May 



1907] 



NA TURE 



79 



Eye Migration in Flat-fishes and Lamarckianism. 



Mr. R. H. Lock, in his recent book on " Variation, 

 Heredity, and Evolution " (reviewed in Nature of 

 April 27), has, in common with many other writers, 

 adduced the phenomenon of eye transposition in flat-fishes 

 as a cogent argument in favour of the transmission of 

 acquired characters, remarking that " an alternative hypo- 

 thesis is lacking." I venture to dispute this position, 

 believing it to be decided evidence in support of the potency 

 of natural selection to accumulate small mutations. I 

 quote a part of the passage (p. 35) that my argument may 

 be the better understood : — 



" In the adult condition these fishes lie flat on one side; 

 and during their development from the young condition 

 that eye which, if it remained in its original position, 

 would look directly downwards travels round the head until 

 it comes to lie quite upon the upper surface. . . . The 

 very young fish whilst still symmetrical, are known some- 

 times to fall upon one side, and when in this position tc 

 twist the lower eye forcibly upwards. Darwin himself 

 therefore supposed that the origin of the adult structure 

 is to be attributed to the inherited effect of efforts of this 

 kind." 



This misinterpretation of the phenomenon seems to me to 

 arise from an inadequate appreciation of the nature of the 

 actual variation, i.e. the capacity to twist the eye, which 

 is exhibited by the young fish. The young of some other 

 fish are known to exhibit the same muscular control over 

 the orbit (" Origin of Species," p. 292), and we need only 

 to suppose that the forerunner of the modern race of flat- 

 fishes possessed it as a fortuitous variation to the extent 

 of making vision just possible whilst in the recumbent 

 position ; and this would seem to be the case, for it is 

 recorded in the " Origin of Species " that a young fish 

 has been observed to " raise and depress the eye through 

 an angular distance of about seventy degrees." In the 

 transmission of the original variation to the offspring it is 

 not the effect of the movement which is passed on, but 

 the structural arrangements which enabled it to initiate 

 the movement, the amplitude being increased in successive 

 generations by the aid of natural selection. 



This contention may be supported by citing a peculiar 

 muscular capacity possessed by myself. I am able to raise 

 and depress the right eyebrow independently of the left, 

 but I have no such control over the other. To test whether 

 (his power may not be induced by practice. I have striven 

 to raise the left whilst holding down the right, but find my- 

 self quite unable to accomplish it. Herein we see that the 

 capacity to make the movement is of itself a distinct muta- 

 tion ; and assuming that In the case of the flat-fish mobility 

 of the optic aperture was so far possible as to be of 

 advantage to it. natural selection would operate in preserv- 

 ing those of the progeny which were able to retain the 

 eve in the advantageous position with the least possible 

 effort. 



I have ventured to tender this explanation to the readers 

 of Nature because the phenomenon is very generally used 

 as a good illustration of Lamarck's doctrine, and as being 

 " inexplicable on the theory of natural selection." 



Bournemouth, May 10. Arthur J. Hawkes. 



TWO WORKS ON INDIAN ETHNOGRAPHY.' 

 "ly/TR. CROOKE'S book appears in a series 

 -'•'-'- edited by Mr. N. W. Thomas which, to quote 

 the general preface, " is intended to supply in 

 handy and readable form the needs of those who 

 wish to learn somethins? of the life of the un- 

 civilised races of our Empire." To Mr. Crooke has 

 been entrusted the task of describing; the races of 

 northern India, and we may at once state that he 

 has achieved very considerable success. The area 

 covered, extending from Afghanistan to the Chinese 



1 "The Native Races of the Britiiih Empire. Natives of Northern 

 India." By W. Crooke. Pp. xiv + 270. (London : A. Constable and Co., 

 Ltd., 1907.) Price 6s. net. 



"TheKhasis." Bv Major P. R. T. Gurdon, L.'i. With an Introduction 

 by Sir Charles Lyall, K.C.S.L Pp. xxvii-l-227. (Published under the 

 Orders of the Government oi Eastern Bengal and Assam. London : 

 D. Nu«, 1907.) Price 7i. 6d. net. 



NO. i960, VOL. 76] 



frontier, is so great, and its aspects are so compli- 

 cated, that not even such an authority as this dis- 

 tinguished scholar could venture into details within 

 the limits of the two hundred and fifty odd pages at 

 his disposal ; but he has given a broad general view, 

 sketching in with a few accurate and telling strokes 

 the more prominent features of the landscape, so that 

 the whole presents a satisfactory and attractive 

 summary of the racial characteristics of an important 

 section of the British Empire. 



After a brief account of the country and of the 

 influence of its environment upon the people, Mr. 

 Crooke describes its three main physical race-types — 

 the Mongoloid, the Dravidian, and the Indo-Aryan. 

 The last-named leads him to the consideration of the 

 castes of the great plains, to the Indian village and 

 its industries, and to the hoine life, including the 

 'occupations of women, together with the games and 

 amusements of the children. Turning to the religion 

 of the people, we have first an account of the birth, 

 marriage, and death rites, and then a general 

 description of the popular religion, magic, and witch- 

 craft. There are more than thirty admirable full- 

 page illustrations, the value of which is somewhat 

 impaired by the binder having placed them at approxi- 

 mately equal distances from each other throughout 

 the book, without consideration of the conte.xt to 

 which they refer, and which, in spite of a good index, 

 it is not always easy to find. In other respects, too, 

 the mechanical execution of the work leaves room for 

 improvement. Proper names are not always spelt 

 correctly. The well-known Norwegian philologist 

 appears as Dr. " Steinkonow," and the proof- 

 reader's ideas of the spelling of the name of a writer 

 on Chota Nagpur oscillate between " Bartley-Birt " 

 and " Bradley-Birt," the latter, of course, being the 

 correct form. Worst of all, the numbering of the 

 plates was evidently altered after the text had been 

 printed off, so that not a single reference in the text 

 to the plates is correct. 



These are, however, but minor matters, which can 

 easily be set right in the ne.xt edition, and for the 

 work as a whole, although we may differ on a few 

 controversial points, we have nothing but praise. 

 Mr. Crooke, while following Mr. Risley in his con- 

 clusions as to the race-origins of the Indian people, 

 shows a wise caution in accepting his opinion with 

 regard to details, and, like other scholars, enters a 

 protest against his undue extension of the name 

 " Dravidian " (properly a linguistic term) to the 

 entire mass of the population of northern India which 

 is not Aryan or Mongolian. He himself, on the other 

 hand, seems to have misunderstood the results of the 

 latest philological researches when he states that it 

 has been recently proved that the two great non-Aryan 

 linguistic fainilies of India, the Munda and the 

 Dravidian, are mutually connected. He quotes Dr. 

 Grierson's authority for this; but we are under the 

 impression that, in his latest writings, that scholar 

 has strongly maintained the distinct origin of these 

 two groups of speeches, and the researches of Pater 

 Schniidt, of Vienna, have shown that the Mundas 

 are related, both ethnically and linguistically, to the 

 Mon-Khmer tribes of Further India, and perhaps 

 even to the inhabitants of Polynesia. As for the 

 Dravidian languages, it seems not improbable, 

 although positive proof is yet wanting, that they are 

 connected with those of the aborigines of Australia. 

 The fact that the speakers of Dravidian languages 

 and the speakers of Munda languages have the same 

 physical type has not yet been satisfactorily ex- 

 plained, but Dr. Sten Konow's theory that the 

 common type is really Munda, and has been acquired 

 bv the Dravidian-speakers through intermarriage 

 (just as the Indo-Aryan type of the Lower Ganges 



