344 



NATURE 



[November 25, 1915 



technical essay deals with the latent image in 

 photography, while skating is the subject of a 

 very successful popular lecture at a high level. A 

 selectionist interpretation is given of the brightly- 

 coloured Alpine varieties of certain flowers, for 

 pollinating insects are scarce and readily be- 

 numbed, and survival rewards variants in the 

 direction of brighter blossoms. To this is ap- 

 pended a theory of the way in which "a unified 

 course of economical expenditure " is impressed 

 upon the organism, and gives to "the develop- 

 mental progress of the individual its prophetic 

 character." But the theory is stated very ellipti- 

 cally, and does not seem to us to be very clear. 



In his concluding essay, which rather takes our 

 breath away, Prof. Joly argues that the present 

 gravitational properties of matter cannot be sup- 

 posed to have acted for all past duration, and 

 proceeds to speculate concerning the pre-material 



Fig. 2.— The Ampezzo Thai. Dolomite Alps, 

 of the World." 



The Bhrth-Time 



state of the universe, when kinetic entities, not 

 yet materialised, exhibited a dreary succession of 

 unprogressive, fruitless motions. 



It gave us a pleasant thrill to renew acquaint- 

 ance after a quarter of a century with a remark- 

 able essay entitled, "The Abundance of Life" — 

 certainly one of the most instructive contributions 

 that have been made to the contrast between 

 animate and inanimate material systems. The 

 contrast is stated in physical terms : "The transfer 

 of energy into any inanimate material system is 

 attended by effects retardative to the transfer and 

 conducive to dissipation. The transfer of energy 

 into any animate material system is attended by 

 effects conducive to the transfer, and retardative 

 of dissipation. The organism is a configuration 

 of matter which absorbs energy acceleratively, 

 without iirnit, when unconstrained." The attitude 

 of the organism towards energy external to it 

 NO. 2404, VOL. 96] 



"results in its evasion of the retardative and 

 dissipatory effects which prevail in lifeless dynamic 

 .systems of all kinds." But what is it in the organ- 

 ism that enables it to take the attitude thus so 

 admirably defined ? 



(3) A re-publication of Mr. Hudson's "Birds 

 and Man " is very welcome, for no such wise and 

 beautiful book should be allowed to get out of 

 print. He tells us of "birds at their best," that 

 is, in their native haunts all-unsuspecting, and 

 of the enrichment which their beauty brings to 

 the open mind ; of the reality of sympathy between 

 living creatures, for instance, between wagtail 

 and cow, robin and man ; of the pleasingness of 

 all natural sounds heard in their proper surround- 

 ings ; of the secondary aesthetic element which the 

 voices of some birds have, inasmuch as they ap- 

 proach the expressive tones of the human voice ; 

 and of the secret of the charm of flowers, which 

 seems to us to exaggerate, almost ad absurclum, 

 the associative factor in aesthetic emotion. His 

 chapters on ravens, owls, and geese are charm- 

 ing and illuminating appreciations ; his protests 

 against the "cursed collector" and his patrons, 

 and against stuffed birds as household decorations 

 are still too dismally relevant — though we think 

 that there has been a wholesome change in public 

 opinion to which Mr. Hudson's insight and infec- 

 tious enthusiasm have effectively contributed. We 

 confess, too, that we have more hope for the 

 conservation of the beautiful along this line than 

 by the severe legislation which the author sug- 

 gests. At the end the book brings us very pictur- 

 esquely to Selborne and to an imaginary conversa- 

 tion with Gilbert White, which Is high art and 

 sound sense too. The frontispiece of this delight- 

 ful book Is a very fine coloured picture of the 

 furze wren or Dartford warbler. 



JOHN DALTON AS A SCIENCE LECTURER.^ 



AS is well known, John Dalton began his aca- 

 demic career at the age of twelve, by a 

 public announcement, affixed to the door of his 

 father's cottage, that he was prepared to impart 

 the elements of a liberal education to the youth of 

 Eaglesfield, of both sexes, on reasonable terms. 

 In actual attainment he was probably not greatly 

 in advance of his scholars — some of whom were 

 lads of sixteen or seventeen, who offered to fight 

 their mentor when disciplinary duty was to be 

 done. In moral power and mental vigour he was 

 more than a match, we may be sure, for even 

 the most pugnacious of his pupils. These qualities 

 doubtless secured for him the ascendency proper 

 to his position as the principal. 



During this short apprenticeship to the profes- 

 sion of a pedagogue, Dalton sowed the seeds of 

 his future greatness. A couple of years' experi- 

 ence of self-taught teaching, when wholly depen- 

 dent upon his own powers of self-reliance, acquisi- 

 tiveness, and industry, must, at such a period 



1 "John r»altr>n's Lectures and Lecture Illustrations." Parts i. and ii. 

 by Prof. W. W. Haldane Gee. Part iii., by Dr. Hubert F. Coward and 

 Dr. Arthur Harden. (Manchester: Literary and Philosophical Society, 

 T915.) Price i^. 6d. 



