500 



NA TURE 



lAfa?rh 2;, 1884 



to lose symmetry by disturbing causes which may extend 

 over many square degrees of surface, as distinct from 

 local irregularities. Lamont's observations in continental 

 Europe point to this. A first essay on a large scale has 

 been lately made by the able and diligent magnetician, 

 C. A. Schott, to chart the distribution of the magnetic 

 declination of the United States for the epoch January 

 1885.. In this work distinct notice is taken of all local 

 disturbances in the direction of the magnetic needle, the 

 number of observing stations being 2359. This valuable 

 essay is published as an Appendix to the Report for 1882 

 of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



It should be observed that in Sir Henry Lefroy's maps 

 the lines of magnetic declination are reproduced as given 

 by Sabine ; in Mr. Schott's paper this is the only element 

 discussed, doubtless from the more ample material at his 

 command, and possibly from its practical value for topo- 

 graphical, geological, or mining purposes. 



Whenever the time arrives for undertaking a magnetic 

 survey of the British possessions in North America, Sir 

 Henry Lefroy's Diary will be invaluable as a pioneer 

 work. At the present time his early published magnetical 

 and meteorological observations at Lake Athabasca and 

 Fort Simpson are of great interest in connection with those 

 recently made in a neighbouring region by Capt. Dawson, 

 R.A., at the International Circumpolar Station, Fort Rae. 



F. J. Evans 



EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST 

 Excursio7ts of an Evolutionist. By John Fiske. (London : 

 Macmillan and Co., 1884.) 



MR. FISKE is certainly one of the most successful 

 of the writers who have undertaken the task of 

 popularising the many new ideas which have been 

 originated by the theory of evolution. He has not himself 

 added anything of any importance to these ideas ; but, 

 having accepted them with enthusiasm, he represents 

 them to the public with so much force and clearness, as 

 well as grace of literary style, that while reading his pages 

 we feel how the function of a really good expositor is 

 scarcely of less value in the world than that of an originator. 

 The applicability of these remarks to his earlier works 

 will, we think, be generally recognised by the readers of 

 this journal ; and, if so, they are certainly no less applicable 

 to the series of essays which we have now to consider. 



The first essay is on " Europe before the Arrival of 

 Man," and it gives an exceedingly clear and well-con- 

 densed rtsiime of the present standing of the question as 

 to the probable date of man's appearance in geological 

 time. Next in logical order we have three essays on 

 " The Arrival of Man in Europe," " Our Aryan Fore- 

 fathers," and "What we learn from Old Aryan Words." 

 Within the compass of the pages allotted to them we do 

 not think that it would be possible to give a more in- 

 structive and entertaining history than is presented by 

 these chapters. The fifth essay is on the question, " Was 

 there a Primitive Mother- Tongue ? " which is very con- 

 clusively answered in the negative. " Sociology and 

 Hero-Worship" is devoted to arguing the relations that 

 subsist between a genius and the age or society in 

 which he fives ; this is appropriately followed by the 

 essay on " Heroes of Industry," which is a kind of 



historical sketch of the philosophical principles that 

 govern the possibilities of invention. A new point of 

 departure is taken in the next three essays on "The 

 Causes of Persecution," " The Origins of Protestantism," 

 and "The True Lesson of Protestantism." Here the 

 main argument is that the rise of Protestantism and the 

 decline of the persecuting spirit are due to an increasing 

 recognition of the right of private judgment, coupled with 

 an increasing refinement of moral f:eling. The theory of 

 corporate responsibility, which is more or less essential 

 to the integrity of the social state in the earlier stages of 

 its development, becomes gradually superseded by the 

 theory that the individual is alone responsible for his 

 beliefs and actions ; hence the growing recognition of the 

 right of private judgment. "The Meaning of Infancy" 

 is a brief restatement of the author's views already pub- 

 lished in his " Cosmic Philosophy." These are the views 

 which deserve to be regarded as perhaps the most original 

 that Mr. Fiske has enunciated. The general fact that the 

 protracted period of infancy among the anthropoid apes 

 (and therefore presumably among the brutal ancestry of 

 man) must have had a large share in determining the 

 evolution of man is a fact which could scarcely escape 

 the observation of any attentive evolutionist ; but Mr. 

 Fiske is the only writer, so far as we are aware, who has 

 treated this fact with the consideration that it deserves. 

 Of the remaining essays, " Evolution and Religion" is an 

 after-dinner eulogium on Mr. Herbert Spencer, "A Uni- 

 verse of Mind-Stufl!"" is an exposition of Clifford's essay 

 upon this subject, and "In Memoriam: Charles Darwin," 

 is a well-written obituary review of Mr. Darwin's life and 

 work. 



As we have not detected any errors on matters of fact, 

 the only criticisms we have to make pertain to matters 

 of opinion. In particular, it appears to us that, in his anxiety 

 to raise the cosmic theory of evolution into a religion of 

 cosraism (or, as he terms it, in his earlier work, " Cosmic 

 Theism"), Mr. Fiske entirely loses the clearness of view 

 and precision of statement which elsewhere characterise 

 his work. Although no friend or admirer of Comte, with 

 a strange inconsistency he follows implicitly the method 

 of the French philosopher in blindfolding judgment 

 with metaphor, and then, without rein or bridle, 

 running away upon a wild enthusiasm. We have here 

 no space to justify this general statement, but we feel 

 sure that no sober-minded man can read the after-dinner 

 speech or eulogy on Mr. Spencer without feeling that its 

 extravagance runs into absurdity. We have no wish to 

 deprive Mr. Fiske of any happiness that he may derive 

 either from his " religion " or from his "hero-worship" ; 

 but we cannot review his essays without observing that in 

 neither of these respects is he likely to meet with much 

 sympathy among "men of science," to whose opinion he 

 habitually professes so much deference. 



George J. Romanes 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Zoological Record for 1882. Being Vol. XIX. of 



the Record of Zoological Literature. Edited by 



Edward Caldwell Rye, F.Z.S., &c. (London : \'an 



Voorst, 1S83.) 



Almost before the shadow of 1S83 had passed awav, the 



" Record of the Zoological Literature of the Year 1882 " 



