-January 9, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



69 



" FREEDOM " AND FEES 



It will, perhaps, do no harm to speak a little 

 plainly of some aspects of the inquiry just 

 instituted by the American Political Science 

 Association into " the present situation in 

 American educational institutions as to liberty 

 • of thought, freedom of speech, and security of 

 tenure for teachers of political science." . . . 

 The one point in the definition of the field of 

 inquiry made by the association that is open 

 to doubt and to discussion is "the security of 

 tenure for teachers of political science." 

 Here is where the assumptions to which we 

 have referred come in. The gist of the matter 

 is in the question how far a teacher of politi- 

 cal science or of any other subject is entitled 

 to retain his place and his pay when his teach- 

 ing is not satisfactory to the trustees who are 

 responsible for the institution in which he is 

 ■ employed. 



That question is in some degree begged by 

 the coupling of security of tenure with free- 

 dom of speech, as if the right to the former 

 went with the right to the latter and as if a 

 man not only had an inalienable right to teach 

 whatever he chose, but a right equally inalien- 

 able to be paid for teaching it. That theory 

 seems to us to need only to be stated to be re- 

 jected. It appears to us too clear to require 

 •discussion that the trustees of any institution 

 -of education ought not and can not surrender 

 absolutely all control over the teaching in that 

 institution to the men or the women who at 

 any given moment happen to hold places in 

 it. Nor is the matter changed materially if 

 the trustees agree to turn over the control of 

 the teaching to the faculty or to certain mem- 

 bers of it. . . . Possibly the committee of the 

 Political Science Association, with due study 

 .and reflection, in cooperation with like bodies, 

 may be able to present some general rules or 

 principles that may be useful. In the mean 

 time it does no harm to suggest at the outset 

 that there is no necessary, or even close, con- 

 nection between the right to freedom of speech 

 and the claim to be paid for speaking out of 

 the funds of an institution the managers of 

 which regard the speaking as mischievous. — 

 -New Torh Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Lehensgewohnheiien und Instinkte der Inseh- 

 ten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte, 

 geschildert von 0. M. Eeuter. Vom Ver- 

 fasser revidierte Uebersetzung nach dem 

 schwedischen Manuskript besorgt von A. 

 und M. Buch. R. Friedlander und Sohn, 

 Berlin, 1913. Pp. xvi -f 448 ; 84 text-figures. 

 This is the first of three volumes which Dr. 

 O. M. Eeuter planned to publish on the habits 

 and instincts of insects. It treats only of the 

 solitary species; the other volumes were to be 

 devoted to the Socialia and to a general ac- 

 count of the sense-organs and the comparative 

 psychology of insects. Most regrettably death 

 has intervened to prevent the author from 

 carrying out his plan and we are left with a 

 single volume, which, however, is complete in 

 itself. 



The general account of insect behavior with 

 which the work opens follows conventional 

 lines. The activities are regarded as largely 

 " instinctive," though the author is careful to 

 state that some of them may properly be 

 called " intelligent." Owing to the close asso- 

 ciation of instincts and bodily organization, 

 he speaks of a " morphology of instincts and 

 habits " and throughout the work views them 

 from the evolutionary, or genetic standpoint. 

 They are classified on a teleological basis, how- 

 ever, according to the problems which the in- 

 sects have to solve in their daily lives. After 

 an introductory chapter on the active and 

 quiescent stages and the length of life of in- 

 sects, the habits are arranged rather roughly 

 under three heads, according as they subserve 

 the purposes of nutrition, protection or repro- 

 duction. 



The consideration of food-habits, though 

 comprehensive, presents little that is new, the 

 species being divided into omnivorous (Panto- 

 phaga), herbivorous (Phytophaga) and carni- 

 vorous (Sarcophaga). The two latter groups 

 are each subdivided into Monophaga and Poly- 

 phaga, according as the insects derive their 

 food from a single plant or animal or from 

 several species. Two other groups of insects, 

 the Necrophaga and Coprophaga, which feed 

 on corpses and excrement, respectively, are 

 also recognized. Parasitism is included under 



