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DISCOVERY 



would be numerous." This is to our mind a fair 

 statement of the case, and, even were scientists to 

 stand out of the next war as a solid body of conscien- 

 tious objectors, the munitions already producible by 

 the factories are terrible enough. 



***** 

 Such a revolution by scientists could never act, 

 even at its best, as more than a narcotic. To kill the 

 disease of war we have to cut at its roots. We believe 

 that that is how most scientists view the matter, and 

 why they — the predestined and unwilling instruments 

 of torture — cannot but welcome any move to sift and 

 reconcile national passions, and to prevent further 

 wars. This attitude was apparent at the meeting of 

 the British Association last September. The vistas 

 of future knowledge and prosperity which scientific 

 resesirch is rapidly opening up are more visible to the 

 eyes of the researchers than to anyone else ; and the 

 value of a long peace to attain those vistas is, we are 

 certain, most intensely felt by a class of men wlio are 

 as humane as they are human. 



***** 

 An important point which crops up in connection 

 with these international conferences, and which is 

 sure to gain the increasing attention of statesmen 

 and civil servants as intei-national relations become 

 more definite, is the matter of a common language for 

 their facilitation. Undoubtedly mucla friction was 

 caused at Versailles in igig with regard to this problem, 

 which was, as a matter of fact, eventually solved by 

 holding the meetings of the " Big Three " in English, 

 the meetings of the " Big Five " in French and English, 

 and the public meetings chiefly in French. Again, the 

 babel of Genoa has required the most brilliant linguistic 

 talents to reduce it to any kind of order, and a great 

 deal of time has been inevitably wasted in interpreta- 

 tion. Professor Guerard, a very able French scholar, 

 has lately WTitten a most stimulating book on the 

 subject of international languages. ^ He advocates 

 the gradually expanding employment of a common 

 language which would not " supersede the existing 

 national tongues any more than the League of Nations 

 is meant to absorb the existing national States," but 

 which would act as a " mere auxiliary." 



***** 

 Is there any language suitable for this purpose ? 

 In an endeavour to answer this question Professor 

 Guerard has divided his book into three parts, covering 

 in the first the natural languages at our disposal, in 

 the second the artificial, and in the third some sum- 

 maries of the two foregoing parts and the anticipations 

 to which they give rise. From the languages of 

 Western civilisation Professor Guerard selects two as 



1 A Short History of the International Language Movement. 

 by A. L. Guerard. (T. Fisher Uiiwin, Ltd., 21 s.) 



predominant and most ideal for expansion — French, 

 largely on account of its past and present use as a 

 diplomatic and commercial language and for its elastic 

 qualities of expressing thought, and English largely 

 on account of the power and wide diffusion of Anglo- 

 Saxon races in the world. He points out that a condo- 

 minium of these two languages might serve the purpose 

 of a lingua franca. " This means nothing more than 

 organising a spontaneous development, accelerating an 

 evolution already well under way. If, by some 

 diplomatic agreement, the teaching of French were 

 made universal in the British Empire and in the United 

 States, whilst all students in France were required to 

 learn English, an immense progress would be realised. 

 Two hundred million men would have a direct means of 

 communication ; the rest of the world, instead of remain- 

 ing perplexed before the multiplicity of languages, would 

 have only two to master." But the professor is far- 

 sighted enough to realise that " in a democracy of 

 nations, the claims of the ' great powers ' will never 

 be whole-heartedly conceded and the distinction 

 between major and minor languages likewise wiU ever 

 remain offensive." 



4c ik 4= ^ ^ 



Again, the claims of Latin, taught throughout the 

 schools of Europe, come before us, but are rendered of 

 little account for the reason that the language is dead 

 and favours invidiously those nations which speak 

 Romance tongues. Professor Guerard turns to the 

 artificial languages for a solution. Out of the hundred 

 or so projected, half-completed, and completed systems, 

 he selects Esperanto for its practical success, but states 

 that " the final solution seems to us to lie between the 

 dialect of Zamenhof, too hybrid and arbitrary, and 

 that of Peano, too irregular in its ' naturalness ' ; 

 more precisely between Ido and Romanal." It is in 

 such a " Cosmoglotta, " as he terms the international 

 language which might result from this combination, 

 that Professor Guerard looks for the salvation and 

 progress of mankind. We find it difficult to share the 

 author's optimism, yet we recommend his book for its 

 extremely suggestive and stimulating qualities. 



A considerable amount of correspondence has reached 

 us as the result of the Editorial Notes in our March 

 number suggesting the establishment of a commission 

 to inquire into the problem of personality. It is 

 apparent that, apart from its other functions. Discovery 

 is becoming a channel of expression for the thoughts 

 and ideas of a large intellectual portion of the British 

 public, and of its attitude to, and interest in, scientific 

 research. That attitude, we consider, should be given 

 a wide hearing, and Discovery intends to give it — 

 in its editorial notes and correspondence columns. 



