14 



NA TURE 



[May 4, 1905 



Typographical errors appear to be comparatively 

 few. The meaning of the last sentence on p. 22 is, 

 however, obscured by the misplacing of the word 

 " much "; while on p. 125 we have Suiae for Siiidae, 

 and on p. 149 Australia for Australian. As regards 

 other matters for criticism, it may be pointed out that 

 the author admits that the term aurochs properly be- 

 longs to the extinct wild ox, and it is therefore not 

 ^easy to see why he applies it to the bison in the plate 

 »f that animal. In the section on the wild ass (p. 60), 

 the non-scientific reader will probably find it difficult to 

 ascertain the proper name and the number of races of 

 the Asiatic representative of that group ; while the 

 sportsman will gasp with astonishment when told 

 (p. 63) that this animal may be ridden down by an 

 expert horseman after a run of five-and-twenty miles 

 (or does the author mean minutes?). On p. 139 the 

 Tasmanian devil, under the synonym of the ursine 

 dasyure, is made to do duty for two species. Finally, 

 the palaeontologist is likely to be staggered by the 

 suggestion (p. 185) that the horn of the American 

 birds commonly known as screamers is a direct in- 

 heritance from a dinosaurian ancestor. 



Throughout, Mr. Beddard has made his book read- 

 able and mildly interesting; and it is especially satis- 

 factory to find that he is conservative as regards the 

 scientific names of the animals he discusses, and is, 

 moreover, sparing in the use of such of these names 

 as he selects to designate the various species. The 

 book should form a valuable companion during a 

 visit to the gardens in the Regent's Park, and likewise 

 an excellent work of reference to those who really 

 desire to learn something from visits of this nature. 



R. L. 



SCIENCE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY 

 BANQUET. 



AMONG the guests of the Royal Academy of Arts, at 

 the anniversary banquet on Saturday last, were 

 eminent representatives of many branches of science. 

 The president of the Academy, Sir E. J. Poynter, pre- 

 sided ; and the Prince of Wales responded to the 

 loyal toast proposed by the chairman. Sir E. Seymour 

 having replied for the Navy and the Duke of Con- 

 naught for the Army, the president proposed the toast 

 of "Science," the domain of which, he remarked, 

 appeals to innumerable interests from its utilitarian 

 side, and in its higher aspects deals with matters which, 

 while they transcend the imagination with their specu- 

 lative possibilities, require for their verification the 

 utmost capacity of the intellect for exactitude and 

 minuteness of research. Sir William Huggins, pre- 

 sident of the Royal Society, replied to the toast in the 

 following speech, which we take from the Times report 

 of the banquet : — 



I rise, as representing the Royal Society, to acknow- 

 ledge the toast of science, so cordially honoured by her 

 younger sister, the Royal Academy. I sav sister, because 

 art and science have in common the same object of worship 

 and study — nature, in her varying moods and aspects ; art 

 " to e.xalt the forms of nature," science " to enlarge her 

 powers." More than this, for to be accepted of nature, 

 to be true artists or true men of science, both must possess 

 an intuitive and profound insight into nature. The fine 

 paintings which surround us are not mere transcripts of 

 nature, but created visions of nature, revealing to the 

 common eye the cryptic poetry and prose visible only to 

 the second sight of the true artist — 



As truly, the man of science must be a seer, endowed 

 with the open eye and power of imagination. At this 

 point the sisters part company. The muse of art fixes on 

 the canvas a momentary aspect of nature, or of the human 



NO. 1853, VOL. 72] 



face divine. The muse of science strains her eyes to see 

 what is behind the outward show, her quest is for the . 

 why and wherefore of nature's changes. But science is , 

 more than a presiding muse ; she is in very deed a great j 

 beneficent power imminent in the lives of her votaries, a 

 power such as was feebly foreshadowed in the tales of 

 folk-lore by the Queen of the Good Fairies, richly reward- 

 ing by enchantment with all good things those who made' 

 her their friend. The seven-league boots and the magic 

 steeds were but poor anticipations of the gifts of science 

 — the railway, the motor, and the turbine-driven vessel. 

 The enchantment of gold, jewels, feasts, and palaces are 

 more than realised by the boundless resources which science 

 places at man's disposal. Science, indeed, brings back 

 the age of Methuselah. Even literally life is prolonged by 

 increased power over disease. True life is not measured 

 by the passing of the suns, but by the sum of our activi- 

 ties ; not by the falling sands of the hour-glass, but by 

 the living pulses of the mind. The flying train, the flash- 

 ing of intelligence, night turned into day, and the thousand 

 and one appliances of machinery crowd into one year a 

 fulness of life which was possible to our fathers only, if 

 at all, in many years. How great, then, would be the 

 gifts of science to the nation in return for full national 

 recognition — by placing science on an equality with the 

 humanities in our universities and public schools, and by 

 the endowment of laboratories worthy of the nation ! With 

 science nationally honoured, our armies and our ships 

 could know no defeat, our machinery and our manufac- 

 tures no rivalry in the world's markets, our every under- 

 taking must prosper. Shall we then remain in deadly 

 apathy and take no steps to have it so? 



NOTES. 

 On Sunday, the President of the French Republic enter- 

 tained the King at the Elys^e at a dinner party, at 

 which 120 guests were present. The guests included dis- 

 tinguished authors, artists, musicians, and other repre- 

 sentatives of intellectual activity, almost exclusively 

 members of the Institute of France. By inviting leaders 

 of literature, art, and science to meet the King, graceful 

 recognition was given of the high place occupied by the 

 muses in the polity of the Republic. In the days when 

 sheer muscular force was the mainstay of a nation, bodily 

 strength and prowess were rightly regarded as recom- 

 mendations for Court favours ; but now that brain-power 

 instead of muscle determines the rate of national progress, 

 the State that desires to advance must foster all the intel- 

 lectual forces it possesses. This principle is well under- 

 stood in France, and is also clearly recognised in Germany, 

 where every man who makes notable contributions to know- 

 ledge of any kind, assists industrial progress, or creates 

 works of distinguished merit, whatever they may be, is 

 sure to 'receive personal encouragement from the Emperor. 

 The presence of these leaders of thought is a striking 

 characteristic of the German Court ; while, on the other 

 hand, their absence, and the overpowering influence of 

 military interests, are distinguishing features of Russian, 

 and, let us add, of British Court functions. 



On many occasions reference has been made in these 

 columns to the excellent object lesson of the intimate con- 

 nection between a scientifically organised system of educa- 

 tion and national prosperity afforded by the success which 

 has in recent years attended Japanese enterprise. It is 

 gratifying to find that this insistence on our part is, in 

 view of affairs in the Far East, now being echoed by our 

 contemporaries. Commenting upon the account of its 

 Tokio correspondent of the battle of Mukden, the Times, 

 in a leader in the issue of April 25, remarked : — " We 

 have before us evidence of national education in its highest 

 and most complete manifestation — education such as we in 

 this country have hardly begun to conceive. We have co- 



