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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in the pose of Egyptian drawings of the hu- 

 man figure is that it is an impossible combi- 

 nation according to our ideas. We see the 

 face in profile, the eye full length, the chest 

 in front view, and the legs sidewise. But 

 before we condemn this as contrary to Na- 

 ture, it is well, as Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie 

 suggests, to see what the attitude of a mod- 

 ern Egyptian is, and how far our notions are 

 correct. To avoid all ideas of posing for the 

 subject, he selects the figure of a boy from a 

 large group that was photographed without 

 any special aim by a Cairo dealer. In the 

 kneeling figure are seen the profile of the 

 face, the eye full, the chest in front view, 

 and the legs sidewise. Everything that we 

 have heard condemned as unnatural and im- 

 possible in the ancient sculpture is seen in 

 the modern native, without any constraint, 

 when simply taking an easy position. This 

 shows what is the true ideal of the conven- 

 tional Egyptian pose ; it is a three-quarters 

 view, modified by the omission of the much 

 foreshortened parts beyond the profile a 

 simplification which was essential to an out- 

 line system of representation. 



Variety in the Eyes of Animals. It is 



hard, in studying some of the lower animals, 

 to determine whether they have a proper 

 sense of vision. They can all recognize 

 light and distinguish it from darkness ; but 

 that is probably all the sight that a few or- 

 ganisms possess. In such creatures as earth- 

 worms, for instance, the whole skin is sup- 

 posed to be sensitive to light ; and there is 

 some evidence that they have a choice be- 

 tween colors. Mollusks have eyes of vari- 

 ous qualities : those of the snail distinguish- 

 ing light from darkness ; those of the cuttle- 

 fish very highly developed ; the unique and 

 curious eyes of the nautilus ; and the two 

 kinds of eyes of the onchidium. Some of 

 these animals possess the power of restoring 

 their eyes, as well as other lost members, 

 when they are cut off. Great differences 

 appear in the organs of sight of crustaceans. 

 They are of all sorts, from a simple eye-spot 

 in some species up to two compound eyes 

 on a movable eye-stalk (as in the crab and 

 lobster), with complete optical apparatus ; 

 and some have both simple and compound 

 eyes. Most insects have two kinds of eyes : 

 the large compound eye, one on each side of 



the head ; and the ocelli, or simple eyes, of 

 which there are generally three, placed in a 

 triangle between the other two. The com- 

 pound eyes are complex in structure, consist- 

 ing of a number of hexagonal facets, each 

 with its system of nerves. It is not known 

 whether the combination forms one aggre- 

 gate eye, or whether each facet is an eye. Many 

 insects have thousands of these facets some 

 beetles as many as twenty-five thousand. 

 The vision of scorpions, though they have 

 six eyes, is imperfect ; and that of spiders, 

 equally well provided as to the number of 

 ocelli, is not much better. The dexterity 

 and unerring aim with which many reptiles 

 catch their insect food in the air proves that 

 they have very keen vision. The chameleon 

 has the additional faculty of moving its eyes 

 independently of each other, so that it can 

 look up with one eye while looking down 

 with the other, backward and forward, or 

 in other different directions. The eyes of 

 deep-sea fish are very varied : some have no 

 eyes or sight ; some have greatly enlarged 

 eyeballs ; and others are provided with phos- 

 phorescent processes or spots. Birds and 

 many of the smaller mammals have very 

 acute vision, while that of the larger ani- 

 mals is very much like our own. 



Co-operation in Nature. That crude 

 competition is the universal law of Nature, 

 while combination is the invention of the 

 mind of man, is doubted by Mr. Henry Far- 

 quhar. The position, he says, is " difficult 

 to reconcile with even the most hasty con- 

 sideration of ruminants feeding in herds, 

 where, instead of a tumultuous crowding for 

 the occupation of the best places, we see 

 some individuals taking posts in which they 

 can be of service in warning the whole herd 

 of impending danger or of the wolves that 

 prey upon them in co-operating packs. It is 

 not to be rashly claimed that mind ... is ab- 

 sent from the conduct of the ant and her colo- 

 nies ; but surely their example is convincing 

 evidence that the lesson of the economic su- 

 periority of concert over cutthroat individual 

 competition is one that has been well taught 

 and learned in realms of Nature widely sun- 

 dered from ours. ... If not with man as 

 a self-conscious being, where in the course of 

 evolution does an implicit recognition of the 

 wastefulness of indiscriminate competition 



