158 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Jolt 1, 1897. 



beyond a mere repetition of a call-note ; nor is it lessened 

 by tbe wonderful retentive instinct which results in an 

 adherence to particular cries or modes of singing through- 

 out wide areas. 



The elementary songs of the robin, just described, 

 suggest that in a former age the strains of the bird or of 

 its progenitor consisted of simple squeaks, as do the 

 present songs of the spotted flycatcher. The remoteness 

 of that period is in a measure proved by the generality of 

 the ordinary style of song in the species, for the robin does 

 not inherit any part of its song, but learns its language 

 from its parents ; and, therefore, the character of its well- 

 known strain, developed partly by the occasional association 

 and interchange of some of the individuals from different 

 localities, must have occupied an incalculable period in its 

 elaboration. Probably the mimetic faculty, which restricts 

 the vocabulary of a young artificially reared robin to the 

 cries of its foster parents, has ceaselessly operated to 

 determine the tones of the species. But this theory is 

 difficult to prove. 



Early in September, in addition to the robin, starling, 

 and wren, the chiffchaff may occasionally be heard. But 

 more interesting at this time are the initial efforts at 

 vocalization as occurring in young birds of the year. 

 The young robin, with frequent rattling alarm and call- 

 squeak ; the hedge sparrow, repeating its squeak three or 

 four times in rapid succession ; the titmice, beginning to 

 extend their vocal range ; and young blackbirds, just 

 learning to enunciate the well-known alarm of the species 

 by repeating a clicking cry : these, and many more, are 

 deeply interesting. 



From the thickets a little whistled note tells where 

 chiffchaffs and willow wrens are restlessly flitting and 

 seeking insect prey, while they pass on from tree to tree 

 and from wood to wood, taking a long farewell of their 

 northern home. Their half-plaintive cries, breaking the 

 autumnal silence, are in harmony with the other signs of 

 the wane of summer ; and on open land the call-notes of 

 pipits, often repeated, tell the same story of departure. 



In the garden the male house sparrow no more hops 

 around his mate (or that of another sparrow), nor seeks 

 to attract her attention and her attack ; there is no noisy 

 " combat " of sparrows ; but out in the fields a cloud of 

 the noxious vermin settles like a blight on the harvest, 

 and there is now never a hawk to rid us of tbe pest. One 

 cry is especially to be heard from these flocks. It is a 

 very short cry, sounding like u-hee or irhceu. Earlier in 

 the year this call was addressed to the young when they 

 were being led away from danger, and now it may be 

 similarly employed for the advantage of the flock. It is 

 very noticeable, and is doubtless observed by other species, 

 since it is often reproduced in the spring songs of lark 

 and thrush. ^ 



JUBILEE HONOURS. 



In the long list of distinguished persons whom the 

 Queen has been graciously pleased to honour on the com- 

 pletion of the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign, there is, 

 we are glad to note, a sprinkling of some of the foremost 

 men of science. Prof. Crookes, F.R.S., the discoverer of 

 thallium, and Dr. \V. E. Gowers, F.E.8., are among the 

 new knights ; Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S., Dr. William 

 Huggins,F.R.S., and Prof. -Joseph Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., 

 have each been raised to the dignity of Knight Commander 

 of the Bath; while William Henry Mahoney Christie, F.R.S., 

 the Astronomer Eoyal, is among the C.B.'s. All the scien- 

 tific world knows the merits of these men, and will doubtless 

 join us in offering a word of congratulation for the success 

 which has attended their labours in tbe field of science. 



THE | y/\^ |SClENCE[ 



OF THE 



^1 QUEEN'S REIGN 



{Concluding Article.) 



THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA. 



THE story of scientific enterprise during tbe last six 

 decades is, as we have seen, full of interest, 

 significance, and encouragement; and the measure 

 of prosperity that has already been attained through 

 science as a handmaid to the arts and industries 

 (in spite of the difficulties within and the obstructions 

 without) suggests greater possibilities which only the 

 initiated can fully appreciate — possibilities immeasurably 

 greater than anything that has hitherto been believed to 

 be possible. Equipped as we now are in all the panoply 

 of modern civilization, it was but yesterday, so to speak, 

 that man put on the badge which clearly distinguishes him 

 from his ancestors of a thousand years ago. 



So far, the progress of science and its applications to the 

 arts and industries, the opening of shorter avenues to trade, 

 the increase of labour-saving machinery, the extension of 

 railways, the synthesis of commercial products, etc., all 

 these and similar advances which have revolutionized the 

 world during the present century, increased luxury, and 

 built up many great fortunes, present very different aspects 

 to leading thinkers. Elevating though these things be in 

 their nature, there are those who think that material 

 progress does not merely fail to relieve poverty — it actually 

 produces it. The new forces evolved from increase of 

 knowledge are considered to act, in a sense, like a cutting 

 plane which passes through the centre of society, elevating 

 the one part and depressing the other — sharpens the con- 

 trast and widens the gulf. 



Mr. Frederic Harrison says : " Our way seems the way 

 to succeed, but we are not so infatuated with its advantages 

 as not sometimes to suspect that there are other and less 

 strenuous ways, whereby people who do not get on so fast 

 as we may have more fun on the road." Progress to the 

 many is a consolation for all the ills of life, and commends 

 itself to the perceptions of the great masses of men. 



To rightly estimate the advantages received from 

 scientific progress, the condition of the people as a whole 

 should be considered as compared with bygone generations ; 

 the keener sufferings in individual cases, bad as they are, 

 would then seem less painful proportionally. But even as 

 the tares and wheat spring up together, so we must always 

 expect the counteracting complement of misery side by 

 side with the richer endowments of nature. 



Having lightly passed in review the achievements of the 

 Victorian era, the question which concerns us now is — 

 What further aid can we hope for from science '' Are her 

 resources drained ? Have we already advanced into the 

 full blaze of day, or are we only in the dim morning 

 twilight — the dawn of a still brighter era ? 



Prof. Silvanus Thompson says: "There is no finality 

 in science. The universe around us is not only not empty 



