735 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



V enus'M 

 Victory 



guished from being slightly swollen and 

 bloody. DARWIN Naturalist's Voyage around 

 the World, ch. 2, p. 22. (A., 1898.) 



3641. VERSATILITY OF SCIENTIST 



Mastery of Three Great Departments 

 The Philosophic Mind Everywhere at Home. 

 Wherever mineralogy or geology is taught, 

 the unsurpassed text-books on these subjects 

 by Dana hold easy supremacy. ... Of 

 his mineralogy Powell says : " Thus he was 

 the first to give us a system of mineralogy ; 

 but his work in this field did not end at 

 that stage. He still pursued his investiga- 

 tions, collecting from many fields, and draw- 

 ing from the collections of many others in 

 many lands, until at last he developed a 

 new system of mineralogy, placing the sci- 

 ence on an enduring basis. This accom- 

 plishment alone was also worthy of a great 

 man, and by it a new science was organ- 

 ized on a mathematical, chemical, and phys- 

 ical basis." 



The broader field of geology became his 

 after his return from the exploring expedi- 

 tion, and he published his " Manual of Ge- 

 ology " in 1862. . . . Concerning his 

 valuable work on geology Powell said : " So 

 Dana's ' Geology ' is not only a text-book of 

 geology, but it is the handbook for all 

 national, state, and local geologists and 

 all students in the field. It is the universal 

 book of reference in that department of sci- 

 ence. Other text-books have been developed, 

 but no other handbook for America. It is 

 a vast repository of facts, but all arranged 

 in such a manner as to constitute a geologic 

 philosophy. It is on every worker's table, 

 and is carried in the kit of every field ob- 

 server. It has thus become the standard to 

 which all scientific research is referred, and 

 on which geologic reports are modeled." 



Besides the foregoing, Dana was the au- 

 thor of " Coral Reefs and Islands," which he 

 enlarged and published later as " Corals and 

 Coral Islands"; of "The Geological Story 

 Briefly Told " ; " The Characteristics of Vol- 

 canoes," and " The Four Rocks of the New 

 Haven Region." 



In conclusion Powell says of him : " Dana 

 as a zoologist was great, Dana as a mineral- 

 ogist was greater, but Dana as a geologist 

 was greatest, and Dana in all three was a 

 philosopher; hence Dana's great work is en- 

 during. MARCUS BENJAMIN Early Presi- 

 dents of the American Association in Pro- 

 ceedings of Amer. Assoc. for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, 1899, p. 1G. 



3642. VICES OF SAVAGERY NOT 



PRIMEVAL Cannibalism and Infanticide. 

 There is an assumption that the further we 

 go back in time there was not only less and 

 less extensive knowledge of the useful arts 

 not only simpler and simpler systems of 

 life and polity but also that there were 

 deeper and deeper depths of the special char- 

 acteristics of the modern savage. We have, 

 however, only to consider what some of these 

 characteristics are to be convinced that, al- 



tho they may have arisen in early times, 

 they cannot possibly have existed in the 

 times which were the earliest of all. . . . 

 If, for example, there ever was a time when 

 there existed on one spot of earth, or even 

 on more spots than one, a single pair of 

 human beings, it is impossible that they 

 should have murdered their offspring or that 

 they should have killed and eaten each other. 

 Accordingly it is admitted that cannibalism 

 and infanticide, two of the commonest prac- 

 tises of savage and of barbarous life, cannot 

 have been primeval. But this is a conclu- 

 sion of immense significance. It hints to 

 us, if it does no more, that what is true of 

 one savage practise may possibly be true 

 of others. It breaks down the presumption 

 that whatever is most savage is therefore 

 probably the most ancient. ARGYLL Unity 

 of Nature, ch. 10, p. 228. (Burt.) 



3643. VICTIM OF BOA OR PYTHON 

 DESTITUTE OF FEAR We have often ob- 

 served boas and pythons do this [kill their 

 victims by crushing] in captivity, and can 

 affirm that the rabbits and ducks introduced 

 into their cages are entirely destitute of 

 fear or apprehension, and suffer nothing un- 

 til they are seized, and then their sufferings 

 are extremely brief. Such a serpent, if dis- 

 posed to feed to attain which disposition it 

 often needs a fast of several weeks will 

 move slowly about till it brings its mouth 

 opposite to the muzzle of the rabbit. Then 

 in an instant its mouth is opened and the 

 rabbit's head is seized, while simultaneous- 

 ly the voluminous folds of the powerful body 

 are twined round it, and it is crushed im- 

 mediately to death. The serpent does not 

 at once uncoil its folds, but continues for a 

 time tightly to embrace its victim, so that 

 reanimation becomes impossible. MIVART 

 Types of Animal Life, ch. 5, p. 141. (L. B. 

 & Co., 1893.) 



3644. VICTIM UNWARNED Infec- 

 tion Unsuspected Incubation Period of Ty- 

 phoid. Until intoxication [i. e., toxin poi- 

 soning] occurs there may be few or no 

 symptoms, but directly enough bacteria are 

 present to produce in the body certain poi- 

 sons in sufficient amount to result in more 

 or less marked tissue change, then the symp- 

 toms of that tissue change appear. This 

 period of latency between infection and the 

 appearance of the disease is known as the 

 incubation period. Take typhoid, for ex- 

 ample. A man drinks a typhoid-polluted 

 water. For about fourteen days the bacilli 

 are making headway in his body without 

 his being aware of it. But at the end of 

 that incubation period the signs of the dis- 

 ease assert themselves. NEWMAN Bacteria, 

 ch. 8, p. 271. (G. P. P., 1899.) 



3645. VICTORY OF THE MAMMALS 

 IN ANCIENT STRUGGLE Nature Ever 

 Since Perfecting This Highest Type. The de- 

 velopment of complete mammality was no 

 sudden thing. The results of the struggle 



