210 



• KNOWLEDGE • 



[Jan. 6, 1882. 



(lOtliv's theory in, apparently, Idnntical with GeoCTroy's; bat tho 

 it'veliitiuii of tho (iormnii comos to us a great thought, in chaato 

 gruntleur of expression. " " Comporutivo anatomy,** ho writes, 

 " huJi united all organic natnro under ono idea; it leads na from 

 form to forms, and while we contem))lato near or far-removed 

 luiturcs, we rise above them alj, to see their individualities in ono 

 ideal tj-pe." The entire literature of biology can show no equal to 

 this unfolding of tho transcendental idea of evolution. 



This is Darwinism, in my conception of it. Tho " ism,'* then, 

 rests on the assumption that all animals arc descendants from one 

 common ancestor. 



Linked with this fundamental, there are four propositions wo 

 may expect without endangering any agreement to negative the 

 fundamental. Indeed, save to present tho case of the evolutionists 

 in completeness, they need not have been brought in here. They 

 arc : — 1. That no two animals aro comi)lctely identical. 2. That 

 offspring tend to inherit peculiarities of parents. 3. That of 

 unimala brought into existence, but a small number attain maturity. 

 ■1. That those which aro best adapted to tho circumstances in which 

 they are placed, arc most likely to leave descendants. 



Wallace, who worked on lines conterminous with Darwin's, 

 without being conscious of tho fact, put this matter in a much 

 better manner. Ho postulates : — 1. Peculiarities of every kind aro 

 more or less hereditary. 2. The offspring of every animal vary 

 more or loss in all parts of their organisation. 3. Tho universe in 

 which these animals live is not absolutely invariable. 4. Tho 

 animals in any country (those, at least, which are not dying out) 

 must at each successive period be brought into harmony mth the 

 surrounding conditions. " These," ho affirms, " are all the elements 

 required for change of form and structure in animals, keeping 

 c.\act pace \vith changes of whatever nature in the surrounding 

 universe. Such changes must be slow, for tho changes in the 

 universe are very slow." 



1 have, I believe, now put before you, briefly but accurately, the 

 basis and principles of tho evolutionists — of Danvinism, so called. 



The first, I might say the only, difficulty of the theory is the 

 foundation. That all animals are the issue of one common parent, 

 and are but v,iried plans of that parent, brought about by time and 

 change of telluric and climatic conditions, is a postulate that has 

 no support in tangible fact, or appearance of fact, may be as safely 

 affirmed as we may affirm that it is tho expression of a phantasy of 

 brains driven to overreach their powers. 



What was the first-born animal, the common parent of all 

 animals ? How did it come to be, and in what form did it appear ? 



There is no answer to these two questions ; to neither of them. 



If we could rid ourselves of Pasteur's disproof of spontaneous 

 generation, we might imagine a segregation of atoms that should 

 actjnire life, and develop into a catorpillar-liko creature, which 

 would pass through several transformations, embryonic, we maj- 

 say, after the jnanner of butterfiy development, ending in an 

 animal of some kind, even man — the requisites, heat and food, 

 being present. Verj' big things are produced from very small 

 germs. Admit a beginning of this kind, wo admit probability of 

 innumerable various organs, and so account for every distinct 

 animal in creation ; for the endless kinds of insects, and the living 

 myriads of the sea. In reality, the admission would put ns in 

 accord with the prodigious fecundity of Nature. 



Then, how shall we account for the many kinds of vegetable 

 forms? tho ash, tho oak, the beech, the elm, the pine, the birch ? 

 Are they evolutions from each other, or from imaginary trees of a 

 long past epoch of earth-history ? 



But my main object is man. How came he? whence ? and in what 

 shape ? Settle that, and all is settled. Dar\nnism tells us ho is a 

 lower animal, moulded by time and environments into his present 

 form. The popular chiint, " Tho long-tailed ape was the primal 

 shape that led up to Adam and Eve," is not exactly an expression 

 of Mr. Dar%vin's notion, though it is of Monboddo's. But Mr. 

 Darwin might just ns well have assigned us to au ape origin, as to a 

 featureless thing of his own prolific imagination. 



Tho origin of man has not been reasoned to. We cannot go back 

 to it, fact by fact, for the needed facts aro not. From first to last, 

 we run through conjectures, and arrive at nothing but a final con- 

 jecture, worth no more than tho conjectures that preceded it. 



Whether the Caucasian man and tho negro man have the same 

 origin, is a jiroblem standing from tho general question for sepamte 

 solution. Following the genn theory I have hinted at, would the 

 germ from which the Caucasian would issue bo one and the same, 

 chemically, with that from which tho negro would issue ? But 

 liinging on this is another question, Did tho men appear con- 

 temporaneously ? 



Here, however, I must stop without completing my design. I 

 have, I fear, already overrun the space I should have confined 

 myself to.— Yours faithfully, B. Domiavand. 



Picton, Chester. 



©ufn'rs. 



[113] — Gravity. — Docs tho orthcKioi dctiniiion of masis in terma 

 of gravity 'j M = W mean that it requires j'j part of the weight of 

 a body to overcome its inertia f — Zahe.s. [It is a numerical state- 

 ment, not a definition. — Ed.] 



[1'14] — Mass. — If a weight, say one ton, bo suspended by a per- 

 fectly llexiblo line of infinite length, what forco in ponnds would 

 overcome the inertia of the mass in a direction at right angles to 

 tho direction of gravity? — Zabbs. [Any force, however small.— 

 Ei).] 



[115] — I.NEBTiA. — How is it that when I make 10,000 gallons of 

 water pass over a perforated plate per minute, in a level position, 

 there is a loss of 20 gallons per minute, but when tho velocity af 

 the water is reduced so that only 5,000 gallons per minute pass 

 over, that then there is a loss of 250 gallons per minute through the 

 perforations ? — N.B. — 50 per cent, of the plate has been punched. — 

 Zares. 



[146] — Chemical. — (1.) Wliy is the nitrogen contained in admix- 

 ture with the oxygen in atmospheric air not absorbed by the lungs, 

 as is the oxygon ? (2.) If — as stated by Dr. Pavy and others — the 

 value of hydrates of carbon as food is to be estimated onlij by the 

 amount of uu>xidised material they contain, what is the part played 

 in the living body by the portion of the food already oxidised? 

 Starch and sugar, e.g., contain about 49 per cent, of carbcn and 

 hydrogen, and 51 per cent, of oxygen ; so that but a very smdl 

 amount of carbon remains nnoxidiscd and available for combustion 

 in the organism. What becomes of the bulk of such food ? — E. M. 



[147] — B. Sc. E.X.AM1NAT10N, Edinbirgh University. — I am 

 desirous of obtaining information regarding the degree of B. Sc- 

 at the Edinburgh University Examination. Would any of our 

 correspondents kindly inform mo through the medium of Knov- 

 LEDGE what the subjects of examination are, and if it would be 

 possible to pass without attending the University? If not, how 

 long would I possibly have to attend, and what would be the pro- 

 bable costs for fees, books, &c. ? I have attended evening classes 

 in connection mth the " Science and An Department," and haTe 

 passed first class in tho elementary and advanced stages of 

 chemistry (theoretical and practical), electricity, and acoustics, 

 light and heat. Would the passing of these examinations be of any 

 assistance ? I have also an elementary knowledge of geols] 

 botany, zoology, theoretical mechanics, and mathematics. An 

 answer to the above will greatly oblige — A PHiLosopnicA.L Bbcsh- 



MAEER. 



[148] — Brewing. — (1). Having been in the habit of separating 

 dextrose from cane-sugar by dissolving out the former in common 

 alcohol, and having read in Prof. Graham's " Chemistry of Bread- 

 making," that dextrose is less soluble in alcohol than caue-sngar, I 

 am anxious to ascertain which sugar is the more soluble in the s 

 reagent. (2.) Does basic acetate of lead precipitate dextrin? 

 All text-books I have read state so, and yet I cannot obtain a pre- 

 cipitate on adding small or large quantities of the said salt of lead 

 to cither dilute or concentrated solutions of dextrin. — E. M. D. 



[149] — DiAJiETEK OF Sun. — As we cannot see the half of a globe 

 whoso diameter is greater than the width of our eyes how mndl 

 larger is the real diameter of the sun than the diameter we see ? 

 As I have not seen this taken into account in any book I have read, 

 an answer would oblige, yours truly. — A. B. J. [The ratio of leal 

 diameter to apparent is that of tangent to sine of apparent angnlar 

 radius, or, say, of 16 minutes. The logarithm of this ratio 

 00000047, the number corresijonding to which is about 1000001 ; 

 so that tho sun's real exceeds his apjmrent diameter by about one- 

 millionth part, or rather less than a mile. — Ep.] 



[150] — Alpha Cassiopeia. — Can you tell me what is the magni- 

 tude of tho companion of Alpha Cassiopeia ? — Harris. [Estimated 

 as about eleventh magnitude — bluish in colour. — Ed.] 



[151] — Jordan Barometer. — What is the density of tho glycerine 

 in this, as used in tho Times office f I make it 1'202 by calculation. 

 Is this pure glycerine ? — C. T. B. 



[152] — Nickel-plating. — How is this done on iron withont a 

 battery ?— C. T. B. 



[150] — CEs.-iATioN OF THE Sun's Heat. — It was stated by Sir 3. 

 Lubbock, at tho last British .\ssociation meeting, that, after the 

 Ia|)se of seventeen million years, the sun would be cooled down to 

 such an extent as to cease to emit light and heat. Will you kindly 

 inform me on what grounds this is ascertained, and, if true, what 

 must be tho ultimate condition of the solar system, especially that 

 of our own globe ? — A. von Koulte. 



[153] — DoiiiTFCL Organisms. — Kindly give me the names of 

 those organisms, the nature of which, whether plant or animal, is 

 doubtful. — H. J. C. W. — [Aro any organisms doubtful, according 

 to tho modern definitions of plants and animals? — Ed.] 



