May 4, 1882] 



NATURE 



feeling of shipowners on the subject of establishing such 

 central authority. If it should be formed, then the load- 

 line question might be dealt with more satisfactorily than 

 it has been hitherto, and one difficulty in dead-weight 

 measurement would disappear. But others, and probably 

 fatal ones, would remain ; more particularly in dealing 

 with passenger steamers or vessels built to carry light 

 cargoes. In such cases Mr. Waymouth proposes to fix, 

 for tonnage purposes only, a deep load-line ; this is not 

 merely objectionable, but would probably be impracti- 

 cable in many vessels. The dead-weight system has 

 much to recommend it for consideration on the grounds 

 of simplicity and exactness, as well as freedom from the 

 difficulties incidental to internal measurement. But it is 

 1 not likely to come into use. 



Mr. Waymouth, it will be noted, agrees with the 

 majority in proposing to continue the immemorial practice 

 of basing tonnage measurement upon earnings or earning- 

 power. This principle, although long accepted, has 

 always been held open to question, on the ground that 

 the accommodation provided for a ship in harbours, 

 docks, canals, &c, should regulate the dues paid by her, 

 and not her earnings. The " service rendered," and not 

 the earnings, does appear the fairest basis of assessment, 

 and has a considerable weight of authority to support it ; 

 but to adopt this basis would clearly necessitate a settle- 

 ment of the mode of appraising service rendered. Mr. 

 Rothery proposes to take the displacement, or volume of 

 water displaced by a ship to a fixed load-line, as the 

 measure of this service. The load-line, he suggests, 

 mio'ht be fixed by the owner or some central authority- 

 To this proposal many objections have been raised ; but 

 that which seems to have most force is found in the state- 

 ment that the volume of water displaced does not measure 

 the accommodation required, since various degrees of 

 fineness of form under water might be associated with 

 the same extreme dimensions — length, breadth, and 

 draught. Two ships agreeing in these dimensions and 

 requiring practically the same accommodation might 

 differ in displacement by as much as 50 to 60 per cent, of 

 the smaller. 



Mr. Rothery' s proposal has, however, done good in 

 recalling attention to the principle of taxation on service 

 rendered. In further investigations this is not likely to 

 be overlooked ; and it must be possible to frame some 

 scheme which is not open to the objection to displace- 

 ment above mentioned. The proposal to take the pro. 

 duct of the three extreme dimensions of a ship as a basis 

 for tonnage has been considered, and has much to recom- 

 mend it, if associated with a fixed load-line. It cannot 

 be said that any of these alternative schemes have 

 received the full consideration they require before being 

 brought forward for adoption. The investigation would 

 necessarily be laborious, and the issues dependent upon 

 it are so important that it should be intrusted only to 

 competent and impartial hands. Certain conclusions are 

 necessarily forced upon every person who makes a study 

 of this subject. First, it is impossible in any revision of 

 tonnage law to ignore the question of the load-line legis- 

 lation. The majority of the Commission, in their final 

 Report, propose to keep the two questions distinct ; but 

 it has been stated publicly by Mr. Waymouth that up to 

 the very last draft Report, the majority made recom- 



mendations in the opposite direction ; and if this is the 

 case the less weight attaches to the recommendation 

 which actually appears. Second : in considering future 

 legislation, both for tonnage and for load-line, greater 

 regard must be had to the provision of stability for mer- 

 chant ships than has been had heretofore. Rough " rules 

 of thumb" for free-board, in relation to depth of hold, 

 are out of date. Third : the work to be done must be 

 largely dependent upon the calculations made by com- 

 petent naval architects for various types of ships, and 

 various conditions of loading. Such calculations applied 

 to vessels which have been thoroughly tested at sea under 

 known conditions of lading must be the foundation for 

 future rules for load-lines. Lastly, it is much to be de- 

 sired that the proposed Shipping Council should be con- 

 stituted, and that it should be a central body, including 

 all classes interested in shipping, and having behind it a 

 staff of skilled naval architects. The Marine Department 

 of the Board of Trade has been much abused, and pro- 

 bably unfairly criticised in many cases. Its action, both 

 as regards tonnage legislation and the load-line of ships, 

 may not have been all that could be desired, yet it must 

 be admitted to have been well intentioned. But it can- 

 not be supposed that the Department as now constituted 

 is capable of dealing with the questions pressing for solu- 

 tion. Neither its nautical, technical, nor adminstrative 

 staff is competent for this task. And it may be supposed 

 that the necessary reinforcement of that staff, the valuable 

 assistance and advice of a Council of Shipping, and the 

 more scientific investigation of matters relating to the 

 safety and good behaviour of merchant ships by naval 

 architects, will be welcomed by the Board of Trade as 

 warmly as by the shipping community. Until these 

 further investigations are completed, amended legislation 

 scarcely seems practicable. It is clearly impossible on 

 the lines laid down in the Report of the majority of 

 the Roval Commission of 1881. W. H. WHITE 



MYTH AND SCIENCE 

 Myth and Science. An Essay. By Tito Vignoli. Inter- 

 national Science Series. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 

 and Co., 1S82.) 



THIS work is devoted to a theory of myths and myth- 

 formation, which is to some extent novel. Looking 

 to the general, if not universal, tendency of all races of 

 mankind to create myths, the author contends that the 

 propensity must point to some feature of human psycho- 

 logy of more than a merely superficial character, and 

 without disputing previous theories as to the origin and 

 growth of myths, he seeks to explain the raison d'etre of 

 the myth-foiming faculty. Thus, for instance, he says :— 



" The worship of the dead is undoubtedly one of the 

 most abundant sources of myth, and Spencer, with his 

 profound knowledge and keen discernment, was able to 



discuss the hypothesis as it deserves Yet even if 



the truth of his doctrine should be in great measure 

 proved, the question must still be asked how it happens 

 that man vivifies and personifies his own image in dupli- 

 cate, or else the apparitions of dreams or their reflections, 

 and 'the echoes of nature, and ultimately the spirits of the 

 dead." 



And, speaking of Tylor, he adds :— 



" He admits that there are in mankind various normal 



