589 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



Levelations 

 Reversion 



chemical actions; the astronomer, armed 

 with powerful telescopes, penetrates the re- 

 gions of space, contemplates, on the extre- 

 mest confines of our solar system, the satel- 

 lites of Uranus, or decomposes faintly 

 sparkling points into double stars differing 

 in color. The botanist discovers the con- 

 stancy of the gyratory motion of the chara 

 in the greater number of vegetable cells, 

 and recognizes in the genera and natural 

 families of plants the intimate relations of 

 organic forms. The vault of heaven, stud- 

 ded with nebula and stars, and the rich 

 vegetable mantle that covers the soil in the 

 climate of palms, cannot surely fail to pro- 

 duce on the minds of these laborious ob- 

 servers of Nature an impression more im- 

 posing and more worthy of the majesty of 

 creation than on those who are unaccus- 

 tomed to investigate the great mutual rela- 

 tions of phenomena. I cannot, therefore, 

 agree with Burke when he says, " it is our 

 ignorance of natural things that causes all 

 our admiration, and chiefly excites our pas- 

 sions." HUMBOLDT Cosmos, vol. i, int., p. 

 39. (H., 1897.) 



2912. REVERSAL OF GENERAL 



RULE Snow-line Highest on Northern Slope 

 of Himalayas Monsoons Pile Waters of 

 Indian Ocean on the Southern Side of the 

 Mountains. Since the time of Humboldt 

 attention has frequently been drawn to the 

 fact that in those mountains [the Hima- 

 layas] the snow-line is higher on the north 

 or colder side than on the southern and 

 therefore warmer slopes. The amount of 

 the difference has been variously estimated 

 by various observers, but there appears to 

 be no doubt of the fact that the relative 

 difference is as stated, not the reverse. 

 And it is not difficult to understand why it 

 should be so. The southern slopes, tho the 

 warmer, are exposed to the moisture-laden 

 monsoons which blow from the south dur- 

 ing half the year in India, and at a certain 

 elevation this moisture is precipitated in 

 the form of snow. The northern slopes, on 

 the other hand, are swept only by the com- 

 paratively dry winds that have crossed the 

 interior of Asia, and hence the accumula- 

 tions of snow in the course of the year are 

 immensely greater on the south side than 

 on the north. On the former side the power 

 of the sun on the Himalayas, just as on 

 the Alps, is greater in causing the snow to 

 disappear, but as there is much more snow 

 on that side to be removed in the intervals 

 between the deposition of fresh snow, the 

 line up to which its total disappearance 

 can be effected is lower there than on the 

 north. CHISHOLM Nature-Studies, p. 34. 

 (Hum., 1888.) 



2913. REVERSION IN AGE TO 

 FAULTS OF YOUTH Deep Meaning of Sec- 

 ond Childhood Importance of Early Im- 

 pressions. The science of statistics shows 

 that certain crimes which are common in 

 the seasons of youth disappear, compara- 



tively, with advancing age, and reappear 

 again toward the close of life; or, in other 

 words, that the tendencies to indulgences in 

 disorders of imagination, and habits which 

 were acquired in the early life of a vicious 

 youth, or one exposed to evil associations, 

 tho they may be masked and kept in sub- 

 jection by the judgment and the influences 

 of position and reputation during early 

 manhood, middle life, and-J&rst decline, re- 

 sume their sway and close the career of the 

 man who has perhaps for years sustained a 

 spotless reputation with ignominy and 

 shame. How frequently do cases of this 

 kind present themselves ! I have now in 

 my mind's eye an individual who for forty 

 years was known and esteemed as a model 

 of honor, purity, and integrity, but who at 

 the age of seventy committed a crime 

 which consigned his name to infamy. De- 

 pend upon it, this man was subjected to 

 evil influences in early life, and the im- 

 pressions then made, tho neutralized by the 

 conditions and circumstances which after- 

 wards surrounded him, were never effaced, 

 and, when the latter ceased to produce their 

 restraining effects, the former resumed 

 their original sway. Pursuing this train 

 of thought we would conclude that the child 

 is not merely the father of the man, but, 

 more emphatically, the father of the old 

 man ; that the term " second childhood " 

 has a more extended signification than that 

 of the mere decline of the faculties. It also 

 should convey the idea that the tendency 

 of the dispositions and propensities of in- 

 dividuals is to return to the condition of 

 earlier life. HENRY Thoughts on Educa- 

 tion (Scientific Writings, vol. i, p. 341). 

 (Sm. Inst., 188G.) 



2914. REVERSION TO ANCESTRAL 

 FORMS Enduring Power of Type The Stripe 

 in Horses. By the term " reversion " or 

 " atavism " we understand the remarkable 

 fact known to all breeders of animals, that 

 occasionally single and individual animals 

 assume a form which has not existed for 

 many generations, but belongs to a genera- 

 tion which has long since disappeared. One 

 of the most remarkable instances of this 

 kind is the fact that in some horses there 

 sometimes appear singular dark stripes, 

 similar to those of the zebra, quagga, and 

 other wild species of African horses. Do- 

 mestic horses of the most different races 

 and of all colors sometimes show such dark 

 stripes; for example, a stripe along the 

 back, a stripe across the shoulders, and the 

 like. The sudden appearance of these 

 stripes can only be explained by the suppo- 

 sition that it is the effect of a latent trans- 

 mission, a relapse into the ancient original 

 form, which has long since vanished, and 

 was once common to all species of horses; 

 the original form, undoubtedly, was orig- 

 inally striped like the zebras, quaggas, etc. 

 HAECKEL History of Creation, vol. i, ch. 

 9, p. 214. (K. P. & Co., 1899.) 



