which  it  affords,  the 
genealogies  of  many  groups  of  animals 
are  now  traced  for  the  first  time.     It  is 
well  known  that  Prof.  Marsh,  by  his 
skill,  enterprise,  and  assiduity,  has  made 
the  field  of  the  exploration  of  the  West- 
ern fossil-beds  very  much  his  own ;  and 
in  this  address,  which  first  attempts  a 
summary  statement  of  what  is  known 
of  the  extinct  vertebrate  life  of  this 
continent,  he  necessarily  includes  his 
own  results.     Among  its  leading  feat- 
ures there  is  a  discussion  of  the  migra- 
tions of  extinct  mammals,  and  strong 
evidence  is  presented  (in  opposition  to 
previous  opinion  upon  the  subject)  that 
North  America  is  really  the  oldest  con- 
tinent, from  which  South  America,  as 
well  as  Asia  and  Europe,  derive  many 


quate  Prof.  Marsh's  address,  and  make  |»of  their  animals.  The  author's  obser- 
it  necessary  to  post  it  up  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  year,  by  notes  from 
the  author,  stating  what  new  things 
have  been  discovered  since  its  delivery. 
Among  these  are  mentioned  a  new 
species  of  fossil  fish  (Ceratodus),  that 
has  recently  attracted  much  scientific 
attention,  and  is  significant  as  the 
first  found  in  the  Mesozoic  formations 
of  this  country.  A  number  of  new 
Jurassic  reptiles,  some  of  enormous 
size,  and  a  new  genus  (Epihippus), 
a  missing  Eocene  link  in  the  genealogy 
of  the  horse,  have  also  come  to  light. 


vations  have  led  him  also  to  conclude 
that  there  is  at  present  no  evidence 
that  any  of  the  supposed  bird-tracks  of 
the  Connecticut  Eiver  sandstone  were 
made  by  birds,  but  were  probably  all 
made  by  reptiles.  In  discussing  the 
unsettled  question  among  geologists  as 
to  the  line  between  the  Cretaceous  and 
Tertiary  rocks  in  the  West,  Prof.  Marsh 
puts  forward  a  new  principle  or  law  as 
to  the  value  of  different  kinds  of  fossils 
in  determining  geological  age.  His  in- 
vestigations show  that  the  higher  the 
grade  of  life,  the  better  is  the  evidence 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


625 


they  yield ;  plants,  for  example,  being 
poor  witnesses  in  such  a  case,  and  the 
higher  vertebrates  the  best.  Geologists 
will  be  interested  in  the  researches  of 
the  author,  the  results  of  which  are 
also  given,  into  the  origin  and  succes- 
sion of  the  Tertiary  fresh-water  lakes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region ;  a  sub- 
ject upon  which  but  little  accurate  in- 
formation has  been  hitherto  attainable. 
The  portion  of  the  paper  printed  in  the 
present  Monthly  includes  the  fishes, 
amphibians,  reptiles,  and  birds;  and 
the  second  part  will  be  devoted  to  the 
mammals,  which  will  be  discussed  more 
in  detail.  Prof.  Marsh  has  kindly  pre- 
pared for  us  a  geological  section  of  the 
earth's  crust,  revised  so  as  to  illustrate 
the  present  aspect  of  the  subject  of  the 
introduction  and  succession  of  verte- 
brate life  on  this  continent,  and  which 
the  reader  will  find  valuable  for  refer- 
ence in  studying  the  address. 


SOME   TEACHINGS   OF   TEE   TELE- 
PHONE. 

We  commend  to  those  who  persist  in 
ventilating  the  ancient  prejudice  against 
the  material  medium  of  which  all  things 
around  us  are  constituted,  as  "  dead 
matter,"  "  gross  matter,"  "  brute  mat- 
ter," etc.,  a  little  meditation  on  the 
remarkable  powers  manifested  by  the 
telephone. 

In  another  part  of  the  Monthly 
will  be  found  an  excellent  explanation 
of  the  mechanism  and  mode  of  work- 
ing of  this  remarkable  contrivance. 
But,  to  appreciate  its  deeper  meaning, 
we  must  recall  some  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  sound  and  the  conditions  of  the 
production  of  voice.  The  brain,  the 
spinal  centres,  the  nerves,  and  the  mus- 
cles, have  all  to  be  coordinated  in  that 
expulsion  of  air  through  the  apparatus 
of  speech  which  results  in  the  utterance 
of  words.  The  vocal  cords  are  thrown 
into  vibration  by  the  air-current  which 
sets  up  wave-motions  that  are  trans- 
mitted in  all  directions.     To  appreciate 


what  here  goes  on  in  this  light,  invisi- 
ble medium,  we  must  strive  to  keep  in 
mind  the  behavior  of  the  air-particles. 
In  the  propagation  of  sound,  a  stream 
of  thrills  is  shot  out  from  its  source,  at 
the  rate  of  about  eleven  hundred  feet 
per  second,  and  the  series  of  air-waves 
is  simply  a  succession  of  condensations 
and  rarefactions  of  the  elastic  medium, 
in  which  the  aerial  particles  successive- 
ly take  up  and  pass  on  the  motions  of 
the  original  impulse.  According  to  the 
extent  and  complexity  of  these  molecu- 
lar motions  is  the  intensity  and  quality 
of  the  noise.  The  size  of  the  waves 
varies  with  the  pitch  of  the  sound  ;  the 
first  A  of  the  bass  in  a  piano  producing 
air-waves  about  forty  feet  in  length, 
while  the  waves  of  the  last  A  of  the 
treble  are  not  quite  four  inches  long. 
But  these  sound-waves  are  far  more 
complex  than  at  first  seems,  so  that 
the  motion  of  the  air-particles  involves 
something  else  than  a  mere  backward- 
and-forward  movement.  A  stretched 
string,  vibrating  its  whole  length,  gives 
its  fundamental  tone,  but  while  it  thus 
swings  as  a  whole,  its  different  parts 
are  thrown  into  separate  and  quicker 
vibrations,  which  are  executed  in  har- 
monic ratio — 2,  3, 4,  5,  6,  7,  or  8  times — 
during  the  vibration  of  the  whole  string. 
These  over-vibrations  produce  what  are 
called  overtones,  which  are,  so  to  speak, 
drowned  in  the  fundamental  note,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  serve  to  give  it  a 
peculiar  character.  It  is  thus  that 
sounds  from  all  sources  acquire  distin- 
guishing marks,  by  which  they  are  iden- 
tified. It  is  by  the  effects  of  these  frills, 
or  fringes,  of  the  larger  waves,  that  dif- 
ferent musical  instruments,  and  differ- 
ent human  voices,  are  distinguished 
from  each  other.  The  infinite  varieties 
of  sound  are  thus  due  to  the  subtile  ca- 
pacity of  complex  motion  possessed  by 
the  air-particles.  They  always  move 
exactly  in  the  same  way  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  same  effects,  and  differently 
in  yielding  different  effects.  If  we  could 
see  the  dance  of  the  air-particles  when 


VOL.   XII. — 40 


6z6 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


music  is  executed,  it  would  be  a  picture 
of  mathematical  exactness,  and  infinite 
complication,  that  has  no  analogy  in 
anything  we  observe.  It  has  always 
been  regarded  as  one  of  the  mysterious 
miracles  of  vital  structure  how  the  lit- 
tle membranous  drum  of  the  human 
ear  can  take  up  so  perfectly  this  rapid 
stream  of  intricate  motions  in  the  air, 
which  are  all  so  exactly  reproduced  by 
the  layer  of  adjacent  particles  striking 
upon  the  membrane,  that  thousands  of 
tympanums  will  be  all  affected  precisely 
alike,  while  the  nerves  transmit  the 
thrills  to  the  brain,  awakening  the  same 
musical  sensations  and  sentiments  in  the 
consciousness  of  as  many  people  as  can 
be  brought  within  hearing.  This  chain 
of  effects  is  wonderful,  indeed ;  but  we 
are  now  confronted  with  the  fact,  more 
impressively  than  ever,  that  it  is  no 
prerogative  of  the  living  organism  to 
respond  to  these  subtile  and  exquisite 
changes  in  the  air  ;  the  inert,  dead 
matter  of  which  we  hear  so  much — 
mere  cold  iron — will  do  exactly  the 
same  thing. 

When  we  begin  to  use  a  telephone 
for  the  first  time,  there  is  a  sense  of 
oddity,  almost  of  foolishness,  in  the  ex- 
periment. The  dignity  of  talking  con- 
sists in  having  a  listener,  and  there 
seems  a  kind  of  absurdity  in  addressing 
a  piece  of  iron,  but  we  must  raise  our 
respect  for  the  metal,  for  it  is  anything 
but  deaf.  The  diaphragm  of  the  tele- 
phone, the  thin  iron  plate,  is  as  sensi- 
tive as  the  living  tympanum  to  all  the 
delicate  refinements  of  sound.  Nor 
does  it  depend  upon  the  thinness  of 
the  metallic  sheet,  for  a  piece  of  thick 
boiler-plate  will  take  up  and  transmit 
the  motions  of  the  air-particles  in  all 
the  grades  of  their  subtilty.  And  not 
only  will  it  do  the  same  thing  as  the 
tympanum,  but  it  will  do  vastly  more : 
the  gross,  dead  metal  proves,  in  fact,  to 
be  a  hundred  times  more  alive  than 
the  living  mechanism  of  speech  and  au- 
dition. This  is  no  exaggeration.  In 
quickness,   in  accuracy,   and    even  in 


grasp,  there  is  a  perfection  of  sensitive 
capacity  in  the  metal,  with  which  the 
organic  instrument  cannot  compare. 
We  speak  of  the  proverbial  "  quickness 
of  thought,"  but  the  telephone  thinks 
quicker  than  the  nervous  mechanism. 
Let  a  word  be  pronounced  for  a  per- 
son to  repeat,  and  the  telephone  will 
hear  and  speak  it  a  hundred  miles 
away  in  a  tenth  part  of  the  time 
that  the  listener  would  need  to  utter  it. 
Give  a  man  a  series  of  half  a  dozen 
notes  to  repeat,  and  he  cannot  do  it 
accurately  to  save  his  life ;  but  the 
iron  plate  takes  them  up,  transmits 
them  to  another  plate  hundreds  of 
miles  off,  which  sings  them  forth  in- 
stantaneously with  absolute  precision. 
The  human  machine  can  hear,  and  re- 
produce, in  its  poor  way,  only  a  single 
series  of  notes,  while  the  iron  ear  of 
the  telephone  will  take  up  whole  chords 
and  trains  of  music,  and,  sending  them 
by  lightning  through  the  wire,  its  iron 
tongue  will  emit  them  in  perfect  rela- 
tions of  harmony.  The  correlations  and 
transformations  of  impulse  are  besides 
much  more  extended  in  the  telephone 
than  in  the  living  structure.  The  voli- 
I  tional  mandate  from  the  brain  incites 
nervous  discharges,  expended  in  pro- 
ducing muscular  contractions  that  im- 
pel the  air  across  the  vibrating  cords, 
where  it  is  thrown  into  waves.  But 
in  the  case  of  the  telephone,  the  air- 
waves are  spent  in  producing  mechani- 
cal vibrations  of  the  metal ;  the  secre- 
ate  magnetic  disturbances,  which  ex- 
cite electrical  action  in  the  wire,  and 
this  again  gives  rise  to  magnetic  changes 
that  are  still  further  converted  into  the 
tremors  of  the  distant  diaphragm,  and 
these  finally  reappear  as  new  trains  ot 
air-waves  that  affect  the  listener,  while 
the  whole  intermediate  series  of  changes 
is  executed  in  a  fraction  of  the  time  that 
is  required  by  the  nervous  combinations 
of  speech.  And  not  only  does  the  tele- 
phone beat  the  living  machine  out  of 
sight  in  speed,  accuracy,  compass  of 
results,  and  multiplicity  of  dynamical 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


627 


changes,  but  it  distances  it  also  in  the 
simplification  of  its  resources.  The 
same  bit  of  dead  metal  serves  equally 
for  both  ear  and  tongue  ;  the  offices  of 
the  diaphragm  are  interchangeable,  and 
the  machine  works  backward  and  for- 
ward with  exactly  the  same  facility. 

The  lesson  here  taught  is,  that  we 
are  to  elevate  our  conceptions  of  the 
powers  of  matter.  Science  is  making 
constantly  fresh  revelations  of  its  poten- 
cies aud  capacities,  and  we  are  probably 
still  only  upon  the  threshold  of  this 
world  of  wonders. 


CONCERNING  THE  BELIEF  IN  BELL. 

A  lively  discussion  has  recently 
been  carried  on  by  the  pulpit  and  the 
press  as  to  whether  there  is  a  future 
state  of  eternal  torment.  Two  or  three 
eminent  orthodox  clergymen  spoke  out 
in  rather  strong  denunciation  of  the 
idea,  and  this  was  followed  by  an  epi- 
demic of  controversy.  Certain  people 
seem  to  have  be"en  perplexed  as  to  what 
is  meant  by  so  free  a  handling  of  a  sol- 
emn old  subject.  We  think  it  simply 
means  that  people  have  been  thinking 
about  it  until  expression  is  a  relief,  and 
that  many  have  reached  conclusions 
that  they  are  glad  to  have  a  chance  of 
ventilating.  There  has  been,  thanks  to 
the  influence  of  science,  a  pretty  rapid 
liberalizing  of  theological  opinion  dur- 
ing the  past  generation ;  and  this  dis- 
cussion about  hell  is  an  instructive  in- 
dication of  the  advance  that  has  been 
made. 

The  question  of  the  existence  of  a 
veritable  hell  is,  of  course,  a  theological 
one,  which  we  cheerfully  leave  to  those 
interested,  but  the  topic  has  also  a  sci- 
entific side.  The  rise  and  course  of  the 
idea,  or  what  may  be  called  the  natural 
history  of  the  belief  in  hell,  is  a  subject 
quite  within  the  sphere  of  scientific  in- 
quiry. It  is  legitimate  to  ask  as  to  how 
the  notion  originated,  as  to  its  antiquity, 
the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  enter- 


tained, the  forms  it  has  assumed,  and 
the  changes  it  has  undergone,  and  from 
this  point  of  view  it  of  course  involves 
the  principle  of  evolution.  "We  cannot 
go  into  so  large  a  discussion  here,  but 
as  this  is  an  aspect  of  the  subject  not 
much  dwelt  upon,  a  few  suggestions 
regarding  it  may  not  be  inappropriate. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  to 
rise  above  that  narrowness  of  view 
which  regards  the  doctrine  of  hell  as 
especially  a  Christian  doctrine,  or  as 
the  monopoly  of  any  particular  religion. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  as  ancient  and 
universal  as  the  systems  of  religious 
faith  that  have  overspread  the  world. 
The  oldest  religions  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge — Hindoo,  Egyptian,  and 
the  various  Oriental  systems  of  wor- 
ship— all  affirm  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
life,  with  accompanying  hells  for  the 
torture  of  condemned  souls.  We  cer- 
tainly cannot  assume  that  all  these  sys- 
tems are  true,  and  of  divine  origin  ;  but 
if  not,  then  the  question  forces  itself 
upon  us,  how  they  came  by  this  belief. 
The  old,  historic  religious  systems  in- 
volved advanced  and  complicated  creeds 
and  rituals,  and  if  they  were  not  real 
divine  revelations  in  this  elaborated 
shape,  we  are  compelled  to  regard  them 
as  having  had  a  natural  development 
out  of  lower  and  cruder  forms  of  super- 
stition. To  explain  these  religions — as 
to  explain  the  earliest  political  institu- 
tions— we  must  go  behind  them.  There 
is  a  prehistoric,  rudimentary  theology 
of  the  primitive  man,  the  quality  of 
which  has  to  be  deduced  from  his  low, 
infantine  condition  of  mind,  interpreted 
by  what  we  observe  among  the  inferior 
types  of  mankind  at  the  present  time. 

It  is  certain  that  early  men,  in  pro- 
found ignorance  of  the  surrounding 
world  and  of  their  own  natures,  must 
have  grossly  misinterpreted  outward 
appearances  and  their  internal  experi- 
ences, and  analysis  of  the  conditions 
has  abundantly  shown  how  these  prim- 
itive misunderstandings  led  inevitably 
to    manifold    superstitions.      Herbert 


628 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


Spencer,  in  his  "  Principles  of  Sociolo- 
gy," recently  published,  has  carefully 
traced  out  this  working  of  the  primi- 
tive mind,  and  explained  how  the  early 
men,  by  their  crude  misconceptions  ot 
natural  things,  were  gradually  led  to 
the  belief  in  a  ghost-realm  of  being  ap- 
pended to  the  existing  order.  The  idea 
of  a  life  after  death,  so  universally  en- 
tertained among  races  of  the  lowest 
grades  of  intelligence,  is  accounted  for, 
and  is  only  to  be  accounted  for,  in  this 
way.  Through  experiences  of  sleep, 
dreams,  and  loss  and  return  of  con- 
sciousness at  irregular  times  as  in 
swoon,  catalepsy,  trance,  and  various 
forms  of  insensibility,  there  grew  up 
the  idea  of  a  double  nature — of  a  part 
that  goes  away  leaving  the  body  lifeless, 
and  returns  again  to  revivify  it;  and 
thus  originated  the  theory  of  immate- 
rial ghosts  and  spirits.  At  death  the 
ghost  departed,  but  not  to  return  and 
reanimate  the  body  in  the  usual  way  ; 
it  went  to  inhabit  another  place.  Thus 
arose  the  conception  of  a  separate  and 
future  life,  which,  at  first,  could  not 
have  been  supposed  to  differ  much  from 
that  of  the  present  order  of  things.  No 
doubt  what  is  said  of  the  Fijians,  that 
after  death  "  they  plant,  live  in  fami- 
lies, fight,  and,  in  short,  do  much  as 
people  in  this  world,"  represents  the 
common  beginnings  of  belief  upon  this 
subject.  Yet  the.  hope  of  better  things 
could  not  fail  to  come  soon  into  play, 
as  indicated  by  the  belief  of  the  Creeks, 
that  after  death  they  go  where  "  game 
is  plenty,  and  goods  very  cheap  ;  where 
corn  grows  all  the  year  round,  and  the 
springs  of  pure  water  are  never  dried 
up."  Von  Tschudi  tells  us  that  in  Peru 
"  a  small  bag  with  cocoa,  maize,  qui- 
nua,  etc.,  is  laid  beside  the  dead  that 
they  might  have  wherewithal  to  sow 
the  fields  in  the  other  world."  The 
condition  of  the  future  life,  where  the 
ghosts  go  to  dwell,  is  believed  to  be  so 
similar  to  that  which  they  have  left 
that  it  is  almost  universal  among  sav- 
ages to  bury  food,  weapons,  implements, 


ornaments,  clothing,  and  whatever  they 
may  be  likely  to  want,  with  the  bodies 
of  their  dead  friends.  Even  dogs  and 
cattle  are  slain,  and  women  and  ser- 
vants immolated,  that  they  may  accom- 
pany and  minister  to  the  departed. 

But  this  bald  conception  of  a  future 
life,  as  a  kind  of  literal  continuance  of 
present  materialities,  could  not  last. 
As  knowledge  accumulated  the  concep- 
tion grew  incongruous,  and  underwent 
important  modifications,  so  that  simi- 
larity gradually  passed  into  contrast. 
The  intimacy  of  the  intercourse  sup- 
posed to  be  carried  on  between  the  two 
worlds  decreased ;  the  future  world 
was  conceived  of  as  more  remote,  and 
as  having  other  occupations  and  gratifi- 
cations more  consonant  with  develop- 
ing ideas  of  the  present  life.  Rude 
conceptions  regarding  good  and  evil 
could  not  fail  to  be  early  involved  with 
considerations  of  man's  futurity.  Good 
and  evil  are  inextricably  mixed  up  in 
this  world,  which  seems  always  to  have 
been  regarded  as  a  faulty  arrangement, 
and,  as  there  was  little  hope  of  rectifying 
it  here,  the  future  life  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  compensatory  to  the  present. 
But  the  problem  was  solved,  not  by  the 
absorption  and  disappearance  of  evil, 
but  by  supposing  good  and  bad  to  be 
mechanically  separated ;  and,  as  good 
and  bad  means  good  people  and  bad 
people,  the  belief  arose  that  in  the  fu- 
ture world  they  would  be  divided  off, 
the  good  being  all  collected  in  a  good 
place,  and  the  bad  ones  all  turned  into 
a  bad  place. 

This  idea  of  using  the  next  world  to 
redress  the  imperfections  and  wrongs 
of  this  grew  up  early  and  survives  still, 
and  it  has  exerted  a  prodigious  influence 
in  human  affairs.  As  the  grosser  su- 
perstitions were  gradually  developed  in- 
to systematic  religions,  a  priestly  class 
arose,  and  religious  beliefs  were  em- 
bodied in  definite  creeds.  Fundamental 
among  these  was  the  belief  in  heaven 
as  a  place  of  happiness,  and  of  hell  as  a 
place  of  penal  torment  for  the  wicked. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


629 


To  one  or  other  of  these  places,  it  was 
held,  all  men  are  bound  to  go  after 
death  ;  but  to  which  depended  —  and 
here  the  office  of  the  priesthood  assumed 
a  terrible  importance,  for  they  knew 
all  about  it,  and  had  the  keys.  It  is 
impossible  to  conceive  any  other  idea 
of  such  tremendous  power  for  domi- 
nating mankind  as  this  !  It  raised  the 
priesthood  and  ecclesiastical  institutions 
into  despotic  ascendency,  brought  it 
into  unholy  alliance  with  civil  despot- 
isms, and  became  the  mighty  means  of 
plundering  the  people,  crushing  out 
their  liberties,  darkening  their  hopes, 
and  cursing  their  lives.  So  productive 
an  agency  of  unscrupulous  ambition 
could  not  fail  to  be  assiduously  culti- 
vated, and  the  conception  of  hell,  the 
most  potent  element  in  the  case  by  its 
appeal  to  fear,  was  elaborated  with  the 
utmost  ingenuity.  Language  was  ex- 
hausted in  depicting  the  terrors  of  the 
infernal  regions  and  the  agonies  of  the 
damned.  "We  by  no  means  say  that 
these  ideas  were  mere  priestly  inven- 
tions, but  only  that  they  grew  up  under 
the  powerful  guidance  of  a  class  conse- 
crated to  their  exposition,  and  incited 
by  the  most  powerful  worldly  motives 
to  strengthen  their  influence.  In  order 
to  enforce  belief,  to  compel  obedience 
to  ecclesiastical  requirements,  to  coerce 
civil  submission,  and  to  extort  money, 
people  were  threatened  with  the  hor- 
rors of  hell,  which  were  pictured  with 
all  the  vividness  of  rhetorical  and  po- 
etic fanaticism.  As  the  hierarchical 
spirit  grew  in  strength,  and  became  a 
tyrannical  rule,  obedience  to  its  mi- 
nutest rites  was  enforced  by  the  most  ap- 
palling intimidations.  To  neglect  some 
trivial  ceremony  was  sufficient  to  incur 
damnation.  Alger  says,  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life : " 
"  The  Brahmanic  priest  tells  of  a  man 
who,  for  neglecting  to  meditate  on  the 
mystic  monosyllable  Om  before  praying, 
was  thrown  down  into  hell,  on  an  iron 
floor,  and  cleaved  with  an  axe,  then 
stirred  in  a  caldron  of  molten  lead  till 


covered  all  over  with  the  sweated  foam 
of  torture,  like  a  grain  of  rice  in  an 
oven,  and  then  fastened,  with  head 
downward  and  feet  upward,  to  a  chariot 
of  fire,  and  urged  onward  with  a  red- 
hot  goad." 

In  noticing  the  causes  of  the  extent, 
influence,  and  perpetuity  of  this  sombre 
belief,  we  must  not  forget  that  the  fu- 
ture life,  being  beyond  experience  and 
inaccessible  to  reason,  offers  an  attrac- 
tive play-ground  for  the  unbridled  im- 
agination. It  opens  an  infinite  realm  for 
sensuous  imagery  and  creative  inven- 
tion, stirs  the  deepest  feelings,  and  con- 
cerns itself  with  the  mystery  of  human 
destiny.  It  accordingly  offers  a  favorite 
topic  for  poetic  treatment,  and  this  is 
more  especially  true  of  the  darker  as- 
pects of  the  future  world,  poets  having 
ever  taken  with  avidity  to  delineations 
of  hell.  From  Hesiod  to  Pollok,  pa- 
gans and  Christians  have  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  poetical  representations 
of  the  tortures  and  terrors  of  the  infer- 
nal state.  The  mythological  form  of 
the  doctrine  figures  largely  in  the  great 
epics  of  Greece  and  Eome;  the  Italian 
"  Inferno "  pictures  the  Christian  hell 
with  terrible  intensity,  and  the  grand 
poem  of  the  English  language,  "  Para- 
dise Lost,"  has  hell  at  the  root  of  its 
plot,  and  hell's  master  for  its  hero. 
Homer,  Virgil,  Dante,  and  Milton,  work- 
ing through  poems  of  immortal  genius 
that  have  fascinated  mankind,  some  of 
them  through  thousands  of  years,  and 
others  through  centuries,  have  thus 
combined  to  familiarize  countless  mill- 
ions of  people  with  the  conception,  and 
to  stamp  it  deep  in  the  literature  of  all 
countries. 

Yet  the  doctrine  of  hell  is  now  grow- 
ing obsolete.  Originating  in  ages  of 
savagery  and  low  barbarism,  and  de- 
veloped in  periods  of  fierce  intoler- 
ance, sanguinary  persecutions,  cruel 
civil  codes,  and  vindictive  punishments, 
it  harmonized  with  the  severities  and 
violence  of  society,  and  undoubtedly 
had  use  as  a  means  of  the  harsh  dis- 


630 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


cipline  of  men  when  they  were  moved 
only  by  the  lowest  motives.  But,  with 
the  advance  of  knowledge,  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  humaner  sentiments,  the 
doctrine  has  become  anomalous  and  out 
of  harmony  with  the  advance  of  human 
nature.  Hence,  though  still  a  cardinal 
tenet  of  orthodoxy,  it  is  now  general- 
ly entertained  in  a  vague  and  loose 
way,  and  with  reservations  and  protests 
that  virtually  destroy  it.  Only  revival 
preachers  of  the 'Moody  type  still  affirm 
the  literal  "  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone," 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  doctrine  in  any 
shape  recurs  much  less  prominently  in 
current  preaching  than  it  did  a  genera- 
tion or  two  ago.  Sober-minded  clergy- 
men have  got  in  the  way  of  neglecting 
it,  except  now  and  then  when  rehearsing 
the  creed,  or,  as  at  present,  under  the 
spur  of  controversy,  or  Avhen  rallied 
about  the  decay  of  the  old  theology. 
The  hell  of  Jonathan  Edwards  is  gone. 
That  sturdy  theologian  wrote:  "The 
world  will  probably  be  converted  into 
a  great  lake,  or  liquid  globe  of  fire — a 
vast  ocean  of  fire  in  which  the  wicked 
shall  be  overwhelmed,  which  will  al- 
ways be  in  tempest,  in  which  they  shall 
be  tossed  to  and  fro,  having  no  rest  day 
or  night,  vast  waves  or  billows  of  fire 
continually  rolling  over  their  heads,  of 
which  they  shall  forever  be  full  of  a 
quick  sense  within  and  without :  their 
heads,  their  eyes,  their  tongues,  their 
feet,  their  loins,  and  their  vitals,  shall 
forever  be  full  of  a  glowing,  melting 
fire  fierce  enough  to  melt  the  very  rocks 
and  elements;  and  also  they  shall  eter- 
nally be  full  of  the  most  quick  and  live- 
ly sense  to  feel  the  torments;  not  for 
one  minute,  nor  for  one  day,  nor  for 
one  age,  nor  for  two  ages,  nor  for  a 
hundred  ages,  nor  for  ten  thousands  of 
millions  of  ages,  one  after  another,  but 
for  ever  and  ever  without  any  end  at 
all,  and  never,  never  be  delivered.'"  ' 

This  is  sufficiently  explicit,  but  no 
man  of  the  rank  of  its  author  talks  in 
such  a  strain  nowadays.     In  the  cnr- 

»  Edwards's  Works,  vol.  viii.,  p.  166. 


rent  pulpit  utterance  there  is  a  perfect 
chaos  of  discordant  speculation,  open 
repudiation,  tacit  disavowal,  and  ingen- 
ious refining  away,  but  no  stern  and 
sturdy  defense  of  it,  in  the  old  form  and 
spirit,  from  any  source  that  commands 
respect.  The  doctrine  of  hell  is  still 
conserved  in  popular  creeds,  but,  if  not 
eliminated,  it  will  be  pretty  certain  to 
carry  the  creeds  with  it  into  the  limbo 
of  abandoned  superstitions. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 

Pessimism  :  A  History  and  a  Criticism. 
By  James  Sully,  M.  A.  London  :  C. 
Keegan  Paul  &  Co.,  1877.     Pp.  470. 

Mr.  Sully,  who  is  already  well  known 
for  his  investigations  of  aesthetic  feeling 
from  the  psychological  point  of  view,  here 
undertakes  to  give  us  an  account  of  the 
modern  pessimistic  philosophy  which  has 
spread  so  widely  of  late  years  in  Germany, 
and  also  thoroughly  to  criticise  its  basis,  its 
procedure,  and  its  results.  He  begins  witli 
an  analysis  of  the  two  antithetical  frames 
of  thought  among  the  unphilosophic  public 
which  he  aptly  designates  as  "  unreasoned 
optimism  and  pessimism."  By  the  first  of 
these  terms  Mr.  Sully  understands  that  joy- 
ous and  vigorous  view  of  life  which  belongs 
to  moments  of  exaltation,  or  to  the  consti- 
tutionally happy;  by  the  opposite  expres- 
sion he  means  the  gloomy  standpoint  which 
we  all  naturally  assume  in  periods  of  grief 
or  depression.  Passing  on  from  these  primi- 
tive and  unsystematic  beliefs,  each  the  tran- 
sitory expression  of  a  fleeting  emotional 
tone,  our  author  traces  the  growth  of  a  more 
deliberately  pessimistic  creed  through  the 
literature  of  Hebrew  and  classical  antiqui- 
ty, the  middle  ages,  and  the  modern  world. 
Next,  he  attacks  the  various  forms  of  "  rea- 
soned optimism  and  pessimism,"  the  con- 
scious attempts  to  appraise  the  worth  of 
the  universe  as  absolutely  good  or  bad.  The 
origin  of  evil  is  shown  to  be  the  main  prob- 
lem which  the  optimistic  Israelitish  religion 
set  itself  to  solve ;  while  the  pessimistic  ten- 
dencies of  Aryan  thought  in  India,  reaching 
its  furthest  development  in  Buddhism,  are 
well  pointed  out.  Through  Greece  and  Rome, 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


631 


Mr.  Sully  proceeds  to  the  optimistic  philoso- 
phers of  the  last  century,  who  endeavored, 
by  metaphysical  subtilty,  to  argue  the  ex- 
istence of  evil  out  of  the  universe.  Of  this 
school,  Leibnitz,  Shaftesbury,  and  Pope, 
may  be  taken  as  the  leaders.  The  French 
eclaircissement  brought  a  new  idea  to  the 
front,  that  of  human  perfectibility,  personi- 
fied in  Condorcet  and  Godwin.  It  was  hoped 
that,  after  all,  evil  might  not  be  inherent  in 
the  nature  of  things,  but  might  prove  a  mere 
excrescence,  due  to  the  social  errors  of  man- 
kind. This  creed  found  its  most  eloquent 
exponent  in  the  poet  Shelley ;  and,  extrava- 
gant as  were  its  first  enthusiastic  develop- 
ments, Mr.  Sully  justly  traces  to  its  influence 
the  modern  belief  in  progress  as  an  actual 
fact,  present  and  prospective.  In  the  so- 
cial amelioration  promised  by  the  apostles 
of  evolution,  and  especially  by  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer,  our  author  rightly  sees  "  the  one 
vital  type  of  optimism  in  our  age."  The 
kernel  of  the  work  is  reached  when  we  come 
to  the  survey  of  Schopenhauer's  philosophy, 
and  the  account  of  his  disciple,  Hartmann, 
whose  system  is  very  fully  analyzed.  Their 
deliberate  conviction,  arrived  at  by  an  osten- 
tatiously logical  and  stringent  method,  con- 
sists in  the  belief  that  "  life  is  a  uselessly 
interrupting  episode  in  the  blissful  repose 
of  the  non-existent."  With  the  careful 
exposition  of  their  teaching,  the  historical 
portion  of  Mr.  Sully's  volume  closes.  The 
larger  and  critical  division  consists  of  a  sys- 
tematic dialectic  against  the  whole  argu- 
ment of  German  pessimism,  as  represented 
by  these  its  greatest  lights.  Into  this  part 
of  his  work,  which  is  lengthy,  and  closely 
reasoned,  we  can  only  briefly  follow  him. 
Mr.  Sully  begins  by  clearly  setting  forth  the 
problem  in  dispute.  He  then  attacks  the 
superstructure  of  Hartmann  from  its  meta- 
physical basis,  which  he  shows  to  be  ver- 
bal, illusory,  and  self-contradictory.  Its 
scientific  basis  is  next  examined  from  the 
physical  and  the  psychological  standpoints ; 
and  from  both  it  is  found  to  be  wanting. 
Finally,  the  author  sums  up  his  own  view  in 
three  somewhat  lengthy  chapters,  which  ex- 
hibit him  as  holding  a  middle  course  between 
the  two  extremes.  While  he  rejects  the 
untenable  theory  of  the  absolute  optimists, 
he  cannot  agree  that  any  groundwork  for 
pessimism  as  a  reasoned  principle  exists  in 


the  facts  under  consideration.  His  own 
platform  is  summed  up  in  the  single  expres- 
sion meliorism,  suggested  to  him  by  George 
Eliot.  In  this  creed  he  finds  an  incitement 
to  practical  effort  which  falls  in  with  the 
natural  longings  of  humanity  and  the  teach- 
ings of  modern  evolutionism,  but  which  is 
wanting  either  to  the  satisfied  theological 
optimist  or  to  the  blankly-despondent  Ger- 
man pessimist.  In  the  hopes  of  our  com- 
mon humanity  we  have  a  refuge  alike  from 
the  selfish  acquiescence  of  the  pietist  and 
the  petty  troubles  of  individual  existence. 

As  a  whole,  the  work  exhibits  all  Mr. 
Sully's  characteristics  in  their  fullest  form. 
It  is  rather  long-winded,  a  trifle  dull,  and 
somewhat  apt  to  stray  from  the  plain  paths 
of  common-sense  into  the  hazy  realm  of 
metaphysics  and  casuistical  subtilty.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  full  of  varied  and 
accurate  learning,  judicial  impartiality,  and 
studied  moderation.  Great  pains  have  been 
taken  to  bring  it  up  to  date  in  every  respect, 
some  works  being  actually  noticed  or  quoted 
which  must  have  appeared  while  the  volume 
was  passing  through  the  press.  And  as  an 
exhaustive  account  of  all  that  has  been  writ- 
ten or  thought  upon  its  subject  at  all  peri- 
ods, ancient  or  modem,  it  may  be  thoroughly 
recommended  alike  to  the  psychological  stu- 
dent and  to  the  general  reader. 

The  Ancient  Life-History  of  the  Earth. 
A  Comprehensive  Outline  of  the  Princi- 
ples and  Leading  Facts  of  Pakeontologi- 
cal  Science.  By  H.  Alleyne  Nichol- 
son, M.  D.,  D.  Sc,  Professor  of  Natural 
History  in  the  University  of  St.  Andrew's. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.  Pp.  407.  Price,  $2.00. 

The  subject  of  this  book  is  one  of  grow- 
ing scientific  interest.  Only  within  the 
present  century  has  it  been  revealed  that 
the  earth  has  been  laden  with  life  for  untold 
ages,  until  its  crust  has  become  a  vast  tomb, 
and  even  thick  and  extensive  rock-strata 
are  made  up  of  the  skeletons  of  creatures 
of  extreme  minuteness.  The  present  life 
of  the  globe  is  but  the  last  term  in  an  al- 
most infinite  series  of  generations,  that  have 
so  varied  in  form  and  character,  as  we  go 
back  in  time,  that  they  serve  to  mark  off 
the  geological  epochs. 

A  group  of  absorbing  questions  now 
clusters  around  this  great  fact  of  the  ancient 
life-history  of  the  earth,  and  there  is  much 


632 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


concern  among  multitudes  of  thoughtful 
people  to  acquire  some  clear  aud  correct 
ideas  upon  the  subject.  Fierce  controver- 
sies have  sprung  up  in  relation  to  it,  which 
are  liable  so  to  vitiate  the  statements  of  con- 
flicting parties,  that  many  are  at  a  loss  to 
know  what  representations  they  can  trust, 
and  how  to  get  at  the  unquestioned  facts. 
To  all  persons  in  this  state  of  mind,  Dr. 
Nicholson's  work  will  be  especially  welcome, 
as  it  is  a  clear,  succinct,  and  dispassionate 
account  of  the  present  state  of  palaeonto- 
logical  knowledge,  or  of  its  descriptive  parts 
independent  of  the  contested  theories  to 
which  it  has  given  rise.  His  book  is,  more- 
over, compendious  in  form,  and  moderate 
in  cost,  to  a  degree  that  is  quite  unusual  in 
a  work  so  profusely  and  elegantly  illustrated. 
Its  preparation  has  involved  great  and  care- 
ful labor,  and  the  artists  have  done  it  excel- 
lent justice  in  the  skill  and  fidelity  of  their 
pictorial  representations.  We  know  of  no 
other  volume  that  will  so  well  meet  the 
wants  of  a  large  class  of  readers  at  the 
present  time.  An  excellent  feature  of  the 
book  is  its  copious  bibliography  or  litera- 
ture of  reference  appended  to  the  leading 
chapters.  In  the  appendix  there  is  a  tabular 
view  of  the  chief  divisions  of  the  animal 
kingdom,  followed  by  an  ample  glossary  of 
technical  terms,  and  a  very  full  index. 

An  American  Girl,  and  her  Four  Years  in 
a  Boys'  College.  By  Sola.  New  York : 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.  Pp.  2G9.  Price, 
$1.50. 

This  book  records  the  experiences  of  a 
young  lady  who  got  a  craze  to  go  to  college, 
and  when  a  certain  collegiate  institution 
took  off"  the  embargo  upon  feminine  oppor- 
tunity, and  admitted  girls  to  the  regular 
course  of  study,  she  argued  her  mother  into 
consent,  and  entered  the  establishment.  She 
has  adventures,  mishaps,  exploits,  and  a 
lively  time  generally,  both  in  doors  and  out. 
The  book  is  written  with  considerable  spirit, 
and  conveys  a  very  good  idea  of  college- 
life,  in  its  feminine  aspect.  The  writer  is 
somewhat  critical  of  many  things,  but  be- 
lieves profoundly  in  women  going  to  men's 
colleges.  In  the  sequel,  she  gets  married  to 
one  of  the  students,  the  circumstances  of 
love-making,  while  in  college,  being  duly 
presented  ;  but  what  possible  or  conceiv- 
able bearing  the  course  of  study  pursued 


had  upon  the  prospective  life  of  the  woman, 
who  passed  from  the  valedictory  platform 
to  the  hymeneal  altar,  appeareth  not  in  this 
book  of  "  An  American  Girl." 

Monet.     By  Francis  A.  Walker.      New 

York  :    Henry   Holt   &   Co.     Pp.    550. 

Price,  $4. 

It  is  no  disparagement  to  a  book  of  this 
kind  to  state  that  it  covers  no  new  ground : 
efforts  after  originality  in  the  treatment  of 
subjects  of  this  class  are  seldom  successful 
or  profitable.  It  is  high,  but  in  this  case 
well-deserved,  praise  to  be  able  to  say  that 
it  is  impartial  in  its  statements,  judicial  in 
its  conclusions,  and  full,  clear,  and  exact,  in 
its  explanations  —  the  presentation,  as  a 
whole,  of  the  much-vexed  question  of  money 
being  popular  and  comprehensible. 

The  book  will  be  a  valuable  one,  be- 
cause, among  other  reasons,  the  author  has 
allowed  himself  space  in  which  to  classify 
his  subject  fully,  and  to  elaborate  details  in 
a  way  to  bring  out  likenesses  and  differences 
that  the  casual  reader  is  likely  to  overlook. 

There  are  three  general  divisions  :  Part 
I.,  "  Metallic  Money,"  under  which  head  the 
function  and  distribution  of  money,  the  pro- 
duction of  the  precious  metals,  their  coin- 
age and  circulation,  are  considered.  Chapters 
XII.,  "  The  Concurrent  Circulation  of  Two 
Metals,"  and  XIII.,  "  The  Battle  of  the  Stand- 
ards," are  of  great  present  interest.  They 
constitute  a  full  and  exceedingly  fair  pres- 
entation of  the  opposed  views  of  the  bi-met- 
alists  and  the  mono-metalists.  The  author 
emphasizes  the  fact,  often  lost  sight  of,  that 
the  question  is  one  into  which  political  con- 
siderations enter  so  largely,  that  it  will  be  dif- 
ficult, if  not  impossible,  to  settle  it  on  strict- 
ly economic  principles.  Indeed,  throughout 
the  book  the  important  influence  of  legisla- 
tion, habit,  sentiment,  and  other  the  like 
factors,  upon  economic  affairs  is  more  fully 
recognized  than  is  usual  in  such  treatises. 
Part  II.  is  devoted  to  "  Inconvertible  Paper- 
Money."  Its  theory  is  stated  and  historically 
illustrated.  The  chief  danger  of  its  use  is 
seldom  better  stated  than  in  the  following 
paragraph  :  "  The  danger  of  over-issue  is 
one  which  never  ceases  to  threaten  an  incon- 
vertible paper-money.  The  path  winds  even 
along  the  verge  of  a  precipice.  Vigilance 
must  never  be  relaxed.  The  prudence  and 
self-restraint  of  years  count  for  nothing,  or 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


633 


count  for  but  little,  against  any  new  onset 
of  popular  passion,  or  in  the  face  of  a  sud- 
den exigency  of  the  Government.  From 
this  danger  a  people  receiving  into  circula- 
tion an  inconvertible  paper-money  can  never 
escape.  A  single  weak  or  reckless  adminis- 
tration, one  day  of  commercial  panic,  a  mere 
rumor  of  invasion,  may  hurl  trade  and  pro- 
duction down  the  abyss." 

This  and  Part  III.,  on  "  Convertible 
Paper-Money,"  are  able  discussions,  and 
timely,  for  we  fear  they  are  over-sanguine 
who  think  that  the  day  of  our  danger  from 
papev  inflation  is  past. 

Mr.  Walker  discards  altogether  the  word 
currency,  for  reasons  which  he  gives  fully, 
and  which  are  not  without  force.  He  also 
substitutes  the  term  "  common  denominator 
of  exchange"  for  "  measure  of  value,"  in 
defining  one  of  the  functions  of  money — a 
change  which  we  indorse  without  reserva- 
tion. There  is  a  copious  index,  and  the 
book  is  in  all  respects  well  gotten  up. 

Monet  and  Legal  Tender  in  the  United 
States.  By  H.  R.  Linderman,  Director 
of  the  Mint.  New  York:  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons.     Pp.  173.     Price,  $1,25. 

There  is  given  to  the  public  in  this  little 
book  a  brief  but  comprehensive  history  of 
American  coinage,  by  a  man  thoroughly 
conversant  with  his  subject,  and  competent 
to  point  out  clearly  the  lessons' to  be  drawn 
from  our  experience. 

The  various  laws  regulating  the  coinage 
and  the  workings  of  the  mint  are  given. 
The  terms  used  in  treating  of  bullion,  coin- 
age, and  money,  are  defined.  A  short  chap- 
ter states  what  constitutes  a  legal  tender. 

Accounts  are  given  of  the  paper-currency 
since  1863,  of  fractional  notes,  coin-certifi- 
cates, funding  operations,  etc. 

Beginning  with  page  100  is  a  discussion 
of  the  proposition  to  remonetize  silver.  It 
is  a  straightforward,  common-sense  state- 
ment of  the  question,  stripped  of  illusions 
and  technicalities,  that  we  should  be  glad 
to  see  widely  circulated. 

In  the  appendix  are  conveniently  tabu- 
lated useful  statistics  concerning  the  produc- 
tion of  silver,  its  use,  movements,  and  prices, 
the  ratio  between  it  and  gold,  the  coinage  of 
the  United  States  mints,  etc. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  book  better 
adapted  to  clear  away  the  fogs,  which  just 


now  beset  the  subject  of  currencies  and 
standards,  than  this  volume  of  Dr.  Linder- 
man's,  if  the  public  could  only  be  induced 
to  read  it. 

An  Epitome  of  the  Positive  Philosophy 
and  Religion  explanatory  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Humanity  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  together  with  the  Constitution 
and  Regulations  of  that  Society  ;  to 
which  is  added  an  important  letter 
of  Harriet  Martineau  in  regard  to 
her  Religious  Convictions.  Second 
edition.  Pp.  59.  Published  by  the  So- 
ciety of  Humanity,  141  Eighth  Street, 
New  York. 

This  pamphlet  will  interest  many  as  an 
exposition,  in  brief,  of  the  religious  basis  of 
positivism.  A  society  has  been  formed  in 
New  York  devoted  to  these  ideas,  and  this 
is  its  platform  or  confession  of  faith,  various 
points  of  which  are  elucidated,  and  numer- 
ous authorities  quoted,  who  have  expressed 
sentiments  in  sympathy  with  the  ideas  here 
presented.  It  is  an  earnest  and  well-written 
document,  evidently  by  a  thorough-going 
adherent  of  the  system,  and  is  by  no  means 
strictly  confined  to  the  considerations  of 
religious  questions.  It  contains  some  new 
schemes  or  charts,  presenting  classifications 
and  methodical  arrangements  of  scientific 
and  philosophical  ideas  that  are  filled  out 
with  a  symmetrical  completeness  which 
seems  to  leave  no  room  for  improvement. 
The  blank  squares  are  all  filled  up  so  that 
the  system  looks  finished,  and  there  seems 
to  be  a  perfect  correspondence  between  the 
geometrical  spacings  of  the  map  and  the 
divisions  of  human  knowledge.  These  tab- 
ular arrangements  are,  however,  undoubt- 
edly not  designed  to  be  final,  but  to  be  open 
to  future  revision,  and  they  are  of  a  very 
suggestive  nature.  Into  the  theological  ques- 
tions raised  by  this  brochure  we  cannot  now 
enter,  but  may  note  the  manifest  humility  of 
the  new  sect,  as  there  is  not  a  name  to  be 
found  of  anybody  connected  with  it,  or  of 
the  authorship  or  publication  of  the  mani- 
festo, or  of  any  human  personality,  repre- 
sentative of  the  "  society."  This  is  some- 
what remarkable,  as  the  propagandists  of 
the  new  faith  of  Positivism  'are  somewhat 
notorious  for  their  free  handling  of  person- 
alities with  whom  they  differ  ;  and  it  seems 
still  more  surprising  when  we  remember 
that  the  religious  polity  of  positivism  is  so 


634- 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


full  of  the  apotheosis  of  individuals,  and  has 
such  a  copious  calendar  of  saints,  and  makes 
men  the  objects  of  its  worship. 

Gerrit  Smith:  A  Biography.  By  Octa- 
tius  Brooks  Frothingham.  New  York  : 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.     Pp.  381. 

Whether  this  work  is  to  be  regarded  as 
a  success  will  depend  upon  the  ideal  formed 
of  what  a  true  biography  ought  to  be.  If 
we  accept  the  Boswellian  standard,  which 
makes  biographical  excellence  to  consist  in 
the  copiousness  of  gossip,  trivial  particulars, 
and  idle  tattle  about  its  subject,  Mr.  Froth- 
ingham's  volume  must  be  pronounced  a 
failure.  Sueh  details  are  usually  not  only 
worthless,  if  true,  but,  originating  in  a  spirit 
of  adulation,  they  are  generally  so  partial 
and  false  as  to  be  of  little  use  for  any  se- 
rious purpose.  Moreover,  the  cast  of  mind 
that  can  produce  such  books  is  pretty  cer- 
tain to  be  wanting  in  the  insight,  the  ana- 
lytic capacity,  and  the  critical  judgment,  ne- 
cessary to  form  a  true  estimate  of  character. 

Mr.  Frothingham's  book  has  not  been 
made  on  this  model.  Though  strictly  a 
biography,  that  is,  the  description  of  a  life, 
and  though  freely  delineating  those  circum- 
stances, incidents,  peculiarities,  sayings,  and 
habitual  actions,  which  mark  and  define  the 
personality  he  is  dealing  with,  yet  all  such 
details  are  made  subordinate  to  the  purpose 
of  so  unfolding  and  representing  the  nature 
of  the  man  that  readers  may  form  their  own 
judgment  respecting  his  greatness.  Thus 
regarded,  the  book  is  able,  eminently  suc- 
cessful, and  worthy  of  its  subject.  Gerrit 
Smith  was  a  most  admirable  man,  a  noble- 
hearted  philanthropist,  who  put  his  great 
fortune  at  the  service  of  society,  and  devoted 
his  life  to  the  skillful  management  of  his 
immense  wealth,  that  he  might  dispense  it 
for  beneficent  ends.  He  was  a  radical  and 
thorough-going  reformer,  taking  deep  in- 
terest in  all  projects  of  moral  amelioration, 
such  as  peace,  temperance,  antislavery,  and 
other  philanthropic  schemes,  for  which  he 
worked  with  vigor,  and  which  he  aided  lib- 
erally with  his  means.  He  was  also  from 
youth  an  uncompromising  democrat,  living 
plainly,  carrying  out  his  theories  of  practi- 
cal equality,  and  never  betrayed  into  the 
aristocratic  ostentation  which  he  might 
have  indulged  on  an  imposing  scale.     The 


radicalism  of  his  nature,  moreover,  asserted 
itself  strongly  in  his  religious  experience. 
Beginning  as  a  devoted  Christian  of  the  or- 
thodox stamp,  he  held  steadily  to  the  prac- 
tical observances  of  a  pious  life,  but  gradu- 
ally freed  himself  from  the  trammels  of  the- 
ology, and,  at  length,,  emerged  as  a  liberal 
Christian  of  the  extremest  sort.  Christian- 
ity was  with  bim  a  purely  practical  affair,  a 
carrying  out  of  the  principles  of  human 
brotherhood,  and  the  extending  of  sympa- 
thy and  help  to  all  who  needed  them.  Doc- 
trinal matters  were  therefore  held  lightly, 
and  he  told  somebody  late  in  life  that  he 
had  not  yet  made  up  his  mind  whether  he 
had  a  soul  or  not.  In  a  variety  of  respects 
his  character  and  position  were  unique,  and 
his  career  altogether  forms  a  study  of  spe- 
cial interest  to  those  concerned  with  the 
philosophy  of  charities  and  benevolence. 

Transcendentalism,  with  Preludes  on  Cur- 
rent Events.  By  Joseph  Cook.  J.  R. 
Osgood  &  Co.     Pp.  305.     Price,  $1.50. 

This  book  emanates  from  the  same  mind 
that  wrote  the  "Biology,"  and  is,  probably, 
of  similar  quality.  Osgood  well  knows  the 
length  of  his  customers'  ears,  and  puts  in 
the  "  applause  "  all  the  same. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Cerebral  Hyperemia.  By  W.  A.  Hammond. 
M.D.    New  York :  PutnamVSons.    Pp.108.   $1. 

The  Nabob.  ByA.Dandet.  Boston:  Estes 
&  Lauriat.    Pp.  456.    $1.50. 

Foundations.  By  J.  Gandard.  New  York  : 
Van  Nostrand.    Pp.  104.    50  cents. 

Democracy  in  Europe.  By  Sir  T.  E.  Mav. 
New  York:  W.  J.  Widdleton.  2  vols.,  pp.  495 
and  568.    $5. 

Comparative  Psychology.  Bv  J.  BaFCom. 
New  York:  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  2S6.    $1.50. 

State  Regulation  of  Vice.  Bv  A.  M.  Powell. 
New  York :  Wood  &  Holbrook.  "  Pp.  127.    $1. 

Journal  of  the  Academv  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia.  Vol.  VIII.,  Part  III.  (New  Se- 
ries). 

Bulletin  of  the  Minnesota  Acndamy  of  Nat- 
ural Sciences.  Minneapolis:  Young  &  Winn 
print.    Pp.  126.     50  cents. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Training 
School  for  Feeble-minded  Children.  West  Ches- 
ter, Pa.;  Hickman  print.    Pp.  35. 

Proceedings  of  the  Association  of  Medical 
Officers  of  Institutions  for  Idiots.  Philadel- 
phia :   Lippincott  &  Co.    Pp.  35. 

The  Ymmg  Scientist.  Monthly.  Pp.  12.  50 
cents  per  year. 

Magazine  of  American  Hirtori/.  January. 
1878.  'New  York :  Barnes  &  Co.  Pp.  64.  With 
steel-plate  Portrait. 

Report  of  the  New  Jersey  Commissioners  of 


P  OP  ULAR  MIS  CELL  ANY. 


635 


Fisheries.  Trenton :  Naur,  Day  &  Naar  print. 
Pp.  63. 

Report  of  Trustees  of  West  Pennsylvania  In- 
stitution for  Deaf  and  Dumb.  Pittsburg:  Ste- 
venson, Foster  &  Co.  print.    Pp.32. 

Is  the  Human  Eye  changing  its  Form  1  By 
Dr.  E.  G.  Loring.  New  York:  The  Author. 
Pp.  25. 

The  Steppes  of  Southern  Russia.  By  Th. 
Belt.    Pp.20. 

A  New  Type  of  Steam-Engine.  By  R.  H. 
Thurston.  From  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Insti- 
tute.   Philadelphia  :  Kildare  print.     Pp.  35. 

Medical  Education  in  the  United  States.  By 
N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.  Washington:  Government 
Printing-office.    Pp.  60. 

Reports  of  Curators  of  Wesleyan  University 
Museum.  Middletown,  Conn.:  Pelton  &  King 
print.    Pp.  30. 

Pneumono-Dynamics.  By  G.  M.  Garland, 
M.  D.    New  York  :  Hurd  &  Houghton.    Pp.  155. 

Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  So- 
ciety, No.  4.    New  York  :  The  Society.    Pp.105. 

Public  Health.  By  G.  P.  Conn,  M.  D.  Con- 
cord, N.  H. :  Republican  Press  Association 
print.    Pp.  17. 

Convergent  Strabismus.  By  S.  Theobald, 
M.  D.    Baltimore:  Foster  print.     Pp.10. 

Pseudocyesis  and  Pregnancy.  By  J.  W.  Un- 
derbill, M.  D.    New  York  :  Wood  &  Co.    Pp.  18. 

Reports  of  Examinations  of  the  New  York 
Insurance  and  Banking  Departments.  New 
York  :  Green  print.    Pp.. 30. 

Dietetics  of  Infants.  By  T.  Moore,  M.  D. 
Philadelphia:  Sherman  &  Co.  print.    Pp.  14. 

Report  of  Director  of  Harvard  College  Ob- 
servatory. By  Prof.  E.  C.  Pickering.  Cam- 
bridge :  Wilson  &  Son  print.    Pp.  36. 

New  Double  Stars.  By  S.  W.  Bnrnham. 
From  "  Notices  of  Royal  Astronomical  Society." 
Pp.  3. 

Album  Leaves.  By  G.  Houghton.  Boston : 
Estes  &  Lauriat.    Pp.34.    35 cents.    ■ 

Notes  on  Matters  of  Physical  Astronomy. 
By  L.  Trouvelot.  From  "Proceedings  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences." 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

The  Last  of  tbe  Gases.— The  last  of 
the  gases  that  had  never  been  condensed 
to  liquids — oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  nitro- 
gen— have  at  length  yielded  to  pertinacious 
experiment,  and,  under  the  joint  influence 
of  greater  degrees  of  cold  and  pressure  than 
had  ever  before  been  employed,  have  been 
reduced  to  the  liquid  form.  This  great  ex- 
perimental exploit  has  been  performed  by 
two  chemists  independently,  and  almost 
simultaneously  —  Raoul  Pictet,  of  Geneva, 
and  M.  L.  Cailletet,  of  Paris,  by  different 
processes.  Pictet  condensed  oxygen,  which 
was  first  announced  ;  but  Cailletet  had  al- 
ready done  it,  and  he  also  liquefied  nitrogen, 
hydrogen,  and  the  air.  We  give  a  repre- 
sentation of  his  apparatus,  and  an  account 
ef  his  processes,  and  shall  give  fuller  state- 


ments of  the  results  as  they  are  more'fully 
announced. 

Stanley's  Trip  down  the  Congo.— The 
exploration  of  the  Congo  River  from  Ny- 
angwe  to  the  sea,  by  Henry  M.  Stanley, 
must  be  esteemed  one  of  the  most  important 
achievements  in  the  whole  history  of  African 
discovery.  He  set  out  on  November  5, 1876, 
from  Nyangwe  (latitude  4°  20'  south,  longi- 
tude 26°  40'  east),  at  the  head  of  a  numer- 
ous band  of  native  followers,  marching  north- 
ward by  land  forty  miles,  till  he  again  came 
to  the  river — known  here  as  the  Ugarowa, 
or  the  Lualaba.  Putting  his  men  in  canoes, 
and  himself  embarking  on  the  portable 
Lady  Alice,  he  commenced  his  long  jour- 
ney of  alternate  boating  and  portaging 
which  lasted  for  nine  months.  The  party 
soon  began  to  experience  the  hostility  of 
the  native  tribes,  who  again  and  again  at- 
tacked them  from  the  banks  of  the  stream 
or  in  canoes.  On  December  6th  seventy-two 
of  Mr.  Stanley's  men  were  down  with  small- 
pox, which  rendered  defense  all  the  more 
difficult ;  he  seized  a  town,  and  there  housed 
his  sick  and  wounded,  but  for  two  days  and 
nights  he  and  his  party  had  to  repel  the 
fierce  attacks  of  the  natives.  Soon  he  was 
boating  down  the  river  again,  his  force  on 
January  4th  numbering  146  men.  In  lati- 
tude 0°  32'  36"  south  is  a  series  of  cata- 
racts, and  Stanley's  men  had  to  cut  a  road 
through  the  forest  and  drag  their  canoes 
round  the  falls,  the  natives  constantly  har- 
assing them  in  the  mean  time.  Just  be- 
low these  cataracts  the  river  widens  enor- 
mously, receiving  several  considerable  afflu- 
ents ;  its  course,  too,  becomes  westerly, 
though  still  tending  toward  the  north  till 
it  reaches  latitude  1°  40'  north,  longitude 
23°  east,  when  it  takes  a  southwesterly  di- 
rection to  the  sea.  One  of  the  great  tribu- 
taries of  the  Congo  below  the  cataracts  is 
the  Aruwini,  supposed  to  be  the  Welle  of 
Schweinfurth.  Here,  on  Stanley's  map,  is 
the  legend  "  The  Cannibal  Region,"  and  a 
little  to  the  south  "  The  Region  of  Dwarfs." 
At  one  place  the  expedition  was  attacked 
by  the  cannibals  in  fifty-four  canoes  with 
paddles  eight  feet  long,  spear-headed  and 
pointed  with  iron  blades.  Stanley's  breech- 
loaders soon  forced  the  enemy  to  retreat  in 
confusion.     After  receiving,  in  latitude  0° 


636 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


20'  s\)utb,  longitude  19"  40'  east,  the  waters 
of  a  great  river,  Ikclembo,  otherwise  the 
Kasai,  coming  from  the  south,  and  a  little 
below,  another  river  from  the  north,  the 
Congo  flows  southwesterly  in  a  mighty 
stream,  till  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kwango  it 
is  compressed  between  two  ranges  of  hills. 
The  rapids  commence  180  miles  above 
Yellala  Falls,  there  being  a  series  of  sixty- 
two  cataracts  ;  these  it  took  the  party  five 
months  to  pass.  Mr.  Stanley  reached  the 
coast  on  August  11th  with  the  ragged  and 
half-starved  remnant  of  his  followers,  hav- 
ing followed  the  river  for  about  1,800  miles. 
They  were  received  on  board  a  British 
naval  vessel,  and  the  natives  carried  back 
to  Zanzibar.  Mr.  Stanley  himself  has  re- 
turned to  England. 

German  Handicraft. — A  correspondent  of 
the  Manufacturer  $  Review,  now  visiting 
Germany,  cites  numerous  facts  confirming 
the  criticisms  passed  by  Prof.  Reuleaux 
upon  the  quality  of  the  work  done  by  Ger- 
man artisans.  Last  winter,  this  writer  oc- 
cupied a  room  richly  furnished  and  deco- 
rated, but  hardly  a  day  passed  without  some 
accident  happening.  The  ornaments  were 
all  glued  on,  and  one  day  it  was  the  cornice 
of  a  wardrobe,  another  the  slat  of  the  dress- 
ing-table, that  fell  off.  Not  a  single  lock  in 
the  bureau  would  hold  a  drawer  closed.  On 
a  windy  night  a  match  was  extinguished  by  ' 
a  gust  of  air  coming  through  the  double 
windows.  This  case  was  typical.  "  When- 
ever," says  the  author,  "  I  had  occasion  to 
call  in  an  artisan,  the  job  was  badly  done, 
or  delayed,  or  bungled.  I  never  had  a  suit 
of  clothes  or  a  pair  of  boots  that  fitted." 
His  experience  extended  over  all  Germany, 
both  north  and  south,  in  small  villages  and 
towns  up  to  25,000  inhabitants,  and  it  was 
everywhere  the  same.  The  best  specimens 
of  German  manufacture  are  exported,  as 
the  home  market  requires  cheap  goods. 
Now,  as  the  author  remarks,  Germany  is 
preeminently  the  land  of  technical  educa- 
tion, and  the  question  naturally  arises,  "  Is 
this  the  fruit  of  the  system,  and  is  the  sys- 
tem itself  a  failure  ?  "  Various  answers  have 
been  given:  "  It  has  been  pointed  out  that 
as  domestic  industry  has  no  use  for  them,  a 
large  number  of  the  skilled,  technically  edu- 
cated   artisans   and  workmen  emigrate   to 


where  their  services  are  better  appreciated, 
and  that  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  work- 
shops of  Paris,  London,  and  New  York,  oc- 
cupying leading  and  well-paid  positions. 
There  is  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of  truth 
in  that,  but  it  is  also  evident  that  it  fails  to 
cover  the  case ;  the  cause  must  be  deeper. 
It  has  been  asserted,  by  men  who  certainly 
ought  to  know,  that  the  instruction  in  Ger- 
man technical  schools  is  too  purely  theoretic 
and  scientific,  and  too  little  practical ;  that 
the  professors,  able  men  though  they  be, 
often  have  no  practical  knowledge  of  the 
arts  of  which  they  expound  the  underlying 
principles.  It  is  evident  that  in  this  way 
the  students,  instead  of  being  trained,  are 
spoiled  for  their  work.  To  illustrate,  you 
need  simply  look  at  some  of  our  American 
agricultural  colleges;  the  professors  may 
be  excellent  chemists,  physicists,  botanists, 
and  zoologists,  but  how  many  of  them  know 
practically  anything  about  farming  ?  It  is 
thus  that  the  question  I  have  discussed  has 
a  practical  bearing  upon  our  own  institu- 
tions. We  are  beginning  to  introduce  tech- 
nical schools  everywhere,  and  we  must  guard 
against  the  danger  mooted." 

The  Whitney  Glacier.  —  While  visiting 
the  Pacific  slope,  on  business  of  the  United 
States  Entomological  Commission,  Mr.  A.  S. 
Packard,  Jr.,  ascended  Mount  Shasta,  in 
Northern  California,  and  studied  the  Whit- 
ney Glacier,  one  of  the  three  glaciers  on  its 
flanks.  The  Whitney  Glacier  is  about  three 
miles  long,  and  extends  from  the  summit  of 
Shasta  peak  down  to  or  quite  near  the  line 
of  trees.  The  surface  is  white  and  clean 
near  the  top.  Ice  cascades  and  crevasses 
begin  very  near  the  upper  termination.  On 
the  upper  portion  on  the  east  side,  under  a 
perpendicular  wall  of  rock,  is  a  lateral  mo- 
raine; and  a  little  farther  down,  where  the 
glacier  abuts  against  the  crater-cone  of 
Mount  Shasta,  is  a  lateral  moraine  on  the 
west  side.  The  terminal  moraine  covers 
the  bottom  of  the  glacier,  and  connects  the 
two  lateral  moraines.  The  end  of  the  gla- 
cier, instead  of  being  free  of  detritus,  push- 
ing the  mass  before  it,  as  in  most  European 
glaciers,  runs  under  the  terminal  moraine 
for  a  considerable  distance,  the  ice  here  and 
there  projecting  above  the  surface  of  the 
moraine.     At  and   beyond  the  end  of  the 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


637 


present  terminal  moraine  lies  the  former 
extension  of  it,  constituting  naked  plains ; 
and  below  the  still  more  ancient  moraine, 
showing  the  former  size  of  the  glacier,  and 
comprised  of  a  series  of  well-wooded  hills. 
A  muddy  stream  runs  north  from  the  end 
of  the  glacier. 

Sensitiveness  of  the  Leaves  of  the  Com- 
mon  Teasel.  —  On   closely   examining  the 
glandular  hairs  of  the  leaves  of  the  common 
teasel,  Mr.  Francis   Darwin  observed  pro- 
truding from   them    translucent,  highly-re- 
fracting  threads,    capable  of    spontaneous 
movement.     These  filaments  were  found  to 
consist  of  protoplasm,   containing  a  large 
amount  of  resinous  matter.     They  not  only 
possess  the  power  of  spontaneous   move- 
ment, but  can  also  be  made  to   contract 
violently  under  the  influence  of  sundry  re- 
agents, of  temperature,  electricity,  or  simple 
mechanical  irritation.     In   nutritive   fluids 
the  movements  are  very  remarkable.    Thus, 
in  an  infusion  of  meat,  the  filaments  became 
rounded  or  sausage-shaped,  or  very  long 
and  bulky ;  sometimes  they  coalesced  with 
one  another,  or  again  became  completely 
detached  and   floated   freely  in   the   fluid. 
The  movements  resemble  the  "  aggregation 
movements "  observed  in  the  tentacles  of 
the  Drosera.     Mr.  Darwin  is  of  the  opinion 
that  these  anomalous  structures    are   con- 
nected both  with  the  production  of  resin 
and  the  absorption  of  nitrogenous  matter. 
In  the  adult  teasel  the  leaves  form,  by  their 
union  in  pairs  across  the  stem,  large  cups, 
in  which  water  collects,  and  in  which  in- 
sects are  caught.     The  decomposing  bodies 
of  these   insects   form    with   the   water   a 
strongly-nutritive  fluid,  which  is  absorbed 
by  the  gland-hairs  and  their  filaments. 

Gas  as  a  Domestic  Fnel. — Gas  as  a  fuel 
for  domestic  use  possesses  many  notewor- 
thy advantages  over  all  other  kinds  of  fuel, 
and  there  is,  apparently,  nothing  to  hinder 
its  universal  substitution  in  place  of  grosser 
fuels,  save  its  greater  cost.  By  using  a  gas- 
apparatus,  we  may  do  away  with  dust, 
smoke,  ashes,  cinders,  and  kindling-mate- 
rial, save  time  and  labor,  and  escape  many 
vexations.  For  summer  use,  gas-stoves 
possess  special  advantages  even  on  the 
ground  of  economy.      "  It  is   desirable," 


says  the  American  Gaslight  Journal,  "  to 
keep  as  cool  during  the  heated  term  as  is 
consistent  with  the  pecuniary  and  mechani- 
cal means  at  our  command ;  therefore,  we 
should  have  our  artificial  heat  so  arranged 
as  to  be  used  only  when  desired  for  active 
work,  and  employed  no  longer  than  is  neces- 
sary. With  a  good  apparatus,  the  gas  act- 
ually used  for  cooking  and  performing  all 
necessary  fuel-labor,  during  the  warm  sea- 
son, costs  no  more  than  the  coal  and  kin- 
dling used  for  the  same  purposes,  and  we 
get  the  comfort,  saving  of  time,  convenience, 
and  sanitary  influence,  thrown  gratuitously 
into  the  trade."  The  case  is  diiferent  when 
it  is  proposed  to  employ  gas  for  the  purpose 
of  warming  houses.  "It  is,"  the  Journal 
admits,  "  more  expensive  to  run  a  gas-stove 
for  a  given  amount  of  heat  than  it  is  to  run 
a  coal-stove  for  the  same.  Hence,  when 
the  heat  is  to  be  continuous,  the  coal-stove 
has  the  advantage  so  far  as  cost  is  con- 
cerned." Our  contemporary  then  suggests 
to  the  gas  companies  the  advisability  of  set- 
ting up  in  houses  of  gas-consumers  a  special 
metre  connected  with  the  heating  and  cook- 
ing apparatus,  and  of  selling  gas  for  these 
purposes  at  half-price,  so  as  to  encourage 
the  use  of  gas  in  this  way. 

Impure  Water  fatal   to  Fish-Breeding. 

— Mr.  Seth  Green  takes  advantage  of  an 
accident  which  occurred  lately  at  the  State 
fish-ponds,  to  caution  people  against  draw- 
ing off  the  water  of  old  mill-ponds,  except 
they  do  it  very  slowly,  especially  in  warm 
weather.  "Last  week,"  he  writes  to  Forest 
and  Stream,  "  the  State  ponds  at  Caledo- 
nia came  near  losing  all  their  breeding-fish. 
The  head  of  the  stream  is  about  one  mile 
above  the  ponds.  Half  of  the  water  comes 
out  of  the  ground  at  the  head  of  the  stream, 
and  a  dam  was  put  across  the  creek  sixty 
years  ago,  about  forty  rods  from  the  spring, 
making  a  pond  of  several  acres.  It  is  full 
of  moss  and  all  sorts  of  animalcula.  Last 
week  the  owner  of  the  pond  opened  the 
gates,  and  let  the  water  down  with  a  rush. 
It  killed  all  the  trout  in  the  stream  for  a 
half-mile  below,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for 
many  large  springs  coming  in  on  both  sides 
of  the  creek,  all  the  trout  in  the  stream  and 
ponds  would  have  been  killed,  and  it  would 
take  many  years  to  restock  the  ponds  as 


638 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


they  now  are."  The  different  kinds  of  fish 
now  in  these  ponds  are  California  salmon, 
Kennebec  salmon,  brook-trout,  salmon-trout, 
grayling,  a  hybrid  of  California  salmon  and 
brook-trout,  also  a  hybrid  between  salmon- 
trout  and  white-fish. 

Graves    of  the    Monnd-Builders. —  On 

opening  a  sepulchral  mound  on  Coup's 
Creek,  Macoupin  County,  Illinois,  four  skel- 
etons were  found  sitting  two-and-two,  with 
the  arms  crossed,  and  the  knees  of  one 
pair  pressing  sharply  against  the  backs 
of  the  other.  The  grave  was  six  feet  in 
length  by  three  in  width,  and  search  was 
made  for  other  remains.  Nothing,  how- 
ever, was  found,  except  four  large  marine- 
shells,  identified  as  of  the  Linnaean  spe- 
cies Busycon  perversum.  The  position 
of  each  of  these  shells  in  relation  to 
the  skeletons  was  the  same :  the  smaller 
end  of  one  had  been  placed  in  the  right 
hand  of  each,  while  the  larger  portion  rest- 
ed in  the  hollow  above  the  left  hip.  But 
what  will  appear  most  singular  in  this  re- 
markable find  is  the  fact  that  each  shell 
contained  what  seemed  to  be  the  bones  of 
an  infant.  "  Within  each  of  the  shells," 
writes  Mr.  John  Ford,  in  the  "  Proceedings" 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phil- 
adelphia, "there  had  been  packed  what 
appeared  to  be  the  bones  of  a  child ;  the 
skull,  which  evidently  had  been  crushed 
before  burial,  protruding  beyond  the  aper- 
ture. Of  course,  any  hypothesis  regarding 
the  purpose  of  this  peculiar  rite  must  neces- 
sarily be  of  a  conjectural  character  ;  never- 
theless, it  was  difficult  to  resist  the  conclu- 
sion that  these  infants  were  sacrificial  offer- 
ings to  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  whom  the 
living  desired  to  honor." 

Non-Poisonous  Coloring  for  Preserved 
Vegetables. — A  patented  process,  for  giving 
to  cooked  and  preserved  vegetables  a  green 
color,  without  the  employment  of  copper  or 
any  other  poisonous  substance,  is  described 
as  follows :  First,  the  green  leaves  of  some 
such  plant  as  spinach,  or  sorrel,  are  scald- 
ed for  a  few  minutes  with  boiling  water, 
and  drained  ;  they  are  then  triturated  with 
knives  or  other  cutting  instruments.  Next 
the  triturated  mass  is  heated  with  an  equal 
weight  of  caustic  soda  solution  marking 
12.5°  Beaume,  the  mixture  being  boiled  till 


the  leaves  are  dissolved.  From  the  product 
prepare  a  "lacker"  by  precipitating  alum 
with  this  alkaline  solution  of  chlorophyl, 
and  then  draw  off*  and  wash  the  precipitate 
in  abundance  of  water,  and  finally  press  out 
the  excess  of  water.  To  prepare  the  lacker 
for  use,  about  thirty  pounds  of  it  is  put  in  a 
basin  with  about  fifteen  pounds  of  soluble 
phosphates,  especially  phosphates  of  soda, 
potash,  or  ammonia,  or  of  acid  phosphates, 
or  alkaline  citrates,  or  double  tartrates,  and 
water  is  added  until  the  liquor  marks  2° 
to  5°  Beaume.  To  communicate  the  green 
color  of  this  chlorophyl  preparation  to 
cooked  or  preserved  vegetables,  the  latter 
have  only  to  be  immersed  for  a  few  min- 
utes in  the  solution  at  a  temperature  of 
212°  Fahr.  The  effect  of  the  operation  is 
to  impart  to  the  products  treated  a  fine, 
permanent  green  color,  due  to  the  absorp- 
tion and  fixation  of  an  excess  of  chloro- 
phyl. 

Compressed    Air   in    Coal-Mining.— An 

English  journal  gives  an  account  of  certain 
experiments  recently  made  at  Wigan  to 
show  how  compressed  air  may  be  substi- 
tuted for  fiery  explosives  in  coal-mining. 
A  "  cartridge,"  or  reservoir,  was  placed  in 
a  shot-hole,  after  the  manner  of  a  charge 
of  powder,  and  rammed  or  plugged  in  the 
same  way.  This  chamber  is  in  connection 
with  a  powerful  air-pump,  adapted  express- 
ly for  the  purpose,  and,  by  simply  turning  a 
wheel,  the  collier  can  "  fire  his  shot "  with- 
out the  least  danger  of  setting  fire  to  the 
inflammable  gases.  Mr.  Marsh's  (the  in- 
ventor's) machine  is  capable  of  exerting  a 
pressure  of  over  12,000  pounds  to  the  square 
inch,  and  this  forpe  can  be  produced  by  two 
men  turning  the  wheel  in  less  than  three 
minutes  from  the  time  of  ramming  the  car- 
tridge. The  Wigan  experiments  show  that 
very  large  quantities  of  coal  can  be  brought 
down  at  a  very  much  less  expenditure  of 
force.  The  first  cartridge  "  fired "  was 
burst  at  a  pressure  of  7,500  pounds  to  the 
square  inch,  the  pressure  being  registered 
by  a  gauge.  The  coal  was  fractured,  but 
not  brought  dowrn  ;  and  a  second  cartridge 
was  inserted,  and  burst  at  a  pressure  of 
8,250  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  completely 
loosening  the  coal  and  breaking  up  about 
eight  tons.  The  whole  force  of  the  shot 
was  probably  not  exerted  on  the  seam,  as 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY 


639 


the  ramming  was  blown  out.  The  machine 
is  described  as  very  handy  and  compact, 
and  easily  used,  while  the  cost,  beyond  the 
first  outlay,  is  absolutely  nil. 

The  lleliotype  Process. — For  some  years 
an  eminent  publishing-house  in  Boston  has 
been  engaged  in  the  production  of  "  helio- 
type  "  copies  of  famous  works  of  art,  and 
the  public  is  now  more  or  less  familiar  with 
the  products  of  the  "  heliotype "  process. 
But  what  that  process  is  we  have  nowhere 
seen  explained  till  recently  a  writer  in  the 
Tribune  gave  a  very  intelligible  account  of 
its  modus  operandi.  In  what  follows  we 
propose  to  give  in  brief  the  main  points  of 
the  author's  explanation :  First  a  photo- 
graphic negative  is  made  in  the  ordinary 
manner ;  but  the  "  positive  "  plate  is  peculiar. 
The  basis  of  its  composition  is  gelatine, 
with  a  mixture  of  bichromate  of  potash  and 
chrome  alum.  This  mixture  is  dissolved  in 
hot  water,  and  the  solution  is  then  poured 
on  a  plate  of  glass  or  metal,  and  left  to  dry. 
When  dry  it  is  about  as  thick  as  ordinary 
parchment,  and  is  stripped  from  the  plate 
and  placed  in  contact  with  the  previously- 
prepared  negative ;  the  two  are  then  ex- 
posed to  the  light.  The  bichromate  of 
potash  makes  the  gelatine  plate  sensitive 
to  light,  and  wherever  the  light  touches  it 
the  plate  becomes  leathery  or  water-proof. 
The  result  of  the  exposure  to  light  is,  there- 
fore, that  a  portion  of  the  gelatine  plate — 
the  image — is  water-proofed,  while  the  re- 
mainder is  absorbent  of  water.  Now,  we 
know  what  a  repulsion  exists  between  water 
and  greasy  substances  of  every  kind — for 
instance,  printer's  ink.  It  follows  that,  if 
we  moisten  the  gelatine  plate,  the  unchanged 
parts  will  absorb  the  water,  and,  if  ink  is 
then  rolled  over  it,  it  will  adhere  only  in 
the  altered  parts.  By  so  applying  ink, 
the  sheet  of  gelatine  is  converted  into  a 
"positive"  plate  from  which  copies  can 
be  taken  on  a  printing-press.  This  plate, 
strange  to  say,  is  very  durable,  and  is  capa- 
ble of  yielding,  with  fair  treatment,  several 
thousand  impressions.  Of  course,  the  sheet 
of  gelatine  must  have  a  solid  base  given  to 
it,  to  hold  it  firmly  on  the  bed  of  the  press 
while  printing.  This  is  accomplished  by 
uniting  it  under  water  with  a  metallic  plate, 
exhausting  the  air  between  the  two  surfaces, 
and  attaching  them  by  atmospheric  pressure. 


Epidemics  and  Ablation. — A  short  time 
ago  we  published  some  remarks  of  Dr.  He- 
bra,  of  Vienna,  depreciatory  of  the  value  of 
frequent  bathing.  A  diametrically  opposite 
opinion  is  held  by  the  eminent  hygienic 
reformer,  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.  B.,  who  cites 
facts  to  prove  that  skin-cleanliness,  cr  in 
other  words  frequent  ablution  of  the  whole 
person,  is  a  powerful  preservative  against 
all  infectious  and  contagious  diseases.  He 
asserts  that  in  children's  institutions  the 
death-rate  and  cases  of  sickness  have  been 
reduced  one-third  by  regular  head-to-foot 
ablutions  with  tepid  water.  Experienced 
trained  nurses,  regularly  attending  scarla- 
tina-patients, give  themselves  regular  head- 
to-foot  ablutions  twice  a  day,  and  a  change 
of  clothes  once  a  day.  Medical  men  of  ex- 
perience, who  serve  amid  plagues  and  the 
most  terrible  epidemics,  do  the  like.  Mr. 
Chadwick  adds:  "If  I  had  again  to  serve 
as  a  member  of  a  general  board,  and  had 
to  exercise  authority  in  providing  defenses 
against  epidemics,  I  would  propose  regula- 
tions for  the  immediate  and  general  '  tub- 
bing' of  the  population,  and  have  it  seen  to 
as  sedulously  as  vaccination  for  protection 
against  small-pox."  To  show  the  influence 
of  skin -cleanliness  on  the  assimilation  of 
food,  Mr.  Chadwick  relates  the  following 
incident:  "A  friend  of  mine,"  he  writes, 
"in  command  of  a  brigade  in  Spain,  was 
hemmed  in,  and  his  men  were  put  on  very 
short  rations ;  and  to  amuse  them — it  being 
summer-time — he  encouraged  them  to  bathe 
daily  in  a  river  close  by,  and  he  marked,  as 
a  result  he  had  not  expected,  that  his  men 
were  in  as  good  strength  as  the  unwashed 
soldiers  on  their  full  rations."  Similar  re- 
sults are  observable  in  the  inmates  of  well- 
kept  prisons. 

New  Process   of   Embalming. — A  new 

and  inexpensive  method  of  embalming  has 
been  invented  by  Dr.  Lowell,  of  Brook- 
lyn. The  preservative  fluid  he  employs 
is  a  solution  of  zinc  chloride  which  is  in- 
jected into  the  body  either  by  an  artery  or  a 
vein.  The  apparatus  required  consists  of  a 
porcelain-lined  vessel,  which  is  elevated  to 
such  a  height  that  the  solution  may  be  in- 
jected into  the  cadaver  after  the  manner  of 
a  gravity-syringe.  For  the  passage  of  the 
preservative  fluid  from  this  receptacle  into 
the  vein  of  the  cadaver,  glass  and  rubber 


640 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


tubing  is  all  that  is  required.  Dr.  Lowell 
writes:  "The  injection  may  be  made  by 
either  artery  or  vein.  ...  I  prefer  the  bra- 
chial artery  above  the  elbow  as  the  point  for 
introduction  of  the  glass  tube,  for  the  pri- 
mary incision  is  slighter,  and  consequently 
divides  smaller  and  fewer  veins  than  when 
I  expose  the  femoral  artery.  I  use  the 
gravity  method,  and  introduce  about  five 
gallons  of  the  antiseptic  fluid.  The  effects 
are  eminently  satisfactory.  The  color  of 
the  integument  is  improved."  A  body 
treated  in  this  way  was  transported  from  j 
New  York  to  Richmond  last  summer  with- 
out odor,  disfigurement,  or  external  sign  of 
decay. 


NOTES. 

The  Count  de  Saporta  has  discovered  in 
the  Silurian  rocks  of  Angers  the  remains  of 
ferns — the  first  evidence  so  far  found  in 
Europe  of  the  existence  of  terrestrial  vege- 
tation during  Silurian  times.  In  the  Ameri- 
can Silurian  formation  Prof.  Leo  Lesquereux 
had  already  found  fern-remains. 

Prof.  William  Dwight  Whitney,  of  Yale 
College,  has  been  named  a  member  of  the 
French  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles- 
Lettres. 

An  interesting  law  case  lately  came  be- 
fore a  London  magistrate,  namely,  the  vio- 
lation by  a  gas  company  of  the  act  of  Par- 
liament which  fixes  the  maximum  of  impu- 
rity permissible  in  illuminating  gas.  The 
company  defendant  were  sued  to  recover 
eight  penalties  of  £50  each  for  having  on 
eight  days  supplied  gas  of  less  purity  than 
the  act  allows.  The  court  ordered  a  war- 
rant to  issue  for  the  full  amount  of  penalties 
claimed. 

We  have  to  record  the  first  instance 
that  has  come  under  our  notice  of  a  house- 
owner  being  arrested  and  held  to  account 
in  New  York  City  for  neglecting  duly  to 
provide  against  the  entrance  of  poisonous 
sewer-gases  into  his  tenements.  In  January, 
an  agent  of  the  Board  of  Health  sued  out 
a  warrant  against  a  house-owner  who  had 
offended  in  this  way,  and  the  accused  was 
bound  over  for  examination.  The  Health 
Board  is  to  be  commended  for  its  action  in 
this  case,  and  encouraged  to  go  on  with 
the  good  work. 

Died  at  Paris,  December  20th,  Henri 
Daniel  Ruhmkorff,  aged  about  seventy-five 
years.  He  was  by  birth  a  Hanoverian,  but 
came  to  Paris  at  a  very  early  age,  and  there 


spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  first 
a  porter  in  a  physical  laboratory,  where  he 
acquired  a  taste  for  electrical  experiments. 
He  soon  opened  a  little  shop  for  making 
physical  apparatus.  His  famous  magneto- 
electric  "  coil  "  was  produced  in  1851 ;  in 
1858  he  received  for  it  the  first  prize  of 
50,000  francs  at  the  French  Exhibition  of 
electrical  apparatus. 

Mr.  E.  A.  Barber,  in  the  American  Natu- 
ralist,  notes  a  singular  rite  formerly  practised 
by  the  Seminoles  at  the  "  christening  "  of 
their  male  children.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
the  boy  was  scratched  or  incised  with  a 
sharp  flint  six  times  on  each  arm  and  leg, 
the  length  of  the  incisions  being  about  a 
foot.  If  the  lad  flinched  or  cried  out,  he 
received  an  insignificant  name;  but  if  he 
bore  the  pain  manfully,  he  received  a  high- 
sounding  title,  and  was  destined  to  become 
a  great  man  in  the  tribe. 

The  statistics  of  rainfall  at  San  Fran- 
cisco for  the  past  twenty-five  years  or  more 
are  contradictory  of  the  theory  according 
to  which  the  amount  of  rainfall  is  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  number  of  spots  on  the 
sun.  It  has  been  shown  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Hit- 
tell  that  during  the  four  years  from  1865  to 
1869  there  was  at  San  Francisco  a  total  fall 
of  118  inches — the  greatest  quantity  ever 
noted  there  for  an  equal  period — and  yet 
those  four  years  were  "  in  the  minimum 
portion  of  the  sun-spot  cycle."  The  table 
of  annual  rainfall  given  by  Mr.  Hittell  is  in 
fact,  as  far  as  it  goes,  an  evidence  that 
there  is  no  periodicity  either  of  maximum 
or  minimum  rainfall  at  San  Francisco. 

The  advantages  of  crying  and  groaning 
in  pain  are  set  forth  by  a  French  physician, 
who  holds  that  these  modes  of  expression 
are  Nature's  own  methods  of  subduing  the 
keenness  of  physical  suffering.  He  would 
have  men  freely  avail  themselves  of  this 
means  of  numbing  their  sensibility  during 
surgical  operations.  Crying  in  children 
should  not  be  repressed,  for,  according  to 
this  authority,  such  repression  may  result 
in  very  serious  consequences,  as  St.  Vitus's 
dance,  epileptic  fits,  etc. 

A  baker  in  Paris  having  used,  for  heat- 
ing his  oven,  painted  wood  from  old  houses 
which  had  been  torn  down  in  opening  a 
new  street,  many  persons  who  ate  the  bread 
were  seized  with  violent  symptoms  of  lead- 
poisoning.  The  heat  converted  the  paint 
into  pulverulent  oxide  of  lead,  which  ad- 
hered to  the  moist  surface  of  the  loaves. 
The  men  who  brushed  these  loaves  were 
the  first  to  suffer,  and  then  all  who  ate  the 
crust  experienced  with  more  or  less  inten- 
sity the  agonies  of  "  painters'  colic."  A  po- 
lice regulation  has  been  issued  forbidding 
the  use  by  bakers  of  wood  from  old  houses. 


P.   ANGELO  SECCHI. 


THE 


POPULAR    SCIENCE 
MONTHLY. 


APRIL,  1878. 
EVOLUTION  OF  CEREMONIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

By  HERBERT   SPENCER. 
III.    MUTILATIONS. 

FACILITY  of  exposition  will  be  gained  by  approaching  indirectly 
the  facts  and  conclusions  here  to  be  set  forth. 

As  described  by  Burton,  the  ancient  ceremony  of  infeftment  in 
Scotland  was  completed  thus :  "  He  [superior's  attorney]  would  stoop 
down,  and,  lifting  a  stone  and  a  handful  of  earth,  hand  these  over  to 
the  new  vassal's  attorney,  thereby  conferring  upon  him  '  real,  actual, 
and  corporeal '  possession  of  the  fief."  Among  a  distant,  slightly-civ- 
ilized people,  a  parallel  form  occurs.  On  selling  his  cultivated  plot,  a 
Khond,  having  invoked  the  village  deity  to  bear  witness  to  the  sale, 
"  then  delivers  a  handful  of  soil  to  the  purchaser."  From  cases  where 
the  transfer  of  lands  for  a  consideration  is  thus  expressed,  we  may 
pass  to  cases  where  lands  are  by  a  similar  form  surrendered  to  show 
political  submission.  When  the  Athenians  applied  to  Persia  for  help 
against  the  Spartans,  after  the  attack  of  Cleomenes,  a  confession  of 
subordination  was  demanded  in  return  for  the  protection  asked;  and 
the  confession  was  made  by  sending  earth  and  water.  A  like  act  has 
a  like  meaning  in  Feejee:  "The  soro  with  a  basket  of  earth  ...  is 
generally  connected  with  war,  and  is  presented  by  the  weaker  party, 
indicating  the  yielding  up  of  their  land  to  the  conquerors."  And 
similarly  in  India :  When,  some  ten  years  ago,  Tu-wen-hsin  sent  his 
"Panthay"  mission  to  England, "  they  carried  with  them  pieces  of 
rock  hewed  from  the  four  corners  of  the  [Tali]  mountain  as  the  most 
formal  expression  of  his  desire  to  become  feudatory  to  the  British 
crown." 

This  giving  of  a  part  instead  of  the  whole,  where  the  whole  cannot 
be  mechanically  handed  over,  may  be  called  a  symbolic  ceremony; 

TOL.    XII. — 41 


642  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

though,  even  apart  from  any  further  interpretation,  we  may  say  that 
it  approaches  as  nearly  to  actual  transfer  as  the  nature  of  the  case 
permits.  We  are  not,  however,  obliged  to  regard  this  ceremony  as 
one  artificially  devised ;  but  we  may  affiliate  it  upon  a  ceremony  of  a 
simpler  kind  which  at  once  elucidates  it,  and  is  elucidated  by  it.  I 
refer  to  giving  up  a  part  of  the  body  as  implying  a  surrender  of  the 
whole.  In  Feejee,  tributaries  approaching  their  masters  were  told  by 
a  messenger  that  "  they  must  all  cut  off  their  tobe  (locks  of  hair  that 
are  left  like  tails).  .  .  .  They  all  docked  their  tails."  Still,  it  may  be 
replied  that  this  act,  too,  is  a  symbolic  act — an  act  artificially  devised 
rather  than  naturally  derived.  If  we  carry  our  inquiry  a  step  back, 
however,  we  shall  find  a  clew  to  its  natural  derivation. 

First,  let  us  remember  the  honor  which  accrues  from  accumulated 
trophies ;  so  that,  among  the  Shoshones,  for  instance,  "  he  who  takes 
the  most  scalps  gains  the  most  glory."  Let  us  join  with  this  Ban- 
croft's statement  respecting  the  treatment  of  prisoners  by  the  Chichi- 
mecs,  that  "  often  were  they  scalped  while  yet  alive,  and  the  bloody 
trophy  placed  upon  the  heads  of  their  tormentors."  And  now  let  us 
ask  what  will  happen  if  the  scalped  enemy  survives  and  is  taken  pos- 
session of  by  his  captor.  The  captor  preserves  the  scalp  as  an  addi- 
tion to  his  other  trophies ;  the  vanquished  enemy  becomes  his  slave  ; 
and  he  is  shown  to  be  a  slave  by  the  loss  of  his  scalp.  Here,  then,  are 
the  beginnings  of  a  custom  that  may  become  established  when  social 
conditions  make  it  advantageous  to  keep  conquered  foes  as  servants 
instead  of  eating  them.  The  conservative  savage  will  change  his 
custom  as  little  as  possible.  While  the  new  practice  of  enslaving  the 
captured  grows  up,  there  will  continue  the  old  practice  of  cutting 
from  their  bodies  such  parts  as  serve  for  trophies  without  impairing 
their  usefulness ;  and  it  will  thereafter  result  that  the  marks  left  will 
be  marks  of  subjugation.  Gradually  as  the  receipt  of  such  marks 
becomes  by  use  identified  with  bondage,  not  only  will  those  taken  in 
war  be  marked,  but  also  those  born  to  them ;  until  at  length  the  bear- 
ing of  the  mark  shows  subordination  in  general. 

That  submission  to  mutilation  may  eventually  grow  into  the  seal- 
ing of  an  agreement  to  be  bondsmen,  is  shown  us  by  Hebrew  history : 
"  Then  Nahash  the  Ammonite  came  up,  and  encamped  against  Jabesh- 
gilead :  and  all  the  men  of  Jabesh  said  unto  Nahash,  Make  a  covenant 
with  us,  and  we  will  serve  thee.  And  Nahash  the  Ammonite  answered 
them,  On  this  condition  will  I  make  a  covenant  with  you,  that  I  may 
thrust  out  all  your  right  eyes."  They  agreed  to  be  subjects,  and  the 
mutilation  (not  in  this  case  consented  to,  however)  was  to  mark  their 
subjection.  And  while  mutilations  thus  serve,  like  the  brands  a 
farmer  puts  on  his  sheep,  to  show  first  private  ownership,  and  after- 
ward political  ownership,  they  also  serve  as  perpetual  reminders  of 
the  ruler's  power ;  so  keeping  alive  the  dread  that  brings  obedience. 
This  fact  we  see  in  the  statement  that  when  the  second  Basil  deprived 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    643 

fifteen  thousand  Bulgarian  captives  of  sight,  "  the  nation  was  awed 
by  this  terrible  example." 

Just  adding  that  the  bearing  of  a  mutilation,  thus  becoming  the 
mark  of  a  subject  race,  survives  as  a  token  of  submission  when  the 
trophy-taking  which  originated  it  has  disappeared,  let  us  now  note 
the  different  kinds  of  mutilations,  and  the  ways  in  which  they  sev- 
erally enter  into  the  three  forms  of  control — political,  religious,  and 
social. 

When  the  Araucanians  on  going  to  war  send  messengers  summon- 
ing confederate  tribes,  these  messengers  carry  certain  arrows  as  their 
credentials;  and,  "if  hostilities  are  actually  commenced,  the  finger 
or  (as  Alcedo  will  have  it)  the  hand  of  a  slain  enemy  is  joined  to  the 
arrows" — another  instance  added  to  those  already  given,  in  which 
hands  cut  off  are  brought  home  to  show  victory. 

"We  have  proof  that  in  some  cases  living  vanquished  men,  made 
handless  by  this  kind  of  trophy-taking,  are  brought  back  from  battle. 
King  Osymandyas  reduced  the  revolted  Bactrians ;  and  "  on  the  sec- 
ond wall  "  of  the  monument  to  him  "  the  prisoners  are  brought  for- 
ward :  they  are  without  their  hands  and  members."  But,  though  a 
conquered  enemy  may  have  one  of  his  hands  taken  as  a  trophy  with- 
out much  endangering  his  life,  loss  of  a  hand  so  greatly  diminishes 
his  value  as  a  slave  that  some  other  trophy  is  naturally  preferred. 

The  like  cannot,  however,  be  said  of  a  finger.  That  fingers  are 
sometimes  carried  home  as  trophies  we  have  seen  ;  and  that  conquered 
enemies,  mutilated  by  loss  of  fingers,  are  sometimes  allowed  to  live  as 
slaves,  the  Bible  yields  proof.  In  Judges  i.  6,  7,  we  read  :  "  Adoni- 
bezek  [the  Canaanite]  fled ;  and  they  pursued  after  him,  and  caught 
him,  and  cut  off  his  thumbs  and  his  great-toes.  And  Adoni-bezek 
said,  Threescore  and  ten  kings,  having  their  thumbs  and  their  great- 
toes  cut  off,  gathered  their  meat  under  my  table :  as  I  have  done,  so 
God  hath  requited  me."  Hence,  then,  the  fact  that  fingers  are,  in  va- 
rious places,  cut  off  and  offered  in  propitiation  of  living  rulers,  in  pro- 
pitiation of  dead  rulers,  and  in  propitiation  of  dead  relatives.  The  san- 
guinary Feejeeans,  extreme  in  their  loyalty  to  cannibal  despots,  yield 
sundry  illustrations.  Describing  the  sequence  of  an  alleged  insult, 
Williams  says :  "  A  messenger  was  ....  sent  to  the  chief  of  the 
offender  to  demand  an  explanation,  which  was  forthwith  given,  to- 
gether with  the  fingers  of  four  persons,  to  appease  the  angry  chief- 
tain." Again,  on  the  occasion  of  a  chief's  death,  "  orders  were  issued 
that  one  hundred  fingers  should  be  cut  off;  but  only  sixty  were  am- 
putated, one  woman  losing  her  life  in  consequence."  And  once  more: 
a  child's  hand  "was  covered  with  blood,  which  flowed  from  the 
stump  where,  shortly  before,  his  little-finger  had  been  cut  off,  as  a 
token  of  affection  for  his  deceased  father."  This  propitiation  of  the 
dead  by  offering  amputated  fingers  occurs  elsewhere.     When,  among 


644  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  Charruas,  the  head  of  the  family  died,  "  the  daughters,  widow, 
and  married  sisters,  were  obliged  to  have  each  one  joint  from  the  fin- 
ger cut  off;  and  this  was  repeated  for  every  relation  of  the  like  char- 
acter who  died:  the  primary  amputation  being  from  the  little-finger." 
By  the  Mandans,  the  usual  mode  of  expressing  grief  on  the  death 
of  a  relation  "  was  to  lose  two  joints  of  the  little-fingers,  or  some- 
times the  other  fingers."  A  like  custom  was  found  among  the  Dako- 
tas,  and  various  other  American  tribes.  Sacrificed  in  this  way  to 
the  ghost  of  the  dead  relative  or  the  dead  chief,  to  express  that  sub- 
jection which  would  have  pacified  him  while  alive,  the  amputated  fin- 
ger becomes,  in  other  cases,  a  sacrifice  to  the  expanded  ghost  or  god. 
During  his  initiation,  the  young  Mandan  warrior,  "  holding  up  the 
little-finger  of  his  left  hand  to  the  Great  Spirit,  he  expresses  to  him, 
in  a  speech  of  a  few  words,  his  willingness  to  give  it  as  a  sacrifice ; 
when  he  lays  it  on  the  dried  buffalo-skull,  where  the  other  chops  it  off 
near  the  hand  with  a  blow  of  the  hatchet."  According  to  Mariner, 
the  natives  of  Tonga  cut  off  a  portion  of  the  little-finger  as  a  sacrifice 
to  the  gods  for  the  recovery  of  a  superior  sick  relative. 

Expressing  originally  submission  to  powerful  beings  alive  and 
dead,  this  mutilation  in  some  cases  becomes,  apparently,  a  mark  of 
domestic  subordination.  The  Australians  have  a  custom  of  cutting 
off  the  last  joint  of  the  little-finger  of  females  ;  and  a  Hottentot 
"widow,  who  marries  a  second  time,  must  have  the  top  joint  of  a  fin- 
ger cut  off,  and  loses  another  joint  for  the  third,  and  so  on  for  each 
time  that  she  enters  into  wedlock." 

As  showing  the  way  in  which  these  propitiatory  mutilations  of  the 
hands  are  made  so  as  to  interfere  least  with  usefulness,  it  may  be  noted 
that  habitually  they  begin  with  the  last  joint  of  the  little-finger,  and 
affect  the  more  important  parts  of  the  hand  only  if  they  recur.  And 
we  may  join  with  this  the  fact  that  where,  by  amputating  the  hand, 
there  is  repeated  in  full  the  original  mutilation  of  slain  enemies,  it  is. 
where  the  usefulness  of  the  subject  person  is  not  a  consideration,  but 
where  the  treatment  of  the  external  enemy  is  extended  to  the  internal 
enemy — the  criminal.  The  Hebrews  made  the  loss  of  a  hand  a  pun- 
ishment for  one  kind  of  offense,  as  shown  in  Deuteronomy  xxv.  11, 12. 
Of  a  Japanese  political  transgressor  it  is  said,  "  His  hands  were  or- 
dered to  be  struck  off,  which  in  Japan  is  the  very  extremity  of  dishon- 
or." In  mediaeval  Europe  hands  were  cut  off  for  various  offenses ; 
and,  among  sundry  penal  mutilations  enacted  by  William  the  Con- 
queror, loss  of  a  hand  is  one. 

Recent  accounts  from  the  East  prove  that  some  vanquished  men 
deprived  of  their  noses  by  their  conquerors,  either  while  obviously 
alive  or  when  supposed  to  be  dead,  survive;  and  those  who  do  so  re- 
main identifiable  thereafter  as  conquered  men.  Consequently,  the  loss 
of  a  nose  may  become  the  mark  of  a  slave;  and,  in  some  cases,  it  does 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    645 

this.  Concerning  certain  ancient  Central  Americans,  Herrera  tells  us 
that  they  challenged  neighboring  peoples  when  "  they  wanted  slaves ; 
if  the  other  party  did  not  accept  of  the  challenge,  they  ravaged  their 
country  and  cut  off  the  noses  of  the  slaves."  And,  describing  a  war 
that  went  on  during  his  captivity  in  Ashantee,  Ramseyer  says  the 
Ashantees  spared  one  prisoner,  "  whose  head  was  shaved,  nose  and 
ears  cut  off,  and  himself  made  to  carry  the  king's  drum." 

Along  with  loss  of  nose  occurs,  in  the  last  case,  loss  of  ears,  which 
naturally  comes  next  to  be  dealt  with.  This  is  similarly  interpret- 
able  as  having  originated  from  trophy-taking,  and  having  in  some 
cases  survived ;  if  not  as  a  mark  of  ordinary  slavery,  still,  as  a  mark  of 
that  other  slavery  which  is  often  a  punishment  for  crime.  In  ancient 
Mexico  "  he  who  told  a  lie  to  the  particular  prejudice  of  another  had 
a  part  of  his  lip  cut  off,  and  sometimes  his  ears."  Among  the  Hon- 
duras people  a  thief  had  his  goods  confiscated,  "  and,  if  the  theft  was 
very  great,  they  cut  off  his  ears  and  hands."  One  of  the  laws  of  an 
adjacent  ancient  people,  the  Miztecs,  directed  the  "  cutting  off  of  an 
adulterer's  ears,  nose,  or  lips ; "  and  by  some  of  the  Zapotecas,  "  women 
convicted  of  adultery  had  their  ears  and  noses  cut  off." 

But  though  absence  of  ears  seems  more  generally  to  have  marked 
a  criminal  than  to  have  marked  a  vanquished  enemy  who,  surviving 
the  taking  of  his  ears  as  trophies,  had  become  a  slave,  we  may  suspect 
that  it  once  did,  among  some  peoples,  mark  an  enslaved  captive ;  and 
that,  by  mitigation,  it  gave  rise  to  the  method  of  marking  a  slave  pre- 
scribed of  old  among  the  Hebrews,  and  which  still  continues  in  the 
East  with  a  modified  meaning.  In  Exodus  xxi.  5,  6,  we  read  that  if, 
after  his  six  years'  service,  a  purchased  slave  does  not  wish  to  be  free, 
his  master  shall  "bring  him  to  the  door,  or  unto  the  door-post,  and 
his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl,  and  he  shall  serve 
him  forever."  Commenting  on  this  ceremony,  Knobel  says :  "  In  the 
modern  East,  the  symbol  of  piercing  the  ears  is  mentioned  as  the 
mark  of  those  who  are  dedicated.  ...  It  expresses  the  belonging  to 
somebody."  And  since,  where  there  grows  up  unqualified  despotism, 
private  slavery  is  joined  with  public  slavery,  and  the  accepted  theory 
is  that  all  subjects  are  the  property  of  the  ruler,  we  may  suspect  that 
there  hence  results  in  some  cases  the  universality  of  this  mutilation. 
"  All  the  Burmese,"  says  Sangermano,  "  without  exception  have  the 
custom  of  boring  their  ears.  The  day  when  the  operation  is  performed 
is  kept  as  a  festival ;  for  this  custom  holds,  in  their  estimation,  some- 
thing of  the  rank  that  baptism  has  in  ours." 

As  bearing  indirectly  upon  mutilations  of  this  class,  I  may  add  the 
curious  fact  named  by  Forsyth,  that  the  Gond  holds  "  his  ears  iu  his 
hands  in  token  of  submission." 

Jaws  can  be  taken  as  trophies  only  from  those  whose  lives  are 
taken.     There  are  the  teeth,  however ;  some  of  these  may  be  extracted 


646  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

from  the  jaws  as  trophies  without  seriously  decreasing  the  usefulness 
of  the  prisoner.     Hence  another  form  of  mutilation. 

We  have  seen  that  teeth  are  worn  as  trophies  in  Ashantee  and  in 
South  America.  Now,  if  teeth  are  taken  as  trophies  from  captives 
who  are  preserved  as  slaves,  loss  of  them  must  become  a  mark  of 
subjection.  Of  facts  directly  showing  that  a  propitiatory  ceremony 
hence  arises  I  can  name  but  one.  Among  mutilations  submitted  to 
on  the  death  of  a  king  or  chief  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Ellis  names 
knocking  out  one  of  the  front  teeth ;  an  alternative  being  cutting  the 
ears.  The  implication  is  tolerably  clear ;  and  when  we  further  read 
in  Cook  that  the  Sandwich-Islanders  knock  out  from  one  to  four  of 
the  front  teeth — when  we  see  that  the  wdiole  population  becomes 
marked  by  these  repeated  mutilations  undergone  to  propitiate  the 
ghosts  of  dead  rulers — when  we  infer  that  in  propitiation  of  a  much- 
dreaded  ruler  deified  after  death,  not  only  those  who  knew  him  may 
submit  to  this  loss,  but  also  their  children  subsequently  born — we  see 
how  the  practice,  becoming  established,  may  survive  as  a  sacred  cus- 
tom when  its  meaning  is  lost.  For,  concluding  that  the  practice  has 
this  sacramental  nature,  there  are  the  further  reasons  derived  from 
the  fixing  of  the  age  for  the  operation,  and  from  the  character  of  the 
operator.  Angas  tells  us  that  in  New  South  Wales  it  is  the  Koradger 
men  or  priests  who  perform  the  ceremony  of  knocking  out  the  teeth ; 
and  of  a  semi-domesticated  Australian  Haygarth  writes  that  he  said 
one  day,  "with  a  look  of  importance,  that  he  must  go  away  for  a  few 
days,  as  he  had  grown  up  to  man's  estate,  and  'it  was  high  time  that 
he  should  have  his  teeth  knocked  out.' "  Various  African  races,  as  the 
Batoka,  the  Dor,  etc.,  similarly  lose  two  or  more  of  their  front  teeth ; 
and  habitually  the  loss  of  them  is  an  obligatory  rite.  But  the  best 
evidence  (which  I  have  found  since  setting  down  the  above)  is  fur- 
nished by  the  ancient  Peruvians.  A  tradition  among  certain  of  them 
was  that  the  conqueror  Huayna  Ccapac,  finding  them  disobedient, 
"  made  a  law  that  they  and  their  descendants  should  have  three  of 
their  front  teeth  pulled  out  in  each  jaw."  Another  tradition,  given 
by  Cieza,  naturally  derivable  from  the  last,  was  that  this  pulling  out 
of  teeth  by  fathers  from  their  young  children  was  "a  service  very 
acceptable  to  their  gods."  And  then,  as  happens  with  other  mutila- 
tions of  which  the  meaning  has  dropped  out  of  memory,  the  improve- 
ment of  the  appearance  was  in  some  parts  the  assigned  motive. 

It  should  be  added  that,  in  this  case  as  in  most  cases,  the  muti- 
lation assumes  modified  forms.  "The  Damaras  knock  "out  a  wedge- 
shaped  gap  between  their  two  front  teeth;"  "the  natives  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Sierra  Leone  file  or  chip  the  teeth;"  and  various 
other  tribes  have  allied  usages. 

As  the  transition  from  eating  conquered  enemies  to  making  slaves 
of  them  mitigates  trophy-taking  so  as  to  avoid  causing  death  ;  and, 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    647 

as  the  tendency  is  to  modify  the  injury  inflicted,  so  that  it  shall  in 
the  least  degree  diminish  the  slave's  usefulness ;  and  as,  with  the  rise 
of  a  class  born  in  slavery,  the  mark  which  the  slave  bears  no  longer 
showing  that  he  was  taken  in  war,  does  not  imply  a  victory  achieved 
by  his  owner — there  eventually  remains  no  need  for  the  mark  to  be 
one  involving  a  serious  mutilation.  Hence  it  is  inferable  that  muti- 
lations of  the  least  injurious  and  least  painful  kinds  will  become  the 
commonest.  Such,  at  any  rate,  seems  a  reasonable  explanation  of 
the  fact  that  cutting  off  of  hair  for  propitiatory  purposes  is  the  most 
prevalent  of  all  mutilations. 

Already  we  have  seen  the  probable  origin  of  the  custom  among 
the  Feejeeans  that  tributaries  had  to  make  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  of 
their  locks  on  approaching  their  great  chiefs ;  and  there  is  evidence 
that  a  kindred  sacrifice  made  in  homage  was  demanded  of  old  in  Brit- 
ain. In  the  Arthurian  legends,  which,  unhistoric  as  they  may  be, 
yield  good  evidence  respecting  the  manners  of  the  times  from  which 
they  descend,  we  read  (in  Mr.  Cox's  abridgment)  :  "  Then  went  Ar- 
thur to  Caerleon  ;  and  thither  came  messengers  from  King  Ryons, 
who  said :  '  Eleven  kings  have  done  me  homage,  and  with  their  beards 
I  have  trimmed  a  mantle.  Send  me  now  thy  beard,  for  there  lacks 
yet  one  to  the  finishing  of  my  mantle.' " 

Some  reasons  exist  for  the  belief  that  taking  an  enslaved  captive's 
hair  began  with  the  smallest  practicable  divergence  from  taking  the 
dead  enemy's  scalp  ;  for  the  part  of  the  hair  in  some  cases  given  in 
propitiation,  and  in  other  cases  worn  subject  to  a  master's  ownership, 
answers  in  position  to  the  scalpdock.  The  hair  yielded  up  by  the 
tributary  Feejeeans  was  the  tobe,  a  kind  of  pigtail — the  implication 
being  that  this  could  be  demanded  by,  and  therefore  belonged  to,  the 
superior.  Moreover,  among  the  Calmucks,  when  one  pulls  another  by 
the  pigtail,  or  actually  tears  it  out,  this  is  regarded  as  a  punishable 
offense,  because  the  pigtail  is  thought  to  belong  to  the  chief,  or  to  be 
a  sign  of  subjection  to  him.  If  it  is  the  short  hair  on  the  top  of  the 
head  that  has  been  subjected  to  such  treatment,  it  does  not  constitute 
a  punishable  offense,  because  this  is  considered  the  man's  own  hair 
and  not  that  of  the  chief.  And  then  I  may  add  the  statement  of  Wil- 
liams, that  the  Tartar  conquerors  of  China  ordered  the  Chinese  "  to 
adopt  the  national  Tartar  mode  of  shaving  the  front  of  the  head,  and 
braiding  the  hair  in  a  long  cue,  as  a  sign  of  submission."  Another  fact 
presently  to  be  given  joins  with  these  in  suggesting  that  a  vanquished 
man,  not  killed,  but  kept  as  a  slave,  was  allowed  to  wear  his  scalp- 
lock  on  sufferance,  the  theory  being  that  the  victor  might  at  any  time 
demand  it. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  however,  the  widely-pi-evalent  custom  of  taking 
the  hair  of  the  slain,  either  with  or  without  a  part  of  the  skin,  has 
nearly  everywhere  resulted  in  the  association  between  short  hair  and 
slavery.     This  association  existed  among  both  Greeks  and  Romans : 


648  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

"  The  slaves  had  their  hair  cut  short  as  a  mark  of  servitude."  We  find 
it  thus  throughout  America.  "  Socially  the  slave  is  despised,  his  hair 
is  cut  short,"  says  Bancroft  of  the  Nootkas.  "  The  privilege  of  wear- 
ing long  hair  was  rigorously  denied "  to  Carib  slaves  and  captives, 
says  Edwards.  The  slavery  that  punished  criminality  was  similarly 
marked.  In  Nicaragua  "  a  thief  had  his  hair  cut  off,  and  became  a 
slave  to  the  person  that  had  been  robbed  till  he  was  satisfied."  And 
this  badge  of  slavery  was  otherwise  inflicted  as  a  punishment.  By 
the  Central  Americans  a  suspected  adulterer  "  was  stripped  and  his  hair 
was  cut  (a  great  disgrace)."  One  ancient  Mexican  penalty  "  was  to  have 
the  hair  cut  at  some  public  place."  And  during  mediseval  times  in 
Europe  cutting  of  hair  was  enacted  as  a  punishment.  Of  course  there 
follows  a  correlative  distinction :  long  hair  becomes  honorable.  If 
among  the  Chibchas  "  the  greatest  affront  that  could  be  put  on  a  man 
or  a  woman  was  to  have  their  hair  cropped  ; "  the  assimilation  to  slaves 
in  appearance  was  the  obvious  reason,  the  honorableness  of  long  hair 
being  an  implication.  "  The  Itzaex  Indians,"  says  Fancourt,  "  wore 
their  hair  as  long  as  it  would  grow  ;  indeed,  it  is  a  most  difficult  thing 
to  bring  the  Indians  to  cut  their  hair."  Long  hair  is  a  mark  of  dis- 
tinction among  the  Tongans,  and  none  are  permitted  to  wear  it  but  the 
principal  people.  Similarly  with  the  New  Caledonians  and  various 
others  of  the  uncivilized,  and  similarly  with  semi-civilized  Orientals, 
"the  Ottoman  princes  have  their  beard  shaved  off,  to  show  that  they 
are  dependent  on  the  favor  of  the  reigning  emperor."  By  the  Greeks, 
"in  manhood,  .  .  .  the  hair  was  worn  longer,"  and  "a  certain  politi- 
cal significancy  was  attached  to  the  hair."  In  Northern  Europe,  too, 
"  among  the  Franks  ....  the  serfs  wore  the  hair  less  long  and  less 
carefully  dressed  than  freemen,"  and  the  freemen  less  long  than  the 
nobles :  "  The  long  hair  of  the  Frank  kings  is  sacred.  ...  It  is  for 
them  a  mark  and  honorable  prerogative  of  the  royal  race."  Clothair 
and  Childebert,  wishing  to  divide  their  brother's  kingdom,  consulted 
respecting  their  nephews,  "  whether  to  cut  off  their  hair  so  as  to  re- 
duce them  to  the  rank  of  subjects,  or  to  kill  them."  I  may  add  the 
extreme  case  of  the  Japanese  mikado  :  "  Neither  his  hair,  beard,  nor 
nails  are  ever  [avowedly]  cut,  that  his  sacred  person  may  not  be  mu- 
tilated," such  cutting  as  occurs  being  done  while  he  is  supposed  to 
sleep. 

A  parallel  marking  of  divine  rank  may  be  noted  in  passing. 
Length  of  hair  being  significant  of  terrestrial  dignity,  becomes  signifi- 
cant, too,  of  celestial  dignity.  The  gods  of  various  peoples,  and  es- 
pecially the  great  gods,  are  distinguished  by  their  flowing  beards  and 
long  locks. 

Domestic  subordination,  too,  in  many  cases  goes  along  with 
short  hair ;  in  low  social  states  women  commonly  bear  this  badge  of 
slavery.  Turner  tells  us  that  in  Samoa  the  women  wore  the  hair 
short ;  the  men  wore  it  long.     Among  other  Malayo-Polynesians,  as 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    649 

the  Tahitians  and  New-Zealanders,  the  like  contrast  occurs.  Simi- 
larly with  the  Negrito  races.  "  In  New  Caledonia  the  chiefs  and  in- 
fluential men  wear  their  hair  long,  and  tie  it  up  in  a  semi-conical  form 
on  the  top  of  their  head.  The  women  all  crop  theirs  close  to  the  very- 
ears."  And  cropped  heads  in  like  manner  distinguish  the  women  of 
Tanna,  of  Lifu,  of  Vate,  and  also  the  Tasmanian  women.  A  kindred 
mode  of  signifying  filial  subordination  may  be  added.  Yielding  up 
of  hair  once  formed  part  of  the  ceremony  of  adoption  in  Europe. 
"Charles  Martel  sent  Pepin,  his  son,  to  Luithprand, King  of  the  Lom- 
bards, that  he  might  cut  his  first  locks,  and  by  this  ceremony  hold 
for  the  future  the  place  of  his  father  ; "  and  Clovis,  to  make  peace  with 
him,  became  the  adopted  son  of  Alaric,  by  offering  his  beard  to  be  cut 
by  him. 

While  coming  thus  to  imply  subjection  to  living  persons,  this 
mutilation  simultaneously  came  to  imply  subjection  to  dead  persons. 
How  the  yielding  up  of  hair  to  the  dead  is  originally  akin  to  the 
yielding  up  of  a  trophy  is  well  shown  by  the  Dakotas :  "  The  men 
shave  the  hair  off  their  heads,  except  a  small  tuft  on  the  top  [the 
scalp-lock],  which  they  suffer  to  grow  and  wear  in  plaits  over  the 
shoulders ;  the  loss  of  it  is  the  usual  sacrifice  at  the  death  of  near  re- 
lations :  "  that  is,  they  go  as  near  as  may  be  to  surrendering  their 
scalps  to  the  dead.  The  meaning  is  again  seen  in  the  account  given 
of  the  Caribs  :  "  As  their  hair  thus  constituted  their  chief  pride,  it 
was  an  unequivocal  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  their  sorrow,  when,  on 
the  death  of  a  relation  or  friend,  they  cut  it  short  like  their  slaves  and 
captives."  Everywhere  among  the  uncivilized,  kindred  forms  occur. 
Nor  was  it  otherwise  with  the  ancient  historic  races.  By  the  Hebrews 
making  "  baldness  upon  their  heads  "  was  practised  as  a  funeral  rite, 
as  was  also  shaving  off  "  the  corner  of  their  beard."  Similarly  by 
Greeks  and  Romans,  "  the  hair  was  cut  close  in  mourning."  In 
Greece  the  meaning  of  this  mutilation  was  recognized.  Potter  re- 
marks :  "  We  find  Electra  in  Euripides  finding  fault  with  Helena  for 
sparing  her  locks,  and  thereby  defrauding  the  dead  ;  and  he  cites  the 
statement  that  this  sacrifice  of  hair  (sometimes  laid  upon  the  grave) 
was  "  partly  to  render  the  ghost  of  the  deceased  person  propitious." 
A  significant  addition  must  be  made:  "For  a  recent  death,  the 
mournei-'s  head  was  shaved ;  for  an  offering  to  the  lon^-dead,  a  sing-le 
lock  was  cut  off." 

Naturally  if,  from  propitiation  of  the  dead,  some  of  whom  become 
deities,  there  grows  up  religious  propitiation,  the  offering  of  hair  may 
be  expected  to  reappear  as  a  religious  ceremony;  and  we  find  that  it 
does  so.  Already,  in  the  just-named  fact  that,  besides  hair  sacrificed 
at  a  Greek  funeral,  similar  though  smaller  sacrifices  were  made  after- 
ward, we  see  the  rise  of  that  recurring  propitiation  characterizing 
worship  of  a  deity.  And  when  we  further  read  that  among  the 
Greeks  "  on  the  death  of  any  very  popular  personage,  as  a  general, 


650  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

it  sometimes  happened  that  all  the  army  cut  off  their  hair,"  we  are 
shown  a  step  toward  that  propitiation  by  unrelated  members  of  the 
community  at  large,  which,  when  it  becomes  established,  is  a  trait  of 
religious  worship.  Hence  certain  Greek  ceremonies.  "  The  cutting 
off  of  the  hair,  which  was  always  done  when  a  boy  became  an  t(p7j(3og, 
was  a  solemn  act,  attended  with  religious  ceremonies.  A  libation  was 
first  offered  to  Hercules,  .  .  .  and  the  hair  after  being  cut  off  was 
dedicated  to  some  deity,  usually  a  river-god."  So,  too,  at  the  first 
time  of  shaving  among  the  Romans,  "the  hair  cut  off  on  such  occa- 
sions was  consecrated  to  some  god." 

Sacrifice  of  hair  was  an  act  of  worship  with  the  Hebrews  also. 
We  are  told  of  "  fourscore  men,  having  their  beards  shaven,  and  their 
clothes  rent,  and  having  cut  themselves,  with  offerings  and  incense  in 
their  hand,  to  bring  them  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  ; "  and  Krehl  gives 
sundry  kindred  facts  concerning  the  Arabians. 

Curious  modifications  of  the  practice  occurred  in  Peru.  Small 
sacrifices  of  hair  were  continual.  "  Another  offering,"  writes  D'Acosta, 
is  "  pulling  out  the  eyelashes  or  eyebrows  and  presenting  them  to 
the  sun,  the  hills,  the  combles,  the  winds,  or  whatever  they  are  in  fear 
of.  .  .  .  On  entering  the  temples,  or  when  they  were  already  within 
them,  they  put  their  hands  to  their  eyebrows  as  if  they  would  pull 
out  the  hairs,  and  then  made  a  motion  as  if  they  were  blowing  them 
toward  the  idol " — a  good  instance  of  the  abi'idgment  wThich  cere- 
monies habitually  undergo.  Lastly,  when,  in  presence  of  a  national 
calamity,  extreme  propitiation  of  a  deity  is  to  be  made,  we  sometimes 
find  even  the  ruler  sacrificing  his  hair.  During  an  eruption  of  the 
great  volcano  in  Hawaii,  all  other  offerings  having  failed  to  appease 
the  anger  of  the  gods,  "  the  king  Kamehameha  cut  off  part  of  his  own 
hair,  which  was  considered  sacred,  and  threw  it  into  the  torrent  [of 
lava],  as  the  most  valuable  offering." 

One  further  development  remains :  this  kind  of  sacrifice  becomes 
in  some  cases  a  social  propitiation.  Wreaths  of  their  own  hair  plaited 
were  bestowed  upon  others  as  marks  of  consideration  by  the  Tahi- 
tians.  In  France,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  it  was  usual  to  pluck 
out  a  few  hairs  from  the  beard  on  approaching  a  superior,  and  pre- 
sent them ;  and  this  usage  was  occasionally  adopted  as  a  mark  of  con- 
descension by  a  ruler,  as  when  Clovis,  gratified  by  the  visit  of  the 
Bishop  of  Toulouse,  gave  him  a  hair  from  his  beard,  and  was  imitated 
in  so  doing  by  his  followers.  Afterward  the  usage  had  its  meaning 
obscured  by  abridgment :  in  the  times  of  chivalry  one  mode  of  show- 
ing respect  was  to  tug  at  the  mustache. 

Already,  when  treating  of  trophies,  and  when  finding  that  those 
of  the  phallic  class,  major  and  minor,  had  the  same  meanings  as  the 
rest,  the  way  was  opened  to  explain  the  mutilations  next  to  be  dealt 
with.     We  have  seen  that,  when  the  vanquished  were  not  killed  but 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    651 

preserved  as  slaves,  it  became  imperative  that  the  taking  of  trophies 
from  them  should  neither  endanger  life  nor  be  highly  injurious ;  and 
that  hence,  instead  of  jaws,  teeth  were  taken ;  instead  of  hands,  fin- 
gers ;  instead  of  scalps,  hair.  Similarly,  in  this  case,  the  fatal  mutila- 
tion disappearing  left  only  such  allied  mutilation  as  did  not  seriously, 
or  at  all,  decrease  the  value  of  the  enslaved  enemv. 

That  castration  was  initiated  by  trophy-taking  I  find  no  direct 
proof;  but  there  is  direct  proof  that  prisoners  have  in  some  cases  been 
treated  in  the  way  that  trophy-taking  of  the  implied  kind  would  en- 
tail. Of  Theobald,  Marquis  of  Spoleto,  we  read  in  Gibbon  that  "  his 
captives  ....  were  castrated  without  mercy ; "  and,  for  thinking  that 
there  was  once  an  enforced  sacrifice  of  the  kind  indicated  made  to  a 
conqueror,  there  is  the  further  reason  that  we  find  a  parallel  sacrifice 
made  to  a  deity.  At  the  annual  festivals  of  the  Phrygian  goddess 
Amma  [Agdistis],  "  it  was  the  custom  for  the  young  men  to  make 
themselves  eunuchs  with  a  sharp  shell,  crying  out  at  the  same  time, 
'  Take  this,  Agdistis  ! '  "  There  was  a  like  practice  among  the  Phoeni- 
cians ;  and  Brinton  names  a  severe  self-mutilation  of  the  ancient  Mex- 
ican priests  which  seems  to  have  included  this.  Coming  in  the  way 
shown  to  imply  subordination,  this  usage,  like  many  ceremonial  usages, 
has  in  some  cases  survived  where  its  meaning  is  lost.  The  Hottentots 
enforce  semi-castration  at  about  eight  or  nine  years  of  age ;  and  a 
kindred  custom  exists  among  the  Australians. 

Naturally,  of  this  class  of  mutilations,  the  less  serious  is  the  more 
prevalent.  Circumcision  occurs  among  unallied  races  in  all  parts  of 
the  world — among  the  Malayo-Polynesians  in  Tahiti,  in  Tonga,  in 
Madagascar ;  among  the  Negritos  of  New  Caledonia  and  Feejee ; 
among  African  peoples,  both  of  the  coast  and  the  interior,  from  North- 
ern Abyssinia  to  Southern  Caflre-land ;  in  America,  among  some 
Mexican  peoples,  the  Yucatanese,  and  the  people  of  San  Salvador ; 
and  we  meet  with  it  again  in  Australia.  Even  apart  from  the  fact 
that  their  monuments  prove  it  to  have  been  practised  by  the  Egyp- 
tians from  their  earliest  recorded  times,  and  even  apart  from  the  reasons 
for  believing  that  it  prevailed  among  the  Arabian  peoples  at  large, 
these  proofs  that  circumcision  is  not  limited  to  region  or  race  suffi- 
ciently dispose  of  the  current  theological  interpretation.  They  suffi- 
ciently dispose,  too,  of  another  interpretation  not  uncommonly  given  ; 
for  a  general  survey  of  the  facts  shows  us  that,  while  the  usage  does 
not  prevail  among  the  most  cleanly  races  in  the  world,  it  is  common 
among  the  most  uncleanly  races.  Contrariwise,  the  facts  taken  in  the 
mass  are  congruous  with  the  general  theory  thus  far  verified. 

It  was  shown  that  among  the  Abyssinians  down  to  recent  times 
the  trophy  taken  by  circumcision  from  an  enemy's  dead  body  is  pre- 
sented by  each  warrior  to  his  chief,  and  how  all  such  trophies  taken 
after  a  battle  are  eventually  presented  to  the  king.  If  the  vanquished 
enemies,  instead  of  being  killed,  are  made  slaves,  and  if  the  warriors 


652  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

who  have  vanquished  them  continue  to  present  the  usual  proofs  of 
their  prowess,  there  must  arise  the  circumcision  of  living  captives, 
who  thereby  become  marked  as  subjugated  persons.  A  further  re- 
sult is  obvious.  As  the  chief  and  the  king  are  propitiated  by  bring- 
ing them  these  trophies  taken  from  their  foes,  and,  as  the  primitive 
belief  is  that  a  dead  man's  ghost  is  pleased  by  whatever  pleased 
the  man  when  alive,  there  will  naturally  follow  a  presentation  of 
such  trophies  to  the  ghost  of  the  departed  ruler.  And  then  where  in 
a  highly-militant  society  governed  by  an  absolute  despot,  divine  by 
descent  and  nature,  who,  owning  the  entire  population,  requires  them 
all  to  bear  this  badge  of  servitude,  and  who,  dying,  has  his  dreaded 
ghost  anxiously  propitiated,  we  may  expect  that  the  offering  of  these 
trophies  taken  from  enslaved  enemies  to  the  king  will  develop  into 
the  offering  of  like  trophies  taken  from  each  generation  of  male  citi- 
zens to  the  god  in  acknowledgment  of  their  slavery  to  him.  Hence, 
when  Movers  tells  us  that  among  the  Phoenicians  circumcision  was 
"  a  sign  of  consecration  to  Saturn,"  and  when  proof  is  given  that  of 
old  the  people  of  San  Salvador  circumcised  "  in  the  Jewish  manner, 
offering  the  blood  to  an  idol,"  we  are  shown  just  the  results  to  be  an- 
ticipated as  eventually  arising. 

That  this  interpretation  applies  to  the  custom  as  made  known  to 
us  in  the  Bible,  there  is  clear  evidence.  We  have  already  seen  that 
the  ancient  Hebrews,  like  the  modern  Abyssinians,  practised  the  form 
of  trophy-taking  which  necessitates  this  mutilation  of  the  dead  ene- 
my ;  and,  as  in  the  one  case,  so  in  the  other,  it  follows  that  the  van- 
quished enemy,  not  slain,  but  made  prisoner,  will  by  this  mutilation 
be  marked  as  a  subject  person.  That  circumcision  was  among  the 
Hebrews  the  stamp  of  subjection,  all  the  evidence  proves.  On  learn- 
ing that  among  existing  Bedouins,  as  Mr.  Palgrave  shows,  the  only 
conception  of  God  is  that  of  a  powerful  living  ruler,  the  sealing  by 
circumcision  of  the  covenant  between  God  and  Abraham  becomes  a 
comprehensible  ceremony.  There  is  furnished  an  explanation  of  the 
fact  that,  in  consideration  of  a  territory  to  be  received,  this  mutila- 
tion, submitted  to  by  Abraham,  implied  that  "  the  Lord  "  was  "  to  be 
a  god  unto  "  him ;  as  also  the  fact  that  the  mark  was  to  be  borne  not 
by  him  and  his  descendants  exclusively,  as  favored  individuals,  but 
also  by  slaves  not  of  his  blood.  And,  on  remembering  that  in  primi- 
tive beliefs  the  returning  double  of  the  dead  potentate  is  believed  to 
be  indistinguishable  from  the  living  potentate,  we  get  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  otherwise  strange  tradition  narrated  in  Exodus  concerning 
God's  anger  with  Moses  for  not  circumcising  his  son :  "  And  it  came 
to  pass  by  the  way  in  the  inn  that  the  Lord  met  Moses,  and  sought  to 
kill  him.  Then  Zipporah  took  a  sharp  stone,  and  cut  off  the  foreskin 
of  her  son,  and  cast  it  at  his  feet."  That  circumcision  among  the 
Jews  was  a  mark  of  subordination  to  Jahveh  is  further  implied  by  the 
facts  that  under  the  foreign  ruler  Antiochus,  who  brought  in  foreign 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    653 

gods,  circumcision  was  forbidden,  and  those  who,  persevering  in  it, 
refused  obedience  to  these  foreign  gods,  were  slain ;  while  contrari- 
wise Mattathias  and  his  friends,  loyal  to  the  god  of  their  fathers,  and 
rebelling  against  foreign  rule  and  worship,  are  said  to  have  gone 
"  round  about,  and  pulled  down  the  altars  :  and  what  children  soever 
they  found  within  the  coast  of  Israel  uncircumcised  those  they  circum- 
cised valiantly."  Moreover  Hyrcanus,  having  subdued  the  Idumeans, 
made  them  submit  to  circumcision  as  a  condition  of  remaining  in  their 
country;  and  Aristobulus  similarly  imposed  the  mark  on  the  con- 
quered people  of  Iturea. 

Quite  congruous  are  certain  converse  facts.  Mariner  states  that 
Tooitonga  (the  great  divine  chief  of  Tonga)  is  not  circumcised,  as  all 
other  men  are :  being  unsubordinated,  he  does  not  bear  the  badge  of 
subordination.  And  with  this  I  may  join  a  case  in  which  whole  tribes 
belonging  to  a  race  ordinarily  practising  circumcision  are  uncircum- 
cised where  they  are  unsubordinated.  Naming  certain  Berbers  in 
Morocco  as  thus  distinguished,  Rohlfs  says:  "These  uncircumcised 
tribes  inhabit  the  Rif  Mountains.  .  .  .  All  the  Rif  mountaineers  eat 
wild-boar,  in  spite  of  the  Koran  law." 

Besides  mutilations  entailing  some  loss  of  flesh,  bone,  skin,  or  hair, 
there  are  mutilations  which  do  not  imply  a  deduction — at  least  not  a 
permanent  one.  Of  these  we  may  take,  first,  one  which  sacrifices  a 
liquid  part  of  the  body,  though  not  a  solid  part. 

Bleeding  as  a  mutilation  has  an  origin  akin  to  the  origins  of  other 
mutilations.  Did  we  not  find  that  some  uncivilized  tribes,  as  the  Sa- 
moyeds,  drink  the  warm  blood  of  animals — did  we  not  find  among  ex- 
isting cannibals,  such  as  the  Feejeeans,  proofs  that  savages  drink  the 
blood  of  still-living  human  victims — it  would  seem  incredible  that 
from  taking  the  blood  of  a  vanquished  enemy  was  derived  the  cere- 
mony of  offering  blood  to  a  ghost,  and  to  a  god.  But  when  to  ac- 
counts of  horrors  like  these  we  join  accounts  of  kindred  ones  which 
savages  commit,  such  as  that  among  the  Amaponda  Caffres  "it  is 
usual  for  the  ruling  chief,  on  his  accession  to  the  government,  to  be 
washed  in  the  blood  of  a  near  relative,  generally  a  brother,  who  is 
put  to  death  on  the  occasion;"  and  when  we  infer  that,  before  the 
rise  of  civilization,  the  sanguinary  tastes  and  usages  now  exceptional 
were  probably  general,  we  may  suspect  that  from  the  drinking  of 
blood  by  conquering  cannibals  there  arose  some  kinds  of  blood-offer- 
ings— at  any  rate,  those  of  blood  taken  from  immolated  victims.  Pos- 
sibly some  offerings  of  blood  from  the  bodies  of  living-  persons  are  to 

tf  CD  O       1 

be  thus  accounted  for ;  but  those  which  are  not  are  explicable  as  se- 
quences of  the  widely-prevalent  practice  of  establishing  a  sacred  bond 
of  mutual  obligation  between  living  persons  by  partaking  of  each 
other's  blood — the  derived  conception  being  that  those  who  give  some 
of  their  blood  to  the  ghost  of  the  man  just  dead  and  lingering  near 


654  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

effect  with  it  a  union  which  on  the  one  side  implies  submission,  and 
on  the  other  side  friendliness. 

On  this  hypothesis  we  have  a  reason  for  the  great  prevalence  of 
self-bleeding  as  a  funeral-rite,  not  among  existing  savages  only,  but 
among  ancient  and  partially-civilized  peoples — the  Jews,  the  Greeks, 
the  Huns,  the  Turks.  We  are  shown  how  there  arise  kindred  rites  as 
permanent  propitiations  of  those  more  dreaded  ghosts  which  become 
gods — such  offerings  of  blood  (now  taken  from  slain  victims,  now 
from  their  own  bodies,  and  now  from  their  newly-born  infants)  as 
those  which  the  Mexicans  gave  the  idols  of  their  cannibal  deities ; 
such  offerings  as  were  implied  by  the  self-gashings  of  the  priests  of 
Baal ;  and  such  as  were  sometimes  made  even  in  propitiating  Jahveh — 
as  by  the  fourscore  men  who  came  from  Shechem,  Shiloh,  and  Samaria. 
Moreover,  the  instances  of  bloodletting  as  a  complimentary  act  in 
social  intercourse  cease  to  be  inexplicable.  During  a  Samoan  mar- 
riage-ceremony the  friends  of  the  bride,  to  testify  their  respect, 
"  took  up  stones  and  beat  themselves  until  their  heads  were  bruised 
and  bleeding."  In  his  account  of  the  Central  Americans,  Martyr 
says,  "  When  the  Indians  of  Potonchan  receive  new  friends,  ...  as 
a  proof  of  friendship,  they,  in  the  sight  of  the  friend,  draw  some  blood 
....  from  the  tongue,  hand,  or  arm,  or  from  some  other  part." 

Here,  however,  my  purpose  in  naming  these  offerings  of  blood 
under  the  head  of  mutilations  is  not  so  much  to  show  their  kinship  of 
origin  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  explaining  the  mutilations  which  re- 
sult from  them. 

Gashings  and  tearings  of  the  flesh  make  wounds  which  leave  scars. 
If  the  blood-offerings  which  entail  them  are  made  by  relatives  to  the 
departed  spirit  of  an  ordinary  person,  these  scars  are  not  likely  to 
have  any  permanent  significance  ;  but,  if  they  are  made  in  propitia- 
tion of  some  deceased  chief,  not  by  his  relatives  alone,  but  by  unre- 
lated members  of  the  tribe  who  stood  in  awe  of  him  and  fear  his  ghost, 
then  like  other  mutilations  they  become  signs  of  subjection.  The 
Huns  who  "  at  the  burial  of  Attila  cut  their  faces  with  hollow 
wounds,"  in  common  with  the  Turks  who  did  the  like  at  royal  fu- 
nerals, thus  inflicted  on  themselves  marks  which  thereafter  distin- 
guished them  as  servants  of  their  respective  rulers.  So,  too,  did  the 
Lacedaemonians,  who,  "  when  their  king  died,  had  a  barbarous  custom 
of  meeting  in  vast  numbers,  where  men,  women,  and  slaves,  all  mixed 
together,  tore  the  flesh  from  their  foreheads  with  pins  and  needles 
.  .  .  .  to  gratify  the  ghosts  of  the  dead."  Customs  of  this  kind  would 
sometimes  have  further  results.  With  the  apotheosis  of  some  notable 
king  whose  conquests  gave  him  the  character  of  founder  of  the  na- 
tion, such  marks,  borne  not  by  his  contemporary  followers  only,  but 
imposed  by  them  on  their  children,  might  become  national  marks. 

That  the  scars  caused  by  propitiatory  bloodletting  at  funerals  do 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    GOVERNMENT.    655 

become  recognized  as  binding  to  the  dead  those  who  bear  them,  and 
do  develop  in  the  way  alleged,  we  have  tolerably  good  evidence.  The 
command  in  Leviticns,  "  Ye  shall  not  make  any  cuttings  in  your  flesh 
for  the  dead,  nor  print  any  marks  upon  you,"  shows  us  the  usage  in 
that  stage  at  which  the  scar  left  by  sacrifice  of  blood  is  still  a  sign 
partly  of  family  subordination  and  partly  of  other  subordination. 
And  the  traditions  of  the  Scandinavians  show  us  a  stage  at  which  it 
betokens  allegiance  either  to  an  unspecified  supernatural  being,  or  to 
a  deceased  ruler  who  has  become  a  god.  Odin,  "  when  he  was  near 
his  death,  made  himself  be  marked  with  the  point  of  a  spear ; "  and 
jSTiort  "  before  he  died  made  himself  be  marked  for  Odin  with  the 
spear-point." 

That  scars  on  the  surface  of  the  body,  thus  coming  to  express  loy- 
alty to  a  deceased  father  or  a  deceased  ruler,  or  a  god  derived  from 
him,  initiate,  among  other  disfigurements,  those  we  class  as  tattooing, 
is  a  probable  inference.  Lacerations,  and  the  traces  they  leave,  are 
certain  to  take  different  forms  in  different  places.  The  Andaman-Isl- 
anders "  tattoo  by  incising  the  skin  with  small  pieces  of  glass,  without 
inserting  coloring-matter,  the  cicatrix  being  whiter  than  the  sound 
skin."  Some  natives  of  Australia  have  ridges  raised  on  this  or  that 
part  of  the  body,  while  others  brand  themselves.  In  Tanna  the  peo- 
ple make  elevated  scars  on  their  arms  aud  chests.  And  Barton,  in  his 
"  Abeokuta,"  says :  "  The  skin-patterns  were  of  every  variety,  from 
the  diminutive  prick  to  the  great  gash  and  the  large,  boil-like  lumps. 
...  In  this  country  every  tribe,  sub-tribe,  and  even  family,  has  its 
blazon,  whose  infinite  diversifications  maybe  compared  with  the  lines 
and  ordinaries  of  European  heraldry — a  volume  would  not  suffice  to 
explain  all  the  marks  in  detail."  Naturally,  among  the  various  skin- 
mutilations  originating  in  the  way  alleged,  many  will,  under  the 
promptings  of  vanity,  take  on  a  character  more  or  less  ornamental ; 
and  the  use  of  them  for  decoration  will  often  survive  when  their 
meaning  has  been  lost. 

Hypothesis  apart,  we  have  proof  that  these  marks  made  by  cut- 
ting gashes,  or  puncturing  lines,  or  raising  welts,  or  otherwise,  are  in 
many  cases  tribal  marks — as  they  would,  of  course  become  if  they 
were  originally  made  when  binding  themselves  by  blood  to  the  dead 
founder  of  the  tribe.  A  clear  exhibition  of  the  feeling  implied  by 
the  bearing  of  marks  is  contained  in  a  statement  Bancroft  makes  re- 
specting the  Cuebas  of  Central  America :  "  If  the  son  of  a  chief  de- 
clined to  use  the  distinctive  badge  of  his  house,  he  could,  when  he  be- 
came chief,  choose  any  new  device  he  might  fancy.  A  son  who  did 
not  adopt  his  father's  totem  was  always  hateful  to  him  during  his  life- 
time." And  if  the  refusal  to  adopt  the  family-mark  where  it  is  painted 
on  the  body  is  thus  regarded  as  a  kind  of  disloyalty,  equally  will  it 
be  so  when  the  mark  is  one  that  has  arisen  from  modified  lacerations  • 
and  such  refusal  will  be  tantamount  to  rebellion  where  the  mark  sig- 


6 5 6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

nifies  descent  from,  and  submission  to,  some  great  father  of  the  race. 
Hence,  then,  the  meaning  of  such  facts  as  the  following  :  "  All  these 
Indians,"  says  Cieza  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  "wear  certain  marks 
by  which  they  are  known,  and  which  were  used  by  their  ancestors. 
.  .  .  Both  sexes  of  the  Sandwich-Islanders  have  a  particular  mark 
(tattooed)  which  seems  to  indicate  the  district  in  which,  or  the  chief 
under  whom,  they  lived."  Of  the  Uaupes,  "  one  tribe,  the  Tucanos, 
are  distinguished  from  the  rest  by  three  vertical  blue  lines  on  the 
chin." 

That  a  special  form  of  tattooing  becomes  a  tribal  mark  in  the  way 
suggested,  we  have,  indeed,  some  direct  evidence.  Among  sundry  mu- 
tilations undergone  as  funeral-rites,  at  the  death  of  a  chief  among  the 
Sandwich-Islanders,  such  as  knocking  out  teeth,  cutting  the  ears,  cut- 
ting hair,  etc.,  one  is  tattooing  a  spot  on  the  tongue.  Here  we  see 
this  mutilation  acquiring  the  signification  of  allegiance  to  a  ruler  who 
has  died ;  and  then  when  the  deceased  ruler,  unusually  distinguished,  is 
apotheosized,  the  tattoo-mark  becomes  the  sign  of  obedience  to  him 
as  a  deity.  "  With  several  Eastern  nations,"  says  Grimm,  "it  was  a 
custom  to  mark  one's  self  by  a  burned  or  incised  sign  as  adherent  to 
a  certain  worship.  .  .  .  Philo  complains  of  his  country-people  in  this 
respect."  It  was  thus  writh  the  Hebrews.  Bearing  in  mind  the 
above-quoted  interdict  against  marking  themselves  for  the  dead,  wre 
shall  see  the  meaning  of  the  words  in  Deuteronomy — "  They  have  cor- 
rupted themselves,  the  spot  is  not  the  spot  of  his  children :  they  are  a 
perverse  and  crooked  generation."  And  that  such  contrasted  spots 
as  are  here  referred  to  were  understood  in  later  times  to  imply  the 
service  of  different  deities  is  suggested  by  passages  in  Revelation, 
where  an  angel  is  described  as  ordering  delay  "  till  we  have  sealed 
the  servants  of  our  God  in  their  foreheads,"  and  where  "  an  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  thousand,  having  his  Father's  name  written  in 
their  foreheads,"  are  described  as  standing  on  Mount  Sion,  while  an 
angel  proclaims  that,  "  if  any  man  worship  the  beast  and  his  image, 
and  receive  his  mark  in  his  forehead,  or  in  his  hand,  the  same  shall 
drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God."  Down  t©  the  present  day  in 
the  East  like  marks  have  like  meanings.  Thomson,  after  specifying 
the  method  of  tattooing,  says :  "  This  practice  of  marking  religious 
tokens  upon  the  hands  and  arms  is  almost  universal  among  the  Arabs 
of  all  sects  and  classes.  Christian  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  have  the 
operation  performed  there,  as  the  most  holy  place  known  to  their  re- 
ligion." And  still  more  definite  is  the  statement  of  Kalisch,  that 
"  Christians  in  some  parts  of  the  East,  and  European  sailors,  were 
long  in  the  habit  of  marking,  by  means  of  punctures  and  a  black  dye, 
their  arms  and  other  members  of  the  body  with  the  sign  of  the  cru- 
cifix or  the  image  of  the  Virgin;  the  Mohammedans  mark  them  with 
the  name  of  Allah."  So  that  down  to  our  own  time  among  advanced 
races  we  trace  in  these  skin-mutilations  meanings  like  those  avowedly 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL   GOVERNMENT.    657 

given  to  them  in  ancient  Mexico,  where,  when  a  child  was  dedicated 
to  Quetzalcohuatl,  "  the  priest  made  a  slight  cut  with  a  knife  on  its 
breast,  as  a  sign  that  it  belonged  to  the  cult  and  service  of  the  god," 
and,  like  those  still  avowedly  given  to  them  by  negroes  in  Angola, 
where  in  many  regions  every  child  as  soon  as  born  is  tattooed  on  the 
belly,  in  order  thereby  to  dedicate  it  to  a  certain  fetich. 

A  significant  group  of  evidences  must  be  added.  We  have  seen 
that,  where  cropped  hair  implies  servitude,  long  hair  becomes  an  hon- 
orable distinction ;  that,  shorn  beards  being  marks  of  subordination, 
unshorn  beards  are  marks  of  supremacy ;  and  that,  occasionally,  in 
opposition  to  circumcision,  as  associated  with  subjection,  there  is 
absence  of  it  along  with  the  highest  power.  Here  we  have  a  parallel 
antithesis.  The  great  divine  chief  of  the  Tongans  is  unlike  all  other 
men  in  Tonga,  not  only  as  being  uncircumcised,  but  also  as  being 
untattooed.  Elsewhere  classes  are  sometimes  thus  distinguished. 
Burton  says  of  the  people  of  Banza  Nokkoi,  on  the  Congo,  that  those 
who  are  tattooed  "  are  generally  slaves."  And  in  this  relation  there 
may  be  significance  in  the  statement  of  Boyle  that  "the  Kyans, 
Pakatans,  and  Kennowits,  alone  in  Borneo  practise  tattooing,  and 
these  are  the  three  aboriginal  races  least  esteemed  for  bravery." 
Not,  however,  that  distinctions  implied  by  tattooing  and  its  absence 
are  at  all  regular :  we  here  meet  with  anomalies.  Though  in  some 
places  showing  social  inferiority,  tattooing  in  other  places  is  a  trait 
of  the  superior.  While  in  Feejee  only  the  women  are  tattooed — while 
in  Tahiti  there  is  tattooing  of  both  men  and  women,  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands  the  men  are  more  tattooed  than  the  women.  Sometimes  the 
presence  of  this  skin-mutilation  is  evidence  of  high  rank.  "  In  the 
province  of  Panuco,  the  noblemen  were  easily  to  be  distinguished, 
as  they  had  their  bodies  tattooed."  But  the  occurrence  of  anomalies 
is  not  surprising.  During  the  perpetual  overrunnings  of  race  by 
race,  it  must  sometimes  have  happened  that,  an  untattooed  race  hav- 
ing been  conquered  by  one  which  practised  tattooing,  the  presence  of 
these  markings  became  associated  with  social  supremacy.  Moreover, 
since,  along  with  dispersions  of  tribes  and  obscurings  of  their  tra- 
ditions, the  meanings  of  mutilations  will  often  die,  while  they  them- 
selves survive,  there  may  not  unnaturally  occur  developments  of 
them  for  purposes  of  display,  tending  to  reverse  their  original  sig- 
nificance ;  as  seems  implied  by  the  statement  of  Angas  that  "  tattooing 
is  a  class  distinction  among  the  New-Zealanders;  the  faces  of  slaves 
have  not  the  spiral  tattooing;"  or  that  of  Dobrizhoffer,  that  "every 
Abiponian  woman  you  see  has  a  different  pattern  on  her  face.  Those 
that  are  most  painted  and  pricked  you  may  know  to  be  of  high  rank 
and  noble  birth." 

But  a  further  cause  exists  for  this  conflict  of  meanings.  There 
remains  to  be  named  a  species  of  skin-mutilation  having  another  ori- 
gin and  different  implication. 

VOL.  XII. — 42 


658  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Besides  scars  resulting  from  lacerations  made  in  propitiation  of 
dead  relatives,  dead  chiefs,  and  deities,  there  are  scars  resulting  from 
wounds  received  in  battle.  The  presence  of  many  such  implies  many 
conflicts  with  enemies  ;  and  hence,  all  the  world  over,  they  are  held 
in  honor  and  displayed  with  pride.  The  sentiment  associated  with 
them  among  ourselves  in  past  times  is  indicated  in  Shakespeare  by 
sundry  references  to  "such  as  boasting  show  their  scars."  Lafeu 
says,  "A  scar  nobly  got,  or  a  noble  scar,  is  a  good  livery  of  honor;  " 
and  Henry  V.  foretells  of  an  old  soldier  that  "  then  will  he  strip  his 
sleeve  and  show  his  scars." 

Animated  as  are  savages  in  still  higher  degrees  than  civilized  by 
the  feelings  thus  indicated — having  no  other  kind  of  honor  than  that 
derived  from  the  reputation  for  bravery — what  may  be  expected  to 
result?     Will  not  the  anxiety  to  bear  honorable  scars  sometimes  lead 
to  the  artificial  making  of  scars?     We  have  evidence  that  it  does. 
Lichtenstein  tells  us  that  the  priest  among  the  Bechuanas  makes  a 
long  cut  in  the  skin  from  the  thigh  to  the  knee  of  each  warrior  who 
has  slain  some  of  the  enemy  in  battle.     There  is  a  kindred  usage 
among  the  Bachapin  Caffres.     Among  the  Damaras,  "for  every  wild 
animal  that  a  young  man  destroys,  his  father  makes  four  small  inci- 
sions on  the  front  of  the  son's  body  as  marks  of  honor  and  distinction." 
And  then  Tuckey,  speaking  of  certain  Congo  people  who  make  scars, 
says  that  this  is  "principally  done  with  the  idea  of  rendering  them- 
selves agreeable  to  the  women :  "  a  motive  which  is  intelligible  if  such 
scars  originally  passed  for  scars  got  in  war,  and  implying  bravery. 
American  races  yield  some  evidence  of  like  meaning.     We  read  that 
"  the  Itzaex  Indians  [in  Yucatan]  have  handsome  faces,  though  some 
of  them  were  marked  with  lines  as  a  sign  of  courage."     Facts  fur- 
nished by  other  American  tribes  suggest  that  the  infliction  of  torture 
on    entering   maturity  originated   from  the   habit    of  making   scars 
artificially  in  imitation  of  scars  bequeathed  by  battle.     If  self-injury 
to  avoid  service  in  war  has  in  all  times  been  frequent  among  those 
lacking  courage,  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  among  the  more  coura- 
geous, who  have  received  no  wounds,  self-injury  might  be  not  unfre- 
quent,  where  there  was  gained  by  it  that  character  for  bravery  de- 
sired above  everything.     Though  at  first  secret  and  exceptional,  the 
reputation  achieved  might  make  it  gradually  more  common  and  at 
length  general ;    until,  finally,  public  opinion,  vented  against  those 
who  did  not  follow  it,  made  the  usage  peremptory.     When  we  read 
in  Dobrizhoffer  that,  among  the  Abipones,  "  boys  of  seven  years  old 
pierce   their  little  arms  in  imitation   of  their   parents,   and  display 
plenty  of  wounds,"  we  are  shown  the  rise  of  a  feeling,  and  a  con- 
sequent practice,  which,  growing,  may  end  in  a  system  of  initiatory 
tortures  at  manhood.      Hence,  when  of  the   Arawaks    Schomburgk 
tells  us  that  after  a  Mariquarri  dance  the  blood  will  be  running  down 
their  swollen  calves,  and  strips  of  skin  and  muscle  hang  down  the 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL   GOVERNMENT.    659 

mangled  limbs,  we  may  suspect  that  in  this  and  kindred  self-muti- 
lations we  see  an  outcome  of  the  ambition  to  bear  honorable  scars. 
Though,  when  the  scars,  being  borne  by  all,  are  no  longer  distinctive, 
discipline  in  endurance  comes  to  be  the  reason  given  for  inflicting 
them,  this  cannot  well  have  been  the  original  reason ;  since  primi- 
tive men,  improvident  in  all  ways,  are  very  unlikely  to  have  delib- 
erately devised  and  instituted  a  usage  with  a  view  to  a  foreseen  dis- 
tant benefit :  the  assumption  of  anything  like  a  legislative  act  is  in- 
admissible. 

However  this  may  be,  we  have  here  a  second  origin  for  certain 
kinds  of  mutilations.  And  hence  a  probable  reason  why  markings  on 
the  skin,  though  generally  badges  of  subordination,  become  in  some 
cases  honorable  distinctions  and  occasionally  signs  of  rank. 

Something  must  be  added  concerning  a  secondary  motive  for  mu- 
tilation ;  parallel  to,  or  sequent  upon,  a  secondary  motive  for  taking 
trophies.  ' 

In  the  last  chapter  we  inferred  that,  prompted  by  his  belief  that 
the  spirit  pervades  all  parts  of  the  corpse,  the  savage  preserves  relics 
of  dead  enemies  partly  in  the  expectation  that  he  will  be  enabled 
thereby  to  coerce  their  spirits — if  not  himself,  still  by  the  help  of  the 
medicine-man.  He  has  a  parallel  reason  for  preserving  a  part  cut  from 
one  whom  he  has  enslaved :  both  he  and  the  slave  think  that  he  so  ob- 
tains a  power  to  inflict  injury.  When  we  find  that  the  sorcerer's  first 
step  is  to  procure  some  hair  or  nail-parings  of  his  victim,  or  else 
some  piece  of  his  dress  pervaded  by  that  odor  which  is  identified 
with  his  spirit,  it  appears  to  be  a  necessary  corollary  that  the  master 
who  keeps  by  him  the  tooth  of  a  slave,  a  joint  of  his  finger,  or  even  a 
lock  of  his  hair,  thereby  retains  a  power  of  delivering  him  over  to  the 
necromancer,  who  may  bring  on  him  one  or  other  fearful  evil — torture 
by  demons,  disease,  death. 

Thus  it  seems  possible  that,  where  the  part  cut  off  is  preserved, 
mutilation  has  a  secondary  governmental  effect.  The  subjugated  man 
is  made  obedient  by  a  dread  akin  to  that  which  Caliban  expresses  of 
Prospero's  magically-inflicted  torments. 

The  evidence  that  bodily  mutilation  of  the  living  has  been  a  se- 
quence of  trophy-taking  from  the  dead,  is  thus  at  once  abundant  and 
varied.  As  the  taking  of  the  trophy  implies  victory  carried  even  to 
the  death,  the  derived  practice  of  cutting  off"  a  part  from  the  living 
prisoner  comes  to  imply  subjugation ;  and  eventually  the  voluntary 
surrender  of  such  a  part  expresses  submission,  and  becomes  a  propi- 
tiatory ceremony  because  it  does  this. 

Hands  are  cut  off  from  dead  enemies ;  and,  answering  to  this,  be- 
sides some  identical  mutilations  of  criminals,  we  have  the  cutting-off 
of  fingers  or  portions  of  fingers,  to  pacify  living  chiefs,  deceased  per- 


660  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

sons,  and  gods.     Noses  are  among  the  trophies  taken  from  slain  foes ; 
and  we  have  loss  of  noses  inflicted  on  prisoners,  on  slaves,  on  trans- 
gressors of  certain  kinds.     Ears  are  brought  back  from  the  battle- 
field ;  and  occasionally  they  are  cut  off  from  prisoners,  criminals,  or 
slaves ;  while  there  are  people  among  whom  pierced  ears  mark  the 
servant  or  the  subject.     Jaws  and  teeth,  too,  are  trophies ;  and  teeth, 
in  some  cases  knocked  out  in  propitiation  of  a  dead  chief,  are,  in  vari- 
ous other  cases,  knocked  out  by  a  priest  as  a  quasi-religious  ceremony. 
Most  prevalent  and  complete  is  the  evidence  furnished  by  mutilation 
of  the  hair.     Scalps  are  taken  from  killed  enemies,  and  sometimes 
their  hair  is  used  to  decorate  a  victor's  dress;  and  then  come  various 
sequences.     Here  the  enslaved  have  their  heads  cropped;  here  scalp- 
locks  are  worn  subject  to  a  chiefs  ownership,  and  these  are  demanded 
in  sign  of  submission  ;  while,  elsewhere,  men  are  shorn  of  their  beards 
to  ornament  the  robe  of  a  superior:  unshorn  hair  being  thus  rendered 
a  mark  of  rank.     Among  numerous  peoples,  hair  is  sacrificed  to  pro- 
pitiate the  ghosts  of  relatives ;  whole  tribes  cut  it  on  the  deaths  of 
their  chiefs  or  kings ;  it  is  yielded  up  to  express  subjection  to  deities ; 
occasionallyfit  is  offered  to  a  living  superior  in  token  of  respect ;  and 
this  complimentary  offering  is  extended  to  others.    Similarly  with  gen- 
ital mutilations,  there  is  a  like,  taking  of  parts  from  slain  enemies  and 
from  living  prisoners ;  and  there  is  a  presentation  of  them  to  kings  and 
to  gods.     Nor  is  it  otherwise  with  mutilations  of  another  class.     Self- 
bleeding,  initiated  partly,  perhaps,  by  cannibalism,  but  more  exten- 
sively by  the  mutual  giving  of  blood  in  pledge  of  loyalty,  enters  into 
several  ceremonies  expressing  subordination  :  we  find  it  occurring  in 
propitiation  of  ghosts  and  of  gods,  and  occasionally  as  a  compliment 
to  living  persons.     Naturally  it  is  the  same  with  the  resulting  marks. 
Originally  indefinite  in  form  and  place,  but  rendered  definite  by  cus- 
tom, and  at  length  often  decorative,  these  healed  wounds,  at  first  en- 
tailed only  on  relatives  of  deceased  persons,  then  on  all  the  followers 
of  a  man  who  was  much  feared  while  alive,  so  became  marks  expres- 
sive of  subjection  to  a  dead  ruler,  and  eventually  to  a  god  :  thus 
growing  into  tribal  and  national  marks. 

If,  as  we  have  seen,  trophy-taking  as  a  sequence  of  conquest  enters 
as  a  factor  into  those  governmental  restraints  which  conquest  initiates, 
it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  mutilations  originated  by  trophy-taking 
will  do  the  like.  The  evidence  justifies  this  inference.  Beginning  as 
marks  of  personal  slavery,  and  becoming  marks  of  political  and  reli- 
gious subordination,  they  play  a  part  like  that  of  oaths  of  fealty  and 
pious  self-dedications.  Moreover,  being  public  acknowledgments  of 
submission  to  a  ruler,  visible  or  invisible,  they  enforce  authority  by 
making  conspicuous  to  all  eyes  the  extent  of  his  sway.  And  where 
they  signify  class-subordination,  as  well  as  where  they  show  the  sub- 
jugation of  criminals,  they  further  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  regu- 
lative agency. 


EVOLUTION   OF   CEREMONIAL    QOVERNMENT.    661 

If  mutilations  originate  as  alleged,  we  may  expect  to  find  some  con- 
nection between  the  extent  to  which  they  are  carried  and  the  social 
type  as  simple  or  compound,  militant  or  industrial.  On  grouping  the 
facts  as  presented  by  fifty-two  peoples,  the  connection  emerges  with  as 
much  clearness  as  can  be  expected.  In  the  first  place,  since  the  devel- 
opment of  mutilation  as  a  custom  goes  with  conquest,  and  resulting 
aggregation,  it  is  inferable  that  simple  societies,  however  savage,  will 
be  less  characterized  by  it  than  the  larger  savage  societies  compound- 
ed out  of  them,  and  less  than  even  the  semi-civilized  societies.  This 
proves  to  be  true.  Of  peoples  who  form  simple  societies  that  prac- 
tise mutilation  either  not  at  all  or  in  slight  forms,  I  find,  among  races 
wholly  unallied,  eleven — Fuegians,  Veddahs,  Andamanese,  Dyaks, 
Todas,  Gonds,  Santals,  Bodo  and  Dhimals,  Mishmis,  Kamtchadales, 
Snake  Indians;  and  these  are  characterized  throughout  either  by  ab- 
sence of  chieftainship,  or  by  chieftainship  of  an  unsettled  kind.  Mean- 
while, of  peoples  who  mutilate  little  or  not  at  all,  I  find  but  two  in  the 
class  of  compound  societies ;  of  which  one,  the  Kirghiz,  is  character- 
ized by  a  wandering  life  that  makes  subordination  difficult,  and  the 
other,  the  Iroquois,  had  a  republican  form  of  government.  Of  societies 
practising  mutilations  that  are  moderate,  the  simple  are  relatively 
fewer,  and  the -compound  relatively  more  numerous:  of  the  one  class 
there  are  ten — Tasmanians,  Tannese,  New  Guinea  people,  Karens, 
Nagas,  Ostiaks,  Esquimaux,  Chinooks,  Comanches,  Chippewyans; 
while  of  the  other  class  there  are  five — New-Zealanders,  East  Africans, 
Khonds,  Kukis,  Calmucks.  And  of  those  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
in  the  one  class  the  simple  headship,  and  in  the  other  class  the  com- 
pound headship,  is  unstable.  On  coming  to  the  societies  distinguished 
by  severer  mutilations,  we  find  these  relations  reversed.  Among  the 
simple  I  can  name  but  three — the  New  Caledonians  (among  whom, 
however,  the  severer  mutilation  is  not  general),  the  Bushmen  (who 
are  believed  to  have  lapsed  from  a  higher  social  state),  and  the  Aus- 
tralians (who  have,  I  believe,  similarly  lapsed) ;  while,  among  the  com- 
pound, twenty-one  may  be  named — Feejeeans,  Sandwich-Islanders, 
Tahitians,  Tongans,  Samoans,  Javans,  Sumatrans,  Malagasy,  Hotten- 
tots, Damaras,  Bechuanas,  Caffres,  Congo  people,  coast  negroes,  in- 
land negroes,  Dahomans,  Ashantees,  Fulahs,  Abyssinians,  Arabs, 
Dakotas.  Social  consolidation  being  habitually  effected  by  conquest, 
and  compound  and  doubly-compound  societies  being,  therefore,  during 
early  states,  militant  in  their  activities  and  types  of  structure,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  connection  of  the  custom  of  mutilation  with  the  size  of 
the  society  is  indirect,  while  that  with  its  type  is  direct.  And  this 
the  facts  show  us.  If  we  put  side  by  side  those  societies  which  are 
most  unlike  in  respect  of  the  practice  of  mutilation,  we  find  them 
to  be  those  which  are  most  unlike  as  being  wholly  unmilitant  in 
organization,  and  wholly  militant  in  organization.  At  the  one  ex- 
treme we  have   the  Veddas,  Todas,  Bodo  and   Dhimals  ;    while,  at 


66z  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  other  extreme,  we  have  the  Feejeeans,  Abyssinians,  ancient  Mex- 
icans. 

Derived  from  trophy-taking,  and  developing  with  the  development 
of  the  militant  type,  it  is  to  be  anticipated  that  mutilations  decrease 
as  fast  as  the  societies  consolidated  by  militancy  become  less  militant, 
and  disappear  as  the  industrial  type  of  structure  evolves.  That  they 
do  so  European  history  at  large  may  be  assigned  in  proof.  And  it  is 
significant  that  in  our  own  society,  now  predominantly  industrial, 
such  slight  mutilations  as  continue  are  connected  with  that  regulative 
part  of  the  organization  which  militancy  has  bequeathed :  there  sur- 
vive only  the  now-meaningless  tattooings  of  sailors,  the  branding  of 
deserters,  and  the  cropping  of  the  heads  of  felons. 


-♦♦♦- 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN  THE  FUTUEE. 

By  Professor  SAMUEL  LOCKWOOD. 

A  LITERARY  venture  of  our  boyhood  comes  upon  us  like  the 
aroma  of  tropical  fruit  eaten  for  the  first  time.  .  An  uncle  had 
given  his  eight-year-old  favorite  a  silver  sixpence.  Never  before  had 
the  youngling  possessed  so  much  money  in  his  own  right.  Soon  the 
young  capitalist  found  himself  confronting  the  shop-window  of  the 
nearest  stationer,  where  his  eyes  became  riveted  to  a  little  book — 
"  Life  and  Voyages  of  La  Perouse,"  price  sixpence.  The  book  was 
eagerly  bought,  and  it  proved  an  exciting  morceau.  This  same  Jean 
Francois  de  Galaup,  Count  de  la  Perouse,  when  about  thirty-seven 
years  old,  served  in  the  American  Revolution.  In  1782  he  led  a  small 
fleet  into  Hudson  Bay,  and  destroyed  the  English  trading-post.  But 
Louis  XVI.  found  that,  while  he  had  been  helping  to  wrest  the 
colonies  from  Great  Britain,  she  was  adding  to  herself  new  glory, 
and  vast  territories,  by  the  discoveries  of  her  great  navigator,  Cap- 
tain Cook.  So  the  French  monarch  dispatched  La  Perouse,  with  two 
ships,  on  a  mission  of  exploration  in  the  Pacific.  Neither  the  bold 
navigator  nor  any  of  his  men  saw  home  again.  The  last  known  of 
the  expedition  was  from  a  letter  written  by  La  Perouse  at  Botany 
Bay,  February  7,  1788.  Three  years  after,  a  French  squadron  was 
sent  to  search  for  the  great  voyageur,  but  in  vain.  With  this  expedi- 
tion went  as  naturalist  the  famous  botanist  La  Billardiere.  In  Tas- 
mania he  found  the  most  extraordinary  arboreal  flora  he  had  ever 
seen.  Especially  wonderful  for  number  and  size  was  one  tree,  to 
which  he  gave  the  generic  name  Eucalyptus,  meaning  "  well-covered," 
alluding  to  the  singular  form  of  the  flower-bud,  which  has  on  it  an 
operculum  or  cover  not  unlike  the  lid  of  a  tiny  sugar-bowl  (see  the 
object  between  the  flower  and  the  fruit  at  foot  of  Fig.  3).     Thus  the 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN   THE  FUTURE. 


663 


traexpanded  flower-bud,  being  cup-like  below  and  cone-like  at  top, 
was  not  dissimilar  in  form  to  the  globular  brass  button  formerly  in 
vogue,  and  so  the  blue-gum  received  from  this  botanist  the  specific 
name  globulus. 


Fig.  1.— Eucalyptus  Preissiana. 

"  One  tree  of  the  future— one  of  hope,"  says  Prof.  Fluclriger, 
"  may  be  recognized  in  Eucalyptus  globulus."  And  the  prophecy  is 
advancing  to  fulfillment,  for  already  the  eucalypt  is  becoming  a  cos- 
mopolitan tree.  It  was  discovered  by  La  Billardiere  on  the  south  of 
the  island  of  Tasmania,  near  Entrecastenaux  Channel,  May  6,  1792, 
But,  though  soon  after  known  to  science,  not  until  1856  was  it  known 
to  the  arboriculturists  of  the  Old  World.  In  that  year  M.  Ramel 
sent  seeds  from  Melbourne  to  Paris.  In  1857,  and  again  in  1860, 
larger  supplies  arrived,  which,  being  distributed,  found  their  way 
over  a  great  part  of  the  civilized  world.  Of  the  many  varieties  of 
eucalypts,  the  blue-gum,  or  Eucalyptus  globulus,  was  the  first  to  be 
introduced  into  Europe ;  hence,  perhaps,  it  may  yet  appear  that  the 
best  variety  for  acclimatization  has  not  received  proper  attention. 
The  Eucalyptus  globulus  is  only  found  in  Tasmania  and  Victoria,  but 
where  found  it  is  'really  the  monopolist  of  the  woods.  The  forest 
area  of  Victoria,  the  most  southern  colony  of  Australia,  contains  73,- 
000  square  miles  of  forest,  of  which  71,500  is  almost  wholly  of  euca- 
lypts. And  so  great  is  the  diversity  of  these  trees  among  themselves, 
that  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  varieties  are  recognized.  This  gave 
marked  interest  to  the  exhibits  of  the  Australian  colonies  and  Tas- 
mania in  the  Philadelphia  Exposition.  But  to  the  student  of  human 
progress  a  noteworthy  fact  was,  that  this  Eucalyptus  figured  in  the 
contributions  of  nations  to  whom  the  seed  even  was  unknown  twenty 
years  ago.  Eucalyptus  woods,  leaves,  oils,  essences,  gums,  etc., 
formed  items  in  the  exhibits  from  the  south  and  the  north  of  Africa, 


664  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  Cape  Colony  and  Algeria ;  the  Orange  Free  State,  Southern  Europe, 
notably  France  and  Italy,  Brazil,  the  pampas  of  South  America, 
Mexico,  California,  Jamaica,  and  even  India,  could  have  competed. 
Hence  it  would  be  no  fiction' to  pronounce  to-day  that  the  Eucalyptus 
is  the  cosmopolitan  tree. 

But  our  subject  is  interesting  to  three  kinds  of  observers — the 
economist,  or  utilitarian,  the  botanist,  and  the  geologist.  Let  us  ask 
of  each  one  a  free-hand  sketch. 

The  first,  who  is  a  matter-of-fact  personage,  adduces  the  economic 
uses  of  these  gum-trees,  as  the  Eucalypts  are  frequently  called.  When 
freshly  cut  the  wood  of  these  trees  is  soft,  but  so  full  is  it  of  a  resinous 
gum  that  it  soon  hardens,  and  becomes  wellnigh  imperishable.  For 
ships,  and  docks,  and  jetties,  it  is  invaluable.  The  terrible  Teredo 
navalis,  or  ship-worm,  lets  it  alone.  It  is  proof  also  against  that  fear- 
ful scourge  the  termites,  or  white  ant.  Hence,  in  India,  eucalyptus- 
wood  is  used  for  the  sleepers  of  the  railroads,  where  it  defies  the  in- 
sects and  the  climate.  So  great  is  the  variety  of  the  eucalypts,  that 
they  are  provident  for  nearly  every  purpose  which  wood  can  subserve. 
The  ship-builder,  wheelwright,  carpenter,  coach-maker,  and  cabinet- 
makers, are  all  supplied.  Usually  the  eucalypts  are  evergreens,  and 
hold  tenaciously  to  their  leaves.  But  they  readily  shed  their  bark, 
as  a  rule,  and  in  such  immense  pieces  can  this  be  detached  that  the 
natives  make  a  rude  tent  of  a  single  piece.  Of  many  species  the  bark 
is  serviceable  for  paper-making.  For  size  no  trees  can  equal  these 
Australian  gums  in  the  magnitude  of  the  timber  afforded.  A  plank 
sent  from  Victoria,  and  intended  for  the  London  Exhibition,  but  which 
arrived  too  late,  sold  for  £100.  It  was  a  clear  plank,  over  223  feet 
long,  two  feet  six  inches  wide,  and  three  inches  thick.  But,  though 
excellent  timber,  some  of  the  species  are  of  little  worth  for  fuel.  In 
these  the  wood  burns  with  such  difficulty  that  it  is  regarded  as  spe- 
cially suited  for  shingles. 

These  gum-trees  are  the  Titans  of  the  race.  In  the  deep  ravines 
of  Dandenong,  in  Victoria,  a  Eucalyptus  amygdalina  measured  420 
feet;  while  another,  on  the  Black  Spur,  measured  480  feet,  thus  over- 
topping greatly  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops  and  every  human  achievement, 
and  even  beating  by  155  feet  the  famous  Sequoia  c/igantea  (Torrey) 
("  Keystone  State  "),  the  biggest  of  the  "  big  trees"  of  the  Calaveras 
grove*  Mr.  G.  W.  Robinson  found  a  eucalypt,  which,  at  the  height 
of  four  feet  from  the  ground,  had  a  girth  of  81  feet,  or  27  feet  di- 
ameter. It  is  notable,  too,  that  for  amount  of  timber  per  acre  these 
gum-trees  are  unmatchable.  We  read  that,  in  one  of  the  densest  parts 
of  the  Mount  Macedon  state  forest,  an  acre  of  Eucalyptus  Jissilis  con- 
tained forty-two  large  standing  trees  and  twelve  saplings.  Many  of  the 
largest  of  these  trees  wTere  from  six  to  seven  feet  in  diameter  four  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  were  from  200  to  220  feet  high.  Nor  do  such 
altitudes  necessarily  indicate  a  very  high  antiquity.     The  rapidity  of 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN   THE  FUTURE.  665 

growth  is  wonderful.  Saplings  fifty  feet  high,  and  but  ten  years  old, 
are  not  remarkable.  It  is  declared  that  seed  sown  in  Jamaica  at  an 
elevation  of  5,000  feet,  in  1870,  had  in  1876  attained  a  growth  of  fifty 
feet.  We  have  with  our  own  eyes  witnessed  throughout  an  entire 
summer  a  growth  of  an  inch  a  day.  No  one  understood  so  well  as 
Baron  von  Muller  the  nature  and  capacities  of  the  Eucalyptus.  He 
more  than  all  others  has  made  the  world  acquainted  with  it.  With 
him  was  a  scientific  faith  that  this  was  the  world's  tree  of  promise. 
In  this  tree  of  Australia  he  saw  the  means  with  which  to  obliterate 
from  the  hydrographic  map  the  rainless  zones,  to  clothe  with  wood 
the  desolate  ranges  of  Tunis,  Algeria,  and  Morocco,  and  render  habi- 
table parts  of  the  Great  Sahara,  by  indefinitely  expanding  the  oases, 
to  restore  fertility  to  the  Holy  Land,  to  give  rain  to  the  Asiatic 
plateau,  or  the  desert  of  Atacama,  and  furnish  timber  and  fuel  to 
Natal  and  La  Plata. 

None  better  than  the  baron,  however,  knew  that,  while  able  to 
stand  great  heat,  these  rapidly-growing  eucalypti  cannot  resist  great 
cold,  and  without  these  home  conditions  we  must  not  expect  of  them 
their  home  achievements.  Even  at  home  the  tribe  does  its  best  with 
its  semi-tropical  members.  And  there  is  a  great  range  of  variety  un- 
til we  meet  even  the  Alpine  species,  of  slow  growth  and  very  modest 
altitude.  Skill  and  patience  may  do  much  ;  but  in  our  country,  except 
in  a  few  favored  spots,  little  can  be  hoped  of  the  semi-tropical  varieties 
north  of  latitude  30°,  until  acclimatization  shall  have  been  effected. 

But  it  is  claimed  for  the  eucalypts  that  their  presence  is  hygienic, 
or  sanatory,  especially  in  malarial  regions.  That  the  E.  globulus  has 
earned  by  fair  experiment  its  name  of  fever-tree,  as  a  preventive, 
seems  now  to  be  settled.  Its  rapid  growth  must  make  it  a  great 
drainer  of  wet  soils,  while  its  marked  terebinthine  odor  may  have  its 
influence,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  liberation  of  this  essence 
into  the  air  stands  connected  with  its  generation  of  ozone.  But, 
whatever  the  sanatory  activities  of  the  eucalypt  may  be,  the  fact  is 
squarely  settled  that  spots  in  Italy,  uninhabitable  because  of  malarial 
fever,  have  been  rendered  tolerable  by  the  planting  of  E.  globulus, 
and  it  is  believed  that  a  more  plentiful  planting  would  nearly  if  not 
quite  remove  the  difiiculty.  A  military  post  is  mentioned  in  Algeria, 
in  which  the  garrison  had  to  be  changed  every  five  days,  such  was 
the  virulence  of  the  malaria.  A  plantation  of  eucalypts  cleared  the 
miasma  nearly  away,  and  rendered  unnecessary  the  frequent  changes 
of  the  garrison.     In  this  case  60,000  trees  were  planted. 

But  the  eucalyptus  has  not  a  few  medicinal  virtues.  Its  oils  and 
essences  are  antiseptic.  Diffused  in  the  sick-room,  they  purify  the  air 
and  generate  ozone.  Already  they  have  taken  their  places  in  the 
materia  medica  as  very  important  internal  medicines.  The  leaves 
contain  the  essence  eucalyptol,  and  a  resinous  solid  containing  a  bitter 
principle  not  yet  understood,  and  which  seems  to  afford  the  antifebrile 


666  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

virtue ;  hence  an  extract  from  the  leaves,  either  aqueous  or  alcoholic, 
is  used  as  a  febrifuge.  As  a  tonic,  water  may  be  aromatized  by  a 
slight  infusion  of  the  leaves.  A  liquor  similar  to  that  of  mastic  can 
be  produced,  and  the  pharmacy  gives  instructions  for  making  a  tonic 
eucalyptal  wine.  Some  of  the  species  are  tapped  for  the  sap,  and 
gum-tree  cider  is  obtained ;  the  leaves  of  others  yield  manna.  The 
famous  East  India  kino  of  commerce,  obtained  from  the  Pterocarpnis 
marsujnum,  a  lofty  legume  growing  on  the  mountains  of  India,  now 
finds  a  rival  in  the  Botany  Bay  kino,  the  concrete  juice  of  the  brown 
gum-tree  {Eucalyptus  resinifera),  of  which  it  is  said  that  a  single  tree 
is  capable  of  furnishing  500  pounds  of  kino  in  a  year.  In  a  word,  in 
the  modern  pharmacopoeia,  eucalyptus,  with  its  many  preparations, 
occupies  considerable  space.  A  very  interesting  instance  of  what  the 
therapeutist  calls  "  masking  "  is  an  application  of  the  oil  of  eucalypt 
for  the  deodorizing  and  aromatizing  of  cod-liver  oil,  thus  rendering 
palatable  and  even  additionally  tonic  this  repulsive  medicine. 

At  the  Intercolonial  Exhibition  of  1866,  in  Australia,  Baron  von 
Muller  caused  to  be  exhibited,  as  from  the  Phyto-Chemical  Labora- 
tory of  Victoria,  tannic  acid,  gallic  acicl,  pure  wood-spirits,  pure  acetic 
acid,  distilled  wood-vinegar,  and  other  products,  obtained  from 
several  species  of  eucalyptus.  Mr.  Bosisto,  a  chemist  of  Victoria, 
sent  to  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition  the  following  products  of  the  one 
species  (E.  globulus) :  Essential  oil — a  tonic,  stimulant,  antiseptic,  an- 
thelmintic ;  eucalyptol,  for  inhalation  in  bronchial  or  throat  affec- 
tions ;  eucalyptic  acid  ;  liquor  of  eucalyptus  globulus — stimulant  in 
ague  or  low  fever ;  tincture  of  eucalyptus  globulus — stimulant,  tonic, 
antiperiodic  ;  powder  of  eucalyptus  globulus — antiseptic,  cataplasma  ; 
cigarettes  of  eucalyptus  globulus — disinfectant,  employed  in  bronchial 
or  asthmatic  affections.  But  many  mysteries  are  waiting  solution  in 
the  laboratory  of  the  pharmacist.  New  substances  are  to  be  discov- 
ered, and  those  already  known  will  be  better  understood ;  all  which 
revealings  will  be  as  new  fruits  on  this  tree  of  the  future. 

But  let  us  hear  the  botanist's  story.  He  says  the  thing  has  been  a 
good  deal  of  a  bother  to  him ;  that  he  thought  these  gum-trees  of 
Australia  were  pretty  much  like  the  animals  there,  specimens  of  Na- 
ture's jokes.  Indeed,  we  find  a  recent  authority  saying,  "  Nine-tenths 
of  the  8,000  species  of  plants  in  Australia  are  unknown  elsewhere,  and 
entirely  unconnected  with  the  forms  of  vegetation  of  any  other  division 
of  the  world."  And  then  to  think  of  the  great  variety  of  forms  in  this 
one  genus,  Eucalyptus.  In  one  the  leaves,  six  or  seven  inches  long, 
are  but  a  quarter  of  an  inch  wide,  almost  grass-like  ;  while  the  leaves 
of  the  messmate,  or  E.  amygdalina,  are  almond-shape,  and  nearly  as 
wide  as  they  are  long.  Those  of  E  Preissiana  are  bluntly  rounded 
at  the  ends  (Fig.  1),  while  the  big-berry-gum-tree,  E.  macrocarpa 
(Fig.  2),  has  wide  leaves  with  mucronate  points.  Compare  these  with 
the  outline  Fig.  3  of  E.  globulus,  with  its  sickle-shaped  leaves,  ten 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN   THE  FUTURE.  667 

inches  long,  in  the  specimen  from  which  this  was  sketched.  Alluding 
to  the  difficulty  in  denning  the  species,  Woolls  says,  "  Botanists,  from 
Robert  Brown  to  Baron  Muller,  have  endeavored  to  reduce  the  vary- 
ing forms  to  systematic  arrangement,"  but  without  success.  And  a 
vast  amount  of  acumen  and  ingenuity  has  been  brought  to  the  task; 
such  as  the  consideration  of  the  operculum  or  cap  of  the  flower-bud, 
and  the  length  of  the  pistil.  Compare  the  long  pistil  in  the  seed-ves- 
sel of  E.  Preissiana,  left  side  of  Fig.  1,  with  the  short  one  in  the 


Fig.  2.— Eucalyptus  Macrocarpa. 

flower  of  E.  Globulus,  in  Fig.  3.  The  form  of  the  anthers  and  the 
seed-vessels,  and  the  texture  of  the  bark,  have  all  been  taken  as  fac- 
tors of  the  problem. 

Owing  to  the  bluish-green  of  its  leaves,  E.  globulus  is  popularly 
known  as  the  blue-gum  tree.  Abroad  it  is  most  known  outside  of  its 
systematic  name  as  the  Tasmanian  gum-tree,  and  Australian  fever-tree. 
Among  the  settlers,  gum-tree  is  the  general  name  of  the  eucalypts. 
But,  as  might  be  expected  of  a  genus  so  numerous  in  species,  there  are 
many  trivial  names,  such  as  blue-gum,  brown-gum,  the  red  and  the 
white  mahogany,  stringy-bark,  and  iron-bark,  etc.  The  botanists 
reckon  150  varieties.  These  all  belong  to  the  great  order  Myr- 
tacece,  or  myrtle-blooms.  And  a  decidedly  respectable  relationship 
have  these  trees  which  shed  "  their  medicinal  gum,"  for  they  are  close 
cousins  to  the  well-known  myrtle,  the  pomegranate,  pimento,  or  all- 
spice, cajeput,  and  clove.  The  flowers  of  this  order  are  known  in 
their  structure  as  calycifloral.  Perhaps  this  curious  blending,  or  con- 
fusion, of  the  calyx  and  the  corolla,  is  shown  most  interestingly  in  the 
flowers  of  these  eucalypts.  The  calyx  is  really  in  two  distinct  parts, 
a  woody  cup  below  with  an  operculum  or  lid  above.  (See  middle  fig- 
ure, bottom  of  cut  3.)     When  the  flower  is  ready  to  open  it  pushes 


668 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 


up,  and  thrusts  off  the  calyx-cover,  which  falls  to  the  earth,  carrying 
with  it  the  dubious  corolla,  which  is  intimately  united  to  it  on  its  inside. 
Thus,  what  is  left  is  the  lower  part  of  the  calyx,  which  is  really  a 
woody  cup,  with  its  pistillate  organs  in  the  centre.  But,  though  a 
cup-like  body,  it  has  four  rib-like  markings  on  the  outer  side,  which 


Fig.  3.—  Eucalyptus  Globulus  :  Adult  Leaves,  Flower,  Bud,  and  Fruit. 


plainly  indicate  the  sepaloid  divisions.  Look  at  the  fruit,  or  seed- 
capsule,  which  is  given  about  the  natural  size  at  the  bottom  and  to 
the  right  of  Fig.  3.  Bristling  from  the  inner  rim  or  edge  of  the  calyx, 
stand  the  thread-like  stamens,  each  with  its  golden  anthers  atop, 
making  a  showy  display  for  what  would  otherwise  be,  from  its  extreme 
simplicity,  a  very  unhandsome  flower. 

The  growth  of  the  young  eucalypt  affords  some  points  of  strange  in- 
terest. There  is  the  rapidity  of  growth  of  the  three  species  which  have 
been  best  tried,  and  which  certainly  will  figure  largely  as  the  world's 
future  timber-trees :  E.  globulus,  the  blue-gum ;  E.  gigantea,  the 
stringy-bark ;  and  E.  amygdalina,  the  messmate,  or  peppermint-tree. 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN   THE  FUTURE. 


669 


The  one  best  known  in  experiments  at  acclimatizing  is  the  blue-gum. 
We  have  followed  its  growth  from  seeds  planted  by  ourselves.  Last 
October  we  saw  in  the  back-yard  of  Dr.  R.  E.  Kunze,  of  this  city,  a 
eucalypt  scarcely  a  year  old,  and  over  twelve  feet  in  height.  For  four 
or  five  months  it  averaged  an  inch  a  day.  Blue-gums  but  seven  years 
from  the  seed  have  been  known  to  reach  a  height  of  sixty-five  feet, 
with  a  girth  of  stem  near  the  ground  of  forty-five  inches. 

But,  for  all  this  rapidity  of  growth,  the  young  eucalypt  seems  to 
be  doggedly  resolved  that  for  some  years  at  least  it  shall  resemble  its 
parent  in  no  particular  save  one,  namely,  the  aromatic  odor  of  its 
leaves. 

Suppose  we  compare  Figs.  3  and  4,  the  one  representing  a  young 
eucalypt,  and  the  other  an  adult — that  is,  one  old  enough  to  bear 
flowers  and  seeds.     Notice  the  stem  of  the  young  tree,  Fig.  4,  that  it 


Fig.  4. — Eucalyptus  Globulus:  a  Young  Tree. 


is  square,  or  four-sided,  like  those  of  the  labiates,  or  Mint  family 
of  plants.  On  each  side  of  this  square  stem  is  a  depression,  within 
which  the  leaf  is  attached,  which,  technically,  may  be  said  to  be  am- 
plexicaul,  or  embracing,  as  it  half  surrounds  the  stem,  and  this  at 
some  disadvantage,  since  the  attachment  is  not  at  the  angle,  but  flush 
upon  the  side  of  the  stem.  The  leaf  is  sessile,  having  no  appreciable 
petiole  or  foot-stalk.  And  the  leaves  are  opposite,  so  that  each  pair 
is  set  at  right  angles,  or  crosswise  to  the  pair  next  below  it  or  next 
above  it.     And  the  leaves  are  cordate,  or  heart-shaped,  being  deeply 


670  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

notched  at  the  base,  so  that  the  lobes  of  one  leaf  lap  over  or  lie  upon 
the  lobes  of  the  other,  thus  appearing  at  first  sight,  by  deception,  like 
the  perfoliate  leaves  on  the  upper  part  of  a  honeysuckle.  Each  leaf, 
too,  has  its  upper  and  its  lower  plane,  the  upper  one  being  exposed  to 
the  sunlight,  and  the  under  one  being  kept  in  the  shade.  The  two 
sides  of  the  leaf  differ  physiologically,  as  the  stomata,  or  breathing- 
organs,  are  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf.  The  leaves,  too,  of  the  young 
eucalypt  are  bright,  grassy  green ;  they  are  also  thin,  and  the  tissue 
soft  and  somewhat  succulent. 

Now,  not  one  of  these  particulars  is  carried  into  the  maturity  of 
the  tree.  Perhaps,  in  its  enlarged  arboreal  wisdom,  the  big  gum-tree 
eschews  them  all  as  the  indiscretions  of  its  youth.  So  the  labiate 
character,  or  four-sidedness,  gives  place  to  a  round  stem.  The  leaves 
are  now  not  amplexicaul,  but  stand  well  out  from  the  branch-stems, 
and  sometimes  even  hang  suspended.  They  have  now  long  petioles, 
or  leaf-stems.  In  fact,  as  against  the  former  sessile  character  of  the 
leaf,  the  difference  is  almost  forced  to  the  point  of  exaggeration,  since 
in  E.  globulus  the  long-lanceolate  leaf  seems  really  an  extension  and 
expansion  of  the  petiole,  or  leaf-stalk.  The  leaves  are  no  longer  oppo- 
site, but  alternate,  nor  are  they  heart-shaped,  but  long-lanceolate,  and 
often  even  falcate,  or  scythe-shaped.  Their  color  is  now  not  grass- 
green,  but  bluish-green,  and  the  points  are  tipped  with  red.  The  tis- 
sue, too,  is  changed,  for  the  leaves  are  thick,  and  leathery,  and  dry. 
Nor  has  the  leaf  now  its  sunny  side  and  its  shady  side  distinct — that  is, 
the  blade  has  no  upper  or  lower  plane,  but  an  upper  and  a  lower  edge, 
the  one  edge  being  set  toward  the  sky  and  the  other  toward  the  earth, 
thus  exposing  both  planes  equally  to  the  sunlight.  To  accomplish  this 
eccentric  adjustment  of  the  leaf,  the  petiole  actually  twists  itself,  as  if 
it  really  knew  what  it  was  about — with,  however,  seemingly  some  of 
that  discomfort  which  attends  on  strained  etiquette.  Often  the  twist 
or  contortion  is  so  evident  as  to  arrest  the  attention  at  once ;  and  the 
amount  of  torsion  is  wonderful  when  it  is  mentioned  that  the  petiole 
seems  to  delight  in  holding  the  scythe-shaped  leaf  with  its  concave 
edge  uppermost  (Fig.  3).  It  is  surely  curious  to  find  in  the  leaves  of 
the  adult  tree  the  texture  so  different  from  that  of  the  leaves  of  its 
youth.  But  the  leaf  is  now  the  seat  of  a  much  greater  physiological 
change.  The  two  planes  of  the  leaf  are  now  virtually  alike — the  same 
in  texture  and  in  organs.  The  ribs  and  veins  are  the  same,  alike 
prominent  on  each  side,  much  as  if  the  roof  of  a  house  should  have  its 
beams  and  rafters  inside  and  out.  And  two  series  of  stomata,  or 
breathing-organs,  now  appear — one  series  for  each  side  of  the  leaf. 
Here,  we  think,  lies  much  of  the  secret  of  the  great  draining  capacity 
of  the  eucalypts.  Both  sides  of  the  leaf  work  equally.  It  is  as  the 
double-cylinder  engine  against  the  single  one.  It  is  asserted  of  the 
gum-tree  that  it  can  eliminate  from  a  swampy  soil  eight  times  its  own 
weight  of  water  in  twenty-four  hours. 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN   THE  FUTURE.  671 

What,  then,  is  the  logic  of  these  facts  ?  Let  us  give  the  geologist 
the  last  word;  for  it  may  be  that,  from  his  habit  of  dealing  with  the 
floras  and  the  faunas  of  the  long  ago,  his  generalization  may  be  more 
profound  than  that  of  the  mere  systematic  botanist. 

What  about  the  eccentricities  of  the  young  eucalypt  ?  Our  men- 
tor here  denies  the  eccentricity  in  the  sense  of  freakiness.  He  sees  in 
it  a  law  of  the  Creator.  The  young  eucalypt,  he  thinks,  in  its  mar- 
velous vigor  of  growth,  is  tending  to,  or  striving  after,  the  forms  and 
conditions  of  the  higher  and  more  recent  groups ;  but  that,  with 
something  of  its  growth-vigor  abated  in  the  adult  state,  it  reverts 
back  to  its  legitimate  ancestral  type.  But  we  may  not  be  too  know- 
ing ;  and  surely  a  devout  science  can  well  afford  to  admit  with  rever- 
ence that  "  His  ways  are  past  finding  out." 

Aud  this  delver  in  the  earth  after  organic  relics  assures  us  that 
these  eucalypts  are  an  extremely  ancient  race,  and  that  they  were  for- 
merly wide-spread.  He  even  finds  them  in  the  Eocene  times,  compos- 
ing in  part  the  great  forests  of  Europe.  These,  he  tells  us,  were  the 
arboreal  ancestors  of  the  gum-trees  of  Australia ;  and  he  bids  us  note 
that,  of  the  existing  floras  of  the  world,  that  of  Australia  has  the  high- 
est antiquity.  With  this  instance,  as  almost  paralleled,  we  may  ad- 
duce the  "  big  trees  "  of  California.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these 
gigantic  and  graceful  trees  once  covered  a  large  area,  extending  into 
an  antiquity  scarcely  less  ancient  than  that  of  the  eucalypts.  Even 
snow-clad  Greenland  in  that  ancient  time  had  its  flowery  age,  and  was 
a  home  for  the  princely  sequoias. '  Now,  what  reduced  them  to  but 
two  species,  and  what  pushed  them  over  the  mountains,  and  bade 
them  be  content  with  that  small  domain  centred  by  the  Calaveras 
grove  ?  And  what  a  change  must  earth  have  undergone,  that  Aus- 
tralia should  be  isolated  from  its  once-continental  alliance,  and  these 
noble  eucalypts,  the  tallest  Titans  that  the  world  has  known,  should 
be  thus  put  upon  their  limits !  The  sequoias  promise  little,  and  seem 
doomed  ere  long  to  pass  away.  Beyond  their  beauty  and  scientific 
interest,  their  virtues  are  few.  Not  so  with  the  eucalypts.  Give 
them  a  fair  showing  of  place  and  climate,  and  they  will  thrive  and 
enrich  their  environment.  This  tree  has  the  hardiness  of  the  ancient ; 
it  also  has  virtues  which  will  enlarge  the  comforts  and  lengthen  the 
days  of  men.  As  when  some  beneficent  art,  once  enjoyed  by  a  former 
people,  has  been  lost,  and,  long  known  only  in  tradition,  has  been  re- 
discovered and  revived,  and  men  are  again  enlivened  with  hope,  so  is 
the  possession  by  the  modern  world  of  this  ancient  tree. 


672  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


INTRODUCTION  AND   SUCCESSION  OF  VERTEBRATE 

LIFE  IN  AMERICA.1 

By    Professok    O.    C.    MARSH. 
[concluded  from  march  number.] 

IT  remains  now  to  consider  the  highest  group  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, the  class  Mammalia,  which  includes  man.  Of  the  existence 
of  this  class  before  the  Trias  we  have  no  evidence,  either  in  this  country 
or  in  the  Old  World,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that,  at  essentially  the 
same  horizon  in  each  hemisphere,  similar  low  forms  of  mammals  make 
their  appearance.  Although  only  a  few  incomplete  specimens  have 
been  discovered,  they  are  characteristic  and  well  preserved,  and  all 
are  apparently  Marsupials,  the  lowest  mammalian  group  which  we 
know  in  this  country,  living  or  fossil.  The  American  Triassic  mam- 
mals are  known  at  present  only  from  two  small  lower  jaws,  on  which 
is  based  the  genus  Dromatherhcm,  supposed  to  be  related  to  the 
insect-eating  Myrmecobius,  now  living  in  Australia. 

Although  the  Jura  of  Europe  has  yielded  other  similar  mammals, 
we  have  as  yet  none  of  this  class  from  that  formation ;  while,  from 
rocks  of  Cretaceous  age,  no  mammals  are  known  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  This  is  especially  to  be  regretted,  as  it  is  evidently  to  the  Cre- 
taceous that  we  must  look  for  the  first  representatives  of  many  of  our 
present  groups  of  mammals,  as  well  as  for  indications  of  their  more 
ancient  lineage.  That  some  discovery  of  this  nature  from  the  Creta- 
ceous is  near  at  hand,  I  cannot  doubt,  when  I  consider  what  the  last 
few  years  have  brought  to  light  in  the  Eocene. 

In  the  lowest  Tertiary  beds  of  this  country  a  rich  mammalian 
fauna  suddenly  makes  its  appearance,  and,  from  that  time  through  the 
age  of  mammals  to  the  present,  America  has  been  constantly  occupied 
by  this  type  of  life  in  the  greatest  diversity  of  form.  Fortunately,  a 
nearly  continuous  record  of  this  life,  as  preserved,  is  now  accessible 
to  us,  and  insures  great  additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  genealogy 
of  mammals,  and  perhaps  the  solution  of  more  profound  problems. 
Before  proceeding  to  discuss  in  detail  American  fossil  Mammalia,  it 
is  important  to  define  the  divisions  of  time  indicated  in  our  Tertiary 
and  Post-Tertiary  deposits,  as  these  in  many  cases  mark  successive 
stages  in  the  development  of  the  mammals. 

The  boundary-line  between  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  in  the  re- 
gion of  the  Rocky  Mountains  has  been  much  in  dispute  during  the 
last  few  years,  mainly  in  consequence  of  the  uncertain  geological  bear- 
ings of  the  fossil  plants  found  near  this  horizon.     The  accompanying 

1  An  address  delivered  before  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  August  30,  1811,  by  Prof.  0.  C.  Marsh,  Vice-President. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  673 

invertebrate  fossils  have  thrown  little  light  on  the  question,  which  is 
essentially  whether  the  great  Lignite  series  of  the  West  is  uppermost 
Cretaceous  or  lowest  Eocene.  The  evidence  of  the  numerous  verte- 
brate remains  is,  in  my  judgment,  decisive,  and  in  favor  of  the  former 
view. 

This  brings  up  an  important  point  in  paleontology,  one  to  which 
my  attention  was  drawn  several  years  since,  namely :  the  compara- 
tive value  of  different  groups  of  fossils  in  marking  geological  time. 
In  examining  the  subject  with  some  care,  I  found  that,  for  this  purpose, 
plants,  as  their  nature  indicates,  are  most  unsatisfactory  witnesses; 
that  invertebrate  animals  are  much  better ;  and  that  vertebrates  afford 
the  most  reliable  evidence  of  climatic  and  other  geological  changes. 
The  subdivisfons  of  the  latter  group,  moreover,  and  in  fact  all  forms 
of  animal  life,  are  of  value  in  this  respect,  mainly  according  to  the 
perfection  of  their  organization  or  zoological  rank.  Fishes,  for  ex- 
ample, are  but  slightly  affected  by  changes  that  would  destroy  rep- 
tiles or  birds,  and  the  higher  mammals  succumb  under  influences  that 
the  lower  forms  pass  through  in  safety.  The  more  special  applica- 
tions of  this  general  law,  and  its  value  in  geology,  will  readily  suggest 
themselves. 

The  evidence  offered  by  fossil  remains  is,  in  the  light  of  this  law, 
conclusive,  that  the  line,  if  line  there  be,  separating  our  Cretaceous 
from  the  Tertiary,  must  at  present  be  drawn  where  the  Dinosaurs  and 
other  Mesozoic  vertebrates  disappear,  and  are  replaced  by  the  mam- 
mals, henceforth  the  dominant  type.1 

The  Tertiary  of  Western  America  comprises  the  most  extensive 
series  of  deposits  of  this  age  known  to  geologists,  and  important 
breaks  in  both  the  rocks  and  the  fossils  separate  it  into  three  well- 
marked  divisions.  These  natural  divisions  are  not  the  exact  equiva- 
lents of  the  Eocene,  Miocene,  and  Pliocene  of  Europe,  although  usually 
so  considered,  and  known  by  the  same  names;  but,  in  general,  the 
fauna  of  each  appears  to  be  older  than  that  of  its  corresponding  rep- 
resentative in  the  other  hemisphere;  an  important  fact,  not  hitherto 
recognized.  This  partial  resemblance  of  our  extinct  faunas  to  others 
in  regions  widely  separated,  where  the  formations  are  doubtless  some- 
what different  in  geological  age,  is  precisely  what  Ave  might  expect, 
if,  as  was  probable,  the  main  migrations  took  place  from  this  conti- 
nent. It  is  better  at  once  to  recognize  this  principle,  rather  than  at- 
tempt to  bring  into  exact  parallelism  formations  that  were  not  strictly 
contemporaneous. 

The  fresh-water  Eocene  deposits  of  our  Western  Territories,  which 
are  in  the  same  region  at  least  two  miles  in  vertical  thickness,  may 
be  separated  into  three  distinct  subdivisions.  The  lowest  of  these,  rest- 
ing unconformably  on  the  Cretaceous,  has  been  termed  the  Vermilion 
Creek,  or  Wahsatch,  group.     It  contains  a  well-marked  mammalian 

1  See  Frontispiece  Section,  March  number. 
vol.  xii. — 43 


674  THE  POPULAR    SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

fauna,  the  largest  and  most  characteristic  genus  of  which  is  the  ungu- 
late Coryphodon,  and  hence  I  have  called  these  deposits  the  Corypho- 
don  beds.  The  middle  Eocene  strata,  which  have  been  termed  the 
Green  River  and  Bridger  Series,  may  be  designated  as  the  Dinoceras 
beds,  as  the  gigantic  animals  of  this  order  are  only  found  here.  The 
uppermost  Eocene,  or  the  Uintah  group,  is  especially  well  character- 
ized by  large  mammals  of  the  genus  Diplacodon,  and  hence  may  be 
termed  the  Diplacodon  beds.  The  fauna  of  each  of  these  three  sub- 
divisions was  essentially  distinct,  and  the  fossil  remains  of  each  were 
entombed  in  different  and  successive  ancient  lakes.  It  is  important 
to  remember  that  these  Eocene  lake-basins  all  lie  between  the  Rocky 
Mountains  on  the  east  and  the  Wahsatch  Range  on  the  west,  or  along 
the  high  central  plateau  of  the  continent.  As  these  mountain  chains 
were  elevated,  the  inclosed  Cretaceous  sea,  cut  off  from  the  ocean, 
gradually  freshened,  and  formed  these  extensive  lakes,  while  the  sur- 
rounding land  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  tropical  vegetation,  and 
with  many  strange  forms  of  animal  life.  As  the  upward  movement 
of  this  region  continued,  these  lake-basins,  which  for  ages  had  been 
tilling  up,  preserving  in  their  sediments  a  faithful  record  of  Eocene 
life-history,  were  slowly  drained  by  the  constant  deepening  of  the 
outflowing  rivers,  and  they  have  since  remained  essentially  dry  land. 

The  Miocene  lake-basins  are  on  the  flanks  of  this  region,  where 
only  land  had  been  since  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous.  These  basins 
contain  three  faunas,  nearly  or  quite  distinct.  The  lowest  Miocene, 
which  is  only  found  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  alone  contains  the 
peculiar  mammals  known  as  the  Brontotherida?,  and  these  deposits 
may  be  called  the  Brontotherium  beds.  The  strata  next  above, 
which  represent  the  middle  Miocene,  have  as  their  most  characteristic 
fossil  the  genus  Oreodon,  and  are  known  as  the  Oreodon  beds.  The 
upper  Miocene,  which  occurs  in  Oregon,  is  of  great  thickness,  and 
from  one  of  its  most  important  fossils,  3fiohippus,  may  be  designated 
as  the  Miohippus  Series.  The  climate  here  during  this  period  was 
warm  temperate. 

Above  the  Miocene,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  the  Pliocene  is  well  developed,  and  is  rich  in  vertebrate 
remains.  The  strata  rest  unconformably  on  the  Miocene,  and  there 
is  a  well-marked  faunal  change  at  this  point,  modern  types  now  first 
making  their  appearance.  For  these  reasons,  we  are  justified  in 
separating  the  Miocene  from  the  Pliocene  at  this  break;  although  in 
Europe,  where  no  marked  break  exists,  the  line  seems  to  have  been 
drawn  at  a  somewhat  higher  horizon.  Our  Pliocene  forms  essentially 
a  continuous  series,  although  the  upper  beds  may  be  distinguished 
from  the  lower  by  the  presence  of  a  true  Equus,  and  some  other  ex- 
isting genera.  The  Pliocene  climate  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Mio- 
cene. The  Post-Pliocene  beds  contain  many  extinct  mammals,  and 
may  thus  be  separated  from  recent  deposits. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  675 

Returning  now  to  our  subject  from  this  geological  digression — 
which  will  hardly  be  deemed  unprofitable,  since  I  have  given  you  in 
few  words  the  results  of  a  great  deal  of  my  own  hard  mountain  work 
— let  us  consider  the  Tertiary  mammals,  as  we  know  them  front  the 
remains  already  discovered,  and  attempt  to  trace  the  history  of 
each  order  down  to  the  present  time.  We  have  seen  that  a  sin- 
gle small  Marsupial,  from  the  Trias,  is  the  only  mammal  found  in 
all  the  American  rocks  below  the  Eocene  ;  and  yet  in  beds  of  this 
age,  immediately  over  the  Chalk,  fossil  mammals  of  many  different 
kinds  abound. 

The  Marsupials,  strange  to  say,  are  here  few  in  number,  and  di- 
minutive in  size ;  and  have  as  yet  been  identified  only  by  fragmentary 
specimens,  and  most  of  them  are  too  imperfect  for  accurate  descrip- 
tion. In  the  higher  Eocene  deposits,  this  group  is  more  abundant, 
but  still  represented  by  small  animals,  most  of  them  insectivorous,  or 
carnivorous  in  habit,  like  the  existing  opossum.  From  the  Miocene 
and  Pliocene,  no  remains  of  Marsupials  have  been  described.  From 
the  Post-Tertiary,  only  specimens  nearly  allied  to  those  now  living 
are  known,  and  most  of  these  were  found  in  the  caves  of  South 
America. 

The  Edentate  1  Mammals  are  evidently  an  American  type,  and  on 
this  continent  attained  a  great  development  in  numbers  and  size.  No 
Eocene  Edentates  have  been  found  here,  and,  although  their  discovery 
in  this  formation  has  been  announced,  the  identification  proves  to  have 
been  erroneous.  In  the  Miocene  of  the  Pacific  coast,  a  few  fossils 
have  been  discovered  which  belong  to  animals  of  this  group,  and  to 
the  genus  Moropus.  There  are  two  species,  one  about  as  large  as  a 
tapir,  and  the  other  nearly  twice  that  size.  This  genus  is  the  type 
of  a  distinct  family,  the  Moropodidoz.  In  the  lower  Pliocene  above, 
well-preserved  remains  of  Edentates  of  very  large  size  have  been 
found  at  several  widely-separated  localities  in  Idaho  and  California. 
These  belong  to  the  genus  Morotherium,  of  which  two  species  are 
known.  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  lower  Pliocene  of  Ne- 
braska, a  large  species  apparently  of  the  genus  Moropus  has  been  dis- 
covered. The  horizon  of  these  later  fossils  corresponds  nearly  with 
beds  in  Europe  that  have  been  called  Miocene.  In  the  Post-Pliocene 
of  North  America,  gigantic  Edentates  were  very  numerous  and  widely 
distributed,  but  all  disappeared  with  the  close  of  that  period.  These 
forms  were  essentially  huge  sloths,  and  the  more  important  genera 
were  Megatherium^  Mylodon,  and  Megalonyx.  The  genera  Mega- 
looms  and  Myomorphus  have  been  found  only  in  Cuba. 

In  South  America,  during  the  Pliocene  or  Post-Pliocene,  enormous 
Edentates  were  still  more  abundant,  and  their  remains  are  usually  in 

1  The  Edentates  are  an  order  of  Mammals,  in  which  the  teeth  are  imperfect  or  want- 
ing. The  teeth  when  present  are  without  enamel,  or  true  roots.  This  order  includes  the 
sloths,  armadilloes,  ant-eaters,  etc. 


676  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

such  perfect  preservation  as  to  suggest  a  very  recent  period  for  their 
extinction.  The  Sloth  tribe  is  represented  by  the  huge  Mylodon, 
Megatherium,  Megalonyx,  Ccelodon,  Ochotherium,  Gnathopis,  Zesto- 
don,  Scelidotherkim,  and  Sphcenodon ;  and  among  the  Armadilloes 
were  Chlamydotherium,  Eurydon,  Glyptodon,  ETeterodon,  Pachythe- 
rium,  and  Schistopleurum.  Glossotherium,  another  extinct  genus,  is 
supposed  to  be  allied  to  the  Ant-Eaters. 

It  is  frequently  asserted,  and  very  generally  believed,  that  the 
large  number  of  huge  Edentata  which  lived  in  North  America  during 
the  Post-Pliocene  were  the  results  of  an  extensive  migration  from 
South  America  soon  after  the  elevation  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
near  the  close  of  the  Tertiary.  No  conclusive  proof  of  such  migration 
has  been  offered,  and  the  evidence,  it  seems  to  me.  so  far  as  we  now 
have  it,  is  directly  opposed  to  this  view.  No  undoubted  Tertiary 
Edentates  have  yet  been  discovered  in  South  America,  while  we  have 
at  least  two  species  in  our  Miocene,  and,  during  the  deposition  of  our 
lower  Pliocene,  large  individuals  of  this  group  were  not  uncommon 
as  far  north  as  the  forty-third  parallel  of  latitude,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  In  view  of  these  facts,  and  others  which  I  shall 
lay  before  you,  it  seems  more  natural  to  conclude,  from  our  present 
knowledge,  that  the  migration,  which  no  doubt  took  place,  was  from 
north  to  south.  The  Edentates,  finding  thus  in  South  America  a  con- 
genial home,  flourished  greatly  for  a  time,  and,  although  the  larger 
forms  are  now  all  extinct,  diminutive  representatives  of  the  group  still 
inhabit  the  same  region. 

The  Cetacea1  first  appear  in  the  Eocene,  as  in  Europe,  and  are 
comparatively  abundant  in  deposits  of  this  age  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
The  most  interesting  remains  of  this  order,  yet  found,  belong  to  the 
Zeuglodontidce,  which  are  carnivorous  whales,  and  the  only  animals 
of  the  order  with  teeth  implanted  by  two  roots.  The  principal  genera 
of  this  family  are  Zeuglodon  and  Squalodon,  the  former  genus  being 
represented  by  gigantic  forms,  some  of  which  were  seventy  feet  in 
length.  The  genus  Saurocetes,  which  includes  some  small  animals  of 
this  group,  has  been  found  in  South  America.  The  Dolphin  family 
{Delphinidce)  are  well  represented  in  the  Miocene,  both  on  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Pacific  coast.  The  best-known  genus  is  Priscodelphinus,  of 
which  several  species  have  been  described.  Several  other  generic 
names  which  have  been  applied  to  fragments  need  not  here  be  enu- 
merated. In  none  of  the  Tertiary  species  of  this  family  were  the 
cervical  vertebra?  anchylosed.  The  Sperm  Whales  ( Catodontidm) 
were  also  abundant  throughout  the  Tertiary,  and  with  them,  in  the 
earlier  beds,  various  Ziphioid  forms  have  been  found.  The  toothless 
Balmnidaz  are  only  known  with  certainty  as  fossils  from  the  later 
Tertiary  and^  more  recent  deposits. 

1  Cctarca,  an  order  of  marine  mammals  which  includes  among  its  living  representa- 
tives the  whales,  dolphins,  porpoises,  narwhal,  etc. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  677 

The  Sirenians,1  which  appear  first  in  the  Eocene  of  the  Old  World, 
occur  in  the  Miocene  of  our  eastern  coast,  and  throughout  the  later 
Tertiary.  The  specimens  described  have  all  been  referred  to  the  genus 
Manatus,  and  seem  closely  related  to  our  living  species.  In  the  Ter- 
tiary of  Jamaica,  a  skull  has  been  fomid  which  indicates  a  new  genus, 
Prorastomus,  also  allied  to  the  existing  manatee.  The  genus  Phytina, 
once  abundant  on  our  Northwest  coast,  has  recently  become  extinct. 

The  Ungulates  2  are  the  most  abundant  mammals  in  the  Tertiary, 
and  the  most  important,  since  they  include  a  great  variety  of  types, 
some  of  which  we  can  trace  through  their  various  changes  down  to 
the  modified  forms  that  represent  them  to-day.  Of  the  various  divis- 
ions in  this  comprehensive  group,  the  Perissodactyle,  or  odcl-toed  Un- 
gulates, are  evidently  the  oldest,  and  throughout  the  Eocene  are  the 
prevailing  forms.  Although  all  of  the  Perissodactyles  of  the  earlier 
Tertiary  are  more  or  less  generalized,  they  are  still  quite  distinct  from 
the  Artiodactyles,  even  at  the  base  of  the  Eocene.  One  family,  how- 
ever, the  Coryphodotitidce,  which  is  well  represented  at  this  horizon, 
both  in  America  and  Europe,  although  essentially  Perissodactyle,  pos- 
sesses some  characters  which  point  to  a  primitive  Ungulate  type  from 
which  the  present  orders  have  been  evolved.  Among  these  characters 
are  the  diminutive  brain,  which  in  size  and  form  approaches  that  of 
the  reptiles,  and  also  the  five-toed  feet,  from  which  all  the  various 
forms  of  the  mammalian  foot  have  been  derived.  Of  this  family,  only 
a  single  genus,  Coryphodon  (Pathmodon),  is  known,  but  there  were 
several  distinct  species.  They  were  the  largest  mammals  of  the  lower 
Eocene,  some  exceeding  in  size  the  existing  tapirs. 

In  the  middle  Eocene,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  remarkable 
group  of  Ungulates  makes  its  appearance.  These  animals  nearly 
equaled  the  elephant  in  size,  but  had  shorter  limbs.  The  skull  was 
armed  with  two  or  three  pairs  of  horn-cores,  and  with  enormous  canine 
tusks.  The  brain  was  proportionally  smaller  than  in  any  other  land 
mammal.  The  feet  had  five  toes,  and  resembled  in  their  general 
structure  those  of  Coryphydon,  thus  indicating  some  affinity  with  that 
genus.  These  mammals  resemble  in  some  respects  the  Perissodac- 
tyles, and  in  others  the  Proboscidians,  yet  differ  so  widely  from  any 
known  Ungulates,  recent  or  fossil,  that  they  must  be  regarded  as  form- 
ing a  distinct  order,  the  Dinocerata.  Only  three  genera  are  known, 
Pinoceras,  Tinoceras,  and  Uintatherium,  but  quite  a  number  of  spe- 
cies have  been  described.  During  the  later  part  of  the  middle  Eo- 
cene these  animals  were  very  abundant  for  a  short  time,  and  then  be- 

1  Sirenia,  an  order  of  aquatic  mammals  represented  at  present  only  by  the  manatee 
and  dugong. 

2  Ungulata.  As  now  used,  this  term  is  employed  to  designate  that  order  of  mammals 
which  contains  the  Artiodadyla,  or  even-toed,  and  the  Perissodactyla,  or  odd-toed,  mam- 
mals with  hoofs.  It  thus  includes,  among  the  former,  the  camels,  giraffe,  bovines,  ante- 
lopes, deer,  musks,  swine,  and  hippopotami ;  and,  among  the  latter,  the  horses,  rhinoce- 
roses, and  tapirs. 


678  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

came  extinct,  leaving  apparently  no  successor,  unless  possibly  we 
have  in  the  Proboscidians  their  much-modified  descendants.  Their 
genetic  connection  with  the  Coryphodonts  is  much  more  probable,  in 
view  of  what  we  now  know  of  the  two  groups. 

Besides  these  peculiar  mammals,  which  are  extinct,  and  mainly  of 
interest  to  the  biologist,  there  were  others  in  the  early  Tertiary  which 
remind  us  of  those  at  present  living  around  us.  When  a  student  in 
Germany  some  twelve  years  ago,  I  heard  a  world-renowned  Professor 
of  Zoology  gravely  inform  his  pupils  that  the  horse  was  a  gift  of  the 
Old  World  to  the  New,  and  was  entirely  unknown  in  America  until 
introduced  by  the  Spaniards.  After  the  lecture  I  asked  him  whether 
no  earlier  remains  of  horses  had  been  found  on  this  continent,  and 
was  told  in  reply  that  the  reports  to  that  effect  were  too  unsatisfac- 
tory to  be  presented  as  facts  in  science.  This  remark  led  me,  on  my 
return,  to  examine  the  subject  myself,  and  I  have  since  unearthed, 
with  my  own  hands,  not  less  than  thirty  distinct  species  of  the  horse 
tribe  in  the  Tertiary  deposits  of  the  West  alone ;  and  it  is  now,  I 
think,  generally  admitted  that  America  is,  after  all,  the  true  home  of 
the  horse. 

I  can  offer  you  no  better, illustration  than  this  of  the  advance  ver- 
tebrate paleontology  has  made  during  the  last  decade,  or  of  the 
important  contributions  to  this  progress  which  our  Rocky  Mountain 
region  has  supplied. 

The  oldest  representative  of  the  horse,  at  present  known,  is  the 
diminutive  Eohippus,  from  the  lower  Eocene.  Several  species  have 
been  found,  all  about  the  size  of  a  fox.  Like  most  of  the  early  mam- 
mals, these  Ungulates  had  forty-four  teeth,  the  molars  with  short 
crowns,  and  quite  distinct  in  form  from  the  premolars.  The  ulna  and 
the  fibula  were  entire  and  distinct,  and  there  were  four  well-developed 
toes,  and  a  rudiment  of  another  on  the  fore-feet,  and  three  toes  behind. 
In  the  structure  of  the  feet,  and  in  the  teeth,  the  Eohippus  indicates 
unmistakably  that  the  direct  ancestral  line  to  the  modern  horse  has 
already  separated  from  the  other  Perissodactyles.  In  the  next  higher 
division  of  the  Eocene,  another  genus,  OroMppus,  makes  its  appear- 
ance, replacing  Eohippus,  and  showing  a  greater,  although  still  dis- 
tant, resemblance  to  the  Equine  type.  The  rudimentary  first  digit  of 
the  fore-foot  has  disappeared,  and  the  last  premolar  has  gone  over  to 
the  molar  series.  OroMppus  was  but  little  larger  than  Eohippus,  and 
in  most  other  respects  very  similar.  Several  species  have  been  found 
in  the  same  horizon  with  Dinoceras,  and  others  lived  during  the  upper 
Eocene  with  Diplacodon,  but  none  later.1 

Near  the  base  of  the  Miocene,  in  the  Brontotherium  beds,  we  find 
a  third  closely-allied  genus,  Mesohippus,  which  is  about  as  large  as  a 

1  Since  this  address  was  delivered,  I  have  found  in  the  Diplacodon  beds  a  new  genus 
of  Equines  {Ejnhippus),  which  is  larger  than  OroMppus,  and  has  the  same  number  of  toes, 
but  has  two  premolar  teeth  like  the  molars. — 0.  C.  M. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  679 

sheep,  and  one  stage  nearer  the  horse.  Three  are  only  three  toes  and 
a  rudimentary  splint  hone  in  the  fore  feet,  and  three  toes  behind. 
Two  of  the  premolar  teeth  are  quite  like  the  molars.  The  ulna  is  no 
lono-er  distinct,  or  the  fibula  entire,  and  other  characters  show  clearly 
that  the  transition  is  advancing.  In  the  upper  Miocene,  Mesohippus 
is  not  found,  but  in  its  place  a  fourth  form,  Miohippus,  continues  the 
line.  This  genus  is  near  the  Anchitherium  of  Europe,  but  presents 
several  important  differences.  The  three  toes  in  each  foot  are  more 
nearly  of  a  size,  and  a  rudiment  of  the  fifth  metacarpal  bone  is  retained. 
All  the  known  species  of  this  genus  are  larger  than  those  of  Mesohip- 
pus, and  none  pass  above  the  Miocene. 

The  genus  Protohippus,  of  the  lower  Pliocene,  is  yet  more  equine, 
and  some  of  its  species  equaled  the  ass  in  size.  There  are  still  three 
toes  on  each  foot,  but  only  the  middle  one,  corresponding  to  the  single 
toe  of  the  horse,  comes  to  the  ground.  This  genus  resembles  most 
nearly  the  Hipparion  of  Europe.  In  the  Pliocene,  we  have  the  last 
stage  of  the  series  before  reaching  the  horse,  in  the  genus  JPliohippus, 
which  has  lost  the  small  hooflets,  and  in  other  respects  is  very  equine. 
Only  in  the  upper  Pliocene  does  the  true  Eqims  appear,  and  complete 
the  genealogy  of  the  horse,  which  in  the  Post-Tertiaiy  roamed  over 
the  whole  of  North  and  South  America,  and  soon  after  became  extinct. 
This  occurred  long  before  the  discovery  of  the  continent  by  Europeans, 
and  no  satisfactory  reason  for  the  extinction  has  yet  been  given.  Be- 
sides the  characters  I  have  mentioned,  there  are  many  others,  in  the 
skeleton,  skull,  teeth,  and  brain,  of  the  forty  or  more  intermediate 
species,  which  show  that  the  transition  from  the  Eocene  Eohippus  to 
the  modern  Equus  has  taken  place  in  the  order  indicated ;  and  I  believe 
the  specimens  now  at  New  Haven  will  demonstrate  the  fact  to  any 
anatomist.  They  certainly  carried  prompt  conviction  to  the  first  of 
anatomists,  who  was  the  honored  guest  of  the  Association  a  year  ago, 
whose  genius  had  already  indicated  the  later  genealogy  of  the  horse  in 
Europe,  and  whose  own  researches  so  well  qualified  him  to  appreciate 
the  evidence  here  laid  before  him.  Did  time  permit,  I  might  give  you 
at  least  a  probable  explanation  of  this  marvelous  transition,  but  jus- 
tice to  the  comrades  of  the  horse  in  his  long  struggle  for  existence 
demands  that  some  notice  of  their  efforts  should  be  placed  on  record. 

Besides  the  horse  and  his  congeners,  the  only  existing  Perissodac- 
tyles  are  the  rhinoceros  and  tapir.  The  last  is  the  oldest  type,  but  the 
rhinoceros  had  near  allies  throughout  the  Tertiary;  and,  in  view  of 
the  continuity  of  the  equine  line,  it  is  well  worth  while  to  attempt  to 
trace  his  pedigree.  At  the  bottom  of  the  Eocene,  in  our  Western 
lake-basins,  the  tapiroirl  genus  Selaletes  is  found,  represented  by  nu- 
merous small  mammals  hardly  larger  than  the  diminutive  horses  of 
that  day.  In  the  following  epoch  of  the  Eocene,  the  closely-allied 
Hyrachyus  was'  one  of  the  most  abundant  animals.  This  genus  was 
nearly  related  to  the  Lophiodon  of  Europe,  and  in  its  teeth  and  skele- 


680  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ton  strongly  resembled  the  living  tapir,  whose  ancestry,  to  this  point, 
seems  to  coincide  with  that  of  the  rhinoceros  we  are  considering. 
Strangely  enough,  the  rhinoceros  line,  before  it  becomes  distinct, 
separates  into  two  branches.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  Dinoceras 
beds  we  have  the  genus  Colonoceras,  which  is  really  a  Hyrachyus 
with  a  transverse  pair  of  very  rudimentary  horn-cores  on  the  nasal 
bones.  In  the  lower  Miocene  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  this  line 
seems  to  pass  on  through  the  genus  Dicer atherhim,  and  in  the  higher- 
Miocene  this  genus  is  well  represented.  Some  of  the  species  nearly 
equaled  in  size  the  existing  rhinoceros,  which  Dieeratherium  strongly 
resembled.  The  main  difference  between  them  is  a  most  interesting 
one.  The  rudimentary  horn-cores  on  the  nasals,  seen  in  Colonoceras, 
are  in  Dieeratherium  developed  into  strong  bony  supports  for  horns, 
which  were  placed  transversely,  as  in  the  ruminants,  and  not  on  the 
median  line,  as  in  all  existing  forms  of  rhinoceros.  In  the  Pliocene 
of  the  Pacific  coast,  a  large  rhinoceros  has  been  discovered,  which 
may  be  a  descendant  of  Dieeratherium ;  but,  as  the  nasal  bones  have 
not  been  found,  we  must  wait  for  further  evidence  on  this  point.  Re- 
turning now  to  the  other  branch  of  the  rhinoceros  group,  which  left 
their  remains  mainly  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  we  find  that  all 
the  known  forms  are  hornless.  The  upper  Eocene  genus,  Amynodon, 
is  the  oldest  known  rhinoceros,  and  by  far  the  most  generalized  of  the 
family.  The  premolars  are  all  unlike  the  molars ;  the  four  canines  are 
of  large  size,  but  the  inner  incisor  in  each  jaw  is  lost  in  the  fully  adult 
animal.  The  nasals  were  without  horns.  There  were  four  toes  in 
front,  and  three  behind.  The  genus  Hyracodon,  of  the  Miocene,  which 
is  essentially  a  rhinoceros,  has  a  full  set  of  incisor  and  canine  teelh ; 
and  the  molars  are  so  nearly  like  those  of  its  predecessor,  Hyrachyus, 
that  no  one  will  question  the  transformation  of  the  older  into  the  newer 
type.  Hyracodon,  however,  appears  to  be  off  the  true  line,  for  it  has 
but  three  toes  in  front.  In  the  higher  Miocene  beds,  and  possibly  with 
Hyracodon,  occurs  a  larger  rhinoceros,  which  has  been  referred  to  the 
genus  Aceratherium.  This  form  has  lost  the  canine  and  one  incisor 
above,  and  two  incisors  below.  In  the  Pliocene  are  several  species 
closely  related,  and  of  large  size.  Above  the  Pliocene  in  America,  no 
vestiges  of  the  rhinoceros  have  been  found;  and  our  American  forms, 
doubtless,  became  extinct  at  the  close  of  this  period. 

The  tapir  is  clearly  an  old  American  type;  and  we  have  seen  that, 
in  the  Eocene,  the  genera  Helaletes  and  Hyrachyus  were  so  strongly 
tapiroid  in  their  principal  characters  that  the  main  line  of  descent 
probably  passed  through  them.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Miocene  of 
the  West,  so  greatly  developed  as  it  is  on  both  sides  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  should  have  yielded  but  a  few  fragments  of  tapiroid  mam- 
mals; and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Pliocene  of  that  region.  In  the 
Miocene  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  too,  only  a  few  imperfect  specimens 
have  been  found.     These  forms  all  apparently  belong  to  the  genus 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  681 

Tapiravus,  although  most  of  them  have  been  referred  to  Lophiodon — 
a  lower  Eocene  type.  In  the  Post-Tertiary,  a  true  Tapirus  was 
abundant;  and  its  remains  have  been  found  in  various  parts  of  North 
America.  The  line  of  descent,  although  indistinct  through  the  mid- 
dle and  upper  Tertiary,  was  doubtless  continuous  in  America ;  and 
several  species  exist  at  present  from  Mexico  southward.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  the  species  north  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  appear  all 
to  be  generically  distinct  from  those  of  South  America. 

In  addition  to  these  three  Perissodactyle  types,  which,  as  the  fittest, 
have  alone  survived,  and  whose  lineage  I  have  endeavored  to  trace, 
there  were  many  others  in  early  Tertiary  times.  Some  of  these  dis- 
appeared with  the  close  of  the  Eocene,  while  others  continued,  and 
assumed  strange  specialized  shapes  in  the  Miocene,  before  their  de- 
cline and  extinction.  One  series  of  the  latter  deserves  especial  men- 
tion, as  it  includes  one  of  the  most  interesting  families  of  our  extinct 
animals.  Among  the  large  mammals  in  the  lower  Eocene  is  Limno- 
hyus,  a  true  Perissodactyle,  but  only  known  hei'e  from  fragments  of 
the  skeleton.  In  the  next  higher  beds,  this  genus  is  well  represented, 
and  with  it  is  found  a  nearly  allied  form,  Palmosyops.  In  the  upper 
Eocene,  both  have  left  the  field,  and  the  genus  Diplacoclon,  a  very 
near  relative,  holds  the  supremacy.  The  lirie  seems  clear  through 
these  three  genera,  but  on  crossing  the  break  into  the  Miocene,  we 
have  apparently,  as  next  of  kin,  the  huge  Brontotheridce.  These 
strange  beasts  show  in  their  dentition  and  some  other  characters  the 
same  transition  steps  beyond  the  Diplacodon,  which  that  genus  had 
,  made  beyond  Palceosyop>s.  The  Brontotheridce  were  nearly  as  large  as 
the  elephant,  but  had  much  shorter  limbs.  The  skull  was  elongated, 
and  had  a  transverse  pair  of  large  horn-cores  on  the  maxillaries,  in 
front  of  the  orbits,  like  the  middle  pair  in  Dinoceras,  There  were 
four  toes  in  front  and  three  behind,  and  the  feet  were  similar  to 
those  of  the  rhinoceros.  There  are  four  genera  in  this  group,  Bron- 
totherium  ;  Diconodon ;  Menodus  (Titanotherium) ;  and  Me g acerops, 
which  have  been  found  only  in  the  lowest  Miocene,  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

In  the  higher  Miocene  beds  of  Oregon,  an  allied  genus,  Chalicothe- 
rium,  makes  its  appearance.  It  is  one  stage  further  on  in  the  transition, 
and  perhaps  a  descendant  of  the  Brontotheridce ;  but  here,  so  far  as 
now  known,  the  line  disappears.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  this 
genus  has  now  been  found  in  Western  America,  China,  India,  Greece, 
Germany,  and  France,  indicating  thus,  as  I  believe,  the  path  by  which 
many  of  our  ancient  mammals  helped  to  people  the  so-called  Old 
World. 

The  Artiodactyles,1  or  even-toed  Ungulates,  are  the  most  abundant 

1  Artiodadyla,  a  sub-order  of  the  Ungulata,  in  which  the  third  and  fourth  digits  are 
nearly  equally  developed,  and  their  ungual  phalanges  are  flattened  on  their  contiguous 
sides,  so  that  together  they  constitute  a  symmetrical  form.  The  axis,  or  middle  line,  of 
the  whole  foot  lies  between  the  third  and  fourth  digits. 


682  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  the  larger  mammals  now  living ;  and  the  group  dates  back  at  least 
to  the  lowest  Eocene.  Of  the  two  well-marked  divisions  of  this 
order,  the  Bunodonts  1  and  the  Selenodonts,2  as  happily  defined  by 
Kowalevsky,  the  former  is  the  older  type,  which  must  have  separated 
from  the  Perissodactyle  line  after  the  latter  had  become  differentiated 
from  the  primitive  Ungulate.  In  the  Coryphodon  beds  of  New 
Mexico  occurs  the  oldest  Artiodactyle  yet  found,  but  it  is  at  present 
known  only  from  fragmentary  specimens.  These  remains  are  clearly 
Suilline  in  character,  and  belong  to  the  genus  Eohyus.  In  the  beds 
above,  and  possibly  even  in  the  same  horizon,  the  genus  Helohyus  is 
not  uncommon,  and  several  species  are  known.  The  molar  teeth  of 
this  genus  are  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Eocene  Hyracotherium,  of 
Europe,  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  Perissodactyle,  while  Helohyus  cer- 
tainly is  not,  but  apparently  a  true  lineal  ancestor  of  the  existing  pigs. 
In  every  vigorous  primitive  type  which  was  destined  to  survive  many 
geological  changes,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  tendency  to  throw  off 
lateral  branches,  which  became  highly  specialized  and  soon  died  out, 
because  they  are  unable  to  adapt  themselves  to  new  conditions.  The 
narrow  path  of  the  persistent  Suilline  type,  throughout  the  whole  Ter- 
tiary, is  strewed  with  the  remains  of  such  ambitious  offshoots;  while 
the  typical  pig,  with  an  obstinacy  never  lost,  has  held  on  in  spite  of 
catastrophes  and  evolution,  and  still  lives  in  America  to-day.  In  the 
lower  Eocene,  we  have  in  the  genus  Parahyvs  apparently  one  of  these 
short-lived,  specialized  branches.  It  attained  a  much  larger  size  than 
the  true  lineal  forms,  and  the  number  of  its  teeth  was  reduced.  In 
the  Dinoceras  beds,  or  middle  Eocene,  we  have  still,  on  or  near  the 
true  line,  Helohyus,  which  is  the  last  of  the  series  known  from  the 
American  Eocene.  All  these  early  Suillines,  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  Parahyus,  appear  to  have  had  at  least  four  toes  of  usable 
size. 

In  the  lower  Miocene,  we  find  the  genus  Perchcerus,  seemingly  a 
true  Suilline,  and  with  it  remains  of  a  larger  form,  Elotherium,  are 
abundant.  The  latter  genus  occurs  in  Europe  in  nearly  the  same  hori- 
zon, and  the  specimens  known  from  each  continent  agree  closely  in 
general  characters.  The  name  Pelonax  has  been  applied  erroneously 
to  some  of  the  American  forms ;  but  the  specimens  on  which  it  was 
based  clearly  belong  to  Elotherium.  This  genus  affords  another  ex- 
ample of  the  aberrant  Suilline  offshoots,  already  mentioned.  Some 
of  the  species  were  nearly  as  large  as  a  rhinoceros,  and  in  all  there 
were  but  two  serviceable  toes ;  the  outer  digits,  seen  in  living  animals 
of  this  group,  being  represented  only  by  small  rudiments  concealed 
beneath  the  skin.  In  the  upper  Miocene  of  Oregon,  Suillines  are  abun- 
dant, and  almost  all  belong  to  the  genus  Thinohyus,  a  near  ally  of 

1  Bunodont  (hill-tooth) ;  hence,  teeth  the  crowns  of  which  are  composed  of  rounded 
tubercles. 

2  Selenodont  (moon-tooth) ;  teeth  which  have  the  crowns  marked  by  crescents. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  683 

the  modern  peccary  (Dicotyles),  but  having  a  greater  number  of  teeth, 
and  a  few  other  distinguishing  features.  In  the  Pliocene,  Suillines  are 
still  numerous,  and  all  the  American  forms  yet  discovered  are  closely 
related  to  Dicotyles.  The  genus  Flatygonns  is  represented  by  several 
species,  one  of  which  was  very  abundant  in  the  Post-Tertiary  of  North 
America,  and  is  apparently  the  last  example  of  a  side  branch,  before 
the  American  Suillines  culminate  in  existing  peccaries.  The  feet  in 
this  species  are  more  specialized  than  in  the  living  forms,  and  approach 
some  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  ruminants ;  as,  for  example,  a  strong 
tendency  to  coalescence  in  the  metapodial  bones.  The  genus  Platygo- 
nus  became  extinct  in  the  Post-Tertiary,  and  the  later  and  existing 
species  are  all  true  peccaries. 

No  authenticated  remains  of  the  genera  Sus,  Porcus,  Phacochoerus, 
or  the  allied  Hippopotamus,  the  Old  World  Suillines,  have  been  found 
in  America,  although  several  announcements  to  that  effect  have  been 
made. 

In  the  series  of  generic  forms  between  the  lower  Eocene  Eohyus 
and  the  existing  Picotyles,  which  I  have  very  briefly  discussed,  we 
have  appai*ently  the  ancestral  line  ending  in  the  typical  American 
Suillines.  Although  the  demonstration  is  not  yet  as  complete  as  in 
the  lineage  of  the  horse,  this  is  not  owing  to  want  of  material,  but 
rather  to  the  fact  that  the  actual  changes  which  transformed  the  early 
Tertiary  pig  into  the  modern  peccary  were  comparatively  slight,  so 
far  as  they  are  indicated  in  the  skeletons  preserved,  while  the  lateral 
branches  were  so  numerous  as  to  confuse  the  line.  It  is  clear,  how- 
ever, that  from  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous  to  the  Post-Tertiary  the 
Bunodont  Artiodactyles  were  especially  abundant  on  this  continent, 
and  only  recently  have  approached  extinction. 

The  Selenodont  division  of  the  Artiodactyles  is  a  more  interesting 
group  and,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  makes  its  first  appearance  in  the 
upper  Eocene  of  the  West,  although  forms,  apparently  transitional,  be- 
tween it  and  the  Bunodonts  occur  in  the  Dinoceras  beds,  or  middle 
Eocene.  These  belong  to  the  genus  Uomacodon,  which  is  very  nearly 
allied  to  Helohyus,  and  bxit  a  single  step  away  from  this  genus  toward 
the  Selenodonts.  By  a  fortunate  discovery,  a  nearly  complete  skele- 
ton of  this  rare  intermediate  form  has  been  brought  to  light,  and  we 
are  thus  enabled  to  define  its  characters.  Several  species  of  LTomaco- 
don  are  known,  all  of  small  size.  This  primitive  Selenodont  had  forty- 
four  teeth,  which  formed  a  nearly  continuous  series. 

The  molar  teeth  are  very  similar  to  those  of  Helohyus,  but  the 
cones  on  the  crowns  have  become  partially  triangular  in  outline,  so 
that,  when  worn,  the  Selenodont  pattern  is  clearly  recognizable.  The 
first  and  second  upper  molars,  moreover,  have  three  distinct  posterior 
cusps,  and  two  in  front ;  a  peculiar  feature,  which  is  seen  also  in  the 
European  genera  Dichobune  and  Cainotherium.  There  were  four  toes 
on  each  foot,  and  the  metapodial  bones  were  distinct.     The  type  spe- 


684  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

cies  of  this  genus  was.  about  as  large  as  a  cat.     With  Helohyus,  this 
o-enus  forms  a  well-marked  family,  the  Helohyidw. 

In  the  Uiplacodon  horizon  of  the  upper  Eocene,  the  Selenodont  den- 
tition is  no  longer  doubtful,  as  it  is  seen  in  most  of  the  Artiodactyla 
yet  found  in  these  beds.  These  animals  are  all  small,  and  belong  to 
at  least  three  distinct  genera.  One  of  these,  Eomeryx,  closely  resem- 
bles Ilomacodon  in  most  of  its  skeleton,  and  has  four  toes,  but  its 
teeth  show  well-marked  crescents,  and  a  partial  transition  to  the  teeth 
of  Hyopotamus,  frum  the  Eocene  of  Europe.  With  this  genus  is  an- 
other, Parameryx,  also  closely  allied  to  Ilomacodon,  but  apparently 
a  straggler  from  the  true  line,  as  it  has  but  three  toes  behind.  The 
most  pronounced  Selenodont  in  the  upper  Eocene  is  the  Oromeryx, 
which  genus  appears  to  be  allied  to  the  existing  Deer  family,  or  Cervi- 
dce,  and  if  so  is  the  oldest  known  representative  of  the  group.  These 
facts  are  important,  as  it  has  been  supposed,  until  very  recently,  that 
our  Eocene  contained  no  even-hoofed  mammals. 

In  the  lowest  Miocene  of  the  West,  no  true  crescent-toothed  Ar- 
tiodactyla have  as  yet  been  identified,  with  the  exception  of  a  single 
species  of  Hyopotamus ;  but,  in  the  overlying  beds  of  the  middle 
Miocene,  remains  of  the  Oreodontidaz  occur  in  such  vast  numbers  as  to 
indicate  that  these  animals  must  have  lived  in  large  herds  around  the 
borders  of  the  lake-basins  in  which  their  remains  have  been  entombed. 
These  basins  are  now  the  denuded  deserts  so  well  termed  Jfaicvaises 
Terres  by  the  early  French  trappers.  The  least  specialized,  and  appar- 
ently the  oldest,  genus  of  this  group  is  Agriochoerus,  which  so  nearly 
resembles  the  older  Hyopotamus,  and  the  still  more  ancient  Eomeryx, 
that  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  they  all  belonged  to  the  same  ancestral 
line.  The  typical  Oreodonts  are  the  genera  Oreodon  and  Epormdon, 
which  have  been  aptly  termed  by  Leidy  ruminating  hogs.  They  had 
forty-four  teeth,  and  four  well-developed  toes  on  each  foot.  The  true 
Oreodons,  which  were  most  numerous  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
were  about  as  large  as  the  existing  peccary,  while  Eporeodon,  which 
was  nearly  twice  this  size,  was  very  abundant  in  the  Miocene  of  the 

Pacific  slope. 

In  the  succeeding  Pliocene  formation,  on  each  side  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  genus  3Ierychyus  is  one  of  the  provailing  forms,  and 
continues  the  line  on  from  the  Miocene,  where  the  true  Oreodons  be- 
came extinct.  Beyond  this,  we  have  the  genus  Merychochoerus,  which 
is  so  nearly  allied  to  the  last  that  they  would  be  united  by  many 
naturalists.  With  the  close  of  the  Pliocene,  this  series  of  peculiar 
ruminants  abruptly  terminates,  no  member  surviving  until  the  Post- 
Tertiary,  so  far  as  known. 

A  most  interesting  line,  that  leading  to  the  camels  and  llamas, 
separates  from  the  primitive  Selenodont  branch  in  the  Eocene,  prob- 
ably through  the  genus  Parameryx.  In  the  Miocene,  we  find  m 
Poebrotherium  and  some  nearly  allied  forms  unmistakable  indications 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  685 

that  the  Cameloid  type  of  ruminant  had  already  become  partially 
specialized,  although  there  is  a  complete  series  of  incisor  teeth,  and 
the  metapodial  bones  are  distinct.  In  the  Pliocene,  the  camel  tribe 
was,  next  to  the  horses,  the  most  abundant  of  the  larger  mammals. 
The  line  is  continued  through  the  genus  JProcamelus,  and  perhaps 
others,  and  in  this  formation  the  incisors  first  begin  to  diminish,  and 
the  metapodials  to  unite.  In  the  Post-Tertiary  we  have  a  true  Auche- 
nia,  represented  by  several  species,  and  others  in  South  America, 
where  the  alpacas  and  llamas  still  survive.  From  the  Eocene  almost 
to  the  present  time,  North  America  has  been  the  home  of  vast  num- 
bers of  the  Camelidce,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  origi- 
nated here,  and  migrated  to  the  Old  World. 

Returning  once  more  to  the  upper  Eocene,  we  find  another  line  of 
descent  starting  from  Oromeryx,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  appar- 
ently then  just  become  differentiated  from  the  older  Bunodont  type. 
Throughout  the  middle  and  upper  Miocene,  this  line  is  carried  for- 
ward by  the  genus  Leptomeryx  and  its  near  allies,  which  resemble  so 
strongly  the  Pliocene  Cervidce  that  they  may  fairly  be  regarded  as 
their  probable  progenitors.  Possibly  some  of  these  forms  may  be  re- 
lated to  the  Tragididce,  but  at  present  the  evidence  is  against  it. 

The  deer  family  has  representatives  in  the  upper  Miocene  of  Eu- 
rope, which  contains  fossils  strongly  resembling  the  fauna  of  our 
lower  Pliocene,  a  fact  always  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  comparing  the 
horizon  of  any  group  in  the  two  continents.  Several  species  of  Cer- 
vidce, belonging  to  the  genus  Cosoryx,  are  known  from  the  lower  Pli- 
ocene of  the  West,  and  all  have  very  small  antlers,  divided  into  a 
single  pair  of  tynes.  The  statement  recently  published,  that  most  of 
these  antlers  had  been  broken  during  the  life  of  the  animals,  is  unsup- 
ported by  any  evidence,  and  is  erroneous.  These  primitive  deer  do 
not  have  the  orbit  closed  behind,  and  they  have  all  the  four  metapodial 
bones  entire,  although  the  second  and  fifth  are  very  slender.  In  the 
upper  Pliocene,  a  true  Cervus  of  large  size  has  been  discovered.  In 
the  Post-Tertiary,  Cervus,  Alees,  and  Tarandus,  have  been  met  with, 
the  latter  far  south  of  its  present  range.  In  the  caves  of  South  Amer- 
ica, remains  of  Cervus  have  been  found,  and  also  two  species  of  ante- 
lopes, one  referred  to  a  new  genus,  Leptotherium. 

The  hollow-horned  ruminants,  in  this  country,  appear  to  date  back 
no  further  than  to  the  lower  Pliocene,  and  here  only  two  species  of 
Itison  have  as  yet  been  discovered.  In  the  Post-Tertiary  this  genus 
was  represented  by  numerous  individuals  and  several  species,  some  of 
large  size.  The  musk-ox  ( Ovibos)  was  not  uncommon  during  some 
parts  of  this  epoch,  and  its  remains  are  widely  distributed. 

No  authentic  fossil  remains  of  true  sheep,  goats,  or  giraffes,  have 
as  yet  been  found  on  this  continent. 

The  Proboscidians,1  which   are  now  separated  from  the  typical 

1  Proboscidea,  the  mammalian  order  which  contains  the  elephants,  and  extinct  masto- 
don and  mammoth. 


686  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Ungulates  as  a  distinct  order,  make  their  first  appearance  in  North 
America  in  the  lower  Pliocene,  where  several  species  of  Mastodon 
have  been  found.  This  genus  occurs,  also,  in  the  upper  Pliocene,  and 
in  the  Post-Tertiary ;  although  some  of  the  remains  attributed  to  the 
latter  are  undoubtedly  older.  The  Pliocene  species  all  have  a  band 
of  enamel  on  the  tusks,  and  some  other  peculiarities  observed  in  the 
oldest  mastodons  of  Europe,  which  are  from  essentially  the  same  hori- 
zon. Two  species  of  this  genus  have  been  found  in  South  America,  in 
connection  with  the  remains  of  extinct  llamas  and  horses.  The  <renus 
Elephas  is  a  later  form,  and  has  not  yet  been  identified  in  this  country 
below  the  upper  Pliocene,  where  one  gigantic  species  was  abundant. 
In  the  Post-Pliocene,  remains  of  this  genus  are  numerous.  The  hairy 
mammoth  of  the  Old  World  {Elephas  primigenius)  was  once  abundant 
in  Alaska,  and  great  numbers  of  its  bones  are  now  preserved  in  the 
frozen  cliffs  of  that  region.  This  species  does  not  appear  to  have 
extended  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  south  of  the  Columbia 
River,  but  was  replaced  there  by  the  American  elephant,  which  pre- 
ferred a  milder  climate.  Remains  of  the  latter  have  been  met  with  in 
Canada,  throughout  the  United  States,  and  in  Mexico.  The  last  of 
the  American  mastodons  and  elephants  became  extinct  in  the  Post- 
Tertiary. 

The  order  Toxodontia  includes  two  very  peculiar  genera,  Toxodon 
and  JVesodon,  which  have  been  found  in  the  Post-Tertiary  deposits  of 
South  America.  These  animals  were  of  huge  size,  and  possessed  such 
mixed  characters  that  their  affinities  are  a  matter  of  considerable 
doubt.  They  are  thought  to  be  related  to  the  Ungulates,  Rodents,  and 
Edentates ;  but,  as  the  feet  are  unknown,  this  cannot  at  present  be 
decided. 

Macrauchenia  and  Ilomalodontotherium  are  two  other  peculiar 
genera  from  South  America,  now  extinct,  the  exact  affinities  of  which 
are  uncertain.  Anoplotherium  and  Palwotherixmi,  so  abundant  in 
Europe,  have  not  been  found  in  our  North  American  Tertiary  deposits, 
although  reported  from  South  America. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  mammals  yet  found  in  America  are 
the  Tillodontia,  which  are  comparatively  abundant  in  the  lower  and 
middle  Eocene.  These  animals  seem  to  combine  the  characters  of 
several  different  groups,  viz.,  the  Carnivores,  Ungulates,  and  Rodents. 
In  the  genus  Tillotherium,  the  type  of  the  order,  and  of  the  family 
Tillotheridce,  the  skull  resembles  that  of  the  bears;  the  molar  teeth 
are  of  the  ungulate  type,  while  the  large  incisors  are  very  similar  to 
those  of  Rodents.  The  skeleton  resembles  that  of  the  Carnivores,  but 
the  scaphoid  and  lunar  bones  are  distinct,  and  there  is  a  third  trochan- 
ter on  the  femur.  The  feet  are  plantigrade,  and  each  had  five  digits, 
all  with  long,  pointed  claws.  In  the  allied  genus  Stylinodon,  which 
belongs  to  a  distinct  family,  the  Stylinodontidw,  all  the  teeth  were 
rootless.     Some  of  these  animals  were  as  large  as  a  tapir.     The  genus 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  687 

Dryptodon  has  been  found  only  in  the  Coryphodon  beds  of  New  Mex- 
ico, while  Tillotherium  and  Stylinodon  occur  in  the  middle  Eocene  of 
Wyoming.  Anchippodus  probably  belongs  to  this  group,  which  may 
perhaps  include  some  other  forms  that  have  been  named  from  frag- 
mentary specimens. 

The  Rodents  are  an  ancient  type,  and  their  remains  are  not  unfre- 
quently  disinterred  in  the  strata  of  our  lowest  fresh-water  Eocene. 
The  earliest  known  forms  are,  apparently,  all  related  to  the  squirrels ; 
and  the  most  common  genus  is  Sciuravus,  which  continued  through- 
out the  Eocene.  A  nearly  allied  form,  which  may  prove  to  be  the 
same,  is  Pararnys,  the  species  of  which  are  larger  than  those  of  the 
older  type.  In  the  Dinoceras  beds,  the  genus  Colonomys  is  found, 
and  the  specimens  preserved  point  to  the  Muridce  as  the  nearest  living- 
allies.  A  peculiar  genus,  Apatemys,  which  also  occurs  in  the  middle 
Eocene,  has  gliriform  incisors ;  but  the  molars  resemble  those  of  In- 
sectivores.  All  the  Eocene  Rodents  known  are  of  small  size,  the 
largest  being  about  as  large  as  a  rabbit. 

In  the  middle  and  upper  Miocene  lake-basins  of  the  West,  Rodents 
abound,  but  all  are  of  moderate  size.  The  hares  first  appear  in  the 
Oreoclon  beds,  and  continue  in  considerable  numbers  through  the 
rest  of  the  Tertiary  and  Post-Tertiary,  to  the  present  day.  In  these 
beds,  the  most  common  forms  belong  to  the  Leporidce,  and  mainly 
to  the  genus  Palceola'gus.  The  Squirrel  family  is  represented  by 
Ischyromys,  the  Muridce  by  the  genus  Eumys,  and  the  beavers  by 
Palmocastor.  In  the  upper  Miocene  of  Oregon,  most  of  the  same 
genera  are  found ;  and  with  them  some  peculiar  forms,  very  unlike 
anything  now  living.  -One  of  these  is  the  genus  Allomys,  possibly 
related  to  the  flying-squirrels,  but  having  molar  teeth  somewhat  like 
those  of  the  Ungulates.  In  the  Pliocene,  east  and  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  Rodents  continue  abundant;  but  most  of  them  belong  to 
existing  genera.  Among  these  are  Castor,  Hystrix,  Cynomys,  Geomys, 
Pepus,  and  Hesperomys.  In  the  Post-Tertiary,  the  gigantic  beaver, 
Castor  oides,  was  abundant  throughout  most  of  North  America.  Hy- 
drochoerus  has  been  found  in  South  Carolina.  In  the  caves  of  the 
island  of  Anguilla,  in  the  West  Indies,  remains  of  large  extinct  Ro- 
dents, belonging  to  the  ChinchilUdo?,  have  been  discovered. 

The  early  Tertiary  Rodents  known  from  South  America  are  the 
genera  Megamys,  Theridromys,  and  a  large  species  referred  to  Arvi- 
cola.  In  Brazil,  the  Pliocene  Rodents  found  are  referred  to  the  exist- 
ing genera,  Cavia,  Kerodon,  Lagostomus,  Ctenomys,  Hesperomys,  Ox- 
ymycterus,  Arvicola,  and  Lepus.  A  new  genus,  Cardiodus,  described 
from  this  horizon,  is  a  true  rodent ;  but  the  peculiar  Typotherium, 
which  has  been  referred  to  this  order  by  some  authorities,  has  per- 
haps other  affinities.  In  the  Post-Tertiary,  the  Rodents  were  very 
abundant  in  South  America,  as  they  are  at  present.  The  species  are, 
in  most  instances,  distinct  from  those  now  living,  but  the  genera  are 


688  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

nearly  the  same.  The  Caviidce  were  especially  numerous.  Cercolabes, 
Myopotamus,  and  Lagostomus,  are  also  found ;  and  two  extinct  gen- 
era, Phyltomys  and  Lonchopliorus. 

The  Cheiroptera,  or  bats,  have  not  been  found  in  this  country 
below  the  middle  Eocene,  where  two  extinct  genera,  JYyctilestes  and 
Nyctitherium,  are  each  represented  by  numerous  remains.  These  fos- 
sils all  belong  to  small  animals,  and,  so  far  as  they  have  been  investi- 
gated, show  no  characters  of  more  than  generic  importance  to  distin- 
guish them  from  the  bats  of  to-day.  No  other  members  of  this 
group  are  known  from  our  Tertiary.  In  the  Post-Tertiary,  no  ex- 
tinct species  of  bats  have  been  found  in  North  America,  but  from  the 
caves  of  Brazil  quite  a  number  have  been  reported.  These  all  belong 
to  genera  still  living  in  South  America,  and  most  of  them  to  the  fam- 
ily Phyttostornidce. 

The  Insectivores 1  date  back,  in  this  country,  at  least  to  the  middle 
Eocene.  Here  numerous  remains  occur,  which  have  been  described  as 
belonging  to  this  order,  although  it  is  possible  that  some  of  them  were 
insect-eating  Marsupials.  The  best-known  genera  are — He?niacodon, 
Centetodon,  Talpavus,  and  PJntomacodon  ;  all  represented  by  animals 
of  small  size.  In  the  Miocene,  the  bones  of  Insectivores  are  com- 
paratively abundant,  and  the  genera  best  determined  are  Ietops  and 
Leptictis.  A  few  specimens  only  have  been  found  in  the  Pliocene  and 
Post-Pliocene,  most  of  them  related  to  the  moles.  No  extinct  Insec- 
tivores are  known  from  South  America,  and  no  member  of  the  group 
exists  there  at  present. 

The  Camivora,  or  true  flesh-eating  animals,  are  an  old  type,  well 
represented  in  the  Eocene,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  these  early  forms 
are  much  less  specialized  than  the  living  species.  In  the  Coryphodon 
beds,  the  genus  Pimnocyon,  allied  to  the  Pterodon  of  the  European 
Eocene,  is  abundant.  Another  genus,  apparently  distinct,  is  Proto- 
tomics,  and  several  others  have  been  named  from  fragmentary  fossils. 
In  the  middle  Eocene,  Carnivores  were  still  more  numerous,  and  many 
genera  have  been  discovered.  One  of  these,  Pimnofelis,  was  nearly 
as  large  as  a  lion,  and  apparently  allied  to  the  cats,  although  the 
typical  Felidce  seem  not  yet  to  have  been  differentiated.  Another 
•Carnivore,  of  nearly  equal  size,  was  Orocyon,  which  had  short,  mas- 
sive jaws  and  broad  teeth.  P)romocyon  and  Mesonyx  were  large 
animals,  allied  to  PPyoenodon.  The  teeth  were  narrow,  and  the  jaws 
long  and  slender.  Among  the  smaller  Carnivores'were — Vidpavus, 
Viverravus,  Sinopa,  Thinocyon,  and  Ziphacodon. 

In  our  Western  Miocene,  Carnivores  are  abundant,  and  make  an 
approach  to  modern  types.  The  Felidw  are  well  represented,  the 
most  interesting  genus  being  Jfachairodus,  which  is  not  uncommon 
in  the  Oreodon   beds  on  both  sides  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     An 

1  Insedivora,  that  order  of  mammals  which  includes  the  existing  moles,  shrews, 
hedgehogs,  etc. 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  689 

allied  genus  is  Dinictis,  and  several  smaller  cats  are  known  from 
about  the  same  horizon.  The  Canidce  are  represented  by  Amphicyon, 
a  European  genus,  and  by  several  species  of  Canis,  or  a  very  nearly 
allied  form.  The  peculiar  genus  Hycenodon,  found  also  in  Europe, 
and  the  type  of  a  distinct  family,  is  abundant  in  the  Miocene  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  has  not  yet  been  found  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  In  the  Pliocene  of  both  regions  the  Canidce  are  numerous, 
and  all  apparently  belong  to  the  existing  genus  Canis.  The  genus 
Machairodus  is  still  the  dominant  form  of  the  cats,  which  are  abun- 
dant, and  for  the  most  part  belong  to  the  genus  Felis.  The  extinct 
Leptarctus  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  ZTrsidce,1  and,  if  so,  is  the 
oldest  American  representative  of  this  family.  In  the  Post-Pliocene, 
the  extinct  Felidce  include  species  nearly  as  large  as  a  lion,  and 
smaller  forms  very  similar  to  those  still  living.  Bears,  raccoons, 
and  weasels,  have  also  been  found. 

In  the  Pliocene  of  South  America,  Machairodus  represents  the 
Felidce,  while  the  genera  Arctotherium  and  LTycenarctus  belong  to  the 
Bear  family.  Species  of.  Mustela  and  Canis  have  also  been  found. 
In  the  caves  of  Brazil,  the  fauna  of  which  is  regarded  as  Post-Plio- 
cene, one  species  of  Machairodus  is  known,  and  one  of  Syncelurus. 
Canis  and  Lcticyon,  still  living  in  Brazil,  and  the  extinct  genus  Speo- 
thos,  represent  the  Canidce.  Mephitis  and  Galictis,  among  the  wea- 
sels, were  also  present,  and  with  them  species  of  JVasua  and  Arctothe- 
rium. 

We  come  now  to  the  highest  group  of  Mammals,  the  Primates, 
which  includes  the  Lemurs,  the  Apes,  and  Man.  This  order  has  a 
great  antiquity,  and  even  at  the  base  of  the  Eocene  we  find  it  repre- 
sented by  several  genera  belonging  to  the  lower  forms  of  the  group. 
In  considering  these  interesting  fossils,  it  is  important  to  have  in 
mind  that  the  Lemurs,  which  are  usually  regarded  as  Primates, 
although  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale,  are  found  at  the  present  day  only 
in  Madagascar  and  the  adjacent  regions  of  the  globe.  All  the  Ameri- 
can monkeys,  moreover,  belong  to  one  group,  much  above  the 
Lemurs,  while  the  Old  World  apes  are  higher  still,  and  most  nearly 
approach  man. 

In  the  lower  Eocene  of  New  Mexico  we  find  a  few  representatives 
of  the  earliest  known  Primates,  and  among  them  are  the  genera 
Lemuravus  and  Limnotherium,  each  the  type  of  a  distinct  family. 
These  genera  became  very  abundant  in  the  middle  Eocene  of  the 
West,  and  with  them  are  found  many  others — all,  however,  included 
in  the  two  families  Lemuravidce  and  Limnotheridce.  Lemuravus 
appears  to  have  been  most  nearly  allied  to  the  Lemurs,  and  is  the 
most  generalized  form  of  the  Primates  yet  discovered.  It  had  forty- 
four  teeth,  forming  a  continuous  series  above  and  below.     The  brain 

1  Ursidce,  the  family  including  the  bears,  raccoons,  etc. 
vol.  xii. — 44 


690  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

was  nearly  smooth,  and  of  moderate  size.  The  skeleton  most  re- 
sembles that  of  the  Lemurs.  A  nearly  allied  genus,  belonging  to  the 
same  family,  is  Hyopsodus.  Limnotherium  (Tomitherium)  also  is 
nearly  related  to  the  Lemurs,  but  shows  some  affinities  with  the  South 
American  marmosets.  This  genus  had  forty  teeth.  The  brain  was 
nearly  smooth,  and  the  cerebellum  large,  and  placed  mainly  behind 
the  cerebrum.  The  orbits  are  open  behind,  and  the  lachrymal  fora- 
men is  outside  the  orbit.  Other  genera  belonging  to  the  Limno- 
theridm  are — Notharctos,  Hipposyus,  Microsyops,  Palceacodon,,  Thino- 
lestes,  and  Telmatolestes.  Besides  these,  Antiacodon  (Anaptomor- 
phus),  JBathrodon,  and  Mesacodon,  should  probably  be  placed  in  the 
same  group.  In  the  Diplacodon  beds,  or  upper  Eocene,  no  remains 
of  Primates  have  yet  been  detected,  although  they  will  doubtless  be 
found  there.  All  the  Eocene  Primates  known  from  American  strata 
are  low  generalized  forms,  with  characters  in  the  teeth,  skeleton,  and 
feet,  that  suggest  relationships  with  the  Carnivores,  and  even  with  the 
Ungulates.  These  resemblances  have  led  paleontologists  to  refer 
some  imperfect  specimens  to  both  these  orders. 

In  the  Miocene  lake-basins  of  the  West,  only  a  single  species  of 
the  Primates  has  been  identified  with  certainty.  This  was  found  in 
the  Oreodon  beds  of  Nebraska,  and  belongs  to  the  genus  Laopithecus, 
apparently  related  both  to  the  Limnotheridce  and  to  some  existing 
South  American  monkeys.  In  the  Pliocene  and  Post-Pliocene  of 
North  America  no  remains  of  Primates  have  yet  been  found. 

In  the  Post-Pliocene  deposits  of  the  Brazilian  caves,  remains  of 
monkeys  are  numerous,  and  mainly  belong  to  extinct  species  of  Cal- 
lithrix,  Cebus,  and  Jacchus,  all  living  South  American  genera.  Only 
one  extinct  genus,  Protopithecus,  which  embraced  animals  of  large 
size,  has  been  found  in  this  peculiar  fauna. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  no  traces  of  any  Anthropoid  apes,  or 
indeed  of  any  Old  World  monkeys,  have  yet  been  detected  in  America. 
Man,  however,  the  highest  of  the  Primates,  has  left  his  bones  and  his 
works  from  the  arctic  circle  to  Patagonia.  Most  of  these  specimens 
are  clearly  Post-Tertiary,  although  there  is  considerable  evidence 
pointing  to  the  existence  of  man  in  our  Pliocene.  All  the  remains  yet 
discovered  belong  to  the  well-marked  genus  Homo,  and  apparently 
to  a  single  species,  at  present  represented  by  the  American  Indian. 

In  this  rapid  review  of  mammalian  life  in  America,  from  its  first 
known  appearance  in  the  Trias  down  to  the  present  time,  I  have  en- 
deavored to  state  briefly  the  introduction  and  succession  of  the  princi- 
pal forms  in  each  natural  group.  If  time  permitted,  I  might  attempt 
the  more  difficult  task  of  trying  to  indicate  what  relations  these  vari- 
ous groups  may  possibly  bear  to  each  other ;  what  connection  the 
ancient  mammals  of  this  continent  have  with  the  corresponding  forms 
of  the  Old  World;   and,  most  important  of  all,  what  real  progress 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  691 

mammalian  life  has  here  made  since  the  beginning  of  the  Eocene. 
As  it  is,  I  can  only  say,  in  summing  up,  that  the  Marsupials  are  clearly 
the  remnants  of  a  very  ancient  fauna,  which  occupied  this  continent 
millions  of  years  ago,  and  from  which  the  other  mammals  were  doubt- 
less all  derived,  although  the  direct  evidence  of  the  transformation  is 
wanting. 

Although  the  Marsupials  are  nearly  related  to  tbe  still  lower 
Monotremes,  now  living  in  the  Australian  region,  we  have  as  yet  no 
hint  of  the  path  by  which  these  two  groups  became  separated  from 
the  inferior  vertebrates.  Neither  have  we  to-day  much  light  as  to 
the  genetic  connection  existing  between  Marsupials  and  the  placental 
Mammalia,  although  it  is  possible  that  the  different  orders  of  the 
latter  had  their  origin  each  from  a  separate  group  of  the  Marsupials. 

The  presence,  however,  of  undoubted  Marsupials  in  our  lower  and 
middle  Eocene,  some  of  them  related  to  the  genus  Didelphys,  al- 
though' remotely,  is  important  evidence  as  to  the  introduction  of  these 
animals  into  America.  Against  this,  their  supposed  absence  in  our 
Miocene  and  Pliocene  can  have  but  limited  weight,  when  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  fact  that  they  flourished  in  the  Post-Tertiary,  and 
are  still  abundant.  The  evidence  we  now  have  is  quite  as  strongly  in 
favor  of  a  migration  of  Marsupials  from  America  to  the  Old  World, 
as  the  reverse,  which  has  been  supposed  by  some  naturalists.  Pos- 
sibly, as  Huxley  has  suggested,  both  countries  were  peopled  with 
these  low  mammals  from  a  continent  now  submerged. 

The  Edentate  mammals  have  long  been  a  puzzle  to  zoologists,  and 
up  to  the  present  time  no  clew  to  their  affinities  with  other  groups 
seems  to  have  been  detected.  A  comparison  of  the  peculiar  Eocene 
mammals  which  I  have  called  the  Tillodontia,  with  the  least  specialized 
Edentates,  brings  to  light  many  curious  resemblances  in  the  skull, 
teeth,  skeleton,  and  feet.  These  suggest  relationship,  at  least,  and 
possibly  we  may  yet  find  here  the  key  to  the  Edentate  genealogy. 
At  present,  the  Tillodonts  are  all  from  the  lower  and  middle  Eocene, 
while  Horopus,  the  oldest  Edentate  genus,  is  found  in  the  middle 
Miocene,  and  one  species  in  the  lower  Pliocene. 

The  Edentates  have  been  usually  regarded  as  an  American  type, 
but  the  few  living  forms  in  Africa,  and  the  Tertiary  species  in  Europe, 
the  oldest  known,  have  made  the  land  of  their  nativity  uncertain.  I 
have  already  given  you  some  reasons  for  believing  that  the  Edentates 
had  their  first  home  in  North  America,  and  migrated  thence  to  the 
southern  portion  of  the  continent.  This  movement  could  not  have 
taken  place  in  the  Miocene  period,  as  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  was  then 
submerged ;  but,  near  the  close  of  the  Tertiary,  the  elevation  of  this 
region  left  a  much  broader  strip  of  land  than  now  exists  there,  and 
Over  this  the  Edentates  and  other  mammals  made  their  way,  perhaps 
urged  on  by  the  increasing  cold  of  the  glacial  winters.  The  evidence 
to-day  is  strongly  in  favor  of  such  a  southern  migration.     This,  how- 


692  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ever,  leaves  the  Old  World  Edentates,  fossil  and  recent,  unaccounted 
for;  but  I  believe  the  solution  of  this  problem  is  essentially  the  same, 
namely,  a  migration  from  North  America.  The  Miocene  representa- 
tives of  this  group,  which  I  have  recently  obtained  in  Oregon,  are 
older  than  any  known  in  Europe,  and,  strangely  enough,  are  more 
like  the  latter  and  the  existing  African  types  than  like  any  of  our  liv- 
ing species.  If,  now,  we  bear  in  mind  that  an  elevation  of  only  180 
feet  would  close  Behring's  Straits,  and  give  a  road  thirty  miles  wide 
from  America  to  Asia,  we  can  easily  see  how  this  migration  might 
have  taken  place.  That  such  a  Tertiary  bridge  did  exist,  we  have 
much  independent  testimony,  and  the  known  facts  all  point  to  exten- 
sive migrations  of  animals  over  it. 

The  Cetacea  are  connected  with  the  marine  Carnivores  through 
the  genus  Zeuglodon,  as  Huxley  has  shown,  and  the  points  of  resem- 
blance are  so  marked  that  the  affinity  cannot  be  doubted.  That  the 
connection  was  a  direct  one,  however,  is  hardly  probable,  since  the 
diminutive  brain,  large  number  of  simple  teeth,  and  reduced  limbs 
in  the  whales,  all  indicate  them  to  be  an  old  type,  which  doubtless 
branched  off  from  the  more  primitive  stock  leading  to  the  Carnivores. 
Our  American  extinct  Cetaceans,  when  carefully  investigated,  prom- 
ise to  throw  much  light  upon  the  pedigree  of  these  strange  mammals. 
As  most  of  the  known  forms  were  probably  marine,  their  distribution 
is  of  little  service  in  determining  their  origin. 

That  the  Sirenians  are  allied  to  the  Ungulates  is  now  generally 
admitted  by  anatomists,  and  the  separation  of  the  existing  species  in 
distant  localities  suggests  that  they  are  the  remnants  of  an  extensive 
group,  once  widely  distributed.  The  large  number  of  teeth  in  some 
forms,  the  reduced  limbs,  and  other  characters,  point  back  to  an  an- 
cestry near  that  of  the  earliest  Ungulates.  The  gradual  loss  of  teeth 
in  the  specialized  members  of  this  group,  and  in  the  Cetaceans,  is 
quite  parallel  with  the  same  change  in  Edentates,  as  well  as  in  Ptero- 
dactyles  and  Birds. 

The  Ungulates  are  so  distinct  from  other  groups  that  they  must  be 
one  of  the  oldest  natural  divisions  of  mammals,  and  they  probably 
originated  from  some  herbivorous  marsupial.  Their  large  size,  and 
great  numbers,  during  Tertiary  and  Post-Tertiary  time,  render  them 
most  valuable  in  tracing  migrations  induced  by  climate,  as  well  as  in 
showing  the  changes  of  structure  which  such  a  contest  for  existence 
may  produce. 

In  the  review  of  the  extinct  Ungulates,  I  have  endeavored  to  show 
that  quite  a  number  of  genera,  usually  supposed  to  belong  originally 
to  the  Old  World,  are  in  reality  true  American  types.  Among  these 
were  the  horse,  rhinoceros,  and  tapir,  all  the  existing  odd-toed  Ungu- 
lates, and,  besides  these,  the  camel,  pig,  and  deer.  All  these  I  believe, 
and  many  others,  went  to  Asia  from  our  Northwest  coast.  It  must, 
for  the  present,  remain  an  open  question  whether  we  may  not  fairly 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  693 

claim  the  Bovidoe,  and  even  the  Proboscidea,  since  both  occur  in  our 
strata  at  about  the  same  horizon  as  on  the  other  continent.  On  this 
point  there  is  some  confusion,  at  least  in  names.  The  Himalayan  de- 
posits called  upper  Miocene,  and  so  rich  in  Proboscidians,  indicate 
in  their  entire  fauna  that  they  are  more  recent  than  our  Niobrara  River 
beds,  which,  for  apparently  good  reasons,  we  regard  as  lower  Pliocene. 
The  latter  appear  to  be  about  the  same  horizon  as  the  Pikermi  de- 
posits in  Greece,  also  regarded  as  Miocene.  Believing,  however,  that 
we  have  here  a  more  complete  Tertiary  series,  and  a  better  standard 
for  comparison  of  faunas,  I  have  preferred  to  retain  the  names  already 
applied  to  our  divisions,  until  the  strata  of  the  two  continents  are 
more  satisfactorily  coordinated. 

The  extinct  Rodents,  Bats,  and  Insectivores  of  America,  although 
offering  many  suggestive  hints  as  to  their  relationship  with  other 
groups,  and  their  various  migrations,  cannot  now  be  fully  discussed. 
There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that  the  Rodents  are  a  New  World 
type,  and,  according  to  present  evidence,  they  probably  had  their 
origin  in  North  America.  The  resemblance  in  so  many  respects  of 
this  order  to  the  Proboscidians  is  a  striking  fact,  not  yet  explained 
by  the  imperfectly  known  genealogy  of  either  group. 

The  Carnivores,  too,  I  must  pass  by,  except  to  call  attention  to  a 
few  special  forms  which  accompanied  the  migrations  of  other  groups. 
One  of  these  is  Machairodus,  the  sabre-toothed  tiger,  which  flourished 
in  our  Miocene  and  Pliocene,  and  apparently  followed  the  huge  Eden- 
tates to  South  America,  and  the  Ungulates  across  Asia  to  Europe. 
With  this  genus  went  Hyamodon,  and  some  typical  wolves  and  cats, 
but  the  bears  probably  came  the  other  way  with  the  antelopes.  That 
the  gazelle,  giraffe,  hippopotamus,  hyena,  and  other  African  types, 
once  abundant  in  Asia,  did  not  come,  is  doubtless  because  the  Mio- 
cene bridge  was  submerged  before  they  reached  it. 

The  Edentates,  in  their  southern  migration,  were  probably  accom- 
panied by  the  horse,  tapir,  and  rhinoceros,  although  no  remains  of  the 
last  have  yet  been  found  south  of  Mexico.  The  mastodon,  elephant, 
llama,  deer,  peccary,  and  other  mammals,  followed  the  same  path. 
Why  the  mastodon,  elephant,  rhinoceros,  and  especially  the  horse, 
should  have  been  selected  with  the  huge  Edentates  for  extinction,  and 
the  other  Ungulates  left,  is  at  present  a  mystery,  which  their  some- 
what larger  size  hardly  explains. 

The  relations  of  the  American  Primates,  extinct  and  recent,  to 
those  of  the  other  hemisphere,  offer  an  inviting  topic,  but  it  is  not  with- 
in my  present  province  to  discuss  them  in  their  most  suggestive  phases. 
As  we  have  here  the  oldest  and  most  generalized  members  of  the 
group,  so  far  as  now  known,  we  may  justly  claim  America  for  the 
birthplace  of  the  order.  That  the  development  did  not  continue  here 
until  it  culminated  in  man,  was  due  to  causes  which  at  present  we  can 
only  surmise,  although  the  genealogy  of  other  surviving  groups  gives 


694  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

some  data  toward  a  solution.  Why  the  Old  World  apes,  when  differ- 
entiated, did  not  come  to  the  land  of  their  earlier  ancestry,  is  readily 
explained  by  the  then  intervening  oceans,  which  likewise  were  a  bar- 
rier to  the  return  of  the  horse  and  rhinoceros. 

Man,  however,  came — doubtless  first  across  Behring's  Straits ;  and 
at  his  advent  became  part  of  our  fauna,  as  a  mammal  and  primate. 
In  these  relations  alone  it  is  my  purpose  here  to  treat  him.  The  evi- 
dence, as  it  stands  to-day,  although  not  conclusive,  seems  to  place  the 
first  appearance  of  man  in  this  country  in  the  Pliocene,  and  the  best 
proof  of  this  has  been  found  on  the  Pacific  coast.  During  several 
visits  to  that  region,  many  facts  were  brought  to  my  knowledge  which 
render  this  more  than  probable.  Man  at  this  time  was  a  savage,  and 
was  doubtless  forced  by  the  great  volcanic  outbreaks  to  continue  his 
migration.  This  was  at  first  to  the  south,  since  mountain-chains  were 
barriers  on  the  east.  As  the  native  horses  of  America  were  now  all 
extinct,  and  as  the  early  man  did  not  bring  the  Old  World  animal 
with  him,  his  migrations  were  slow.  I  believe,  moreover,  that  his 
slow  progress  toward  civilization  was  in  no  small  degree  due  to  this 
same  cause,  the  absence  of  the  horse. 

It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  add  to  the  many  theories  extant  in 
regard  to  the  early  civilizations  in  this  country,  and  their  connections 
with  the  primitive  inhabitants,  or  the  later  Indians ;  but  two  or  three 
facts  have  recently  come  to  my  knowledge  which  I  think  worth  men- 
tioning in  this  connection.  On  the  Columbia  River,  I  have  found 
evidence  of  the  former  existence  of  inhabitants  much  superior  to  the 
Indians  at  present  there,  and  of  which  no  tradition  remains.  Among 
many  stone  carvings  which  I  saw  there,  were  a  number  of  heads 
which  so  strongly  resemble  those  of  apes  that  the  likeness  at  once 
suggests  itself.  Whence  came  these  sculptures,  and  by  whom  were 
they  made  ?  Another  fact  that  has  interested  me  very  much  is  the 
strong  resemblance  between  the  skulls  of  the  typical  mound-builders 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  those  of  the  Pueblo  Indians.  I  had  long 
been  familiar  with  the  former;  and,  when  I  recently  saw  the  latter,  it 
required  the  positive  assurance  of  a  friend,  who  had  himself  collected 
them  in  New  Mexico,  to  convince  me  that  they  were  not  from  the 
mounds.  A  third  fact,  and  I  leave  man  to  the  archaeologists,  on 
whose  province  I  am  even  now  trenching.  In  a  large  collection  of 
mound-builders'  pottery,  over  a  thousand  specimens,  which  I  have 
recently  examined  with  some  care,  I  found  many  pieces  of  elaborate 
workmanship  so  nearly  like  the  ancient  water-jars  from  Peru,  that  no 
one  could  fairly  doubt  that  some  intercourse  had  taken  place  between 
the  widely-separated  people  that  made  them. 

The  oldest  known  remains  of  man  on  this  continent  differ  in  no  im- 
portant characters  from  the  bones  of  the  typical  Indian,  although  in 
some  minor  details  they  indicate  a  much  more  primitive  race.  These 
early  remains,  some  of  which  are  true  fossils,  resemble  much  more 


VERTEBRATE  LIFE  IN  AMERICA.  695 

closely  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  highest  Old  World  apes,  than 
do  the  latter  our  Tertiary  Primates,  or  even  the  recent  American 
monkeys.  Various  living  and  fossil  forms  of  Old  World  Primates  fill 
up  essentially  the  latter  gap.  The  lesser  gap  between  the  primitive 
man  of  America  and  the  Anthropoid  apes  is  partially  closed  by  still 
lower  forms  of  men,  and  doubtless  also  by  higher  apes,  now  extinct. 
Analogy,  and  many  facts  as  well,  indicate  that  this  gap  was  smaller 
in  the  past.  It  certainly  is  becoming  wider  now  with  every  genera- 
tion, for  the  lowest  races  of  men  will  soon  become  extinct,  like  the 
Tasmanians,  and  the  highest  apes  cannot  long  survive.  Hence  the 
intermediate  forms  of  the  past,  if  any  there  were,  become  of  still  great- 
er importance.  For  such  missing  links,  we  must  look  to  the  caves 
and  later  Tertiary  of  Africa,  which  I  regard  as  now  the  most  promis- 
ing field  for  exploration  in  the  Old  World.  America,  even  in  the 
tropics,  can  promise  no  such  inducements  to  ambitious  explorers.  We 
have,  however,  an  equally  important  field,  if  less  attractive,  in  the 
Cretaceous  mammals,  which  must  have  left  their  remains  somewhere 
on  this  continent.  In  these  two  directions,  as  I  believe,  lie  the  most 
important  future  discoveries  in  paleontology. 

As  a  cause  for  many  changes  of  structure  in  mammals  during  the 
Tertiary  and  Post-Tertiary,  I  regard  as  the  most  potent,  natural  selec- 
tion, in  the  broad  sense  in  which  that  term  is  now  used  by  American 
evolutionists.  Under  this  head  I  include  not  merely  a  Malthusian 
struggle  for  life  among  the  animals  themselves,  but  the  equally  im- 
portant contest  with  the  elements  and  all  surrounding  Nature.  By 
changes  in  the  environment,  migrations  are  enforced,  slowly  in  some 
cases,  rapidly  in  others,  and  with  change  of  locality  must  come  adap- 
tation to  new  conditions,  or  extinction.  The  life-history  of  Tertiary 
mammals  illustrates  this  principle  at  every  stage,  and  no  other  expla- 
nation meets  the  facts. 

The  real  progress  of  mammalian  life  in  America,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Tertiary  to  the  present,  is  well  illustrated  by  the  brain- 
growth,  in  which  we  have  the  key  to  many  other  changes.  The  ear- 
liest known  Tertiary  mammals  all  had  very  small  brains,  and  in  some 
forms  this  organ  was  proportionally  less  than  in  certain  reptiles. 
There  was  a  gradual  increase  in  the  size  of  the  brain  during  this 
period,  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  this  growth  was  mainly  con- 
fined to  the  cerebral  hemispheres,  or  higher  portion  of  the  brain.  In 
most  groups  of  mammals,  the  brain  has  gradually  become  more  con- 
voluted, and  thus  increased  in  quality  as  well  as  quantity.  In  some, 
also,  the  cerebellum  and  olfactory  lobes,  the  lower  parts  of  the  brain, 
have  even  diminished  in  size.  In  the  long  struggle  for  existence  dur- 
ing Tertiary  time,  the  big  brains  won,  then  as  now;  and  the  increas- 
ing power  thus  gained  rendered  useless  many  structures  inherited 
from  primitive  ancestors,  but  no  longer  adapted  to  new  conditions. 


696  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Another  of  the  interesting  changes  in  mammals  during  Tertiary 
time  was  in  the  teeth,  which  were  gradually  modified  with  other  parts 
of  the  structure.  The  primitive  form  of  tooth  was  clearly  a  cone,  and 
all  others  are  derived  from  this.  All  classes  of  Vertebrates  below 
mammals,  namely,  fishes,  amphibians,  reptiles,  and  birds,  have  coni- 
cal teeth,  if  any,  or  some  simple  modification  of  this  form.  The  Eden- 
tates and  Cetaceans  with  teeth  retain  this  type,  except  the  zeuglodonts, 
which  approach  the  dentition  of  aquatic  Carnivores.  In  the  higher 
mammals,  the  incisors  and  canines  retain  the  conical  shape,  and  the 
premolars  have  only  in  part  been  transformed.  The  latter  gradually 
change  to  the  more  complicated  molar  pattern,  and  hence  are  not 
reduced  molars,  but  transition  forms  from  the  cone  to  more  complex 
types.  Most  of  the  early  Tertiary  mammals  had  forty-four  teeth,  and 
in  the  oldest  forms  the  premolars  were  all  unlike  the  molars,  while 
the  crowns  were  short,  covered  with  enamel,  and  without  cement. 
Each  stage  of  progress  in  the  differentiation  of  the  animal  was,  as  a 
rule,  marked  by  a  change  in  the  teeth  ;  one  of  the  most  common  being 
the  transfer,  in  form  at  least,  of  a  premolar  to  the  molar  series,  and  a 
gradual  lengthening  of  the  crown.  Hence,  it  is  often  easy  to  decide 
from  a  fragment  of  a  jaw  to  what  horizon  of  the  Tertiary  it  belongs. 
The  fossil  horses  of  this  period,  for  example,  gained  a  grinding-tooth 
for  each  toe  they  lost,  one  in  each  epoch.  In  the  single-toed  existing 
horses,  all  the  premolars  are  like  the  molars,  and  the  process  is  at  an 
end.  Other  dental  transformations  are  of  equal  interest,  but  this  illus- 
tration must  suffice. 

The  changes  in  the  limbs  and  feet  of  mammals  during  the  same 
period  were  quite  as  marked.  The  foot  of  the  primitive  mammal  was, 
doubtless,  plantigrade,  and  certainly  five-toed.  Many  of  the  early 
Tertiary  forms  show  this  feature,  which  is  still  seen  in  some  existing 
forms.  This  generalized  foot  became  modified  by  a  gradual  loss  of 
the  outer  toes,  and  increase  in  size  of  the  central  ones,  the  reduction 
proceeding  according  to  systematic  methods,  differing  in  each  group. 
Corresponding  changes  took  place  in  the  limb-bones.  One  result  was 
a  great  increase  in  speed,  as  the  power  was  applied  so  as  to  act  only 
in  the  plane  of  motion.  The  best  effect  of  this  specialization  is  seen 
to-day  in  the  horse  and  antelope,  each  representing  a  distinct  group  of 
Ungulates^  with  five-toed  ancestors. 

If  the  history  of  American  mammals,  as  I  have  briefly  sketched  it, 
seems,  as  a  whole,  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory,  we  must  remember 
that  the  genealogical  tree  of  this  class  has  its  trunk  and  larger  limbs 
concealed  beneath  the  debris  of  Mesozoic  time,  while  its  roots  doubt- 
less strike  so  deeply  into  the  Paleozoic  that  for  the  present  they  are 
lost.  A  decade  or  two  hence  we  shall  probably  know  something  of 
the  mammalian  fauna  of  the  Cretaceous,  and  the  earlier  lineage  of  our 
existing  mammals  can  then  be  traced  with  more  certainty. 


THE    WICKED    WEASEL.  697 

The  results  I  have  presented  to  you  are  mainly  derived  from  per- 
sonal observation ;  and,  since  a  large  part  of  the  higher  vertebrate 
remains  hitherto  found  in  this  country  have  passed  through  my  hands, 
I  am  willing  to  assume  full  responsibility  for  my  presentation  of  the 
subject. 

For  our  present  knowledge  of  the  extinct  Mammals,  Birds,  and 
Reptiles  of  North  America,  science  is  especially  indebted  to  Leidy, 
whose  careful,  conscientious  work  has  laid  a  secure  foundation  for 
our  vertebrate  paleontology.  The  energy  of  Cope  has  brought  to 
notice  many  strange  forms,  and  greatly  enlarged  our  literature.  Agas- 
siz,  Owen,  Wyman,  Baird,  Hitchcock,  Deane,  Emmons,  Lea,  Allen, 
Gibbes,  Jefferson,  DeKay,  and  Harlan,  deserve  honorable  mention  in 
the  history  of  this  branch  of  science.  The  South  American  extinct 
Vertebrates  have  been  described  by  Lund,  Owen,  Burmeister,  Gervais, 
Huxley,  Flower,  Desmarest,  Aymard,  Pictet,  and  Nodot.  Darwin  and 
Wallace  have  likewise  contributed  valuable  information  on  this  sub- 
ject, as  they  have  on  nearly  all  forms  of  life. 

In  this  long  history  of  ancient  life  I  have  said  nothing  of  what 
Life  itself  really  is — and  for  the  best  of  reasons — because  I  know 
nothing.  Here,  at  present,  our  ignorance  is  dense,  and  yet  we  need 
not  despair.  Light,  Heat,  Electricity,  and  Magnetism,  Chemical  Affin- 
ity, and  Motion,  are  now  considered  different  forms  of  the  same  force ; 
and  the  opinion  is  rapidly  gaining  ground  that  Life,  or  vital  force,  is 
only  another  phase  of  the  same  power.  Possibly  the  great  mystery 
of  Life  may  thus  be  solved,  but,  whether  it  be  or  not,  a  true  faith  in 
science  knows  no  limit  to  its  search  for  Truth. 


-♦♦♦- 


THE  WICKED  WEASEL. 

THERE  are  other  enemies  of  game-life  besides  human  poachers 
whose  numbers  must  be  kept  within  bounds  to  insure  success- 
ful sport.  The  thirst  of  the  weasel  for  blood  is  insatiable,  and  it  is 
curious  to  watch  the  persistency  with  which  he  will  hunt  down  the 
particular  rabbit  he  has  singled  out  for  destruction.  Through  the 
winding  subterranean  galleries  of  the  "  buries "  with  their  cross- 
passages,  "blind"  holes  and  "pop"  holes  (i.  e.,  those  which  end  in 
undisturbed  soil,  and  those  which  are  simply  bored  from  one  side  of 
the  bank  to  the  other,  being  only  used  for  temporary  concealment), 
never  once  in  the  dark,  close  caverns  losing  sight  or  scent  of  his  vic- 
tim, he  pursues  it  with  a  species  of  eager  patience.  It  is  generally  a 
long  chase.  The  rabbit  makes  a  dash  ahead,  and  a  double  or  two, 
and  then  halts,  usually  at  the  mouth  of  a  hole;  perhaps  to  breathe. 


698  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

By-and-by  the  weasel,  baffled  for  a  few  minutes,  comes  up  behind. 
Instantly  the  rabbit  slips  over  the  bank  outside  and  down  the  ditch 
for  a  dozen  yards,  and  there  enters  the  "  bury  "  again.  The  weasel 
follows,  gliding  up  the  bank  with  a  motion  not  unlike  that  of  the 
snake;  for  his  body  and  neck  are  long  and  slender,  and  his  legs  short. 
Apparently  he  is  not  in  haste,  but  rather  lingers  over  the  scent.  This 
is  repeated  five  or  six  times,  till  the  whole  length  of  the  hedgerow 
has  been  traversed — sometimes  up  and  down  again.  The  chase  may 
be  easily  observed  by  any  one  who  will  keep  a  little  in  the  back- 
ground. Although  the  bank  be  tenanted  by  fifty  other  rabbits,  past 
whose  hiding-place  the  weasel  must  go,  yet  they  scarcely  take  any 
notice.  One  or  two,  whom  he  has  approached  too  closely,  bolt  out 
and  in  again;  but  as  a  mass  the  furry  population  remain  quiet,  as  if 
perfectly  aware  that  they  are  not  yet  marked  out  for  slaughter.  At 
last,  having  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  bank,  the  rabbit  rushes 
across  the  field  to  a  hedgerow,  perhaps  a  hundred  yards  away.  Here 
the  wretched  creature  seems  to  find  a  difficulty  in  obtaining  admit- 
tance. Hardly  has  he  disappeared  in  a  hole  before  he  comes  out 
again,  as  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  refused  to  give  him  shelter. 
For  many  animals  have  a  strong  tribal  feeling,  and  their  sympathy, 
like  that  of  man  in  a  savage  state,  is  confined  within  their  special  set- 
tlement. With  birds  it  is  the  same;  rooks,  for  instance,  will  not 
allow  a  strange  pair  to  build  in  their  trees,  but  drive  them  off  with 
relentless  beak,  tearing  down  the  half-formed  nest,  and  taking  the 
materials  to  their  own  use.  The  sentiment,  "  If  Jacob  take  a  wife  of 
the  daughters  of  Heth,  what  good  shall  my  life  do  me  ?"  appears  to 
animate  the  breasts  of  gregarious  creatures  of  this  kind.  Rooks  in- 
termarry generation  after  generation;  and  if  a  black  lover  brings 
home  a  foreign  bride,  they  are  forced  to  build  in  a  tree  at  some 
distance.  Near  large  rookeries  several  such  outlying  colonies  may 
be  seen. 

The  rabbit,  failing  to  find  a  cover,  hides  in  the  grass  and  dry 
rushes ;  but  across  the  meadow,  stealing  along  the  furrow,  comes  the 
weasel;  and,  shift  his  place  how  he  may,  in  the  end,  worn  out  and 
weary,  bunny  succumbs,  and  the  sharp  teeth  meet  in  the  neck  behind 
the  ear,  severing  the  vein.  Ofter  in  the  end  the  rabbit  runs  to  earth 
in  a  hole  which  is  a  cul-de-sac,  with  his  back  toward  the  pursuer. 
The  weasel,  unable  to  get  at  the  poll,  which  is  his  desire,  will  mangle 
the  hinder  parts  in  a  terrible  manner— as  will  the  civilized  ferret 
under  similar  conditions.  Now  and  then  the  rabbit,  scratching  and 
struggling,  fills  the  hole  in  the  rear  with  earth,  and  so  at  the  last 
moment  chokes  off  his  assailant  and  finds  safety  almost  in  the  death- 
agony.  In  the  woods,  once  the  rabbit  is  away  from  the  "  buries," 
the  chase  really  does  resemble  a  hunt ;  from  furze-bush  to  bracken, 
from  fern  to  rough  grass,  round  and  round,  backward,  doubling,  to 
and  fro,  and  all  in  vain.     At  such  times,  eager  for  blood,  the  weasel 


THE    WICKED    WEASEL.  699 

will  run  right  across  your  path,  almost  close  enough  to  be  kicked. 
Pursue  him  in  turn,  and  if  there  be  no  hedge  or  hole  near,  if  you  have 
him  in  the  open,  he  will  dart  hither  and  thither  right  between  your 
legs,  uttering  a  sharp,  short  note  of  anger  and  alarm,  something  com- 
posed of  a  tiny  bark  and  a  scream.  He  is  easily  killed  with  a  stick 
when  you  catch  him  in  the  open,  for  he  is  by  no  means  swift ;  but  if 
a  hedge  be  near  it  is  impossible  to  secure  him. 

Weasels  frequently  hunt  in  couples,  and  sometimes  more  than  two 
will  work  together.  We  once  saw  five,  and  have  heard  of  eight. 
The  five  we  saw  were  working  a  sandy  bank  drilled  with  holes,  from 
which  the  rabbits  in  wild  alarm  were  darting  in  all  directions.  The 
weasels  raced  from  hole  to  hole  and  along  the  sides  of  the  bank  ex- 
actly like  a  pack  of  hounds,  and  seemed  intensely  excited.  Their 
manner  of  hunting  resembles  the  motions  of  ants ;  these  insects  run  a 
little  way  very  swiftly,  then  stop,  turn  to  the  right  or  left,  make  a 
short  detour ,  and  afterward  on  again  in  a  straight  line.  So  the  pack 
of  weasels  darted  forward,  stopped,  went  from  side  to  side,  and  then 
on  a  yard  or  two,  and  repeated  the  process.  To  see  their  reddish 
heads  thrust  for  a  moment  from  the  holes,  then  withdrawn  to  reap- 
pear at  another,  would  have  been  amusing  had  it  not  been  for  the 
reflection  that  their  frisky  tricks  would  assuredly  end  in  death.  They 
ran  their  quarry  out  of  the  bank  and  into  a  wood,  where  we  lost  sight 
of  them.  The  pack  of  eight  was  seen  by  a  laborer  returning  down  a 
woodland  lane  from  work  one  afternoon.  He  told  tis  he  got  in  the 
ditch,  half  from  curiosity  to  watch  them,  and  half  from  fear — laugh- 
able as  that  may  seem — for  he  had  heard  the  old  people  tell  stories  of 
men  in  the  days  when  the  corn  was  kept  for  years  in  barns,  and  so 
bred  hundreds  of  rats,  being  attacked  by  those  vicious  brutes.  He 
said  they  made  a  noise,  crying  to  each  other — short,  sharp,  snappy 
sounds ;  but  the  pack  of  five  we  ourselves  saw  hunted  in  silence. 

Often  and  often,  when  standing  in  a  gateway,  partly  hidden  by 
the  bushes,  watching  the  woodpecker  on  the  ant-hills,  of  whose  eggs, 
too,  the  partridges  are  so  fond  (so  that  a  good  ant  year,  in  which 
their  nests  are  prolific,  is  also  a  good  partridge  year),  you  may,  if  you 
are  still,  hear  a  slight,  faint  rustle  in  the  hedge,  and  by-and-by  a 
weasel  will  steal  out.  Seeing  you  he  instantly  pauses,  elevates  his 
head,  and  steadily  gazes  ;  move  but  your  eyes,  and  he  is  back  in  the 
hedge ;  remain  quiet,  still  looking  straight  before  you  as  if  you  saw 
nothing,  and  he  will  presently  recover  confidence,  and  actually  cross 
the  gateway  almost  under  you.  This  is  the  secret  of  observation  : 
stillness,  silence,  and  apparent  indifference.  In  some  instinctive  way 
these  wild  creatures  learn  to  distinguish  when  one  is  or  is  not  intent 
upon  them  in  a  spirit  of  enmity ;  and,  if  very  near,  it  is  always  the  eye 
they  watch.  So  long  as  you  observe  them,  as  it  were,  from  the  cor- 
ner of  the  eyeball,  sidewise,  or  look  over  their  heads  at  something 
beyond,  it  is  well.     Turn  your  glance  full  upon  them  to  get  a  better 


7oo  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

view,  and  they  are  gone.  When  waiting  in  a  dry  ditch  with  a  gun 
on  a  warm  autumn  afternoon  for  a  rabbit  to  come  out,  sometimes  a 
bunny  will  suddenly  appear  at  the  mouth  of  a  hole  which  your  knee 
nearly  touches.  He  stops  dead,  as  if  petrified  with  astonishment,  sit- 
ting on  his  haunches.  His  full  dark  eye  is  on  you  with  a  gaze  of  in- 
tense curiosity ;  his  nostrils  work  as  if  sniffing ;  his  whiskers  move  ; 
and  every  now  and  then  he  thumps  with  his  hind-legs  upon  the  earth 
with  a  low,  dull  thud.  This  is  evidently  a  sign  of  great  alarm,  at  the 
noise  of  which  any  other  rabbit  within  hearing  instantly  disappears 
in  the  "  bury."  Yet  there  your  friend  sits  and  watches  you  as  if 
spellbound,  so  long  as  you  have  the  patience  to  move  neither  hand 
nor  foot  nor  to  turn  your  eye.  Keep  your  glance  on  the  frond  of  the 
fern  just  beyond  him,  and  he  will  stay.  The  instant  your  eye  meets 
his,  or  a  finger  stirs,  he  plunges  out  of  sight.  It  is  so  also  with  birds. 
Walk  across  a  meadow,  swinging  a  stick,  even  humming,  and  the 
rooks  calmly  continue  their  search  for  grubs  within  thirty  yards  ; 
stop  to  look  at  them,  and  they  rise  on  the  wing  directly.  So,  too, 
the  finches  in  the  trees  by  the  road-side.  Let  the  wayfarer  pass  be- 
neath the  bough  on  which  they  are  singing,  and  they  will  sing  on,  if 
he  moves  without  apparent  interest;  should  he  pause  to  listen,  their 
wings  glisten  in  the  sun  as  they  fly. 

Stoats,  though  not  so  numerous  as  weasels,  probably  do  quite  as 
much  injury,  being  larger,  swifter,  stronger,  and  very  bold,  sometimes 
entering  sheds  close  to  dwelling-houses.  The  laboring-people — at  least, 
the  elder  folk — declare  that  they  have  been  known  to  suck  the  blood  of 
infants  left  asleep  in  the  cradle  upon  the  floor,  biting  the  child  behind 
the  ear.  They  hunt  in  couples  also — seldom  in  larger  numbers.  We 
have  seen  three  at  work  together,  and  with  a  single  shot  killed  two 
out  of  the  trio.  In  elegance  of  shape  they  surpass  the  weasel,  and 
the  color  is  brighter.  Their  range  of  destruction  seems  only  limited 
by  their  strength  ;  they  attack  anything  they  can  manage. 

The  keeper  looks  upon  weasel  and  stoat  as  bitter  foes,  to  be  ruth- 
lessly exterminated  with  shot  and  gin.  He  lays  to  their  charge 
deadly  crimesof  murder,  the  death  of  rabbits,  hares,  birds,  the  theft 
and  destruction  of  his  young  broods,  even  occasional  abstraction  of  a 
chicken  close  to  his  very  door,  despite  the  dogs  chained  there.  They 
are  not  easily  shot,  being  quick  to  take  shelter  at  the  sight  of  a  dog, 
and,  when  hard  hit  with  the  pellets,  frequently  escaping,  though  per- 
haps to  die.  Both  weasel  and  stoat,  and  especially  the  latter,  will 
snap  viciously  at  the  dog  that  overtakes  them,  even  when  sore 
wounded,  always  aiming  to  fix  their  teeth  in  his  nose,  and  fighting 
savagely  to  the  last  gasp.  The  keeper  slays  a  wonderful  number  in 
the  course  of  a  year,  yet  they  seem  as  plentiful  as  ever.  He  traps 
perhaps  more  than  he  shoots.  It  is  not  always  safe  to  touch  a  stoat 
caught  in  a  trap ;  he  lies  apparently  dead,  but  lift  him  up,  and  in- 
stantly his  teeth  are  in  your  hand,  and  it  is  said  such  wounds  some- 


THE  DISSIPATION   OF  ENERGY.  701 

times  fester  for  months.  Stoats  are  tough  as  leather ;  though  severely 
nipped  by  the  iron  fangs  of  the  gin,  struck  on  the  head  with  the  butt 
of  the  gun,  and  seemingly  quite  lifeless,  yet,  if  thrown  on  the  grass 
and  left,  you  will  often  find  on  returning  to  the  place  in  a  few  hours 
time  that  the  animal  is  gone.  Warned  by  experiences  of  this  kind, 
the  keeper  never  picks  up  a  stoat  till  "  settled  "  with  a  stick  or  shot, 
and  never  leaves  him  till  he  is  nailed  to  the  shed.  Stoats  sometimes 
emit  a  disgusting  odor  when  caught  in  a  trap.  The  keeper  has  no 
mercy  for  such  vermin,  though  he  thinks  some  other  of  his  enemies 
are  even  more  destructive. — Pall  Mall  Budget. 


-+++- 


THE  DISSIPATION  OF  ENERGY. 

By  GEORGE  ILES. 

SCARCELY  had  the  grand  truth  been  well  demonstrated,  some 
thirty  years  ago,  that  force  can  neither  be  created  nor  annihi- 
lated, when  it  served  as  a  basis  for  one  of  the  boldest  theories  ever 
conceived  in  the  history  of  science.  Prof.  William  Thomson  (now 
Prof.  Sir  William  Thomson)  in  1853  first  broached  the  theory  of  the 
dissipation  of  energy,  and  since  that  time  many  other  eminent  men 
have  enlarged  it  and  speculated  upon  it. 

The  theory  points  out,  in  the  first  place,  that  different  phases  of 
energy  are  not  transformable  into  one  another  with  equal  ease  and 
completeness.  Heat  is  the  only  form  into  which  any  other  can  be 
totally  converted.  When  electricity,  mechanical  motion,  or  any  kind 
of  energy  but  heat  is  sought,  an  unde'sired  production  of  thermal 
effect  is  unavoidable  in  the  most  favorable  conditions  for  efficient  con- 
version known  to  science.  Therefore,  in  the  catalogue  of  terrestrial 
forces  heat  is  continually  gaining  in  amount  at  the  expense  of  every 
other  mode  of  motion. 

Further,  not  only  is  it  impossible,  by  any  known  method,  to  regain 
from  heat  more  than  one-fourth  its  theoretical  value  in  useful  work, 
but,  as  the  tendency  of  all  heat  is  ever  to  become  of  uniform  tempera- 
ture, by  radiation  and  conduction,  the  differences  of  degree  wherein 
its  value  as  a  source  of  other  motion  solely  lies  are  being  continually 
abolished.  The  tendency  of  energy  to  appear  more  and  more  as  uni- 
formly diffused  heat  is  further  shown  to  be  true  not  only  on  earth  but 
in  the  heavens.  With  respect  to  the  solar  system,  our  present  informa- 
tion, it  is  held,  indicates  that  it  is  gradually  drifting  toward  an  utterly 
lifeless  state.  The  sun  is  parting  with  its  stores  of  force  most  lavishly, 
and  must,  at  however  distant  a  period,  become  as  cold  as  its  planets 
are  now.  The  planets  are  little  by  little  losing  their  force  of  axial 
rotation  from  the  friction  of  their  tides,  which  transmute  it  into  heat ; 


702  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

at  some  future  age  they  will  doubtless  present  a  single  side  to  the 
sun,  as  our  moon,  from  similar  causes,  now  does  to  the  earth. 

Furthermore,  it  is  thought  that  the  medium  which  conveys  li^ht 
through  space,  extremely  attenuated  though  it  may  be,  is  capable  of 
opposing  some  resistance  to  planetary  movements,  so  that  the  sun 
may  at  last  unite  with  itself  all  the  orbs  now  circling  around  it.  The 
collision  between  the  sua  and  its  worlds  would  render  the  whole  mass 
fiery  hot ;  but  radiation,  in  the  course  of  time,  would  slowly  bring  its 
temperature  lower  and  lower,  until  it  would  cease  to  shine  altogether. 
The  theory  then  supposes  that  the  fate  which  shall  have  overtaken 
the  solar  system  will  then  attack  the  sidereal  heavens;  that  the 
causes  which  shall  first  make  the  planets  unite  with  their  primary 
will  make  stars  unite  with  one  another,  until  the  ultimate  result  of 
all  these  changes  may  be  that  a  solitary  gigantic  ball  shall  contain  all 
the  matter  now  interfused  through  space,  its  enormous  store  of  en- 
ergy, in  the  form  of  equably-diffused  heat,  being  incapable  of  further 
change,  and  utterly  unfit  for  the  production  or  maintenance  of  life. 

All  this  is  assuredly  very  bold,  and  deduced  most  fairly  from  its 
premises  ;  but  premises  in  truth  and  completeness  are  of  much  more 
account  and  far  more  difficult  of  discovery  than  methods  of  logical 
inference.  Let  us  briefly  examine  the  grounds  on  which  it  is  sup- 
posed that  Nature  is  doomed  to  a  death  without  resurrection,  and  see 
if  they  warrant  the  tremendous  conclusions  drawn  from  them. 

The  theory  illustrates  very  pointedly  the  difficulties  in  which  the 
finite  mind  of  man  becomes  involved  when  it  attempts  to  deal  with 
what  is  not  thinkably  finite — or,  if  the  term  be  preferred,  infinite.  In 
the  first  place,  the  theory  under  consideration  assumes  the  finiteness 
in  amount  of  matter  and  motion  ;  but  we  do  not  know,  nor  can  we 
imagine,  that  space  has  bounds,  neither  can  we  limit  the  extent  of  the 
orbs  and  movements  which,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  occupy  it. 

Secondly,  the  theory  makes  another  conjecture  in  the  realm  of  the 
absolute,  when  it  presumes  that  heat  is  an  absolutely  homogeneous 
motion — that  particles  endowed  with  it  move  with  so  perfect  a  uni- 
formity that  there  is  an  exclusion  of  any  difference  of  motion  which 
might  serve  as  a  starting-point  for  mechanical  changes.  But  has 
science  advanced  far  enough  to  make  such  a  proposition  tenable  ?  Our 
knowledge  of  the  ultimate  structure  of  matter  is  very  restricted ;  and 
as  to  what  the  modes  of  motion  are  which  we  call  heat,  electricity, 
and  so  on,  we  are  entirely  in  the  dark.  Their  quantities  we  know,  but 
their  qualities,  their  peculiar  orbits,  have  scarcely  been  guessed  at  as 
yet.  From  a  variety  of  reasons,  however,  the  modern  opinion,  like 
the  ancient  one,  is  that  matter  is  made  up  of  atoms,  which  in  the  cir- 
cumstances are  units  even  if  ideally  divisible.  Approximate  measure- 
ments of  them  have  been  made  by  Prof.  Sir  William  Thomson  him- 
self.    [See  his  paper  in  Nature,  vol.  L,  p.  551.) 

Now,  if  atoms  by  virtue  of  their  heat  moved  uninterruptedly  in  a 


THE  DISSIPATION   OF  ENERGY.  703 

simple  straight  line,  their  motion  would  be  uniform  and  undifferenced ; 
but,  as  neither  the  position  nor  the  size  of  a  mass  undergoes  change 
when  temperature  does  not  vary,  atomic  paths  must  suffer  oft-repeat- 
ed stops.  Elastic  particles  in  this  state  must  have  incessantly  fluc- 
tuating velocities,  yet  always  oscillating  about  a  fixed  mean.  Mat- 
ter endued  with  heat  cannot  have  its  particles  in  absolute  contact,  or 
the  compressibility  or  contractibility  which  is  the  inseparable  property 
of  any  mass  would  not  exist.  For  argument's  sake,  however,  let  it 
be  admitted  that  from  absolute  contact  or  any  other  cause  heat-mo- 
tion is  a  uniform  one.  If  it  be  a  purely  axial  rotation,  then  the  equa- 
tors of  the  atoms  move  faster  than  the  poles,  and  the  movement  is 
not  homogeneous.  Exactly  so,  if  the  atom  describe  as  an  orbit  a 
circle,  ellipse,  or  other  figure  recurrently.  Such  motion  would  in- 
volve axial  rotation,  the  atom  would  resemble  our  earth,  and  different 
parts  of  it  would  move  with  different  velocities.  In  the  case  of  two 
tangible  spheres  of  like  dimensions  it  is  easy  to  show  that,  when  swift- 
ly moving  at  an  equal  rate,  the  speed  of  the  one  can  be  accelerated  at 
the  expense  of  the  other,  by  applying  it  at  a  point  not  equatorial  to 
the  equator  of  its  neighbor.  In  some  such  way  it  is  conceivable  that 
differences  in  molecular  motion  may  widen  from  those  subsisting  be- 
tween the  parts  of  an  individual  molecule. 

The  imperfect  homogeneity  of  thermal  motion,  which  is  here  con- 
tended for,  has  some  palpable  parallels  in  the  distribution  of  two 
other  phases  of  energy — electricity  of  high  tension  and  magnetism  ; 
these  forces  are  cumulative  in  their  manifestations,  increasing  in 
intensity  toward  the  poles  of  the  masses  presenting  them. 

Thirdly,  it  is  not  strictly  an  accurate  premise  in  the  theory  that, 
when  heat  is  produced  from  any  other  force,  it  is  unaccompanied  by 
any  phase  of  energy  not  thermal.  Increments  of  heat  invariably  alter 
the  dimensions  of  bodies,  as  a  rule  expand  them,  and  thus  part  of  the 
original  energy  applied  appears  as  gravity.  The  sun  in  warming  the 
earth's  atmosphere  lifts  it,  and,  when  the  air  cools,  its  fall  is  of  no  in- 
significant dynamic  value.  What  is  so  evident  in  this  extreme  case 
is  true  of  any  mass  whatever  when  heated.  Not  only  is  heat  pitted 
against  gravity,  but  at  times  against  cohesive  and  crystalline  forces, 
which,  though  overcome,  must  modify  and  diminish  its  effects. 

There  is  a  check  to  the  continuous  increase  of  temperature  which 
is  of  much  more  importance  than  those  just  noted,  but  akin  to  them. 
A  compound  substance  receives  additions  of  heat  with  tolerable  even- 
ness up  to  a  certain  point,  when  it  is  resolved  into  two  or  more  sim- 
ple constituents,  according  to  its  complexity.  These  if  compound  are 
in  turn  decomposed  into  their  chemical  elements  if  more  heat  be  ap- 
plied. Now,  chemical  energy  is  a  motion  quite  distinct  by  itself,  and 
we  find  that  heat  in  its  higher  degrees  must  coexist  with  it.  So  that 
on  this  account  we  cannot  accept  the  notion  that  heat  is  ever  to  be- 
come the  only  kind  of  motion  in  the  universe.     In  so  doing  we  recog- 


704  THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

nize  another  reason  for  believing  that  Nature  will  never  attain  abso- 
lute equilibrium,  from  the  variety  of  forces  ever  abiding  together 
within  her  sphere. 

Fourthly,  our  present  inability  to  obtain  the  movement  of  masses 
from,  the  motion  of  molecules  or  small  masses — that  is,  the  derivation 
of  work  from  uniformly  heated  matter — does  not  decide  that  such  con- 
version is  impossible  in  Nature,  or  even  to  science  in  the  future. 
While  it  is  perfectly  right  to  reason  from  what  we  know,  it  is  of 
yet  higher  importance  to  constantly  bear  in  mind  how  little  we  know. 
It  would  require  infinite  knowledge  to  say  that  the  motion  of  uniform 
heat  may  not  be  transformable  into  phases  of  energy  quite  as  diverse 
as  high  and  low  temperatures. 

Such  a  change  would  not  contravene  the  truth  of  the  uncreatability 
or  indestructibility  of  force,  but  would  simply  be  an  enlargement  of 
the  known,  which  every  one  feels  to  be  indefinitely  small  as  compared 
with  the  knowable.  The  possibility  here  suggested  may  be  conceiv- 
able as  depending  on  the  definiteness  in  size  of  atoms  ;  or,  on  the  va- 
riety of  motions  to  which  the  differences  between  atoms,  as  chemical 
elements,  may  give  rise — differences  in  size  and  form ;  or,  on  the  va- 
riety of  motions  implied  by  the  checks  offered  to  steady  accessions  of 
temperature,  already  explained  in  this  paper. 

One  of  the  first  principles  to  which  the  mind  clings  as  fundamental 
is,  that  every  truth  has  its  converse.  Although  this  may  seem  an 
axiom,  yet  its  demonstration  may  be  often  very  difficult,  and,  at 
times,  even  impossible.  A  knife-blade  held  over  a  gas-flame  for  a 
moment  shows  that  hydrogen  and  oxygen  combine  to  form  watery 
vapor;  yet  the  proof  of  the  converse — the  decomposition  of  water 
into  its  elements — demands  extensive  and  powerful  apparatus.  Oer- 
sted, in  a  happy  hour,  noticed  that  an  electric  wire  moved  a  magnetic 
needle  ;  but  years  of  experiment  had  to  elapse  before  the  electro-mag- 
net and  the  magneto-electric  machine  established  the  complementary 
principles  in  a  practical  form.  The  analysis  of  compounds,  chemi- 
cally, is  vastly  easier  than  the  building  them  up  from  their  elements. 
We  know  the  exact  percentages  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen, 
that  go  to  make  up  sugar,  and  can  express  to  a  nicety  the  dynamical 
relations  of  the  compound  to  its  elements ;  but  how  to  bring  about 
the  changes  desired,  with  economy,  is  what  puzzles  us. 

When  we  see  high  and  low  temperatures  coming  to  an  equality, 
it  is  certainly  permissible  to  entertain  faith  in  the  possibility  of  the 
converse  ;  in  a  change  equivalent  to  a  mass  becoming,  in  its  several 
parts,  hotter  and  colder.  To  have  recourse  to  such  a  supposition  is 
less  straining  to  the  mind  than  the  alternatives  usually  proposed  by 
the  theory  under  consideration. 

If  that  theory  be  true,  the  question  suggests  itself,  "Why  has  not 
the  universe  come  to  death  by  this  time,  for  limits  cannot  be  imagined 
to  past  duration  ?  " 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC    OF  SCIENCE.    705 

To  this  two  replies  have  been  given  by  the  maintainers  of  the 
theory  :  That  the  universe  has  either  had  a  beginning  in  time ;  or 
that,  if  it  be  really  eternal,  there  are  revolutions  in  its  laws  unknow- 
able to  man — interpositions  of  Creative  Will ! 

These  men  of  science  are  plainly  not  afraid  of  carrying  out  their 
opinions  rigorously  to  their  logical  conclusions,  but  is  their  informa- 
tion as  to  the  nature  and  relations  of  the  phases  of  energy  wide  and 
deep  enough  to  warrant  them  in  framing  an  hypothesis  so  lofty  as  to 
include  the  cosmos  and  eternity  ?     Hardly. 

At  the  present  stage  of  science,  a  student  pondering  the  subject 
so  briefly  presented  here  may  be  compared  to  a  judge  before  whom 
a  few  witnesses  in  an  important  case  have  appeared.  As  he  hears 
each  one,  he  makes,  for  convenience'  sake,  a  provisional  summing-up, 
and  tacks  the  testimony  together  in  one  directive  line.  But  it  would 
be  a  most  injudicial  act  to  mistake  a  provisional  opinion  for  a  final 
judgment,  and,  with  an  indefinite  number  of  witnesses  unheard,  to 
pronounce  sentence  of  death. 


-*-♦♦- 


ILLUSTRATIONS   OF  THE  LOGIC  OF  SCIENCE. 

By  C.  S.  PEIRCE, 

ASSISTANT   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES   COAST  SURVEY. 

FOURTH  PAPEE.— THE  PROBABILITY  OF  INDUCTION. 

I. 

WE  have  found  that  every  argument  derives  its  force  from  the 
general  truth  of  the  class  of  inferences  to  which  it  belongs  ; 
and  that  probability  is  the  proportion  of  arguments  carrying  truth 
with  them  among  those  of  any  genus.  This  is  most  conveniently  ex- 
pressed in  the  nomenclature  of  the  mediaeval  logicians.  They  called 
the  fact  expressed  by  a  premise  an  antecedent,  and  that  which  follows 
from  it  its  consequent ;  while  the  leading  principle,  that  every  (or  al- 
most every)  such  antecedent  is  followed  by  such  a  consequent,  they 
termed  the  consequence.  Using  this  language,  we  may  say  that  prob- 
ability belongs  exclusively  to  consequences,  and  the  probability  of  any 
consequence  is  the  number  of  times  in  which  antecedent  and  conse- 
quent both  occur  divided  by  the  number  of  all  the  times  in  which  the 
antecedent  occurs.  From  this  definition  are  deduced  the  following 
rules  for  the  addition  and  multiplication  of  probabilities : 

Mule  for  the  Addition  of  Probabilities. — Given  the  separate  proba- 
bilities of  two  consequences  having  the  same  antecedent  and  incom- 
patible consequents.  Then  the  sum  of  these  two  numbers  is  the  prob- 
ability of  the  consequence,  that  from  the  same  antecedent  one  or 
other  of  those  consequents  follows. 
vol.  xii. — 45 


7o6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Rule  for  the  Multiplication  of  Probabilities. — Given  the  separate 
probabilities  of  the  two  consequences,  "  If  A  then  B,"  and  "  If  both 
A  and  B,  then  C."  Then  the  product  of  these  two  numbers  is  the 
probability  of  the  consequence,  "  If  A,  then  both  B  and  C." 

Special  Mule  for  the  Multiplication  of  Independent  Probabilities. — 
Given  the  separate  probabilities  of  two  consequences  having  the  same 
antecedents,  "  If  A,  then  B,"  and  "  If  A,  then  C."  Suppose  that  these 
consequences  are  such  that  the  probability  of  the  second  is  equal  to 
the  probability  of  the  consequence,  "  If  both  A  and  B,  then  C."  Then 
the  product  of  the  two  given  numbers  is  equal  to  the  probability  of 
the  consequence,  "  If  A,  then  both  B  and  C." 

To  show  the  working  of  these  rules  we  may  examine  the  proba- 
bilities in  regard  to  throwing  dice.  What  is  the  probability  of  throw- 
ing a  six  with  one  die  ?  The  antecedent  here  is  the  event  of  throwing 
a  die  ;  the  consequent,  its  turning  up  a  six.  As  the  die  has  six  sides, 
all  of  which  are  turned  up  with  equal  frequency,  the  probability  of 
turning  up  any  one  is  ^.  Suppose  two  dice  are  thrown,  what  is  the 
probability  of  throwing  sixes  ?  The  probability  of  either  coming  up 
six  is  obviously  the  same  when  both  are  thrown  as  when  one  is  thrown 
— namely,  %.  The  probability  that  either  will  come  up  six  when  the 
other  does  is  also  the  same  as  that  of  its  coming  up  six  whether  the 
other  does  or  not.  The  probabilities  are, therefore,  independent;  and, 
by  our  rule,  the  probability  that  both  events  will  happen  together  is 
the  product  of  their  several  probabilities,  or  -|-  x  £.  What  is  the 
probability  of  throwing  deuce-ace  ?  The  probability  that .  the  first 
die  will  turn  up  ace  and  the  second  deuce  is  the  same  as  the  proba- 
bility that  both  will  turn  up  sixes — namely,  -^ ;  the  probability  that 
the  second  will  turn  up  ace  and  the  frst  deuce  is  likewise  -fa ;  these 
two  events — first,  ace ;  second,  deuce  ;  and,  second,  ace  ;  first,  deuce 
— are  incompatible.  Hence  the  rule  for  addition  holds,  and  the  prob- 
ability that  either  will  come  up  ace  and  the  other  deuce  is  -^g-  -f-  -fa, 
or^. 

In  this  way  all  problems  about  dice,  etc.,  may  be  solved.  When 
the  number  of  dice  thrown  is  supposed  very  large,  mathematics  (which 
may  be  defined  as  the  art  of  making  groups  to  facilitate  numeration) 
comes  to  our  aid  with  certain  devices  to  reduce  the  difficulties. 

II. 

The  conception  of  probability  as  a  matter  of  fact,  i.  e.,  as  the  pro- 
portion of  times  in  which  an  occurrence  of  one  kind  is  accompanied 
by  an  occurrence  of  another  kind,  is  termed  by  Mr.  Venn  the  mate- 
rialistic view  of  the  subject.  But  probability  has  often  been  regarded 
as  being  simply  the  degree  of  belief  which  ought  to  attach  to  a 
proposition ;  and  this  mode  of  explaining  the  idea  is  termed  by  Venn 
the  conceptualistic  view.  Most  writers  have  mixed  the  two  conceptions 
together.     They,  first,  define  the  probability  of  an  event  as  the  reason 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    7o7 

we  have  to  believe  that  it  has  taken  place,  which  is  conceptualistic ; 
but  shortly  after  they  state  that  it  is  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  cases 
favorable  to  the  event  to  the  total  number  of  cases  favorable  or 
contrary,  and  all  equally  possible.  Except  that  this  introduces  the 
thoroughly  unclear  idea  of  cases  equally  possible  in  place  of  cases 
equally  frequent,  this  is  a  tolerable  statement  of  the  materialistic 
view.  The  pure  conceptualistic  theory  has  been  best  expounded  by 
Mr.  De  Morgan  in  his  "  Formal  Logic  :  or,  the  Calculus  of  Infer- 
ence, Necessary  and  Probable." 

The  great  difference  between  the  two  analyses  is,  that  the  con- 
ceptualists  refer  probability  to  an  event,  while  the  materialists  make 
it  the  ratio  of  frequency  of  events  of  a  species  to  those  of  a  genus 
over  that  species,  thus  giving  it  two  terms  instead  of  one.  The  oppo- 
sition may  be  made  to  appear  as  follows  : 

Suppose  that  we  have  two  rules  of  inference,  such  that,  of  all  the 
questions  to  the  solution  of  which  both  can  be  applied,  the  first  yields 
correct  answers  to  ■^w,  and  incorrect  answers  to  the  remaining  T^ ; 
while  the  second  yields  correct  answers  to  -j8^,  and  incorrect  answers 
to  the  remaining  -j-J^-.  Suppose,  further,  that  the  two  rules  are  en- 
tirely independent  as  to  their  truth,  so  that  the  second  answers  cor- 
rectly T9^  of  the  questions  which  the  first  answers  correctly,  and  also 
T9^o  of  the  questions  which  the  first  answers  incorrectly,  and  answers 
incorrectly  the  remaining  yL-  of  the  questions  which  the  first  answers 
correctly,  and  also  the  remaining  yig-  of  the  questions  which  the  first 
answers  incorrectly.  Then,  of  all  the  questions  to  the  solution  of 
which  both  rules  can  be  applied — 

both  answer  correctly —  of  —  or    93  X  81    • 

100       100'  °     100  X 100  ' 

the  second  answers  correctly  and  the  first  incorrectly of-^-  or    93  ^    *9  • 

100        100'        100X100' 

the  second  answers  incorrectly  aud  the  first  correctly '       *  81  7    X  81 

100       100'        100  X  100  ' 

and  both  answer  correctly '     of-^-  r>r         "*   ^    • 

100       100'        100X100  ' 

Suppose,  now,  that,  in  reference  to  any  question,  both  give  the 
same  answer.  Then  (the  questions  being  always  such  as  are  to  be  an- 
swered by  yes  or  no),  those  in  reference  to  which  their  answers  agree 
are  the  same  as  those  which  both  answer  correctly  together  with  those 

93    X   81  7  X   19 

which  both  answer  falsely,  or  — — — — —  4-  — — - 1- —  of  all.     The  pro- 

•"        100  X  100      100  X  100  F 

portion  of  those  which  both  answer  correctly  out  of  those  their  an- 
swers to  which  agree  is,  therefore — 
93  X  81 

100  X  100 93  X  81 

93  X  81     7  X  19  °r  (93  X  81)  +  (7  X  19). 
100  X  100  +  100  X  100 


7o8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

This  is,  therefore,  the  probability  that,  if  both  modes  of  inference 
yield  the  same  result,  that  result  is  correct.  We  may  here  conven- 
iently make  use  of  another  mode  of  expression.  Probability  is  the 
ratio  of  the  favorable  cases  to  all  the  cases.  Instead  of  expressing 
our  result  in  terms  of  this  ratio,  we  may  make  use  of  another — the 
ratio  of  favorable  to  unfavorable  cases.  This  last  ratio  may  be  called 
the  chance  of  an  event.  Then  the  chance  of  a  true  answer  by  the 
first  mode  of  inference  is  f ^  and  by  the  second  is  -^ ;  and  the  chance 
of  a  correct  answer  from  both,  when  they  agree,  is — 

81  X  93         81    v,    93 

or  —  X  — 

19  X  7  19  7, 

or  the  product  of  the  chances  of  each  singly  yielding  a  true  an- 
swer. 

It  will  be  seen  that  a  chance  is  a  quantity  which  may  have  any 
magnitude,  however  great.  An  event  in  whose  favor  there  is  an  even 
chance,  or  \,  has  a  probability  of  ^.  An  argument  having  an  even 
chance  can  do  nothing  toward  reenforcing  others,  since  according  to 
the  rule  its  combination  with  another  would  only  multiply  the  chance 
of  the  latter  by  1. 

Probability  and  chance  undoubtedly  belong  primarily  to  conse- 
sequences,  and  are  relative  to  premises ;  but  we  may,  nevertheless, 
speak  of  the  chance  of  an  event  absolutely,  meaning  by  that  the 
chance  of  the  combination  of  all  arguments  in  reference  to  it  which 
exist  for  us  in  the  given  state  of  our  knowledge.  Taken  in  this  sense 
it  is  incontestable  that  the  chance  of  an  event  has  an  intimate 
connection  with  the  degree  of  our  belief  in  it.  Belief  is  certainly 
something  more  than  a  mere  feeling;  yet  there  is  a  feeling  of  believ- 
ing, and  this  feeling  does  and  ought  to  vary  with  the  chance  of  the 
thing  believed,  as  deduced  from  all  the  arguments.  Any  quantity 
which  varies  with  the  chance  might,  therefore,  it  would  seem,  serve 
as  a  thermometer  for  the  proper  intensity  of  belief.  Among  all  such 
quantities  there  is  one  which  is  peculiarly  appropriate.  When  there 
is  a  very  great  chance,  the  feeling  of  belief  ought  to  be  very  intense. 
Absolute  certainty,  or  an  infinite  chance,  can  never  be  attained  by 
mortals,  and  this  may  be  represented  appropriately  by  an  infinite  be- 
lief. As  the  chance  diminishes  the  feeling  of  believing  should  dimin- 
ish, until  an  even  chance  is  reached,  where  it  should  completely  vanish 
and  not  incline  either  toward  or  away  from  the  proposition.  When 
the  chance  becomes  less,  then  a  contrary  belief  should  spring  up 
and  should  increase  in  intensity  as  the  chance  diminishes,  and  as 
the  chance  almost  vanishes  (which  it  can  never  quite  do)  the  contrary 
belief  should  tend  toward  an  infinite  intensity.  Now,  there  is  one 
quantity  which,  more  simply  than  any  other,  fulfills  these  conditions ; 
it  is  the  logarithm  of  the  chance.  But  there  is  another  considera- 
tion which  must,  if  admitted,  fix  us  to  this  choice  for  our  thermometer. 
It  is  that  our  belief  ought  to  be  proportional  to  the  weight  of  evi- 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    709 

dence,  in  this  sense,  that  two  arguments  which  are  entirely  indepen- 
dent, neither  weakening  nor  strengthening  each  other,  ought,  when 
they  concur,  to  produce  a  belief  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  intensities  of 
belief  which  either  would  produce  separately.  Now,  we  have  seen 
that  the  chances  of  independent  concurrent  arguments  are  to  be  mul- 
tiplied together  to  get  the  chance  of  their  combination,  and  therefore 
the  quantities  which  best  express  the  intensities  of  belief  should  be 
such  that  they  are  to  be  added  when  the  chances  are  multiplied  in  order 
to  produce  the  quantity  which  corresponds  to  the  combined  chance. 
Now,  the  logarithm  is  the  only  quantity  which  fulfills  this  condi- 
tion. There  is  a  general  law  of  sensibility,  called  Fechner's  psycho- 
physical law.  It  is  that  the  intensity  of  any  sensation  is  proportional 
to  the  logarithm  of  the  external  force  which  produces  it.  It  is  en- 
tirely in  harmony  with  this  law  that  the  feeling  of  belief  should  be  as 
the  logarithm  of  the  chance,  this  latter  being  the  expression  of  the 
state  of  facts  which  produces  the  belief. 

The  rule  for  the  combination  of  independent  concurrent  arguments 
takes  a  very  simple  form  when  expressed  in  terms  of  the  intensity  of 
belief,  measured  in  the  proposed  way.  It  is  this :  Take  the  sum  of 
all  the  feelings  of  belief  which  would  be  produced  separately  by  all 
the  arguments  pro,  subtract  from  that  the  similar  sum  for  arguments 
con,  and  the  remainder  is  the  feeling  of  belief  which  we  ought  to  have 
on  the  whole.  This  is  a  proceeding  which  men  often  resort  to,  under 
the  name  of  balancing:  reasons. 

These  considerations  constitute  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  con- 
ceptualistic  view.  The  kernel  of  it  is  that  the  conjoint  probability  of 
all  the  arguments  in  our  possession,  with  reference  to  any  fact,  must 
be  intimately  connected  with  the  jus.t  degree  of  our  belief  in  that 
fact ;  and  this  point  is  supplemented  by  various  others  showing  the 
consistency  of  the  theory  with  itself  and  with  the  rest  of  our  knowl- 
edge. 

But  probability,  to  have  any  value  at  all,  must  express  a  fact.  It 
is,  therefore,  a  thing  to  be  inferred  upon  evidence.  Let  us,  then,  con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  formation  of  a  belief  of  probability.  Suppose 
we  have  a  large  bag  of  beans  from  which  one  has  been  secretly  taken 
at  random  and  hidden  under  a  thimble.  We  are  now  to  form  a  prob- 
able judgment  of  the  color  of  that  bean,  by  drawing  others  singly 
from  the  bag  and  looking  at  them,  each  one  to  be  thrown  back,  and 
the  whole  well  mixed  up  after  each  drawing.  Suppose  the  first  draw- 
ing is  white  and  the  next  black.  "We  conclude  that  there  is  not  an 
immense  preponderance  of  either  color,  and  that  there  is  something 
like  an  even  chance  that  the  bean  under  the  thimble  is  black.  But 
this  judgment  may  be  altered  by  the  next  few  drawings.  When  we 
have  drawn  ten  times,  if  4,  5,  or  6,  are  white,  we  have  more  confidence 
that  the  chance  is  even.  When  we  have  drawn  a  thousand  times,  if 
about  half  have  been  white,  we  have  great  confidence  in  this  result. 


7io  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

We  now  feel  pretty  sure  that,  if  we  were  to  make  a  large  number  of 
bets  upon  the  color  of  single  beans  drawn  from  the  bag,  we  could  ap- 
proximately insure  ourselves  in  the  long  run  by  betting  each  time 
upon  the  white,  a  confidence  which  would  be  entirely  wanting  if,  in- 
stead of  sampling  the  bag  by  1,000  drawings,  we  had  done  so  by  only 
two.  Now,  as  the  whole  utility  of  probability  is  to  insure  us  in  the 
long  run,  and  as  that  assurance  depends,  not  merely  on  the  value  of 
the  chance,  but  also  on  the  accuracy  of  the  evaluation,  it  follows  that 
we  ought  not  to  have  the  same  feeling  of  belief  in  reference  to  all 
events  of  which  the  chance  is  even.  In  short,  to  express  the  proper 
state  of  our  belief,  not  one  number  but  two  are  requisite,  the  first 
depending  on  the  inferred  probability,  the  second  on  the  amount  of 
knowledge  on  which  that  probability  is  based.1  It  is  true  that  when 
our  knowledge  is  very  precise,  when  we  have  made  many  drawings 
from  the  bag,  or,  as  in  most  of  the  examples  in  the  books,  when  the 
total  contents  of  the  bag  are  absolutely  known,  the  number  which  ex- 
presses the  uncertainty  of  the  assumed  probability  and  its  liability  to 
be  changed  by  further  experience  may  become  insignificant,  or  utterly 
vanish.  But,  when  our  knowledge  is  very  slight,  this  number  may  be 
even  more  important  than  the  probability  itself;  and  when  we  have 
no  knowledge  at  all  this  completely  overwhelms  the  other,  so  that 
there  is  no  sense  in  saying  that  the  chance  of  the  totally  unknown 
event  is  even  (for  what  expresses  absolutely  no  fact  has  absolutely  no 
meaning),  and  what  ought  to  be  said  is  that  the  chance  is  entirely 
indefinite.  We  thus  perceive  that  the  conceptualistic  view,  though 
answering  well  enough  in  some  cases,  is  quite  inadequate. 

Suppose  that  the  first  bean  which  we  drew  from  our  bag  were 
black.  That  would  constitute  an  argument,  no  matter  how  slender, 
that  the  bean  under  the  thimble  was  also  black.  If  the  second  bean 
were  also  to  turn  out  black,  that  would  be  a  second  independent  argu- 
ment reenforcing  the  first.  If  the  whole  of  the  first  twenty  beans 
drawn  should  prove  black,  our  confidence  that  the  hidden  bean  was 
black  would  justly  attain  considerable  strength.  But  suppose  the 
twenty-first  bean  were  to  be  white  and  that  we  were  to  go  on  draw- 
ing until  we  found  that  we  had  drawn  1,010  black  beans  and  990 
white  ones.  We  should  conclude  that  our  first  twenty  beans  being 
black  was  simply  an  extraordinary  accident,  and  that  in  fact  the  pro- 
portion of  white  beans  to  black  was  sensibly  equal,  and  that  it  was  an 
even  chance  that  the  hidden  bean  was  black.  Yet  according  to  the 
rule  of  balancing  reasons,  since  all  the  drawings  of  black  beans  are 
so  many  independent  arguments  in  favor  of  the  one  under  the  thimble 
being  black,  and  all  the  white  drawings  so  many  against  it,  an  excess 
of  twenty  black  beans  ought  to  produce  the  same  degree  of  belief 
that  the  hidden  bean  was  black,  whatever  the  total  number  drawn. 

1  Strictly  we  should  need  an  infinite  series  of  numbers  each  depending  on  the  prob- 
able error  of  the  last. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    711 

In  the  conceptualistic  view  of  probability,  complete  ignorance, 
where  the  judgment  ought  not  to  swerve  either  toward  or  away  from 
the  hypothesis,  is  represented  by  the  probability  |.' 

But  let  us  suppose  that  we  are  totally  ignorant  what  colored  hair 
the  inhabitants  of  Saturn  have.  Let  us,  then,  take  a  color-chart  in 
which  all  possible  colors  are  shown  shading  into  one  another  by  im- 
perceptible degrees.  In  such  a  chart  the  relative  areas  occupied  by 
different  classes  of  colors  are  perfectly  arbitrary.  Let  us  inclose  such 
an  area  with  a  closed  line,  and  ask  what  is  the  chance  on  concep- 
tualistic principles  that  the  color  of  the  hair  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sat- 
urn falls  within  that  area  ?  The  answer  cannot  be  indeterminate  be- 
cause we  must  be  in  some  state  of  belief;  and,  indeed,  conceptualistic 
writers  do  not  admit  indeterminate  probabilities.  As  there  is  no  cer- 
tainty in  the  matter,  the  answer  lies  between  zero  and  unity.  As  no 
numerical  value  is  afforded  by  the  data,  the  number  must  be  deter- 
mined by  the  nature  of  the  scale  of  probability  itself,  and  not  by  cal- 
culation from  the  data.  The  answer  can,  therefore,  only  be  one-half, 
since  the  judgment  should  neither  favor  nor  oppose  the  hypothesis. 
What  is  true  of  this  area  is  true  of  any  other  one ;  and  it  will  equally 
be  true  of  a  third  area  which  embraces  the  other  two.  But  the  proba- 
bility for  each  of  the  smaller  areas  being  one-half,  that  for  the  larger 
should  be  at  least  unity,  which  is  absurd. 

III. 

All  our  reasonings  are  of  two  kinds:  1.  Explicative,  analytic,  or 
deductive  ;  2.  Amplifiative,  synthetic,  or  (loosely  speaking)  inductive. 
In  explicative  reasoning,  certain  facts  are  first  laid  down  in  the  prem- 
ises. These  facts  are,  in  every  case,  an  inexhaustible  multitude,  but 
they  may  often  be  summed  up  in  one  simple  proposition  by  means 
of  some  regularity  which  runs  through  them  all.  Thus,  take  the 
proposition  that  Socrates  was  a  man ;  this  implies  (to  go  no  further) 
that  during  every  fraction  of  a  second  of  his  whole  life  (or,  if  you 
please,  during  the  greater  part  of  them)  he  was  a  man.  He  did  not 
at  one  instant  appear  as  a  tree  and  at  another  as  a  dog ;  he  did  not 
flow  into  water,  or  appear  in  two  places  at  once;  you  could  not  put 
your  finger  through  him  as  if  he  were  an  optical  image,  etc.  Now, 
the  facts  being  thus  laid  down,  some  order  among  some  of  them,  not 
particularly  made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of  stating  them,  may  per- 
haps be  discovered  ;  and  this  will  enable  us  to  throw  part  or  all  of 
them  into  a  new  statement,  the  possibility  of  which  might  have 
escaped  attention.  Such  a  statement  will  be  the  conclusion  of  an 
analytic  inference.  Of  this  sort  are  all  mathematical  demonstrations. 
But  synthetic  reasoning  is  of  another  kind.  In  this  case  the  facts 
summed  up  in  the  conclusion  are  not  among  those  stated  in  the  prem- 

1  "  Perfect  indecision,  belief  inclining  neither  way,  an  even  chance." — De  Morgan, 
p.  182. 


7i2  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

ises.  They  are  different  facts,  as  when  one  sees  that  the  tide  rises 
m  times  and  concludes  that  it  will  rise  the  next  time.  These  are 
the  only  inferences  which  increase  our  real  knowledge,  however  use- 
ful the  others  may  be. 

In  any  pi-oblem  in  probabilities,  we  have  given  the  relative  fre- 
quency of  certain  events,  and  we  perceive  that  in  these  facts  the  rela- 
tive frequency  of  another  event  is  given  in  a  hidden  way.  This  being 
stated  makes  the  solution.  This  is  therefore  mere  explicative  reason- 
ing, and  is  evidently  entirely  inadequate  to  the  representation  of  syn- 
thetic reasoning,  which  goes  out  beyond  the  facts  given  in  the  prem- 
ises. There  is,  therefore,  a  manifest  impossibility  in  so  tracing  out 
any  probability  for  a  synthetic  conclusion. 

Most  treatises  on  probability  contain  a  very  different  doctrine. 
They  state,  for  example,  that  if  one  of  the  ancient  denizens  of  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  who  had  never  heard  of  tides,  had  gone 
to  the  bay  of  Biscay,  and  had  there  seen  the  tide  rise,  say  m  times, 
he  could  know  that  there  was  a  probability  equal  to 

m  +  l 

m  +  2 

that  it  would  rise  the  next  time.  In  a  well-known  work  by  Quetelet, 
much  stress  is  laid  on  this,  and  it  is  made  the  foundation  of  a  theory 
of  inductive  reasoning. 

But  this  solution  betrays  its  origin  if  we  apply  it  to  the  case  in 
which  the  man  has  never  seen  the  tide  rise  at  all ;  that  is,  if  we  put 
m  =  0.  In  this  case,  the  probability  that  it  will  rise  the  next  time 
comes  out  •£,  or,  in  other  words,  the  solution  involves  the  concep- 
tualistic  principle  that  there  is  an  even  chance  of  a  totally  unknown 
event.  The  manner  in  which  it  has  been  reached  has  been  by  con- 
sidering a  number  of  urns  all  containing  the  same  number  of  balls, 
part  white  and  part  black.  One  urn  contains  all  white  balls,  another 
one  black  and  the  rest  white,  a  third  two  black  and  the  rest  white, 
and  so  on,  one  urn  for  each  proportion,  until  an  urn  is  reached  con- 
taining only  black  balls.  But  the  only  possible  reason  for  drawing 
any  analogy  between  such  an  arrangement  and  that  of  Nature  is  the 
principle  that  alternatives  of  which  we  know  nothing  must  be  con- 
sidered as  equally  probable.  But  this  principle,  is  absurd.  There  is 
an  indefinite  variety  of  ways  of  enumerating  the  different  possibilities, 
which,  on  the  application  of  this  principle,  would  give  different  results. 
If  there  be  any  way  of  enumerating  the  possibilities  so  as  to  make  them 
all  equal,  it  is  not  that  from  which  this  solution  is  derived,  but  is  the 
following  :  Suppose  we  had  an  immense  granary  filled  with  black  and 
white  balls  well  mixed  up  ;  and  suppose  each  urn  were  filled  by  taking 
a  fixed  number  of  balls  from  this  granary  quite  at  random.  The  rela- 
tive number  of  white  balls  in  the  granary  might  be  anything,  say 
one   in   three.     Then  in  one-third    of  the   urns  the  first  ball  would 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF  THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    713 

be  white,  and  in  two-thirds  black.  In  one-third  of  those  urns  of  which 
the  first  ball  was  white,  and  also  in  one-third  of  those  in  which  the 
first  ball  was  black,  the  second  ball  would  be  white.  In  this  way, 
we  should  have  a  distribution  like  that  shown  in  the  following 
table,  where  w  stands  for  a  white  ball  and  b  for  a  black  one.  The 
reader  can,  if  he  chooses,  verify  the  table  for  himself. 


wwww. 

wwwb. 
wwwb. 

wwbb. 
wwbb. 
wwbb. 
wwbb. 

wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 
wbbb. 

bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 

bbbb. 
bbbb. 
bbbb. 


wwbw. 
wwbw. 

wbwb. 
wbwb. 
wbwb. 
wbwb. 

bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 
bwbb. 


wbww. 
wbww. 

bwwb. 
bwwb. 
bwwb. 
bwwb. 

bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 
bbwb. 


bwww. 
bwww. 

wbbwr. 
wbbw. 
wbbw. 
wbbw. 

bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 
bbbw. 


bwbw. 
bwbw. 
bwbw. 
bwbw. 


bbww. 
bbww. 
bbww. 
bbww. 


In  the  second  group,  where  there  is  one  b,  there  are  two 
sets  just  alike  ;  in  the  third  there  are  4,  in  the  fourth  8,  and  in 
the  fifth  16,  doubling  every  time.  This  is  because  we  have 
supposed  twice  as  many  black  balls  in  the  granary  as  white 
ones;  had  we  supposed  10  times  as  many,  instead  of 


16 


sets  we  should  have  had 


10, 


100, 


1000, 


10000 


sets  ;  on  the  other  hand,  had  the  numbers  of  black  and  white 
balls  in  the  granary  been  even,  there  would  have  been  but 
one  set  in  each  group.  Now  suppose  two  balls  were  drawn 
from  one  of  these  urns  and  were  found  to  be  both  white,  what 
would  be  the  probability  of  the  next  one  being  white  ?  If  the  two 
drawn  out  were  the  first  two  put  into  the  urns,  and  the  next  to  be 
drawn  out  were  the  third  put  in,  then  the  probability  of  this  third 
being  white  would  be  the  same  whatever  the  colors  of  the  first  two, 
for  it  has  been  supposed  that  just  the  same  proportion  of  urns  has 
the  third  ball  white  among  those  which  have  the  first  two  white-white, 
white-black,  black-ichite,  and  black-black.     Thus,'in  this  case,  the  chance 


7 14  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

of  the  third  ball  being  white  would  be  the  same  whatever  the  first 
two  were.  But,  by  inspecting  the  table,  the  reader  can  see  that  in 
each  group  all  orders  of  the  balls  occur  with  equal  frequency,  so  that 
it  makes  no  difference  whether  they  are  drawn  out  in  the  order  they 
were  put  in  or  not.  Hence  the  colors  of  the  balls  already  drawn  have 
no  influence  on  the  probability  of  any  other  being  white  or  black. 

Now,  if  there  be  any  way  of  enumerating  the  possibilities  of 
Nature  so  as  to  make  them  equally  probable,  it  is  clearly  one  which 
should  make  one  arrangement  or  combination  of  the  elements  of  Na- 
ture as  probable  as  another,  that  is,  a  distribution  like  that  we  have 
supposed,  and  it,  therefore,  appears  that  the  assumption  that  any  such 
thing  can  be  done,  leads  simply  to  the  conclusion  that  reasoning  from 
past  to  future  experience  is  absolutely  worthless.  In  fact,  the  moment 
that  you  assume  that  the  chances  in  favor  of  that  of  which  we  are  to- 
tally ignorant  are  even,  the  problem  about  the  tides  does  not  differ, 
in  any  arithmetical  particular,  from  the  case  in  which  a  penny  (known 
to  be  equally  likely  to  come  up  heads  and  tails)  should  turn  up  heads 
m  times  successively.  In  short,  it  would  be  to  assume  that  Nature  is 
a  pure  chaos,  or  chance  combination  of  independent  elements,  in  which 
reasoning  from  one  fact  to  another  would  be  impossible  ;  and  since,  as 
we  shall  hereafter  see,  there  is  no- judgment  of  pure  observation  with- 
out reasoning,  it  would  be  to  suppose  all  human  cognition  illusory  and 
no  real  knowledge  possible.  It  would  be  to  suppose  that  if  we  have 
found  the  order  of  Nature  more  or  less  regular  in  the  past,  this  has 
been  by  a  pure  run  of  luck  which  we  may  expect  is  now  at  an  end. 
Now,  it  may  be  we  have  no  scintilla  of  proof  to  the  contrary,  but 
reason  is  unnecessary  in  reference  to  that  belief  which  is  of  all  the 
most  settled,  which  nobody  doubts  or  can  doubt,  and  which  he  who 
should  deny  would  stultify  himself  in  so  doing. 

The  relative  probability  of  this  or  that  arrangement  of  Nature  is 
something  which  we  should  have  a  right  to  talk  about  if  universes 
were  as  plenty  as  blackberries,  if  we  could  put  a  quantity  of  them  in 
a  bag,  shake  them  well  up,  draw  out  a  sample,  and  examine  them  to 
see  what  proportion  of  them  had  one  arrangement  and  what  propor- 
tion another.  But,  even  in  that  case,  a  higher  universe  would  contain 
us,  in  regard  to  whose  arrangements  the  conception  of  probability 
could  have  no  applicability. 

IV. 

We  have  examined  the  problem  proposed  by  the  conceptualists, 
which,  translated  into  clear  language,  is  this  :  Given  a  synthetic  con- 
clusion ;  required  to  know  out  of  all  possible  states  of  things  how  many 
will  accord,  to  any  assigned  extent,  with  this  conclusion ;  and  we  have 
found  that  it  is  only  an  absurd  attempt  to  reduce  synthetic  to  analytic 
reason,  and  that  no  definite  solution  is  possible. 

But  there  is  another  problem  in  connection  with  this  subject.     It 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF  SCIENCE.    715 

is  this :  Given  a  certain  state  of  things,  required  to  know  what  pro- 
portion of  all  synthetic  inferences  relating  to  it  will  be  true  within  a 
given  degree  of  approximation.  Now,  there  is  no  difficulty  about  this 
problem  (except  for  its  mathematical  complication) ;  it  has  been  much 
studied,  and  the  answer  is  perfectly  well  known.  And  is  not  this, 
after  all,  what  we  want  to  know  much  rather  than  the  other  ?  Why 
should  we  want  to  know  the  probability  that  the  fact  will  accord  with 
our  conclusion  ?  That  implies  that  we  are  interested  in  all  possible 
worlds,  and  not  merely  the  one  in  which  we  find  ourselves  placed. 
Why  is  it  not  much  more  to  the  purpose  to  know  the  probability  that 
our  conclusion  will  accord  with  the  fact  ?  One  of  these  questions  is 
the  first  above  stated  and  the  other  the  second,  and  I  ask  the  reader 
whether,  if  people,  instead  of  using  the  word  probability  without  any 
clear  apprehension  of  their  own  meaning,  had  always  spoken  of  rela- 
tive frequency,  they  could  have  failed  to  see  that  what  they  wanted 
was  not  to  follow  along  the  synthetic  procedure  with  an  analytic  one, 
in  order  to  find  the  probability  of  the  conclusion ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  begin  with  the  fact  at  which  the  synthetic  inference  aims, 
and  follow  back  to  the  facts  it  uses  for  premises  in  order  to  see  the 
probability  of  their  being  such  as  will  yield  the  truth. 

Aa  we  cannot  have  an  urn  with  an  infinite  number  of  balls  to  rep- 
resent the  inexhaustibleness  of  Nature,  let  us  suppose  one  with  a  finite 
number,  each  ball  being  thrown  back  into  the  urn  after  being  drawn 
out,  so  that  there  is  no  exhaustion  of  them.  Suppose  one  ball  out  of 
three  is  white  and  the  rest  black,  and  that  four  balls  are  drawn.  Then 
the  table  on  page  713  represents  the  relative  frequency  of  the  different 
ways  in  which  these  balls  might  be  drawn.  It  will  be  seen  that  if  we 
should  judge  by  these  four  balls  of  the  proportion  in  the  urn,  32  times 
out  of  81  we  should  find  it  £,  and  24  times  out  of  81  we  should  find  it 
-J,  the  truth  being  ^.  To  extend  this  table  to  high  numbers  would  be 
great  labor,  but  the  mathematicians  have  found  some  ingenious  ways 
of  reckoning  what  the  numbers  would  be.  It  is  found  that,  if  the  true 
proportion  of  white  balls  is  p,  and  s  balls  are  drawn,  then  the  error  of 
the  proportion  obtained  by  the  induction  will  be — 


/2p(l-p) 
/2p{l-p) 


s 
3(1 -/>) 


half  the  time  within  0.477 

9  times  out  of  10  within  1.163 

99  times  out  of  100  within  1.821 

/2»(1—  p) 
999  times  out  of  1,000  within  2.328  y— — 

/2p(l-p) 
9,999  times  out  of  10,000  within  2.751  y  — — — 

/2p(l—p) 
9,999,999,999  times  out  of  10,000,000,000  within  4.77    y  — — 


7i 6  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

The  use  of  this  may  be  illustrated  by  an  example.  By  the  cen- 
sus of  1870,  it  appears  that  the  proportion  of  males  among  native 
white  children  under  one  year  old  was  0.5082,  while  among  colored 
children  of  the  same  age  the  proportion  was  only  0.4977.  The  differ- 
ence between  these  is  0.0105,  or  about  one  in  a  100.  Can  this  be 
attributed  to  chance,  or  would  the  difference  always  exist  among 
a  great  number  of  white  and  colored  children  under  like  circum- 
stances ?  Here  p  may  be  taken  at  £ ;  hence  2p  (1—p)  is  also  $.  The 
number  of  white  children  counted  was  near  1,000,000  ;  hence  the 
fraction  whose  square-root  is  to  be  taken  is  about  aoooooo-  The  root 
is  about  yj^,  and  this  multiplied  by  0.477  gives  about  0.0003  as  the 
probable  error  in  the  ratio  of  males  among  the  whites  as  obtained 
from  the  induction.  The  number  of  black  children  was  about  150,000, 
which  gives  0.0008  for  the  probable  error.  We  see  that  the  actual 
discrepancy  is  ten  times  the  sum  of  these,  and  such  a  result  would 
happen,  according  to  our  table,  only  once  out  of  10,000,000,000  cen- 
suses, in  the  long  run. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  when  the  real  value  of  the  probability 
sought  inductively  is  either  very  large  or  very  small,  the  reasoning  is 
more  secure.  Thus,  suppose  there  were  in  reality  one  white  ball  in 
100  in  a  certain  urn,  and  we  were  to  judge  of  the  number  by  100  draw- 
ings. The  probability  of  drawing  no  white  ball  would  be  ^\\\ ;  that 
of  drawing  one  white  ball  would  be  y3^ ;  that  of  drawing  two  would 
^e  tWo  ;  tnat  of  drawing  three  would  be  yffg- ;  that  of  drawing  four 
would  be  y^fo  ;  that  of  drawing  five  would  be  only  T^i  etc.  Thus 
we  should  be  tolerably  certain  of  not  being  in  error  by  more  than 
one  ball  in  100. 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  one  sense  we  can,  and  in  another  we  can- 
not, determine  the  probability  of  synthetic  inference.  When  I  rea- 
son in  this  way  : 

Ninety-nine  Cretans  in  a  hundred  are  liars  ; 

But  Epimenides  is  a  Cretan  ; 

Therefore,  Epimenides  is  a  liar : — 
I  know  that  reasoning  similar  to  that  would  carry  truth  09  times  in 
100.     But  when  I  reason  in  the  opposite  direction  : 

Minos,  Sarpedon,  Rhadamanthus,  Deucalion,  and  Epimenides,  are 
all  the  Cretans  I  can  think  of; 

But  these  were  all  atrocious  liars, 

Therefore,  pretty  much  all  Cretans  must  have  been  liars ; 
I  do  not  in  the  least  know  how  often  such  reasoning  would  carry  me 
right.  On  the  other  hand,  what  I  do  know  is  that  some  definite 
proportion  of  Cretans  must  have  been  liars,  and  that  this  propor- 
tion can  be  probably  approximated  to  by  an  induction  from  five 
or  six  instances.  Even  in  the  worst  case  for  the  probability  of  such 
an  inference,  that  in  which  about  half  the  Cretans  are  liars,  the  ratio 
so  obtained  would  probably  not  be  in  error  by  more  than  •£.    So  much 


ILLUSTRATION'S    OF   THE  LOGIC   OF   SCIENCE.    71 7 

I  know ;  but,  then,  in  the  present  case  the  inference  is  that  pretty- 
much  all  Cretans  are  liars,  and  whether  there  may  not  be  a  special 
improbability  in  that  I  do  not  know. 


Late  in  the  last  century,  Immanuel  Kant  asked  the  question, 
"How  are  synthetical  judgments  a  priori  possible?"  By  synthet- 
ical judgments  he  meant  such  as  assert  positive  fact  and  are  not 
mere  affairs  of  arrangement;  in  short,  judgments  of  the  kind  which 
synthetical  reasoning  produces,  and  which  analytic  reasoning  cannot 
yield.  By  a  priori  judgments  he  meant  such  as  that  all  outward  ob- 
jects are  in  space,  every  event  has  a  cause,  etc.,  propositions  which 
according  to  him  can  never  be  inferred  from  experience.  Not  so 
much  by  his  answer  to  this  question  as  by  the  mere  asking  of  it,  the 
current  philosophy  of  that  time  was  shattered  and  destroyed,  and  a 
new  epoch  in  its  history  was  begun.  But  before  asking  that  question 
he  ought  to  have  asked  the  more  general  one,  "How  are  any  synthet- 
ical judgments  at  all  possible  ?  "  How  is  it  that  a  man  can  observe 
one  fact  and  straightway  pronounce  judgment  concerning  another 
different  fact  not  involved  in  the  first?  Such  reasoning,  as  we  have 
seen,  has,  at  least  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  phrase,  no  definite  proba- 
bility; how,  then,  can  it  add  to  our  knowledge?  Tins  is  a  strange 
paradox ;  the  Abbe  Gratry  says  it  is  a  miracle,  and  that  every  true 
induction  is  an  immediate  inspiration  from  on  high.1  I  respect  this 
explanation  far  more  than  many  a  pedantic  attempt  to  solve  the  ques- 
tion by  some  juggle  with  probabilities,  with  the  forms  of  syllogism, 
or  what  not.  I  respect  it  because  it  shows  an  appreciation  of  the 
depth  of  the  problem,  because  it  assigns  an  adequate  cause,  and  be- 
cause it  is  intimately  connected — as  the  true  account  should  be — 
with  a  general  philosophy  of  the  universe.  At  the  same  time,  I  do 
not  accept  this  explanation,  because  an  explanation  should  tell  how 
a  thing  is  done,  and  to  assert  a  perpetual  miracle  seems  to  be  an 
abandonment  of  all  hope  of  doing  that,  without  sufficient  justification. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  see  how  the  answer  which  Kant  gave  to 
his  question  about  synthetical  judgments  a  priori  will  appear  if  ex- 
tended to  the  question  of  synthetical  judgments  in  general.  That 
answer  is,  that  synthetical  judgments  a  priori  are  possible  because 
whatever  is  universally  true  is  involved  in  the  conditions  of  expe- 
rience. Let  us  apply  this  to  a  general  synthetical  reasoning.  I  take 
from  a  bag  a  handful  of  beans  ;  they  are  all  purple,  and  I  infer  that 
all  the  beans  in  the  bag  are  purple.  How  can  I  do  that  ?  Why,  upon 
the  principle  that  whatever  is  universally  true  of  my  experience  (which 

1  Logique.  The  same  is  true,  according  to  him,  of  every  performance  of  a  differen- 
tiation, but  not  of  integration.  He  does  not  tell  us  whether  it  is  the  supernatural  assist- 
ance which  makes  the  former  process  so  much  the  easier. 


7i 8  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

is  here  the  appearance  of  these  different  beans)  is  involved  in  the  con- 
dition of  experience.  The  condition  of  this  special  experience  is  that 
all  these  beans  were  taken  from  that  bag.  According  to  Kant's  princi- 
ple, then,  whatever  is  found  true  of  all  the  beans  drawn  from  the  bag 
must  find  its  explanation  in  some  peculiarity  of  the  contents  of  the 
bag.     This  is  a  satisfactory  statement  of  the  principle  of  induction. 

When  we  draw  a  deductive  or  analytic  conclusion,  our  rule  of 
inference  is  that  facts  of  a  certain  general  character  are  either  in- 
variably or  in  a  certain  proportion  of  cases  accompanied  by  facts  of 
another  general  character.  Then  our  premise  being  a  fact  of  the 
former  class,  we  infer  with  certainty  or  with  the  appropriate  degree 
of  probability  the  existence  of  a  fact  of  the  second  class.  But  the 
rule  for  synthetic  inference  is  of  a  different  kind.  When  we  sample 
a  bag  of  beans  we  do  not  in  the  least  assume  that  the  fact  of  some 
beans  being  purple  involves  the  necessity  or  even  the  probability  of 
other  beans  being  so.  On  the  contrary,  the  conceptualistic  method 
of  treating  probabilities,  which  really  amounts  simply  to  the  deduc- 
tive treatment  of  them,  when  rightly  carried  out  leads  to  the  result 
that  a  synthetic  inference  has  just  an  even  chance  in  its  favor,  or  in 
other  words  is  absolutely  worthless.  The  color  of  one  bean  is  en- 
tirely independent  of  that  of  another.  But  synthetic  inference  is 
founded  upon  a  classification  of  facts,  not  according  to  their  charac- 
ters, but  according  to  the  manner  of  obtaining  them.  Its  rule  is,  that  a 
number  of  facts  obtained  in  a  given  way  will  in  general  more  or  less 
resemble  other  facts  obtained  in  the  same  way  ;  or,  experiences  whose 
conditions  are  the  same  will  have  the  same  general  characters. 

In  the  former  case,  we  know  that  premises  precisely  similar  in 
form  to  those  of  the  given  ones  will  yield  true  conclusions,  just  once 
in  a  calculable  number  of  times.  In  the  latter  case,  we  only  know 
that  premises  obtained  under  circumstances  similar  to  the  given  ones 
(though  perhaps  themselves  very  different)  will  yield  true  conclusions, 
at  least  once  in  a  calculable  number  of  times.  We  may  express  this 
by  saying  that  in  the  case  of  analytic  inference  we  know  the  proba- 
bility of  our  conclusion  (if  the  premises  are  true),  but  in  the  case  of 
synthetic  inferences  we  only  know  the  degree  of  trustworthiness  of 
our  proceeding.  As  all  knowledge  Comes  from  synthetic  inference, 
we  must  equally  infer  that  all  human  certainty  consists  merely  in  our 
knowing  that  the  processes  by  which  our  knowledge  has  been  derived 
are  such  as  must  generally  have  led  to  true  conclusions. 

Though  a  synthetic  inference  cannot  by  any  means  be  reduced  to 
deduction,  yet  that  the  rule  of  induction  will  hold  good  in  the  long 
run  may  be  deduced  from  the  principle  that  reality  is  only  the  object 
of  the  final  opinion  to  which  sufficient  investigation  would  lead. 
That  belief  gradually  tends  to  fix  itself  under  the  influence  of  inquiry 
is,  indeed,  one  of  the  facts  with  which  logic  sets  out. 


ON  EDISON" S    TALKING-MACHINE.  719 

1 

ON  EDISON'S  TALKING-MACHINE.1 

By  ALFRED   M.  MAYER. 

MR.  THOMAS  A.  EDISON  has  recently  invented  an  instrument 
which  is  undoubtedly  the  acoustic  marvel  of  the  century.  It  is 
called  the  "  Speaking  Phonograph,"  or,  adopting  the  Indian  idiom, 
one  may  aptly  call  it "  The  Sound-  Writer  who  talks.''''  Much  curiosity 
has  been  expressed  as  to  the  workings  of  this  instrument,  so  I  purpose 
giving  an  account  of  it. 

All  talking-machines  may  be  reduced  to  two  types.  That  of  Prof. 
Faber,  of  Vienna,  is  the  most  perfect  example  of  one  type ;  that  of 
Mr.  Edison  is  the  only  example  of  the  other. 

Faber  worked  at  the  source  of  articulate  sounds,  and  built  up  an 
artificial  organ  of  speech,  whose  parts,  as  nearly  as  possible,  perform 
the  same  functions  as  corresponding  organs  in  our  vocal  apparatus. 
A  vibrating  ivory  reed,  of  variable  pitch,  forms  its  vocal  chords. 
There  is  an  oral  cavity,  whose  size  and  shape  can  be  rapidly  changed 
by  depressing  the  keys  on  a  key-board.  A  rubber  tongue  and  lips 
make  the  consonants ;  a  little  windmill,  turning  in  its  throat,  rolls 
the  letter  7£,  and  a  tube  is  attached  to  its  nose  when  it  speaks  French. 
This  is  the  anatomy  of  this  really  wonderful  piece  of  mechanism. 

Faber  attacked  the  problem  on  its  physiological  side.  Quite  dif- 
ferently works  Mr.  Edison :  he  attacks  the  problem,  not  at  the  source 
of  origin  of  the  vibrations  which  make  articulate  speech,  but,  con- 
sidering these  vibrations  as  already  made,  it  matters  not  how,  he 
makes  these  vibrations  impress  themselves  on  a  sheet  of  metallic  foil, 
and  then  reproduces  from  these  impressions  the  sonorous  vibrations 
which  made  them. 

Faber  solved  the  problem  by  reproducing  the  mechanical  causes 
of  the  vibrations  making  voice  and  speech ;  Edison  solved  it  by  ob- 
taining the  mechanical  effects  of  these  vibrations.  Faber  reproduced 
the  movements  of  our  vocal  organs  ;  Edison  reproduced  the  motions 
which  the  drum-skin  of  the  ear  has  when  this  organ  is  acted  on  by 
the  vibrations  caused  by  the  movements  of  the  vocal  organs. 

Figs.  1  and  2  will  render  intelligible  the  construction  of  Mr.  Edi- 
son's machine.  A  cylinder,  F,  turns  on  an  axle  which  passes  through 
the  two  standards,  A  and  B.  On  one  end  of  this  axle  is  the  crank, 
D ;  on  the  other  the  fly-wheel,  E.  The  portion  of  this  axle  to  the 
right  of  the  cylinder  has  a  screw-thread  cut  on  it,  which,  working  in 
a  nut,  A,  causes  the  cylinder  to  move  laterally  when  the  crank  is 

1  The  figures  in  this  article  are  taken  from  "  Sound,  a  Series  of  Simple,  Entertaining, 
and  Inexpensive  Experiments  in  the  Phenomena  of  Sound,  for  the  Use  of  Students  of 
every  Age."  By  Alfred  M.  Mayer.  Vol.  ii.  of  "Experimental  Science  Series  for  Begin- 
ners."   (Now  in  press  and  soon  to  be  published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.) 


720 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


turned.  On  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  is  scored  the  same  thread  as 
on  its  axle.  At  F  (shown  in  one-half  scale  in  Fig.  2)  is  a  plate  of 
iron,  A,  about  ^  of  an  inch  thick.  This  plate  can  be  moved  tow- 
ard and  from  the  cylinder  by  pushing  in  or  pulling  out  the  lever 
H  G,  which  turns  in  an  horizontal  plane  around  the  pin  I. 


Fig.  1.— Edison"s  Talking-Phonograph. 


The  under  side  of  this  thin  iron  plate,  A  (Fig.  2),  presses  against 
short  pieces  of  rubber  tubing,  Xand  JT,  which  lie  between  the  plate 
and  a  spring  attached  to  E.  The  end  of  this  spring  carries  a  rounded 
steel  point,  P,  which  enters  slightly  between  the  threads  scored  on  the 
cylinder  C.  The  distance  of  this  point,  P,  from  the  cylinder  is  regu- 
lated by  a  set-screw,  S,  against  which  abuts  the  lever,  II  G.  Over 
the  iron  plate,  A,  is  a  disk  of  vulcanite,  B  P,  with  a  hole  in  its  centre. 
The  under  side  of  this  disk  nearly  touches  the  plate  A.  Its  upper 
surface  is  cut  into  a  shallow,  funnel-shaped  cavity,  leading  to  the 
opening  in  its  centre. 

To  operate  this  machine,  we  first  neatly  coat  the  cylinder  with  a 
sheet  of  foil,  made  to  adhere  by  gumming  the  corners;  then  we 
bring  the  point,  P,  to  bear  against  this  foil,  so  that,  on  turning  the 
cylinder,  it  makes  a  depressed  line,  or  furrow.  The  mouth  is  now 
placed  close  to  the  opening  in  the  vulcanite  disk,  P  P,  and  the  metal 
plate  is  talked  to  while  the  cylinder  is  revolved  with  a  uniform  motion. 

The  plate,  A,  vibrates  to  the  voice,  and  the  point,  P,  indents  the 
foil,  impressing  in  it  the  varying  numbers,  amplitudes,  and  durations, 
of  these  vibrations.  If  the  vibrations  given  by  the  voice  are  those 
causing  simple  sounds,  and  are  of  a  uniform,  regular  character,  then 
similar,  regular,  undulating  depressions  are  made  in  the  foil.  If  the 
vibrations  are  those  causing  complex  and  irregular  sounds  (like  those 
of  the  voice  in  speaking),  then,  similarly,  the  depressions  made  in  the 
foil  are  complex,  having  profiles  like  the  curve,  P,  in  Fig.  3.  Thus 
the  yielding  and  inelastic  foil  receives  and  retains  the  mechanical 
impressions  of  these  vibrations  with  all  their  minute  and  subtile 
characteristics. 

The  permanent  impressions  of  the  vibrations  of  the  voice  are  now 


ON  EDISON'S   TALKING-MACHINE. 


721 


made.  It  remains  to  obtain  from  these  impressions  the  aerial  vibra- 
tions which  made  them.  Nothing  is  simpler.  The  plate  A,  with  its 
point,  P,  is  moved  away  from  the  cylinder  by  pulling  toward  you 
the  lever  H  G.  Then  the  motion  of  the  cylinder  is  reversed  till  you 
have  brought  opposite  to  the  point  .Pthe  beginning  of  the  series  of 
impressions  which  it  has  made  on  the  foil.     Now  bring  the  point  up 


Fio.  2. 


to  the  cylinder;  place  against  the  vulcanite  plate,  B  B,&  large  cone 
of  paper  or  tin  to  reenforce  the  sounds,  and  then  steadily  turn  the 
crank  D.  The  elevations  and  depressions  which  have  been  made  by 
the  point  P  now  pass  under  this  point,  and  in  so  doing  they  cause  it 
and  the  thin  iron  plate  to  make  over  again  the  precise  vibrations 
which  animated  them  when  they  made  these  impressions  under  the 
action  of  the  voice.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that  the  iron  plate 
gives  out  the  vibrations  which  previously  fell  upon  it,  and  it  talks  back 
to  you  what  you  said  to  it. 

By  the  following  method  we  have  just  obtained  several  magnified 
traces  on  smoked  glass  of  the  contour,  or  profile,  of  the  elevations  and 
depressions  made  in  the  foil  by  the  sonorous  vibrations.  On  the  under 
side  of  the  shorter  arm  of  a  delicate  lever  is  a  point,  made  as  nearly 
as  possible  like  the  point  P  under  the  thin  iron  plate  A.   Cemented  to 

TOL.   XII. — 46 


722 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  end  of  the  longer  arm  of  this  lever  is  a  pointed  slip  of  thin  copper- 
foil,  which  just  touched  the  vertical  surface  of  a  smoked-glass  plate. 
The  point  on  the  short  arm  of  the  lever  rested  in  the  furrow  in  which 
are  the  depressions  and  elevations  made  in  the  foil  on  the  cylinder. 
Rotating  the  cylinder  with  a  slow  and  uniform  motion,  while  the  plate 
of  glass  was  slid  along,  the  point  of  copper-foil  scraped  the  lampblack 
off  the  smoked-glass  plate  and  traced  on  it  the  magnified  profile  of 
the  depressions  and  elevations  in  the  foil  on  the  cylinder.  I  say  ex- 
pressly elevations  as  well  as  depressions  in  the  foil,  because,  when  the 
plate  vibrates  outward,  the  furrow  in  the  foil  often  entirely  disap. 
pears,  and  is  always  lessened  in  its  depth  by  this  outward  motion  of 
the  point.  One  who  has  never  made  a  special  investigation  of  the 
character  of  the  impressions  on  the  phonograph,  and  forms  his  opinion 
from  their  appearance  to  his  eye,  might  state  that  they  are  simply 
dots  and  dashes,  like  the  marks  on  the  filet  of  a  Morse  instrument. 

Another  method  of  obtaining  the  profile  of  the  impressions  on  the 
foil  is  to  back  it  with  an  easily-fusible  substance,  and  then,  cutting 
through  the  middle  of  the  furrows,  we  obtain  a  section,  in  which  the 
edge  of  the  foil  presents  to  us  the  form  of  the  elevations  and  depres- 
sions. 

The  instrument  has  been  so  short  a  time  in  my  possession,  that  I 
have  not  had  the  leisure  to  make  on  it  the  careful  and  extended  series 
of  experiments  which  it  deserves.  I  have,  however,  obtained  several 
traces,  and  I  have  especially  studied  the  characters  of  the  trace  of  the 
sound  of  bat.  As  far  as  the  few  experiments  warrant  an  expression 
of  opinion,  it  seems  that  the  profile  of  the  impressions  made  on  the 
phonograph  and  the  contours  of  the  flames  of  Kunig,  when  vibrated 
by  the  same  compound  sound,  bear  a  close  resemblance. 

In  Fig.  3  we  give  on  line  A  the  appearance  to  the  eye  of  the  im- 


«3J> 


Fig.  3. 


pressions  on  the  foil,  when  the  sound  of  a  in  bat  is  sung  against  the 
iron  plate  of  the  phonograph.  B  is  the  magnified  profile  of  these  im- 
pressions on  the  smoked  glass  obtained  as  described  above.  C  gives 
the  appearance  of  Konig's  flame  when  the  same  sound  is  sung  quite 
close  to  its  membrane.  I  say  expressly  quite  close  to  its  membrane, 
for  the  form  of  the  trace  obtained  from  a  point  attached  to  a  mem- 
brane vibrating  under  the  influence  of  a  compound  sound  depends  on 


ON  EDISON'S    TALKING-MACHINE.  723 

the  distance  of  the  source  of  the  sound  from  the  membrane,  and  the 
same  compound  sound  will  form  an  infinite  number  of  different  traces 
as  we  gradually  increase  the  distance  of  its  place  of  origin  from  the 
membrane ;  for,  as  you  increase  this  distance,  the  waves  of  the  compo- 
nents of  the  compound  sound  are  made  to  strike  on  the  membrane  at 
different  periods  of  their  swings. 

For  example,  if  the  compound  sound  is  formed  of  six  harmonics, 
the  removal  of  the  source  of  the  sonorous  vibrations,  from  the  mem- 
brane to  a  distance  equal  to  £  of  a  wave-length  of  the  1st  harmonic, 
will  remove  the  2d,  3d,  4th,  5th,  and  6th  harmonics  to  distances  from  the 
membrane  equal  respectively  to  £,  f,  1, 1£,  and  1^  wave-lengths.  The 
consequence  evidently  is,  that  the  resultant  wave-form  is  entirely 
changed  by  this  motion  of  the  source  of  the  sound,  though  the  sono- 
rous sensation  of  the  compound  sound  remains  unchanged. 

The  above  facts  are  readily  proved  experimentally  by  sending  a 
constant  compound  sound  into  the  cone  of  Konig's  apparatus,  while 
we  gradually  lengthen  the  tube  between  the  cone  and  the  membrane 
next  to  the  flame.  This  is  best  done  by  the  intervention  of  one  tube 
sliding  in  another,  like  a  trombone.  These  experiments  I  have  recent- 
ly made  with  entire  success,  and  they  explain  the  discussions  which 
have  arisen  between  different  observers  as  to  the  composition  of  vocal 
and  other  composite  sounds,  as  analyzed  by  means  of  Konig's  vibrat- 
ing flames. 

These  facts  also  show  how  futile  it  is  for  any  one  to  hope  to  be 
able  to  read  the  impressions  and  traces  of  phonographs,  for  these 
traces  will  vary,  not  alone  with  the  quality  of  the  voices,  but  also  with 
the  differently-related  times  of  starting  of  the  harmonics  of  these 
voices,  and  with  the  different  relative  intensities  of  these  harmonics. 

It  is  necessary  to  give  to  the  cylinder  a  very  regular  motion  of 
rotation  while  it  receives  and  reproduces  the  vibrations  made  in  sing- 
ing ;  for  even  slight  irregularities  in  the  velocity  of  the  cylinder 
destroy  the  accuracy  of  the  musical  intervals,  and  cause  the  phono- 
graph to  sing  falsetto.  Even  the  reproducing  of  speech  is  greatly 
improved  by  rotating  the  cylinder  by  mechanism  which  gives  it  uni- 
formity of  motion.  If  you  make  the  machine  talk  by  giving  it  a  more 
rapid  rotation  than  it  had  when  you  spoke  to  it,  the  pitch  of  its  voice 
is  raised ;  and  by  varying  the  velocity  of  the  cylinder  the  machine 
may  be  made  to  speak  the  same  sentence  in  a  very  bass  voice,  or  in  a 
voice  of  a  pitch  so  high  that  its  sounds  are  really  elfish  and  entirely 
unnatural. 

Recent  experiments  seem  to  show  that  the  nearer  the  diaphragm 
A  approaches  to  the  construction  of  the  drum-skin  of  the  human  ear 
by  "  damping "  it,  as  the  hammer-bone  does  the  latter,  the  better 
does  it  record  and  repeat  the  sonorous  vibrations;  for  the  motion  of  a 
membrane  thus  damped  is  ruled  alone  by  the  aerial  vibrations  falling 
on  it. 


7 24  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

Mr.  Edison  has  just  sent  me  the  following  notes  of  the  results  of 
recent  experiments : 

"  That  the  size  of  the  hole  through  which  you  speak  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  articulation.  "When  words  are  spoken  against  the  whole  diaphragm, 
the  hissing  sounds,  as  in  shall,  fleece,  last,  are  lost;  whereas,  by  the  use  of  a 
small  hole  provided  with  sharp  edges,  these  words  are  reenforced  and  recorded. 
Also,  teeth  around  the  edge  of  a  slot,  instead  of  a  round  hole,  give  the  hissing 
consonants  clearer. 

"That  the  best  reading  is  obtained  when  the  mouth-piece,  B F B (Fig.  2),  is 
covered  with  several  thicknesses  of  cloth,  so  that  the  snapping  noise  on  the  foil 
is  rendered  less  audible. 

"  I  send  you  a  sheet  of  copper-foil  upon  which  I  made  records  in  Ansonia, 
Connecticut,  that  could  be  read  275  feet  in  the  open  air,  and  perhaps  farther,  if 
it  had  been  tried." 

Mr.  Edison  also  states  that  impressions  of  sonorous  vibrations 
have  been  made  on  a  cylinder  of  soft  Norway  iron,  and  from  these 
impressions  have  been  reproduced  the  sonorous  vibrations  which  made 
them. 


THE  MARPINGEN  MIRACLES. 

THE  recent  debate  in  the  Lower  House  of  the  Prussian  Parliament 
on  the  Marpingen  miracles  is  in  many  ways  remarkable.  That 
the  Ultramontane  party  should  have  had  the  courage  themselves  to 
force  on  the  discussion  is  rather  surprising,  though  it  is  true  that  all 
the  speakers  on  that  side  were  careful  to  deprecate  the  notion  of  at- 
taching any  religious  importance  to  the  question,  and  to  treat  it  purely 
as  one  of  law  and  equity,  while  they  studiously  avoided  committing 
themselves  to  any  belief  in  the  alleged  supernatural  occurrences.  Be- 
fore, however,  speaking  of  the  debate,  we  may  recall  to  the  memory 
of  our  readers  the  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  it,  and  which 
occurred  a  year  and  a  half  ago  in  the  month  of  July,  1876.  And  in 
doing  so  it  may  be  well  to  repeat  what  we  have  before  now  had  occa- 
sion to  observe  in  dealing  with  narratives  of  this  kind,  that  there  is 
no  need  to  enter  on  any  general  discussion  of  the  existence  or  credi- 
bility of  miraculous  agency.  There  is  certainly,  to  use  Mr.  Lecky's 
words,  "  no  contradiction  involved  in  the  belief  that  spiritual  beings 
of  power  and  wisdom  immeasurably  transcending  our  own  exist,  or 
that,  existing,  they  might,  by  the  normal  exercise  of  their  powers,  per- 
form feats  as  far  surpassing  the  understanding  of  the  most  gifted  of 
mankind  as  the  electric  telegraph  and  the  prediction  of  an  eclipse 
surpass  the  faculties  of  a  savage."  Thus  much  would  indeed  be  con- 
tended for  by  every  Christian  apologist,  nor  is  it  consistent  to  main- 
tain the  truth  of  the  New  Testament  mirac'cs  and  deny  on  a  priori 


THE  MARPINGEN  MIRACLES.  725 

grounds  the  possibility  or  actual  occurrence  of  any  subsequent  phe- 
nomena of  the  kind.  That  is  a  question  of  evidence,  and,  as  Mr. 
Lecky  goes  on  to  observe,  "  very  few  of  the  minor  facts  of  history 
are  authenticated  by  as  much  evidence  as  "  some  of  those  later  mir- 
acles which  he  specifies,  to  one  of  which,  by  no  means  a  favorite  with 
Ultramontanes,  we  may  have  occasion  to  refer  presently.  But  there 
are  few  subjects  on  which  ordinary  persons,  even  educated  persons, 
have  such  loose  notions  as  on  the  true  nature  of  evidence,  or  where 
the  wish,  whether  it  be  an  innate  feeling  of  sympathy  or  of  antipathy, 
is  so  apt  to  become  father  to  the  thought.  And  now  we  may  proceed 
without  further  preface  to  reproduce  the  main  details  of  the  marvel- 
ous tale  brought  from  Marpingen,  a  village  in  Rhenish  Prussia,  in 
July,  1876,  and  which  formed  the  text  of  a  long  debate  in  the  Prus- 
sian Parliament  a  fortnight  aero. 

It  appears  that  on  two  successive  days,  July  3d  and  4th,  three  lit- 
tle girls  of  the  village  of  Marpingen  announced  that  they  had  seen 
the  Virgin  with  her  infant  Son,  sitting  on  the  ground  in  a  neighboring 
wood,  and  on  the  second  of  these  days  she  replied  to  their  questions, 
"I  am  she  who  was  conceived  without  sin,  and  you  should  pray  and 
pray  forever."  On  the  third  day  the  apparition  was  again  visible  and 
discoursed  to  the  children  for  some  time,  while  a  crowd,  who  had  fol- 
lowed them  from  the  village  kept  apart  reverentially  from  the  hallowed 
spot,  the  apparition  being  visible  and  audible  to  the  three  little  girls 
only.  It  was  explained  that  this  peculiar  privilege  was  vouchsafed 
to  them  because  they  were  "the  only  innocent  persons  in  the  wood," 
and  the  apparition  expressly  declined  to  see  any  of  the  neighboring 
priests,  but  ordered  a  chapel  to  be  built  on  the  sp>ot  from  the  proceeds 
of  a  public  subscriptioii.  She  finally,  at  their  request,  permitted  an 
invalid  to  be  brought  by  the  children  to  touch  her  feet,  though  he  also 
never  saw  her,  and  he  was  instantly  cured.  After  this  crowds  came 
to  spend  the  night  praying  and  singing  in  the  wood,  two  or  three  of 
whom  declared  that  they  saw  the  Virgin  amid  the  trees,  and  the  chil- 
dren were  kept  constantly  employed  in  laying  the  hands  of  the  sick 
on  the  feet  of  the  invisible  figure.  They  apparently,  however,  found 
this  burden  too  great  for  them,  for  a  few  days  later  they  announced 
that  the  water  of  a  neighboring  spring  had  been  endowed  with  mirac- 
ulous properties,  and  might  be  conveyed  to  those  who  were  unable  to 
come  themselves,  and  thenceforth  the  concourse  of  pilgrims  increased. 
Hereupon  the  civil  authorities  interfered,  whether  on  account  of  dis- 
turbances caused  by  the  multitudes  who  congregated  in  the  forest,  or 
from  a  fear  that  the  miracle  was  intended  to  be  utilized  for  purposes 
of  agitation  against  the  Government.  On  July  13th,  ten  days  after  the 
first  apparition,  the  Bm-gomaster  of  Marpingen  ordered  the  people  to 
leave  the  wood,  and  on  their  refusal  had  it  cleared  by  the  military ; 
from  that  time  it  was  guarded  by  police  and  soldiers  quartered  in  the 
village,  where  the  inhabitants  complain  that  forced  requisitions  were 


7 26  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

made  on  them,  and  the  place  treated  as  though  occupied  by  a  hostile 
army.  It  was  a  formal  motion  for  the  repayment  to  the  commune  of 
the  4,000  marks  (about  £200)  said  to  have  been  thus  levied  on  it,  and 
for  the  reprimand  of  the  local  magistrates  for  harsh  and  arbitrary  con- 
duct, that  led  to  the  debate  in  the  Prussian  Parliament.  It  should  bo 
added  that  the  three  little  girls  and  a  priest  of  the  district  were  ar- 
rested on  suspicion  of  religious  fraud,  but  eventually  released  for  lack 
of  sufficient  evidence,  the  girls  stoutly  denying  that  they  had  been 
inspired  by  either  priest  or  parent.  Entrance  to  the  wood  is  still  pro- 
hibited, but  processions  take  place  to  the  miraculous  spring. 

Now,  the  first  observation  that  would  occur  to  any  one  on  reading 
this  strange  story  is  the  conspicuous  absence  of  anything  like  evi- 
dence of  the  alleged  apparition,  even  putting  aside  the  suspicion  of 
deliberate  fraud.  The  Madonna  is  visible  to  three  little  girls  only,  of 
about  seven  years  of  age,  whose  religious  imagination  might  easily 
be  excited,  especially  if  they  had  heard  of  former  apparitions  of  the 
same  kind,  as  is  more  than  probable.  And  when  once  they  had  com- 
mitted themselves  to  the  story — whether  in  simple  piety  or  under 
some  external  influence — fear  of  consequences  would  alone  secure 
their  adhesion  to  it.  But  this  leads  us  on  to  another  and  more  impor- 
tant comment,  which  will  already  have  occurred  to  many  of  our  read- 
ers, especially  if  they  have  taken  note  of  the  passages  in  the  tale 
which  we  have  italicized.  The  close  resemblance  in  all  its  leading 
features  to  several  former  tales  of  miraculous  apparition,  and,  above 
all,  to  the  apparition  at  Lourdes,  is  too  obvious  and  too  minute  to  be 
considered  accidental.  Whether  we  suppose  the  whole  affair  to  be  an 
imposture  pure  and  simple,  as  is  likely  enough,  or  whether  we  adopt 
the  more  charitable  hypothesis  of  hallucination,  there  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  the  Lourdes  miracle  suggested  the  incidents  of  the  Mar- 
pingen  one.  In  both  cases,  as  before  at  La  Salette,  young  children 
are  the  sole  witnesses  of  the  marvel ;  in  both  cases  it  is  the  Virgin 
who  appears,  and,  while  at  Lourdes  she  oddly  describes  herself  as  be- 
ing "the  Immaculate  Conception,"  at  Marpingen the  more  grammati- 
cal formula  is  adopted,  "  I  am  she  who  was  conceived  without  sin  ; " 
in  both  cases  multitudes  follow  the  children,  but  are  obliged  to  take 
on  faith  what  to  them,  and  to  them  alone,  is  matter  of  sight  and  hear- 
ing; in  both  cases,  and  this  is  significant,  the  Madonna  expressly 
directs  a  chapel  to  be  built  on  the  spot,  and  that  indeed  appears  to  be 
the  chief  object  of  the  apparition  ;  and,  lastly,  in  both  cases  a  miracu- 
lous spring  is  either  created  or  disclosed.  On  this  last  point  we  have 
another  word  to  say.  It  is  of  course  argued  by  the  defenders  of  these 
miracles,  and  is  in  fact  the  only  plausible  argument  left  to  them,  that 
whatever  becomes  of  the  evidence  of  the  children  for  the  original  tale 
— even  though  they  should  turn  out  afterward  as  the  boy  and  girl  at 
La  Salette  did  turn  out — there  is  no  getting  over  the  evidence  of  the 
miraculous  cures.     The  reply  is  not  far  to  seek.     There  might  be,  and 


THE  MARPINGEN  MIRACLES.  727 

indeed  are,  examples  of  seemingly  supernatural  cures — we  will  men- 
tion one  directly— attested  by  very  strong  evidence,  but  these  are  cer- 
tainly not  among  them.     Putting  aside  innumerable  instances  of  fail- 
ure and  some  of  detected  imposture  which  have  been  heard  of  in  con- 
nection with  Lourdes— it  is  too  early  yet  to  apply  that  test  to  Marpin- 
gen_it  must  never  be  forgotten  how  almost  incalculable  is  the  power 
of  imagination  over  every  kind  especially  of  nervous  disorder.     There 
are  unquestionably  many  persons  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  in  a  differ- 
ent sense  from  that  of  the  words  as  originally  used,  that  "  their  faith 
has  made  them  whole ; "  or,  on  the  contrary,  has  made  them  ill.     A 
ready  instance  comes  to  hand  in  connection  with  the  recent  hydropho- 
bia scare.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that  tetanus,  which  so  closely  sim- 
ulates hydrophobia  as  often  to  be  indistinguishable  from  it  to  all  but 
adepts,  may  be  and  is  produced  by  fear ;  and  thus  nervous  persons 
who  assume  that  a  dog  which  bites  them  must  be  mad— though  the 
chances  are  always  really  at  least  ten  to  one  the  other  way— may  easi- 
ly give  themselves  a  fatal  disease  without  any  external  cause.     On  the 
other  hand,  a  case  was  reported  the  other  day  from  Italy,  of  a  woman 
who  was  raving,  as  was  supposed,  from  hydrophobia,  but  who  prompt- 
ly recovered  on  a  miraculous  relic  being  applied  to  her.     The  same 
explanation  will  cover  innumerable  cases,  whether  at  Lourdes  or  else- 
where, of  alleged  miraculous  cures.     But  we  observed  just  now  that 
there  are  examples  on  record  of  miraculous  cures,  the  direct  evidence 
of  which  is  very  striking.     The  late  Sir  James  Stephen  mentions  one 
of  them  in  these  words:  "The  greatest  genius,  the  most  profound 
scholar,  and  the  most  eminent  advocate  of  that  age  (the  seventeenth 
century),  all  possessing  the  most  ample  means  of  knowledge,  all  care- 
fully investigated,  all  admitted,  and  all  defended  with  their  pens,  the 
miracle  of  the  Holy  Thorn.     Europe  at  that  time  produced  no  three 
men  more  profoundly  conversant  with  the  laws  of  the  material  world, 
with  the  laws  of  the  human  mind,  and  with  the  municipal  law,  than 
Pascal,  Arnauld,  and  Le  Maitre ;  and  they  were  all  sincere  and  ear- 
nest believers."     Mr.  Lecky  similarly  observes  that  few  historical  facts 
are  so  well  authenticated  as  "  the  miracles  of  the  Holy  Thorn,  or  at 
the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris,"  which  last,  we  may  add,  were  attested 
among  others  by  Voltaire.     Be  it  so,  but  these  are  "  Jansenist "  mir- 
acles which  Ultramontanes  have  always  and   scornfully  refused  to 
admit.     The  manifestations  at  the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris  were  actu- 
ally suppressed  by  authority,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  which  suggested 
the  famous  epigram : 

"  De  par  le  roi,  defense  ft  Dieu 
De  faire  miracle  en  ce  lieu." 

Those  who  reject  the  far  stronger  evidence  of  these  miracles  must 
find  some  better  argument  than  the  alleged  cures  if  they  would  have 
us  accept  the  miraculous  portents  of  Lourdes  and  Marpingen. 

The  debate  in  the  Prussian  Chamber  was  opened  by  Herr  Bachem, 


728  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

who  insisted  that  the  conduct  of  the  authorities  had  been  very  repre- 
hensible ;  even  assuming  the  alleged  miracles  to  be  illusory  or  fraudu- 
lent, the  sincere  belief  of  the  multitude  ought  to  have  been  respected. 
Dr.  Friedenthal,  acting  Minister  of  the  Interior,  replied : 

"  He  was  prepared  to  defend  the  action  of  the  police,  there  being  plenty  of 
prima-facie  evidence  to  show  that  the  Marpingen  miracle  was  a  fraud.  The 
alleged  miracle  happened  in  a  district  strongly  infected  by  the  Ultramontane 
movement,  and  previously  productive  of  similar  apparitions  that  had  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  law.  Early  in  1875  a  woman  began  to  work  miracles  at  Ep- 
pelborn,  close  to  Marpingen,  under  the  patronage  of  the  local  priest.  She  was 
convicted  of  fraud  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment.  The  same  woman  and  the 
local  priest  who  assisted  her  were  subsequently  again  convicted  of  fraud,  false 
pretenses,  and  gross  immorality.  The  Marpingen  miracle  was  no  sooner  bruited 
about  than  a  school-girl  at  Groning,  also  near  Marpingen,  stated  that  she  had 
had  an  audience  of  the  Virgin.  The  girl  was  severely  reprimanded  by  her  father, 
when  the  visions  ceased.  At  Berschweiler,  likewise  near  Marpingen,  no  less 
than  five  persons  between  eleven  and  nineteen  years  of  age,  in  1876,  professed 
to  be  in  daily  intercourse  with  the  Virgin.  A  profitable  trade  in  exorcisms,  salva- 
tions from  purgatory,  and  the  like,  having  been  opened  by  them,  the  authorities 
interfered.  The  police  court  eventually  sent  the  whole  gang  to  prison.  At  Gap- 
penach  a  married  couple  were  convicted  of  fraud  for  stating  that  they  had  seen 
the  Virgin  conversing  with  the  three  little  girls  in  a  bottle  of  Marpingen  water. 
At  Milnchwies,  district  of  Ottweiler,  a  couple  of  school-girls  pretended  to  have 
interviews  with  the  Virgin,  until  the  parish  priest  objected  to  the  story,  when 
the  apparitions  ceased.  Considering  this  excited  condition  of  the  province  in 
which  Marpingen  is  situate,  and  taking  into  account  the  peculiar  character  the 
Ultramontane  movement  had  recently  assumed  in  Germany,  the  authorities  were 
perfectly  justified  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  Marpingen  revival.  There  were  8,000 
persons  in  the  hallowed  wood  when  the  military  were  called  in.  Though  there 
was  some  show  of  resistance,  nobody  was  wounded.  Subsequently  the  police 
appointed  to  watch  the  wood  were  fired  at  in  the  dark.  With  reference  to  the 
legal  proceedings  instituted  by  the  crown,  he,  the  minister,  was  in  a  position  to 
say  that  a  formal  accusation  would  be  preferred  against  certain  persons  supposed 
to  be  implicated  in  the  Marpingen  affair,  when  the  character  of  the  miracle 
would  be  fully  investigated  in  open  court.'" 

To  this  statement  Herr  Lipke  added  that  the  three  little  girls,  when 
first  examined  by  the  magistrate,  professed  to  have  seen  not  only  the 
Virgin  but  the  devil  also,  whom  they  described  as  "black  and  white" 
— the  German  national  colors.  He  said  that  many  Catholic  priests 
with  whom  he  had  conversed  on  "  the  Marpingen  swindle "  agreed 
with  him  in  disapproving  it,  and  he  thought  the  Ultramontanes  had 
not  benefited  their  cause  by  bringing  the  subject  pefore  Parliament. 
Another  speaker  on  the  same  side,  Judge  Sello,  admitted  that  some 
excesses  had  been  committed  by  the  troops,  but  the  burgomaster  who 
ordered  them  to  clear  the  wood  had  been  tried  and  fined  in  conse- 
quence. The  debate  was  closed  by  Dr.  Windthorst,  the  leader  of  the 
Ultramontane  party,  who  declined  to  commit  himself  to  the  reality 
of  the  miracles,  but  complained  that,  as  long  as  the  Government  kept 


THE  SOURCE    OF  MUSCULAR  POWER.  729 

the  see  of  Treves  vacant,  no  proper  investigation,  as  directed  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  could  take  place.  Perhaps  the  legal  investigation 
which  is  promised  by  Dr.  Friedenthal  may  prove  more  efficacious  in 
bringing  the  real  facts  to  light.  Meanwhile,  it  may  be  feared  that 
belief  in  the  Marpingen  apparition  will  become  a  test  question  of 
Catholic  orthodoxy  in  Germany,  as  belief  in  Lourdes  and  La  Salette 
has  long  been  a  criterion  for  discriminating  the  Men  penscmts  in 
France,  in  spite  of  the  manly  protests  of  some  high  authorities,  such 
as  Dupanloup,  against  this  morbid  craving  for  predictions  and  por- 
tents. We  have  never  denied  that  German  Catholics  have  a  substan- 
tial grievance  in  the  matter  of  the  Falk  laws,  but  they  certainly  will 
not  improve  their  position  with  thinking  men  of  any  creed  by  adopt- 
ing devices  which  can  only  escape  graver  censure  if  they  are  regarded 
as  too  silly  to  be  dishonest.— Saturday  Beview. 


-♦♦♦~ 


THE   SOUECE  OF  MTJSCULAE  POWEE. 

THE  advance  of  modern  research  has  brought  the  sciences  of 
physics,  chemistry,  and  physiology,  into  very  close  relations,  and 
as  the  two  former  have  given  great  help  to  the  latter,  many  are 
looking  to  see  all  physiological  problems  finally  resolved  on  physical 
and  chemical  principles.  Much  is  to  be  expected  from  the  future, 
but  sanguine  anticipations  should  not  be  allowed  to  misinterpret 
existing  facts.  Prof.  Austin  Flint,  Jr.,  has  been  much  occupied  in 
investigating  the  living  system  as  a  dynamical  engine,  and  has  pub- 
lished the  results  of  his  experimental  inquiries  in  a  little  volume,  en- 
titled "The  Source  of  Muscular  Power."  He  has  made  an  important 
contribution  to  the  subject  of  animal  mechanics,  and  his  views  will 
be  so  interesting,  alike  to  the  physiologist  and  the  general  student, 
that  a  summary  of  his  argument  will  be  appreciated  by  the  readers 
of  the  Monthly. 

Since  it  has  been  ascertained  that  the  force  derived  from  chemical 
action  which  will  raise  the  temperature  of  a  pound  of  water  1°  Fahr. 
will,  under  another  form  of  manifestation,  lift  7*72  pounds  one  foot  high, 
772  foot-pounds  have  been  regarded  as  the  force-equivalent  of  1°  of 
heat.  In  other  words,  if  the  burning  or  oxidation  of  a  certain  definite 
weight  of  matter  will  raise  the  temperature  of  one  pound  of  "water  1° 
Fahr.,  the  force-value  of  this  matter  is  said  to  be  772  foot-pounds. 

In  the  animal  economy,  certain  matters  are  taken  in  and  consumed 
as  food;  matters  are  discharged  from  the  body  in  the  form  of  excre- 
tions, such  as  the  constituents  of  the  urine ;  a  certain  amount  of  heat 
is  produced  in  the  body  in  order  to  maintain  the  animal  temperature,  to 
supply  the  loss  of  heat  dependent  upon  radiation  from  the  surface;  a 


73o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

certain  amount  of  force  is  exerted  in  the  processes  of  circulation  of  the 
blood  and  in  the  respiratory  movements,  and  a  certain  amount  of  work 
is  performed  by  muscular  action.  If  it  be  assumed  that  the  oxidation 
of  matter  in  the  animal  economy  involves,  of  necessity,  either  the 
production  of  heat  or  of  force,  an  answer  to  the  following  question 
becomes  at  once  of  great  importance  as  regards  our  ideas  of  the  im- 
mediate source  of  muscular  power :  • 

Is  the  food  directly  oxidized  in  the  perfected  and  adult  animal 
organism,  the  result  of  this  oxidation  being  heat  and  force,  and  is  this 
the  single  source  of  muscular  power,  or  is  the  perfected  animal  organ- 
ism, particularly  as  regards  the  muscular  system,  itself  consumed 
gradually  as  a  result  of  muscular  work,  the  waste  of  muscular  tissue 
being  represented  by  the  excretions,  and  such  waste  being  repaired 
constantly  by  food  ?  To  state  this  question  in  simpler  terms,  is  the 
muscular  system  a  part  of  a  machine  that  consumes  food  as  fuel  in  the 
production  of  force,  not  wearing  its  own  substance  to  any  considerable 
extent,  or  does  the  muscular  system  use  its  own  substance  in  the  pro-' 
duction  of  force  ? 

Before  1866,  the  following  ideas,  formulated  by  Liebig,  Lehmann, 
and  others,  were  pretty  generally  accepted  by  physiologists : 

The  muscular  substance,  which  constitutes  about  two-fifths  of  the 
weight  of  the  entire  body,  is  composed  mainly  of  matters  containing 
carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
fats,  which  contain  only  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen.  The  most 
important  excrementitious  matter  thrown  off  by  the  kidneys  is  urea, 
which  contains  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen.  The  amount 
of  urea  excreted  is  to  be  regarded,  to  a  certain  extent,  as  a  measure  of 
the  physiological  wear  of  the  muscular  system,  which  wear  is  increased 
by  muscular  exertion,  there  being  a  corresponding  increase  in  the 
excretion  of  urea  by  the  kidneys.  This  wear  of  the  muscular  system 
is  being  constantly  repaired  by  the  nitrogenized  elements  of  food.  In 
discussing,  then,  this  question,  physiologists  have  come  to  speak  of 
the  excretion  of  nitrogen  as  measuring,  more  or  less  accurately,  the 
physiological  wear  of  the  muscular  system. 

In  1866,  two  German  physiologists,  Fick  and  Wislicenus,  ascended 
one  of  the  Alpine  peaks,  and  measured  the  influence  of  this  unusual 
muscular  exertion  upon  the  excretion  of  nitrogen.  As  it  is  well 
known  that  the  quantity  of  nitrogenized  food,  such  as  meat,  eggs,  etc., 
influences  the  amount  of  nitrogen  excreted  by  the  kidneys,  these 
observers  confined  themselves  to  a  diet  without  nitrogen  during  the 
ascent  and  for  a  number  of  hours  immediately  preceding  and  follow- 
ing. They  found  that  the  amount  of  nitrogen  eliminated  by  the  kid- 
neys was  diminished  during  the  muscular  exertion  by  about  one-third. 
From  these  experiments,  they  concluded  that  muscular  exercise  does 
not  increase  the  elimination  of  nitrogen,  but  rather  diminishes  it;  and 
from  this  time  dates  the  proposition,  which  is  now  adopted  by  many 


THE  SOURCE   OF  MUSCULAR  POWER.  731 

physiologists,  that  the  muscular  system  is  a  machine  which  consumes 
food  as  fuel,  and  does  not  wear  its  own  substance  to  any  very  great 
extent  in  the  production  of  force.  Fick  and  Wislicenus  advanced  the 
view  that  "  the  substances,  by  the  burning  of  which  force  is  generated 
in  the  muscles,  are  not  the  albuminous  constituents  of  the  tissues,  but 
non-nitrogenous  substances,  either  as  fats  or  hydrates  of  carbon." 

Such  a  doctrine  as  that  advanced  by  Fick  and  Wislicenus,  accord- 
ing to  Prof.  Flint,  is  not  logical  and  is  opposed  to  many  well-known 
physiological  facts.  The  arguments  he  advances  against  it  are  the 
following ; 

1.  Physiological  experiments  should  be  made  under  strictly  natural 
or  physiological  conditions  of  the  system.  A  non-nitrogenized  diet  is 
not  natural.  No  man  would  attempt  to  perform  a  feat  of  muscular 
endurance  under  a  diet  composed  exclusively  of  fat,  starch,  and  sugar, 
which  was  the  exclusive  diet  of  Fick  and  Wislicenus. 

2.  Lehmann  has  shown  that  an  exclusively  non-nitrogenized  diet, 
of  itself,  without  any  variation  in  muscular  exercise,  will  reduce  the 
excretion  of  nitrogen  by  the  kidneys  more  than  one-half.  Pavy  has 
shown  the  same  effects  of  non-nitrogenized  food  upon  the  system  with- 
out any  variation  in  muscular  exercise. 

3.  Fick  and  Wislicenus  do  not  show  that  extraordinary  muscular 
exertion,  with  a  non-nitrogenized  diet,  diminishes  the  excretion  of 
nitrogen  below  the  point  to  which  it  would  be  reduced  by  the  diet 
itself,  without  muscular  work ;  for  they  made  no  comparative  experi- 
ments with  a  non-nitrogenized  diet  and  no  unusual  exercise. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  Prof.  Flint  is, 
that  the  experiments  of  Fick  and  Wislicenus  fail  to  show  that  muscu- 
lar exercise  diminishes,  or  even  does  not  increase,  the  elimination  of 
nitrogen,  which  is  the  very  essence  of  their  argument. 

In  1870,  Prof.  Flint  made  a  series  of  elaborate  experiments  upon 
Weston,  during  a  walk  of  three  hundred  and  seventeen  and  one-half 
miles  in  five  consecutive  days.  Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  elimina- 
tion of  nitrogen  bears  a  certain  relation  to  the  nitrogen  of  the  food, 
in  these  experiments,  Prof.  Flint  estimated  the  nitrogen  of  the  food 
and  calculated  the  proportion  of  nitrogen  excreted  to  the  nitrogen 
ingested,  which  had  never  been  done  in  any  previous  experiments 
upon  the  physiological  effects  of  muscular  exercise.  His  observations 
were  continued  for  five  days  before  the  walk,  the  five  days  of  the  walk, 
and  five  days  after  the  walk.  Prof.  Flint,  or  his  assistants,  were  with 
Weston,  day  and  night,  for  the  entire  fifteen  days.  Every  ai'ticle  of 
food  was  weighed  or  measured,  and  its  nitrogen  carefully  estimated, 
as  was  the  nitrogen  excreted.  The  variations  in  body-weight,  tem- 
perature, etc.,  were  also  taken.  No  accident  occurred,  and  the  obser- 
vations were  absolutely  complete.  The  most  important  general  results 
of  these  experiments  were  the  following: 

For  the  five  days  before  the  walk,  the  average  daily  exercise  being 


732  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

eight  and  one-fifth  miles,  the  average  proportionate  excretion  of 
nitrogen  by  the  kidneys  was  86.58  parts  for  every  100  parts  of  nitrogen 
of  food. 

For  the  five  days  of  the  walk,  the  average  daily  exercise  being 
sixty-three  and  one-half  miles,  the  average  proportionate  excretion  of 
nitrogen  by  the  kidneys  was  143.98  parts  for  every  100  parts  of  nitro- 
gen of  food. 

For  the  five  days  after  the  walk,  the  average  daily  exercise  being 
two  and  one-fifth  miles,  the  average  proportionate  excretion  of  nitro- 
gen by  the  kidneys  was  77.03  parts  for  every  100  parts  of  nitrogen 
of  food. 

These  facts  showed  conclusively  that,  in  this  instance,  at  least,  the 
extraordinary  exertion  of  walking  three  hundred  and  seventeen  and 
one-half  miles  in  five  consecutive  days  very  largely  increased  the  pro- 
portionate excretion  of  nitrogen  by  the  kidneys. 

The  source  of  the  excess  of  nitrogen  excreted  during  the  walk  must 
have  been  the  excessive  wear  of  muscular  tissue  engendered  by  the 
extraordinary  exertion,  which  was  not  repaired  by  the  food.  This  is 
rendered  almost  certain  by  the  following  calculation : 

At  the  beginning  of  the  walk,  Weston  was  in  good  condition,  with 
little  or  no  fat,  and  he  weighed  119.20  pounds.  "At  the  end  of  the 
five  days'  walk,  the  weight  had  been  reduced  from  119.20  to  115.75 
pounds,  showing  a  loss  of  3.45  pounds.  According  to  Payen,  three 
parts  of  nitrogen  represent  one  hundred  parts  of  fresh  muscular  tissue. 
The  total  quantity  of  nitrogen  discharged  during  these  five  days  was 
1,811.62  grains.  The  total  nitrogen  of  food  during  the  same  period 
amounted  to  1,173.82  grains,  giving  an  excess  of  637.80  grains  of  nitro- 
gen discharged  over  the  nitrogen  of  food.  The  637.80  grains  of  nitro- 
gen, according  to  Payen's  formula,  would  represent  21,260.00  grains, 
or  3.037  pounds  of  muscular  tissue.  The  actual  loss  of  muscular  tis- 
sue was  3.45  pounds,  and  the  loss  unaccounted  for,  amounting  to  only 
0.413  of  a  pound,  is  very  small.  It  might  be  fat  or  water,  or  the  dif- 
ference might  be  due  to  inaccuracies  in  the  estimates  of  the  nitrogen 
of  food,  which,  of  necessity,  were  approximative." 

In  1876,  Dr.  Pavy,  of  London,  made  a  series  of  experiments  upon 
Perkins,  a  pedestrian,  and  upon  Weston,  similar  to  those  made  by 
Prof.  Flint  upon  Weston,  in  1870.  The  following  were  the  general 
results  of  these  observations  : 

Perkins  walked  sixty-five  and  one-half  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 
During  this  time,  he  excreted  190.37  parts  of  nitrogen  by  the  kidneys 
for  every  100  parts  of  nitrogen  of  food.  For  twenty-four  hours  of  rest, 
several  days  after  this  walk,  Perkins  excreted  76.58  parts  of  nitrogen 
by  the  kidneys  for  every  100  parts  of  nitrogen  of  food. 

Observations  were  made  upon  Weston  for  eleven  days  of  walking, 
as  follows :  1.  A  walk  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  and  one-half  miles 
in  two  consecutive  days;  2.  A  walk  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-three 


THE  SOURCE   OF  MUSCULAR  POWER.  733 

miles  in  seventy-five  consecutive  hours ;  3.  A  walk  of  four  hundred 
.  and  fifty  miles  in  six  consecutive  days.  The  proportionate  excretion 
of  nitrogen  was  estimated  for  these  periods  of  exercise,  and  was  also 
calculated  for  eight  days  of  rest.  The  daily  average  excretion  of 
nitrogen  for  the  eight  days  of  rest  was  60.90  parts  for  every  100  parts 
of  nitrogen  of  food.  The  daily  average  excretion  of  nitrogen  for  the 
eleven  days  of  walking  was  87.34  parts  for  every  100  parts  of  nitrogen 
of  food — an  increased  proportion  of  43.44  per  cent.  These  experi- 
ments, like  those  of  Prof.  Flint,  show  a  very  great  increase  in  the  pro- 
portionate excretion  of  nitrogen  produced  by  the  excessive  and  pro- 
longed muscular  exertion. 

Dr.  Pavy  admits,  as  the  result  of  his  own  experiments,  the  simple 
fact  that  muscular  exercise  increases  the  proportionate  excretion  of 
nitrogen,  but  he  does  not  accept  the  view  advanced  by  Prof.  Flint, 
that  the  muscular  system,  in  exerting  force,  consumes  its  own  sub- 
stance, and  that  this  substance  is  repaired  by  food.  Dr.  Pavy  made 
a  series  of  calculations,  in  connection  with  his  experiments,  comparing 
the  force-value  of  the  excess  of  nitrogen  excreted  during  exercise  over 
the  nitrogen  excreted  during  rest  with  the  work  actually  performed 
in  walking.  He  attempted  to  show  that  the  force  represented  by  this 
excess  of  nitrogen  excreted  would  not  account  for  the  work  accom- 
plished. These  calculations  of  Dr.  Pavy  involve  formulas  for  reducing 
miles  walked  to  foot-pounds,  and  estimates  of  the  force  exerted  in 
respiratory  movements,  the  action  of  the  heart,  etc.  Prof.  Flint,  in 
his  essay,  gives  an  elaborate  review  of  these  calculations,  and  objects 
to  many  of  the  formulas  as  necessarily  inaccurate.  It  is  impossible,  in 
a  short  abstract,  to  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  Prof.  Flint's  argu- 
ment upon  these  points.  The  following  are  the  conclusions  arrived  at 
by  Prof.  Flint,  as  the  result  of  the  various  experiments  which  he  has 
discussed : 

"  I.  While  the  various  elements  of  food  burned  in  oxygen  out  of  the  body- 
will  produce  a  definite  amount  of  heat  which  may  be  calculated  as  equivalent  to 
a  definite  number  of  foot-pounds  of  force,  the  application  of  this  law  to  the 
changes  which  food  or  certain  of  the  constituents  of  the  body  undergo  in  the 
living  organism  is  uncertain  and  unsatisfactory,  for  the  following  reasons : 

"  (a.)  There  is  no  proof  that  the  elements  of  food  undergo  the  same  changes 
in  the  living  body  as  when  burned  in  oxygen,  or  that  definite  amounts  of  heat 
or  force  are  necessarily  manifested  by  their  metamorphoses  in  such  a  way  that 
they  can  be  accurately  measured. 

"  (b.)  Assuming  that  the  elements  of  food  contain  a  definite  amount  of 
locked-up  force,  to  measure  the  part  of  this  force  which  is  expended  in  muscu- 
lar work,  it  is  indispensable  to  be  able  to  estimate  accurately  the  force  used  in 
circulation,  respiration,  and  the  various  nutritive  processes,  and  to  measure  the 
heat  evolved  which  maintains  the  standard  animal  temperature  and  which  com- 
pensates the  heat  lost  by  evaporation  from  the  general  surface.  It  does  not 
seem  that  any  accurate  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  amount  of  force  used  in  circu- 
lation and  respiration,  and  the  estimates  made  by  different  observers  of  authority 


734  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

present  variations  sometimes  of  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent.  Such  esti- 
mates are  usually  made  in  view  of  some  dynamic  theory,  and  they  are  based 
upon  physiological  data  which  are  necessarily  uncertain  and  subject  to  wide  and 
frequent  variations.  No  approximate  estimate,  even,  can  be  made  of  the  actual 
amount  of  heat  produced  within  the  living  organism,  except,  perhaps,  during  a 
condition  of  nearly  absolute  muscular  repose.  The  only  way  in  which  tbis  could 
be  done  would  be  to  deduct  the  force  used  in  muscular  work,  circulation,  respi- 
ration, and  the  nutritive  processes,  from  the  heat- value  or  force-value  of  the  food. 
These  elements  of  the  question  being  uncertain,  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  heat 
produced  becomes  impossible,  as,  at  the  best,  the  only  definite  quantity  in  the 
problem  is  the  total  heat-value  or  force- value  of  food. 

"(c.)  To  compare  an  amount  of  muscular  work  actually  performed  with  the 
estimated  force-value  of  food,  apart  from  the  impossibility  of  arriving  at  an 
accurate  estimate  of  the  amount  of  food  consumed  in  circulation,  respiration, 
the  nutritive  processes,  and  the  production  of  heat,  which  is  a  necessary  element 
in  the  problem,  the  work  actually  performed  in  walking  a  certain  distance  must 
be  reduced  to  foot-pounds  or  foot-tons.  The  formula  for  this  is  so  uncertain  that 
no  such  reduction  can  be  made  which  can  be  assumed  to  be  even  approximatively 
correct. 

"II.  The  method  of  calculating  the  possible  amount  of  force  of  which  the 
body  is  capable,  by  using  as  the  sole  basis  for  this  calculation  the  force-value 
of  food,  must  be  abandoned  until  the  various  necessary  elements  of  the  problem 
can  be  made  sufficiently  accurate  to  accord  with  the  results  of  experiments  upon 
the  living  body.  Until  that  time  arrives,  physiologists  should  rely  upon  the 
positive  results  obtained  by  experiments  rather  than  upon  calculations  made 
from  uncertain  data  and  under  the  influence  of  special  theories.  In  case  of  fatal 
disagreement  between  any  theory  and  definite  experimental  facts,  the  theory 
must  be  abandoned,  provided  the  facts  be  incontestable. 

"  III.  Experiments  show  that  the  estimated  force-value  of  food,  after  deduct- 
ing the  estimated  force  used  in  circulation,  respiration,  the  nutritive  processes, 
and  in  the  production  of  heat,  will  sometimes  account  for  a  small  fraction  only 
of  muscular  work  actually  performed,  this  work  being  reduced  to  foot-tons  by 
the  uncertain  process  to  which  I  have  already  alluded.  The  errors  in  these 
calculations  are  manifestly  so  considerable  that  the  calculated  results  seem  to  be 
of  little  value,  while  the  experimental  fact  that  a  certain  amount  of  work  has 
been  accomplished  must  remain. 

"  IV.  It  must  be  admitted  that,  under  ordinary  and  normal  conditions  of 
diet  and  muscular  exercise,  the  weight  of  the  body  being  uniform,  the  ingress 
and  egress  of  matter  necessarily  balance  each  other.  If  this  balance  be  disturbed 
by  diminishing  the  supply  of  food  below  the  requirements  of  the  system  for  its 
nutrition  and  for  muscular  work,  the  body  necessarily  loses  weight,  a  certain 
portion  of  its  constituent  parts  being  consumed  and  not  repaired.  If  the  balance 
be  disturbed  by  increasing  the  muscular  work  to  the  maximum  of  endurance  and 
beyond  the  possibility  of  complete  repair  by  food,  the  body  loses  weight.  The 
probable  source  of  muscular  power  may  be  most  easily  and  satisfactorily  studied 
by  disturbing  the  balance  between  consumption  and  repair  by  increasing  the 
work.  In  this,  it  is  rational  to  assume  that  the  processes  of  physiological  wear 
of  the  tissues  are  not  modified  in  kind,  but  simply  in  degree  of  activity. 

"V.  Experiments  show  that  excessive  and  prolonged  muscular  exercise  may 
increase  the  waste  or  wear  of  certain  of  the  constituents  of  the  body  to  such  a 
degree  that  this  wear  is  not  repaired  by  food.  Under  these  conditions,  there  is 
an  increased  discharge  of  nitrogen,  particularly  in  the  urine.     This  waste  of 


THE  SOURCE   OF  MUSCULAR  POWER.  735 

tissue  may  be  repaired  if  food  can  be  assimilated  in  sufficient  quantity,  but  in  my 
experiments  it  was  not  repaired.  The  most  important  question  to  determine 
experimentally  in  this  connection  is  with  regard  to  the  influence  of  excessive 
and  prolonged  muscular  exercise  upon  the  excretion  of  nitrogen.  It  is  shown 
experimentally  that  such  exercise  always  increases  the  excretion  of  nitrogen  to 
a  very  marked  degree,  under  normal  conditions  of  alimentation ;  but  the  pro- 
portionate quantity  to  the  nitrogen  of  food  is  great  when  the  nitrogen  of  food 
remains  the  same  as  at  rest,  and  is  not  so  great,  naturally,  when  the  nitrogen  of 
food  is  increased.  In  the  latter  case,  the  excessive  waste  of  the  tissues  is  in  part, 
or  it  may  be  wholly,  repaired  by  the  increased  quantity  of  food.  Experiments 
upon  excessive  exertion  with  a  non-nitrogenous  diet  are  made  under  conditions 
of  the  system  that  are  not  physiological ;  and  the  want  of  nitrogen  in  the  food 
in  such  observations  satisfactorily  accounts  for  the  diminished  excretion  of 
nitrogen. 

"VI.  By  systematic' exercise  of  the  general  muscular  system  or  of  particular 
muscles,  with  proper  intervals  of  repose  for  repair  and  growth,  muscles  may  be 
developed  in  size,  hardness,  power,  and  endurance.  The  only  reasonable  theory 
that  can  be  offered  in  explanation  of  this  process  is  the  following :  While  exer- 
cise increases  the  activity  of  disassimilation  of  the  muscular  substance,  a  neces- 
sary accompaniment  of  this  is  an  increased  activity  in  the  circulation  in  the  mus- 
cles, for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  products  of  their  physiological  wear.  This 
increased  activity  of  the  circulation  is  attended  with  an  increased  activity  of  the 
nutritive  processes,  provided  the  supply  of  nutriment  be  sufficient,  and  provided 
also,  that  the  exercise  be  succeeded  by  proper  periods  of  rest.  It  is  in  this  way 
only  that  we  can  comprehend  the  process  of  development  of  muscles  by  training ; 
the  conditions  in  training  being  exercise,  rest  following  the  exercise,  and  appro- 
priate alimentation,  the  food  furnishing  nitrogenized  matters  to  supply  the  waste 
of  the  nitrogenized  parts  of  the  tissues.  This  theory  involves  the  idea  that  mus- 
cular work  consumes  a  certain  part  of  the  muscular  substance,  which  is  repaired 
by  food.  The  theory  that  the  muscles  simply  transform  the  elements  of  food 
into  force  directly,  these  elements  not  becoming  at  any  time  a  part  of  the  muscu- 
lar substance,  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts  known  with  regard  to  training. 

"  VII.  All  that  is  known  with  regard  to  the  nutrition  and  disassimilation  of 
muscles  during  ordinary  or  extraordinary  work  teaches  that  such  work  is  always 
attended  with  destruction  of  muscular  substance,  which  may  not  be  completely 
repaired  by  food,  according  to  the  amount  of  work  performed  and  the  quantity 
and  kind  of  alimentation. 

"  VIII.  In  my  experiments  upon  a  man  walking  three  hundred  and  seventeen 
and  one-half  miles  in  five  consecutive  days,  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  five 
days  had  no  superfluous  fat,  the  loss  of  weight  was  actually  3.45  pounds,  while 
the  total  amount  of  nitrogen  discharged  from  the  body  in  excess  of  the  nitrogen 
of  food  taken  for  these  five  days,  assuming  that  three  parts  of  nitrogen  repre- 
sent one  hundred  parts  of  muscular  substance,  as  has  been  shown  by  analysis  to 
be  the  fact,  represented  3.037  pounds  of  muscular  substance.  This  close  corre- 
spondence between  the  actual  loss  of  weight  and  the  loss  that  should  have  oc- 
curred, as  deduced  from  a  calculation  of  the  nitrogen  discharged  in  excess  of 
the  nitrogen  of  food,  seems  to  show  very  clearly  that,  during  these  five  days  of 
excessive  muscular  work,  a  certain  amount  of  muscular  substance  was  consumed 
which  had  not  been  repaired,  and  that  this  loss  could  be  calculated  with  reason- 
able accuracy  from  the  excess  of  nitrogen  excreted. 

"IX.  Finally,  experiments  upon  the  human  subject  show  that  the  direct 
source  of  muscular  power  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  muscular  system  itself.    The 


736  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

exercise  of  muscular  power  immediately  involves  the  destruction  of  a  certain 
amount  of  muscular  substance,  of  which  the  nitrogen  excreted  is  a  measure. 
Indirectly,  nitrogenized  food  is  a  source  of  power,  as,  by  its  assimilation  by  the 
muscular  tissue,  it  repairs  the  waste  and  develops  the  capacity  for  work ;  but 
food  is  not  directly  converted  into  force  in  the  living  body,  nor  is  it  a  source  of 
muscular  power,  except  that  it  maintains  the  muscular  system  in  a  proper  con- 
dition for  work.  In  ordinary  daily  muscular  work,  which  may  be  continued 
indefinitely,  except  as  it  is  restricted  by  the  conditions  of  nutrition  and  the 
limits  of  age,  the  loss  of  muscular  substance  produced  by  work  is  balanced  by 
the  assimilation  of  alimentary  matters.  A  condition  of  the  existence  of  the 
muscular  tissue,  however,  is  that  it  cannot  be  absolutely  stationary,  and  that 
disassimilation  must  go  on  to  a  certain  extent,  even  if  no  work  be  done.  This 
loss  must  be  repaired  by  food  to  maintain  life.  A  similar  condition  of  existence 
applies  to  every  highly-organized  part  of  the  body  and  marks  a  broad  distinction 
between  a  living  organism  and  an  artificially  constructed  machine,  which  latter 
can  exert  no  motive  power  of  itself,  and  can  develop  no  force  that  is  not  sup- 
plied artificially  by  the  consumption  of  fuel  or  otherwise." 

Prof.  Flint,  in  an  appendix,  has  added  a  calculation  of  the  non- 
nitrogenized  food  taken  by  Weston  during  his  five  days'  walk,  in  order 
"to  answer  the  possible  objections  of  those  who  may  contend  that,  in 
his  discussion,  lie  should  have  included  the  heat-producing  and  force- 
producing  power  of  non-nitrogenized  alimentary  substances."  This 
calculation  is  briefly  as  follows : 

Force-value  of  nitrogenized  food 2,858.79  foot-tons. 

"  "      loss  of  weight  of  the  body 1,764.52     "      " 

"  "  non-nitrogenized  food,  in  excess  of  that  re- 
quired to  produce  17,787  heat-units  (the 
amount  of  animal  heat)  produced  in  five 
days 597.75     "      " 

Total 5,221.06     "       " 

Deduct  the  estimated  force  used  in  circulation  and  respira- 
tion     1,339.29     "      " 

Force  remaining  for  muscular  work 3,881.77     "      " 

;'The  actual  work  represented  by  walking  three  hundred  and  seventeen  and 
one-half  miles  is  estimated  at  4,321.33  foot-tons.  This  leaves  439.56  foot-tons 
of  work  which  cannot  be  accounted  for  in  any  way,  according  to  the  estimates 
of  the  observers  quoted,  leaving  a  deficiency  of  a  little  more  than  ten  per  cent. 

"  These  calculations  show  the  fallacy  of  such  estimates,  and  the  impossibility 
of  accounting  for  work  actually  performed,  even  when  we  include  the  heat- value 
and  the  force-value  of  non-nitrogenized  food." 

The  estimates  of  the  force  used  in  circulation  and  respiration,  and 
of  the  heat  produced  by  the  body,  were  all  calculated  for  a  condition 
of  rest,  and  they  are  much  less  than  the  estimates  that  should  be 
made  for  a  period  of  excessive  muscular  exercise. 


LIVING    CORALS.  737 

LIYING    CORALS. 

By  W.  E.  DAMON. 

PERHAPS  enough  already  has  been  written  about  corals  and  coral- 
builders,  but  certainly  too  little  is  really  known  about  the  habits 
and  mode  of  growth  of  this  interesting  animal.  I  am  fortunate  enough 
to  possess  tine  specimens  of  some  three  or  four  varieties  of  living, 
working  coral  "  polyps,"  for  such  is  the  name  by  which  the  coral- 
builder  is  designated.  These  specimens  are  kept  in  pure  sea-water, 
and  I  have  studied  their  habits  very  carefully  for  years ;  they  seem 
to  be  in  perfect  health,  full  of  activity,  and  generally  industrious, 
although  I  can  hardly  observe  that  they  have  added  to  their  coral- 
lum  during  this  period.  A  specimen  of  Astrangia  which  has  been 
described  by  Dana  and  Elizabeth  Agassiz,  although  it  has  not,  per- 
haps, increased  visibly  in  height,  has  enlarged  in  size  by  building 
from  its  outer  edges,  and  numbers  of  young  and  smaller  polyps  have 
appeared.  I  have  noticed  that  this  budding  and  increase  occur  about 
October  or  November  of  each  year. 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  a  group  of  these  corallets. 
Sometimes  a  mass  of  them  of  three  or  four  inches  across  is  dredged 
up  at  Wood's  Hole,  Massachusetts.  The  polyps  rise  high  above  the 
cells,  and,  with  their  long,  slender,  fleecy,  silk-like  tentacles  swaying 
to  and  fro,  remind  one  of  a  living  bed  of  roses,  or  of  a  mossy  bank 
covered  with  heavy  frost. 

I  have  seen  the  animal  of  a  single  corallet  standing  above  the  sur- 
face of  its  cell  an  inch  in  height  and  expanded  to  one-third  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  and  yet  many — I  may  safely  say,  most  people — believe 
the  "coral-insect"  (not  an  insect  at  all)  to  be  a  microscopic  or  a 
very  minute  animal.  Its  long,  snowy  tentacles  are  covered  all  over 
with  warts  or  dots,  with  a  larger  one  at  the  tip  of  each.  All  these 
contain  its  weapons  of  defense,  called  lasso-cells,  or  capsule-threads, 
with  which  the  animal  captures  its  prey.  The  smaller  Crustacea, 
coming  in  contact  with  these  nettle-like  arrows,  are  surely  and  sud- 
denly disabled,  and  then  with  the  longer  tentacles  are  drawn  in- 
ward to  the  mouth,  which  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  all  these  arms. 
This  food  passes  into  the  stomach,  which  can  be  plainly  seen  through 
its  glass-like  walls,  and  must  be  digested  before  the  animal  retreats 
into  its  calicle.  I  have  given  them  pieces  of  clams  or  oysters  as  large 
as  half  a  pea,  which  they  would  seize  with  their  tentacles  and  readily 
swallow.  Another  reason  for  this  particular  variety  of  coral-builder 
being  so  interesting  to  us  is,  that  it  is  the  only  true  coral-building 
polyp  we  have  north  of  the  Florida  reefs,  or  nearer  our  homes  than 
the  Bermuda  Islands. 

Another  variety,  which  belongs  to  the   Oculina  tribe,  I  have  in 
vol.  xii. — 47 


738  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  same  healthful  condition.  This  one  assumes  a  branched  or  tree- 
like form,  and  is,  if  possible,  more  elegant  and  beautiful  than  the  last. 
Its  zoothome,  when  fully  expanded,  seems  to  completely  hide  the 
whole  corallum,  and  nothing  is  visible  but  one  mass  or  tree  of  living, 
moving  flowers. 

This  polyp  does  not  elongate  itself  so  much  as  does  Astrangia,  and 
its  tentacles  are  much  shorter ;  and,  instead  of  being  white,  it  is  of 
an  umber-like  color,  and  covered  all  over  with  iridescent  hues.  Its 
septa,  or  radiated  plates  of  the  corallum,  are  the  same  as  in  Astran- 
gia. The  common  mass  of  coral  is  of  a  more  solid,  stone-like  nature  ; 
the  epitheca,  or  outer  coral  layer,  which  the  Astrangia  has  not,  and 
the  endotheca,  or  coral  inside  the  cells,  are  also  more  compact  and 
hard. 


~+++~ 


POISONS  OF  THE  INTELLIGENCE.— CHLOEOFOKM.1 

By  CIIAELES    EICHET. 

CHLOROFORM  is  a  colorless,  volatile,  oily  liquid ;  it  is  denser 
than  water,  and  does  not  mix  with  it.  It  was  discovered 
by  Soubeiran  in  1831,2  and  Soubeiran's  process  for  obtaining  it 
is  still  in  use,  viz.,  distilling  alcohol  with  calcium  hypochlorite  and 
lime.  The  hypnotic  properties  of  chloroform  were  discovered  in  1847 
by  Flourens,  a  few  months  after  Jackson  had  recognized  similar 
properties  in  ether ;  but  the  first  surgeon  who  made  use  of  it  in  an 
operation  on  the  human  subject  was  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1847.  Since  then,  the  use  of  chloroform  has  become  so  general, 
that  nowadays  no  great  operation  in  surgery  is  attempted  without 
employing  it.  We  may,  therefore,  justly  regard  the  discovery  of 
surgical  anaesthesia  as  one  of  the  greatest  scientific  achievements  of 
the  present  century,  so  fruitful  of  benefits  to  the  human  race. 

The  principal  effect  of  chloroform  is  the  paralysis  of  sensibility, 
or  anaesthesia.  In  so  far  forth  it  acts  upon  the  mind,  for  sensibility 
is  only  one  of  the  forms  of  mind  ;  but  this  point,  which  as  yet  is 
rather  obscure,  calls  for  a  few  words  of  explanation. 

Two  great  functions  devolve  upon  the  nervous  system,  sensibility 
and  motion  :  it  is  through  sensibility  that  we  receive  impressions 
from  without ;  and  it  is  through  the  excitation  of  the  muscles,  or 
movement,  that  we  manifest  our  will,  or  act  upon  external  objects. 
In  the  absence  of  both  disease  and  poisoning,  the  will — that  is,  the 

1  Translated  from  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  by  J.  Fitzgerald,  A.  M. 

2  The  first  discoverer  of  chloroform — for  it  was  discovered  independently  by  at  least 
three  chemists — was  Samuel  Guthrie,  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York.  His  discovery  an- 
tedates Soubeiran's  several  months.  Liebig's  discovery  of  chloroform  was  intermediate 
between  Guthrie's  and  Soubeiran's. — Translator. 


POISONS    OF   THE  INTELLIGENCE.  739 

mind — excites,  through  the  spinal  cord,  the  various  muscles,  produc- 
ing movement ;  but  this  condition  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  since 
in  decapitated  animals,  for  instance,  the  nervous  system  of  the  spinal 
cord  can  of  itself  produce  motion  of  the  muscles.  Here  we  have 
motor  activity,  but  no  sensibility.  Sensibility  exists  only  where  the 
mind  is  intact  and  capable  of  perceiving,  so  that  a  creature  which  has 
no  mind  is  void  of  sensibility.  This  fact  is  confirmed  by  pathologi- 
cal observation  ;  for,  whenever  the  mind  is  affected,  there  appear  at 
the  same  time  symptoms  of  disordered  sensibility,  and  vice  versa. 
And  when  we  find  a  patient  exhibiting  notable  disorder  of  the  sensi- 
bility, then,  if  the  nerves  are  intact,  we  can  safely  conclude  that  the 
central  nervous  system  is  affected,  and  to  that  degree  that  the  mind 
has  not  escaped. 

Anatomy  and  physiology  here  are  in  accord  with  pathology.  Some 
animals  possess  little  or  no  sensibility  :  they  belong  to  the  lower 
grades  of  animals ;  their  intelligence  is  obscure,  and  their  sensibility 
is  as  obtuse  as  their  intelligence.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  consider 
animals  of  higher  intelligence,  we  find  their  sensibility  becoming  more 
and  more  keen,  till  we  come  to  man,  at  once  the  most  intelligent  and 
the  most  sensitive  of  animals.  And  even  in  man  himself  we  find  race- 
differences,  those  races  being  most  sensitive  which  possess  the  highest 
decree  of  intelligence.  The  anatomical  structure  of  the  nervous  cen- 
tres  is  in  harmony  with  this  coincidence,  for  it  is  in  man  that  the  pos- 
terior columns  of  the  spinal  cord  are  most  voluminous,  as  compared 
with  the  anterior.  Now,  the  anterior  columns  transmit  the  motor 
excitations  to  the  nerves,  while  the  posterior  columns  transmit  the 
sensory  excitations.  Again,  the  posterior  lobes  of  the  brain  in  man, 
as  compared  with  animals,  are  more  developed  than  the  anterior. 
But  it  is  in  the  posterior  lobes  that  perception  of  sensitive  excitations 
appears  to  reside. 

Nor  is  it  surprising  that  there  should  exist  so  intimate  a  relation 
between  mind  and  sensibility.  Indeed,  whatever  may  be  the  influence 
of  the  spontaneous  development  of  the  mind  itself,  resulting  from  the 
constitution  of  the  brain,  which  is  its  organ,  it  still  holds  true  that  all 
our  knowledge  comes  from  our  sensations,  and  from  the  brain-work 
thence  resulting.  Mind  is,  so  to  speak,  the  product  of  these  two  fac- 
tors ;  and  our  notions  of  the  world  around  us,  elaborated  and  fecun- 
dated by  the  mind's  spontaneous  action,  constitute  individual  person- 
ality. Hence,  inasmuch  as  anatomy,  physiology,  and  pathology,  show 
intimate  relation  between  sensibility  and  intelligence,  we  can  justly 
say  that  psychology  confirms  the  positive  data  furnished  by  these 
three  sciences. 

Accordingly,  poisons  which  affect  the  intelligence  are  ipso  facto 
poisons  of  the  sensibility.  In  this  respect  alcohol  does  not  differ  from 
chloroform.  When  alcoholic  intoxication  is  only  beginning,  we  find 
already  a  notable  degree  of  insensibility ;  but  at  the  comatose  stage 


74o  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

the  insensibility  is  total,  just  as  in  the  last  stage  of  chloroform.  Thus 
intoxication  by  chloroform  and  intoxication  by  alcohol  proceed  along 
parallel  lines,  and  we  can  distinguish  a  first  period  of  intoxication, 
properly  so  called,  and  a  second  period  of  sleep  or  coma. 

When  a  person  takes  chloroform,  the  first  few  inhalations  make 
him  dizzy  ;  he  is  seized  with  a  sort  of  vertigo  and  dimness  of  vision. 
This  vertigo  goes  on  increasing,  and,  as  the  patient  continues  to  respire 
the  toxic  agent,  his  ideas  become  more  and  more  exalted.  He  hears 
what  is  said  to  him  and  makes  replies,  but  he  does  so  after  the  man- 
ner of  a  drunken  man,  at  first  exaggerating  his  impressions  and  re- 
gardless of  proportion.  His  judgment  has  already  disappeared,  and 
he  utters  the  most  insignificant  replies  with  a  theatrical  accent,  the 
effect  being  often  grotesque.  Next,  his  ideas  grow  more  and  more 
mixed:  will  and  judgment  being  gone,  ideation  is  disordered  and  de- 
lirious ;  in  short,  we  have  a  state  of  sleep  accompanied  with  dreaming, 
closely  resembling  ordinary  sleep. 

When  the  chloroform  absorbed  by  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
lungs  has  passed  into  the  blood,  active  memory,  which  presupposes 
attention  and  will,  has  disappeared;  still,  the  intelligence  is  not  yet 
dead.  Ideas  are  still  conceived,  old  recollections  persist,  and  some- 
times even  the  memory  of  past  events  is  strangely  quickened.  The 
patient  will  speak  in  a  language  he  thought  he  had  forgotten,  and 
recall  old  stories  that  seemed  to  have  passed  into  oblivion.  This 
superexcitation  of  memory  is  all  the  more  interesting  because  in  sun- 
dry forms  of  mental  alienation  it  occurs  with  the  same  characters — 
these,  too,  being  accompanied  by  entire  loss  of  active  memory. 

Though  insensibility  supervenes  very  soon  after  the  administration 
of  chloroform,  commonly  it  occurs  only  after  the  loss  of  memory,  and 
this  circumstance  leads  to  very  singular  results.  Thus,  if  the  surgeon 
begins  the  operation  before  perfect  insensibility  has  been  fu*oduced, 
the  patient  will  cry  out,  and  beg  to  have  it  delayed  till  the  drug  has 
had  full  influence.  One  might  suppose,  from  his  cries  of  pain  and 
his  contortions,  that  the  chloroform  had  produced  no  effect,  and  yet 
on  awaking  he  has  no  recollection  of  what  has  taken  place. 

Is  that  real  pain  which  leaves  in  the  mind  no  trace  ?  The  answer 
to  this  question  is  not  so  easy  as  one  might  imagine.  Suppose  an 
acute,  penetrating  pain,  continuing  only  for  about  one  minute.  Un- 
doubtedly the  patient  suffers  real  pain  during  that  minute  ;  but,  if  all 
memory  of  it  disappeared  at  once,  then  the  patient  would  deny  that 
he  had  suffered  at  all,  and  would  not  hesitate  to  undergo  the  operation 
again.  In  short,  he  would  have  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  chloroformic 
anaesthesia. 

In  administering  chloroform,  we  must  take  account  of  the  patient's 
temperament.  If  he  is  a  resolute,  courageous  person,  all  will  go  on 
well,  and  the  insensibility  will  readily  disappear  ;  if,  on  the  contrary, 
he  has  an  unconquerable  dread  of  the  operation,  great  watchfulness 


POISONS    OF  THE  INTELLIGENCE.  741 

will  be  necessary,  for  in  such  cases  syncope  is  very  frequent.  Besides, 
such  a  patient  resists  the  action  of  the  drug  for  a  long  time,  and  it 
must  be  administered  in  far  greater  quantity  than  in  the  other  case. 
The  chloroform  always  retains  its  power,  but  the  cerebral  excitation 
to  which  some  patients  are  subject  enables  them  to  resist  its  toxic 
action,  as  though  the  will  could,  so  to  speak,  brace  itself  up  to  resist 
the  action  of  the  poison  on  the  nerve-centres.  The  same  occurs  in 
the  use  of  alcohol.  One  who  will  not  be  intoxicated  may  drink  a 
large  quantity  without  being  drunk.  At  length,  however,  his  will  is 
conquered,  and  he  falls  to  the  ground,  but  he  will  not  have  experienced 
the  exhilaration,  the  mad  excitation,  of  the  man  who  gives  himself  up 
to  the  influence  of  the  liquor. 

Thus,  then,  under  the  action  of  chloroform  we  find  an  antago- 
nism existing  between  the  various  intellectual  faculties — on  the  one 
hand  the  voluntary,  and  on  the  other  the  unconscious  faculties.  The 
latter  are  slowest  to  disappear ;  ideation,  its  guide  and  check,  being 
deranged  or  destroyed,  follows  its  habitual  laws  :  association  of  ideas 
persists.  External  sensations  are  still  borne  in  upon  the  mind,  each 
one  awaking  a  long  series  of  ideas.  As  the  sense  of  hearing  is  the 
last  to  disappear,  the  patient,  though  he  can  no  longer  either  see 
or  feel,  hears  every  word  that  is  spoken,  and  is  set  a-thinking  at 
once.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  ordinary  sleep,  rarely  in  adults, 
but  very  frequently  in  young  children.  In  fact,  a  certain  degree  of 
natural  somnambulism  is  nearly  always  to  be  found  in  children.  The 
child  speaks  out  aloud  without  waking,  he  laughs  and  talks ;  more 
frequently  he  is  frightened  and  cries.  The  course  of  his  thoughts  may 
be  altered,  diverted  into  another  channel,  by  speaking  to  him  gently, 
and  this  without  arousing  him  from  sleep.  On  awaking,  all  recollec- 
tion of  this  has  vanished.  This  method  has  been  tried  in  mental  alien- 
ation, to  divert  the  thoughts  of  melancholies  and  hypochondriacs. 

But  soon  these  external  phenomena  which  indicate  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  intelligence,  if  not  its  integrity,  disappear  in  their  turn. 
The  period  of  excitation  is  succeeded  by  the  period  of  relaxation, 
and  then  the  patient  is  in  a  deep  sleep.  However  violent  the  ex- 
ternal excitations,  however  painful  the  surgical  operation,  nothing 
can  arouse  the  patient  out  of  the  comatose  state  into  which  he  has 
fallen.  His  respiration  is  regular,  his  pulse  slow  and  full,  his  pupils 
are  motionless,  and  his  features,  paralyzed  as  it  were,  no  longer  wear 
that  convulsive  grimace  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  last  trace  of 
sensibility.  Intelligence  is  now  destroyed.  The  coma  of  chloroform 
and  that  of  alcohol  appear  to  be  essentially  one.  And,  yet,  what  a 
difference  !  The  former  saves  man  from  pain,  the  latter  drags  man 
down  to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation  ;  yet  in  both  all  signs  of 
intellectual  life  have  disappeared — there  is  a  temporary  death  of  the 
mind.  It  may  be  that,  in  the  inmost  nerve-tissues,  brain-work  still 
goes  on,  unconscious  and  silent,  but  whether  this  is  so  we  know  not. 


742  THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


SKETCH  OF  PROFESSOR  SECCHI. 

THIS  distinguished  Italian  physicist  and  astronomer  died  on  the 
26th  of  February.  Pietro  Angelo  Secchi  was  born  in  Reggio, 
in  Emilia,  July  29, 1818.  He  was  educated  for  the  Church,  and  joined 
the  order  of  the  Jesuits  November  3,  1833.  He  studied  mathemat- 
ics, physics,  and  astronomy,  under  Padre  de  Vico,  and  taught  physics 
in  the  college  of  Loreto  from  1841  to  1843.  In  1844  he  began  his 
course  of  theology  in  the  Roman  College,  and  in  1848  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  pursued  his  theological  studies,  at  the  same  time 
teaching  physics  and  mathematics,  in  the  Georgetown  College,  District 
of  Columbia.  There  he  remained  until  1850,  when  he  was  recalled  to 
Rome. 

He  now  entered  upon  his  public  career  as  an  astronomer  and 
physicist.  He  was  appointed  Director  of  the  Observatory  of  the 
Roman  College,  reconstructed  it  on  a  new  site  and  plan,  invented  and 
perfected  an  improved  system  of  meteorological  observation,  pub- 
lished a  monthly  bulletin,  which  was  continued  until  1873,  and  in- 
vented and  constructed  a  meteorograph,  which  was  much  admired  by 
savants  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867. 

Prof.  Secchi  was  commissioned  by  Pope  Pius  IX.  to  complete  the 
trigonometrical  survey  of  the  Papal  States,  begun  by  Boscovitch  in 
1851,  and  to  rectify  the  measurements  already  made  of  the  meridional 
arc.  He  also  superintended  and  executed  successfully  a  commission 
to  bring  a  supply  of  water  to  Rome  from  Frosinone,  forty-eight  miles 
distant.  After  the  closing  of  the  Roman  College,  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits  (1870-73),  Prof.  Secchi  was  allowed  to  retain  his  post, 
and  continued  to  lecture  on  astronomy  in  the  ecclesiastical  schools  at 
Rome.  In  1875  he  was  sent  by  the  Italian  Government  on  a  scien- 
tific mission  to  Sicily. 

Prof.  Secchi  was  a  man  of  great  industry,  and  cultivated  the  as- 
tronomical field  assiduously.  The  results  of  his  scientific  labors  will 
be  found  chronicled  in  the  periodicals  of  Italy,  France,  Germany,  and 
England,  and  the  "  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge"  in  this 
country.  But  he  is  especially  known  in  the  scientific  world  for  his 
researches  and  discoveries  in  spectroscopic  analysis,  and  in  solar  and 
stellar  physics.  Among  the  most  important  of  these  are  his  "  Spec- 
trum Observations  on  the  Rotation  of  the  Sun,"  published  in  1870. 
The  same  year  he  printed  a  large  work  on  the  sun,  which  was  highly 
regarded,  and  immediately  translated  into  French  and  German.  His 
last  considerable  publication  is  a  popular  book  on  "  The  Stars,"  con- 
tributed to  the  Italian  branch  of  the  "  International  Scientific  Series." 


CORRESP  ONDENCE. 


743 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE  GERM  THEORY. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

IN  your  February  number,  Dr.  J.  R.  Black 
assumes  to  correct  Dr.  Niemeyer's 
statement  that  the  night-air  of  large  cities 
is  less  noxious  than  the  stirred-up  air  of  the 
daytime,  and  he  does  so  with  a  degree  of 
confidence  that  seems  to  imply  that  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  doubting  that  he 
speaks  ex  cathedra. 

Now,  Dr.  Black  evidently  believes  that 
the  insalubrity  of  city  air  depends  upon  the 
amount  of  non-respirable  gases  that  may 
be  diffused  into  the  respirable  ones ;  and 
is  wholly  independent  of  the  condensible 
effluvia  of  the  vaporous  kind,  or  of  the 
organic  germ-dust  that  the  heat  and  stir  of 
the  day  may  keep  suspended,  but  would 
settle  with  the  cooling  and  quiet  of  the 
night. 

Now,  while  the  precise  application  of  the 
law  to  cities  has  not  been  made  before,  per- 
haps, in  your  journal,  the  teaching  which  in- 
evitably leads  to  it  has  been  abundant,  and 
from  unquestionable  authority,  so  that,  if 
Dr.  Black  wishes  to  correct  so  fatal  an  error 
as  he  charges  this  to  be,  he  is  very  late  with 
his  solicitude.  One  lecture  of  Tyndall's, 
published  by  you,  devoted  much  detail  to 
the  experiments  of  the  professor,  in  his  at- 
tempts to  bottle  a  sterilized  infusion  in  the 
laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institution,  in  air  he 
had  attempted  to  sterilize  there,  and  ex- 
plaining that  he  did  succeed  in  a  special 
chamber  elsewhere.  If,  as  Dr.  Black  would 
imply,  noxious  effluvia  obey  the  law  of  diffu- 
sion of  permanent  gases,  how  comes  it  that 
they  specially  hover  over  low  marshes  and 
putrefying  cesspools,  while  the  ascent  of  a 
mountain  of  considerable  elevation  carries 
us  above  malaria  and  aerial  infection,  and 
often  above  bacterial  decay  ? 

A  recent  experiment  of  Tyndall's  was 
to  sterilize  a  bottle  of  infusion  and  open  it 
upon  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  and,  after 
contact  with  the  air,  recork  it,  to  observe 
whether  the  infusion  retained  its  sterility  or 
not.  He  found  the  air  germless.  The  ex- 
periment was  made  to  test  this  identical 
question  of  the  settling  of  ferment-germs. 

Pasteur  tried  similar  experiments,  as- 
cending to  high  points  in  Paris,  bottling  and 
comparing  the  air  so  bottled  in  putrefactive 
power  with  air  bottled  upon  Mont  Blanc, 
and  with  the  air  of  the  streets  of  Paris,  al- 
ways with  the  result  of  finding  the  air  of  the 
street  levels  more  laden  with  micronymes 
than  that  obtained  at  considerable   eleva- 


tions. Upon  the  Western  Plains,  before 
civilization  had  scattered  its  filth,  laden 
with  zymogens,  meats  hung  up  in  the  air, 
even  in  midsummer,  would  keep  sweet  for 
days.  The  emigrants  of  1849,  in  crossing  the 
Plains,  were  surprised  to  find  often  the  car- 
casses of  dead  animals  of  a  previous  caravan, 
drying-up  viscera,  and  all  without  decay. 
This  is  easily  explained  on  the  germ-theory ; 
without,  it  is  inexplicable.  If  Dr.  Black  has 
any  evidence  that  the  germ-theory  of  decay 
and  zymotic  diseases  is  untenable,  he  should 
presently  submit  it,  for,  to  my  thinking,  the 
world  is  only  waiting  to  hear  from  Dr. 
Charlton  Bastian,  when  the  testimony  and 
argument  will  be  declared  closed. 
Respectfully, 

C.  W.  Johnson. 
Atchison,  Kansas,  February  20, 1S78. 


THE    HORSE   IN   AMERICA. 

We  extract  the  following  from  a  private 
letter  of  a  Swiss  archaeologist : 

"  In  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  of 
last  November,  page  121,  I  read  that  in 
Colorado  on  ruins  more  than  500  years  old, 
probably  much  older,  there  are  found  draw- 
ings of  horses.  Can  this  be  correct  ?  I 
know  there  are  found  fossil  remains  of 
horses  in  America,  but  I  know  also  that 
the  horse  was  totally  extinct  in  America  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery  by  the  Spaniards. 
Ruins  on  which  drawings  of  horses  are 
found  must,  therefore,  be  more  recent  than 
the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  well-preserved  cedar-wood  indicates 
that  the  ruins  cannot  be  as  old  as  the  fossil 
horse.  From  the  fact  that  no  signs  of  a 
door  are  visible  in  the  outer  walls,  and  the 
ingress  was  from  the  top,  I  conclude  that 
these  ruins  must  have  been  built  by  the 
Pueblo  Indians,  or  an  allied  race.  I  be- 
lieve the  Pueblo  Indians  to  be  the  last  re- 
mains of  a  more  highly-civilized  race,  per- 
haps identical  with  the  mound-builders,  and 
would  attribute  to  the  same  race  the  anti- 
quities of  Arizona.  They  have  been  almost 
exterminated  by  the  later  invasions  of  very 
distinct  tribes.  The  aborigines  of  America 
did  not  know  in  1492  the  use  of  iron.  That 
a  skeleton  in  a  Utah  mound  (page  123, 
ibid.)  would  have  been  found  with  a  huge 
iron  weapon  in  the  right  hand  is  therefore, 
for  me,  quite  incredible.  Also  the  occur- 
rence of  wheat  in  the  same  mound  and  of 
bones  of  sheep  in  the  Colorado  ruins.   Except 


744 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


the  Hamas  and  alpacas  of  Peru,  the  abori- 
gines of  America  in  the  fifteenth  century 
had  no  cattle  whatever,  and  the  domestic 
sheep  and  the  wheat  have  been  introduced 
by  the  Europeans  in  America. 

"  Was  the  skeleton  in  the  Utah  mound 
of  the  Indian  red  race  ?  Then  it  must  be 
more  recent  than  the  European  invasion 
which  brought  wheat  and  cattle  to  Ameri- 
ca. Or  is  it  possible  that  the  Colorado 
ruins  and  the  Utah  mounds  relate  to  an 
Asiatic  iuvasion  which  brought  iron,  wheat, 


horses,  and  sheep,  into  America  before  the 
European  invasion,  but  was  exterminated, 
with  its  wheat  and  cattle,  by  the  Indians 
long  before  Columbus.  Elephants'  heads, 
represented  on  the  walls  of  Palenque  and 
other  Mexican  ruins,  would  support  a  simi- 
lar view,  if  they  do  not  belong  to  extinct 
species,  which  would  prove  an  enormous 
age  for  these  ruins.  However  this  may  be, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  in  1492  the  na- 
tives of  America  knew  neither  elephants, 
nor  horses,  nor  sheep,  nor  wheat." 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


AMERICAN    CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ELEC- 
TRICAL SCIENCE. 

THE  story  of  electricity  forms  the 
most  romantic  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  science.  The  curious  thing 
about  it  is,  that  it  has  been  a  progress 
from  utter  and  absolute  ignorance  to  the 
most  familiar  and  extensive  practical 
results.  In  all  the  other  sciences- 
mechanics,  optics,  physiology,  astron- 
omy— there  was  a  basis  of  common 
knowledge,  consisting  of  many  familiar 
facts  to  start  with,  and  there  is  ever 
a  rudiment  of  science  in  the  loose  ob- 
servations of  uninstructed  people  con- 
cerning things  that  fall  within  the  range 
of  ordinary  experience.  But  elec- 
trical science  had  no  such  starting- 
point — nothing  was  known  by  common 
people  of  any  such  agent.  Lightning 
was  hardly  regarded  as  a  terrestrial 
thing.  It  was  the  bolt  of  Jove,  a  min- 
ister of  God's  wrath,  or  a  malign  agen- 
cy of  the  prince  of  the  powers  of  the 
air,  a  kind  of  preternatural  phenome- 
non ;  and,  when  amber  was  rubbed  and 
found  to  attract  light  bodies  in  a  mys- 
terious way,  it  was  assumed  to  have  a 
soul  and  to  be  a  sacred  thing.  This 
little  seed  of  the  science  did  not  germi- 
nate for  thousands  of  years.  It  was 
an  instructive  test  of  the  culture  of  the 
human  mind,  and  shows  what  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  preliminary  mental 
activity  had  to  be  expended  before 
men  were  prepared  to  engage  in  the 
study  of   Nature.     The  natural  world 


was  filled  with  this  force  which  we 
now  call  electrical;  all  things  were  per- 
vaded by  it,  but  it  was  beneath  the  sur- 
face ;  it  did  not  strike  the  senses,  and 
compel  attention;  it  could  be  discov- 
ered only  by  thought,  and  the  investi- 
gation could  not  commence  until  the 
human  intellect  had  been  turned  in  a 
systematic  way  upon  natural  things. 
But  when  experimental  inquiries  in 
electricity  were  once  begun,  their  re- 
sults were  so  curious  and  peculiar  that 
they  exerted  a  powerful  fascination 
over  the  wonder-loving,  and  by  this 
stimulus  the  science  grew  rapidly.  It 
has  given  rise  to  a  brilliant  series  of 
electrical  and  magnetic  discoveries,  in- 
ventions, and  useful  applications,  of 
the  widest  range  and  the  highest  utility 
to  civilization,  such  as  no  other  science 
has  afforded.  The  intellectual  move- 
ment has  here  been  from  the  zero  of 
total  ignorance,  through  long  observa- 
tion and  experiment,  up  to  the  richest 
harvest  of  wonderful  works. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  fully 
this  science  belongs  in  its  development 
to  civilization,  and  how  widely  its  dis- 
coveries are  to  be  apportioned  among 
different  nations,  and  it  is  not  to  be 
overlooked  that  the  New  World  shares, 
these  honors  conspicuously  with  the 
Old.  The  Englishmen  Gilbert  and 
Gray  were  prominent  in  laying  its 
foundations  ;  the  German  Guericke 
contributed  essentially  to  the  work, 
and  Du  Fay,  the  Frenchman,  gave  ear- 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


745 


ly  form  to  its  theoretic  structure.  The 
next,  and  by  far  the  most  brilliant  step 
yet  taken,  was  made  by  the  American 
Franklin  in  demonstrating  the  identity 
of  lightning  and  common  electricity, 
and  in  the  invention  of  the  lightning- 
rod.  The  Italians  Galvani  and  Volta 
then  followed,  giving  us  the  electrical 
batteries  that  bear  their  names;  the 
Englishman  Davy  soon  made  an  epoch 
in  electro-chemistry  ;  and  Oersted,  the 
Dane,  came  next  with  the  discovery  of 
electro-magnetism.  This  paved  the 
way  for  the  era  of  the  successful  estab- 
lishment of  the  telegraph ;  and  here 
our  countryman  Morse  was  a  leader, 
whose  name  is  everywhere  indissolubly 
linked  with  the  system. 

All  these  achievements  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  science  were  regarded  with 
incredulous  astonishment  when  they 
were  made ;  but  the  recent  exploits  in 
the  field  of  electrical  invention  and  dis- 
covery surpass,  if  possible,  in  their 
wonderful  results,  all  that  has  gone 
before,  and  here  the  work  is  exclusive- 
ly American.  The  musical  telephone 
of  Elisha  Gray,  and  the  speaking  tele- 
phone of  Graham  Bell,  together  with 
the  Phonograph  of  Thomas  Edison 
(which,  although  not  an  electrical  ma- 
chine, grew  out  of  the  telephone),  were 
all  invented  in  this  country,  and  they 
nobly  "crown  the  first  two  years  of 
our  new  century."  The  import  of 
these  devices  is  being  increasingly  ap- 
preciated by  scientific  men  as  their 
powers  are  developed,  and  eminent 
foreign  electricians  have  pronounced 
them  the  most  extraordinary  produc- 
tions of  the  present  century.  Experi- 
menters abroad  may  be  expected  to 
contribute  to  the  elucidation  of  their 
conditions  and  principles,  but  they  will 
do  well  not  to  overlook  what  has  been 
accomplished  here.  Already,  they  are 
taking  credit  for  contrivances  which 
are  but  repetitions  of  American  work. 
Dr.  William  F.  Ohanning,  of  Provi- 
dence, who,  with  other  gentlemen  of 
that  city,  have  taken  an  active  interest 


in  the  telephone  from  the  outset,  and 
contributed  valuable  aid  to  Prof.  Bell 
in  perfecting  his  invention,  thus  writes 
to  the  Journal  of  the  Telegraph  in  ref- 
erence to  things  done  on  the  other  side, 
that  had  been  anticipated  here : 

"  A  considerable  flourish  has  recently- 
been  made  over  the  multiple  telephone  of 
M.  Trouve"  in  Paris.  As  the  speaking  tele- 
phone is  entirely  an  American  discovery,  it 
is  worth  while  to  keep  the  credit  of  what  we 
do  at  home. 

"  The  multiple  telephone,  that  is,  a  cu- 
bical or  polyhedral  chamber,  every  side  of 
which,  except  the  front,  is  occupied  by  tele- 
phone-plates with  magnets,  etc.,  behind,  was 
made  last  summer,  by  Henry  W.  Vaughan 
in  Providence,  before  the  speaking  tele- 
phone had  been  seen  in  France. 

"  In  a  recent  lecture  upon  the  telephone 
before  the  Franklin  Society  of  Providence, 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  using  a  pair  of  sympa- 
thetic or  rather  responsive  tuning-forks, 
made  manv  months  ago  by  Prof.  E.  W. 
Blake,  of  Brown  University.  These  tuning- 
forks  were  of  the  same  musical  pitch,  and 
each  mounted  on  a  sounding-board.  They 
were  also  tempered  and  magnetized,  so  as 
really  to  constitute  permanent  U  magnets. 
Between  the  poles  or  ends  of  the  prongs  of 
each  of  these  magnetic  tuning-forks,  a  short 
soft-iron  core,  surrounded  with  a  coil  of  fine 
insulated  wire,  was  supported,  very  near,  but 
not  in  contact  with,  the  prongs  of  the  tuning- 
fork.  These  instruments  were  placed  in  a 
common  telegraphic  circuit  a  sixth  of  a  mile 
apart.  "When  the  distant  instrument  was 
struck,  the  other  responded  so  as  to  be 
heard  throughout  the  lecture-room.  This 
is  a  form  of  the  responsive  tuning-fork, 
much  more  beautiful  than  that  figured  in 
Nature,  and  ascribed  to  W.  C.  Bontgen ; 
and  it  anticipated  European  application  by 
several  months." 


MR.  WALLACE  AND  CLAIRVOYANCE. 

We  have  followed  up  the  controver- 
sy that  grew  out  of  the  publication  of 
Dr.  Carpenter's  lectures  on  spiritualism, 
and,  having  printed  in  the  Monthly  an 
adverse  review  of  that  book  by  a  lead- 
ing representative  of  the  spiritualist 
party  in  this  country,  we  have  repub- 
lished in  successive  numbers  of  the  Sup- 
plement the  replies  to  Dr.  Carpenter 


746 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


made  by  those  eminent  scientists,  Mr. 
William  Crookes  and  Mr.  A.  R.Wallace. 
We  supposed,  from  intimations  in  this 
last  and  shorter  installment,  that  the 
discussion  was  ended;  but  Mr.  Wallace 
comes  on  again  in  the  last  Athenceum, 
and,  as  the  logomachy  may  prove  in- 
terminable, we,  at  all  events,  shall  have 
to  stop.  Nothing  would  be  gained  by 
printing  Mr.  Wallace's  last  letter  in  full, 
but  some  notice  of  his  positions  may  be 
desirable. 

The  relation  of  official  French  inqui- 
ry into  mesmerism,  animal  magnetism, 
and  clairvoyance,  has  been  a  prominent 
question  in  this  controversy.  The  main 
facts  seem  to  be  these:  In  1784  the 
French  Government  ordered  the  medical 
faculty  of  Paris  to  investigate  the  theo- 
ries of  Mesmer,  who  had  been  making  a 
great  stir  in  that  city,  and  report  upon 
them.  A  committee  was  appointed,  of 
which  Franklin  and  Lavoisier  were 
members,  and  their  report  was  adverse 
to  the  validity  of  Mesmer's  claims.  Jn 
1825  the  believers  in  animal  magnetism 
applied  for  a  new  commission,  which 
was  appointed  by  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, and  consisted  of  five  members, 
who  made  a  favorable  report  upon  the 
subject  in  1831 ;  but  this  report  was  nei- 
ther adopted  by  the  Academy  nor  reg- 
ularly printed  in  its  memoirs.  In  1837 
the  French  Academy  appointed  a  new 
commission  of  nine  members,  who  re- 
ported adversely  upon  the  doctrine  of 
animal  magnetism,  and  their  report  was 
adopted  by  the  Academy ;  and  still  an- 
other commission  was  afterward  ordered 
by  the  same  body,  and  with  the  same 
result.  Mr.  Wallace  complains  that  Dr. 
Carpenter,  in  his  historical  sketch  of 
the  subject,  ignored  the  report  of  1831, 
which  was  on  the  side  of  mesmerism, 
and  was  not  accepted  by  the  French 
Academy,  and  he  devotes  his  last  letter 
to  a  statement  of  the  points  made  in 
that  report.  Mr.  Wallace  assures  us 
that  the  commission  "  obtained  abso- 
lutely conclusive  facts,  which  have  sub- 
sequently been   often    confirmed,    but 


have  never  been  satisfactorily  explained 
away."  Amongthese  is  the  proof  of  clair- 
voyance. The  committee  say  that  "  pre- 
vision of  organic  phenomena,  knowl- 
edge of  the  internal  conditions  of  other 
persons,  and  true  clairvoyance,  had  been 
demonstrated  to  them."  Mr.  Wallace 
adds  :  "  One  of  the  somnambulists  de- 
termined correctly  the  symptoms  of  M. 
Marc,  a  commissioner;  and  also  the  dis- 
ease of  another  person,  the  accuracy  of 
the  diagnosis  being  confirmed  by  post- 
mortem examination.  Clairvoyance  was 
proved  by  one  of  the  patients  repeated- 
ly reading  and  naming  cards  while  four 
of  the  commissioners  successively  held 
M3  eyes  closed  with  their  fingers — a 
test,  the  absolute  conclusiveness  of 
which  each  one  may  satisfy  himself  of." 

The  term  clairvoyance  means  literal- 
ly clear  sight.  But  everybody  with  good 
eyes  has  clear  sight ;  the  alleged  vision 
is,  therefore,  not  of  the  ordinary  kind. 
It  claims  to  be  an  extraordinary  kind  of 
seeing,  a  seeing  through  opaque  objects- 
through  the  eyelids,  through  bandages, 
or  through  the  back  of  the  head,  and 
into  objects  not  penetrable  by  ordinary 
vision.  The  term  "  clear,"  as  applied 
to  this  kind  of  sight,  is  intended  to  de- 
note especial  or  remarkable  clearness, 
or  a  transcendental  vision,  which  opens 
to  sight  things  not  sensible  to  the  nor- 
mal eye.  In  short,  clairvoyance  af- 
firms an  extra  endowment  for  making 
things  visible  which  goes  beyond  the 
range  of  that  sense  which  is  our  usual 
source  of  knowledge. 

Now,  Mr.  Wallace  says  that  this  is 
an  "  absolute  fact,"  which  has  been  con- 
clusively proved  and  known  for  forty- 
seven  years,  or  since  the  report  of  1831, 
that  declared  it  to  be  demonstrated. 
As,  therefore,  this  remarkable  endow- 
ment of  human  nature  has  been  estab- 
lished as  a  fact  for  nearly  half  a  century, 
we  are  fairly  entitled  to  ask,  What  have 
been  its  results?  If  it  be  true,  no  dis- 
covery ever  made  in  science  can  for  a 
moment  bear  comparison  with  it  in  im- 
portance ;  and  if  it  be  true,  we  have  a 


EDITOR'S   TABLE. 


1M 


right  to  demand  the  legitimate  results 
that  must  flow  from  it,  as  we  expect 
and  require  the  natural  results  of  all 
other  genuine  discoveries.  Of  course, 
the  objection  may  be  interposed  that  we 
must  not  be  premature  in  anticipating 
the  fruits  of  discovery,  because  the  his- 
tory of  all  science  shows  that  the  interval 
between  the  dawn  of  a  new  principle  and 
its  developments  and  applications  may 
be  very  long.  This  is  true ;  yet,  in  every 
case,  we  demand  at  once  the  effects  that 
flow  immediately  from  the  quality  of  the 
discovery  ;  in  fact,  we  only  know  it  by 
these  results.  It  would,  of  course,  have 
been  absurd  to  expect  from  the  inven- 
tion of  the  spy-glass  the  great  results 
of  the  modern  telescope,  which  has 
grown  out  of  it ;  but  it  would  have  been 
proper  to  expect  from  the  spy -glass  that 
which  was  properly  claimed  for  it,  and 
which  it  at  once  compelled  all  men  to 
yield.  All  scientific  discoveries,  in  fact, 
are  new  procurable  effects,  and  are, 
therefore,  their  own  witnesses.  Clair- 
voyance must  give  us  the  new  results 
of  a  marvelously-sharpened  vision  ;  the 
extra  faculty  implies  extra  disclosures. 
And  again  we  ask,  where  are  they? 
With  a  new  capacity  for  seeing,  what 
new  thing  has  been  seen?  The  limita- 
tions of  vision  restrict  and  measure  the 
usual  sphere  of  knowledge,  and  with 
every  increase  in  the  power  of  optical 
instruments,  as  the  microscope  and  tel- 
escope, in  aiding  the  eye,  knowledge 
has  been  extended,  novel  facts  brought 
to  light,  and  it  is  these  that  attest  the 
instrumental  improvements.  But  with 
a  power  of  vision  so  mysteriously  sharp- 
ened that  opaque  objects  become  trans- 
parent, with  the  barriers  actually  taken 
away,  what  ha3  been  revealed?  There 
are  thousands  of  perplexing  and  unset- 
tled questions,  regarding  the  constitu- 
tion of  material  things,  which  might  be 
cleared  up  by  another  increment  of  vis- 
ual penetration;  but  clairvoyance  has 
given  no  help  in  conquering  these  diffi- 
culties. If  it  has  been  a  demonstrated 
reality  these  fifty  years,  it  ought  long 


ago  to  have  vindicated  its  claims  by  un- 
veiling some  of  the  obscurities  of  mate- 
rial objects.  Yet,  claiming  to  be  a  su- 
perior means  of  laying  open  the  inner 
constitution  of  things,  it  has  not  even 
proved  equal  to  ordinary  sight,  and  has, 
in  fact,  done  nothing  whatever  toward 
extending  the  boundaries  of  knowledge. 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  objected  that  clair- 
voyant power  of  seeing  through  opaque 
things  no  more  implies  a  revealing  of 
their  inner  nature,  than  looking  through 
the  air  with  the  eye  implies  the  recog- 
nition of  its  physical  and  chemical  con- 
stitution. But  this  plea  for  seeing  noth- 
ing, with  a  preternatural  gift  of  sight, 
is  futile,  and  the  advocates  of  clairvoy- 
ance understand  well  enough  that  the 
validity  of  the  claim  must  turn  on  what 
is  recognized ;  accordingly,  the  French 
commissioners  say  it  had  been  demon- 
strated to  them  that  clairvoyance  gave 
a  knowledge  of  the  internal  condition 
of  other  persons.  The  body  was  not 
looked  through  as  we  look  through  the 
air,  where  nothing  is  seen ;  but  it  is 
claimed  that  things  were  seen,  internal 
conditions  perceived,  morbid  actions 
identified,  and  features  of  disease  de- 
scribed, that  were  confirmed  by  post- 
mortem examination.  Why,  then,  should 
this  power  be  confined  to  the  identifica- 
tion of  things  already  ascertained  by 
the  common  resources  of  inquiry  ?  The 
new  way  of  getting  into  the  mysteries 
of  the  organism  should  have  attested 
itself  by  results  not  accessible  by  ordi- 
nary means.  It  is  significant  that  the 
clairvoyant  reports  only  as  far  as  nor- 
mal knowing  had  already  reached. 
Yet  the  human  system  is  filled  with 
physiological  and  pathological  enigmas 
and  obscurities,  the  clearing  up  of  which 
would  be  priceless  to  science.  Why, 
then,  did  not  the  physicians  of  the 
French  commission  close  the  investiga- 
tion at  once  and  forever  by  throwing 
light  upon  organic  processes  not  before 
understood,  and  thus  vindicating  the 
new  method,  by  showing  that  it  could 
do,  in  a  direct  way,  at  least  as  much  as 


748 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


we  are  now  able  to  do  indirectly,  though 
only  by  long  and  difficult  processes  of 
investigation  ? 

This  is  certainly  a  dictate  of  common- 
sense.  The  test  of  clairvoyance  is  what 
the  alleged  exceptional  clearness  shows. 
The  question  is,  Can  the  clairvoyant 
actually  do  what  he  pretends  to  do? 
And  the  proof  is  not  the  mere  testimony 
of  a  few  parties,  who  say  they  have 
seen  extraordinary  things,  but  what  has 
been  positively,  and  demonstrably,  and 
openly  gained  to  science  ?  This  is  the 
test  in  the  case  of  all  other  scientific 
discoveries.  M.  Burdin,  a  member  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  put  the  claims 
of  clairvoyance  to  very  simple  and  de- 
cisive proof  in  1837,  when  the  real 
"  evidence"  signally  failed.  He  placed 
3,000  francs  in  the  hands  of  a  notary, 
suhject  to  the  order  of  the  Academy,  to 
be  given  to  any  one  who  would  read 
writing  placed  in  an  opaque  box,  a 
committee  of  the  Academy  being  ap- 
pointed to  supervise  the  experiments. 
The  conditions  were  modified  in  vari- 
ous ways  to  suit  objectors,  the  only 
point  being  to  determine  whether  the 
clairvoyant  could  actually  see  through 
an  opaque  substance,  and  the  time  al- 
lowed to  find  a  party  who  could  do  this, 
at  first  two  years,  was  extended  to  three. 
Numerous  trials  were  made,  but  none 
succeeded.  The  result,  however,  of  the 
carefully-conducted  experiments  was  to 
detect,  in  several  instances,  the  fraudu- 
lent mode  in  which  the  alleged  previous 
successes  had  been  obtained. 


NEW  SOLAR   PHOTOGRAPHS. 

M.  Janssen,  the  eminent  director 
of  the  observatory  at  Meudon  (France), 
has  for  some  time  been  giving  his  at- 
tention to  solar  photography,  and  with 
singular  success.  The  very  remarkable 
photographs  he  has  lately  produced 
have  hardly  yet  reached  this  country ; 
but,  from  the  examination  of  one,  sent 
by  him  to  the  Allegheny  Observatory, 
and  which  we  have  had  the  opportunity 


of  seeing,  we  find  that  the  praise  be- 
stowed abroad  upon  these  new  results 
is  fully  deserved. 

The  surface  of  the  sun  itself  has 
been  described  by  recent  observers  as 
consisting  of  a  relatively  dark  back- 
ground, thickly  starred  in  every  part 
by  those  strange  objects  called  techni- 
cally "granules,"  or  "rice-grains,"  and 
which  constitute  the  real  source  of  the 
solar  light.  These,  which  have  hither- 
to only  occasionally  been  seen  by  good 
telescopes,  are  now  definitely  fixed  for 
us  by  the  camera,  and  we  may  see  for 
ourselves  that  they,  with  their  sur- 
rounding gray,  do  resemble — to  com- 
pare great  things  with  small — rice  in  a 
plate  of  soup,  though  the  photograph 
shows  that  they  are  not  in  general  elon- 
gated, but  nearly  round,  with  an  ir- 
regular outline,  as  described  by  careful 
observers.  We  must  leave,  however, 
to  special  students  the  study  of  these 
details,  and  only  observe  that  the  pho- 
tograph, besides  confirming  previous 
optical  observations  as  to  the  remark- 
able fact  that  the  light  and  heat  of  tho 
sun  come  from  but  a  small  part  of  its 
surface,  adds  otherwise  directly  to  our 
knowledge,  by  presenting  new  facts, 
such  as  the  evidence  of  storms  upon 
the  solar  surface  (quite  away  from  the 
spots),  which  have  never  yet  been  dis- 
tinctly observed  by  the  telescope. 

These  admirable  photographs  can 
hardly  fail  to  soon  become  known,  by 
copies  to  the  scientific  public,  for  they 
constitute  a  most  essential  step  in  tho 
study  of  the  sun,  and  one  on  which  M. 
Janssen  is  certainly  to  be  congratu- 
lated. 


THE  EDISON  PHONOGRAPH. 

In  a  certain  sense,  this  "  acoustical 
marvel  of  the  century  "  is  as  simple  as 
a  grindstone ;  but,  in  a  scientific  point 
of  view,  there  are  subtile  questions 
about  it  that  only  trained  physicists  can 
appreciate.  Prof.  Mayer's  article  upon 
the  subject,  in  the  foregoing  pages,  be- 
sides accurately  explaining  the  mechan- 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


749 


ism  and  its  operation,  points  out  the 
delicate  complexity  of  its  effects  in  a 
way  that  will  interest  all  curious-mind- 
ed readers.  Mr.  Edison,  by  this  inven- 
tion, has  done  for  sound  what  Daguerre 
did  for  light — made  it  possible  to  fix 
and  permanently  retain  the  most  fleet- 
ing impressions.  We  pointed  out,  last 
month,  the  marvelous  capacities  of  cold 
iron,  magnetism,  and  an  electric  wire ; 
but  the  capacities  of  the  phonograph 
are  still  more  marvelous,  for,  with  only 
a  vibrating  plate,  a  sheet  of  tin-foil, 
and  a  crank,  it  is  possible  to  arrest  and 
fix  all  kinds  of  sound,  and,  having 
preserved  them  as  long  as  metals  will 
hold  their  properties,  to  give  them  forth 
again  in  all  their  original  qualities.  The 
voice,  indeed,  is  somewhat  muffled  and 
minified  when  returned  from  the  iron 
tongue  of  the  phonograph ;  but  its  in- 
tonations, inflections,  pauses,  and  quali- 
ty, are  rendered  with  surprising  fidelity. 
By  the  simple  turning  of  the  crank,  the 
machine  talks,  sings,  shouts,  laughs, 
whistles,  and  coughs,  so  naturally  and 
distinctly,  that  the  listener  can  hardly 
believe  his  senses,  or  escape  from  the 
suspicion  that  there  is  some  ventrilo- 
quist hocus-pocus  about  it,  or  a  little 
fellow  concealed  somewhere  about  the 
arrangement.  But  the  fact  is  estab- 
lished, and  must  be  made  the  most  of. 
A  machine,  as  simple  as  a  coffee-mill, 
hears  a  speech  or  a  song,  and  gives  it 
back  as  perfectly  as  it  was  at  first  ut- 
tered by  the  living  organs  of  voice. 
And  so,  again,  we  have  the  lesson  re- 
peated, with  still  greater  emphasis,  that 
we  must  raise  our  estimate  of  the 
powers  and  potencies  of  "mere  dead 
matter." 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 

Physiography  :  An  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Nature.  By  T.  H.  Huxley, 
F.  R.  S.  With  Illustrations  and  Colored 
Plates.  Second  edition.  Pp.  377.  New 
York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.    Price,  $2.50. 

This  volume  has  been  prepared  as   a 
school  text-book   on  the  subject   hitherto 


known  as  physical  geography,  but  in  its 
method  it  is  very  different  from  the  usual 
works  upon  that  subject.  Of  course,  Prof. 
Huxley  could  not  enter  upon  this  field  with- 
out taking  his  own  view  of  its  method  of 
treatment,  and  making  an  original  book, 
but  beyond  this  he  has  unquestionably  made 
a  very  valuable  contribution  to  educational 
literature.  In  the  following  passage  from 
the  preface  he  puts  the  subject  upon  its  ra- 
tional and  proper  basis.     He  says : 

"  I  do  not  think  that  a  description  of  the 
earth  which  commences  by  telling  a  child  that 
it  is  an  oblate  spheroid  moving  round  the  sun 
in  an  elliptical  orbit,  and  ends  without  giving 
him  the  slightest  hint  toward  understanding 
the  ordnance-map  of  his  own  county,  or  any 
suggestion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  phenomena 
offered  by  the  brook  which  runs  through  his 
village,  or  the  gravel-pit  whence  the  roads  are 
mended,  is  calculated  either  to  interest  or  to 
instruct.  And  the  attempt  to  convey  scientific 
conceptions  without  the  appeal  to  observation 
which  can  alone  give  such  conceptions  firmness 
and  reality,  appears  to  me  to  be  in  direct  an- 
tagonism to  the  fundamental  principles  of  scien- 
tific education." 

Prof.  Huxley  was  led  to  the  preparation 
of  this  volume  in  consequence  of  having 
been  invited,  several  years  ago,  to  give  a 
course  of  lectures  before  the  London  Insti- 
tution, which  were  intended  to  initiate  young 
people  into  the  elements  of  physical  science. 
Prof.  Huxley  took  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded  to  put  into  practical  shape  ideas 
long  entertained  respecting  the  proper 
method  of  approaching  the  study  of  Nature. 
Twelve  lectures  were  given,  not  on  any  par. 
ticular  branch  of  knowledge,  but  on  natural 
phenomena  in  general,  and  the  title  "  Physi- 
ography "  was  taken  to  distinguish  both  as 
to  matter  and  method  between  the  subject 
and  what  is  commonly  understood  as  physi- 
cal geography.  The  ideas  which  Prof. 
Huxley  aimed  to  embody  in  these  lectures, 
and  which  characterize  the  present  work, 
are  thus  happily  presented  by  himself: 

"  It  appeared  to  me  to  be  plainly  dictated  by 
common-sense,  that  the  teacher,  who  wishes  to 
lead  his  pupil  to  form  a  clear  mental  picture  of 
the  order  which  pervades  the  multiform  and 
endlessly-shifting  phenomena  of  Nature,  should 
commence  with  the  familiar  facts  of  the  scholar's 
daily  experience ;  and  that,  from  the  firm  ground 
of  such  experience  he  should  lead  the  beginner, 
step  by  step,  to  remoter  objects  and  to  the  less 
readily  comprehensible  relations  of  things.  In 
short,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  child  should,  of 
set  purpose,  be  made  to  grow,  in  the  same  man- 


75< 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ner  as  that  of  the  human  race  has  spontaneously 
grown. 

"  I  conceived  that  a  vast  amount  of  knowl- 
edge respecting  natural  phenomena  and  their 
interdependence,  and  even  some  practical  ex- 
perience of  scientific  method,  could  be  conveyed, 
with  all  the  precision  of  statement  which  is 
what  distinguishes  science  from  common  in- 
formation ;  and  yet,  without  overstepping  the 
comprehension  of  learners  who  possessed  no 
further  share  of  preliminary  educational  disci- 
pline than  that  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  the 
boys  and  girls  who  pass  through  an  ordinary 
primary  school.  And  I  thought  that,  if  my  plan 
could  be  properly  carried  out,  it  would  not  only 
yield  results  of  value  in  themselves,  but  would 
facilitate  the  subsequent  entrance  of  the  learn- 
ers into  the  portals  of  the  special  sciences." 

Prof.  Huxley  fulfilled  this  idea  with  great 
approval  in  his  lectures.  He  began  by 
ideally  placing  his  audience  upon  London 
Bridge  to  observe  and  consider  the  river- 
phenomena  of  the  Thames.  From  this  point, 
step  by  step,  he  worked  over  the  field,  con- 
stantly using  illustrations  and  explaining 
effects  that  were  familiar  to  his  hearers. 
In  this  aspect,  therefore,  the  book  has  a 
flavor  of  locality,  but  the  thoughtful  teacher 
in  using  it  will  simply  transfer  its  applica- 
tions to  his  own  region.  The  book  is  beau- 
tifully illustrated,  and  should  find  its  place, 
if  not  as  a  class-book,  at  least  as  a  book  for 
reading  and  reference,  in  every  school. 

Letters  of  Chauncey  Wright.  With 
Some  Account  of  his  Life.  By  James 
Bradley  Thayer.  Privately  printed. 
Pp.  383.  Cambridge :  Little,  Brown  & 
Co.     Price,  $2.50. 

We  have  found  this  volume  very  pleas- 
ant reading,  as  it  delineates  the  features 
of  a  marked  persoaality,  and  makes  us 
acquainted  with  the  somewhat  peculiar  life 
of  a  man  who  was  thoroughly  appreciated 
and  much  beloved  by  his  friends.  His 
printed  letters  are  most  readable,  and, 
though  not  brilliant,  they  seem  to  us  quite 
superior  in  simplicity  and  clearness  of  style 
to  his  more  elaborate  published  essays ; 
and  this  too  when  he  is  treating  of  the  same 
subjects.  He  was  born  at  Northampton, 
Massachusetts,  in  1830,  entered  Harvard 
College  in  1848,  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  at 
Cambridge,  and  died  suddenly  of  apoplexy 
in  1875.  He  was  employed  in  the  office  of 
the  Nautical  Almanac,  took  occasional  pri- 
vate pupils,  taught  in  Prof.  Agassiz's  school 
for  young  ladies,  was  an  instructor  in  the 


college,  and  one  of  the  university  lecturers. 
His  literary  work  consists  of  articles  con- 
tributed to  the  North  American  Review  and 
the  Nation.  The  following  passages  from 
his  biographer's  description  of  his  character 
will  give  the  reader  a  good  idea  of  some  of. 
its  aspects : 

"  Calm,  gentle,  unassuming  ;  ready  to  be 
pleased  ;  demanding  little  of  his  friends  ;  as 
pure  as  a  woman  in  thought  and  speech  ;  fond 
of  children,  and  unwearied  in  giving  them  pleas- 
ure; free  from  passion  to  a  defect  ;  never  self- 
ish, though  at  times,  from  preoccupation  of 
mind  or  from  lack  of  imagination,  not  wholly 
considerate  ;  deficient  in  ambition  ;  devoid  of 
jealousy  and  envy ;  perfectlyhonorable  and  per- 
fectly amiable — these  stand  out  in  the  memory 
of  his  oldest  friends,  as  the  last  impressions  of 
his  character,  the  same  large  features,  great  sim- 
plicity and  great  dignity,  which  would  have 
struck  an  observer  meeting  him  for  the  first 
time.  .  .  . 

"  His  writings  were  more  like  simple  trans- 
verse sections  from  a  web  that  was  ever  un- 
rolling itself  from  the  loom  of  his  busy  brain 
than  like  pieces  woven  for  the  occasion,  in 
which  a  particular  effect  was  to  be  produced  by 
proper  combination  of  the  material  at  his  com- 
\  niand.  I  fear  that  my  illustration  may  not  seem 
a  very  pertinent  one  ;  but  it  presents  itself  nat- 
urally to  me  as  I  recall  the  process  of  compo- 
sition of  the  bulk  of  his  published  essays,  and 
many  more  that  never  went  beyond  his  friends. 
He  wrote  with  pencil,  usually  in  a  note-book  ; 
and,  when  he  was  in  the  mood  of  composition, 
wrote  pretty  steadily  all  day  and  far  into  the 
night.  He  was  too  precise  in  thought  and  ex- 
pression to  need  to  correct  much  or  to  revise 
what  he  had  written :  and  I  can  hardly  recall  an 
instance  of  his  rewriting,  or  rather  reshaping, 
an  eesay,  short  or  long.  The  starting-point  was 
usually  some  fruitful  reflection  that  promised  to 
reward  development ;  and  from  this  point  he 
would  proceed  on  what  was  really  a  voyage  of 
discovery,  though  in  waters  that  were  in  gen- 
eral familiar  to  him.  What  he  wrote  during  the 
day  would  probably  be  read  to  me,  or  the  friend 
that  was  nearest,  the  next  day,  and  talked  over 
in  a  way.  The  end  often  came  quite  as  much 
because  the  afflatus  had  ceased  as  because  a  nat- 
ural conclusion  had  been  reached.  What  he 
thus  produced  were  rather  studies  than  finished 
work.  They  aided  him  to  make  his  own  thought 
clear  to  himself,  but  were  little  fitted  to  impress 
that  thought  upon  others.  Original,  solid,  sug- 
gestive, as  they  always  were,  from  the  very  man- 
ner of  their  production  they  lacked  proportion, 
relief,  perspective.  It  seems  a  hard  thing  to  say 
of  our  Chauncey,  the  most  simple,  modest,  and 
unconscious  of  men,  that  he  never  knew  how  to 
sink  himself  in  his  subject ;  yet  just  here,  in  the 
lack  of  instinct  to  discern  how  the  minds  he  was 
addressing  would  be  affected,  and  in  the  lack  of 
discipline  to  accommodate  the  workings  of  his 
own  mind  to  their  needs  and  not  unreasonable 
demands,  lies  the  explanation  that  an  intelli- 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


751 


geoce  so  rich  and  powerful,  bo  eager  to  give  of 
its  abundance,  has  not  left  the  world  more  in 
his  debt.  He  fell  dead  at  the  very  noon  of  intel- 
lectual life,  as  he  would  have  wished  to  do,  at 
his  desk  ;  but,  from  the  qualities  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  I  doubt  whether  he  would  ever 
have  been  appreciated  properly  as  a  thinker 
outside  of  a  small  circle  of  readers,  had  his  life 
been  prolonged  ten  or  twenty  years." 

Freethinking  and  Plain  Speaking.  By 
Leslie  Stephen.  Pp.  362.  New  York  : 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.     Price,  $2.50. 

This  is  an  able  vindication  of  what  sure- 
ly needs  to  be  vindicated — the  duty  of  plain 
speaking.     The  peril  of  it  is  chiefly  main- 
tained by  those  who  are  skeptical  at  the 
core  about  things  to  which  they  give  a  pub- 
lic adhesion.     There  has  been  a  great  ad- 
vance in  the  liberty  of  plain  speaking,  and 
almost  a  corresponding  advance  in  the  lib- 
erality with   which   it   is   received.      And, 
with   this  increasing  toleration  of  it,  plain 
speaking  has  grown  more  civil,  and  no  lon- 
ger means,  as  too  often  it  used,  violent  and 
ill-tempered  assaults  on  decent  and  cher- 
ished, though    antiquated,  theories   of  life 
here  and  hereafter.     This  book  is  itself  an 
excellent  example  of  the  lesson  it  inculcates. 
The  first   essay   is    entitled   "The    Broad 
Church."     It  examines  the  position  of  those 
who  adopt  the  formularies  of  the  Church  as 
being  the  expression  of  their  deepest  con- 
viction, who  repeat   the  creeds,  who  sub- 
scribe to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  as  often 
as  desired,  but  who  at  the  same  time  ex- 
press their  desire  to  discover  and  follow  the 
truth,   and   do   actually   hold    rationalistic 
views.     The  various    arguments   by  which 
this  course  is  sustained  are  considered,  and 
attention  is  given  to  the  ingenious  devices 
by  which  these  gentlemen,  who  are  given 
the  fullest  credit  for  honesty  and  sincerity, 
endeavor  to  reconcile  the  difficulties  of  their 
position.     The  conclusion  is  reached  that 
the  attitude  is  a  perilous  one,  and  that  the 
efforts  to  maintain  it  are  painful  and  hu- 
miliating.     We  have  a  good  illustration  of 
this  in  the  recent  discussion  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment. 

In  the  excellent  chapter  on  "  Darwinism 
and  Divinity  "  is  shown,  among  other  things, 
the  utter  fallacy  of  the  notion  that  existing 
creeds  are  the  sole  bulwarks  of  morality. 
Of  course,  if  it  be  admitted  that  God  gave 
the  Commandments  directly  to  man ;  that 


he  proclaimed  from  Sinai  the  existence  of  a 
heaven  and  a  hell ;  and  that  these  are  the 
foundation,  instead  of  the  outgrowths,  of 
our  moral  nature — then  their  overthrow 
might  imperil  morality.  But  this  radical 
ground  is  seldom  taken  now,  and,  if  it  be 
conceded  that  beliefs  are  generated  from 
within,  the  argument  disappears.  The  vir- 
tuous instincts  which  have  contributed  the 
best  which  is  in  theology  may  safely  be  in- 
trusted with  the  care  of  morality  when  the- 
ological dogmas  have  become  obsolete. 

The  last  essay,  called  "  An  Apology  for 
Plain  Speaking,"  is  an  appeal  to  those  who 
agree  with  Mr.  Stephen  in  his  conclusions 
to  state  their  agreement  in  plain  terras,  and 
meets  the  questions,  "  Why  attack  a  system 
of  beliefs  which  is  crumbling  away  quite 
fast  enough  without  your  help  ?  "  "  Why 
try  to  shake  beliefs  which,  whether  true  or 
false,  are  infinitely  consoling  to  the  weaker 
brethren  ?  "  For  the  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions, we  must  refer  the  reader  to  the  book 
itself,  commending  its  closing  passage : 
"  Let  us  think  freely  and  speak  plainly,  and 
we  shall  have  the  highest  satisfaction  man 
can  enjoy — the  consciousness  that  we  have 
done  what  little  lies  in  ourselves  to  do  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  truths  on  which  the 
moral  improvement  and  the  happiness  of 
our  race  depend." 

The  Source  of  Muscular  Power.  Argu- 
ments and  Conclusions  drawn  from 
Observations  upon  the  Human  Sub- 
ject under  Conditions  of  Rest  and  of 
Muscular  Exercise.  By  Austin  Flint, 
Jr.,  M.  D.  Pp.  103.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Price,  $1. 

Dr.  Flint  here  attacks  one  of  the  most 
interesting  questions  in  physiology — one 
which  has  attracted  much  recent  attention, 
and  given  rise  to  earnest  controversy.  The 
issue  discussed  in  this  volume  was  first 
brought  prominently  forward  and  closely  in- 
vestigated by  Prof.  Liebig  nearly  forty  years 
ago.  It  received  a  new  impulse  in  1866  by 
the  researches  of  Professors  Fick  and  Wis- 
licenus,  and  the  views  put  forth  by  these 
savants  have  been  brought  under  critical 
scrutiny  in  later  observations  upon  the  ex- 
penditure of  force  by  celebrated  pedestri- 
ans. Prof.  Flint  had  a  hand  in  this  work, 
and,  after  the  publication  of  Dr.  Pavy's  ex- 
periments   upon  Perkins   and  Weston  in 


752 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


London,  he  reviews  the  whole  subject  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  how  the  ques- 
tion stands  at  present.  The  problem  is  so 
important  that  we  print  an  article  giving  a 
compact  presentation  of  his  reasonings  and 
conclusions ;  but  those  who  desire  to  be- 
come familiar  with  the  complete  inquiry 
will  find  the  volume  indispensable. 

The  Kabala:  or,  The  True  Science  of 
Light  ;  an  Introduction  to  the  Philosophy 
and  Theosophy  of  the  Ancient  Sages,  to- 
gether with  a  Chapter  on  Light  in  the 
Vegetable  Kingdom.  By  S.  Pancoast, 
M.  D.  Pp.  304.  Philadelphia :  J.  M. 
Stoddart  &  Co.     Price  $2. 

There  is  an  old  mystical  Jewish  tradi- 
tion in  regard  to  occult  meanings  of  Script- 
ure which  is  called  the  Kabala.  An  amaz- 
ing amount  of  learned  ingenuity  has  been 
expended  upon  it,  and  many  books  written 
of  kabalistic  lore,  designed  to  solve  these 
enigmas,  and  bring  out  their  mysterious 
meanings.  It  has  been  held,  indeed,  that 
the  Kabala  is  nothing  less  than  a  profound 
science,  which,  if  opened  up,  would  explain 
numberless  hidden  things  in  regard  to  proph- 
ecy, Scriptural  interpretation,  theosophy, 
and  the  order  of  Nature  itself. 

Dr.  Pancoast  calls  his  book  the  Kabala, 
and  says  he  has  been  working  at  it  for  thirty 
years,  and  has  found  the  keys  that  open  its 
mysteries ;  and  he  says,  furthermore,  that  it 
is  a  great  thing,  and  is  all  that  has  been 
claimed  for  it.  Nor  does  he  suppose  that  its 
benefits  are  to  be  confined  merely  to  the  ex- 
planations of  old  riddles,  or  the  development 
of  a  fruitless  philosophy ;  he  holds  its  results 
to  be  of  a  very  practical  kind  in  influencing 
mpdern  opinion.  One  of  these  important 
advantages  is  stated  to  be  that  "a  just  ap- 
preciation and  knowledge  of  the  Kabala 
would  stop  infidelity,  that  is  defiantly  stalk- 
ing through  the  world,  uprooting,  tearing 
down,  razing,  actually  burying  faith  in  God 
and  his  salvation."  So  potent  an  instru- 
mentality is  certain  to  be  well  appreciated, 
but  expectation  is  dampened  when  we  are 
informed  that  this  book  is  not  designed  to 
contain  the  presentation  that  will  work  such 
important  effects.  Dr.  Pancoast  proposes, 
therefore,  to  make  another,  saying,  "  We 
have  in  contemplation  the  publication  of  a 
large,  full,  candid  exhibit  of  what  the  Kab- 
ala is,  has  done,  is  doing,  and  shall  do  for 


the  world."  If  it  is  to  be  as  efficacious  in 
composing  men's  distracted  beliefs  as  is 
here  proclaimed,  we  say,  let  the  doctor  hurry 
up  his  big  book  with  all  dispatch. 

But  let  nobody  buy  the  present  volume 
in  the  hope  of  getting  any  help  from  it  in 
the  direction  indicated.  It  is  in  fact  as  re- 
mote as  possible  from  any  such  end.  It  is 
nothing  less  than  a  kind  of  doctor's  book  on 
light,  which  the  author  proposes  to  substi- 
tute for  pills.  He  is  a  collaborator  in  the 
curious  field,  cultivated  with  such  brilliant 
but  transitory  results  by  General  Pleason- 
ton.  He  believes  in  the  remedial  efficacy  of 
blue  light,  and  prints  his  book  in  blue  ink ; 
but  he  goes  further  than  General  Pleasonton, 
and  holds  also  to  the  therapeutic  virtues  of 
red  light.  He  talks  a  great  deal  about  the 
science  of  light,  and  his  discourse  is  quite  in 
the  Pleasonton  strain.  That  is,  his  science 
is  his  own,  and  is  very  much  freed  from  the 
trammels  and  limitations  of  the  common 
kind  of  science  that  goes  current  in  the  text- 
books. His  view  of  the  luminiferous  agent 
is  thus  stated :  "  Light  is  the  original  source 
of  Life.  Motion  is  Life,  and  Light  is  the 
Universal  Motor.  There  is  no  force  in 
Nature  that  is  not  directly  derived  from 
Light ;  the  Physical  Forces,  Attraction  and 
Repulsion,  with  all  their  modifications,  are 
the  positive  and  negative  principles  of  Light, 
acting  in  matter — they  are  the  objective 
Forces  of  Light  as  they  operate  in  creating 
and  dissolving  inorganic  material  forms." 
The  author  has  given  us  a  book  full  of  such 
kabalistic  conundrums  in  the  science  of 
optics. 

What  was  He  ?  Or,  Jesus  in  the  Light  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century.    By  William 
Denton.   Pp.  259.   Wellesley  (near  Bos- 
ton) :  The  Author.     Price,  $1. 
The  "  light  of  the  nineteenth  century," 
in  which  the  author  studies  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, is  the  "  new  light  "  of  spiritism.     In 
this  light,  supplemented  with  scintillations 
of  "  psychometry,"  Mr.  Denton  proves  (to 
his    own    satisfaction)    that    Jesus   was    a 
"  medium  "  of  considerable  power — a  clair- 
voyant, and  a  natural  healer.      In  the  lat- 
ter capacity,  however,  he  was  hardly  the 
equal,  in  this  author's  opinion,  of  a  certain 
notorious  "  magnetic  physician  "  whom  he 
names,  and  whose  "testimonials  from  the 
people  "  he  reproduces. 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


753 


Contributions  to  North  American  Eth- 
nology. Vol.  I.,  pp.  3G1,  with  numer- 
ous Plates.  Washington:  Government 
Printiug-Ofiice. 

For   many  years  Prof.  J.  W.   Powell, 
ceolcnst  in  charge  of  the  United  States  sur- 
vey of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  has  made 
the  languages  of  the  Indian  tribes  an  object 
of  special  study,  the  result  being  the  collec- 
tion  of  a   large   number   of  vocabularies. 
Having  decided  to  prepare  this  material  for 
publication,  he  invited  the  cooperation  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  whose  collec- 
tions of  similar  materials  are  very  extensive. 
Prof.  Henry,  secretary  of  the  Institution, 
promptly  consented  to  place  in  the  hands 
of  Prof.  Powell  all  this  material,  consisting 
of  several  hundred  MS.  vocabularies,  to- 
gether with  voluminous  grammatical  notes 
on  the  dialects  of  the  Indians  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  North  America.  This  first 
volume  of  the  "  Contributions  "  is  made  up 
of  two  parts,  the  first,  by  William  H.  Dall, 
treating  of  the  "Distribution,  Population, 
Origin,  and  Condition,  past  and  present,  of 
the  Native   Races  inhabiting   our  Extreme 
Northwestern  Territory;"  and  the  second  by 
Dr.  George  Gibbs,  on  "  The  Indians  of  West- 
ern Washington  and  Northwestern  Oregon." 

A  Manual  of  Heating  and  Ventilation. 
By  F.  Schumann,  C.  E.     Pp.  89.     New 
York  :   Van  Nostrand.     Price,  $1.50. 
The  design  of  this  manual  is  to  furnish 
to  the  hand  of  the  engineer  and  the  archi- 
tect, in  such  shape  as  to  be  fitted  for  prac- 
tical application,  the  formulae  and  data  ne- 
cessary for  computing  the  dimensions  and 
determining  the  other  conditions  of  heating 
and  ventilating  appliances.     A  manual  of 
this  kind  is  simply  indispensable  to  the  pro- 
fessions for  whose  use  the  work  was  com- 
piled. 

A  Manual  of  Inorganic  Chemistry.     Vol. 

II.  The  Metals.     By  T.  E.  Thorpe,  Ph. 

D.      Pp.   406.     New  York:    Putnams. 

Price,  $1.50. 

The  properties  and  combinations  of  the 
metals  are  here  fully  and  clearly  described, 
the  text  being  very  efficiently  supplemented 
by  numerous  well-executed  wood  engrav- 
ings. The  volume  belongs  to  the  excellent 
"Advanced  Science  Series,"  published  si- 
multaneously in  Glasgow  and  New  York. 
vol.  xn. — 48 


The  Bulletin  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithologi- 
cal Club  has  been  enlarged,  the  number  of 
pages  being  now  48,  whereas  formerly  it 
was  only  24.  It  is  gratifying  to  observe 
this  sign  of  prosperity,  and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  the  Bulletin  is  now  on  the  high- 
road to  assured  success.  It  is  eminently 
deserving  of  support  from  all  lovers  of  the 
delightful  branch  of  zoological  science  to 
which  it  is  devoted.  The  Bulletin  is  edited 
by  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen,  with  the  active  assist- 
ance of  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird,  and  Dr.  Elliott 
Coues,  and  the  foremost  ornithologists  of 
the  United  States  are  frequent  contributors 
either  of  set  articles,  or  of  brief  notes  of  ob- 
servation. For  the  scientific  ornithologist, 
no  less  than  the  amateur,  it  is  indispensa- 
ble. Subscription,  $2  a  year.  Address, 
Ruthven  Deane,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

The  Silver  Country,  or  the  Great  South- 
west. By  A.  D.  Anderson.  Pp.  221, 
with  Map.  New  York :  Putnams.  Price, 
$1.75. 

The  "Great  Southwest"  of  this  author 
is  the  "  New  Spain"  of  the  period  of  Span- 
ish power  in  America.  In  successive  chap- 
ters the  author  describes  the  physical  and 
political  geography  of  this  region ;  its  wealth 
in  silver  and  gold ;  other  wealth  than  the 
precious  metals,  i.  e.,  its  agricultural  pro- 
ductions, luxuries,  and  attractions,  with  sec- 
tions on  such  topics  as  facilities  for  acquir- 
ing wealth,  scenery,  and  wonders,  antiqui- 
ties, etc.;  foreign  commerce  of  Mexico; 
advance  of  railways.  Finally,  there  is  a  very 
full  bibliographical  chapter  on  the  "  authori- 
ties "  whose  works  have  been  of  service  in 
collecting  materials  for  the  work. 

A  Guide  to  the  Determination  of  Rocks. 
By  Edward  Jannettas.  Translated  from 
the  French  by  George  W.  Plympton, 
C.  E  ,  A.  M.  Pp.  161.  New  York:  D. 
Van  Nostrand,  18*77.     Price,  $1.50. 

This  is  a  plain,  brief,  but  comprehensive 
introduction  to  the  study  of  the  more  com- 
mon rocks,  and  of  the  minerals  of  which 
they  are  composed.  The  English  synonyms 
for  the  rock-names  are  from  Von  Cotta's 
"  Rocks  classified." 

Part  III.,  giving  the  method  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  practical  determination  of 
rocks,  will  be  found  of  especial  value  to 
beginners. 


754 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


A  System  of  Volumetric  Analysis.  By  Dr. 
Emil  Fleischer.  Translated  from  the 
German  by  Prof.  Pattison  Muir.  Pp. 
274.     Maemillan  &  Co.     Price,  $2.50. 

There   are    two    methods  of   chemical 
analysis,  when  the  operation  is  carried  to 
its  highest  result  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing quantities  in  chemical  composition. 
The  first,  and  older  method,  is  that  by  weigh- 
ing ;  it  involves  the  use  of  the  balance,  and  is 
called  the  gravimetric  method.   The  second, 
and  newer  mode,  is  by  measurement  of  bulk ; 
instead  of  the  balance,  it  employs  the  bu- 
rette, a  graduated  glass  tube,  and  it  is  called 
the  volumetric  method.     There  are  certain 
advantages    in    the   newer   process   which 
are  becoming  more  marked  as  it  is  more 
practised  and  developed.     The  superiority 
claimed  is  greater  simplification  and  quick- 
ness of  operation,  with  an  equal  and  some- 
times a  greater  degree  of  accuracy.      Dr. 
Fleischer's  treatise  has  been  translated  into 
English  because  it  is  a  systematic  work  upon 
the  subject,  accepted  as  a  standard  in  Ger- 
many, and  believed  to  be  much  better  for 
students  than  any  original  contribution  to 
the  subject  in  our  own  language.     The  pres- 
ent transitional  state  of  chemical  science,  in 
regard  to  theories  and  the  modes  of  expres- 
sion that  follow  them,  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  fact  that  the  author  of  the  book  adopts 
the  old  notation,  while  his  translator  adopts 
the  new.     The  consequence  is,  that  both 
methods  are  given,  which  is  a  good  feature 
of  the  work,  and  the  translator  thinks  that 
the  putting  of  the  two  notations,  side  by 
side,  will  be  useful  as  disclosing  the  superi- 
ority of  the  newer  plan. 

Philosophic  Ideas.      Bv   J.  Wilmshcrst. 
Pp.  151.     Boston  :  Colby  &  Rich. 

The  precise  nature  of  this  author's 
"  philosophic  ideas  "  may  be  inferred  from 
his  highly-satisfactory  explanation  of  New- 
ton's law  of  gravitation.  "  Why,"  he  asks, 
"  does  matter  tend  to  approach  other  matter, 
and  why  should  it  approach  with  constantly 
accelerating  speed  ? "  And  his  answer  is  : 
"  This  action  is  the  necessary  outflow  of  the 
deific  attributes  essential  to  matter.  Its 
love  and  intelligence  are  shown  in  approxi- 
mating, so  that  it  can  mutually  impart  and 
receive  more  of  each  other's  beautiful  and 
pleasing  varieties  of  motion  by  sympathetic 
action."    And  so  on. 


Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Peabody 
Museum  of  American  Archeology  and 
Ethnology.  Cambridge,  1877.  Price, 
$1. 

Besides  the  report  of  additions  made  to 
the  museum  and  library  in  1876,  which 
were  large  and  valuable,  this  volume  con- 
tains reports  of  explorations  in  American 
archaeology,  made  by  Dr.  Charles  C.  Ab- 
bott, Prof.  N.  S.  Shaler,  Prof.  E.  B.  An- 
drews, and  Lucien  Carr,  Assistant  Curator; 
also,  an  elaborate  paper,  by  Ad.  F.  Bande- 
lier,  "  On  the  Art  of  War  and  Mode  of  War- 
fare of  the  Ancient  Mexicans." 

Dr.  Abbott's  report  is  specially  interest- 
ing, as  containing  an  account  of  his  discov- 
eries of  rude  stone  implements  in  the  drift- 
gravels  of  the  Atlantic  border  in  New  Jer- 
sey. These  implements  were  found  at  various 
depths,  mingled  with  the  gravels,  near  Tren- 
ton and  along  the  banks  of  the  Delaware. 
In  the  opinion  of  both  Dr.  Abbott  and  Prof. 
Shaler  these  gravels  are  of  glacial  origin, 
and  the  implements  obtained  were  wrought 
by  man,  who  inhabited  the  region  at  the 
close  of  the  ice  age,  or  during  interglacial 
periods,  where  the  climate  favored  their  ex- 
istence. 

This  is  in  striking  accord  with  the  pre- 
viously-expressed views  of  Prof.  Grote,  who, 
in  a  paper  read  at  the  Detroit  meeting  of  the 
American  Association  in  1875,  and  later  in 
an  address  entitled  "Early  Man  in  North 
America,"  published  in  this  Journal  for 
March,  1877,  takes  the  ground  that  man 
lived  here  during  the  glacial  period.  In 
this  address,  alluding  to  the  implements 
discovered  by  Dr.  Abbott,  he  says:  "To 
me  it  seems  clear  that  the  men  who  used 
these  rough  tools  dwelt  on  the  edge  of  the 
glacier,  and  their  implements  have  become 
buried  in  the  moraines  which  were  forming 
at  many  different  points  during  the  ice  pe- 
riod." 

The  Relations  of  Pain  to  Weather.  By 
S.  Weir  Mitchell,  M.  D.  Pp.25.  Phila- 
delphia. 

Dr.  Mitchell's  reputation  as  an  original 
investigator  will  secure  for  this  paper  care- 
ful attention.  It  was  first  published  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences 
for  April,  1877,  being  a  study  of  a  case 
of  traumatic  neuralgia,  considered  espe- 
cially in  its  relations  to  atmospheric  con- 


LITERARY  NOTICES. 


755 


ditions.  This  is  probably  the  first  attempt 
to  study  the  subject  in  so  thorough  and  sys- 
tematic a  manner  as  was  done  in  the  instance 
given.  The  observations  extended  through 
a  period  of  three  years,  and  fully  justify  the 
conclusion  that  neuralgic  conditions  have  a 
close  and  very  direct  relation  to  atmospheric 
states  or  changes.  Precisely  what  condi- 
tions of  the  atmosphere  excite  neuralgic  pain 
is  by  no  means  determined.  Dr.  Mitchell 
says,  "Either  it  is  the  combination  (of  con- 
ditions) which  works  the  mischief,  or  else 
the're  is  in  times  of  storms  some  as  yet  un- 
known agency  productive  of  evil." 

A  Review  of  the  Birds  of  Connecticut. 
By  C.  Hart  Merriam.  New  Haven : 
Tuttle,  Morehouse  &  Taylor,  1877. 

This  catalogue  of  165  pages  is  from 
No.  4  of  the  "Transactions  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Academy,"  1877,  and  is  a  valuable  ad- 
dition to  the  ornithology  of  New  England. 
We  are  informed  by  it  that  291  species  of 
birds  are  found  in  the  State.  These  are 
grouped  in  47  families.  Of  these  the  sci- 
entific and  common  names  are  given,  with 
copious  notes  on  their  habits  and  charac- 
teristics :  135  species  are  summer  residents, 
90  species  are  migratory  only.  The  now 
familiar  English  sparrow  is  found  in  most 
parts  of  the  State,  and,  so  far  as  the  author 
is  aware,  was  first  introduced  into  New 
England  in  the  fall  of  1858.  At  that  time 
six  birds  were  liberated  in  a  large  garden 
at  Portland,  Maine.  The  catalogue  contains 
a  list  of  works  relating  to  New  England 
ornithology,  and  is  thoroughly  indexed. 

The  Glacial  Period  in  the  Southern 
Hemisphere.  By  Thomas  Belt,  F.  G.  S. 
London,  1877. 

In  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Belt  presents  many 
facts  to  show  that  extensive  glaciation  oc- 
curred in  the  Southern  as  well  as  in  the 
Northern  Hemisphere.  It  occurred  in  the 
southern  part  of  Africa  and  of  Australia, 
extensively  in  New  Zealand  and  South 
America.  His  views  in  regard  to  elevation 
and  subsidence  of  land  in  glacial  times,  and 
the  development  of  ice,  filling  the  beds  of 
Northern  and  Southern  oceans,  so  that  the 
drainage  of  continents  was  arrested,  the 
waters  of  rivers  being  "pounded  back," 
probably  will  not  be  immediately  accepted 
by  practical  geologists. 


Poisonous  Mushrooms.  By  J.  Ott,  M.  D. 
Pp.  5. 

The  author's  conclusions  are  that  at 
least  one  species  of  mushrooms  {Agaricus 
muscarius)  contains  a  poisonous  alkaloid, 
muscarine,  which  is  probably  the  poisonous 
principle  of  all  noxious  mushrooms ;  and 
that,  in  cases  of  mushroom-poisoning,  in 
addition  to  the  usual  treatment  —  emetics, 
stomach-pump,  purgatives,  and  gallic  acid 
— atropine  should  be  administered  subcu- 
taneously. 

Map  of  the  White  Mountains  of  New 
Hampshire,  from  Walling's  Map  of 
the  State.  Boston  :  Publication-Office 
of  H.  F.  Walling,  1877. 

This  map  is  drawn  to  a  scale  of  2-£ 
miles  to  an  inch,  and  comprises  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  White  Mountain  region. 
It  gives  in  detail  the  routes,  principal  vil- 
lages, streams,  and  elevations,  which  are 
indicated  by  color,  and  points  of  special 
interest  accessible  to  tourists.  The  topo- 
graphical features  are  well  defined.  As  a 
pocket-guide  for  travelers  the  map  is  in- 
dispensable. 

The  Young  Scientist  is  a  monthly  mag- 
azine designed  to  interest  young  persons  in 
scientific  subjects,  and  to  familiarize  them 
with  scientific  experiments  and  habits  of 
thought.  But,  while  it  addresses  mainly  a 
juvenile  audience,  the  Young  Scientist  is 
not  in  the  least  puerile,  and  may  be  read 
with  no  little  profit  by  older  heads.  We 
wish  it  success.  New  York  :  Published  at 
176  Broadway.  Subscription,  fifty  cents 
per  year. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Compendious  German-and-English  Diction- 
ary. By  William  Dwight  Whitney.  New  York: 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.    Pp.  905.    $3.50. 

Pottery:  How  it  is  made.  By  G.  W.  Nichols. 
With  Illustrations.  New  York  :  Putnams.  Pp. 
142.    $1.25. 

The  Boy  Engineers.  Bv  Rev.  J.  Lukin.  Same 
publishers.    Pp.  344.    With  Illustrations.    $.175. 

Transmission  ;  or,  Variation  of  Character 
through  the  Mother.  By  G.  B.  Kirby.  New 
York:  S.R.Wells.    Pp.68.    25  cents. 

Geographical  Surveys  west  of  the  100th  Me- 
ridian. Vol.  IV.,  Paleontology.  Lieutenant  G. 
W.  Wheeler  in  charge.  Washington  :  Govern- 
ment Printing-Oflice.  Pp.  365  of  Letter-press 
and  numerous  Lithographic  Plates. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Fish-Culturists' 
Association,  1876-"J7.  New  York:  J.  M.  Davis 
priut.    Pp.  131. 


756 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


A  Plea  for  Candor  in  Bible-Reading.  By  a 
Citizen  of  Jackson.  Jackson,  Tenn. :  J.  G. 
Cisco.    Pp.  44. 

Wisconsin  Geological  Survey.  Report  for 
the  Year  1877.  By  T.  C.  Chamberlain.  Madison, 
Wis.:  D.  At  wood  print.    Pp.  93. 

Variation  s  of  the  Leaf-Scars  of  Lepidodendron 
aculeatum.  Pp.  15.  Also  of  Certain  Sigillariae. 
Pp  5,  with  Plates.  By  H.  L.  Fairchild.  From 
"  Annals  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences." 
Transactions  of  the  American  Entomological 
Society.  Vol.  VI.,  Nos.  3  and  4.  With  Plates. 
Philadelphia  :  The  Society.    Pp.  174. 

Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  Sheffield  Sci- 
entific School.  New  Haven:  Tuttle,  Morehouse 
&  Taylor  print.    Pp.  53. 

Discovery  of  Stone  Implements  in  Glacial 
Drift,  in  North  America.  By  T.  Belt.  From 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science.    Pp.  22. 

Willard'  s  Method  of  treating  Ores.  Plymouth , 
Mass. :  Avery  &  Doten  print.    Pp.  15. 

Bulletin  of  the  University  of  California,  No. 
28.    Pp.72. 

Dental  School  of  Harvard  University.  Cam- 
bridge :  C.  W.  Lever  print.    Pp.  9. 

Memorial  to  Congress  for  the  Improvement 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  St.  Louis  :  J.  J.  Daly 
&  Co.  print.    Pp.  38. 

Froward  to  the  Froward.  By  E.  A.  Beaman. 
New  York:  E.  H.  Swinney.    Pp.  28. 

Methods  of  Arithmetical  Instruction.  By  F. 
W.  Bardwell.  New  York:  Putnams.  Pp.  34. 
15  cents. 

The  Glycogenic  Function  of  the  Liver.  By 
J.  Le  Conte.  From  American  Journal  of  Science. 
Pp.9. 

Nature  and  Possibilities  of  Social  Science. 
By  P.  Burton.  Aurora,  111. :  Herald  print.   Pp.8. 
On  a  Branch  Naval  Observatory.    By  Rear- 
Admiral  Rodgers.    Pp.  6. 

The  Kirografer  and  Stenografer  Monthly.    %\ 
per  year.    Amherst,  Mass.:  J.  B.  &  E.  G.  Smith. 
Is  the  Universe  governed  by  a  Devil  ?    By 
J.  F.  Smith.    Oak  Lawn,  R.  I. :  Home  Publish- 
ing Co.    Pp.14.    15  cents. 

Contributions  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory 
of  Harvard  College.  By  J.  P.  Cooke,  Jr.  Pp.132. 
Hereditary  Epilepsy.  By  Dr.  E.  Dupuy.  On 
the  Seat  of  the  Vaso-Motor  Centres.  By  the 
same.  New  York  :  Reprinted  from  the  "  Trans- 
actions of  the  American  Neurological  Associa- 
tion." 

Researches  into  the  Physiology  of  the  Brain. 
By  the  same.    New  York:  Putuama.    Pp.31. 


POPULAR   MISCELLANY. 

Anticipations  concerning  the  Phono- 
graph.— Dr.  William  F.  Channing,  writing 
to  the  Providence  Journal  on  Edison's  pho- 
nograph, thus  presents  its  future :  "  The 
sheet  of  tin-foil  or  other  plastic  material  re- 
ceiving the  impressions  of  sound  will  be 
stereotyped  or  electrotyped  so  as  to  be  mul- 
tiplied and  made  durable.  Or  the  cylinder 
will  be  made  of  a  material  plastic  when 
used,  and  hardening  afterward.  Thin  sheets 
of  papier-mache,  or  of  various  substances 
which  soften  by  heat,  would  be  of  this  char- 


acter. Having  provided  thus  for  the  dura- 
bility of  the  phonotype  plate  (a  better  name 
than  phonograph),  it  will  be  very  easy  to 
make  it  separable  from  the  cylinder  pro- 
ducing it,  and  attachable  to  a  corresponding 
cylinder  anywhere  or  at  any  time.  There 
will  doubtless  be  a  standard  of  diameter 
and  pitch  of  screw  for  phonotype  cylinders. 
Friends  at  a  distance  will  then  send  to 
each  other  phonotype  letters,  which  will 
talk  at  any  time  in  the  friend's  voice  when 
put  upon  the  instrument.  How  startling, 
also,  it  will  be  to  reproduce  and  hear  at 
pleasure  the  voice  of  the  dead !  All  of 
these  things  are  to  be  common,  every-day 
experiences  within  a  few  years.  It  will  be 
possible,  a  generation  hence,  to  take  a  file 
of  phonotype  letters,  spoken  at  different 
ages  by  the  same  person,  and  hear  the  early 
prattle,  the  changing  voice,  the  manly  tones, 
and  also  the  varying  manner  and  moods  of 
the  speaker — so  expressive  of  character — 
from  childhood  up ! 

"  These  are  some  of  the  private  appli- 
cations.   For  public  uses,  we  shall  have  gal- 
leries where  phonotype  sheets  will  be  pre- 
served as  photographs  and  books  now  are. 
The  utterances  of  great  speakers  and  singers 
will  there  be  kept  for  a  thousand   years. 
In  these  galleries,   spoken   languages    will 
be  preserved  from  century  to  century  with 
all   the    peculiarities  of  pronunciation,  dia- 
lect, and  brogue.     As  we  go  now  to  see  the 
stereopticon,  we  shall  go  to  public  halls  to 
hear  these   treasures  of  speech  and  song 
brought  out  and  reproduced  as  loud  as,  or 
louder  than,  when  first  spoken  or  sung  by 
the  truly  great    ones  of  earth.     The  ease 
with  which  the  phonotype  cylinders  may  be 
stereotyped  or  electrotyped  and  multiplied, 
has  been   spoken  of.     Certainly,  within   a 
dozen  years,  some  of  the  great  singers  will 
be  induced  to  sing  into  the  ear  of  the  pho- 
nograph,   and   the    electrotyped    cylinders 
thus  obtained  will   be  put  into   the  hand- 
organs  of  the   streets,   and  we  shall  hear 
the   actual   voice  of   Christine  Nilsson,  of 
Miss  Cary,  or  even  of  Jenny  Lind  and  Al- 
boni,  ground  out  at  every  corner ! 

"In  public  exhibitions,  also,  we  shall 
have  reproductions  of  the  sounds  of  Nature, 
and  of  noises  familiar  and  unfamiliar.  Noth- 
ing will  be  easier  than  to  catch  the  sounds 
of  the  waves  on  the  beach,  the  roar  of  Ni- 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


757 


agara,  the  discords  of  the  streets,  the  noises 
of  animals,  the  puffing  and  rush  of  the  rail- 
road-train, the  rolling  of  thunder,  or  even 
the  tumult  of  a  battle. 

"  Edison  has  recently  stated  that  his 
best  instrument  will  now  talk  so  as  to  be 
heard  at  a  distance  of  175  feet.  The  con- 
ditions for  increasing  the  sound  are  so  sim- 
ple that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  any  de- 
sirable extension  in  this  direction." 

(Jiird en-Schools. — The  New  York  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  has  twice  had  under  con- 
sideration plans  of  using  the  public  parks 
for  scientific  and  hygienic  purposes.  One 
of  these  purposes  was  the  propagation  of 
febrifuge  trees  and  plants  ;  the  other  the 
use  of  part  of  these  public  grounds  as  gar- 
den-schools. 

This  latter  project  is  to  be  commended 
for  various  reasons  :  As  education  becomes 
general,  schoolhouses  cannot  contain  all 
the  scholars.  The  present  school-crowding 
already  necessarily  generates  or  propagates 
among  the  pupils  various  epidemic  and 
other  diseases.  The  shutting  of  the  chil- 
dren in  class-rooms  when  the  sun  shines, 
and  the  air  is  bracing,  is  producing  leuc- 
semic  affections.  The  eyesight  is  impaired 
by  concentration  on  books ;  and  the  train- 
ing of  the  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  senses,  and  of  the  other  active 
functions,  isolates  the  child  from  the  real 
world,  and  feeds  him  on  abstractions  which 
predispose  to  several  forms  of  insanity. 

On  the  other  hand,  open-air  life,  study, 
and  exercise,  invigorate  all  the  tissues,  or- 
gans, and  functions  of  the  body. 

The  plan  of  such  garden-schools  must 
vary,  of  course,  for  each  locality.  For  the 
city  of  New  York,  as  presented  to  the  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  by  Dr.  E.  Seguin,  and  by 
the  Academy  to  the  mayor,  it  would  be 
somewhat  as  follows :  A  part  of  each  of  the 
small  parks  would  be  planted  with  speci- 
mens of  ornamental,  edible,  medicinal,  tex- 
tile, and  other  plants,  where  groups  of  chil- 
dren could  go  with  their  teachers  to  breathe 
and  learn. 

In  the  Central  Park  large  tracts  would 
be  devoted  to  indigenous  and  exotic  plants, 
to  zoology  and  ichthyology,  mineralogy, 
and  specimen  sections  of  American  geology, 
hydrology,  etc.     The  public-school  pupils 


would  visit  these  places  with  their  teachers  ; 
and,  when  the  weather  happened  to  be  un- 
favorable, they  could  find  shelter  in  the 
public  libraries,  museums  of  painting  and 
natural  history,  which  fringe  the  park,  and 
where  they  could  continue  their  studies  of 
Nature. 

In  a  word,  the  schoolhouse  must  be  used 
only  when  it  cannot  be  helped,  the  rules 
of  physiological  education  needed  by  a  free 
people,  being :  Never  to  teach  in-doors  what 
can  be  learned  out-doors  ;  never  to  explain 
in  the  abstract  what  can  be  demonstrated 
in  the  concrete ;  never  to  teach  with  books 
what  can  be  perceived  in  objects ;  never  to 
teach  by  images  when  Nature  itself  is  at 
hand ;  never  to  show  dead  Nature  when 
living  Nature  is  obtainable ;  and  never  to 
require  belief  where  seeing  and  understand- 
ing are  possible.  New  York's  beautiful 
Central  Park  might  thus  be  made  an  edu- 
cational establishment  of  the  highest  value. 
In  the  Kew  Gardens  at  London,  seventy-five 
acres  are  given  up  to  the  students,  without 
at  all  impairing  the  beauty  of  the  landscape. 
The  same  might  be  said  of  the  Gardens 
of  Acclimation  of  London,  Paris,  Algiers, 
Calcutta ;  of  the  Botanical  Gardens  of  Mont- 
pellier,  Brussels,  Geneva,  which  are  partly 
schools  and  partly  pleasure  grounds.  In 
this  respect  we  are  sadly  behind.  Once 
reminded  that  our  parks  have  been  created 
"equally  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  public, 
and  for  the  education  of  the  children,"  our 
public  authorities,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will 
realize  the  need  of  preserving  them  for  their 
original  purposes,  and  so  improving  them 
that  they  may  every  year  become  more  and 
more  indispensable  to  our  citizens. 

New  Fossil  Reptiles. — In  addition  to  the 
remarkable  Jurassic  reptiles  recently  de- 
scribed by  Prof.  Marsh  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  several  others  are  announced 
by  him  in  the  March  number  of  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science.  One  of  these,  a  gi- 
gantic Dinosaur  (Atlantosaurus  immanis), 
was  much  larger  than  any  land-animal,  re- 
cent or  fossil,  hitherto  described.  The  fe- 
mur of  this  monster  was  over  eight  feet 
(2,500  millimetres)  in  length,  and  the  other 
remains  preserved  are  equally  huge.  If 
this  reptile  had  the  proportions  of  a  croco- 
dile, it  must  have  been  over  a  hundred  feet 


758 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


long !  It  was  certainly  gigantic  enough  to 
entirely  disprove  the  theory,  generally  ac- 
cepted, that  the  elephant  is  as  large  as  any 
animal  can  be  that  moves  upon  the  land, 
for  the  bulk  of  this  reptile  must  have  been 
at  least  three  times  that  of  any  known 
Proboscidian. 

Among  the  other  Dinosaurs  described  in 
this  paper  is  Morosaurus  impar,  another 
herbivore  belonging  to  the  same  family, 
and  about  twenty-five  feet  in  length,  and 
Creosaurus  atrox,  its  carnivorous  enemy, 
nearly  as  large,  each  representing  a  new 
genus.  Two  small  species,  belonging  to  the 
new  genus  Laosaurus,  are  also  described. 
The  large  herbivorous  Dinosaurs,  from  the 
American  Jurassic,  represent,  according  to 
Prof.  Marsh,  a  well-marked  family,  the  At- 
lantosauridce,  which  have  but  three  or  four 
vertebrae  in  the  sacrum,  five  well-developed 
digits  in  each  foot,  and  the  hind-feet  ungu- 
late and  plantigrade — characters  not  before 
found  in  Dinosaurs. 

Trees  and  Health. — Certain  observations 
made  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Chemical 
Neivs  are  deserving  of  the  attention  of  sani- 
tarians. According  to  him,  the  cantonment 
of  Goruckpoor,  in  Northwest  India,  though 
situated  near  the  forest  and  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  a  large  swamp,  was  thirty  years 
ago  considered  a  healthy  station.  A  large 
grove  of  mango-trees  existed  between  the 
swamp  and  the  station.  For  some  reason 
this  grove  was  cut  down,  and  the  station  be- 
came unhealthy.  Again,  the  civil  station  of 
Futtehpoor  is  situated  between  Allahabad 
and  Cawnpoor,  in  an  arid  plain,  but  near  a 
pretty  extensive  marsh.  This  place  was  con- 
sidered extremely  unhealthy,  until  the  ma- 
gistrate planted  between  the  station  and  the 
swamp  a  belt  of  quick-growning  babool-trees. 
As  the  trees  grew,  the  place  became  much 
less  unhealthy.  In  these  two  cases  the  trees 
appear  to  have  acted  as  a  screen  or  filter, 
protecting  the  population  from  the  effects 
of  the  malaria  generated  in  the  swamps.  It 
may  be  added  that  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  trees  more  dissimilar  in  foliage  than 
the  mango  and  the  babool.  "  Is  it  not  prob- 
able," asks  the  author,  "  that  where  benefi- 
cial effects  have  followed  the  planting  of  the 
eucalyptus,  the  same  may  be  due  as  much 
to  the  screen  which  the  plantation  has  inter- 


posed, as  to  any  peculiar  action  of,  or  ex- 
halation from,  the  leaves  or  stem  of  the 
tree  ?  "  Referring  to  the  changes  produced, 
as  regards  salubrity,  at  the  Trappist  monas- 
tery of  Tre  Fontane,  near  Rome,  which 
changes  have  been  ascribed  to  the  peculiar 
virtues  of  the  eucalyptus,  the  author  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  deep  ploughing 
of  the  soil  and  the  removal  of  seven  hun- 
dred cart-loads  of  human  bones  from  the 
precincts  of  the  monastery  may  perhaps  be 
credited  with  some  share  in  producing  the 
change.  So,  too,  the  eucalyptus-trees  may 
have  served,  in  this  case  also,  as  a  screen. 

Carnivorous  Plants.— Mr.  Francis  Dar- 
win, in  a  paper  entitled  "  The  Nutrition  of 
Drosera  rotund  if olia"  describes  a  series  of 
experiments  made  by  himself  to  determine 
whether  or  not  insectivorous  plants  profit  by 
their  carnivorous  habits.  With  this  object 
two  hundred  plants  of  Drosera  rotundifolia 
were  transplanted  (June  12, 1877)  and  culti- 
vated in  six  soup-plates  filled  with  moss  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  the  summer.  The  area  of  each 
plate  was  equally  divided  by  a  low  wooden 
partition,  one  side  being  destined  for  the 
plants  to  be  fed  with  meat,  the  other  for 
those  to  be  starved.  Access  of  insects  was 
prevented  by  inclosing  the  plants  in  a  gauze 
case.  The  method  of  feeding  consisted  in 
supplying  each  leaf  (on  the  fed  sides  of  the 
six  plates)  with  one  or  two  small  bits  of 
roast-meat,  each  weighing  about  one-fiftieth 
of  a  grain,  every  few  days.  On  July  17th 
it  was  evident  that  the  leaves  on  the  "  fed  " 
side  were  of  a  distinctly  brighter  green, 
showing  that  the  increased  supply  of  nitro- 
gen had  allowed  a  more  active  formation  of 
chlorophyll-grains  to  take  place.  From  this 
time  forward  the  "  fed  "  sides  of  the  plates 
were  clearly  distinguishable  by  their  thriving 
appearance  and  their  numerous  tall  and  stout 
flower-stems.  On  August  7th  the  ratio  be- 
tween the  number  of  "  starved  "  and  "  fed  " 
flower-stalks  was  100: 149.1.  And  on  com- 
paring the  number  of  stems  actually  in  flow- 
er, it  was  clear  that  the  starved  plants  were 
losing  the  power  of  throwing  up  new  flower- 
stems  at  an  earlier  date  than  their  rivals. 
In  the  middle  of  August  the  leaves  were 
counted  in  three  plates,  and  were  found  to 
be  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  on  the 
starved  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  on 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


759 


the  fed  side.  The  seeds  being  ripe  at  the 
beginning  of  September,  all  the  flower- 
stems  were  gathered,  and  the  plants  of 
three  plates  were  picked  out  of  the  moss 
and  carefully  washed.  The  other  three 
plates  were  left  undisturbed :  the  relative 
number  of  plants  which  will  appear  in  the 
spring  on  their  "  fed  "  and  "  starved  "  sides 
will  be  a  means  of  estimating  the  relative 
quantities  of  reserve  material  stored  up. 
Mr.  Darwin  gives  in  the  following  table  the 
results  of  counting,  measuring,  and  weigh- 
ing, the  various  parts  of  the  two  sets  of 
plants : 

Ratio  between  the  number  of  starved 

and  fed  plants 100  :  101.21 

Ratio  between  weights  of  the  plants  ex- 
clusive of  flower-stems 100  :  121.5 

Total  number  of  flower-stems 100  :  164.9 

Sum  of  the  heights  of  the  flower-stems  100  :  159.9 

Total  weight  of  flower-stems 100  :  231.9 

Total  number  of  capsules 100  :  194.4 

Average  number  of  seeds  per  capsule . .  100  :  122.7 

Average  weight  per  seed 100  :  157.3 

Total  calculated  number  of  seeds  pro- 
duced    100:  241.5 

Total  calculated  weight  of  seeds  pro- 
duced    100  :  379.7 

New  Process  of  Sugar-Manufacture. — 

Mention  is  made  in  the  Revue  Scientifique 
of  a  new  process  for  sugar-manufacture,  in- 
vented by  Prof.  Loewig,  of  Breslau,  which 
greatly  simplifies  the  work.  Instead  of  using 
lime  to  defecate  the  liquor,  then  having  re- 
course to  a  double  carbonization  by  car- 
bonic acid,  with  a  view  to  eliminate  this 
lime  in  the  shape  of  lime  carbonate,  and 
lastly  filtering  the  carbonated  liquor  through 
animal  charcoal  —  processes  which  allow 
about  one-third  of  the  beet-sugar  to  be 
transformed  into  molasses. — Loewig  simply 
adds  to  the  crude  liquor  hydrate  of  alumina 
which  he  has  discovered  the  means  of  pre- 
paring on  the  large  scale.  This  hydrate  of 
alumina  retains  the  coloring  albuminoid  and 
nitrogenized  matters,  forming  with  them  a 
black  scum  which  is  removed.  All  that 
remains  to  be  done  is  to  concentrate  the 
almost  absolutely  pure  sugary  liquid  which 
remains.  If  this  process  proves  successful, 
it  will  revolutionize  the  sugar-manufacture. 

Intensity  of  Different  Colored  Lights.— 

Prof.  O.  M.  Rood  describes,  in  the  American 

1  In  all  cases  "  starved  "=100. 


Journal  of  Science,  a  simple  method  devised 
by  him  for  comparing  the  intensities  of  light 
of  different  colors — a  problem  that  has  long 
been  considered  one  of  the  most  difficult  in 
photometry.  To  measure  the  luminosity  of 
vermilion,  for  example,  he  attaches  a  cir- 
cular disk  of  vermilion  cardboard  to  the 
axis  of  a  rotation  apparatus,  a  smaller  cir- 
cular disk  of  black-and-white  cardboard 
being  simultaneously  fastened  in  the  same 
axis,  so  that  by  varying  the  relative  propor- 
tions- of  the  latter  a  series  of  grays  might 
be  produced  at  will.  First  the  compound 
black-and-white  disk  is  so  arranged  that, 
on  rotating  the  machine,  a  gray  decidedly 
darker  than  the  vermilion  is  produced.  Then 
the  gray  is  gradually  lightened,  till  the  ob- 
server becomes  doubtful  as  to  which  is  the 
more  luminous,  the  gray  or  the  vermilion ; 
the  angle  occupied  by  the  white  sector  is 
then  measured.  Next,  a  decidedly  more  lu- 
minous gray  is  compared  with  the  vermilion, 
and  its  luminosity  gradually  diminished  till 
again  there  is  doubt  as  to  which  of  the  two, 
the  gray  or  the  vermilion,  is  the  more  lu- 
minous ;  and  then,  again,  the  white  sector 
is  measured.  The  mean  of  ten  such  experi- 
ments showed  that  when  the  luminosity  of 
both  disks  was  the  same,  the  white  sector 
of  the  black-and-white  disk  was  23.8  of  its 
whole  area,  and  hence  that  the  luminosity 
of  the  vermilion  cardboard  was  in  the  same 
ratio,  namely,  23.8  per  cent,  to  white. 
Proper  allowance  was  made  by  Prof.  Rood 
for  the  amount  of  white  light  reflected  by 
the  black  disk.  The  relative  luminosity  of 
other  colors  may,  of  course,  be  ascertained 
in  the  same  way. 

Causes  of  the  Chinese  Famine. — Accord- 
ing to  a  correspondent  of  the  London  Specta- 
tor, Frederick  H.  Barbour,  the  famine  now 
prevailing  in  the  northern  provinces  of  China 
began  in  the  fall  of  1875.  Its  immediate 
cause  was  the  long  absence  of  rain,  but  the 
phenomenon  to  which  it  was  and  still  is 
primarily  due  is  the  gradual  desiccation  of 
the  vast  plains  of  Chi-li  and  Shang-Tuns, 
a  process  which,  commencing  in  the  table- 
lands of  Central  Asia,  has  now  reached 
the  densely-peopled  northern  provinces  of 
China.  Mr.  Barbour  has  for  the  last  two 
years  been  in  constant  communication  with 
the  famine-stricken  districts,  and  the  letters 


760 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY 


he  receives  convey  appalling  intelligence. 
"  Fancy,"  says  he,  "  a  tract  of  country 
larger  than  thirteen  Switzerlands  a  prey  to 
want  that  it  is  wellnigh  impossible  to  re- 
lieve. The  people's  faces  are  black  with 
hunger ;  they  are  dying  by  thousands  upon 
thousands.  Women  and  girls  and  boys  are 
openly  offered  for  sale ;  when  I  left  the 
country,  a  respectable  married  woman  could 
be  easily  bought  for  six  dollars,  and  a  little 
girl  for  two.  In  cases  where  it  was  found 
impossible  to  dispose  of  their  children,  par- 
ents have  been  known  to  kill  them,  sooner 
than  witness  their  prolonged  sufferings,  in 
many  instances  throwing  themselves  after- 
ward down  wells,  or  committing  suicide  by 
arsenic.  .  .  .  The  population  subsisted  for 
a  long  time  on  roots  and  grass ;  then  they 
found  some  nourishment  in  willow-buds, 
and  finally  ate  the  thatches  off  their  cottages. 
The  bark  of  trees  served  them  for  several 
months,  and  last  July  I  received  specimens 
of  the  stuff  the  unhappy  creatures  had  been 
by  that  time  reduced  to.  The  most  harm- 
less kind  was  potato-stalks,  tough,  stringy 
fibres,  which  only  the  strongest  teeth  could 
reduce  to  pulp.  The  other  description  was 
red  slate-stone.'1'' 


Proportion  of  Theine  in  Different  Rinds 

of  Tea.— It  was  some  time  ago  asserted  by 
Claus,  as  the  result  of  his  analyses  of  differ- 
ent grades  of  tea,  that  the  lower  the  grade 
of  tea  the  higher  is  the  proportion  of  the 
alkaloid  theine  it  contained.  Thus,  accord- 
ing to  this  author,  the  brick-tea  used  in 
Mongolia  and  Siberia,  which  is  made  up  of 
all  sorts  of  refuse,  as  dead  leaves,  stalks, 
and  the  like,  contains  far  more  theine  (about 
3.5  per  cent.)  than  the  higher  qualities  (in 
which  the  proportion  found  by  him  was  from 
1  to  1.3  per  cent.  only).  Very  different  re- 
sults have  now  been  obtained  by  another 
chemist — Markovnikoff,  of  Moscow.  Having 
made  a  series  of  analyses  of  one  kind  of 
tea  by  the  various  analytical  methods  hith- 
erto in  use,  he  is  able  to  point  out  the  de- 
ficiency of  these  methods.  For  instance, 
ether  extracts  only  one-third  of  the  whole 
amount  of  theine  in  a  sample  of  tea,  and 
benzole  only  one-quarter.  Using,  therefore, 
a  more  perfect  method,  and  analyzing  six 
kinds  of  tea — some  of  the  very  highest,  oth- 
ers of  the  very  lowest  grades — he  arrives  at 


the  result  that  the  amount  of  theine  in  these 
varies  very  little — from  2.08  to  2.44 — and 
that  it  increases  regularly,  with  one  excep- 
tion, with  the  quality  of  the  tea ;  while  the 
amount  of  ash  given  by  each  kind  regularly 
decreases  from  6.1  to  5.*7  per  cent,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest  grade.  These  differ- 
ences, however,  being  very  small,  Markovni- 
koff supposes  that  the  quality  of  tea  depends, 
not  at  all  or  only  a  very  little,  upon  the 
amount  of  theine,  and  far  more  on  the  quan- 
tity of  tannic  acid  and  aromatic  oils  it  con- 
tains ;  but  that,  on  the  whole,  teas  made 
from  younger  leaves  contain  more  theine 
than  those  from  older  leaves. 

Do  Lightning-Rods    attract?— The  old 

dogma  that  a  lightning-rod  no  more  attracts 
electricity  than  an  umbrella  attracts  rain,  is 
not  strictly  exact — for,  while  the  umbrella 
has  no  influence  on  the  course  of  the  de- 
scending rain-drops,  it  is  certain  that  the 
presence  of  a  conductor  very  materially 
changes  the  earthward  course  of  the  electric 
fluid.  The  Vice-President  of  the  British 
Meteorological  Society,  Dr.  R.  J.  Mann,  in 
a  letter  to  the  London  Times,  states  as  fol- 
lows the  rationale  of  the  action  of  lightning- 
rods  in  protecting  buildings  : 

"  A  conductor  in  the  near  presence  of  a 
charged  thunder-cloud  becomes  inductively  ex- 
cited, a  very  strong  charge  of  the  opposite  kind 
of  electricity  to  that  in  the  cloud  being  drawn 
to  the  top  of  the  rod.  When  this  state  of  things 
has  been  brought  about,  there  certainly  is  a 
stronger  tendency  for  a  spark  or  flash  to  pass 
across  the  intervening  air-gap  than  there  would 
be  in  the  absence  of  any  such  inductive  disturb- 
ance. The  electricians  who  still  hold  this  view 
[namely,  that  the  lightning-rod's  attraction  is 
equal  to  the  '  attraction'  of  an  umbrella]  would, 
nevertheless,  hesitate  to  carry  their  argument 
home  to  its  ultimate  conclusion  by  saying  that 
there  is  no  attraction  between  the  outer  and  the 
inner  coating  of  a  Leyden-jar  immediately  be- 
fore the  electric  forces  shatter  the  glass  to  effect 
the  discharge  of  the  jar.  It  is  indeed  almost  uni- 
versally held  that  the  charge  of  a  Leyden-jar  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  attraction  of  the  severed  elec- 
tric forces  exerting  themselves  to  unite  through 
the  insulating  barrier  of  the  glass.  The  charge 
in  the  outer  coating  of  the  jar  comes  up  from  the 
earth  under  what,  in  familiar  terms,  can  hardly 
be  called  anything  else  but  the  '  attraction '  of 
the  inner  charge." 

Cooking.— Nothing,  probably,  has  more 
direct  influence  over  our  physical  and  moral 
well-being  than  the  preparation  of  the  food 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


761 


we  eat,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose 
that  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  culinary 
art  would,  if  tolerably  wide-spread,  do  not 
a  little  to  diminish  crime  and  drunkenness. 
Now  that  ladies  are  to  be  admitted  with- 
out let  or  hinderance  to  all  the  degrees  of 
the  University  of  London,  we  hope  the  Sen- 
ate will  see  fit  to  add  "  cooking  "  to  the 
list  of  subjects  for  the  B.  Sc.  Science  in 
the  kitchen  has  long  been  a  desideratum, 
and  cooking  has  not  hitherto  been  regarded 
really  as  a  branch  of  chemistry,  and,  as 
such,  an  ennobling  occupation.  The  Eng- 
lish of  all  classes  have  everything  to  learn 
on  this  subject,  and  even  the  very  best  of 
our  cooks  seem  to  go  right  rather  by  intui- 
tive talent  than  by  any  exact  knowledge 
which  they  may  possess.  In  the  cookery- 
book  of  the  future,  however,  we  may  hope 
to  see  milligrammes,  cubic  centimetres,  and 
degrees  of  Celsius,  replace  the  less  exact 
measurements  to  which  cooks  have  been 
accustomed,  and  then,  perhaps,  success  in 
cooking  will  become  a  certainty. — London 
Lancet. 

Distribution  of  Color  in  Animals. — It  is 

not  in  the  least  unusual  to  observe  in  do- 
mesticated mammals  asymmetrical  distri- 
bution of  color,  while  in  feral  animals  the 
distribution  is  always  symmetrical.  A  num- 
ber of  facts  illustrating  this  are  cited  by 
Mr.  J.  A.  Ryder  in  the  "Proceedings"  of 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phila- 
delphia. He  instances  the  case  of  a  raccoon 
in  the  collection  of  the  Philadelphia  Zo- 
ological Society,  in  which  the  variation  from 
the  typical  coloration  of  the  species  was 
great.  Here  the  color  areas  were  disposed 
symmetrically  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
ordinary  specimens.  The  difference  was 
only  in  the  shade,  this  specimen  being  of  a 
rich,  brownish  yellow,  except  the  tail-rings 
and  the  lateral  bands  on  the  face,  which 
were  of  a  considerably  deeper  hue.  The 
nose,  feet,  and  eyes,  in  the  ordinary  speci- 
mens, are  black,  while  in  this  specimen  all 
the  dermal  structures  were  of  a  much 
lighter  tint.  Again,  in  a  specimen  of  Lepus 
silvaticiis,  in  the  Academy's  collection,  the 
fur  is  cream-colored,  and  very  long  and 
soft,  but  perfectly  symmetrical  and  uniform 
in  color.  In  rats,  nearly  white,  the  color 
areas  were  also  found  to  be  very  nearly  the 


same  on  both  sides.  The  same  is  to  be 
said  of  specimens  of  Virginia  deer.  In 
many  domestic  animals  there  is  a  decided 
tendency  to  preserve  the  symmetry  of  the 
ancestral  type,  but  domestication  seems  to 
be  at  the  bottom  of  the  variability  and 
asymmetry  of  color  of  animals  brought 
under  its  influence.  In  conclusion,  the 
author  summed  up  the  facts  as  follows  :  1. 
Bilateral  symmetry  of  coloration  is  inter- 
fered with  in  some  way  by  domestication ; 
2.  Where  variation  of  color  takes  place  in 
feral  animals,  they  are  invariably,  so  far  as 
observed,  symmetrically  colored  ;  3.  It  is 
possible  that  the  degree  of  asymmetry  is  an 
indication  of  the  length  of  time  that  domes- 
tication has  been  operative. 

Travels  in  Formosa.. — In  the  island  of 
Formosa  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  level 
country  are  Chinese.  Wages  on  the  island 
are  20  per  cent,  higher  than  in  Amoy. 
Opium  makes  up  two-thirds  of  the  value 
of  all  their  foreign  imports.  Opium-smok- 
ing prevails  to  an  extraordinary  extent ;  but 
a  traveler  in  the  island,  Mr.  James  Morrison, 
affirms  that  there  is  not  much  excess  of  in- 
dulgence in  that  habit.  The  coolies  that 
carried  his  palanquin  always  smoked  opium 
at  night,  and  continued  smoking  after  he 
had  gone  to  bed ;  yet  they  were  always 
ready  to  start  before  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  seemed  fresh.  A  coolie  will 
carry  twenty  miles  a  day  for  ten  consecu- 
tive days.  Smoking  in  this  way  costs  from 
ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  day.  The  daily  wage 
of  a  chair-coolie  is  seventy-five  cents.  The 
chair  is  the  usual  vehicle  for  travel  in  For- 
mosa. Ponies  may  be  used  for  riding  short 
distances,  but  the  numerous  rivers,  too 
deep  to  ford,  and  too  rapid  to  swim,  render 
them  useless  for  long  journeys.  The  For- 
mosan  chair  is  very  light,  but  hardly  roomy 
enough  for  the  average  man  of  European 
race.  It  is  forty  inches  long,  forty-eight 
inches  high  in  the  centre,  and  forty  inches 
at  the  sides,  twenty-one  inches  wide  inside 
with  a  seat  about  ten  inches  high.  The 
method  of  carrying,  says  Mr.  Morrison,  is 
simply  diabolical.  Four  men  carry,  two 
being  placed  at  the  ends  of  the  poles,  and 
two  close  to  the  chair,  one  in  front  and 
one  behind,  the  two  latter  supporting  the 
chair  by  means  of  cross-pieces  or  yokes  pass- 


762 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


ing  over  the  shoulders  and  attached  to  the 
poles  by  ropes.  These  ropes  are  so  ad- 
justed that  when  the  men  stand  still,  and 
the  chair  is  loaded,  the  poles  are  bent  about 
three  inches.  In  carrying,  the  easy  swing 
of  the  ordinary  chair  is  lost,  for,  just  as  the 
Formosan  chair  is  coming  down  gently,  it 
is  brought  up  short  by  the  men  close  to  it. 
The  motion  is  exactly  the  same  as  is  used 
for  jigging  crushed  metallic  ores. 

Chinese  Medicines. — The  Chinese  phar- 
macopoeia contains  instructions  for  prepar- 
ing sundry  very  curious  medicines,  as,  for 
instance,  various  animal  "  wines  " — mutton- 
wine,  dog-wine,  deer- wine,  tiger-bone  wine, 
snake-wine,  tortoise-wine,  and  so  on.  These 
"  wines"  (chiu)  are  employed  instead  of  al- 
cohol as  a  solvent  for  articles  used  as  medi- 
cines. The  mode  of  preparing  mutton-wine 
is  described  as  follows  by  Dr.  D.  J.  Mac- 
gowan,  of  Shanghai :  The  ingredients  are 
one  sheep,  forty  catties  (a  catty  equals  1^ 
pound)  of  cow's-milk  wine,  a  pint  of  sour 
skimmed  milk,  eight  ounces  brown  sugar, 
four  ounces  honey,  four  ounces  fruit  of 
dinocarpus,  one  catty  raisins,  and  about  one 
catty  of  half  a  dozen  other  drugs.  The 
utensils  employed  are  a  large  cast-iron  pot, 
a  wooden  barrel  {boorher)  about  two  feet 
high,  and  tapering,  open  at  both  ends,  a 
smaller  iron  pot,  an  earthenware  jar ;  felt 
belts  and  cow-dung  are  used  for  making  the 
apparatus  air-tight.  The  boorher  is  set  on 
the  large  pot,  the  joining  being  first  calked 
with  paper,  and  then  daubed  on  the  outside 
with  cow-dung  and  ashes  ;  the  boorher,  too, 
is  made  air-tight  in  the  same  way.  Then 
pour  in  the  wine,  add  half  the  raisins,  cut 
or  crushed,  half  the  sugar,  the  milk,  and 
the  bones  of  the  sheep's  legs,  from  the  knees 
down,  after  breaking  them  open.  From  the 
other  bones  strip  all  the  fat  and  most  of  the 
flesh,  and  hang  them  inside  the  boorher 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  wine.  Put  in  the 
medicines,  the  honey,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  sugar  and  raisins.  The  earthenware 
jar  is  then  suspended  in  the  centre  of  the 
boorher,  and  the  smaller  iron  pot  is  set  on 
top,  the  joint  being  made  air-tight  by  paper, 
cloth,  and  felt  bands.  A  fire  is  now  made 
under  the  great  pot;  when  the  upper  pot 
feels  warm  to  the  touch,  fill  it  with  cold 
water.    When  this  water  is  too  hot  to  touch, 


it  is  ladled  out,  and  the  pot  filled  again 
with  cold  water.  When  this  in  turn  be- 
comes hot,  the  fire  is  slackened,  the  upper 
pot  taken  off,  and  the  earthenware  pot, 
which  is  now  found  to  be  full  of  a  dirty- 
brown  liquor,  is  taken  out,  the  liquid  poured 
off,  the  vessel  replaced,  and  the  upper  pot, 
filled  with  cold  water,  again  set  upon  the 
top  of  the  boorher.  When  the  water  on 
top  is  again  heated,  the  whole  operation  is 
completed.  The  earthenware  pot  is  now 
again  found  to  be  about  half  full,  and  its 
contents  are  poured  off,  allowed  to  cool,  and 
put  up  in  jars. 

Utilization    of  Blast  -  Furnace    Slag. — 

Within  a  few  years  great  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  utilization  of  blast-furnace  slag, 
and  that  material  is  now  applied  in  many 
ways  with  great  advantage.  Thus,  slag 
"  sand  "  is  employed  for  making  concrete, 
building-bricks,  mortar,  and  cement ;  slag 
"  shingle"  for  concrete,  also  for  roadways  ; 
slag  "  wool "  for  covering  steam-boilers  and 
pipes,  ice-houses,  etc.,  also  for  filtering-pur- 
poses ;  blocks  of  slag-concrete  are  used  for 
paving,  for  curbstones  and  the  like ;  finally, 
by  Britten's  process,  slag  is  used  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  glass  for  roofing,  and  for  other 
purposes  not  requiring  pure  glass.  In  mak- 
ing building-bricks  of  slag,  the  slag-sand  is 
mixed  with  selenitic  lime,  with  the  addition 
of  iron  oxide,  and  pressed  in  moulds.  The 
cement  is  made  from  the  slag-sand,  common 
lime,  and  iron  oxides.  It  is  little  inferior  to 
Portland  cement  in  strength,  while  it  does 
not  cost  one-fourth  as  much.  The  concrete 
made  from  this  cement,  mixed  with  the 
"  shingle,"  is  an  excellent  conglomerate  for 
use  in  monolithic  structures.  It  is  stated 
by  Mr.  Charles  Wood,  in  a  paper  read  be- 
fore the  British  Iron  and  Steel  Institute, 
that  "  it  took  two  good  men,  with  steel  bars 
and  sledge-hammers,  as  much  as  four  days 
to  cut  through  a  wall  of  this  concrete  about 
twenty-six  inches  thick."  Mr.  Wood  exhib- 
ited to  the  Institute  bottles  of  slag-glass, 
also  specimens  of  slag-wool.  The  latter 
product,  according  to  Mr.  Wood,  is  ob- 
tained as  follows :  A  jet  of  steam  is  made 
to  strike  a  stream  of  molten  slag  as  it  falls 
into  the  slag-bogies  or  wagons.  This  jet 
scatters  the  molten  slag  into  shot,  and  as 
each  shot  leaves  the  stream  it  carries  a  fine 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


763 


thread  or  tail ;  the  shot  drops  to  the  ground, 
but  the  fine  woolly  fibre  is  sucked  into  a 
large  tube,  and  discharged  into  a  chamber. 
This  chamber  is  very  large,  and  is  cov- 
ered with  fine  wire  netting.  The  steam  and 
air  carry  the  woolly  particles  all  over  the 
chamber — the  finest  into  recesses  formed 
for  the  purpose,  the  heavier  into  the  body 
of  the  chamber.  .  The  wool  is  of  a  snowy- 
white  appearance. 

The  Mechanics  of  Nature.— The  Rev.  J. 
G.  Wood,  author  of  several  popular  works 
on  zoology,  has  lately  published  a  volume 
entitled  "  Nature's  Teachings,"  which  is 
intended  to  show  that  nearly  every  one  of 
man's  mechanical  inventions  has  been  an- 
ticipated by  Nature.  From  a  notice  of  the 
work  in  an  English  journal  we  copy  a  few 
instances  of  human  inventions  that  have 
their  prototypes  in  the  animal  world.  Allud- 
ing to  the  principle  on  which  the  life-boat 
is  formed,  Mr.  Wood  observes  that  "the 
eggs  of  the  gnat,  which  adhere  together  by  a 
glutinous  coating,  are  arranged  side  by  side 
so  as  to  form  the  figure  of  a  boat ;  that  the 
lines  of  the  best  life-boats  are  almost  iden- 
tical with  those  of  the  gnat-boat;  and  that 
both  possess  the  power  of  righting  them- 
selves if  capsized."  Mr.  Wood  observes  the 
principle  of  the  screw  in  a  fish's  tail ;  finds 
a  remarkable  resemblance  in  the  iron  mast 
to  the  quill  of  the  porcupine ;  and  explains 
how  the  improvement  in  the  construction 
of  iron  ships  caused  by  making  the  outer 
shell  double  and  dividing  it  into  separate 
compartments  is  exemplified  in  the  skull 
of  the  elephant.  Many  of  the  author's  nau- 
tical illustrations  are  curious,  and  among 
others  he  points  out  that  the  Boy  ton  life- 
dress  is  simply  a  modification  of  the  Phy- 
salis,  "which  floats  on  the  surface  of  the 
ocean  like  a  bubble."  The  weapons  used 
in  war  have  also  their  prototypes  in  the 
works  of  Nature.  In  a  chapter  on  projectile 
weapons  Mr.  Wood  notices  the  archer-fish, 
which  gains  its  livelihood  by  shooting  drops 
of  water  at  flies,  and  reminds  us  that  the 
same  principle  was  employed,  though  un- 
successfully, on  the  so-called  pneumatic 
railway  at  Croydon.  From  the  archer-fish 
we  may  pass  appropriately  to  the  angler- 
fish,  a  creature  with  an  enormous  mouth 
and  small  body.     On  the  top  of  its  head  are 


some  bones  set  like  a  ring  and  staple,  and, 
at  the  end  of  these  bones,  long  fleshy  ap- 
pendages, which,  on  being  waved  about, 
look  as  if  they  were  alive.  "  The  fish  darts 
at  the  supposed  morsel,  and  is  at  once  in- 
gulfed in  the  huge  jaws  of  the  angler-fish, 
which,  but  for  this  remarkable  apparatus, 
would  be  scarcely  able  to  support  existence, 
as  it  is  but  a  sluggish  swimmer,  and  yet 
needs  a  large  supply  of  food."  There  are 
different  modes  of  catching  fish,  and  the 
capture  by  rod  and  line  is  curiously  antici- 
pated by  the  worm  known  to  naturalists 
as  JVemerles  Borlasii,  which  can  extend  it- 
self, some  say,  to  ninety  feet,  and  looks,  as 
Kingsley  has  said,  a  mere  knotted  lump, 
small  enough  to  be  put  in  a  dessert-spoon. 
The  little  fish  that  chances  to  touch  this 
"  slimy  tape  of  living  caoutchouc  "  has  no 
chance  of  escape,  for  he  is  being  " '  played  ' 
with  such  a  fishing-line  as  the  skill  of  a  Wil- 
son or  a  Stoddart  never  could  invent."  The 
principle  of  the  baited  trap  is  illustrated  by 
carnivorous  plants  like  the  Venus's  flytrap 
of  the  Carolinas,  and  the  Drosera  or  sundew 
of  England,  and  the  principle  of  the  spring- 
trap  by  the  jaws  of  the  dolphin.  Defensive 
armor  in  its  several  varieties  is  strikingly 
illustrated  by  the  protection  afforded  in 
many  instances  by  Nature,  and  Mr.  Wood's 
treatment  of  this  branch  of  his  subject  will 
be  found  of  great  interest. 

How  Ants  stand  Heat  and  Cold. — The 

ability  of  ants  to  survive  exposure  to  great 
cold  or  great  heat,  and  submersion  in  water, 
is  shown  in  a  very  interesting  note  by  the  Rev. 
H.  C.  McCook,  published  in  the  "  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  " 
of  Philadelphia.  In  one  instance,  a  few 
ants,  of  the  species  Formica  Pennsylvanica 
(the  Pennsylvania  carpenter-ant)  dropped 
out  of  their  nest  and  fell  upon  ice,  in  the 
depth  of  winter.  Forty-eight  hours  later 
they  were  alive,  being  imbedded  in  the  ice 
within  the  small  depressions  made  by  their 
animal  heat.  They  moved  about  on  being 
taken  from  the  ice,  and  became  quite  active 
when  placed  in  the  closed  hand.  The  power 
of  resisting  great  heat  is  illustrated  by  Mr. 
McCook's  own  observations,  as  also  by  a 
quotation  from  manuscript  notes  on  the 
"  Ants  of  Texas,"  written  by  the  late  Dr.  Lin- 
cecum.    A  community  of  that  highly-inter- 


764 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


esting  species,  the  "  agricultural  ant "  [Myr- 
mica  rnolefaciens),  was  located  near  a  black- 
smith-shop, which  had  been  in  operation  five 
years.  During  all  that  period  the  smiths 
had  built  their  fires  for  heating  wagon-tires 
on  the  pavement  or  flat  mound  of  these  ant3. 
This  occurred,  on  an  average,  as  often  as 
two  or  three  times  a  week.  Frequently,  as 
many  as  nine  tires  a  day  had  been  heated 
upon  the  mound.  After  five  years  of  such 
experience,  Dr.  Lincecum  records  that  he 
saw  numbers  of  ants  at  work  clearing  out 
the  entrance  to  their  city  before  the  fire, 
that  had  just  been  used  for  heating  tires, 
was  entirely  extinguished.  They  seemed  to 
have  learned  all  about  fire,  and  knew  how 
to  work  around  and  among  the  half-extin- 
guished coals  without  injury.  In  illustration 
of  the  third  point  Mr.  McCook  writes  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Last  summer  (1876)  I  discovered  a  formicary 
of  tna6on-auts,  apparently  a  variety  of  F.  rufa, 
the  fallow-aDt.  I  placed  these  ants  in  an  artifi- 
cial formicarium,  which  was  insnlated  in  a  tub 
of  water.  One  night  the  covering  by  which  the 
formicarium  was  protected  during  bad  weather 
was  left  off,  or  removed  by  some  meddler.  A 
heavy  shower  fell  early  in  the  evening.  In  the 
morning  the  formicary  was  flooded ;  the  ants 
were  dead — dead  and  lying  under  five  inches  of 
water,  mixed  up  with  the  mortar,  which  the  rain 
had  formed  with  the  soil  that  composed  the  gal- 
leries. I  poured  out  the  water,  and  set  the  box 
in  the  sun  with  a  forlorn  hope  that  some  of  the 
ants  might  revive.  At  noon  I  chanced  to  open  a 
paper  box  in  which  I  had  placed  a  dead  female 
ant  of  the  genus  Myrrnica.  It  had  fallen  into  the 
tub.  where  it  had  been  floating  for  many  hours, 
apparently  drowned.  It  was  now  crawling  about 
the  box  alive.  Thereupon  I  visited  my  dead  fal- 
low-ants, and  found  three  of  them  moving  about 
in  the  slush,  endeavoring  to  extricate  themselves. 
Another  was  struggling  out  of  the  muddy  sedi- 
ment in  the  jar  which  formed  the  lower  part  of 
the  formicary.  In  short,  the  greater  part  of  the 
drowned  ants  proved  themselves  to  be  veritable 
Noachians,  and  survived  the  flood." 

Poisonous    Leguminous    Plants.  —  Dr. 

Rothrock,  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences of  Philadelphia,  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  certain  leguminous  plants  exist- 
ing in  our  Southwestern  Territories  possess 
poisonous  properties.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Fort  Gartland,  in  Southern  Colorado,  cattle 
have  repeatedly  manifested  symptoms  of 
poisoning,  the  cause  of  which  has  been 
found  to  be  the  plant  Oxylrip'ts  lamberti. 
The  effects  of  eating  this  plant  appear  to  be 


long  enduring,  the  animal  becoming  de- 
mented, and  wasting  away,  as  its  fondness 
for  the  poison  increases  to  something  like 
the  opium-habit  in  man.  Dr.  Rothrock 
found  at  New  Camp  Grant,  Arizona,  anoth- 
er plant  (Hosackia  purshiand)  whose  effects 
are  similar.  From  Sophora  speciosa,  another 
poisonous  leguminous  plant  from  Texas, 
Prof.  H.  C.  Wood,  Jr.,  has  obtained  an  al- 
i  kaloid  which  he  names  Sophoria,  from  the 
l  bean ;  its  effects  are  not  unlike  those  of  the 
Calabar-bean.  The  Indians  of  Texas  use 
the  Sophora-bean  to  induce  an  intoxica- 
tion, which  lasts  from  two  to  three  days. 
Half  a  bean  will,  it  is  said,  cause  intoxi- 
cation, and  a  whole  one  may  be  productive 
of  dangerous  symptoms. 

The  Value  of  Scientific  Weather-Observa- 
tions.— Three  daily  observations  of  weather- 
phenomena  are  made  at  eighty-three  sta- 
tions of  the  Central  Pacific  and  Southern 
Pacific  Railroads  and  their  branches,  the 
area  covered  by  the  observations  extending 
through  eight  degrees  of  latitude  and  twelve 
degrees  of  longitude.  New  observing-sta- 
tions  are  set  up  in  proportion  as  a  new  line 
of  road  advances.  The  records  of  these 
stations  form  the  basis  of  a  singularly  in- 
teresting and  important  paper  by  Mr.  B.  B. 
Redding,  which  was  read  at  a  meeting  of  the 
California  Academy  of  Sciences  on  January 
21st.  In  illustration  of  the  financial  value 
of  systematic  observations  of  this  kind, 
the  author  gives  two  cases  where  even  su- 
perficial study  of  the  meteorological  rec- 
ords would  have  demonstrated  in  advance 
the  inevitable  failure  of  certain  enterprises. 
For  instance,  in  1869  a  large  sum  of  money 
was  expended  in  covering  over  some  lakes 
near  Summit  Station  with  sheds,  under 
which  to  cut  ice  for  the  San  Francisco 
market.  No  sheds  of  sufficient  width  could 
be  built  that  could  bear  the  weight  of  snow 
falling  at  that  point,  and  consequently  the 
undertaking  ended  in  disastrous  failure. 
The  meteorological  records  of  the  railroad 
companies  show  that  the  average  rainfall 
at  this  point  is  over  five  feet  I  "  Nearly  all 
of  this  falls  in  the  form  of  snow,  and  is  equal, 
if  the  snow  that  falls  did  not  become  com- 
pact or  melt,  to  a  bank  of  snow  each  w  in- 
ter of  sixty  feet  in  depth  !  "  A  similar  in- 
stance of  the  value  of  these  records  is  fur- 


POPULAR  MISCELLANY. 


765 


nished  by  the  experience  of  the  farmers  set- 
tled on  the  west  side  of  the  San  Joaquin 
River.  For  years  they  have  tried  in  vain 
to  raise  crops  without  artificial  irrigation. 
That  section  of  the  State  of  California  is  an 
exemplification  of  the  law  thus  expressed 
by  Guyot,  that  "  when  a  mountain-chain  op- 
poses an  horizontal  wind  the  air  is  forced  up 
along  the  slopes,  its  vapors  are  condensed, 
and  water  the  side  exposed  to  the  wind, 
while  on  the  opposite  slope  the  same  wind 
descends  into  the  valley  dry  and  cloudless." 
The  author  considers  very  fully  the  operation 
of  the  chief  laws  of  meteorology  as  applied 
to  California  in  general,  and  to  special  locali- 
ties in  particular.  Among  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed by  him,  we  would  mention  the  conflict 
between  polar  and  equatorial  winds  ;  the  in- 
fluences of  the  Gulf  of  California ;  the  com- 
parative rainlessness  of  the  Colorado  and 
Mohave  Deserts  and  the  Tulare  Valley ;  the 
rainfall  in  the  great  valleys  and  on' the 
mountain-sides ;  the  influence  of  the  great 
deserts  on  temperature  and  rainfall ;  why 
the  summer  temperature  of  San  Francisco 
is  so  low  as  it  is,  the  mean  temperature  of 
summer  at  the  Golden  Gate  being  only  56°. 

Purification  of  Illuminating  Gas.  —  The 
method  in  common  use  for  separating  from 
coal-gas  foreign  suspended  matter  is  found- 
ed on  the  principle  of  condensation  by  re- 
duction of  temperature  on  contact  with 
water-cooled  surfaces,  or  with  water  itself. 
But  the  liquid  globules  held  in  suspension 
in  the  gas  may  be  condensed  by  causing  a 
jet  of  gas  to  impinge  upon  any  resisting 
surface,  as  a  leaf  of  paper,  or  a  plate  of 
metal,  and  an  apparatus  for  purifying  gas 
according  to  this  method  has  been  con- 
structed by  Messrs.  Pelouze  &  Audouin. 
The  condenser  of  this  apparatus  consists 
mainly  of  an  outer  casing  with  a  gas  inlet 
at  the  lower  part,  and  an  outlet  at  the  up- 
per. Suspended  within  the  casing  is  an 
annular  water-tank,  in  which  is  balanced  a 
miniature  gas-holder,  or  bell,  formed  with 
four  circumference-plates,  two  of  which  are 
perforated  in  rows  with  small  holes,  and 
two  with  large  holes,  the  latter  being  oppo- 
site the  blank  spaces  between  the  rows  of 
the  former.  The  gas  from  the  inlet  passes 
through  the  central  space  within  the  annu- 
lar lank,  and  through  the  four  perforated 


plates  of  the  bell ;  the  tar,  etc.,  which  con- 
dense on  the  non-perforated  portions  of  the 
surface  trickle  down  the  plates  into  the 
water-tank.  It  has  been  found  that  if  the 
perforated  bell  has  a  capacity  of  35,317  cu- 
bic feet,  it  will  suffice  for  works  producing 
3,531, *700  cubic  feet  per  twenty-four  hours, 
or  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  100,000. 

Properties  and  Production  of  Honey. — 

There  was  lately  held  in  New  York  a  con- 
vention of  bee-masters  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  purpose  of  advancing 
the  interests  of  the  important  industry  with 
which  they  are  identified.  Among  the  pa- 
pers read  at  this  convention  was  one  by 
Mr.  F.  B.  Thurber,  in  which  the  commercial 
history  of  honey  was  given  with  considera- 
ble detail.  The  use  of  honey  antedates  that 
of  sugar,  going  back  many  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  while  the  general  use  of 
sugar  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  There 
are  evidences  of  the  high  antiquity  of  sugar 
in  China  and  India,  but  it  appears  to  have 
been  only  vaguely  known  to  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  The  art  of  refining  sugar  was  dis- 
covered by  the  Venetians  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  hard  to  say  why  the  produc- 
tion of  honey  should  have  fallen  so  far  be- 
hind the  production  of  sugar.  It  is  in  the 
highest  degree  healthful  and  palatable,  and 
its  sources  are  as  plentiful  and  as  sure  as 
those  of  sugar.  In  America,  within  the  last 
few  years,  a  wonderful  advance  has  been 
made  in  the  production  of  honey,  as  regards 
both  quality  and  quantity. 

Honey  differs  greatly  in  color  and  con- 
sistence. In  the  recent  state  it  is  fluid,  but 
on  being  kept  it  is  apt  to  form  a  crystalline 
deposit,  and  to  be  converted  into  a  soft, 
granular  mass  ;  its  color  varies,  being  some- 
times white,  but  usually  yellowish,  and  oc- 
casionally of  a  brown  or  reddish  tinge. 
When  the  bees  are  very  young  the  honey 
undergoes  less  change,  and  remains  nearly 
white  :  in  this  state  it  is  called  virgin  honey. 
Ordinary  honey  is  obtained  both  by  pressure 
and  by  heat.  Recently,  however,  a  process 
has  been  invented  by  which  honey  is  forced 
from  the  cells  of  the  comb  by  centrifugal 
force,  and  the  combs  are  then  restored  to 
the  hives,  to  be  again  used  by  the  bees  for 
storing  their  honey.  When  honey  is  ex- 
tracted from  poisonous  plants,  it  partakes 


766 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


of  their  noxious  properties.  An  instance 
of  this  recently  befell  a  newspaper  corre- 
spondent in  Armenia.  Having  drunk  some 
honey-sweetened  water  he  was  shortly  after- 
ward seized  with  headache,  vomiting,  cold- 
ness of  the  extremities,  and  temporary 
blindness,  followed  by  a  cataleptic  state. 
Inquiry  showed  that  the  honey  had  come 
from  the  Boturu  Valley,  where  hemlock  and 
henbane  grow  abundantly.  Mr.  Thurber 
points  out  the  singular  coincidence  that 
more  than  2,000  years  ago  Xenophon's  sol. 
diers  met  with  a  similar  accident  in  the  same 
locality. 

Beavers  in  Colorado. — Mr.  E.  A.  Barber, 
connected  with  Prof.  Hayden's  survey  of  the 
Territories,  in  the  year  1874  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Grand  River,  in  Northwestern  Colorado,  the 
work  of  a  colony  of  beavers.  His  observa- 
tions, as  published  in  the  American  Natu- 
ralist, are  highly  interesting,  and  we  present 
the  substance  of  them  to  our  readers.  He 
was  first  apprised  of  the  vicinity  of  the  bea- 
vers by  watching  a  timber-shoot  or  clear- 
ing scooped  out  from  a  willow -brake  to 
the  water.  Through  this  slide  Mr.  Barber 
passed  into  a  grove  of  slender  willows  form- 
ing a  thicket.  About  fifty  feet  from  the 
river  was  a  circular  clearing  where  the  ani- 
mals had  been  at  work ;  here  the  trees  were 
larger,  and  many  of  them  had  been  cut  off 
obliquely  within  six  inches  of  the  ground — 
the  logs  had  been  hauled  away.  Farther  on 
larger  trees  had  been  felled,  which  were 
still  lying  there,  most  of  them  measuring 
six  and  eight  inches  diameter,  and  one  at 
least  fourteen  inches.  The  wood  had  been 
gnawed  around  the  circumference,  a  few 
inches  from  the  base,  the  deepest  cutting 
having  been  done  on  the  side  next  the  water, 
so  that  the  tree  might  fall  in  that  direction. 
"  I  noticed,"  writes  Mr.  Barber,  "  that,  wher- 
ever there  were  trees  which  had  been  felled 
some  time  past  and  fallen  in  the  wrong  di- 
rection, the  newer  work  had  been  accom- 
plished, without  exception,  in  a  systematic 
manner,  all  of  the  logs  being  cut  so  as  to 
fall  toward  the  dam.  As  I  passed  along 
the  bank  of  the  stream,  I  observed  about 
ten  timber-shoots  running  parallel  at  right 
angles  to  the  course  of  the  current,  and  sep- 
arated  by  about   fifteen  feet.     The  larger 


trees  had  been  cut  near  the  water  and  above 
the  dam  for  the  purpose  of  floating  them 
down,  to  save  the  labor  of  dragging  from 
the  interior.  ...  I  picked  up  several  chunks 
of  wood,  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter  and 
about  as  much  in  length,  the  ends  being 
obliquely  parallel ;  these  had  probably  been 
prepared  to  fill  up  chinks  in  the  walls  of  the 
dam.  The  trees  had  been,  for  the  most 
part,  cut  into  sections  averaging  ten  feet  in 
length,  and  the  branches  and  twigs  had  been 
trimmed  off  as  cleanly  as  a  wood-chopper 
could  have  done  them.  Along  the  banks  of 
the  White  River,  some  weeks  before,  I  no- 
ticed several  artificial  canals  which  had  been 
dug  out  in  the  absence  of  natural  side-chan- 
nels in  the  river.  These  were  designed  for 
floating  down  logs.  One  canal  was  four 
feet  in  width,  seven  in  length,  and  several 
feet  deep." 

How  the  Spiders  spin. — Happening  to 
be  in  the  fields  during  a  sunshiny  day  in 
autumn,  while  a  gentle  wind  was  blowing, 
the  Rev.  H.  C.  McCook,  of  the  Philadelphia 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  took  occasion 
to  observe  the  aeronautic  flights  of  the  young 
spiders,  whose  silken  filaments  were  floating 
from  every  stalk  of  grass.  He  found  that 
many  of  the  young  arachnids — mostly  of  the 
family  Lycosidce,  which  are  ground-spiders — 
selected  the  tops  of  the  fence-posts  as  their 
starting-point.  Having  reached  this  "  point 
of  vantage,"  the  spider  always  turned  the 
face  toward  the  wind.  Then  the  abdomen 
was  elevated  to  an  angle  of  about  45°,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  eight  legs  were  stiffened, 
thus  pushing  the  body  upward.  From  the 
spinnerets  at  the  apex  of  the  abdomen  a  sin- 
gle thread  was  ejected  and  rapidly  drawn  out 
by  the  breeze,  often  to  the  length  of  five  or 
even  six  feet.  Gradually  the  legs  were  in- 
clined in  the  direction  of  the  breeze,  and  the 
joints  straightened  out.  The  foremost  pair 
of  legs  sank  almost  to  the  level  of  the  post. 
Suddenly  the  eight  claws  were  released  and 
the  spider  mounted  with  a  bound  into  the  air, 
and  was  quickly  carried  out  of  view.  The 
author  distinctly  noticed  that  at  the  instant 
of  beginning  its  aerial  journey,  the  spider 
would  make  an  upward  spring.  He  was  also 
so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  follow  the  flight 
of  a  spider  for  a  distance  of  about  eighty 
feet,  and  observed  that  the  position  of  the 


NOTES. 


767 


body  was  soon  reversed,  that  is,  with  the 
head  turned  in  the  direction  toward  which 
the  wind  was  blowing.    Thus  the  long  thread 
which  streamed  out  above  the  aeronaut  in- 
clined forward,  and  at  the  top  was  in  ad- 
vance of  its  head.     It  was  also  observed 
that  the  legs  were  spread  out,  and  that  they 
had  been  united  at  the  feet   by   delicate 
filaments  of  silk  ;  this  gave  to  the  body  in- 
creased buoyancy,  owing  to  the  increased 
surface  thus  offered  to  the  resistance  of  the 
air.     Before,  or  rather  during  its  descent  to 
the  earth,  a  small  white  ball  of  silk  was 
seen   accumulated    at   the    mouth   of    the 
spider,  which,  with  the  peculiar  movements 
of  the  forefeet,  palps,  and  mandibles,  sug- 
gested the  drawing  in  of  a  thread.      The 
spider   was,  so    to    speak,   taking  in  sail. 
Exactly  the  same  effect  was  thus  produced 
by  the  spider  aeronaut,  and  by  a  strikingly 
analogous  mode,  as  the  human  aeronaut  ac- 
complishes when  he  contracts  the  surface  of 
his  balloon  by  causing  the  inflating  gas  to 
escape. 


NOTES. 

Many  of  the  ills  and  diseases  prevalent 
among  women  in  our  day  are,  no  doubt, 
traceable  to  the  sedentary  mode  of  life  so 
common   among  them.      The  progress  of 
modern  industrial  art  has  done  away  with 
much  of  the  household  drudgery  to  which 
women  were  formerly  subjected,  and  the  re- 
sult is  in  too  many  cases  want  of  sufficient 
occupation  for  needed  bodily  exercise;    The 
fruits  of  this  state  of  things  are  strikingly 
exhibited  in  certain  observations  made  by 
the  late  Mr.  Robertson,  a  Manchester  sur- 
geon, who  in  his  practice  as  a  specialist  for 
women's  diseases  found  that  in  women  who 
themselves   performed  all   their  household 
work  there  was  no  trace  of  certain  com- 
plaints ;    that   these   complaints   begin    to 
make  their  appearance  in  women  with  one 
servant,  become  more  pronounced  in  wom- 
en who  have  two  servants,  or  worse  still 
with  those  who  have  three  servants,  and  so 
on.     He  showed  statistically  that  the  deaths 
from  childbirth  were  four  times  greater  in 
the  case  of  women  with  four  servants  than 
those  with  none. 

No  doubt  the  most  voluminous  compila- 
tion in  any  language  is  the  "  Illustrated  Im- 
perial Collection  of  Ancient  and  Modern 
Literature,"  published  by  the  Chinese  Gov- 


ernment early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
comprises  about  6,000  volumes.  A  copy  of 
the  work  is  on  sale  in  Peking,  and  the  British 
Museum  has  entered  into  negotiations  for 
its  purchase. 

During  the  year  1876,  in  India,  48,000 
cattle  were  destroyed  by  wild  animals  and 
venomous  snakes  ;  22,35*7  wild  animals  and 
270,185  poisonous  snakes  were  killed  at  a 
cost  of  120,015  rupees  for  bounties.  In 
1877,  19,273  persons  were  killed,  and  54,- 
830  cattle  were  destroyed. 

Regular  professorships  of  hygiene  are 
to  be  established  in  the  universities  of  Hol- 
land. The  Faculty  of  the  University  of 
Utrecht  has  unanimously  chosen  Dr.  Lud- 
wig  Hirt,  of  Breslau,  to  fill  the  new  chair  in 
that  university. 

The  Parkes  Museum  of  Hygiene  at  Uni- 
versity College,  London,  is  approaching 
completion.  The  council  of  the  college 
have  devoted  an  area  of  3,500  feet  for  the 
use  of  the  museum,  which  is  divided  into  a 
library  and  eight  classes. 

The  thickness  of  the  coal-measures  of 
Missouri  is,  according  to  Prof.  Broadhead, 
in  the  Western  Review  of  Science,  for  the 
upper  measures,  1,300  feet ;  for  the  middle 
measures,  323  feet;  and  for  the  lower 
measures,  290  feet. 

While  collecting  corals  on  the  reefs  of 
Florida  Mr.  Pourtales  often  felt  the  urticat- 
ing  effects  of  contact  of  the  hands  with 
millepora.  It  occurred  to  him  to  try  the 
effect  of  applying  a  fresh  piece  of  mille- 
pora to  the  tongue,  when  "instantly,"  he 
writes,  "  a  most  severe  pain  shot  not  on- 
ly through  that  organ,  but  also  through 
the  jaws  and  teeth.  The  whole  course  of 
the  dental  nerves  and  their  ramifications 
into  every  single  tooth  could  be  distinctly 
and  painfully  felt."  The  pain  remained  se- 
vere for  about  half  an  hour,  but  the  sensa- 
tion was  perceptible  for  five  or  six  hours. 

The  President  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Cure  of  Inebriates  in  his  anniver- 
sary address  quotes  Dr.  Magnus  Huss  as  au- 
thority for  the  statement  that  in  Sweden 
1,500,000  persons — about  one-half  the  popu- 
lation— annually  consume  140  to  170  pints 
of  spirits  each.  By  their  indulgence  in  strong 
drink  the  Swedes  have  deteriorated  in  stat- 
ure and  physical  strength;  new  diseases 
have  appeared,  and  old  ones  have  increased 
fearfully. 

A  summer  school  of  zoology  will  next 
summer  be  stationed  either  on  one  of  the 
Bahama  Islands  or  at  some  point  on  our 
Southern  coast,  for  the  benefit  of  students 
of  Union  College,  Schenectady. 


768 


THE  POPULAR   SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 


The  Dean  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Close,  having 
made  a  violent  attack  on  the  practice  of 
vivisection,  denouncing  it  as  a  crime  in  the 
sight  of  that  God  "  who  careth  for  the  spar- 
rows," the  Lancet  very  wittily  retorts  by 
quoting  another  Scriptural  passage  which 
the  anti-vivisectionists  are  too  prone  to  over- 
look :  "  Men  are  of  more  value  than  many 
sparrows." 

Experiments  made  by  Astasheffsky  go 
to  prove  that  the  saliva  of  the  rat  possesses 
very  strong  diastatic  activity  —  in  other 
words,  very  rapidly  converts  starch  into 
glucose;  and  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the 
saliva  of  the  rodents  holds  the  foremost 
place  as  regards  the  mammalia  ;  next  comes 
that  of  the  carnivora ;  and  lastly  that  of  the 
herbivora — the  latter  being  decidedly  the 
weakest  of  the  three. 

A  writer  in  the  School  Journal  would 
have  all  school  chairs  or  seats  on  their  front 
edge  not  more  than  one-quarter  the  height 
of  the  occupant,  or  of  such  a  height  that 
when  sitting  well  back  the  heels  of  the  sit- 
ter may  touch  the  floor  at  a  distance  in 
front  of  the  seat  equal  to  the  height  of  the 
seat.  This  it  is  claimed  allows  the  point  of 
support  to  be  changed  for  the  sake  of  com- 
fort, and  yet  allows  no  unhealthy  pressure. 
The  width  of  the  seat  should  equal  its  height ; 
the  slant  should  be  about  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  to  the  foot ;  the  surface  should 
be  flat.  The  back  should  be  not  less  than 
one-tenth  in  excess  of  the  height  of  the 
seat,  so  as  to  give  full  support  to  the  shoul- 
der-blades ;  it  should  slant  about  two  and  a 
half  inches  to  the  foot.  The  desk  at  the  edge 
next  the  sittershouldbe  five-thirds  the  height 
of  the  highest  edge  of  the  seat ;  its  slant 
should  be  about  one  inch  to  the  foot ;  its 
lower  edge  should  stand  directly  above  the 
front  edge  of  the  seat. 

TnE  cremation  of  the  dead  on  battle- 
fields is  strongly  advocated  by  Mr.  William 
Ea6sie  in  an  address  to  a  sanitary  congress 
in  England.  He  is  confident  that  by  means 
of  portable  crematories  he  could  reduce  to 
ashes  10,000  bodies  in  as  many  minutes  of 
time.  Interment  of  bodies  by  thousands 
must  of  necessity  pollute  the  springs  and 
contaminate  the  air. 

The  building  recently  opened  and  dedi- 
cated in  New  York  City  for  the  use  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  con- 
sists of  three  stories,  besides  the  basement 
and  attic.  These  three  stories  constitute 
three  halls,  each  60  feet  wide  and  1*70  feet 
long,  access  being  had  by  stairways  in  a 
tower  at  one  end.  The  present  building 
forms  only  a  small  part  of  a  vast  struct- 
ure which  it  is  designed  to  erect.  The 
ground-plan   of   the  future   Museum    may 


be  described  as  a  cross  inclosed  within  a 
square.  The  portion  of  the  structure  now 
completed  will  form  the  northern  end  of 
the  cross.  The  ground  to  be  covered  and 
inclosed  by  the  buildings  will  be  850  feet  in 
length  by  650  feet  in  width. 

A  roof  of  zinc-coated  sheet-iron,  says 
the  Polytechnic  Review,  does  not  wear  out 
from  oxidation,  and  does  not  crumble  as 
does  sheet-tin  from  the  repeated  contraction 
and  expansion  produced  by  changes  of  tem- 
perature. In  Vienna  and  in  Prague  the 
manufacture  of  this  roofing  material  is  a 
growing  industry. 

The  year  1877  showed  a  very  consider- 
able increase  in  the  production  of  cocoon- 
silk  in  France  over  the  preceding  year,  viz. : 
in  1876  the  product  was  2,396,000  kilo- 
grammes, but  last  year  it  was  6,783,000 
kilogrammes.  But  this  industry  has  yet  to 
struggle  hard  if  it  is  to  attain  in  France 
its  former  condition,  when  the  annual 
yield  of  cocoons  was  over  25,000,000  kilo- 
grammes. 

The  leather  covers  of  books  in  public 
libraries  suffer  very  much  from  the  action 
of  the  combustion-products  of  coal-gas.  Ac- 
cording to  Prof.  A.  H.  Church,  vellum  ap- 
pears to  be  unaffected  by  this  cause ;  but 
calf  is  much  injured,  and  russia  still  more 
so.  Most  damage  is  done  to  the  books  in 
the  upper  shelves  of  a  library,  where  the 
heated  products  of  combustion  are  mostly 
condensed  and  absorbed.  The  sulphur  of 
the  gas  is  the  principal  cause  of  its  destruc- 
tive influence.  Analysis  of  watery  extract 
of  leather  injured  by  this  cause  showed  that 
sulphuric  acid,  free  and  combined,  was  pres- 
ent in  the  proportion  of  8.42  per  cent. 

The  truth  of  the  germ-theory  of  disease 
would  seem  to  be  demonstrated,  at  least 
with  regard  to  one  disease — splenic  fever — 
by  the  researches  of  Dr.  Koch.  In  cases  of 
this  disease,  there  accumulates  in  the  blood 
and  tissues,  but  especially  in  the  spleen,  a 
peculiar  kind  of  bacteria — Bacillus  anthra- 
cis.  On  inoculating  animals  with  fluid  con- 
taining either  the  bacilli  themselves  or  their 
spores,  Dr.  Koch  produced  all  the  phenom- 
ena of  splenic  fever. 

An  Italian  chemist,  Paesi,  proposes  to 
substitute,  for  the  tannin-bath  in  the  manu- 
facture of  leather,  a  solution,  in  water,  of 
perchloride  of  iron  and  common  salt.  Hides 
may  be  tanned,  according  to  this  process, 
in  from  four  to  six  months.  Moreover,  the 
perchloride  of  iron,  being  a  powerful  disin- 
fectant, does  away  with  many  objectionable 
features  of  the  tanning  business  as  hitherto 
conducted. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Addresses  of  Eliot  and  Marsh 473 

Air,  Compressed,  in  Coal-Mining 638 

Air  and  Health 216, 

American  Biology,  Progress  of. 624 

American  Contributions  to  Electrical  Science 744 

Ancient  Ruins  of  Colorado 120 

Andaman-Islanders 120 

Ants,  The  Slaves  of 116 

Ants,  how  they  stand  Heat  and  Cold  763 

Apparatus,  Electrical,  for  Beginners 506 

Arachnidan,  A  Formidable 254 

Archer-Fishes.     (Illustrated.) 302 

Artificial  Ice 508 

Artificial  Eespiration 252 

Bagehot,  W.,  Sketch  of.     (Portrait.) 489 

Bain,  A.,  Language  and  Civil  Service 152 

Beavers  in  Colorado 766 

Bees,  Duration  of  Flight  of 119 

Belief  in  Hell 627 

Belt,  T.,  Man  and  the  Glacial  Period 61 

Bevington,  L.  S.,  Teachings  of  a  Day 327 

Biology,  American,  Progress  of 624 

Blast-Furnace  Slag . 762 

Blood,  Local  Temperatures  of  the 252. 

Books  noticed : 

"  Holy  Eoman  Empire  "  (Bryce) Ill 

"  Physiology  of  Mind  "  (Maudsley) Ill 

"  Lightning-Protection  "  (Spang) 112 

"  Lithology  of  the  Adirondacks  "  (Leeds) 112 

"  Naturhistoricher  Yerein  von  Wisconsin  "   11.3 

"  Ages  of  Sun  and  certain  Fixed  Stars  "  (Kirkwood) 113 

"  Locust-Plague"  (Riley) 113 

"  Compendium  of  Facts  "  (Emery) 113 

"  General  History  of  Connecticut " 113 

"  Weighing  and  Measuring  "  (Chisholm) 114 

"  Bible  of  Humanity  "  (Michelet) 114 

"  Lectures  and  Essays  "  (Blanchard) 114 

"  Fishes  of  Upper  Georgia  "  (Jordan) 114 

VOL.  XII. — 49 


77o  INDEX. 

Books  noticed :  PAGE 

Metallurgical  Review  ...    115 

"  Rest  for  Women  "  (Putnam-Jacobi) 241 

"  Fifteen-Cent  Dinners  "  (Corson) 244 

"  Telegraphic  Determination  of  Differences  of  Longitude  " 244 

"  Civilization  and  Duration  of  Life  "  (Lewis) 245 

"Physical  Geography"  (Geikie) 246 

"  Survey  of  Colorado  " 246 

"  Fur-bearing  Animals  "  (Coues) 246 

"  The  Polaris  Expedition  " 247 

"  Methods  of  Ethics  "  (Sidgwick) 368 

"  Isis  Unveiled  "  (Blavatsky) 369 

"  United  States  Entomological  Commission  " 370 

"  Outlines  of  Chemistry"  (Wheeler) 370 

"  Through  Rome  on  "  (Waters) 370 

"  The  World's  Progress  "  (Putnam) 371 

"  The  Ottoman  Turks"  (Creasy) 371 

"  The  Hidatsa  Indians  "  (Matthews) 371 

"  Survey  of  the  Territories  " 371 

"  New  York  Meteorological  Observatory  " 372 

"  Central  Park  Menagerie" 372 

"  Geyser-Basins  " 372 

"  The  Two-Ocean  Water"  (Comstock) 372 

"  American  Palaeozoic  Fossils  "  (Miller) 373 

"  Serpent  and  Siva  Worship  " 373 

"  Scientific  Course  of  Study  "  (Bessey) 373 

"  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences" 373 

"  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  " 373 

"  Insects  of  Missouri "  (Riley) 373 

"  Savings-Banks  "  (Townsend) 374 

"  Egypt  as  it  is  "  (McCoan) 374 

"  Heredity  "  (Brush) 374 

"  Heredity  "  (Parker) 374 

"  Criminality  "  (Stevenson) 374 

"  Elements  of  Geology  "  (Le  Conte) 501 

"  Deterioration  and  Race-Education  "  (Royce) 503 

"  Notes  on  Leather"  (Lyle) 503 

"  Kansas  Academy  of  Sciences  " 503 

"A,  B,  C,  of  Finance"  (Newcomb) 504 

"Robinson  Crusoe's  Money"  (Wells) 504 

"  Steam-Engineering  "  (Nystrom) 504 

"  Public-Health  Papers  " 504 

"  Smithsonian  Report" • 505 

"  Religious  Feeling  "  (Smyth) •. 505 

"  Sanitary  Condition  of  Houses  "  (Waring) 505 

"  How  to  use  the  Microscope  "  (Phin) 505 

"  Anales  del  Museo  de  Mejico  " 505 

"  Pessimism  "  (Sully) 630 

"  Ancient  Life-History  of  the  Earth  "  (Nicholson) 631 

"  An  American  Girl"  (Sola) 632 

"  Money  "  (Walker) 632 


INDEX.  771 

Books  noticed :  PAGE 

"  Money  and  Legal  Tender  "  (Linderman) 633 

"  The  Positive  Philosophy  and  Religion  " 633 

"  Gerrit  Smith  "  (Frothingham) 634 

"  Transcendentalism  "  (Cook) 634 

"  Physiography  "  (Huxley) ...    749 

"  Chauncey  Wright's  Letters  "  (Thayer) 750 

"  Freethinking  and  Plain  Speaking  "  (Stephen) 751 

"  Source  of  Muscular  Power  "  (Flint) 751 

"  The  Kahala  "  (Pancoast) 752 

"  What  was  He  ?  "  (Denton) 752 

"  North  American  Ethnology  " 753 

"  Heating  and  Ventilation  "  (Schumann) 753 

"  Inorganic  Chemistry  "  (Thorpe) 753 

"  Bulletin  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club  " 753 

"  The  Silver  Country  "  (Anderson) 753 

"  Determination  of  Rocks  "  (Jannetaz) ...    753 

"  Volumetric  Analysis  "  (Muir) 754 

"  Philosophic  Ideas  "  (Wilmshurst) 754 

"  Peabody  Museum  of  Archaeology  "■ 754 

"  Relations  of  Pain  to  Weather  "  (Mitchell) 754 

"  Birds  of  Connecticut "  (Merriam) 755 

"  The  Glacial  Period  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere  "  (Belt) 755 

"  Poisonous  Mushrooms  "  (Ott) 755 

"  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire  " 755 

Young  Scientist 755 

Brain,  A  Low  Mammalian 124 

British  Association  Papers 117 

Buckland  on  the  Berlin  Gorilla 253 

Buckland,  A.  W.,  on  Stimulants 117 

Building-Stones  of  St.  Lawrence  County 255 

Caoutchouc,  Mineral 508 

Carnivorous  Plants 758 

Castor-Oil 511 

Cerebellum,  Functions  of  the 119 

Ceremonial  Government,  Evolution  of 385,  545,  641 

Chemistry  of  Fruit- Ripening 460 

Chinese  Famine,  Causes  of 759 

Chinese  Medicines 762 

Chloroform 738 

Clairvoyance,  Wallace  and 745 

Coinages,  Debasement  of 580 

Color,  Distribution  of,  in  Animals 761 

Colorado,  Ancient  Ruins  of 120 

Colors,  Simultaneous  Contrast  of 118 

Comparative  Stupidity  of  Politicians 162 

Compressed  Air  in  Coal-Mining 638 

Concerning  Belief  in  Hell 627 

Congo,  Stanley's  Exploration  of  the 635 

Constitution  of  the  Nebulae •  •  •  •  118 


772  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Continuity,  The  Law  of 29 

Cook  and  his  "  Biology  " 495 

Cooking 760 

Corals,  Living 737 

Counting  by  the  Aid  of  the  Fingers 430 

Cyclone  in  Bengal 192 

Dallinger  on  Minute  Animal  Forms 122 

Damon,  W.  E.,  Corals 737 

Davis,  E.  W.,  Magnetic  Observatory  at  Madison,  Wisconsin 455 

Dawkins,  B.,  on  Museums 125 

Debasement  of  Coinages 580 

Differences,  The,  of  Things 53 

Digestion,  Recent  Observations  on 123 

Dissipation  of  Energy 701 

Doctoring  Darwin 363 

Doses,  Size  of. 126 

Draper,  J.  W.,  Evolution 175 

Drowning-Accidents 510 

Duration  of  Flight  of  Bees 119 

Dynamical  Theory  of  Heat,  I.     (Illustrated.) 206,  330 

Earthquakes  in  Japan 507 

Earthworms  in  Agriculture 510 

Edison's  Phonograph.     (Illustrated.) .' 719 

Edison's  Phonograph 748 

Education,  Technical , 570 

Electrical  Apparatus 506 

Electricity  in  War 382 

Electrical  Science,  American  Contributions  to 744 

Electro-plating 252 

Eliot,  President,  his  Address 473 

Embalming,  New  Process  of 639 

Energy,  Dissipation  of 701 

Environment,  Influence  of 122 

Epidemics  and  Ablution 639 

Ethnological  Specimens,  Interesting 377 

Eucalyptus,  The,  in  the  Future.     (Illustrated.) 662 

Evolution,  History  of 175 

Evolution  of  Ceremonial  Government 384,  545,  641 

Extirpation  of  Injurious  Insects 123 

Eyesight,  Effects  of  Study  on 74 

Famine,  Chinese,  its  Causes 759 

"Farewell" 509 

Filters  of  Spongy  Iron 379 

Fish-Breeding,  Impure  Water  fatal  to 637 

Fish-Culture,  Notes  on 249 

Fishes,  Marine,  in  Lake  Nicaragua 380 

Flainniarion,  C,  System  of  Sirius 47 


INDEX.  773 

PAGK 

Flight  of  Bees 119 

Florida  Lizards 249,  363 

Formidable  Arachnidan 254 

Formosa,  Travels  in 761 

Fossil  Reptiles,  New 757 

Fruit-Ripening,  Chemistry  of 460 

Functions  of  the  Cerebellum 119 

Garden-Schools 757 

Gas  as  a  Fuel 637 

Gas-Well,  A,  in  Kansas 376 

Gases,  Liquefaction  of.     (Illustrated.) 616 

Gases,  The  last  of  the 635 

Gassiot,  J.  P.,  Death  of. 117 

Generation,  Spontaneous 476 

Germ-Theory 743 

German  Handicraft 636 

Geysers,  and  how  they  are  explained.     (Illustrated.) 407 

Glacial  Period,  Man  and  the.     (Illustrated.) 61 

Gorilla,  Buckland  on  the 253 

Government,  Ceremonial 545 

Gratacap,  L.  P.,  The  Ice  Age 319 

Graves  of  Mound-Builders. . .    638 

Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine.     (Illustrated.) 129,  257,  446,  528 

Handicraft,  German 636 

Health-Matters  in  Japan 280 

Heat,  Dynamical  Theory  of.     (Illustrated.). 206,  330 

Heliotype  Process 639 

Hell,  Belief  in 627 

Honey,  Production  of 765 

Horse,  The,  in  America 744 

Human  Stature 508 

Huxley,  T.  H.,  Technical  Education 570 

Hygiene,  Individual 380 

Hygienic  Influence  of  Plants 417 

Ice  Age 319 

Ice,  Artificial 508 

lies,  G.,  Law  of  Continuity 29 

lies,  G.,  Dissipation  of  Energy 701 

Illuminating  Gas,  Purification  of 765 

Hlustrations  of  the  Logic  of  Science 1,  286,  604,  705 

Improvements  in  Photography 509 

Impure  Water  fatal  to  Fish-Breeding 637 

Inaudible  Vibrations 119 

Individual  Hygiene 380 

Influence  of  Environment 122 

Insanity,  Modern  Life  and 432 

Insects,  Injurious,  Extirpation  of. 123 


774 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Intensity  of  Different-Colored  Lights 759 

International  Scientific  Service 249 

Introduction  and  Succession  of  Vertebrate  Life  in  America.  (Illustrated.)  513,  672 

Japan,  Ancient  Man  in 377 

Japan,  Health-Matters  in 280 

Japanese  Fruit-Tree,  A  New 378 

Jeffreys,  J.  G.,  on  Evolution 117 

Kansas  Gas- Well 376 

Language  in  Education 238 

Language  and  the  Civil  Service 152 

Laryngoscope  and  Rhinoscope.     (Illustrated.) 166- 

Law  of  Continuity 29,  495,  623 

Le  Conte,  Prof.  Joseph,  Sketch  of 358 

Le  Conte,  Joseph,  Geysers 407 

Leland,  E.  R.,  Debasement  of  Coinages 580 

Leverrier,  Death  of 117 

Lightning-Rods,  do  they  attract 760 

Liquefaction  of  the  Gases.     (Illustrated.) 616 

Living  Corals 737 

Living  out-of -Doors 509 

Lizards  of  Florida 249,  363 

Local  Temperatures  of  the  Blood 252 

Lockwood,  S.,  The  Eucalyptus 662 

Logic  of  Science,  Illustrations  of  the 1,  286,  604,  705 

Loomis,  Prof.,  on  Rain  Areas i 250 

McLean,  W.,  Effects  of  Study  on  Eyesight 74 

Magnetic  Observatory  at  Madison,  Wisconsin % 455 

Man  in  Japan 377 

Man  and  the  Glacial  Period.    (Illustrated.) 61 

Man,  was  He  preglacial  ? 381 

Marbleized  Utensils 381 

Marpingen  Miracles 724 

Marsh,  Prof.,  his  Address 473 

Marsh,  O.  C,  Vertebrate  Life  in  America 513,  672 

Mauna  Loa,  Eruption  of. 125 

Mayer,  A.  M.,  Edison's  Talking-Machine 719 

Mechanics  of  Nature 763 

Medicines,  Chinese 762 

Men  of  Science,  Narrowness  among 108 

Mind-Reading 362 

Mineral  Caoutchouc 508 

Mineral  Oils,  Origin  of 124 

Moa-Bird,  The  Gigantic.     (Illustrated.) 87 

Modern  Life  and  Insanity 432 

Modern  Superstitions 232 

Modern  Troglodytes 37 


INDEX.  77  5 


PAGE 


Monkey,  New  Species  of 507 

Mont  Blanc,  Discovery  of 506 

Moral  Sense,  Origin  of 378 

Morse,  E.  S.,  Health-Matters  in  Japan 280 

Mound  in  Utah,  Contents  of  a 123 

Muscular  Power,  Source  of 729 

Museums  of  Natural  History 501 

Narrowness  among  Men  of  Science 108 

Nebulae,  their  Constitution 118 

Nicaragua,  Lake,  Marine  Fishes  in 380 

Niemeyer,  Dr.  P.,  Air  and  Health 216 

Non-Poisonous  Coloring  for  Preserved  Vegetables 638 

Notes 127,  255,  383,  511,  640,  767 

Oils,  Mineral,  Origin  of 124 

Open  Air  and  Health 216,  494 

Opening  of  the  Museum 501 

Opium  and  its  Antidote 555 

Optical  Experiment,  A  New 122 

Oswald,  F.  L.     Modern  Troglodytes 37 

Our  Six-footed  Rivals 196,  349 

Peirce,  C.  S.,  Logic  of  Science 1,  286,  604,  705 

Peppermint-Culture 511 

Pettenkofer,  M.  von,  Hygienic  Influence  of  Plants 417 

Pharmacopoeia,  The  United  States .  247 

Phonograph,  Edison's.     (Illustrated.) 719,  748,  756 

Photographs,  New  Solar 748 

Photography,  Improvements  in 509 

Plague  of  Rats 376 

Plants,  their  Hygienic  Influence 417 

Pneumatic  Clock  Regulator 251 

Poinier,  P.,  Dynamical  Theory  of  Heat 206,  330 

Poisonous  Leguminous  Plants 764 

Poisons  of  the  Intelligence 738 

Political  Economy  in  Law-Schools 121 

Prescott,  A.  B.,  Fruit-Ripening 460 

Preservation  of  Wood 

Proctor,  R.  A.,  Star  or  Star-Mist 148 

Pumpkins,  Composition  of 376 

Railroad-Strike,  The  Great,  of  1877 107 

Rankine,  Prof.,  Sketch  of.     (Portrait.) 236 

Rats,  A  Plague  of 376 

Reptilia,  New  Order  of  Extinct 378 

Respiration,  Artificial 252 

Rest  for  Woman 492 

Rheumatism,  Salicylic  Acid  in 248 

Richet,  C,  Opium  and  its  Antidote 555 


776  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Eichet,  C,  Chloroform 738 

"  Eing  Nebula,"  To  the 90 

Eivals,  Our  Six-footed 196,  349 

Salicylic  Acid  in  Ebeumatisni 248 

Sauvage,  E.,  Archer-Fishes 302 

Savings-Banks  and  State  Control 238 

Saxon,  J.  W.,  The  Differences  of  Things. 53 

Schneider,  E.,  The  Tides 226 

Science,  Denationalizing 126 

Science,  Logic  of 1,  286,  604,  703 

Seasons,  Alternation  of,  and  Tree-Growth 382 

Secchi,  Frof.,  Sketch  of.     (Portrait.) 742 

Seeger,  Dr.  S.,  Laryngoscope  and  Ehinoscope.     (Illustrated.) 166 

Servetus,  Michael,  Sketch  of.     (Portrait.) 91 

Shaw,  G.  M.,  Telephone 559 

Simultaneous  Contrast  of  Colors 118 

Singing-Flames  and  Inaudible  Vibrations 119 

Sirius,  The  System  of.     (Illustrated.) 47 

Six-footed  Eivals,  Our 196,  349 

Slag,  Utilization  of 762 

Slaves  of  Ants 116 

Smell,  Extraordinary  Development  of  Sense  of  125 

Society,  The  Science  of 367 

Solar  Photographs 748 

Source  of  Muscular  Power 729 

Spencer,  H.,  Ceremonial  Government 385,  545,  641 

Spiders,  how  they  spin 766 

Spongy  Iron  Filters 379 

Spontaneous  Generation 476,  591 

Stagnation  of  Trade,  The  Present 106 

Stanley's  Trip  down  the  Congo 635 

Star,  or  Star-Mist U8 

Stature,  Human 508 

Steam-Engine,  Growth  of  the.     (Illustrated.) 15,  129,  257,  446,  528 

Steam-Engine,  A  New  Type  of. 11° 

Stoddard,  J.  L.,  To  the  "  Eing  Nebula  " 90 

Study,  Effects  of,  on  the  Eyesight T4 

Stupidity,  Comparative,  of  Politicians 1"" 

Style 340 

Sugar-Manufacture,  New  Process  of '5^ 

Sun-Spots  and  their  Effects 365 

Superstitions,  Modern -32 

Talking-Machine,  Edison's.     (Illustrated.) ' 19 

Taste-Perceptions -50 

Teachings  of  a  Day 3-7 

Teasel,  Common,  Sensitiveness  of  its  Leaves "37 

Technical  Education ^70 

Telephone,  The,  and  how  it  works.     (Illustrated.) 5^9 


INDEX.  777 


PAGE 


The  Telephone  anticipated 116 

The  Telephone,  Teachings  of 625 

Temperaments 306 

Theine,  Proportions  of,  in  Different  Kinds  of  Tea 760 

Thurston,  E.  H.,  Growth  of  the  Steam-Engine 15,  129,  257,  466,  528 

Tides 105,  226,  491 

Tissandier,  G.,  Liquefaction  of  the  Gases 616 

Topographical  Surveys  and  Health 253 

Torpedo,  Invention  of  the 507 

Travels  in  Formosa 761 

Tree-Growth,  Alternation  of  Seasons  and   382 

Trees  and  Health 758 

Troglodytes,  Modern 37 

Trowbridge,  J.,  Counting  by  the  Aid  of  the  Fingers 430 

Tuke,  D.  H,  Modern  Life  and  Insanity 432 

Tyndall,  J.,  Spontaneous  Generation 476,  591 

Underground  Clock-Regulator 251 

United  States  Pharmacopoeia 247 

Van  de  "Warker,  E.,  Temperaments 30ij 

Vegetables,  Preserved,  Non-Poisonous  Coloring  for 038 

Vertebrate  Life  in  America 513,  672 

Vibrations,  Inaudible,  and  Singing-Flames 119 

"Wakefulness,  Remedy  for 121 

"Wallace  and  Clairvoyance 745 

War,  Electricity  in 382 

Waste  of  Wire-Works 379 

Waters,  A.  W.,  on  the  Shifting  of  the  Earth's  Axis 118 

Weasel,  The  Wicked 697 

Weather-Observations,  Value  of 764 

Weights  and  Measures 375 

Whitney  Glacier 636 

Wood,  Preservation  of 382,  510 

Wright,  T.  H.,  Style 340 


END    OF   VOL.    XII. 


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