♦ KNOWLEDGE 



John Alex. Oli 



OIL-GLANDS IX DLXK. 



[1852]— In reply to Mr. Williams, on page 539, he says that Paley 

 deBcribes it as a " specific provision for the winged creation," but 

 does not say for what purpose. There are many naturalist writers 

 of note, both English and American, of a much later date than 

 1802, who positively state and describe this organ to be an oil- 

 gTand— names and quotations from which I could send you (after a 

 little' search) if the editor does not think the matter too trivia.1 to 

 occupy space in his paper, when such acknowledged authorities 

 have long ago admitted the fact. 



WUl Mr. Williams kindly say what he supposes to be the use of 

 the two little heart-shaped glands lying across and just before the 

 root of the tail, traversed by little ducts uniting in a tube, which 

 terminates above the skin in one and sometimes two little nipples, 

 and which is largest and most fully devtOoped in aquatic birds ; and 

 if the part be not an oil-gland, why tlie bird, when dressing its 

 feathers, takes this nipple in its beak, then passes head and throat 

 ofer the part, and then over all parts of the body-feathers (without 

 the aid of a paint-brush) — for that such is the general habit of 

 birds it would be only idle to dispute ? G. A. 



HOW TO GET STRONG. 



[1S53] — Hallyarda doubtless knows a great deal, but not every- 

 thing, or he would not speak of a joiner's table. Further, what 

 does he mean by " involuntary motion ;" it makes one think of 

 " the jumps." If he means motions such as walking, which when 

 Onqe commenced are kept up ahnost automatically, what reason is 

 there that other bodily raotioug, such as those described by Mr. 

 Proctor, should not soon become so ? They do so as a matter of 

 fact. At one time, when reading and writing a number of hours 

 p'er day, I worked for exercise with weights suspended by ropes 

 passing over pulleys, a machine commoner in the States than in 

 England I think. I always worked with a metronome, and kept a 

 record so that the pace, weight used, and length of each exercise 

 were noted. The motions became as mechanical as any hand 

 exercise can do, requiring attention merely to do them in "good 

 form," and perhaps, after an increase of difficulty, to keep one 

 going to the end. I can testify to the increase of strength and 

 weight that I gained, and I • avoided the risk of strain from 

 rivalry which seems to have been Hallyards' iticentive ; my rivals 

 were time, pace, and weight, and I did not increase them till I 

 had overcome them. I do not think there is anything "lugu- 

 brious " in exercise that sends one's pulse up to 120 and over, 

 nor anything "ridiculous" in exercise that puts on muscle and 

 weight which >^tand, and do not disappear as a gymnast's muscle 

 is apt to do, but my nationality, perhaps, prevents my seeing 

 the joke as Hallyards does. His'statement that "a walk'without 

 a friend or an object is a saddening affair " perhaps tells a tale. 

 One of the best talkers I know loves walking and talking, and, 

 besfr of all, walking by, and talking to, himself (in silence). He 

 always, in fact, cames his best friend and companion with him. 

 So much for "the friend." As for "the object," surely to a 

 walker, walking, like "the good" of Plato, is an "end in itself." 

 Is life worth living? This depends ou the liver, and perhaps a 

 walk being worth walking depends a good deal on the walker. 

 ScoTi-s. 



THE ORIGIN OF ETHICS. 

 [1854]— Replying to "Meter," letter 1828, I do not deny the 

 existence or necessity of " beliefs." Where our knowlerl-e ceases, 

 ■■beliefs" come in. 1 earn „nfl,i„rr ^liftLor tl..> to„P(« T l.oM can 

 be reconciled with "sec,,,;,,,: i,.,p-r;;,!.,M i ;■ m...,p!,.,1 il.v ;,rc 

 true; but, at the same tinK ' i i :,■,,.,. :- ip. 



been proved to be true liy ^. •■.! .•,;.. ■■ m:;^.v I iii ■ I, w lar 1 



believe to bo a .'- m ! . i ' .-i tnit 



independent ot •■■'■' i - fn "— tha 



wrong arise f I MM f man; nis state ot civilisation, 



education, Ac , an i : ; of right and wrong are within 



our "knowled^'i," iLlilIuil uKm.ho, and superior to, "beliefs." 



Theft, murder, Ac, do happen, are perpetrated every day, un- 

 fortunately, and I regret "Meter" should produce them in proof 

 of a supremo being, sanctioning, permitting, or unable to prevent 

 (hem. To me they seem born of dire necessity, fate, or force of 

 circumstances, beyond tho control of man in his present state, but 

 entailing to him inevitable consequences, viz., punislinieut and 

 misery. 



3 of right and 



In fact, I hold it to be more useful and effectual to teach and to 

 show that, as from tares sown, only tares will spring; so from ill- 

 deeds done, nothing but evil consequences will flow ; crime will be 

 followed by punishment of necessity. I would alter Pope's saying : 

 " Whatever is, is good." There is good, evil, and indifferent; let 

 us strive to increase the good, dimish the evil and indifferent. 



F. W. H. 



[To be operative, this doctrine must be carried out in all its 

 integrity. That is to say, if, for example, a garotter throttles and 

 robs a man from " dire necessity, fate, or force of circumBtances," 

 dire necessity, fate, or force of circumstances, should also entail a 

 long term of' imprisonment and a severe lashing with the cat-and- 

 nine-tails on that garotter. — Ed.] 



THE INCORRIGIBLE CORRECTOK. 



[1855]— In letter (1833) "man" is inexcusably and distinctively 

 printed twice— in the first column it was "a highly respectable 

 MooN"" — in the second " I doubt whether any NCX ever was put to 



In Mr. Proctor's comments on my remarks on bad English, the 

 irrepressible has again made a hash. The first words of the 

 third paragraph were clearly " Than irho"—not "than v:hom" — 

 which states the contrary of what we both mean. 



I protest against the expression " I should have liked to have 

 seen him " as being absolutely incorrect in the use in which it has 

 obtained, and as laying down an entirely false rule, i.e. that a past 

 tense must be followed by a past tense. Mr. P. objects that " I 

 should have liked to see him," really means "I should have liked — 

 at some past time not indicated — to see him." Hypercriticism could 

 no further go ! Would any sane man imagine that the speaker 

 spoke of anything but the circumstance reported ? If this form be 

 incorrect or ambiguous, how could it be expressed in Latin or 

 French, where the equivalents I gave are the only ones possible ? 



In the third par, surely the comments are otiose ; for I myself 

 pointed out that "than whom" would of course be correct 

 there was anything to govern the accusative. Just as "I should 

 have liked to have seen him" is no longer oiious nonsense when 

 we mean what it expresses. As to par. 4 — I did nob stigmatise 

 the putting of a pronoun first in the same strong language : it 

 really might be justified from tho Greek and Latin usage I cited. 

 But it is done a good deal too often, and is parent of much ob- 

 scurity and still more inelegance. As Mr. P. says " the reader has 

 to wait" — What can be more objectionable than the delivery of a 

 very long sentence whose whole meaning depends upon a verb 

 which is not mentioned till the end ? I can read such books as 

 Livy with more comfort than many English writings ; but I con- 

 fess that I am often obliged to glance several lines down, to find 

 the verb which is the coefficient of the whole, before I form any 

 idea of what the sentence is about. How the people understood 

 speeches so arranged I cannot imagine. Possibly the orator spoke 

 erb first : it may have been a fashion to change the order for 



•ised copy. I think Ci( 



Was this out of politeness to his 



reading ? i.e., did he write lettei 



A correspondent suggested a < 



" begin," and " penetrate " for 



ipt English : it is chiefly 



for " 





ivith " 



"for 



puts the verb first, 

 correspondent — to make it easier 



"pierce."" But the first is not 

 Irish notion, like "convenient" 

 ' nice." As to " penetrate," it is 

 " I did not succeed in piercing 



not synonymous 



into the sanctum _ . 



In my letter about King's College School, " neck-and-neck " was 

 printed " week-and-week." Now the curious thing here is that 

 " neck-and-neck " is a very common phrase, and " week-and-week " 

 is quite unknown. 



A year ago we might have said of our conductor. 



Hi- 



native heath, and his 

 . if his long submersion 

 I perfect, and himself 

 Haliyaeds. 



A NEW WAY ( 



[1856]—" Tli.- 

 writerintho " Kr 

 pity, as from it^i 

 ■ high i 



'; TTIE OA^fE OF DRAUGHTS. 



. ylajed out." So the 

 i' ■ iiihires. This seems a 



!■■: .-iTiiii ! :i< always struck me as 

 If such is the case, I trust I may be 

 ice of draught-players a modification 

 ix years ago, and which renders the 



