240 



KNOWLEDGE. 



June, 1913. 



of my Problems of Life and Reproduction," many in lay 

 papers, the first to tax my writing as " a bit over technical and 

 involved" should be the writer in " KNOWLEDGE." But he 

 continues : ' We have been most interested in the article on 

 the transmission of acquired characters ; but we are somewhat 

 disheartened by a footnote at the commencement to the effect 

 that another author has collected a number of facts in favour 

 of this theory since the first appearance of this article, which 

 ought surely to have afforded sufficient reason for rewriting." 

 From this presentation it might be supposed that the tendency 

 of the article was against the theory ; but that additional 

 evidence has accrued on the same side since an article in 

 favour of a certain view was written is surely no reason for 

 rewriting it, only for indicating what is the nature of the 

 additional support. Now this is precisely what I have done. 

 The preface, dated August, 1912, at the time of the paging of 

 the corrrected galley slips, into which large additions were 

 introduced, states: "In the revision, indeed, I have endeav- 

 oured to bring everything up to date, and have not hesitated 

 to do so, without note or comment, wherever no question of 

 priority was involved ; but where this was the case I have 

 pointed it out by the inclusion of new matter in square 

 brackets, [ ] , according to established custom." 



The footnote to which " R. L. " refers deals with a paper of 

 Semon's, of 1911, which is in the nature of a " Bericht." On 

 page 189 of this essay will be found bracketed a statement of 

 evidence published in the Mendel Jubilee Volume of that same 

 year. Another point is illustrated by an added footnote 

 (page 195), utilising the views of Professor Dendy in his 

 " Evolutionary Biology," which appeared in 1912. A post- 

 script deals with an argument of Sir Ray Lankester's, which 

 appeared in the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1911. In fine, 

 the whole of the essays were revised, added to, retrenched, or 

 rewritten (one of them, as stated in the Preface, almost 

 completely so), in order to bring them up to date. Neither 

 Mr. Murray nor I would have been satisfied with any revision 

 stopping short of this in a volume of the " Progressive Science 

 Series." 



Such matters as these are not matters of the personal 

 judgment of the critic, but of the conscience and conscientious- 

 ness of the author criticised. You will, therefore, I am sure, 

 allow me to set myself and my publisher right in the eyes of 

 your public. 



~ MARCUS HARTOG. 



University College, Cork. 



HORNETS AS PETS. 



To the Editors of " Knowledge." 



Sirs, — I read with much interest the paper by Mr. G. 

 Hurlstone Hardy on the above subject. When a boy I kept 

 many colonies of Hornets, Wasps, and Humble Bees, and 

 can confirm Mr. Hardy's statement that they may be adopted 

 as pets with very little danger. I used to bring broods home 

 from the fields, queens and all, and place them in properly 

 prepared holes in the grassy bank which I made in the garden. 

 I had some very strong families of them, and spent many 

 hours every day sitting as close to them as I possibly could 

 and counting the numbers flying in and out hourly. In this 

 way I could gauge their daily increase of strength and it was 

 astonishing how they multiplied. By watching them closely 

 many little facts were learnt concerning their habits ; but all 

 these are probably well known ; though I have never read a 

 book descriptive of these insects. 



They are very far from being savage or aggressive if treated 

 in a proper manner ; they are very industrious, but, if 

 molested, can be fierce and swift to use the terrible means 

 which Nature has provided for their protection. They are 

 most interesting creatures and capable of furnishing many 

 hours of recreation and instruction to students. I shall never 

 forget the regret I felt when paternal admonitions led me to 

 destroy my favourites. Neighbours, however, could not stroll 

 in their gardens without a cloud of my hornets and wasps 

 hovering threateningly around their heads, and serious repre- 

 sentations being made to that effect I had to remove the 

 menace. 



Hornets are like certain other supposed vicious things in 

 animate nature. If allowed to pursue their own way without 

 interference they are rarely the assailants. People are not 

 always just to creatures endowed with powerful means of self- 

 defence. We are apt thoughtlessly to obstruct them and 

 then, should we suffer for our temerity, usually put the blame 

 on the wrong shoulders. Hornets and wasps are capable of 

 good as well as harm ; but they carry nasty weapons, and so 

 the public regard them as fit objects for extermination. 



I have great regard and respect for these insects ; they 

 merit more considerate treatment and it is painful to see that 

 thousands of the poor queens are hunted down and killed 

 every spring for a paltry compensation. 



W. F. DENNING. 



Bristol. 



NOTICES. 



INSECT LIFE. — Messrs. Jack announce a new and com- 

 prehensive work on "Insects: their Life- Histories and 

 Habits," by Harold Bastin. Written in plain language and 

 thoroughly up-to-date, the work covers the whole field of 

 insect life, and will be profusely illustrated in colour and black 

 and white. 



GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.— No railway claims more 

 attention nowadays than the Great Western, which is the 

 subject of the latest volume in Messrs. A. & C. Black's 

 " Peeps at Railways " Series. The author, Mr. Gordon Home, 

 has given a very readable, informative, and exhaustive account 

 of the history and the present activities of the line and of 

 many of the places of industrial and historical importance 

 that it serves. The work is fully illustrated in colour and 

 black and white. 



THE LEITZ OPTICAL WORKS.— In connection with 

 the completion of its 150,000th compound microscope, the 

 firm of Ernst Leitz has issued an interesting pamphlet, giving 

 portraits of its present members and some remarkable details 

 showing the development of its work at Wetzlar. The estab- 

 lishment was founded in 1849, but it was not until the present 

 senior partner acquired control of the business in 1870, 

 that rapid progress began to be made. At that time the annual 

 output of microscopes was about sixty, in 1881 it was six 

 hundred, in 1903 six thousand, and now this number has been 

 doubled. The 100,000th Leitz microscope was presented to 

 the late Professor Koch in 1907, and the 150.000th has now 



been given to Professor Erhlich of Frankfort-on-Main. Corre- 

 spondingly, the staff has increased in number since 1870, when 

 twenty persons were employed, until now it consists of nearly 

 one thousand workers. 



THE ALCHEMICAL SOCIETY.— The fifth General 

 Meeting of the Alchemical Society was held on Friday, May 

 9th, at 8.15 p.m., at the International Club, Regent Street, 

 S.W. The chair was occupied by the Honorary President, 

 Professor John Ferguson, M.A., LL.D., F.I.C., F.C.S., of 

 Glasgow University (whose monumental bibliography of 

 alchemical works is well known to students), and a paper by 

 the Venerable J. B. Craven, D.D., Archdeacon of Orkney, was 

 read, entitled " A Scottish Alchemist of the Seventeenth 

 Century : David, Lord Balcarres." The paper contained 

 particulars concerning the life of Lord Balcarres and hinted 

 at the possibility of Rosicrucian sympathies. The author has 

 been permitted to examine what remains of Balcarres' 

 library, and has found therein a manuscript translation of the 

 famous " Fama Fraternitas," antedating the earliest published 

 translations. The paper also contained particulars of other 

 interesting manuscripts in this library, and concluded with an 

 old Fifeshire legend showing the fantastic views which were 

 once held concerning the Rosicrucians. 



The above meeting was followed by the Annual General 

 Meeting of the Society. It is interesting to learn from the 

 Secretary's and Treasurer's reports that the membership is on 

 the increase and that the finances of the Society are in a 

 satisfactory condition. 



