457 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



Molecules 

 Morality 



sort of thing that everywhere happens on 

 a less glaring scale. Even the habit of ex- 

 cessive indulgence in music, for those who 

 are neither performers themselves nor mu- 

 sically gifted enough to take it in a purely 

 intellectual way, has probably a relaxing 

 effect upon the character. One becomes 

 filled with emotions which habitually pass 

 without prompting to any deed, and so the 

 inertly sentimental condition is kept up. 

 The remedy would be never to suffer one's 

 self to have an emotion at a concert with- 

 out expressing it afterwards in some active 

 way. Let the expression be the least thing 

 in the world speaking genially to one's 

 aunt, or giving up one's seat in a horse- 

 car, if nothing more heroic offers but let 

 it not fail to take place. JAMES Psy- 

 chology, vol. ii, ch. 4, p. 125. (H. H. & Co., 

 1899.) 



2238. MONUMENTS CONFIRMING 

 HISTORIAN'S ACCURACY Herodotus and 

 Persian Impostor. The way in which mod- 

 ern discoveries have come in to confirm 

 Ms [Herodotus's] statements justifies us in 

 relying on ancient historians when, like 

 him, they are careful to distinguish mere 

 legend or hearsay from what they have 

 themselves inquired into. Thus Herodotus 

 tells the strange story of the impostor who 

 passed himself off as Smerdis, and sat on 

 the throne of Persia till he was detected by 

 his cropped ears, and Darius slew him. 

 When, a few years ago, the cuneiform char- 

 acters of the inscription sculptured in a 

 high wall of rock near Behistan. in Persia 

 were deciphered, it proved to be the very 

 record set up by Darius the king in the 

 three languages of the land, and it matches 

 the account given by Herodotus closely 

 enough to show what a real grasp he had 

 of the course of events in Persia a century 

 before his time. TYLOE Anthropology, ch. 

 15, p. 386. (A., 1899.) 



2239. MOON, PHASES OF, THE BASIS 

 OF THE CALENDAR "-He Appointeth the 

 Moon for Seasons" (Ps. civ, 19). The proper 

 motion of the moon from west to east, and 

 the succession of phases, may be considered 

 as the most ancient facts of observation of 

 the sky, and as the first basis of measure- 

 ment of time and of the calendar. FLAM- 

 MARION Popular Astronomy, bk. ii, ch. 1, p. 

 5. (A.) 



2240. MOON, SUPPOSED PERNICIOUS 

 EFFECT OF Blindness Ascribed to Moon- 

 beams The Chill of Celestial Space. My 

 face [when attempting to sleep at night on 

 the Weisshorn] was turned towards the 

 moon until it became so chilled that I was 

 forced to protect it by a light handkerchief. 

 The power of blinding the eyes is ascribed 

 to the moonbeams, but the real mischief is 

 that produced by radiation from the eyes 

 into clear space, and the inflammation con- 

 sequent upon the chill. TYNDALL Hours of 

 Exercise in the Alps, ch. 9, p. 96. (A., 

 1898.) 



2241. MORALITY AND SCIENCE 



Evolution as Prophecy Progress in Future 

 as in Past. The doctrine of evolution pre- 

 sents its greatest attractiveness when viewed, 

 not merely in its scientific aspect, as the 

 highest form of the intellectual interpreta- 

 tion of Nature, but in its moral bearings, 

 as one which leads man ever onwards and 

 upwards, and encourages his brightest antic- 

 ipations of the ultimate triumph of truth 

 over error, of knowledge over ignorance, of 

 right over wrong, of good over evil, thus 

 claiming the earnest advocacy of every one 

 who accepts it as scientifically true. -CAR- 

 PENTER Nature and Man, lect. 14, p. 408. 

 (A., 1889.) 



2242. MORALITY DEMANDS ACTION 

 IN LINE OF GREATEST RESISTANCE 



Ease of Following Propensities A Struggle 

 for Ideals. When outer forces impinge 

 upon a body, we say that the resultant mo- 

 tion is in the line of least resistance, or of 

 greatest traction. But it is a curious fact 

 that our spontaneous language never speaks 

 of volition with effort in this way. . . . 

 He who under the surgeon's knife represses 

 cries of pain, or he who exposes himself to 

 social obloquy for duty's sake, feels as if he 

 were following the line of greatest tempo- 

 rary resistance. He speaks of conquering 

 and overcoming his impulses and tempta- 

 tions. 



But the sluggard, the drunkard, the cow- 

 ard, never talk of their conduct in that way 

 or say they resist their energy, overcome 

 their sobriety, conquer their courage, and so 

 forth. If in general we class all springs of 

 action as propensities on the one hand and 

 ideals on the other, the sensualist never says 

 of his behavior that it results from a victory 

 over his ideals, but the moralist always 

 speaks of his as a victory over his propen- 

 sities. The sensualist uses terms of inac- 

 tivity, says he forgets his ideals, is deaf to 

 duty, and so forth; which terms seem to 

 imply that the ideal motives per se can be 

 annulled without energy or effort, and that 

 the strongest mere traction lies in the line 

 of the propensities. . . . And if a brief 

 definition of ideal or moral action were re- 

 quired, none could be given which would 

 better fit the appearances than this: It is 

 action in the line of the greatest resistance. 

 JAMES Psychology, vol. ii, ch. 26, p. 548. 

 (H. H. & Co., 1899.) 



2243. MORALITY DISTINCTIVE 



Contrasted with Habit and Expediency. 

 The difference between the habitual, the 

 prudential, and the moral aspects of the 

 very same action may be made apparent by 

 a very simple illustration: We will suppose 

 that a man has been accustomed to take a 

 ride every day at a particular hour; his 

 whole nature so accommodates itself to the 

 habit that he feels both mentally and phys- 

 ically uncomfortable at any interruption to 

 the usual rhythm. But suppose that, just 

 as the appointed hour comes round, the sky 



