74 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



will tend to redeem the work of the greatest natural observer 

 who has ever lived from the great misuse which has been often 

 made of it. There is no real disparagement of that work in say- 

 ing that the phrase which embalmed it is metaphorical. The 

 very highest truths are conveyed in metaphor. The confession 

 of Mr. Spencer is fatal only to claims which never ought to have 

 been made. Natural selection represents no physical causation 

 whatever except that connected with heredity. Physically it 

 explains the origin of nothing. But the metaphorical elements 

 which Mr. Spencer wishes to eliminate are of the highest value. 

 They refer us directlj^ to those supreme causes to which the 

 physical forces are " under subjection." They express in some 

 small degree that inexhaustible wealth of primordial inception, 

 of subsequent development, and of continuous adjustment, upon 

 which alone selection can begin to operate. These are the su- 

 preme facts in nature. When this is clearly seen and thor- 

 oughly understood, Darwin's researches and speculations will no 

 longer act as a barrier to further inquiry, as Mr. Spencer com- 

 plains they now do. They will, on the contrary, be the most 

 powerful stimulus to deeper inquiry, and to more healthy rea- 

 soning. — Nineteenth Century. 



THE AMERICAN ROBIN AND HIS CONGENERS. 



By Dr. SPENCER TROTTEE. 



OUR American robin is a thrush — the red-breasted thrush is 

 his proper title — he occupies a high position in the scale of 

 bird-life, and possesses some very interesting records of his fam- 

 ily history. When our forefathers first came over they found 

 the frank, hearty bird with the russet breast ready to make 

 friends with them, to stay about the clearings and around their 

 rough cabins, cheering them with the strong, hopeful song that 

 has ever gladdened the heart with its vigor and fullness of 

 promise. With what joy the pioneers must have welcomed the 

 first spring that brought the robins back after the long, dreary 

 winter ! To this day the first robin of the spring creates a sen- 

 sation, coming, as he often does, amid the ice and the snow and 

 the rough wind, and not a leaf on the trees. The early settlers 

 called him " robin " from his red breast, no doubt, and his con- 

 fiding ways, after the trusty little warbler so dear to their hearts 

 in the old home across the sea. And so it has been " robin " 

 ever since, although our bird is but distantly related to the little 

 robin-redbreast of the Old World, who belongs to the warblers 

 — another branch of the family. 



