l82 



NA TURE 



[December 17, 1908 



marks testify : — " Hereditary Genius " (1869), 

 " English Men of Science " (1874), " Human 

 Faculty" (i88j), "Natural Inheritance" (i88g), and 

 his later writings on eugenics. Impressed with the 

 necessity of obtaining a multitude of exact measure- 

 jiients relating to every measurable faculty of body or 

 mind for two generations at least, he first stimulated 

 schoolmasters to weigh and measure their boys, and 

 established an anthropometric laboratory at the 

 International Exhibition of 1884, and subsequently at 

 South Kensington, several of the instruments employed 

 being designed by him. These have formed the model 

 of similar laboratories elsewhere. It was in this con- 

 nection that he made an exhaustive study of finger- 

 prints as a means of identifying persons, which led 

 to the adoption of the system by the Criminal De- 

 partments of Britain, India, and many foreign 

 countries ; he also demonstrated that the patterns of 

 the papillary ridges have no racial significance. 

 Numerous experiments were made in composite photo- 

 graphy, of which an interesting account is given. In 

 order to ascertain the relative position of individuals, 

 the well-known " centile " method was devised. As 

 ;i side-issue he suggested the appropriateness of 

 utilising the median vote in councils of juries. Being 

 satisfied of the inheritance of mental qualities and 

 that heredity was a far more powerful agent in human 

 development than nurture, he endeavoured to ascer- 

 tain the degree in which breeding might, at least 

 theoretically, modify the human race. The general 

 result of his inquiry was to support the view " that 

 man is little more than a conscious machine, the slave 

 of heredity and environment, the larger part, perhaps 

 all, of Whose actions are therefore predictable." 



The strong practical bent that manifests itself in 

 whatever Dr. Galton does constrained him to apply 

 the conclusions to which his studies on human faculty 

 and heredity had led him. Hence of late years he 

 has occupied himself with eugenics, though so far 

 back as 1865 he had formulated its leading principles, 

 and he introduced the term in 1884. He thinks that 

 " stern compulsion ought to be exerted to prevent the 

 free propagation of the stock of those who are seri- 

 ously afflicted by lunacy, feeble-mindedness, habitual 

 criminality, and pauperism, but that is quite different 

 from compulsory marriage. . . . A democracy cannot 

 endure unless it be composed of able citi/ens; there- 

 fore it must in self-defence withstand the free intro- 

 duction of degenerate stock. ..." 



The aim of eugenics is to check the birth-rate of 

 the Unfit, and to promote the improvement of the 

 race by furthering the productivity of the Fit by 

 early marriages and healthful rearing of their 

 children, and thereby " to replace Natural Selec- 

 tion by other processes that are more merciful 

 and not less effective." In his last utterance on 

 this subject (cf. Nature, October 22, 1908, vol. Ixxviii., 

 P- 645) Dr. Galton gives i)ractical suggestions 

 for creating a public opinion ; he rightly recognises 

 the enormous influence wielded bv social opinion 

 among all races and classes of mankind, and he would 

 direct this tremendous force towards a favourable 

 consideration of eugenics, trusting that jjractical 

 NO. 2042, VOL. 79] 



results would ensue to the great betterment of man- 

 kind. 



This bald, epitomised sketch of the life and 

 activities of Dr. Galton indicates the wide range of 

 his interests and powers. The practical application of 

 scientific principles seems to be always in his mind, 

 never from the point of view of the patentee or ex- 

 ploiter, but invariably disinterestedly, and his eugenic 

 investigations were fired by a burning zeal for the 

 well-being of his fellow-men. The transparent honesty 

 and naivete of the man are revealed in these straight- 

 forward memories. Perhaps we are too close to him 

 to be able to judge how great his life's work will 

 loom when the history of the science of our day 

 comes to be written, but his energy, enthusiasm and 

 character have stimulated many during the oast and 

 the present generation, and when these qualities are 

 associated with sound work accomplished and the pro- 

 mulgation of larger views of life and duty, we can con- 

 fidently await the verdict of posterity. 



A. C. Haddon. 



.4.V IXTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 

 Animal Life. By Dr. F. W. Gamble, F.R.S. 

 P|). xyiii + 305. (London : Smith, Elder and Co., 

 1908.) Price bs. net. 



THIS is a fascinating introduction to the study of 

 animal life, marked by freshness of outlook, 

 stintulating exposition, and vivid style. To Dr. 

 Gamble — editor though he be of an austere " Prac- 

 tical Zoology " — animal life is " a pageant," " a mov- 

 ing spectacle," and his inquiry is kinetic throughout. 

 What is all this bustle about, what are the leading 

 motives, what are the ends achieved? In developing 

 his subject he has proceeded by the use of three 

 leading motives that differentiate animals from plants 

 — movement, the acquisition of solid food, and the 

 nervous control of response to changing order, and the 

 three main problems the solutions of which he considers 

 are the maintenance of self, the development of self, 

 and the progress of the race, though he is careful 

 to point out that the last is " rather a motive that 

 possesses animals than is possessed by them." He 

 begins by contrasting animal and plant life : — 



" Mass, stationariness, and pliability — the notes of 

 plant life — are replaced in animals by purposeful eva- 

 sion, activity, and intractability." 



Then the fulness of the earth and the abun- 

 dance of the sea is his theme, and " the 

 mighty gamut of the scale of being." But amid all 

 the multitude of forms and endless variety of archi- 

 tecture there are only a few chief styles, the history 

 of which is briefly sketched. The stage has not 

 always had its present-day scenery and troup of 

 players. There has been a rise and fall of races. 



" Wave after wave of life has risen from the in- 

 exhaustible depths of nature, towered to a great 

 height, and has then fallen ; yet undelayed the on- 

 ward movement continues." 



Nothing could be better than the chapter on animal 



