September 7, 1893J 



NATURE 



443 



" Fauna and Flora of the Gulf of Naples," either already 

 published (Dr. Giesbrecht's monograph is the nineteenth 

 volume published) or in preparation may convince also 

 those who may still be doubtful in this regard. 



Later, and in another article, I may be permitted to 

 discuss some questions regarding another great publica- 

 tion of the Zoological Station, the Zoologtschcr Jahres- 

 bericht, a discussion which will touch some of the most 

 vital questions of scientific organisation. 



Anton Dohrn. 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION, NOTTINGHAM 

 MEETING. 



FURTHER information has been forwarded since the 

 last issue of Nature from Presidents and Recorders 

 of Sections, of which the following statement is a sum- 

 mary : — 



In Section B the following papers are promised, in ad- 

 dition to those already mentioned : — " The Action of 

 Permanganate on Sulphites and Thiosulphates," by 

 G. E. Brown and VV. W. J. Nicol ; " The Relation 

 existing between Chromium and Certain Organic Acids, 

 and some New Chromoxalates," and on "The Action of 

 Phosphorus Pentachloride on Urethanes,'' by Emil A. 

 Werner ; "The Occurrence of Cyanonitrideof Titanium 

 in Ferromanganese," by T. W. Hogg; "Hydrogen 

 Flame-cap Measurements, and the Adaptation of the 

 Hydrogen-flame to the Miners' Safety-lamp," by Prof. 

 Frank Clowes. A general statement of the arrangement 

 of work in this Section appeared in last week's Nature. 

 The only probable alteration is the shifting of M. 

 Moissan's demonstration to Friday, September 15, and 

 of the Bacteriological discussion to Monday, 18. 



An interesting paper is promised to Section E by Mr. 

 Cope Whitehouse, a distinguished American citizen of 

 New York and Cairo. 



The presidential address in Section F, on " The Re- 

 action in favour of the Classical Political Economy " will 

 be mainly inspired by the idea that the principles and 

 methods of the classical and orthodox economists have 

 only been modified and supplemented, not displaced, by 

 recent writers ; and that both theoretically and practically 

 there are signs of a reaction in favour of the older 

 doctrines as against socialism. 



The probable arrangement of work in Section H is as 

 follows:— On Thursday, September 14, the President's 

 address will be delivered, and a few papers on physical 

 anthropology will be read. On Friday, 15, Dr. Hans 

 Hildebrand, Royal Antiquary of Sweden, will read 

 his paper on "Anglo-Saxon Remains, and the Coeval 

 Ones in Scandinavia," and this will be followed by arch- 

 a5jlogical papers. On Monday, 18, various papers will be 

 taken. On Tuesday, 19, Dr. Munro will describe " The 

 Structure of Lake Dwellings," and Mr. Arthur Bulleid 

 will give an account of " The Recently Discovered Lake 

 or .Marsh Village near Glastonbury." 



Papers which have not been already mentioned in 

 Section H are—" Anthropometric Work in Schools," by 

 Prof Windle ; " The Prehistoric Evolution of the 

 Theories of Punishment, Revenge and Atonement," by 

 Rev. G. Hartwell Jones ; " Pin-wells and Rag-bushes," 

 by Mr. Hartland ; and " The Tribes of the Congo," by 

 Mr. Herbert Ward. 



The Local Secretaries wish to announce that the local 

 programme and the list of hotels and lodgings are 

 ready for issue, and may be obtained by application at 

 the British Association Office, Guildhall, Nottingham, 

 until September 9 ; after that, application should be made 

 at the Reception Room, Mechanics' Institution. It may 

 also be stated that the local committee has engaged the 

 Theatre Royal for Wednesday night, September 20, 

 when Mr. Wilson Barrett's Company will give the new 



NO. 1245, VOL. 48I 



play " Pharaoh." It is hoped that members will avail 

 themselves of the invitation extended to them for this 

 entertainment, and that it will induce them to remain in 

 Nottingham, and take advantage of the excursions 

 arranged for the following day. Other items worthy of 

 mention are a special concert, which will be given by the 

 Nottingham Sacred Harmonic Society on the Saturday 

 night; and a garden-party, given by Mr. J. W. Leavers, 

 in whose grounds some of the old rock-dwellings of 

 Nottingham are to be seen. Geologists and naturalists 

 will be interested to know that amongst the special local 

 literature will be a little book entitled " Contributions to 

 the Geology and Natural History of Nottinghamshire," 

 which has been edited by Mr. J. W. Carr, M.A., with the 

 assistance of local specialists. FRANK Clowes. 



SCIENCE IN THE MAGAZINES. 



OCIENCE makes a poor show in the September maga- 

 ^ zines. There are, however, one or two important 

 articles which claim attention. In the Contemporary 

 Revieui Prof. A. Weismann writes on " The All-Suffi- 

 ciency of Natural Selection," his essay being an answer 

 to two articles by Mr. Herbert Spencer directed against 

 Prof Weismann's views on heredity and natural selec- 

 tion. The essay is not merely controversial, but also a 

 clear explanation of Weismannism. The following is the 

 concluding paragraph : — 



I hold it to be demonstrated that all hereditary adaptation 

 rests on natural selection, and that natural selection is the one 

 great principle that enables organisms to conform, to a certain 

 high degree, to their varying conditions, by constructing new 

 adaptations out of old ones. It is not merely an accessory 

 principle, which only comes into operation when the assumed 

 transmisbion of functional variations fails ; but it is the chief 

 principle in the variation of organisms, and compared to it, 

 the primary variation which is due to the direct action of ex- 

 ternal influences on the germ-plasm, is of very secondary im- 

 portance. For, as I previously said, ihe organism is composed 

 of adaptations, some of which are of recent date, some are 

 older, some very old ; but the influence of primary variations 

 on the physiognomy of species has been slight and of subord- 

 inate importance. Therefore I hold the discovery of natural 

 selection to be one of the most fundamental ever made in the 

 field of biology, and one that is alone sufficient to immortaUse 

 the names of Chailes Darwin and Alfred Wallace. When my 

 opponents set me down as an ultra- Darwinist, who takes a one- 

 sided and exaggerated view of the principle discovered by the 

 great naturalist, perhaps that may make an impression on some 

 of the timid souls who always act on the supposition 

 that the Jus/e-milieu is proper ; but it seems to me that 

 it is never possible to say a priori how far-reaching a prin- 

 ciple of explanation is : it mu>t be tried first ; and to have 

 made such a trial has been my offence or my merit. Only very 

 gradually have I learned the full scope of the principle of selec- 

 tion ; and certainly I have been led beyond Darwin's conclu- 

 sions. Progress in science usually involves a struggle against 

 deep-rooted prejudices : such was the belief in the transmis- 

 sion of acr]uired characters ; and it is only now that it has 

 fortunately been overcome that the full significance of natural 

 selection can be discerned. Now, for the first time, consumma- 

 tion of the principle is possible ; and so my work has not been 

 to exaggerate, but to complete. 



Two articles of scientific interest appear in the Fort- 

 nightly Rei/iczv. One, by Mr. \V. Bevan Lewis, on " The 

 Origin of Crime," deals with drunkenness, insanity, 

 epilepsy, and similar affections in their mutual relation- 

 ship to crime ; in the second, entitled " The Climbing of 

 High Mountains," Mr. W. M. Conway enthusiastically 

 supports mountaineering in unexplored regions. Ordinary 

 official surveys do not supply the detailed information 

 with regard 1 1 buttress and fold in which resides the clue 

 of mountain structure. It is for mountaineers to make 

 up the deficiency. 



