466 



N.-l TURH 



[March i6, 1899 



It will be seen th.it this more general inijiiiry entirely 

 justifies the prior statement ' that the metallic lines 

 are thickest in stars increasing their temperature, and 

 the hydrogen lines thickest in stars decreasing their 

 temperature, in other words, on the opposite arms of 

 the temperature curve. I have already stated a possible 

 explanation. - 



It will be observed that, so far, I have not been able to 

 find stellar spectra on the downward side corresponding 

 to those of 7 Argus and C Orionis ; but it is more than 

 probable that near the apex of the curve only a small 

 change, will be observed ; their default, therefore, is of 

 less consequence than it might have been. 



The same remark applies to a Cygni and Sirius ; but 

 here it is certain that the differences in the relative in- 

 tensities of the gaseous and enhanced lines will be con- 

 siderable, judging from what happens above and below 

 the heat stages represented by them. 



The stars used in the discussion give us yery definite 

 results, showing that the various chemical forms are 

 introduced at six very distinct heat levels. 



The Temperature Ranges. 



I next proceed to make some remarks upon the series 

 of facts now for the first time brought together ; it must, 

 however, be borne in mind that all the chemical elements 

 and all parts of the spectrum have not yet been included 

 in the survey. 



(i) Hydrogen appears throughout both series of stars 

 from top to bottom. Proto-n;agnesiumand proto-calcium 

 follow suit very nearly ; but the highest intensity of the 

 former is reached at the stage represented by a Cygni, 

 and of the latter at the solar temperature represented by 

 a Tauri and Arcturus. 



(2) With the above exceptions all the chemical forms 

 so far traced are relatively short-lived. 



This is the first important differentiation. In the light 

 of (i) we are justified in assuming that the substances in 

 (2) would be visible in the stellar reversing layers if they 

 were there. 



(3! In the stars of higher temperatures we deal 

 generally with gases. Below the stages represented by 

 ,i Orionis and y Lyrre we deal with proto-metals and 

 metals, hydrogen being the only exception. 



(4) The proto-metals make their appearance at about 

 the same heat-level at which the gases (with carbon), 

 always excepting hydrogen, begin to die out. 



This is the second important differentiation. It is 

 interesting to notice the distinct difi'erence of behaviour 

 of carbon and silicium in the descending' series ; the 

 former goes through the same stages as oxygen and 

 nitrogen, the latter behaves like the proto-metals. 



(5; With the exception of iron the metals, as contra- 

 distinguished from the proto-metals, only make their 

 appearance in stars at and below the heat-level of Sirius. 



This is the third important differentiation. It is 

 accompanied with a notable diminution of hydrogen and 

 protomagnesium, and with an increase of proto-calcium ; 

 indeed, the latter seems generally to vary inversely with 

 the hydrogen. 



In all these changes we seem to be brought into pre- 

 sence of successive polymerisations due to reduction of 

 temperature. Of the origin of proto magnesium and 

 proto-calcium the stars as yet tell us nothing ; but it is 

 difficult to believe that the earliest forms of the other 

 metals are not built up of some of the constituents of 

 the heat ranges represented by those between 7 Argus 

 and o Crucis. 



The question arises whether the order of visibility at 

 reduced temperatures now indicated does not explain 

 tlic absence of proto-hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen 

 from the spectra of the sun and nebuhe ; the metals 



1 Ptoc. Roy. i'oc, vol. Ixi. p. i3.-. 



2 Proc. R&y. Soc.>\o\, Ixi. p. iSj. 



^O. 1533, VOL. .59J 



present in. and the absence of quartz from, meteorites, and 

 the similarity of the gaseous products obtained from 

 meteorites and metals, native and other, in vacuo at high 

 temperatures. 



NOR.M.W LOCKYER. 



THE INSTINCTS OF WASPS AS A 

 PROBLEM IN EVOLUTION} 



THIS work has been looked forward to with the 

 deepest interest by all naturalists who are familiar 

 with Dr. and Mrs. Peckham's observations upon the 

 courtship of the spiders, and who were aware that this 

 long-continued and laborious research had been under- 

 taken by them. The observations and conclusions of 

 M. Fabre upon the instincts of the solitary wasps have 

 been so often quoted, and have formed the foundation of 

 so large a superstructure of theory, that it became of the 

 highest importance that they should be repeated by other 

 naturalists. The late George Romanes and many other 

 writers on evolution have always looked upon these 

 observations as the strongest of all arguments for a 

 Lamarckian instead of a Darwinian interpretation of 

 instinct. Thus Romanes wrote in "Mental Evolution in 

 Animals"; "Several species of the Hymenoptera dis- 

 play what I think may be justly deemed the most 

 remarkable instincts in the world. These consist in 

 stinging spiders, insects, and caterpillars in their chief 

 nerve centres, in consequence of which the victims are 

 not killed outright, but rendered motionless ; they are 

 then conveyed to a burrow- previously formed by the 

 Sphex, and, continuing to live in their paralysed con- 

 dition for several weeks, are at last available as food for 

 the larvK when they are hatched. Of course the extra- 

 ordinary fact which stands to be explained is that of the 

 precise anatomical, not to say physiological knowledge, 

 which appears to be displayed by the insect in stinging 

 only the nerve centres of its prey " (quoted by the authors 

 on pp. 221, 222). A still more imaginative description is 

 also quoted (on pp. 220,221) from Eimer, who says: 

 "This is one of the most marvellous instincts that exist ; 

 since the wasp operates on various lar\;i; with nervous 

 systems of various forms, she must efilect the paralysis 

 in various ways, and even apart from this, she makes a 

 physiological experiment which is far in advance of the- 

 knowledge of man. . . . It may be suggested that the wasp 

 only paralysed the larva- in order to carry them more 

 easily ; but even if this were the case, she must, since 

 she now- invariably acts in this way, have drawn a con- 

 clusion by deductive reasoning. In this case it is abso- 

 lutely impossible that the animal has arri\cd at its habit 

 otherwise than by reflection upon the facts of experience.'' 

 The authors truly say of these remarks, and the rest of 

 the quotation from Eimer: "One can hardly be expected 

 to take such statements seriously, since it is certam that 

 the writer has no knowledge of the life-histories of these 

 insects." Eimer and Romanes were both quoting from 

 Fabre, and, relying upon his inferences even more fully 

 than upon his observations, they both held that a 

 Lamarckian interpretation is inevitable. Such instincts, 

 they maintained, can only have arisen by the inheritance 

 of the results of intelligent observation. In order 

 thoroughly to test the foundation upon which such far- 

 reaching conclusions have been built. Dr. and Mrs. 

 I'eckhani have carefully observed all the species of 

 solitary wasps which they could find in their beautiful 

 summer home, with Dr. C. A. Leuthstrom, on I'ine Lake, 

 Wisconsin. .\s in the case of other insect orders, these 

 Hymenoptera have a wonderfully familiar look to an 



Pccklmtn and Eli. 



Hislory Survey. /•'////,;/« 



V"«. : Diibli>licd l.v 111.- Sin 



S'-icniilic St 



(M.-idi: 



