Deed, 1877] 



NATURE 



1 1 



good as the few skulls which were found. But I must say that one 

 fo<^sil monkey-skull or man-ape skull which really belonged to a 

 human proprietor has never been found. Every addition which 

 we have obtained in the material inventory of objects for dis- 

 cussion has moved us further away from the problem to be 

 solved. Now of course we cmnot avoid the consideration that 

 perhaps it was on some quite special spot of the earth that tertiary 

 man lived. This is quite possible, since during the last few years 

 the remarkable discovery has been made in North America that 

 the fossil ancestors of our horses occur in countries from which 

 the horse had entirely disappeared for a long time. When 

 America was discovered there were no horses there at all ; in the 

 very place where the ancestors of our horses bad lived no living 

 horse had r mained. Thus it may also be that tertiary man has 

 existed in Greenland or Lemuria, and will again be brought to 

 light from under the ground somewhere or other. But as a fact 

 we must positively acknowledge that there is always a sharp 

 limit between man and the ape. We cannot teach, we cannot 

 designate it as a revelation of science, that man descends from the 

 ape or from any other animal. We can but designate this as a 

 problem, m ly it seem ever so probable and may it lie ever so 

 near. 



We ought to be sufficiently warned by the experiences of the 

 past, at a time when we are not justified in drawing conclusions, 

 not unnecessarily to burden ourselves with the obligaiion, or 

 yield to the temptation of drawing them all the same. Look 

 you, gentlemen, it is in this that the difilicultv lies for every 

 naturalist who speaks to the world at large. Whoever speaks 

 or writes for the public, ought, in my opinion, doubly to examine 

 just now, how much of that which he knows and says is objec- 

 tive truth. He ought to try as much as possible to have all 

 inductive extensions which he makes, all progressing conclusions 

 by the laws of analogy, however probable they may seem, 

 printed in small type underneath the general text, and to put into 

 the latter only that which really is objective truth. In that case 

 we might perhaps succeed in gaining an always increasing circle 

 of followers, in obtaining an always mcreasing number of lellow- 

 workers, and in causing the educated public to continue to take 

 pttrt in that fertile manner in which it has already taken part in 

 many domains. Otherwise, gentlemen, I fear that we overrate 

 our power. Certainly old Bacon said with perfect justice, 

 scientia est pctentia, knowledge is power. But he has also 

 defined knowledge, and the knowledge which he meant was not 

 speculative knowledge, not the knowledge of problems, but it 

 was the objective knowledge of facts. I think that we should 

 abuse our power, we should endanger our power, if in our teaching 

 we do not fall back upon this perfectly justified, perfectly safe, 

 and impregnable domain. From this domain we may as 

 investigators make our excursions in the direction of problems, 

 and I am convinced that every attempt of this kind will then 

 find the necessary safety and support. 



AMERICAN SCIENCE 



'T'HE principal paper in the American Journal of Science and 

 -^ Arts for November, is Prof Marsh's able address at the recent 

 meeting of the American Association, on the Introduction and Suc- 

 cession of Vertebrate Life in America, which we have givenat length. 

 — Discussing the question, Is the existence of growth rings in the 

 early exogenous plants proof of alternating seasons ? Dr. Warring 

 concludes from observations, that some exogens form rings at 

 intervals much less than a year ; others require intervals of 

 several years, and some form no rings. The presence or absence 

 of rings in exogens occurs in all climates. Large and well- 

 defined rinjjs are found where there is absolutely no appreciable 

 variation of temperature or moisture throughout the year. An 

 exogen naturally forming rings will continue to form them, 

 although the climate become uni'orm throughout the year. 

 Thus the existence of these markings in ancient flora gives no 

 informaton as to the existence at that time of seasons, and so far 

 as they are concerned we are left free to adopt any conclusion as to 

 inclination of the earth's axis, which may appear most reasonable. 

 — Some years ago Prof. Newcomb showed ttiac the improvements 

 introduced into the theory of the moon's mean mot on by 

 Hanssen's lunar tables did not extend to ths inequalities of long 

 period in that motion. Wnile Hanssen, by an empirical term 

 had secured a very good agreement with observations Irom 1750 

 to i860, this aLreement was found to have been obtained by 

 sacrificing the agreement before 1750, and the moon had then 

 begun to deviate from the tables at such a rate that they could 



not continue satisf^actorily to represent the observations. Prof. 

 Newcomb has since attempted a complete discussion of all 

 recorded observations of any astronomical value before the year 

 1750, and his suspicion has been entirely confirmed. The results 

 of this examination are communicated. Comparing a theory of 

 the moon's mean motion founded on gravity alone, with the 

 observations, he is led to suppose thai; the deviations may be due 

 to the action of some of the bodies of the solar system. He 

 corrects Hanssen's term by an empirical addition. — Prof. 

 Dana contributes to the number a rote on the Helderberg 

 formation of Bernardston, Massachusetts, and Vernon, Vermont, 

 and Mr. Mallet describes " Serpylite," a new niobate, from 

 Amherst County, Virginia. 



The New York Tribune states that the Johns Hopkins Scien- 

 tific Association has recently been organised in Baltimore. Prof. 

 Sylvester is president. Prof. Remsen, vice-president, Dr. Story, 

 secretary. A great feature in the programme is that the essays 

 presented are to be short and concise, and to contain the par- 

 ticulars of original research exclusively. There is also to be a 

 discussion of new scientific publications, both foreign and 

 domestic, at the meetings, of which the first has been held, with 

 a score of members present. 



Under date November 20, the 7>//5;///^ has the following telegram 

 from Washington : — Messrs. S. H. Scudder of Cambridge, and F. 

 C. Bowditch, of Boston, have just returned from a two months' 

 tour in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, where, under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Hayden, they have been exploring for fossil insects 

 and collecting specimens especially in the high regions. They 

 report having secured many specimens of fossil insects at different 

 points along the railways from Pueblo to Cheyenne, and from 

 Cheyenne to Salt Lake, as well as at Lakin, Kansas, and Gar- 

 land, and Georgetown, Col., and in various parts of the South 

 Park and surrounding region. Their time was so limited that 

 they were unable to visit White River and explore the beds of 

 fossil insects] known to exist there. Ten days were spent at 

 Green River, and in that vicinity, in exploring the tertiary strata 

 for fossil insects, but with very unsatisfactory results. Near 

 Florisante the tertiary basin was found, to be exceedingly rich 

 in insects and plants. Mr. Scudder spent several days in the 

 careful survey of this basin, and estimates that the extent of the 

 insect-bearing shales there is at least fifty times as great as that 

 of those in Southern Bavaria. Six or seven thousand specimens 

 of insects, and 2,000 or 3,000 of plants have already been 

 received from Florisante, and as many more are expected before 

 the close of the year. Arrangements were also made with persons 

 who have found a new and rich deposit of fossils in the tertiary 

 strata in Wyoming to forward all the specimens obtained there. 

 Mr. Scudder believes that the tertiary strata of the Rocky 

 Mountain region are richer in the remains of fossil insects than 

 any others in the world, and that within the next few months 

 the amount of material at hand for the study of the subject will 

 be greater than was ever before possessed by any single naturalist. 

 Prof. Joseph Leidy, the comparative anatomist and microscopist, 

 has also recently returned from his second visit to the west, under 

 the direction of Dr. Hayden. His field of operations during 

 the past season was the country about Fort Bridger, Unitah 

 Mountains and the Salt Lake Basin. The specimens he has 

 collected comprise the lowest and simplest forms of animal life, 

 the most minute requiring high microscopic power to distinguish 

 their structure. 



THE METEOR 



WE have received some further communications concerning 

 this remarkable phenomenon, and some interesting details 

 concerning a similar body will be found in our "Astronomical 

 Column." Mr. A. O. Walker writes from Chester:— 



In reading the notice of the meteor of November 23 in 

 Nature, vol. xvii. p. 94, I am surprised to see no mention of 

 any report from it. As I only heard it without seeing it I send 

 you the notice of it from my diary, written immediately after the 

 occurrence : — 



" About 8.30 P.M. heard a loud report like that of a cannon 

 (say 32 lbs.), fired about 200 yards off, which shook the house, 

 and the servants saw a bright flash. The sky overhead was quite 

 clear and only cloudy on tfie horizon south and east. Thought 

 ic was the explosion of an aerolite." 



Next day 1 made inquiries and added the following : — 



" Parry and Field said the flash was blue, and five minutes 



