481 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



Ration 

 Mature 



must be in harmony with that of man, tho 

 vastly greater in its scope and grasp in time 

 and space. DAWSON Facts and Fancies in 

 Modern Science, lect. 5, p. 182. (A. B. P. S.) 



2361. NATURE, BEAUTY AND VA- 

 RIETY OF Natural Selection Not an Ex- 

 planation. Now, what explanation does the 

 law of natural selection give I will not say 

 of the origin, but even of the continuance 

 and preservation of such specific varieties 

 as these [of humming-birds] ? None what- 

 ever. A crest of topaz is no better in the 

 struggle for existence than a crest of sap- 

 phire. A frill ending in spangles of the 

 emerald is no better in the battle of life 

 than a frill ending in the spangles of the 

 ruby. A tail is not affected for the purposes 

 of flight, whether its marginal or its central 

 feathers are decorated with white. It is im- 

 possible to bring such varieties into relation 

 with any physical law known to us. It has 

 relation, however, to a purpose, which 

 stands in close analogy with our own knowl- 

 edge of purpose in the works of man. Mere 

 beauty and mere variety, for their own sake, 

 are objects which we ourselves seek when we 

 can make the forces of Nature subordinate 

 to the attainment of them. There seems to 

 be no conceivable reason why we should 

 doubt or question that these are ends and 

 aims also in the forms given to living or- 

 ganisms, when the facts correspond with 

 this view, and with no other. In this sense 

 we can trace a creative law; that is, we 

 can see that these forms of life do fulfil a 

 purpose and intention which we can appre- 

 ciate and understand. ARGYLL Reign of 

 Law, ch. 5, p. 139. (Burt.) 



2362. NATURE, CALM OF, DELU- 

 SIVE Quiet Intervals of Volcanoes. While 

 the volcano Stromboli (Strongyle) has been 

 incessantly active since the Homeric ages, 

 and has served as a beacon-light to guide 

 the mariner in the Tyrrhenian Sea, loftier 

 volcanoes have been characterized by long 

 intervals of quiet. Thus we see that a whole 

 century often intervenes between the erup- 

 tions of most of the colossi which crown 

 the summits of the Cordilleras of the An- 

 des. HUMBOLDT Cosmos, vol. i, p. 229. (H., 

 1897.) 



2363. NATURE DOES NOT EXPLAIN 



MAN A glance at our logical behavior 

 demonstrates that we cannot find the clue 

 to human nature by considering man from 

 the standpoint of natural science alone. 

 Man is more than merely a product of Na- 

 ture. An inner principle, the spiritual 

 norm, following special laws of their own, 

 are also determining factors. SCHWARZ 

 Psychologic des Willens (a Lecture). (Trans- 

 lated for Scientific Side-Lights. ) 



2364. NATURE, EXTERNAL Percep- 

 tion of, Depends upon Mind of Observer. 

 External Nature may be opposed to the in- 

 tellectual world, as if the latter were not 

 comprised within the limits of the former, 



or Nature may be opposed to art when the 

 latter is defined as a manifestation of the 

 intellectual power of man; but these con- 

 trasts, which we find reflected in the most 

 cultivated languages, must not lead us to 

 separate the sphere of Nature from that of 

 mind, since such a separation would reduce 

 the physical science of the world to a mere 

 aggregation of empirical, specialties. Sci- 

 ence does not present itself to man until 

 mind conquers matter in striving to sub- 

 ject the result of experimental investiga- 

 tion to rational combinations. Science is 

 the labor of mind applied to Nature, but 

 the external world has no real existence 

 for us beyond the image reflected within 

 ourselves through the medium of the senses. 

 As intelligence and forms of speech, thought 

 and its verbal symbols, are united by secret 

 and indissoluble links, so does the external 

 world blend almost unconsciously to our- 

 selves with our ideas and feelings. HUM- 

 BOLDT Cosmos, vol. i, int., p. 70. (H., 1897.) 



2365. NATURE, HUMAN, KNOWL- 

 EDGE OF How Wise Men Learn. Confu- 

 cius said (like Socrates) : " I am not wise. 

 But if any man, of humble condition, comes 

 for information to me, who am empty, 1 

 make of him an object of research from 

 every point, and exhaust him, while I enrich 

 my own knowledge of human nature." 

 HAUG Confucius der Weise (an Address in 

 Virchow und Holtzendorfs Sammlung wis- 

 senschaftlicher Vortrage). (Translated for 

 Scientific Side-Lights.) 



2366. NATURE IGNORES MAN'S 

 DIVIDING LINES Fauna of One Region 

 Overlaps That of Another. In the study of 

 the geographical distribution of terrestrial 

 animals one of the great difficulties met with 

 is the impossibility of defining exactly the 

 limits of the regions into which we divide 

 the surface of the earth. In a general way 

 we recognize that there is an Australian 

 region, an Ethiopian region, etc. ; but, when 

 we come to discuss the exact position of the 

 frontier lines that separate these regions 

 from their neighbors, we find all kinds of 

 difficulties to overcome and inconsistencies 

 to meet. 



For the sake of convenience it is useful 

 to adopt certain arbitrary limits for these 

 regions, notwithstanding these difficulties 

 and inconsistencies, but we must recognize 

 the fact that Nature recognizes no such 

 limits, that every region overlaps its neigh- 

 bors to a greater or less extent, and that 

 there are many debatable grounds in the 

 world where the fauna characteristic of one 

 region is mixed with that characteristic of 

 another. HICKSON Fauna of the Deep Sea, 

 ch. 3, p. 45. (A., 1894.) 



2367. NATURE IGNORES THE EX- 

 ISTENCE OF MAN Drought and Volcano 

 Regard Him ^ r ot. If the barren soil around 

 Sydney had at once become fertile upon the 

 landing of our first settlers; if, like the 



