so 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the best ingredients out of the land. Amongst the 

 plants thus stigmatized as pickpockets is Corn 

 Spurrey {Spergula arvensis), which is a very 

 troublesome, choking weed in sandy soils, I men- 

 tioned that in certain soils Prunella was very 

 prevalent as a corn-weed, and that it was difficult 

 to eradicate, which circumstances have, no doubt, 

 combined to give it the name it still bears in Essex. 



Robert Holland. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL 

 HISTORY. 



AMONG other definitions of philosophy. Dr. 

 Johnson, in his world-famed dictionary, tells 

 "us that this word means " an hypothesis or system 

 npon which natural effects are explained," and 

 surely there is no branch of philosophic study 

 which is more open to individual effort or genius, 

 or which owes more to the industry of what the 

 world would term " common-place" intellects, than 

 the science of Natural History. In the study of the 

 world's products and components every lover of 

 Nature may find a grade suited to his ability, and a 

 section iu accordance with his taste, and that man 

 is much to be pitied who devotes himself entirely 

 to classical lore, or commercial pursuits, to the 

 exclusion of natural science. It is my intention to 

 bring before the readers of Science-Gossip, within 

 the limits of the present article, some facts and 

 hypotheses which, if not entirely new, are at least 

 sufficiently undeveloped to present matter for the 

 consideration and attention of thoughtful minds. 



It has probably not unfrequently occurred to 

 most people as a very strange thing that so much 

 pain should be suffered by animals lower in the 

 scale of creation than man, without apparently any 

 of the compensating advantages enjoyed by the 

 latter. Surely there cannot be any doubt as to the 

 capabilities of such enjoyment possessed by the 

 animal world, for no one who has heard a cat purr 

 will deny that the feline tribe at any rate are sus- 

 <!eptible of pleasurable sensations. What says 

 analogy ? Does the pig, grovelling in the mire of 

 his sty, enjoy himself less than the glorious peacock, 

 sunning his train on some conspicuous eminence ; 

 •or does the pleasure experienced by au athlete, 

 in going through his pentathlon, exceed the calm 

 delight of the philosopher, cooling his heated brow, 

 "sub tegmine fagi" ? Surely not. How is it then 

 that animals iu their natural state appear to have 

 so little happiness and so much pain? Let us 

 picture to ourselves the evening scene in a tropical 

 forest. The fiery sun, like a red-hot ball, drops be- 

 hind the western hills, and night falls suddenly on 

 the jungle world. Then the butterflies close their 

 wings, and resign their posts to the radiant fire-flies, 

 and the kings of the forest, who have been purring 



away the noonday heat, surrounded by their frolic- 

 some cubs, emerge from their cavernous dens, and 

 roar for ththeir challenges on the nearest hillocks. 

 Then the denizens of the jungle, collecting in one 

 immense herd, march down the well-beaten track 

 to the river or streamlet, which is always found in 

 close proximity to the forest, for the purpose of 

 taking their nightly drink, and to lave their fly- 

 tormented hides in the cooling stream. Having 

 quenched its thirst, each creature proceeds to do 

 that which is right in its own eyes, and, unfor- 

 tunately for the peace of the community, the 

 hungry carnivora commence to fall upon their 

 prey. 



It is in vain that the timid antelope urges that it 

 has as much right to live as the most voracious 

 lion that ever breathed ; it is in vain that the wild-cat 

 claims consanguinity with the tiger about to devour 

 it. Might is in the ascendant, and from might there 

 is no appeal. Consider what a frightful amount of 

 pain is occasioned in this way, or, to speak more 

 correctly — if we adopt the hypothesis presently to 

 be set forth — is apparently occasioned, in each acre 

 of tropical forest every night of the year. Now, 

 every thinking naturalist must often have asked 

 himself — " Is this so ? Would a merciful Providence 

 have ordained that the sparrow should be reared 

 only to perish in the talons of the hawk, or the 

 gazelle only to be torn in pieces by the lion, if 

 a happy immunity from pain did not accompany 

 their untoward end ? " It is true that animals in- 

 stinctively avoid the carnivora which prey upon 

 them, but if this be taken to prove that their death 

 is a painful one, we must infer that some mode of 

 communication exists among dumb animals enabling 

 them to communicate nervous sensations to one 

 another — a thing which human beings find difficult 

 to do. All living creatures, except, perhaps, the 

 zoophitic classes, and also many plants, avoid 

 death-giving agencies ; but this dread is innate in 

 the organic system, though, perhaps, it can scarcely 

 be reckoned among the functions of instinct, as that 

 term is generally understood, inasmuch as it exists 

 in forms of animal and insect life too low in the 

 scale of existence to have any other nervous cha- 

 racteristics. 



So far, however, the evidence is of a negative 

 kind, and only goes to prove that we are mistaken 

 iu our estimate of the amount of corporeal suffering 

 existing among animals, and some theory must be 

 set forth which may serve as au explanatory key to 

 unravel the mystery, and which may shed a fresh 

 light on a subject concerning which we can only 

 deplore our ignorance. The most circumstantial 

 evidence points to that marvellous but little-under- 

 stood power which goes by the name of fascination, 

 as the provision which Providence has instituted 

 for the humane purpose of lessening animal pain. 

 To understand this power rightly, it is necessary to 



