1 22 



NATURE 



[J cm: 6, 1895 



.emotion when the eye measures the enormous distances 1 

 it commands from such a heij;ht ? Whoever has cxperi- [ 

 cnced the thrilliny delijjht of that other emotion caused 

 by insight and discovery ; whoever knows that intellec- j 

 tual powers can produce as much enthusiasm as artistic . 

 and iesthetical emotion, will not be haunted by the sicken- 

 ing dread that human imagination could become stripped 

 naked by the impious hand of science. Whoever cares 

 more for the Why, than for the How, will gather around 

 the temple of science ; but those gifted natures, who are 

 impressed by colours, shapes, and situations, why shall 

 they not go on to shake their kaleidoscope of beauty and 

 appearance, just as much as these goon drawing invisible 

 threads of cause and effect between old and new facts r 



Let us therefore not quarrel with the natural growth 

 .of the human mind, but rather accept in delight all such 

 actions as include a great increase of knowledge in 

 regions where ignorance lent the hand to superstition ; 

 and so let us hail the work of those who lifted a piece of 

 the thick veil that covered the abyssal depths of the 

 • ocean. 



It will always be one of the greatest of the many 

 merits of the late I'rof. W. B. Carpenter to have given 

 the first suggestion to the Challciigir Expedition. Not 

 .content with asking the Council of the Royal Society to 

 throw in its authority with the British Government to 

 undertake a new and complete course of research for the 

 . exploration of the deep sea, he entered into direct corre- 

 spondence with the First Lord of the .\dniiralty, and 

 carried his point so far as to rccci\e the answer that the 

 •Coxemment would be prepared to give the requisite aid 

 in furtherance of such an expedition on receipt of a formal 

 application from the Koyal .Society — in consequence of 

 which answer the Koyal Society at once proceeded to take 

 these necessary steps ; and after exchanging some corre- 

 spondence with the Secrctar>' of the Admiralty, the pro- 

 posal to defray the expense of such an expedition out of 

 the public funds was brought before Parliament and 

 "received the cordial assent of the House of Commons ' 

 in .April 1873. 



It is to be lamented that in the " .Narrative of the 

 ■Cruise," neither the proposition of the British dovern- 

 mcnt nor the debate of the House of Commons are 

 reproduced literally. It would have been of high historical 

 interest to the general, as well as to the special, reader to 

 know exactly the wording in which the proposition was 

 formed, and the views and opinions witli which it was 

 received. It is. perhaps, not possible to the editor of 

 N.XTl'KK to supply even now this omission, but yet many 

 in the outer world would greatly desire a reprint of 

 the day's discussion which produced results so 

 momentous as that great and memorable expedition 

 of the Chilli (iij^er. In uttering this regret, I can assure 

 the British reader that, though a foreigner, I feel deeply 

 my share of gratitude to both C.overnmcnt and Parlia- 

 ment of (Ireat Britain. I cannot omit this occasion to 

 (•mgratulate science for having her wants so well inter- 

 preted, un<lerst<HHl, and satisfied by all those who have 

 a share in the ty/<j//<'«^v;- Expedition, be it the (loveni- 

 ment or Parliament, be it the officers and crew of the 

 fhip, or the scientific staff and the authors of the 

 •voluminous reports lying before me. 



.■\nd I may be permitted to claim some personal license 

 NO. 1336, VOL. 52] 



to proffer my thanks in the name of science, and especi- | ' 

 ally of biological science : for at the time when Dr. i 

 Carpenter and the Royal Society asked the British 

 Government to undertake the expedition, I was myself 

 engaged in a collateral enterprise of similar tendency, aiiil 

 felt the same necessity to ask for help and assistance of 

 the authorities of the ( lerman Govemmcnt, and, in smalU r 

 degree, of the (iovernnients of almost all civilised Stati -. 

 and nations. A few years after the British House 

 of Commons had "cordially assented'' to the proposi 

 tion of the Royal .Society, and voted the funds <le 

 manded by the .Admiralty, the GeVnian Reichstag passed 

 a resolution, based on a petition of Helmholtz, Dubois- 

 Reymond and \'irchow, by which the Go\ernnient of the 

 empire was asked to grant an annual sub\ention of 

 ^1500 to the Zoological Station of Naples, a subvention 

 not only continued up to this date, but four years since 

 increased to ^2000. These votes of the two great 

 parliamentary bodies go far to disprove the old doctrine, 

 that science and .the promotion of research arc to he 

 abandoned to prixate enterprise, and to the favours they 

 may meet with accidentally in raising money by public 

 subscription, or falling in with wealthy private persons 

 whose interest ;nnl generosity can be won over. 1 I 

 am afraid, if the House of Commons had not granted the 

 necessary funds, the Cliallcngcr Expedition would never j 



! have taken place, and our ignorance about the many , 

 great and innumerable smaller questions connected with 

 the deep-sea problems would be still the saine as in 1872. 

 Had not the German Reichstag \oted in favour of the 

 Zoological .Station, all my personal efforts would have 

 failed, and neither the Naples .Station nor the Plymouth 



] Laboratory, nor, perhaps, the many other imitations of 

 "the big brother at Naples," would have had the chances 

 with which they have met now. No ; let science not be 

 immodest and ask for all and everything from the State ; 

 but let it still less linger on and wait for the chances, 

 growing always scarcer and scarcer, of being endowed by 

 private source, be it public subscription or donation from 

 wealthy men and amateurs. The number of persons 

 combining great wealth with sufficient culture is unfortun- 

 ately not on the increase ; inherited wcahh, which offers 

 more chance for the act|uirenicnt of higher intellectual 

 pursuits, is decidedly diminishing. The demand for funds 

 for the endowment of research is doubtlessly augmenting, 

 and the competition in the advancement of science is 

 such, that the nation which is not ready to pay its share, 

 will either be thrown in the background, or live like 

 a parasite on the intelle<tual blood of its neighbours. 

 How long such a parasitic existence could l)e protracted, 

 remains to be seen ; but certainly no great nation will 

 deliberately accept such a disgraceful situation, the more 

 since it cannot be doubted that each nation has its 

 peculiar gifts and talents, which make its co-operation 

 indispensable in (he chorus of other nations and in the 

 interest of humanity. It must be granted, that the weight 

 of a nation in the scale of culture depends on the power 

 and number of men of genius it has pnxluced and goes 

 on to produce ; it may also be granted, that a genius has 

 been known to open up his own ways and make his 

 career through all the adversities of fate. Yet a genius 

 needs to feed quite as much, or perhaps more than an 

 ordinarj' mortal, and some think it would be economical 



