370 



NA TURE 



\Scpt. 5, 1872 



we confess that wc can scarcely look wih confidence to 

 the now loudly vaunted schemes for "the higher education 

 of the navy," whether it is to be c;irried on at Greenwich 

 or elsewhere. 



It is, however, a mistake to speak, as is so commonly 

 done, of the navy as a scientific profession. As a profes- 

 sion, the regular line of the service is practical amongst 

 the practical ; it requires and cultivates a quick eye, a 

 restrained temper, a cool courage, a ready judgment of 

 men and things ; it calls for a minute and thorough know- 

 ledge, not only of all that relates to the management of 

 ships and men, but of the extensive "literature" issued 

 and demanded by the Admiralty ; few have the time, even 

 if they had the disposition, to go deep into scientific 

 study, to which there is no inducement, for which there is 

 no reward. One' of the earlier articles in the magazine 

 before us, " On the Necessity of forming a Naval Staff," 

 pointedly calls attention to this. We believe that the 

 writer has under rather than overstated his case. That 

 beyond the regular line of the service there arc duties 

 which call for a higher and more extended knowledge, is 

 freely admitted by all ; and we are convinced that these 

 duties will be more efficiently performed by officers 

 specially educated for them, than by others nominated 

 indiscriminately or by roster, after a vain endeavour to 

 bring the whole body of officers to one universal high 

 standard. There are few men, worth anything at all, who 

 have not a distinct speciality, and we conceive that it is 

 by allowing, nay, encouraging these specialities to develop 

 themselves to the utmost, that the greatest perfection in 

 the aggregate is to be attained. To force a man of an 

 essentially practical turn of mind, with a judgment in the 

 handling of a ship, or with an insight into the character 

 of men, which seems instinctive rather than acquired, to 

 go through a distasteful course of high mathematics, orcf 

 foreign languages, or, on the other hand, to pin a man of 

 unusual taste and aptitude for the study of more advanced 

 science down to the routine of the service, appears to us 

 a most erroneous system. Yet, so far as we understand, 

 this is what is seriously proposed. The formation of a 

 Naval Staff, and the abolition of the existing segregation 

 of navigating officers, would, we believe, be a radical and 

 immediate cure. It is in evidence before the committee 

 already referred to, that the special training of officeis 

 whom interest or taste attracts to gunnery duties, has been 

 found to work exceedingly well ; we believe that a similar 

 system with regard to navigating duties would be as 

 successful ; nor can we admit that a small body of men, 

 chosen by the mere accidents of birth or family connec- 

 tion, is likely to furnish such a number of first-rate navi- 

 gators and surveyors as could be got together by special 

 selection from the whole service ; — to use a geographical 

 simile, we would drain a larger area. Roughly speaking, 

 about one-sixth of the lieutenants on the list have taken 

 out gunnery certificates ; the proportion of those who would 

 take out advanced certificates in navigation would probably 

 be considerably greater; whilst, indirectly, a large number 

 would follow up some course of study with a view to 

 turning it to future account. If appointments as flag- 

 lieutenants were made in a similar way, we believe that 

 the impetus given to study amongst the officers of our navy 

 would lead to results quite equal to those wishtd for. But 

 it is not in human nature to pursue a course of study 



wearisome in its beginnings, amidst the worry and turmoil 

 of an active profession, without encouragement, without 

 hope of reward. 



Wc have no space to notice, in a manner proportionate 

 to its merits, Mr. Mallet's article on the Action of Tor- 

 pedoes ; this, after all, is, so far as the navy is concerned, 

 the question of the day, and any discussion that leads to 

 a closer acquaintance with it ought to be carefully studied. 

 Every one acknowledges, first, that the navy, at present, 

 is in a transition state ; and secondly, that more Science 

 is wanted. We consider it a fortunate thing, thcrefoie, 

 that what is destined to be a high-class journal of Naval 

 Science, under the editorship of such a distinguished man 

 as Mr. Reed, has made its appearance at this time, and 

 we wish it every success— a success, moreover, which is 

 certain, so long as the stated point of view is steadily kept 

 in mind. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Die Eiluiuudcn der ocslcncicliisih-uui;;aiisclu-n vbin/i Tci- 

 tidrablagcnDi^cn. Von Dr. Gustav C. Laubc. Mit 

 vier lithographirten Tafeln. (VVien, 1871.) 



Agassiz, Desor, E. Forbes, Dcsmoulins. and Wright 

 have written elaborate monographs and descriptions of 

 Miocene Echinodermata. Prof. Ed. Forbes described 

 (Proc. Geol. Soc, vol. iv. pp. 230232, 1843) a large seiies 

 from the miocene beds of Malta and Gozo, coll' d by 

 Capt. Spralt, R.N., of H.M. surveying vessel Bcaan; 

 Ur. Wright in 1855 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xv.) de- 

 scribed many species from collections made by the Earl 

 of Ducie, from the same islands ; and again, in 1864 

 (Q. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. xx. p. 470), through the seiies 

 collected by Dr. Leith Adams at Malta, he described new 

 n'.iccene forms. These were all important additions to 

 the then little known echinodermata of the miocene locks 

 ofsouti.prn Europe. In the present monograph, which is 

 reprinted Trcni the " Abhandlungen der k. k. Geologischcn 

 ReichsanstaU,' Dr. Gustav C. Laube also carefully de- 

 scribes fourteen new or previously unknown species of 

 echinoderms from the Austro-Hungarian miocene (upner 

 tertiary) deposits, and adds a new genus {Brissoinoiflia) 

 to receive those forms possessing non-depressed ambu- 

 lacral grooves, and an attenuated posterior border. Many 

 of the species dtsciibcd by Laube are peculiar to the 

 miocene rocks of the Austro-Hungarian area, whiht 

 others have a much wider distribution, several being 

 identical with the Maltese forms described by Dr. Wright. 

 Of the fourteen genera and thirty-seven species included 

 in Dr. G. Laubc's monograph, seven species occur in 

 Malta, seven in Corsica, and eleven in France ; while the 

 remaining twelve species are peculiar to the Austro-Hun- 

 garian beds. The following new species have been de- 

 scribed and figured by the author in the memoir bef re 

 us, viz., Cidtuis Si/i-cC'ti/vnar/i, BlAihhs dux, E. hii/ii^aii- 

 cus, Ecli!iiocyai/ii/s transylvanicKS, Siutella ViiidoboiiO'Sis, 

 Eihinolamfias unnustis/L-Uatus, Poicosmus cffi/iis, Hc- 

 midster rotiiiidus, H. kalksbio-gensis^ SiliizasUr Icithanus, 

 S. Kancri, Biissomorpha Fiichsi, ,^pdtani;iis euglyphus, 

 and .S'. aiisinacus. The monograph contains a very 

 valuab'e table showing the distribution of those species 

 which occur elsewhere, such as Malta, Corsica, Italy, and 

 I France, with a general column for other localities {aiuurc 

 Lander) ; it is accompanied by four iiuarto lithogiaphic 

 i plates devoted to the local and new species, which are 

 T carefully figured. The whole is an important contribution 



efully 1 

 to this division of the Aiutuloida. 



R. E. 



