58 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Jan. 16, 1885. 



more certain and consolinf; concept of existence. What if ive 

 should come to understand that that material world, about wliieh 

 scientists and Positivists are so certain, should be merely the 

 medium for callinjj up the evidences of another existence that we 

 can know per sc, and that, in the instance of colour-sensations, the 

 mechanical vibrations are but the media for exciting in the living 

 sense properties which belong to a more universal life?" The 

 "things which are seen were not made of things that do appear." 

 The foregoing remarks I wish to be considered as suggestions only, 

 as suggestions that have notj'et assumed form and consistency, and 

 which require, indeed, a greater command over words than I 

 ossess to clearly and perfectly express. W. Cave Thomas. 



MATTER. 



[1564] — In returning to the cpiestion as to whether HEBckel'a 

 statement about the unalterable nature of atoms fulfils the condi- 

 tions of belief, " F. W. II." says that he agrees with me that " the 

 mere statement of an eminent man has no claim upon our accept- 

 ance, unless it be in accordance with reason and logic." So far, 

 then, we are in accord ; but tho point upon which we differ is this, 

 that whilst he seems to regard Hajckel's statement as being one " in 

 accordance with reason and logic," I do not so consider it. To me 

 it does not seem an inference which it is fair to make from experi- 

 ments, and most assuredly I cannot think of it as a statement 

 dcrivahlc " from experimental experience." 



I quoted Professor Clifford's " Ethics of Belief " — " to prove 

 what P That Ha^ckel's opinion upon atoms is an error of judg- 

 ment?" Yes, for the simple reason that Ilteckel cannot know 

 that what he says is true " without ceasing to be man." How can 

 Haeckel, or, indeed, anyone else, adduce logical evidence to show 

 that, during the eternity of time that is past, atoms always have 

 had, and, during the eternity of time that is to come, always will 

 have, say, the same weight and rate of vibration as they possess 

 now ? To quote again from Clifford : " A very simple considera- 

 tion of the character of experiments would show him that they 

 never can lead to results of such a kind ; that being themselves 

 only approximate and limited, they cannot give ns knowledge which 

 is exact and universal." 



F. W. H. accuses me of pitting my ipse diiit against Hseckel's ; 

 but I think it is clear that I am merely testing HiEckel's statement 

 by applying to it one of the conditions of belief. 



Next as to the conceivability of atoms being conscious of their 

 own motion, liking those atoms to which they are attracted, and 

 disliking those from which they are repulsed. Du Bois Beymond, 

 in an address at Leipzig, some time ago, expressed the following 

 opinion : " It is absolutely and for ever inconceivable that a number 

 of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms should be other- 

 wise than indifferent as to their own position and motion, past, 

 present, or future." Professor Reymond's opinion seems to me 

 more reasonable than IIa?ckers. 



I am attracted to the earth by the force of gravity; am I there- 

 fore attracted to it because I " like " it ? Manifestly not ; I am 

 not even conscious of being so attracted. But I am peculiarly 

 conscious of the "attraction " which a beautiful woman possesses 

 for me; indeed, were it not so, the "attraction" would lose all its 

 sweetness. 



F. W. H. says that "atoms, ei'en, if tinconsciously, like each 

 other." How, I would ask, can a thing be unconsciously " liked " ? 



The " fear of consequences" weighs just as little with me as it 

 does with F. W. H. ; with him, I look upon the truth as our 

 " haven of rest." But then I do not regard the truth as something 

 which we cannot know without ceasing to be men. Were I to 

 accept such statements as those of Hieckel without considering 

 what claim they had upon ore's acceptance, I should probably be 

 tossed about in a "haven of unrest." J. T. Routledgk. 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 H. J. Appleton. The Editor does not buy back numbers of 

 Knowledge. You should advertise them. See notice (in capital 

 letters) which concludes the heading of the " Correspondence 

 Column." — E. L. G. Unfortunately, too purely theological for 

 admission here. — Faciebat. Augite is a ^volcanic product, "a 

 mineral," as you say ; but then Trappean rock is merely an 

 aggregation of minerals. The word "as," though, was a mis- 

 print for in. — F. W. Cleworth finds fault with Mr. Clodd's 

 grammar in the sentences with which his article commences 

 on p. 526 of our last volume ; and further charges Mr. 

 Clodd with intolerance of the failings of others. I cannot 

 fail to be gratified with your I'.S. though. — Dr. Lewins. Shall 

 receive all the attention it merits. — Alfred Sargant. Received ; 

 but the whole thing is foreign to tho pui'poses of a scientific 

 journal. — T. P. Barkas, F.C.S. Put into plain English, your 



letter means that you have wholly failed to discover how the 

 trick is done. " Scores of credible and ordinarily com- 

 petent witnesses vouched for the genuineness of " Miss 

 Florrio Cook's performance — until Sir George Sitwell and Herr 

 von Buch found her out. — Constant Reader. If, as you state, a 

 reward of £1,000 is offered for a correct imitation of the auto- 

 mata, and you can reproduce them, your course is obvious. 

 Construct the figures, and formally claim the sum advertised. 

 If you have really discovered the secret, you have your remedy 

 in a Court of Law, in the event of the advertisers refusing to pay 

 you the sum they offered. — HEKNnCRST. Mr. John Browning, of 

 03, Strand, London, would be the best man to apply to for a pho- 

 togra])h of the Moon. They vary considerably both in size and 

 price. — R. L. Mattra. Shall receive immediate attention.— C. E. P. 

 says, with reference to the alleged new form of gas-burner de- 

 scribed on p. 530, of Vol. VI., that it has been for 

 some years in use in the Melbourne Observatory. It bears 

 the date "September 28, 1868."— J. Murray. Indeed, I do not 

 wish to be "so short"; but I do wish to goodness that yot! 

 wouldn't be so long. It may (or may not) be true, as you say, 

 that, " If science will not work from the expansion and contraction 

 scale, and cleaily despence with the attractive force, which has a 

 left-handed sound, I fail to see how this or that can ever come to 

 pass ; " but I should be better able to judge of this if I had the 

 slightest conception what it meant. — Jo Smith wants to know 

 whether Dr. AUinson (letter looi, p. 18) laid ice or fomentations 

 on his back ? — Dr. Foi'lerton sends an abstract of a paper read 

 before the Geologists' Association, on Jan. 2, by Dr. Henry Hicks, 

 on the Geology of the North- West Highlands, from which it will 

 suffice to quote the admission of the Director-General and Surveyors 

 of tho Scotch Survey, that they find the "evidence altogether 

 overwhelming against the upward succession which Murchison 

 believed to exist," in the strata in the locality referred to. — P. W. 

 RiDLER. Received with thanks. — L. S. Please to say whether 

 you wish for a work treating the subject mathematically or not. — 

 C. & B. suggests that Mr. Proctor should definitely indicate his 

 Island Home in Mars ; since in these days of annexation, unless his 

 flag has been hoisted on all the neighbouring islets, he may shortly 

 have some tinwelcome neighbours in that planet! — Corkonux. 

 Newcomb's " Popular Astronomy," published by Macmillan'a, is 

 admirable, and is sold at a price rather less than your superior 

 limit. If you like to spend a few shillings more, Chambers's 

 " Handbook of Descriptive Astronomy " is a kind of encyclopcedia 

 of the subject, to which you may always turn for information (see 

 p. ix. of advertisement sheet of our last number). — Gen. Thomson. 

 I am ignorant of Mr. Morrell's address. See conclading paragraph 

 (in capital letters) which heads the correspondence column. — E. 

 Gi"LLAXD. Delayed through being addressed to the Editor, instead 

 of to the Puhlishers. — R. Wright. A precisely similar delay, from 

 the same cause, has arisen in your case. — E. Smyth. See paragraph. 

 Vol. VI., p. 473, which concludes the correspondence column. — 

 F. W. H. If I understand Ha^ckel's esoteric hypothesis, he does 

 attribute to atoms will differing in degree, though not in kind, from 

 human volition. Whether, though, this can be in any sense held 

 to be founded on observation and experiment, is open to the very 

 gravest doubt. It really amounts to Haeckel dixit. — M.R.C.S. In 

 replying to you last week on p. 39, in the penultimate line of column 

 one, I seem to have inadvertently written the word "against" for 

 "in favour of." Quite obviously the odds against the fourteen 

 consecutive guesses are 16,384 to 1.— Romeike and Curtice. 1 

 care rather less than nothing what the Shipping World says. — 

 Scorpio. The wheelwork would have to be altered as far as tho 

 hour-hand of your suggested dial is concerned, whereas by simply 

 painting the XIII. over (or under) tho I., the XIV. over the II., 

 and so on, the existing train of wheels in any watch would do. — 

 W. S. C. Lyell's "Antiquity of Man," or Joly's "Man before 

 Metals," Lyell's " Students' Elements of Geology," and " Carpenter 

 on the Microscope." Consult Mr. Browniu^r. of G3, Strand, on the 

 subject of Lantern Exhibition. — R. AYiiist. Why not ? Neither 

 side has the monopoly of a particular pack prior to the first deal. — 

 W. Grandy, asks for a copy of the verses forwarded by " Scorpio, * 

 but I have destroyed them. Would "Scorpio" himself care to 

 send them to Ringwood ? — S. Smith & Son. Our advertising 

 columns are open to you. — T. H. Garfit wants to know where he 

 can cibt.iin The Anthropolngical Bcvieu- for Oct. 1868, and a copy of 

 Carl Vogt's " Lectures on Man." — Jessie Young. Declined with 

 thanks. — A. Payne. I have over and over again refused precisely 

 similar reciuests, and regret that I can make no exception in your 

 favour. Do yon get copies of (say) the lUmtrated London News 

 gratis? — Arctukis. At Greenwich Obscn-atory the astronomical 

 day has commenced at midniyhi since January 1, but it begins at 

 noon in all the volumes of the Nautical Almanac at present pub- 

 lished.— Wm. Beck. Thanks, no. The subject is already in com- 

 petent hands. — A. T. Angell, William Rogers. Received. 



