1894- PSEUDO-BIOLOGY. 



451 



be subject to them. But there are other erroneous statements, which 

 often form the bases of arguments, and which would naturally deceive 

 the lay reader. The following sentence (p. 22) is an important link 

 in one of Mr. Drummond's main chains of argument, viz., that proving 

 Altruism to be the " direct outcome and essential accompaniment of 

 the reproductive process." The sentence is, " Without some rudi- 

 mentary maternal solicitude for the eg^ in the humblest forms of life, 

 or for the young among higher forms, the living world would not onl}' 

 suffer, but would cease." There are sea-urchins that carry their 

 young in a little pouch on their backs, there are fish that make nests, 

 there is a toad whose back is pitted with cells in which the little toads 

 develop ; but where is the maternal solicitude in the common Echinus, 

 in the fishes of the sea, or in the frogs of the marsh ? No one would 

 deny maternal care to be a great aid in evolution, serving as it does 

 to transmit the experience of a lifetime ; but it is stretching a good 

 many points to say that " for a time in the life-history of every 

 higher animal the direct, personal, gratuitous, unrewarded help of 

 another creature is a condition of existence." One begins to suspect 

 that this professor of pseudo-biology has never seen so much as a 

 tadpole. Then again, in the chapter on the evolution of language, Ave 

 are treated to this remarkable pronouncement, " Any means by which 

 information is conveyed from one mind to another is Language. And 

 Language existed on the earth from the day that animals began to 

 live together. The mere fact that animals cling to one another, live 

 together, move about together, proves that they communicate." So 

 doubtful is this that one might even take so highly developed an 

 animal as the Rosy Featherstar of our seas, and ask Mr. Drummond 

 what real proof he has that the individuals of its floating colonies 

 communicate with one another. 



The preceding instances should show the admirers of this latter- 

 day pamphlet-writer that they ought to be careful in accepting his 

 premises as gospel-truth. And if they are not yet convinced, let them 

 ask some biological friend what he thinks of the following observa- 

 tions. " It is one of the most astounding facts of modern science that 

 the first embryonic abodes of moss and fern and pine, of shark and 

 crab and coral polyp, of lizard, leopard, monkey, and Man are so 

 exactly similar that the highest powers of mind and microscope fail 

 to trace the smallest distinction between them " (p. 79). Astounding 

 indeed ! Small wonder that in the description of the development of 

 the human embryo which immediately follows. Professor Drummond 

 definitely introduces the formation of a gastrula by simple invagina- 

 tion. This prepares us for the description of the simplest case of 

 cell-division, on p. 282, " At one moment it will call in matter from 

 without, and assimilate it to itself ; at another moment ... it 

 will set a portion of that matter apart, add to it, and finally give it 

 away to form another life. Even at its dawn life is receiver and giver ; 

 even in protoplasm is Self-ism and Other-ism." Tiie only difficulty is 



2 G 2 



