June io, 1909] 



NA TURE 



427. 



sopher to deny that we can penetrate the veil of ap- 

 pearance ; but for such a one, the words "universe," 

 "eternal," "ultimate," are unmeaning, or at best 

 indicative of problems, not words to be lightly used 

 in positive propositions. iSIr. Wrench's phenomen- 

 alism is, in short, a very thinly-disguised materialism. 



As philosophy, then, the book has no great merit. 

 Nor can it be said greatly to extend or clarify our 

 psychological knowledge. Air. Wrench's fundamental 

 classification — that of the instincts as self-preservative, 

 reproductive, gregarious — is familiar, but it should 

 nil be accepted as final without strict examination. 

 His notion of " sub-instinct," a specific form of one of 

 the main instincts, as, e.g., patriotism is a specific 

 gregariousness, is not without value, but it is scarcely 

 conducive to clearness to apply this same term to 

 the objective social custom which results from the 

 interaction and mutual modification of the " forms 

 the instincts take in the thought of the individual." 

 Mr. Wrench's main practical inference from his 

 analysis of human nature is that our present system 

 of education should be inverted, and science given the 

 predominant place, for, he says, " the process of ab- 

 straction is essentially gregarious." The intellectual- 

 istic fallacy in educational theory has been so often 

 exposed that it is unnecessary to do more than notice 

 this remarkable version of if. 



In statement Mr. \\'rench is clear and concise, and 

 such purely scientific exposition as he gives in the 

 course of his work is admirable. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [Tile Editor does not hold himselj responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] 

 The Need of a Great Reference Library of Natural 



Science in Lor.don. 

 .\nvo\k di-siiirig- to 5Lr thy new books in various 

 branches of science who has had the use of the great 

 libraries in Oxford or in Cambridge, and finds himself 

 transferred to London as his habitation, must be 

 astonished, as I have been, to find that there is no great 

 scientific library in London, and that access to all the 

 incomplete libraries of the various scientific societies does 

 not enable him, even when he takes the large amount of 

 trouble necessary to inquire at all of them, to see the 

 important and necessary new books in various branches 

 of work. 



The deficiency is in regard to new " books " rather 

 than in regard to periodicals. It must be noted that of 

 late years, not only scientific periodicals, but large and 

 costly separate scientific books or special memoirs, often 

 expensively illustrated, have appeared, and are appearing, 

 in increasing number. I could name several books in 

 prehistoric archaeology, in comparative anatomy, and other 

 subjects, which I have been unable to find in London 

 within six months or a year of their publication, and 

 others which are not likely to be purchased by any of our 

 societies. The smaller societies devoted to special subjects 

 have neither money nor house-room for a first-rate library. 

 The larger societies neglect special subjects, on the theory 

 that they are provided for by the special societies. The 

 Royal Society has by no means such a library as might 

 be expected in view of its age and dignity. It has in- 

 sufficient funds and space, and, whilst aiming at coinplete- 

 ness in periodicals and the publications of scientific socie- 

 ties, is a " broken reed " for one who leans on it as a 

 help in the inattcr of books. It is true that the Linnean, 

 the Zoological, the Geological, and the Chemical Societies, 

 and the Society of Antiquaries have in their libraries many 

 splendid books, and annually purchase a limited number of 

 new books ; but if their libraries are taken all together, in 

 i-onjunction with that of the Royal Society, the Royal 

 Medical Society, and the London Library, they do not 



NO. 2067, VOL. 80] 



constitute that thing which is so necessary to the mature 

 student of modern science, namely, a complete, or nearly 

 complete, library of scientific publications, where the 

 newest books may be seen and consulted as soon as 

 published. 



We are so behindhand in this matter that it is not 

 possible in London even to see a new book from France 

 or Germany with a view to its purchase. We ought to 

 have in London a professedly complete library of modern 

 scientific publications accessible to all . mature students 

 (whether on payinent of subscription or otherwise), pro- 

 vided with a big reading-room where all the newest books 

 can be seen and read. Such a library should not lend its 

 books, but have them always ready for consultation. It 

 should have a staff of really competent librarians able to 

 help the reader to find what he wants, and it should be 

 open until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, and as 

 late on Saturdays and all public holidays as on other days, 

 for it is precisely at those hours when libraries are 

 universally shut that a great number of eager students 

 would find their only chance of using them. 



It has been often suggested that such a library as I 

 desire inight be formed by the union and cooperation for 

 this purpose of our various scientific societies, and I 

 believe that might be so if a practical scheme were formu- 

 lated. It would not be necessary for every society to give 

 up its existing library, but it would be necessary for each 

 society to contribute largely in money and books in order 

 to constitute and maintain the new combined or central 

 " consulting " library. Probably if the Government could 

 be persuaded to give for this purpose the buildings 

 formerly assigned to the University of London, and now 

 occupied by the various examining bodies connected with 

 the Civil Service and the Army, the National Scientific 

 Reference Library could be at once constituted. In view 

 of the urgent public necessity for such a library, the 

 Govermnent might be expected to provide a subsidy of two 

 or three thousand pounds a year, and the scientific societi''^ 

 might contribute so much a head for their members and 

 place their existing libraries at the service of the new 

 institution without giving up their special rights to borrow 

 certain books. 



In order to move any further in the matter, it is 

 clearly necessary to forin,. in the first place, an estimate 

 of the minimum size of such a library and its reading- 

 room, and of the annual expenditure, necessary for the 

 purchase of books, as well as for librarians, attendants, 

 heating, and lighting. 



I should be glad to receive any suggestions from those 

 who feel the need of such a library. It seems to me that 

 the essential points to be aimed at are ; — (i) completeness, 

 so that any and every book of scientific quality shall be 

 on the table as soon as published; (2) accessibility of the 

 library to readers until a late hour of the evening and on 

 holidays and half-holidays, as well as on ordinary days. 



The value of such a library to every kind of worker in 

 science would be immense. It should be open to every- 

 one on payment of a moderate annual subscription. It may 

 be objected to any new library (such as I propose'} that tHe 

 library and reading-room of the British Museum supply 

 the want. They do not, since books are not obtained 

 theie without delay. Many foreign books are not obtained 

 there at all. 



E. Ray Lankester. 



Vapour-density and Snjell. 

 In a letter to Nature of May 13 I made a statement 

 to which Dr. Perman very naturally takes exception 

 {•May 27, p. 369). He cites ammonia, hydrocyanic acid, 

 and hydrofluoric acid as instances of volatile bodies lighter 

 than air, yet odorous. In considering the physiology of 

 olfaction, however, certain conditions which might lead to 

 misconception must be ruled out. In the first place, a 

 very minute addition of impurity suffices to give odour to 

 an otherwise odourless substance. Formalin was the sub- 

 stance of which I was writing. My judgment, based on 

 sensory experience, absolutely declines to accept the some- 

 what fatty scent which I recognise with my nose close 

 to a dish of formalin as a property of the vapour which 

 irritates my conjunctiva when far beyond the range of 



