12 



NA TURE 



[May 6, 1897 



greater or less amount of physiological readjustment." But in a 

 foot-note on the very same page, in which he discusses the 

 present writer's statement that specific characters are essentially 

 physiolpgical, he says :— "There must be so much in common 

 in the physiological processes of allied species, that well-marked 

 physiological difi'erences cannot, without further evidence, be 

 regarded as the universal characteristic of specific differences." 

 These two statements are surely somewhat contradictory, and as 

 the proposition I made appears to me to be a fundamental one, 

 I desire to offer some explanatory remarks, especially as few 

 critics will probably trouble themselves to look at the original 

 paper. 



I think Prof. Meldola, throughout his address, uses the term 

 " physiological" in too narrow a sense. ISIorphology, as I un- 

 derstand it, has to do with form, physiology with function. My 

 contention was exactly that of Dr. Wallace, that specific 

 characters have to do with function — are functional, or else 

 coincide with those that are functional. They may be internal 

 or external ; an internal process is no more " physiological " than 

 an external one. 



But I pointed out, that the very same morphological characters 

 may be specific in one form, varietal in another. The reason 

 why they are specific in the one case is, that they have a physio- 

 logical as well as morphological significance ; they are variable 

 in the other, because they have little or no functional value, 

 although under new environment they may come to have such 

 value, and then through selection become specific. 



A dead insect appears equally important in all its parts ; 

 function no longer exists, and they are reduced to a common 

 level. But how different is the living creature ! Each part now 

 has a special significance ; it is a tool, and some tools are more 

 important — more useful — than others. Just in proportion to 

 their value are they elaborated, and kept to one pattern, or, 

 sometimes, to a choice of two or more patterns, as in dimorphic 

 or trimorphic species. Those who claim that specific characters 

 exist without any reason, have got to explain why it is that the 

 very same characters are constant in one form and variable 

 in another ; or sometimes even constant in one part of the range 

 of a species, and utterly variable in another part. 



Therefore, taking up the first-quoted sentence from Prof. 

 Meldola, I would object that environment never does " require 

 a modification of structure " which has not also a physiological 

 meaning. It is not necessary, of course, that there should be a 

 functional change in kind, it must very often be simply a change 

 in degree. 



In another part of my paper quoted {Proc. Phila. Acad., 1896, 

 p. 45) I express more nearly what Prof. Meldola seems to have 

 intended, but I use the term "constitutional," thus : — 



"Furthermore, it is apparent that the earliest distinctions 

 between species are at least often of a very subtle character, so 

 that the workings of natural selection during the actual process 

 of segregation are anything but easy to observe. And this need 

 not surprise us when we reflect that among ourselves constitu- 

 tional characters, not easily identified by any coincident structural 

 features, play so large a part in determining our ability to reach 

 manhood and beget offspring." 



It must not be forgotten that in describing a new species, we 

 always include w^r^than the actual specific characters, although, 

 as Prof. Meldola excellently points out, we always miss a large 

 proportion of the latter. Generic, subgeneric, and sectional 

 characters are built upon the specific characters of former ages, 

 but they need not now possess a special function. They are, 

 however, the groundwork on which new specific characters are 

 built, and they constitute, in a sense, part of the environment 

 which directs the moulding of those characters. It is when they 

 come too directly in conflict with the external environment that 

 the species becomes extinct. Thus species come to be judged 

 by their ancestors. 



A good instance of the correlation of function with structure 

 is aflibrded by the wings of bees. These insects are classified 

 largely on apparently trivial differences in the venation of the 

 wings. But those who observe them in nature see that with 

 these differences go differences in flight, and it is obvious that 

 there must also exist important differences in the muscles of the 

 thorax, so subtle that at present we know little or nothing about 

 them. Even the psychological characters of these bees must 

 differ. We do not yet know enough about the principles of 

 insect flight to say exactly what influence slight changes in 

 venation would have, but the influence need not be doubted. 

 Recently, I discovered a new genus {Phileremulus) of bees with 



NO. 1436, VOL. 56] 



very peculiar venation, and its flight also was peculiar, rapid 

 zigzags just above the surface of the ground, making it impossible 

 to catch it in a net. Many bees can be caught by sweeping ; 

 Centris, with its hovering pendulum-like swing over the flowers 

 it visits, must be caught by a rapid stroke, or it darts suddenly 

 away. 



Prof. Meldola, in his address, has ably shown the need for 

 more subtle observations on the specific characters of insects, 

 and if his suggestive remarks do not stir some of our ento- 

 mologists up to new ways of work, it can only be because 

 entomology, like astrology, has ceased to have any physiological 

 significance — a thing no entomologist will be willing to admit ! 



Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A. T. D. A. Cockereli,. 



AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE 

 BRITISH ISLANDS. 



THOSE who are interested in the preservation and 

 examination of ancient monuments should read 

 the plea for " An Archaeological Survey of the United 

 Kingdom," which formed the subject of Dr. David 

 Murray's presidential address to the Archsological 

 Society of Glasgow, and which is reprinted in a con- 

 venient form by James MacLehose and Sons, of Glasgow. 



This is a succinct account of the existing laws relative 

 to antiquities, and of the " rights " or otherwise of the 

 public. " Government spends large sums of money every 

 year upon the preservation and protection of our records, 

 the reproduction of fading charters, &c., but it does not 

 regard the monuments which illustrate or supplement 

 these records. Archaeologists have raised the veil that 

 shrouds the first epochs of man's life upon the earth, and 

 have given us a glimpse of prehistoric times, but Govern- 

 ment does nothing to collect or preserve the material 

 which is essential for such investigations. The editing 

 and interpretation of our Runic monuments we owe to 

 Prof. George Stephens, of Copenhagen. For a record 

 of the Roman inscriptions in this country we have to 

 look to Germany or to Canada. Inscriptions and sculp- 

 tures are of the same character as written inonuments, 

 and it is surely just as important that these should be 

 carefully collected and accurately transcribed and photo- 

 graphed as that we should have new editions of the 

 Chronicles of the Picts and .Scots, or of the Exchequer 

 Rolls of Scotland. 



" The quaternary period is common ground to the 

 geologist and the archaeologist, the physical characters 

 are dealt with in the Geological Survey. But why should 

 the systematic survey stop at this point, or be limited to 

 the requirements of geological science ? The monuments 

 which are witnesses to man's presence, his life and labour, 

 are surely as worthy to be collected and preserved as the 

 fossil remains of extinct fauna and flora. 



" The monuments of the past are not indeed wholly 

 neglected by Government, for if an object be in itself 

 artistic, in the opinion of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment, it has the sedulous care of that Department, and 

 no money is grudged for its protection and reproduction. 

 The Ardagh chalice, for instance, is of this description ; 

 but a Roman altar or a centurial stone, no matter how 

 valuable it may be historically, is passed by. Can any- 

 thing be more inconsistent ? To limit ourselves to the 

 artistic side of man's nature will give but a partial view. 

 We wish to know his life as a whole, his surroundings, 

 his pursuits, and manner of living — everything, in fact, 

 that enables us to trace the growth and development of 

 culture and civilisation. For this purpose the undesigned 

 and unwritten records of the past must be systematically 

 ascertained, protected, and preserved, and, if need be, 

 copied or reproduced. To do this effectually Govern- 

 ment assistance is essential as a first step. It is a work 

 that has been too long neglected, and should be no 

 longer delayed. Let us at once and for ever wipe awaj 

 the reproach that England is the only country in Europe 



