DECEMBER 1899] CORRESPONDENCE 463 
One might just as well say that the safest way to think of bicycle-riding is 
as a habit of body expressing a habit of mind, though the cerebration is 
unconscious—in the case of good riders—just as it is with accomplished 
speakers in language. 
But wherein comes the element of safety pointed out by Mr. Wyld? I 
should prefer to say that Mr. Wyld’s way of thinking of language is a very 
vague one, and vagueness of thought is not an element of safety in scientific 
inquiry. 
It seems to me far safer for writers on the subject never to lose sight of the 
fact that language (speech) is a human invention, and has nothing whatever to 
do with biological analogy or biological phenomena. 
Then we shall probably hear a great deal less of the “life” and “ growth” of 
language, its ‘‘ evolution,” its ‘‘ branches,” its “‘ offshoots ”; that itis an ‘‘ organ- 
ism,” that it has “roots,” and that there are “‘ mother-languages ” and “ sister- 
languages”; and all the rest of the jargon with which philologists becloud 
their subject. 
Philologists will retort that these terms are merely metaphorical : but these 
metaphors mislead, and have misled many who read books on philology to get 
a knowledge of what language is. J. I. HAzeLanp. 
Koss Crus, Kong, JAPAN, 
Sept. 6, 1899. 
NEW MEXICO BIOL. STATION. 
Your note on p. 157 about the N. M. Biol. Station is incorrect. 
The Biol. Station was conducted by myself and Miss Wilmatte Porter, and 
concerned itself not at all with geology or anthropology. The students were 
mostly public school teachers, and occupied themselves with the biology of 
flowers, particularly the structure of flowers as related to insect visitors. Some 
work was also done on the mouth-parts of bees, and a few other things. It 
seemed to me we had as much success as we deserved, and the outlook for the 
future is encouraging. It is regretted that there is no millionaire available to 
endow the institution; but the country is full of new and interesting things, 
and is itself a laboratory better endowed than that of many a wealthy college, 
so that the naturalist who cannot find profitable occupation must be stupid 
indeed. The station differs from most others in concerning itself with terrestrial 
life (not freshwater, or marine), which is especially worth the attention of the 
student in this region, owing to the desert conditions, resulting in such interest- 
ing adaptations. 
Your notes on Dr. Judd’s paper (p. 89) are interesting. Yesterday I saw 
a little spider which beautifully mimicked an ant of the genus Formica. Now 
you might say, what for? The ant is a fairly soft, harmless thing, apparently 
as good meat as the spider. But the great enemy of spiders is a certain wasp, 
which stores up spiders for its young. Now the wasp doesn’t want ants, doesn’t 
use that kind of meat. So the spider taken for an ant will escape, though the 
ant is harmless. This couldn’t be seen on general principles, one has to know 
about the customs of the wasp. Tro. D. A. CocKERELL. 
MeEsItLA Park, NEw Mexico, U.S.A. 
