338 



NATURE 



\Aug. 22, 1872 



Mr. Prin-le, also at BeUul, saw many lines flash into the field 

 of an'analjs'ing spectroscope carried by clockwork at the end of 



totality. , , _ , , 



Captain Fyers, the Surveyor-General of Ceylon, observmc; 

 with an iitegraling spectroscope, saw somethinglike a reversal iif 

 all the liies at the beginning, but nothing of the kind at the end. 



Mr. pergusson, observing with an in'Jtrunnent of the same 

 kind, sav reversal neither at the beginning nor the end, though 

 during otality he saw more lines than Captain Fyers. 



Mr. vloseley states that at the beginning of the eclipse he did 

 not set this reversal of lines. Whether it was visible at the 

 end li; could not tell, because at the close the slit had travelled 

 off th; edge of the moon. 



Prrf. Respighi, using no slit whatever, and being under the 

 best conditions for seeing the reversal of the lines, cei-tainly did 

 not s'e it at the beginning, but he considers he saw it at the end, 

 thoujh about this he is doubtful. 



Fom the foregoing general statement of the observations made 

 on tie eclipse of last year, it will be seen that knowledge has 

 beei very greatly advanced, and that most important data have 

 beei obtained to aid in the, discussion of former observations. 

 Fuither, many of the questions raised by the recent observations 

 maie it imperatively necessary that future eclipses should be 

 canfuUy obsen-ed, as periodic changes in the corona may then 

 posibly be found to occur. In these observations the instru- 

 meits above described should be considered normal, and they 

 shculd be added to as much as possible. 



SECTION D 



SUn-SECTION ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY 



Opening Address by the President, Sir John Lun- 

 BOCK, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. 



Althoi:gh this would not, perhaps, be a fitting opportunity 

 or discussing the importance and best mode of introducing the 

 ,tudy of Natui'al Science into our great public schools, and 

 hough the question is still in a far from satisfactory position, yet 

 ; think I m.iy congratulate the Section that some progress has 

 been made in that direction during the last few years. To this 

 result the influence of the British Association has no doubt 

 greatly conduced. As yet, indeed, Natur.al Science is generally 

 taught but to some of the elder boys, and certainly is very far 

 indeed from having its due share of attention in relation to other 

 subjects. I am happy to cay, however, that most of the regula- 

 tions which are being drawn up under the Public .Schools Aci, 

 by the new governing bodies of the public schools, contain a 

 provision that Natural Science shall be taught to all boys in 

 their passage through the school. As the Royal Society has a 

 representative in the governing bodies of all the public schools, 

 we may fairly hope that this clause will not be allowed to remain a 

 de.id letter. I have no reason tojsuppose that any head-master 

 will oppose the change ; but it will of course be necessary for the 

 governing bodies to allot a sufficient amount of funds to this pur- 

 pose, so as to enable the head-masters to carry out the clause in 

 an efficient manner. In several cases, moreover, and eventually 

 I hope in all public schools, special scholarships and exhibitions 

 will be devoted to Natural Science. When these changes come 

 into full 0]5fration, they will doubtless greatly influence the 

 system of education pursued in our prepar.itory schools. At 

 ]5resent, I regret to say, that I know ol no private school in 

 England where Natural Science receives the attention it deserves. 

 I must, however, in fairness add, that private schoolmasters are 

 almost compelled to give, not the kind of education which they 

 would themselves preter, but that which is the most effective 

 preparation for the course of study pursued at the public schools. 

 The Association has al^o urged on Government the importance 

 of introducing the elemtnts of Science into the elementary schools 

 of the country, and a deputation from the Council waited on Mr, 

 Forster with this object. In the new code shortly afterwards 

 promulgated, Mr. For.ster has admitted the principle, and allotted 

 certain payments to extra subjects, coupled, however, with con- 

 ditions which, as stateil in the report of the Royal Commission 

 on .Scientific Instruction, render the promise to a great extent 

 illusory. The subject is no doubt one of great difficulty ; but 

 Mr. Forsttr has distinctly stated that the Government have 

 discarded the idea that tiie educational functions of Government 

 should be confined to the encouragement of reading, writing, 



and arithmetic. The experience of some of our best schools, 

 such, for instance, as those of Dean Dawes and Prof. Henslow, 

 show clearly that elementary science can be introduced with the 

 most excellent results, and I rejoice to see that some of our most 

 important School Boards, for instance, those of London and 

 Liverpool, have detenmined that clementai-y instruction in science 

 shall be given in all the schools under their control. 



If it is said that in such cases but a smattering can be given, I 

 might ask, who has more? Those who are the most advanced 

 in knowledge will be the first to adm-t how slight that know- 

 ledge is. 



Indeed, every fresh observation, every new discovery, opens 

 up new lines of inquiry. Take, for instance, the results of Mr. 

 l).arvvin's great work on the Origin of .Species. Mr. Darwin, as 

 almost all biologists would now admit, has thrown a great light 

 on a very interesting and difficult problem ; yet in doing so, it 

 suggested various new lines of inquiry, and in removing to a 

 ceitain extent the veil from our eyes, discovered to us fresh fields 

 for research, which promise most interesting results to those who 

 will study them wilh diligence. 



It is surprising how much, in spite of all that has been written, 

 Mr. Darwin's views are still misunderstood. Thus Browning in 

 one of his recent poems says ; — 



That mass man ?prung frnm was a jelly lump 

 Once on a time ; he kept an after course 

 Through tish and insect, reptile, bird, and beast. 

 Till he attained to be an ape at last. 

 Or last but one.* 



.Speaking to such an audience as the present, it is unnecessary 

 for me to point out that this is a theory which Mr. Darwin would 

 entirely repudiate, which is utterly inconsistent with his ■\iews. 

 Whether fish and insect, reptile, bird, and beast are derivec from 

 one original stock or not, they are certainly not links in one 

 sequence. I do not, however, propose on this occasion to discuss 

 the question of Natural Selection. But I may observe fiat it is 

 one thing to acknowledge that in Natural Selection or ihe Sur- 

 vival of the Fittest Mr. Darwin has called attention to a vera 

 causa, has pointed out the true explanation of certain phenomena : 

 it is quite another thing to assume, as is too often done, that all 

 animals are descended from one primordial source. For my own 

 part, I am quite satisfied that Natural Selection is a true cause. 

 Whatever may be the final 'result of our present inquiries, 

 whether animated nature is derived from our ancestral source, or 

 from a number of successive creations, the publication of the 

 Origin of Species will not the less have constituted an epoch in 

 the History of Biology. 



How far the present condition of living beings is due to 

 N.atural .Selection ; how far, on the other hand, the action of 

 Natural Selection has been modified and checked by otter 

 natural laws, by the unalterability of types, by atavisin, &. ; 

 how many types of life originally came into being ; whether .hey 

 arose simultaneously or successively, — these and many other 

 similar questions remain to be solved, even if we adini; the 

 theory of Natural Selection. All this has, indeed, been clearly 

 pointed out by Mr. Darwin himself, and would not need repeti- 

 tion, but for the carehss c.-iticism by which in too many cises the 

 true question has been obscured. 



[The remainder of the President's Address was occupied by an 

 enlargement of his views respecting the Origin of Insects,+ which 

 we hope to present to our readers at a future time in a complete 

 form.] 



SUIi-SECTION anatomy AND PHYSIOLOGY 



Opening Address by the President, Prof. Burdon 

 Sanderson, F.R.S. 



We are met here for the purpose of heating papers on Anatomy 

 and Physiology. It would not have been inappropriate to have 

 given you some account of the limits of the two very distinct 

 sciences which are so designated ; but as I am anxious to occupy 

 your time for as short a period as possible, I shall content myself 

 with saying tha; the few observations I have to rrake will have 

 reference only to the two sciences to which I am nyself attached. 

 I make this prelimin ry explanation;', for the positions of the two 

 sciences in England aie so difl'erent that much tiiat I may ^say 

 about Physiology is not applicable to Anatomy. 



I should have been glad if it had been possible to have occu- 

 pied this time in giving you a retrospective account of the 



* Prince Hohenstiel Schwangau, p. 68. 



t See Sir John Lubbock's paper in Nati;re, vol. v. p. a?. 



