HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the following confession. " The inference I would 

 draw from this class of phenomena is, that a superior 

 intelligence has guided the development of man in a 

 definite direction and for a special purpose, &c., &c. 

 We must therefore admit the possibility that, if we 

 are not the highest intelligences in the universe, 

 some higher intelligence may have directed the pro- 

 cess by which the human race was developed ; by 

 means of more subtle agencies than we are acquainted 

 with." 



" At the same time I must confess, that this theory 

 has the disadvantage of requiring the intervention of 

 some distinct individual intelligence, to aid in the 

 production of what we can hardly avoid considering 

 as the ultimate aim and outcome of all organised 

 existence — intellectual, ever-advancing, spiritual 



man. 



»>iit 



Whether this " controlling intelligence " was 

 angel, archangel, spirit or demon, does not affect 

 the question. It is enough for the purpose to know 

 that this champion of Natural Selection discovered 

 the necessity of recognising the operation of an 

 "intelligent agency," directing the process of man's 

 development, and was honest enough to admit it. 



Perhaps Mr. Tansley would agree with Mr. 

 Wallace that "it is simply a question of how the 

 Creator has worked," and not whether there exists 

 an "inteUigent Creator"? 



If so, he is still in the company of Darwin, 

 Wallace, and Dawson, names that may surely figure 

 among " the prominent men of science of the day." 



If on the other -hand, such words as the fol- 

 lowing are the sum and substance of Mr. Tansley's 

 belief, "Natural Selection, &c., &c., ultimately 

 consists in the action of certain purely mechanical 

 environing agencies on the organism," then the 

 question becomes one of supreme importance. 



Does Mr. Tansley see no difficulty in such a state- 

 ment as that which I subjoin ? Speaking of the 

 rhizopoda, Huxley says : " In the substance of many 

 of these creatures, nothing is to be discerned but a 

 mass of jelly, &c., &c. ; it is structureless and organ- 

 less, and without definitely formed parts. Neverthe- 

 less, &c., it can produce a shell : a structure in many 

 cases, of extraordinary complexity and most singular 

 beauty. That this particle of jelly is capable of 

 guiding physical forces in such a manner as to give 

 rise to those exquisite and almost mathematically- 

 arranged structures— being itself structureless and 

 without permanent distinction or operation of parts 

 is, to my mind, a fact of the profouudest signifi- 

 cance."! 



What this "profound significance" implies, the 

 writer does not tell us, but to some minds it would 

 not unnaturally necessitate the conception of an 

 intelligent agent. 



* Wallace, " On Natural Selection," p. 360. 

 + " Introduction to the Classification of Animals," Huxley 

 pp. 10, II. 



With regard to my statement, that "an evolution 

 of retrogression has been cheerfully accepted," and 

 to which Mr. Tansley takes exception, I will refer 

 him to a paper by T. in June 1888. 



In defence of the illustration used by me of 

 " Mozart playing on a worn-out piano," though Mr. 

 Tansley conceives it to be "singularly unhappy," and 

 objects that the piano " cannot possibly be compared 

 with an organism, which has infinite powers of 

 adapting itself to changed conditions," he must 

 remember that instead of speaking of the " os coccyx " 

 as perfectly adapted to its present undoubted func- 

 tion, he described it as "so degenerated as to have 

 no function at all." 



In conclusion, I would thank Mr. Tansley for his 

 last article, which has given a more clear and definite 

 shape to the argument. 



HOW TO WORK WITH THE MICRO- 

 GRAPHIC DICTIONARY. 



By W. J. Simmons. 



THE great value of the Micrographic Dictionary 

 can only be realised by always having it at 

 hand on the work-table, and by constantly referring 

 to it. If used in this way it will soon prove itself 

 to be something more than a mere work of reference. 

 To enable students, and those whose leisure may be 

 scanty, to work at the "Micrographic" from this 

 standpoint, I venture to trespass on your space with 

 a list of articles, the careful perusal of which, in the 

 order I have given them, will repay the trouble of 

 following my advice. It took me some little time to 

 draw up the list ; and, as I found it useful, I proceed 

 to set it out for the benefit of your readers, as a clue 

 to what may be designated " treatises," concealed in 

 the pages of Griffiths and Henfrey's useful work. 



List : Protoplasm, p. 641 ; Primordial utricle, 

 p. 637 ; Sarcode, p. 674 ; Cells, animal, p. 137 ; Cells, 

 vegetable, p. 142 ; Secondary deposits, p. 686 ; 

 Pitted structures, p. 600; Spiral structures, p. 711 

 (herein refer to the following articles : Lycopodiacese, 

 Ferus, Masses) ; Tissues, vegetable, p. 768 (herein also 

 Fibro-plastic and Animal) ; Inter-cellular substance, 

 p. 438 ; Medulla and Medullary rays, p. 495 ; Pollen, 

 p. 613 ; Anther, p. 56 ; Spores, p. 724 ; Ovule, p. 565. 

 Also the following : Epidermis, p. 294 ; Hairs, 

 p. 370. The value of the notes to Bibliography which 

 follow each article can only be appreciated by any 

 one who is determined to follow up a subject, or to 

 find what has already been written about some object 

 which has awakened interest in the real student of 

 nature. 



Another way in which such a student can utilise 

 the "Micrographic" is to draw up conspectuses in 

 the form given below. Similar schedules will be found 

 under some of the articles, e.g. under Trac/ielina, 

 p. 775. But under Actinophryina, p. 14, a table only 

 is given, on which my conspectus is entirely based, 



B 2 



