672 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. XIX. No. 486. 



not the ' confirmation ' of The Ypsilantian on 

 this point) : " I just love her, give myself 

 wholly to her influence, expect nothing" — to 

 which one is tempted to add, in the words of 

 a current beatitude, ' Blessed are they that ex- 

 pect nothing, for they shall not be disap- 

 pointed.' The Boston Herald is incidentally 

 careful to explain how Mr. Long became a 

 'maker of many books.' "Before he was 

 twenty he had filled a dozen note-books with 

 curious, hitherto Tinrecorded habits of ani- 

 mals." A little later on " he prepared five 

 articles, largely in fun, which, to his surprise, 

 found ready acceptance and yielded a check 

 of astounding proportions. Requests for book 

 material followed, which he has since supplied 

 at the rate of one or two books a year." 



Our Animal Friends* thinks Mr. Long's 

 writings free of ' mawkish sentimentalism,' ap- 

 parently because he does not insist that the 

 hippopotamus is a ' beauty,' or the skunk a 

 ' desirable companion.' And on July 9, 1903, 

 Puhlic Opinion']- took the ' opportunity of re- 

 afiirming [its] belief in the correctness of Mr. 

 Long's theories and of again advising the 

 study of this author's work.' Just so, Mr. 

 Hamilton Wright Mabie is quotedif as remark- 

 ing that " Mr. Long has a fresh, sincere style, 

 an eager curiosity, and a trained habit of ob- 

 servation." Really, this is worthless from 

 Mr. Mabie; yet just what one would have 

 expected from this ' genial ' preacher to the 

 ' Christian Endeavorers of literature,' whose 

 ' tolerance of temper ' and ' mellifluous com- 

 monplaces ' have apparently become too much 

 even for the urbane, yet always discriminating, 

 editor of the Atlantic Monthly.^ Nobody 

 takes Mr. Mabie seriously as a critic of values 

 any more. JSTor should any man of letters, as 

 such, presiime to pass judgment on the com- 

 petency of a naturalist for his task. If Mr. 

 Long adds arrogance to ignorance, Mr. Mabie 

 genially follows in his steps. A wise and far- 

 seeing friend, and a man both able and emi- 

 nent in science, is wont to predict that the 



* August, 1901, Pamphlet, pp. 21-22. 

 t Pamphlet, p. 24. 



t Reference not given, Pamphlet, pp. 16-17. 

 § ' Mr. Mabie's Latest Book,' by B. P., Op. cit., 

 March, 1903, pp. 418-419. 



science of the future will have to reckon 

 painfully with a ' humanistic ' opposition as 

 dangerous as was the theological opposition of 

 the past and far more insidious. Already 

 there are signs of such an opposition, although 

 as yet it acts chiefly as a stumbling block in 

 the path of popular education; yet, to change 

 the figure, it sometimes stands arrayed in the 

 garb of education itself. The New England 

 Journal of Education* informs us that, " from 

 Thoreau to Burroughs there has been no man 

 quite so lovable to wild animals and to men 

 at the same time as William J. Long. His 

 experiences are well-nigh as fascinating in 

 their way as were the songs of Jenny Lind." 

 Speaking of Mr. Burroughs's criticism, it 

 continues : " No one who has not made a 

 saint of Burroughs and has not been in love 

 with William J. Long, can appreciate the 

 nightmare effect of that Atlantic article." 

 But let us turn from this erotic effusion, and 

 conclude our notice of Messrs. Ginn and Com- 

 pany's pamphlet by quoting Professor William 

 Lyon Phelps, of the Department of English 

 Literature in Tale University, who is reported 

 as declaring that "from the point of view of 

 natural history, as well as that of literary art, 

 these books [by Mr. Long] are masterpieces. "f 

 Thus does the humanistic ' mush of conces- 

 sion ' ever tend to ' debase the moral cur- 

 rency ' ; for it levels down as surely as it 

 levels up, until all distinctions are obliterated, 

 and truth remains just where Protagoras 

 w'ould have left it. 



I need not discuss Mr. Long's modest-like 

 defense of himself,^ which would be ludicrous 

 if it were not so pitiful — apart from certain 

 just strictures upon minor faults of Mr. Bur- 

 roughs's criticism. Which reminds one that 

 Mr. Burroughs does not live in a house with- 

 out some glass panes. But Mr. Burroughs 

 Inaows that he has made mistakes, and knows 

 how to account for them too. In the very At- 

 lantic article which The Ypsilantian did not 

 think was ' exactly nice,' Mr. Burroughs ac- 



* June 18, 1903, Pamphlet, pp. 8-11. 



t Place not given. Pamphlet, p. 17. 



t A letter from Mr. Long to the editor of The 

 Connecticut Magazine, quoted in Pamphlet, pp. 

 25-32. 



