April 27, 191 1] 



NATURE 



275 



A PHILOSOPHICAL EVOLUTIONIST. 

 Der Wert der Menschheit in seiner historisch-philoso- 

 phischen und seiner heutigen naturwissenschaft- 

 lichen Bedeutiing. By Di;. F. Strecker. Pp. xiii + 

 392. (Leipzig : W. Engelmann, igio.) Price 7.40 

 marks. 



THE author expounds a new interpretation of 

 nature — a " Pythag-orean-atoniistic " evolution 

 principle — which correlates a recognition of necessi- 

 tarian uniformity with the concept of a high degree 

 of contingency in natural happenings. The first part 

 of the book is devoted to a historical sketch of the 

 development of philosophic thought, in which the 

 author discerns an analogy to the phyletic evolution 

 of organisms. He then passes to a survey of the 

 world of energies, and the discovery of its principle 

 of development. The third section is devoted to the 

 position of living organisms in nature, and here the 

 author recognises that there is truth both in the vital- 

 istic 'and in the mechanistic interpretations. But the 

 mechanistic interpretations of vital activity that work 

 are not like those which apnly to the inorganic; there 

 is a dualism and antagonism separating the two sets of 

 formulae. In fact, the organism stands by itself "with 

 an independent genesis and tendency." In the fourth 

 part of his book Dr. Strecker investigates the factors 

 in the self-evolution of the animate world, and sub- 

 jects " Darwinism " to a detailed criticism, his sym- 

 pathies being Lamarckian. The chief point in the 

 criticism is not unfamiliar, that selection is a 

 secondary and directive, not a primary and origina- 

 tive factor. In the concluding part of this section 

 there is an interesting discussion of "purposiveness," 

 for instance, in development. This is regarded not 

 as a fundamental property which explains things, but 

 as a secondary achievement which has to be ex- 

 plained. It is not primary, but an outcome of pro- 

 gressive evolution. The concluding part of the book 

 is on man's place in nature, and contains a vindica- 

 tion of an "anthropocentric " cosmology. 



It may be of interest to give some further indication 

 of the author's indictment of Darwinism. He criti- 

 cises the concepts of the struggle for existence and 

 natural selection, and shows that they tend to distract 

 the attention from the primary fact and problem of 

 the active organism, asserting itself in relation to the 

 rnvironment, and expressing itself ever in fresh form. 

 In the second place, he seeks to show that some of 

 the postulates are inconsistent with the actual facts 

 of the case, and he raises difficulties, some of which 

 have been very often discussed, regarding over-multi- 

 plication, the selection-value of a few additional milli- 

 metres on a primitive proboscidean's trunk, and the 

 struggle among members of the same species. He 

 utilises the facts of mutual aid as arguments against 

 Darwinism, and in so doing shows, as it seems to us, 

 a Procrustean conception of what the struggle for 

 existence means. 



Dr. Strecker leads his readers in an interesting way 

 from the errors of Darwinism to the truth that is in 

 Lamarck, and we are left at least with the impres- 

 sion that some compromise must be arrived at between 

 the two interpretations. Not the least striking part 

 NO. 2165, VOL. 86] 



of the book is the thesis that Darwinism is wrapped 

 up with mechanistic, and Lamarckism with vitalistic 

 views, and from this the author goes on to show that 

 a recognition of the partial truth on either hand is to 

 be found in his own particular theory of the "anthro- 

 pocentric position " of man in the universe. 



J. A. T. 



RECENT PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 

 Fortschritte der naturwissenschaftlichen Forschung. 

 Edited by ProL E. Abderhalden. Vol. i., pp. viii + 

 306. Vol. ii., pp. iv + 364. (Berlin and Vienna: 

 Urban und Schwarzenberg, igio-ii.) Price, vol i., 

 10 marks; vol. ii., 12 marks. 

 T^HE plan of tnis new publication is to furnish sum- 

 -^ maries of recent results in selected departments 

 of knowledge in which some degree of settlement 

 and certainty has already been reached. This policy 

 will avoid any risk of wasting time on raw specula- 

 tions, and, under the able guidance of a man of Dr. 

 Abderhalden 's experience and prodigious industry, 

 the series promises to be useful and judiciously 

 chosen. In these first two volumes the subjects dealt 

 with are colour photography (Miethe), fire-damp- 

 resisting explosives (Brunswig), slow combustion and 

 oxidation ferments (Bach), methods and recent results 

 of gravitation measurements (Niethammer), develop- 

 ment of picture telegraphy (Korn), recent methods 

 of solar investigation (Guthnick), fermentation in 

 living and "killed" plants (Palladin), origin of 

 petroleum (Engler). Vol. ii. : — Inheritance of ac- 

 quired characters (Semon), fossil lung-breathing 

 aquatic animals (Stromer), volcanic research (Sapper), 

 ions and electrons (Mie), utilisation of atmospheric 

 nitrogen (Frenzel), cretinic degeneration, goitre, and 

 deaf-mutism (Bircher), and muscular atrophy (Bing). 

 All these essays, written by men who have done 

 some original work on the subjects dealt with (and 

 sometimes a great deal of work), are well written, 

 and occasionally only disappointing to the uninitiated 

 on account of their caution. Thus Miethe regards a 

 further sensational development of colour photo- 

 graphy as very unlikely ; Korn throws cold water on 

 the problem of vision at a distance ; and Sapper, 

 after an exhaustive parade of recent volcanic theories 

 (including Strutt's radio-activity speculations), calls 

 for more facts. Some of the contributors are more 

 positive. Brunswig confidently expects the discovery 

 of a satisfactory explosive for coal-mines by judicious 

 admixture of non-explosive material ; Palladin con- 

 siders the loss of coordination in the production of 

 ferments after killing (by cpld or narcotics) as de- 

 finitely established ; Semon commits himself to a 

 modified Lamarckism on a basis of " mnemes " and 

 "engrams"; and Bircher regards the influence of 

 soil and water on cretinism as proven. Engler 

 favours the view which ascribes the origin of 

 petroleum to fossil animal fats. 



The remaining articles are more or less neutral, but 

 no less admirable, summaries of recent work. Mie's 

 " Ions and Electrons " emphasises Maxwell's views 

 of the asther rather more than we are accustomed to 



