624 Illusions of the Upper Air [March lu, 



received, the Gorgon always puts her tongue out. It is not at all polite. 

 What can it mean ? There is a story in Galton's reminiscences, of 

 Herbert Spencer at the Atheneeum describing to Huxley a nightmare 

 that he had of a beautiful theory killed, as Huxley interjected, by an 

 obstinate fact. My experience is that those people whose business in 

 life, like that of meteorological observations, is to kill theories by 

 exhibiting facts, are just a little inclined to put out the tongue, and 

 if they had lived in the times of the Gorgon I can well imagine 

 their behaving like the picture. 



I find in the Gorgon's tongue something symbolical of the 

 attitude of the practical man towards the efforts of meteorologists 

 to read the riddles of the weather. The criticisms that reach us at 

 the Meteorological Office are very suggestive of putting out the 

 tongue. And whatever we may think about its manners or its 

 intelligence it is very paralysing for diffident natures like ours. 



I venture to go further and to say that this feature of the 

 Gorgon's head is remarkably true to life as representing the traditional 

 aspect of the British public towards science. I fear you may be 

 disappointed that I have said nothing about the war, but so long as 

 the Gorgon's tongue is visible at the British Museum (as shown in 

 the slide taken from the copy of Pheidias' Shield of Athene preserved 

 there) all that need be said is that putting one's tongue out, whether 

 at science or anything else, is a very natural expression of the 

 emotions, but it puts one in a position in which it is not possible 

 to use to th^ best advantage either one's physical or one's mental 

 faculties. Unless yoa take your tongue in all that you can do is 

 to scream. 



[N.S.] 



