September 22, 1910] 



NATURE 



383 



this is a step towards forming a clear and concrete idea 

 of the inner nature of the organism. There is one point, 

 and that a very important one, upon which we are by no 

 means clear. We do not know how far the hormones 

 themselves are liable to change, whether by the action of 

 t'Xlf-rnal conditions or by the reciprocal action of the 

 activities of the organs to which they are related. It is 

 at least conceivable that agencies which produce chemical 

 disturbances in the circulating fluids may alter the 

 chemical constitution of the hormones, and thus produce 

 far-reaching effects. The pathology of the thyroid gland 

 gives some ground for belief that such changes may be 

 produced by the action of external conditions. But, how- 

 ever this may be, the line of reasoning that we have 

 followed raises the expectation that a chemical bond must 

 exist between the functionally active organs of the body 

 and the germ-cells. For if, in the absence of a specialised 

 nervous system, the only possible regulating and coadapt- 

 ing mechanism is a chemical mechanism, and if the specific 

 activities of a cell are dependent on the enzymes which it 

 holds in combination, the germ-cells of any given animal 

 must be the depository of a stock of enzymes sufficient 

 to insure the due succession of all its developmental stages 

 as well as of its adult structure and functions. And as 

 the number of blastomeres increases, and the need for 

 coordination of form and function arises, before ever the 

 rudiments of a nervous system are differentiated, it is 

 necessary to assume that there is also a stock of appro- 

 priate hormones to supply the chemical nexus between the 

 different parts of the embryo. The only alternative is to 

 suppose that they are synthesised as required in the course 

 of development. There are grave objections to this sup- 

 position. .All the evidence at our disposal goes to show 

 that the potentialities of germ-cells are determined at the 

 close of the maturation divisions. Following the physio- 

 logical line of argument, it must be allowed that in this 

 connection " potentiality " can mean nothing else than 

 chemical constitution. If we admit this, we admit the 

 validity of the theory, advanced by more than one physio- 

 logist, that heritable " characters " or " tendencies " 

 must be identified with the enzymes carried in the germ- 

 cells. If this be a true representation of the facts, and 

 if the most fundamental and primitive bond between one 

 part of an organism and another is a chemical bond, it 

 can hardly be the case that germ-cells — which, infer alia, 

 are the most primitive, in the sense of being the least 

 differentiated, cells in the body — should be the only cells 

 which are exempt from the chemical influences which go 

 to make up the coordinate life of the organism. It would 

 seem, therefore, that there is some theoretical justification 

 for the inheritance of induced modifications, provided that 

 these are of such a kind as to react chemically on the 

 enzymes contained in the germ-cells. 



One further idea that suggests itself to me and I have 

 done. Is it possible that different kinds of enzymes 

 e.xercise an inhibiting influence on one another; that germ- 

 cells are "' undifferentiated " because thev contain a large 

 number of enzymes, none of which can show their activi- 

 ties in the presence of others, and that what we call 

 " differentiation " consists in the segregation of the 

 different kinds into separate cells, or perhaps, prior to 

 cell-formation, into different parts of the fertilised ovum, 

 giving rise to the phenomenon known to us as pre- 

 localisation ? The idea is purely speculative ; but, if it 

 could be shown to have any warrant, it would go far 

 to assist us in getting an understanding of the laws of 

 the production of form. 



I have been wandering in territories outside my own 

 province, and I shall certainly be told that I have lost my 

 way. But my thesis has been that morphology, if it is to 

 make useful progress, must come out of its reserves and 

 explore new ground. To explore is to tread unknow-n 

 paths, and one is likely to lose one's way in the unknown. 

 To stay at home in the environment of familiar ideas is 

 no doubt a safe course, but it does not make for advance- 

 ment. Morphology, I believe, has as great a future before 

 it as it has a past behind it, but it can only realise that 

 future by leaving its old. home, with all its comfortable 

 furniture of well-worn rules and methods, and embarking 

 on a journey, the first stages of which will certainly be 

 uncomfortable, and the end is far to seek. 



NO. 2134, VOL. 84] 



SECTION E. 



GEOGR.^PHV. 



OrEMXG .\uDREss BY A. J. Herbertsox, .M..\., Pii.D., 



Professor of Geogr.\piiy ix the University of 



Oxford, President of the Section. 



geogr.aphy and some of its present needs. 

 Geographical Progress in the Last Decade. 



At the close of a reign which has practically coincided 

 with the first decade of a new century, it is natural to 

 look back and summarise the progress of geography during 

 the decade. At the beginning of a new reign it is equally 

 natural to consider the future. Our new Sovereign is one 

 of the most travelled of men. No monarch knows the 

 World as he knows it ; no monarch has ruled over a 

 larger Empire or seen more of his dominions. His advice 

 has been to wake up, to consider and to act. This 

 involves taking existing geographical conditions into 

 account. It will be in consonance with this advice if I 

 pay more attention to the geography of the present and 

 future than to that of' the past, and say more about its 

 applications than about its origins. Yet I do so with 

 some reluctance, for the last decade has been one of the 

 most active and interesting in the history of our science. 



.■\mong the many geographical results of work in the past 

 decade a few may be mentioned. The measurement of new 

 and the remeasurement of old arcs will give us better data 

 for determining the size and shape of the Earth. Surveys 

 of all kinds, from the simple route sketches of the traveller 

 to the elaborate cadastral surveys of some of the more 

 populous and settled regions have so extended our know- 

 ledge of the surface features of the Earth that a map on 

 the scale of i : 1,000,000 is not merely planned, but actually 

 partly executed. Such surveys and such maps are the 

 indispensable basis of our science. 



The progress of oceanography has also been great. The 

 soundings of our own and other Admiralties, of scientific 

 oceanographical expeditions, and those made for the pur- 

 pose of laying cables, have given us much more detailed 

 knowledge of the irregularities of the ocean floor. An 

 international map of oceanic contours, due to the inspira- 

 tion and munificence of the Prince of Oceanographers and 

 of Monaco, has been issued during the decade, and so 

 much new material has accumulated that it is now being 

 revised. A comparison of the old and new editions of 

 Kriimmel's " Ozeanographie " shows us the immense 

 advances in this subject. 



Great progress has been made on the geographical side 

 of meteorology and climate. The importance of this 

 knowledge for tropical agriculture and hygiene has led 

 to an increase of meteorological stations all over the hot 

 belt — the results of which will be of value to the geo- 

 grapher. Mr. Bartholomew's " Atlas of Meteorology " 

 appeared at the beginning, and Sir John Eliot's " Meteor- 

 ological ."Atlas of India " at the end, of the decade. 

 Dr. Hann's " Lehrbuch " and the new edition of his 

 " Climatology," Messrs. Hildebrandsson and Teisserenc 

 de Bort's great work, and the recent studies of the Upper 

 .Atmosphere, are among the landmarks of progress. The 

 record is marred only by the closing of Ben Nevis Observa- 

 tory at the moment when its work would have been most 

 necessary. To appreciate the progress of climatology it is 

 only necessary to compare the present number and dis- 

 tribution of meteorological stations with those given_ in 

 Bartholomew's .Atlas of 1899. I have not time to recapitu- 

 late the innumerable studies of geographical value issued by 

 many meteorological services, observatories, and observers 

 — public and private — but I may direct attention to the 

 improved weather maps and to the excellent pilot charts 

 of the North Atlantic and of the Indian Ocean published 

 monthly by our Meteorological Office. 



Lake studies have also been a feature of this decade, 

 and none are so complete or so valuable as the Scottish 

 Lakes Survey — a work of national importance, undertaken 

 by private enthusiasm and generosity. We have to con- 

 gratulate Sir John Murray and Mr. Pullar on the com- 

 pletion of a great work. 



In Geology, I might note that we now possess a map 

 of Europe on a scale of 1 : 1,500,000 prepared by inter- 

 national cooperation, and also one of North America on 



