NA TURE 



527 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 191 5. 



THE WAR. 



THE war drag's on; and we are learning' to 

 understand the mentality of the German race 

 more completely. It is being revealed in various 

 forms. The policy always adopted by the bully, 

 of attempting to terrorise by attack on defenceless 

 p>ersons, is shown by the shelling of the watering- 

 places of Yorkshire, resulting in the murder (for 

 that is the only word which fits the case) of 103 

 harmless people. " Murder " should certainly 

 have been the verdict, although it was disallowed 

 by the coroner; for although the commanders of 

 the German vessels may not yet be known by 

 name, a verdict of murder would have rendered 

 them subject, when captured, to trial by a British 

 jury. The cowardly and murderous onslaug'ht 

 has led, we are told, to rejoicing's in Berlin. It 

 is as we feared ; the German nation has lost its 

 moral .perspective. They may rest assured, how- 

 ever, that there will be no similar reprisals on 

 the side of the Allies. We do not revenge our- 

 selves on innocent women and children. 



It was scarcely worth while, peiliaps, for the 

 French universities and British men of letters and 

 science to have replied to the self-named " intellec- 

 tuals " of Germany. Neutral countries have 

 already made up their minds from the perusal of 

 oflicial documents, not the least important being 

 those from German sources, that the war is one 

 of pure aggression on the part of the Germans. 

 We hear from Switzerland, from America, and 

 from Scandinavia that the public in these countries 

 now pay no attention to German polemic literature. 

 If they had conceivably had any case, they have 

 given it away by their inhuman acts, which have 

 raised a sentiment of disg"ust in every civilised 

 mind. 



We look with contemptuous amusement at the 

 childish renunciation of foreign honours by our 

 Teutonic colleagues in science. That is even the 

 attitude of some of their own countrymen; Prof. 

 Verworn, of Bonn, writing in the Berliner Tage- 

 hlatt, describes it as unworthy of German men 

 of science, and Profs. Waldeyer, Martin, and 

 Orth have protested against the foolish conduct 

 of their countrj^men. We can only shrug our 

 shoulders and say that the loss is theirs, not ours. 



We have also been disillusioned by the words 

 of the well-known Celtic scholar. Prof. Kuno 

 Meyer, late of Liverpool University, now of Berlin, 

 who has acted, and is acting, as an agent of the 

 Prussian Government in attempting' to excite the 

 NO. 2359, VOL. 94] 



feelings of Nationalist Ireland and of American 

 Irish in favour of Germany. Here is a man, 

 eminent in his own subject, speaking English with- 

 out an accent, who has spent thirty years of his 

 life in an English university, a man who has (or 

 had) many intimate friends in this country and has 

 been received in many English households as a 

 friend, turning out to be a dastardly enemy. 

 Savages have a code that, after breaking bread in 

 a man's house, it is treacherous to war against 

 him ; not so Prof. Kuno Meyer. This is evidently 

 another instance of "Kultur." It behoves us to 

 treat with suspicion all naturalised aliens of Teu- 

 tonic extraction ; and yet we know, alas ! that in 

 doing this, we are acting unjustly in some cases. 

 But the individual, in these days, must suffer for 

 the crimes of his countn-men. It is such instances 

 as these which make the Allies determined that 

 such a race must be deprived of power to do 

 further mischief, whatever be the cost in life and 

 money. 



Some correspondence has appeared in the Press 

 as to the relative merits of German contributions 

 to science, as compared with the achievements of 

 members of other races. The discussion is per- 

 haps a useful one; for there is little doubt that 

 the German estimate of the scientific ability- of 

 their own people is a much exaggerated one. The 

 statement made in a previous issue of Nature 

 (October 8) that German science has not been 

 remarkable for originality appears to meet with 

 general assent. We in England have been always 

 more intent on welcoming a discovery than in 

 inquiring into the nationality of the discoverer; 

 indeed, it is a common saying that science is 

 international. But we are beginning to revise our 

 verdict. Prof. Karl Pearson, Prof. Sayce, and 

 Sir E. Ray Lankester have shown that Germany 

 has played only a small part in inception of scien- 

 tific truths, although by organisation she has 

 greatly extended their application. Huxley and 

 Bywater held this view, each as regards his own 

 subject ; and it appears to be shared by geologists, 

 physicists, and chemists. " Ausarbeiten " is the 

 goal of the Germans; the inventive faculty has 

 not been their strong point. Perhaps a mixed 

 race gains in original ability; both flint and steel 

 are necessary- to produce a spark. But one thing 

 the German man of science knows how to do well 

 — to exalt the . achievements of his nation, often 

 by ignoring that of others. This has probably 

 been done in many cases without intention ; it 

 appears to be one way in which German patriotism 

 manifests itself. 



Dr. Hugo Schweizer, an Americanised German, 



X 



