1^6 



NA TURE 



[December 14. 1893 



issues, old and new, which end in being a nuisance to 

 everybody." If this opinion had come from anyone but 

 one of the debaters it would have been ungracious. The 

 questions at issue between Weismann and Spencer and 

 Romanes have become so involved that some discrimina- 

 tion is required to unravel the tangled skein of argument. 

 Mr. Spencer therefore confines his replies to those 

 arguments of Prof. Weismann which are contained in 

 his first article. The following points are of interest : — 



Prof. Weismann says he has disproved the conclusion that 

 degeneration of the linle toe has resuUed from inheritance of 

 acquired characters. But his reasoning fails against an inter- 

 pretation he overlooks. A profound modification of the hind- 

 limbs and tlieir appendages must have taken place during the 

 transition from arboreal habits to terrestrial habits ; and dwind- 

 ling of the little toe is an obvious consequence of disuse, at the 

 same time that enlargement of the great toe is an obvious con- 

 sequence of increased use. 



The entire argument based on the unlike forms and instincts 

 presented by castes of social insects is invalidated by an omission. 

 Until probable conclusions are reached respecting the charac- 

 ters which such insects brought with them into the organised 

 social state, no valid inferences can be drawn respecting charac- 

 ters developed during that state. 



A further large error of interpretation is involved in the as- 

 sumption that the different caste-characters are transmitted to 

 ihern in the eggs laid by the mother insect. While we have 

 evidence that the unlike structures of the sexes are determined 

 by nutrition of the germ before egg-laying, we have evidence 

 that the unlike structures of classes are caused by unlikenesses 

 of nutrition of the hrvre. That these varieties of forms do 

 not result from varieties of germ-plasms is demonstrated by the 

 fact that where there are varieties of germ-plasms, as in 

 varieties of the same species of mammal, no deviations in feed- 

 ing prevent display of their structural results. 



Mr. Spencer also shows that for such caste-modifica- 

 tions as those of the Amazon ants, which are unable to 

 feed themselves, there is a feasible explanation other than 

 that given by Prof. Weismann. With regard to pan- 

 mixia, he says : — 



The tacit challenge I gave to name some facts in support of 

 the hypothesis of panmixia — or even a solitary fact — -is passed 

 by. It remains a pure speculation having no basis but Prof. 

 Weisinann's "opinion." When from the abstract statement of 

 it we pass to a concrete test, in the case of the whale, we find 

 that it necessitates an unproved and improbable assumption 

 respecting phis and inimis variations ; that it ignores the un- 

 ceasing tendency to reversion ; and that it implies an effect out 

 of all proportion to the cause. 



It is curious what entirely opposite conclusions men may draw 

 from the same evidence. Prof. Weismann thinks he has shown 

 "that the last bulwark of the Lamarckian principle is unten- 

 able." Most readers will hold widi me that he is, to use the 

 mildest word, premature in .>-o thinkmg. 



A short article on " Water Bacteriology and Cnolera,'' 

 by Mrs. Percy Frankland, appears in Longinatis' Maga- 

 zine. It deals chiefly with the value of sand filtration as 

 a means of purifying water. The report of the cholera 

 epidemic in Hamburg and Altona has strikingly proved 

 tliat sand-filters offer a remarkable and obstinate barrier 

 to the passage of disease organisms, as well as the 

 ordinary harmless water bacteria. Here is a statement 

 of the facts : — 



These two cities are both dependent upon the river Elbe for 

 their water supply, but whereas in the case of Hamburg the 

 intake is situated above the city, the supply for Altona is ab- 

 stracted below Hamburg ajter it has received the sewage of a 

 population of close upon ?>oo,ooo persons. The Hamburg water 

 was, therefore, to start with, relatively pure when compared 

 with that destined for the use of Altona. But what was the 

 fate of these two towns as regards cholera ? Situated side by side, 

 absolutely contiguous in fact, with nothing in their surroundings 

 or in the nature of their popul.rtion to especially distinguish 

 them, ill the one cholera swept away thousands, whilst in the 

 other the scourge was scarcely felt ; in Hamburg the deaths 



NO. [259, VOL 49] 



from cholera amounted to 1,250 per 100,000, and in Altona to 

 but 221 per 100,000 of the population. So clearly defined, 

 moreover, was the ])aih pursued by the cholera, that although it 

 pu-hed from the Hamburg side right up to the boundary line 

 between the two cities, it there stopped, this being so striking 

 that in one street, which for some distance marks the division 

 between these cities, the Hamburg side 7vas stiicken down with 

 cholera, 'whilst that belonging to Altona remained free. The 

 remarkable fact was brought to light that in those houses sup- 

 plied with the Hamburg water cholera wa-; rampant, whilst in 

 those on the Altona side, and furnished with the Altona water, 

 not one case occurred. We have seen that ihe Hamburg water, 

 to start with, was comparaUvely pure when compared with the 

 foul liquid abstracted from the Elbe by Altona, l)ut whereas in 

 the one case the water was submitted to exhaustive and careful 

 filtration through sand before delivery, in Hamburg the Elbe 

 water was distributed, in its raw condition as drawn from the 

 river. 



Also in Longmans', Sir John Evans writes on " The 

 Forgery of Antiquities." From his history of ingenious 

 frauds perpetrated in every branch of archeology we 

 select the following :— 



Of prehistoric antiquities, both in stone and bronze, forgeries 

 are numerous, but it seems needless to enter into all the details 

 of their character, and of the means that may be employed to 

 detect their fraudulent origin. Suffice it to say that in the 

 gravel-pits of the valley of the Somme and of the neighbour- 

 hood of London the manufacture of palDeolithic implements 

 takes rank as one of the fine arts. The chipping of the Eng- 

 lish forgeries is superior to that of the French, but in each case 

 the lanceolate form is the favourite. The appearance of 

 antiquity is usually given by a thin coating of fine clay, but at 

 Amiens a plan of whitening the flint by long boiling in the 

 family kettle has been introduced. ... In some of the bone- 

 caves of the Reindeer period, both in France and Germany, 

 ancient bones have had designs engraved upon them by modern 

 forgers, and ancient flint tools have been inserted in sockets of 

 ancient bone so as together to form a composite falsification. 

 Something of the same kind has been practised with regard to 

 relics from the Swiss lake-dwelling«, many of the bronze 

 objects from which have also been imitated by casting. 



Of neolithic implements forgeries are equally abundant, and 

 in some instances equally difficult to detect. Large perforated 

 axe heads when made of soft sandstone which could not possibly 

 be used lor cutting purposes, of course betray themselves ; but 

 the modern flint axes and arrowheads are not so easily dis- 

 tinguishable from the ancient. To the experienced eye there is, 

 however, a difference both in the workmanship and the character 

 of the surface, the ancient arrowheads having probably been 

 worked into shape by pressure with a tool of stag's horn, and 

 not by blows of an iron hammer. The grinding of the edges of 

 modern imitations has usually been effected on a revolving 

 grindstone ; in ancient tinaes a fixed stone was always used, on 

 which the surface and edges of axes or hatchets were ground by 

 friction. 



"A Naturalist's Notes off Mull," by "Nether Loch- 

 aber," in Good IVords^ is a chatty account well worth 

 reading. 



BlackivoocVs Magazine contains a paper by Prof 

 Andrew Seth on " Man's Place in the Cosmos," being a 

 criticism of Prof Huxley's Romanes lecture on" Evolu- 

 tion and Ethics." Mr. J. Bickerdyke writes on " Suc- 

 cessful Fish-culture in the Highlands." He explains 

 some of the facts and principles which should be under- 

 stood and considered before Highland fish-culture is 

 attempted, and illustrates his subject with an account of 

 some experiinents made by Mr. Stewart at Kinlochmoi- 

 dart. 



An article on " Anthropometry as Applied to Social 

 and Economic Questions " is contributed by Mr. C. 

 Roberts to the Hit))ianitaria7i. In it we note that the 

 mean height of Fellows of the Royal Society is given as 

 5 feet 976 inches. 



We have also received the National Review and the 

 Century, but neither contains any articles of scientific 

 interest. 



