498 



NATURE 



[September 21, 1893 



and then let it fall back into the well. Numerous other ex- 

 amples will doubtless occur to you. 



But though animals can he taught to make use of mechanical 

 appliances provided for them — a fact which shows the existence 

 in their brains of a faculty corresponding in kind, if not in 

 degree, to the mechanical faculty in man— they rarely, on their 

 own initiative, make u?e of anything external to their bodies as 

 tools ; and still more rarely, if ever, do they make, alter, or 

 adapt such mechanical aids. Mr. C. Wood, of Middlesbrough, 

 informs me that certain crows which frequent oyster beds on the 

 coast of India, wait until the receding tide uncovers the oysters, 

 which still remain open for a time. A crow will then put a 

 pebble inside one, and, having thus gagged it and secured its 

 own safely, will proceed to pick it out and eat it at leisure. A 

 monkey will crack a nut between two stones, and will hurl 

 missiles at his enemies. But in some countries he is syste- 

 matically entrapped by tying to a tree a hollow gourd containing 

 rice, and having a hole large enough for his hand, but too small 

 for his clenched fist, to pass through He climbs the tree and 

 grasps the rice, and remains there till taken, being loo greedy, 

 and not having sufficient sense, to let go the rice and withdraw 

 his hand. 



This IS on a par with the snuff-taking imbecile, described 

 by Hugh Miller ("My Schools and Schoolmasters)," whom 

 the boys used to tease by giving him a little snuff at 

 the bottom of a deep tin box. The imbecile would try to 

 get at it for hours without the idea ever occurring to him that 

 he might achieve his object by turning the box upside down. 



All animals are, however, in their bodily frames, and in the 

 intricate processes and functions which go on continuou>Iy 

 therein, mechanisms of so elaborate a kind that we can only 

 look and wonder and strive to imitate them a little here and 

 there. The mechanism of their own bodily frames is that 

 with which the lower animals have to be content, and whilst 

 they are in the prime of life and health, and in their natural 

 environment, it is generally sufficient for all their purposes. 

 Man has a still moie perfect or rather a still more versatile 

 bodily mechanism, and one which in a limited environment 

 would be equally sufficient for his needs. But he has also an 

 enterprising and poweifulmind which impels him to strive after 

 and enables him to enjoy fields of conquest unknown to, and 

 uncared for by, the relatively brainless lower animals. 



Urged on by these superior mental powers, man must soon 

 have perceived that by the use of instruments he could more 

 quickly and easily gain his ends, and he would not be long in 

 discovering that certain other animals, such as the ox and the 

 horse, were teachable and his willing slaves, provided only he 

 fed and trained them, and treated them kindly. 



Kirst, in common with other animals, he would find out that 

 stones and sticks were of some use as weapons and tools ; then 

 he would go further and utilise skins and thongs for clothing 

 and harness ; and by selecting and modifying his stones and 

 sticks he would form them into rough implements, which would 

 enable him to cut down trees and to make rude huts and boats. 

 Animals caught and domesticated would first be taught to haul 

 light logs along the ground, then to move heavier ones on 

 rollers ; and later, in order to avoid the necessity for continual 

 replacement on the rollers, the wheel and axle would be 

 gradually developed. 



The mechanical nomenclature of all languages is largely 

 derived from the bodies of men and other animals. From this 

 it is clear that animals have always been recognised as 

 mechanisms, or as closely related thereto. The names bor- 

 rowed from them generally indicate a resemblance in form 

 rather than in function, though not invariably so. 



Thus in our own language we have the "head " of a ship, a 

 river, a lake, a jetty, a bolt, a nail, a screw, a rivet, a flight of 

 stairs, and a column of water ; the brow of an incline ; the 

 crown of an arch ; the toe of a pier ; the foot of a wall ; the 

 forefoot, heel, ribs, waist, knees, skin, nose, and dead eyes of a 

 ship ; also turtle backs and whale backs ; the jaws of a vice : 

 the claws of a clutch ; the teeth of wheels; necks, shoulders, 

 eyes, nozzles, legs, ears, mouths, lips, cheeks, elbows, feathers, 

 tongues, throats, and arms ; caps, bonnets, collars, sleeves, 

 saddles, gussets, paddles, fins, wings, horns, crabs, donkeys, 

 monkeys, and dogs ; flywheels, running nooses, crane necks, 

 grasshopper engines, &c. 



Not only has our mechanical nomenclature been largely taken 

 from animals, but many of our principal mechanical devices 

 have preexisted in them. Thus, examples of levers of all 



NO. 1 247. VOL. 48] 



three orders are to be found in the bodies of animals. The 

 human foot contains instances of the first and second, and the 

 forearm of the third order of lever. The patella, or knee-cap, 

 is practically a part of a pulley. There are several hinges 

 and some ball-and-socket joints, with perfect lubricating 

 arrangements. Lungs are bellows, and the vocal organs com- 

 prise every requisite of a perfect musical instrument. The heart 

 is a combination of four force-pumps acting harmoniously 

 together. The wrist, ankle, and spinal vertebra; form universal 

 joints. The eyes may be regarded as double-lens cameras, 

 with power to adjust focal length, and able, by their stereo- 

 scopic action, to gauge size, solidity, and distance. The nerves 

 form a complete telegraph system with separate up and down 

 lines and a central exciiange. The circulation of the blood is a 

 double-line system of canals, in which the canal liquid and 

 canal boats move together, making the complete circuit twice a 

 minute, distributing supplies to wherever required, and taking 

 up return loads wherever ready without stopping. It is also a 

 heat- distributing apparatus, carrying heat from wherever it is 

 generated or in excess to wherever it is deficient, and establish- 

 ing a general average, just as engineers endeavour, but with 

 less success, to do in houses and public buildings. The respira- 

 tory system may be looked upon as that whereby the internal 

 ventilation of the bodily structure is maintained. For by it 

 oxygen is separated from the air and imparted to the blood fot 

 conveyance and use where needed, whilst at the same time the 

 products of combustion are extracted therefrom and discharjjed 

 into the atmosphere. 



Mastication, which is the first process in the alimentary 

 system, is, or rather should be, a perfect system of cutting up 

 and grinding, and to assist and save animal, and especially 

 human, mastication is the chief aim and object of all the 

 gigantic milling establishments of modern times. The later 

 alimentary processes are rather chemical than mechanical, Imt 

 still the successive muscular contractions, whereby the contents 

 of the canal are forced through their intricate course, are dis- 

 tinctly mechanical, and may have suggested the action of 

 various mechanisms which are used in the arts to operate on 

 plastic materials, and cause them to flow into new forms and 

 directions. 



The superiority of man to the lower animals can only have 

 become c nspicuous and decided when he began to use his 

 inventive faculties and to fashion weapons and implemen;s of a 

 more efficient kind than the sticks and stones which they also 

 occasionally use. 



But human races and individuals were never equally endowed 

 by nature. Some individuals would have greater inventive 

 powers than others, and these and their posterity would 

 gradually become dominant races. Large masses of mankind 

 are still more or less in the position of primeval man, which, 

 if we accept the conclusions of Darwin, Lubbock, and other 

 modern men of science, we must regard as one of barbarism. 

 For they are still without tools, appliances, and clothes, except 

 of the most elementary kinds, and mechanical science might 

 almost be non-existent, so far as they are concerned.' 



It would obviously be impossible for me to treat of or call 

 attention even to an infinitesimal extent to the results of 

 mechanical science which surround us now so profusely, and 

 which make our life so different from that of primeval man ; 

 and, even if it were possible, it would be quite unnecessary. 

 We have all grown up in a mechanical age. We are so 

 familiarised with artificial aids that we have come to regard 

 them as part of our natural environment, and their occasional 

 absence impresses us far more than their habitual presence. 



I propose, with your leave, to proceed to the consideration of 

 how far man is, in his natural condition, and has become by 

 aid of mechanical science, able to compete successfully with 

 other and specially endowed animals, each in its own sphere of 

 action. 



Bodily Powers of Man and other Animals. 



The bodily frame of man is adapted for life and movement 

 only on or near to the surface of the earth. Without mechanical 

 aids he can walk for several hours, at a speed which is ordm- 

 arily from 3 to 4 miles per hour. Under exceptional circum- 

 stances he has accomplished over 8 miles (" Whitakers Al- 

 manack," 1893, p. 395) in one hour, and an average ol 



' Mr. H. L. Lapage, M.Inst.C.E., who has just returned from Wesletll 

 Australia, states that he found the natives of both sexes and all agesaljso- 

 lutely nude. 



