5S6 



NA TURE 



[October io, 1895 



stems, and branches of injured or broken trees, in the form of 

 resin, which on evaporation became thickened, and finally 

 assumeil the form of succinite or some similar substance. For 

 the most [xart the fossil resin has iK-en derived from the stems and 

 roots of coniferous trees of the genus Piniis. In addition to the 

 exceptionally \vell-preser\ed tissues of coniferous trees, the 

 Baltic amlvtr has yielded remarkable siwcimens of monocotyle- 

 donous and dicotyledonous flowers. Some of the most striking 

 examples were illustrated by means of the excellent coloured 

 plates from Dr. Conwent?' nu)noyraphs on the lialtic amber. 



The Wealden flora of England, by A. C. Seward. Mr. 

 A. C. Seward, after referring to the various species described by 

 Mantell, Carruthers, Starkie Gardner, and others, from the 

 Wcalden strata of England, liricfly described a large number of 

 plants from the British Museum collection. During the last few- 

 years Mr. RufTord, of Hastings, has obtained an extremely 

 valuable and rich collection of plants from Ecclesbournc, Fair- 

 light, and other localities ; and tlicse have now become the pro- 

 perty of the nation. The follow ings|iecies are at jiresent known 

 from the Wealden of Englan<l ; some of these have already been 

 figured in the first volume of the catalog\ie of the Wealden flora, 

 and the remainder are dealt with in the forthcoming second 

 volume : — Al^ites vahUiisis, sp. nov. , A. <atcnclloidcs, sp. nov. , 

 Chara Knowltoni, sp. nov., Manhantilcs ZcilUri, sp. nov., 

 EijuisctiUs Lyclli, jlant. , E. Biirchardti, Dunk., E. Yoke- 

 yam<e, sp. nov., Onychiofsis Mantclli (Brong.), 0. ehngala 

 (Cleyl. ), Airoslichopteris Kiiffordi, sp. nov., Matoniditim Gof- 

 pfrli (Ett.), Prolopti-ris U'itteaiia, Schenk., Ruffordia Goppcrii 

 (Dunk.), Cladophkhis lon.pptnnis,s\>. nov. ,C ^/fe/'/^/V(Dunk.), 

 C. Brmviiiana (Dunk.). C. Diiiikcri (Schimp.), Sphenopleris 

 Eonlaiiiei, sp. nov., S. Filtoiii, sp. nov., VVeichselia ManUlli 

 (Brong.), Taniopteris Bcyrichii (Schenk.), T. Dawsoiii, sp. 

 nov., Sagenopteris MaiiUUi (Dunk.), S. aiutifolia, sp. nov., 

 Muroditlyoii Diintin',Sc\ienV.. , Dii lyitp/iyl/iiiii jRomeri, Schenk, 

 Ix(tenhya valdciisis, gen. ct sp. nov., Tciiipskya Schinipcri, 

 CoiA., Cycadites Kimcri, Schenk., C. Saporlw, sp. nov., /)/- 

 ooiiiles Dunkcrianiis (Gopp. ), D. Brongniarti ( Mant. ), Nilssonia 

 Sihaumbiirgdnsis (Dunk.), Oloznmilts Klipslcinii, (Dunk.), ('. 

 Gopptrlianiis (Dunk.), Zamitcs Bmlnanus {^\\..\, Zamilcs Car- 

 riithcrsi, sp. nov., Aiiomozamitcs I.yellianus (Dunk.), Cycado- 

 Itpis, Carpolilhes, Aiidrostrobtis Nathorsli, sp. nov., Coitilcs 

 elegans {Can.), C. aniiatiis, sp. nov., Biicklandia aiiomala 

 (Stokes and Webb), Fillonia Kuj^ordi, sp. nov., Bciindtites 

 Snx/ytiniis, Brown, B. Gihsoiiiaiiiis, Carr., B. {It'i/liamsonia) 

 Carriitlursi, sp. nov., Yalesia Mairisii, Carr., Withatiiia 

 Siiporlir, gen. et sp. nov., Bccklesia anomala, gen. ct sp. nov., 

 Duhopidis, sp., Sphoiolepidiiim Kiirriaiiiim (Schenk.), S. 

 Sleriihtrgianiim (UunV.), Pagt'op/iylliim eraisifoliiiin (Schenk.), 

 Brcuhyphyllutn ohcsiim,\\e<LX, B. spinosiim, sp. nov., Piniles 

 Solmsi, sp. nov., P. Dmikeri, Carr, P. Mantelli, Carr, P. 

 patens, Carr., P. Camillursi, Card., &c. 



SC/E.\Lh J.\ llJE MAGAZINES. 



'T'HE jwrsonal reminiscences of Huxley, contributed by Mr. 

 George W. Smalley to the current number of Scribuer, 

 will bring up pleasant memories to those who were honoured by 

 the friendship of the departed naturalist, and Ihey form an affec- 

 tionate tribute " to. the menioryof one of the truest men whoever 

 lived, one of the manliest, and in all points the noblest." There 

 is in the article so much real testimony to Huxley's greatness, 

 that every student of science will appreciate it. " The emanci- 

 jKilion of thought," truly says Mr. Smalley, "thai is Huxley's 

 let;acy to his century — that was his continual lesson of intel- 

 Against those who criticised Huxley's philo- 

 ; we (|Uole these wurds : " In truth he wasa very 



, ' ■". with an extraordinary knowledge of the 



literature ics and philosophy. . . . Huxley was a 



sludcn", ; ii a student, of Descartes. Hehaswrilten 



■he I ik III cxi.stcncc cm Hume. He was a pupil of 



Ari^ ii'refore not a Plalonist. Hobl)es taught him 



much ; I. to him a great thinker ; I>ocke, Butler, and 



Ihc short 1 great names in English philosophy were 



all hi- !■ ;.- .iinong Ihe great Germans there was, I 



•hill! lid not know well— KanI, Hegel, Eichte, 



and ■• line, not excepting .Scho|M;nhauer." But 



Huxle)! claim lu lerognilion as one of Ihc world's foremost 

 thinker*, nt)» unhappily lost to us, need not be enlarged upon 

 here. "He will lie rememljcrcd as the great physiologist, the 



NO. 1354, VOL. 52] 



great student, the great controversialist, the great thinker and 

 writer. That he will be remembered need not be doubted. 

 The world, it may still be said, does not willingly let die the 

 memory of those who have made it a better world to live in. 

 whose lives as well as whose teachings have been lessons of 

 devotion, of high aims, of wide accomplishments, of honour- 

 able pur|K>se : whose achievements are w rillen imperishably in 

 the annals of their own time. Huxley was one of these, 

 and his monument in his life's endeavour. There will be no 

 need to inscribe Right Honourable ui>on his tomb. The name 

 he bore through life will serve both for epitaph and eulogy. " 



There are other articles in Scribner which will interest the 

 readers of Natirk. One of these is a fully illustrated descri]<- 

 tion of the new Chicago University, by Mr. Merrick. Mag- 

 nificent buildings have been erected, and an endowment of over 

 .^1.200,000 has been bestowed in the short period ^tf four years, 

 as w ell as a generous annual budget for current expenses. This 

 phenomenal generosity, together with the fact that there w ill be 

 no question of adequate support as fresh opportunities lor 

 development occur, point to the University of Chicago as a great 

 .and growing centre of intellectual activity. In some respects 

 the system of the University resembles that of our older Univer- 

 sities, but others — such as the emphasis placed upon the doctor's 

 degree, investigation, research, iSrc. , and the activity of the 

 grailuate schools — point to the Cierman University as the pre- 

 vailing influence. It will astonish many of our schoolmen to 

 know that " the graduates in residence this year — in all over 

 three hundred — form more than one-third of the entire body of 

 students, a larger number than at any other American University. 

 This preponderance of graduate students has been brought about 

 by several reasons : the emphasis placeil upon the advanced 

 courses under the leadership of such heads of departments as 

 Profs. Dewey, Hale, von Hoist, Laughlin. Michelson and Nef. 

 not to mention others ; the special jirivileges and distinctions 

 granted to graduates (for example, in many departments only 

 graduate students .are allowed in the special departmental labo- 

 ratories, the /6000 annually oflered in fellowships and scholar- 

 ships ; and tlie equal privileges accorded to women. It is a 

 truism that the most distinctive mo\e in .\merican college life of 

 the last decade has been in the sudden interest in post-graduate 

 study. But hitherto in Western institutions, whether college or 

 so-called university, has had the means to provide liberally for 

 advanced studies." It will be clear from this quotation, and more 

 clear from a perus.al of the article, that the I'niversity of Chicago is 

 developing in the right directions towards scholarship and new 

 knowledge. Chicag*.> jieojile seem to have the cause of higher 

 education at heart, and they are devoting their best energies, as 

 well as generous financial support, to the magnificent institution 

 which has so quickly sprung into existence, anil which has such 

 a great future before it. 



The third article of .scientific interest in Scribntr is on 

 " Domesticated Birds," by Prof. >.'. S. Shaler, and is beauti- 

 fully illustrated. 



The sixth of Mr. Herbert Spencer's papers on profession.!! 

 institutions, contributed to the Conliiiipoiiiry, deals with the 

 evolution of men of science and philoso|)hers, and w ill, therefore, 

 be of exceptional interest to our readers. So far as the series 

 h.as .as yet gone, it has lieen shown that the institutions dealt 

 with were probably derived from the priesthood. Whatever 

 may be the opinion with regard to the connection between the 

 medical profession and priestcraft, it will be generally conceiled 

 that .astronomy received its first impulse from the exigencies of 

 religious worship. Extracts given by Mr. Spencer from 

 Rawlinson, Layard, and Maury show clearly how closely 

 religion and science (especially astronomical science) were 

 mingled by the Babylonians. With Ihe Egyptians, too, there is 

 abundant evidence to prove an intiiiiale coiiiuclion between 

 their science .and their religion ; and Ihe connection is eslablishe<l 

 by the fact that " in every temple there was ... an astro- 

 nomer who h.id to observe the heavens." Astronomy was 

 thus an outgrowth of religion, and the natural knowledge 

 accumulated by the priests formed the beginnings of sciences in 

 Egypt, Assyria, and India. TheGreeksimporleiithisknowledge; 

 in other words, they olilained their early science in a sliglitly 

 devclo|x-d stale. ( M ihe indebtedness of the ( Ireek philosophers 

 to Ihe Egyptian priests there is no doubt whatever, and .Mr. 

 Spencer clearly makes out that obligation. The developiiieni of 

 Greek science, however, is only in a small measure ascribeil to 

 the priesthiHxl, the advances being more of secular than nf ' 

 .sacred origin. "During those centuries of darkness which 



