Oct. lo, 1872] 



NATURE 



47 



duty universally, or the contrary. But this is to mis- 

 apprehend the real question, which is rather, whether there 

 is any race of men among whom nothing is considered 

 a duty. Is there any race with whom there are not cer- 

 tain acts which the majority do, or refrain from doing, 

 independently of any fear of punishment, but because they 

 believe them to be right or wrong ? And is there, on the 

 other hand, any race of animals whose actions are in- 

 fluenced in the same way? We think the answer to these 

 questions would show a positive distinction between man 

 and the lower animals, which distinction would hardly be 

 lessened by maintaining that the idei of duty so defined 

 is in savages only the fear of punishment by gods or 

 demons, since it will not be maintained that the lower 

 animals arc ever influenced by such motives. 



Passing over a curious chapter on the utilisation of the 

 lower animals, chiefly by educating and making slaves of 

 the anthropoid apes, we come to the subject of language, 

 which is discussed in a manner which exhibits the author's 

 defects and merits in a remarkable degree. He thinks it 

 necessary to approach the subject by a discussion on the 

 fables of speaking stones and plants, of the sounds emitted 

 by nudibranch molluscs and fish, the hissing of serpents, 

 and the croaking of toads. By interpreting the notes of 

 certain birds into words, such as " Whip-poor-will," and 

 a number of others, he arrives at the conclusion that some 

 savage languages have fewer letter-sounds than have those 

 of certain animals. The physiology of voice and the con- 

 struction of speaking automatons is next sketched, before 

 we come to the really valuable part of the chapter, in 

 which the variety of sounds and calls of several species of 

 animals are detailed, and it is thus shown that they pos- 

 sess a language of no contemptible extent. He also main- 

 tains that animals understand, or rather learn to under- 

 stand, the language of very distinct species. His dogs, 

 for instance, perfectly understood his poultry. Cocks and 

 hens have one danger signal for the approach of a bird of 

 prey, another for that of a terrestrial animal or for man. 

 The latter would rouse the sleeping dogs, who would in- 

 stantly rush out and bark, while they took no noti:c what- 

 ever of the former. This proves that fowls have a language 

 capable of expressing slightly different but closely con- 

 nected ideas, and also that dogs soon learn the languages 

 of other animals. 



The subject of Hereditary Transmission is very imper- 

 fectly treated. M. Houzeau is evidently unacquainted 

 with Mr. Galton's researches, or he would not have 

 arrived at the conclusion that " a more or less complete 

 transmission of the physical type with independence 

 more or less absolute of the intellectual and moral type, — 

 such is the law of observation, the law of nature." 



In his last lecture on "Sociability" the doctrine is 

 boldly advocated that of all animals Ants approach 

 nearest to man in their social condition. They represent 

 semi-civilised societies ; while the highest Apes only 

 represent the lowest savage state. The varied modes of 

 association among the lower animals and in the human 

 race are detailed with great fulness, but with little influ- 

 ence on the general argument. On the question of the 

 affiliation of races, we find some good remarks on the 

 comparative value of the useful arts, the food plants and 

 domesticated animals, as compared with customs and 

 superstitions. The evidence afforded by the latter is, he 



maintains, absolutely valueless unless supported by the 

 former. In the concluding paragraphs of the work are 

 some expressions and arguments which seem to show 

 that the author is not an evolutionist, and has no clear 

 ideas as to whether new species of animals are now 

 coming into existence or not, or as to whether man has 

 or has not originated from a lower animal form. This 

 leads to an ambiguity and inconclusiveness in the whole 

 work which contrasts strongly with the clear and definite 

 views of such men as Darwin and Spencer, whose works 

 lead us on by many and varied lines of research till they 

 converge towards a grand and impressive conclusion. 

 The present work cannot for a moment be compared with 

 such as these ; but it has special merits of its own, and 

 it contains a mass of curious facts, acute observations, 

 and sound reasoning, which fully entitle its author to take 

 high rank among philosophical naturalists. 



Alfred R. Wallace 



GANOT'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY 



Popular Natural PliUosophy. By Ganot. Translated by 



E. Atkinson, Ph.D. (Longmans and Co.) 

 '"T'HIS is a good elementary book, giving the first prin- 

 -L ciples of the subjects with which it deals in a clear 

 and concise manner, with very few unnecessary words. 

 The work is not an abridgment of Ganot's " Elements of 

 Pliysics," but is founded on Ganot's " Cours Elementaire 

 de Physique," of which it is not a mere translation ; but 

 additions and alterations have been made by Dr. Atkin- 

 son, with the view of renderng it more fit to serve the 

 purpose for which it is designed, namely, to act as a 

 "text-book of physics for the middle and upper classes 

 of boys' and girls' schools, and as a familiar account of 

 physical phenomena and laws for the general reader." 

 The book is very well adapted for these purposes. It is 

 entirely free of mathematical formute, which, though but 

 sparsely used in Ganot's " Physics," are still an insuper- 

 able barrier to the use of some portions of that work by 

 the non-mathematical reader. The subjects treated of are 

 the same as those in Ganot's " Physics," namely — the 

 properties of matter, hydrostatics, pneumatics, acoustics, 

 heat, light, magnetism, and electricity. The treatment of 

 these subjects is, however, not only more elementary but 

 somewhat less comprehensive than in the larger book. 

 The engravings of the instruments and of the experiments 

 detailed are good and suggestive, and calculated to be of 

 assistance not only to the learner but to the teacher. 

 There is, however, a good deal of what is superfluous in a 

 considerable number of the illustrations, and a few of the 

 illustrations themselves arc unnecessary. It is, perhaps, 

 over-refinement of criticism to object to the superfluity of 

 embellishment in Fig. 140, in illustration of a speaking 

 tube. (By the way, how exceedingly small the fire is !) 

 Fig. 139 seems quite unnecessary in explaining the experi- 

 mental determination of the velocity of sound by the 

 Bureau of Longitude of Paris. 



Although, however, there may be a good deal of what is 

 superfluous in the illustrations, there is nothing which is 

 misleading ; but, on the contrary, they are in all cases 

 calculated to leave a correct impression of the point in 

 question on the mind of the reader. Fig. 349, however. 



