November 6, 1919] 



NATURE 



T97 



more speed on the Continent than in his own 

 country. Probably not many survivors are left 

 to recall the astonishment and indignation with 

 which some of the older geologists of the day 

 read his two chapters " On the Imperfection of the 

 Geological Record " and " On the Geological 

 Succession of Organic Beings." To the younger 

 men, on the other hand, these chapters were a 

 luminous revelation. I shall never forget their 

 influence on myself. They gave me a new key 

 to unlock the history recorded in the rocky crust 

 of the globe. They linked together Stratigraphy 

 and Palaeontology in the most masterly way, 

 making each of them explanatory of the other, 

 and confirming the doctrine of Evolution more 

 clearly than ever. 



The bearing of the " Origin of Species " on 

 social questions was more promptly recognised 

 abroad than at home. Thus, in the first number 

 of Nature, it was stated that when the Austrian 

 Reichsrath, after the disastrous war with Prussia, 

 assembled in December, 1866, to deliberate on the 

 best means of re-consolidating the prostrate 

 empire, a distinguished member of the Upper 

 Chamber, Prof. Rokitansky, began a great speech 

 with this sentence: "The question we have first 

 to consider is, 'Is Charles Darwin right or no? ' " 

 Such phrases as " the struggle for existence " and 

 "the survival of the fittest " have not only become 

 household words, but they have been brought into 

 the domain of social relations and of the physical 

 improvement of mankind. Foremost among those 

 who have insisted on the vital importance of these 

 subjects to human society was Darwin's cousin, 

 Sir PVancis Galton, to whose writings and per- 

 sistent advocacy the new study of Eugenics owes 

 its existence. 



In one important branch of research Britain 

 has always taken a foremost place. Geographical 

 exploration, where it can be undertaken by the 

 Navy, has long been a favourite task with our 

 Admiralty. The earlier expeditions were mainly 

 intended for geographical discovery. Those of 

 the last fifty years have been in increasing 

 measure devoted to scientific observations in 

 magnetism, meteorology, oceanography, and 

 natural history. A new type of equipment has 

 thus arisen, in which each vessel becomes a kind 

 of floating workshop of laboratories, microscope 

 rooms, photographic chambers, and all the other 

 requirements of physical and biological science. 

 It was the naturalists who asked for State assist- 

 ance in the exploration of the ocean, its tempera- 

 ture, currents, depths, and living things. In 1868 

 they succeeded in obtaining from the Admiralty 

 the services of the Lightning^ and two years later 

 of the Porcupine. These tentative missions 

 brought to light so much fresh information and 

 raised so many new problems that, in response 

 to a loud appeal from the scientific world, the 

 Challenger was prepared on a more complete and 

 elaborated scale, fitted with every kind of appli- 

 ance, and furnished with a company of skilled 

 investigators, under the leading of a distinguished 

 NO. 2610, VOL. 104] 



naturalist. For the first time in the history of 

 exploration the globe was circumnavigated during 

 four years (1872-76), not for the discovery of 

 new lands, but for an investigation of the oceans 

 from their surface waters to their utmost depths. 

 Splendid in its conception and admirable in its 

 achievement, this great expedition laid a solid 

 foundation for the new department of science 

 which has now been named Oceanography. .'\nd 

 the fifty quarto volumes in which its labours and 

 results are recorded form a noble monument of 

 successful research. 



Since that time the problems of the Antarctic 

 regions have been attacked by several expedi- 

 tions. The two brave adventures of Capt. Scott 

 and his associates in 1901 and 1910, amply sup- 

 ported by the Admiralty, were meant not merely 

 for the increase of geographical knowledge, but 

 were fitted out with all the needful appliances for 

 observations of the magnetism, meteorology, 

 geology, and zoology of the area around the South 

 Pole. They have added much to our knowledge 

 of Nature in that region of the globe. 



If, now, we cast our eyes towards the future, 

 the prospect for British science is eminently 

 encouraging. The opportunities for research and 

 experiment were never before so ample, the co- 

 operation of the State never so cordial, the ranks 

 of the investigators never so full, and the joy and 

 enthusiasm for investigation never more ardent. 

 For years to come this prosperity ought to con- 

 tinue and increase. But unquestionably in the 

 distance a cloud may be discerned, which has 

 long been in sight, but is now much nearer. Our 

 present great source of power is coal, but at a not 

 very remote date our coal-fields will be exhausted. 

 If before that time some other source is not dis- 

 covered, our position as a great manufacturing 

 country will be seriously affected. Hopes have 

 been raised on the possibility of finding large 

 supplies of mineral oil in our islands. It is well 

 known that in one or two places oil has long 

 been coming to the surface in small quan- 

 tities. It is possible that these indications may 

 point to larger supplies below. But we are still 

 so ignorant of the distribution of the oil within 

 the earth that no confident prognostications are 

 warranted. Much misunderstanding still exists on 

 this subject. There can be now no doubt that 

 the oil found so abundantly in some regions has 

 no connection with coal-fields or with any deposit.s 

 of organic origin, but comes from a depth prob- 

 ably below all the stratified part of the terrestrial 

 crust. The most probable explanation of its 

 origin is that it results from the decomposition 

 of carbides forming part of the original constitu- 

 tion of the globe. These carbides, or compounds 

 of carbon with some metal, such as iron, are 

 decomposable by water and then give rise to the 

 production of hydrocarbons, such as mineral oil 

 and marsh gas. If water descending from the 

 surface through the upper crust should reach those 

 deeper-seated compounds, this decomposition 

 would take place, and the pressure of the 



