NATURE 



151 



THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1909. 



TELEOLOGY. 



Design in Nature. By Dr. J. Bell Pettigrew, F.R.S. 

 In three volumes; with nearly 2000 figures and three 

 portraits of the author. Vol. i., pp. xxxi + 421; 

 vol. ii., pp. xi + 425-io6g; vol. iii., pp. ix+1073- 

 1416. (London : Longmans, Green and Co.) Price 

 £3 3^- net. 



ALTHOUGH the manuscript of these three large 

 volumes was completed by the author, it was 

 not until after his death that the greater portion of the 

 book passed through the press. In these circum- 

 stances nothing remained for the editors but faith- 

 fully to carry out the work of publishing " Design in 

 Nature " in the form in which it was left, although, 

 as they point out, many improvements would no doubt 

 have suggested themselves to Prof. Pettigrew if he 

 had lived to see the book in type. The aim and object 

 of the work was to demonstrate the existence of a 

 first cause, or Creator, from the study of the 

 phenomena of the organic and inorganic worlds. 



In attempting to deal with physics, chemistry, 

 botany, zoology, anatomy, physiology, psychology 

 and palaeontology " more or less in detail," the 

 author attempted a task which no one man could be 

 expected adequately to perform. A discussion of such 

 a wide range of subject-matter, to be really con- 

 clusive in its arguments, would have to run to the 

 size of an encyclopedia, and, like the latter, be the 

 work of a number of different contributors. As it is, 

 the extent of knowledge covered may be described 

 as being as broad as the ocean, but lacking in depth. 

 Indeed, there is considerable want of uniformity, 

 and many of the arguments are distinctly shallow. 

 A large part of the work deals with anatomical, 

 zoological, and physiological considerations, especially 

 in relation to organs of reproduction, circulation, and 

 locomotion, but other matters, such as the telephone, 

 bones of the hand and foot, spiral formations, and 

 new theories of matter, are dropped down rather at 

 random in the middle of discussions with which they 

 do not appear to have much connection. Moreover, 

 the same subject is sometimes discussed in two widely 

 different places. 



It would be impossible to deal at any great length 

 with the theoretical aspect of the book. We can only 

 select one or two illustrations. On p. 767 are 

 given fourteen " proofs that the brain is the organ, 

 apparatus, or laboratory of the mind." Some of 

 these are legitimate deductions from statements for 

 which Prof. Pettigrew 's authority affords sufficient 

 guarantee, but the argument is surely weakened by' 

 the inclusion of the following : — 



" I. The brain rests eight hours or so (period of 

 sleep), and during that time the mind is a blank." 



" 4. The intellectual faculties are sluggish after a 

 full meal. They are most active between meals. 

 They are also more active during the day than during 

 the night." 



" 6. When the brain is overworked during the day, 



XO. 2058, VOL. 80] 



sleep {It night is difficult or impossible. The brain 

 apparatus is excited, and endless mental pictures, 

 known as dreams, are formed." 



" 8. Mesmerism is largely a physical condition." 

 " 13. The brain can be trained and developed. It 

 is impossible to train and develop what is imma- 

 terial." 



" Weight, Momentum, and Power as Factors in 

 Flight " is the heading of § 378, from which we 

 extract the following : — 



" The increase of power due to momentum in heavy 

 bodies in motion is well illustrated in the start and 

 progress of steamboats. In these the slip, as it is 

 technically called, decreases as the speed of the vessel 

 increases; the strength of two or three men, if applied 

 by a havi'ser attached to the stern of a moderate-sized 

 vessel, being sufficient to retard, and, in some instances, 

 prevent, the starting. In such a case the power of the 

 engine is almost entirely devoted to ' slip ' or in giving 

 motion to the fluid in which the screw or paddle is 

 immersed. It is consequently not the power residing 

 in the paddle or screw which is cumulative, but the 

 momentum inhering in the mass. In the bird the 

 momentum, alias weight, is made to act upon the 

 inclined planes formed by the wings, thus adroitly 

 converting it into sustaining and propelling power. 

 It is to this circumstance, more than any other, that 

 the prolonged flight of birds is mainly due, the inertia 

 or dead weight of the trunk aiding and abetting the 

 action of the wings, and so relieving the excess of 

 exertion which would necessarily devolve on the bird." 

 ..." In the flight of the albatross, on the other 

 hand, the momentum acquired by the moving mass 

 does the principal part of the work, the wings for 

 the most part being simply rotated on and off the 

 wind to supply the kite surfaces and angles necessary 

 for the inertia or mass to operate upon." 



From these examples we can only advise the reader 

 to regard " Design in Nature " as a memorial volume 

 of the late Prof. Pettigrew, and not to attach too 

 great scientific value to statements and conclusions 

 which the author might have expunged or modified 

 liad he lived to complete his task. 



Since the above criticisms were written, a fresh 

 aspect of Prof. Pettigrew's work has suggested itself 

 to the present reviewer. A large portion of the three 

 volumes deals with matters anatomical. Now, 

 anatomy is a subject which, for reasons that the 

 psychologist alone is competent to e.xplain, is not 

 pleasing to the majority of individuals. It is highly 

 desirable that the mind which controls the human 

 mechanism should know as much as possible 

 about the working of that mechanism as well as of 

 those of other members of the animal kingdom; yet 

 the parent's letter to the board school teacher, 

 " Please don't learn my little girl any more about her 

 inside; it does her no good and is rude," represents 

 a widespread sentiment which, whatever its origin, is 

 opposed both to the true scientific spirit and to con- 

 siderations of expediency. Now Prof. Pettigrew 

 certainly succeeded in associating a great deal of 

 information on this usually unpalatable subject in con- 

 nection with an appeal to one of man's highest senti- 

 ments—his appreciation of beauty and order in the 

 universe, and his reverence for that first cause which 

 must have produced the countless results that cannot 



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