610 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 22. 



conclusions, liowever brilliant, can have no 

 value as guides to life or as guides to re- 

 search, which is the second power of life. 

 The theorj' of Monism has no interest to 

 Science, until men can come to deal with 

 the ' Stoff ' on which its speculations rest. 

 Every conceivable theory of life, its nature, 

 origin and destiny, can be traced back to 

 the pre-scientiiic philosophy of the Ancients, 

 Monism with the rest. What we have 

 found to be true was not unknown to the 

 Greeks. But that which we find to be false 

 had equally the weight of their authority. 

 It is the business of Science to test by its 

 own methods the value of the supposed basis 

 of these theories. The use of logic is one of 

 these methods. The only logical necessity 

 Science can recognize, as Dr. Brooks has 

 well said, is " that when our knowledge 

 ends we should confess our ignorance." 



I have myself not the slightest objection 

 to ' Monism ' as philosophy. As a dogma 

 it is certainly more attractive than many 

 others which have been brought like light- 

 ning from the clouds, as a stimulus to creep- 

 ing humanity. My objection lies against 

 the use of the divining rod in connection 

 with the microscope. These instruments do 

 not yield homologous results. If both yield 

 Truth, then Truth is a word of double mean- 

 ing. This method seems to carry us back 

 to the days when truths were made known 

 to the spirit without the intervention of the 

 body. When some theologian of the past 

 brought to Luther the revelations his spirit 

 made to him, the sturdy Eeformer said, 

 " Ihren Geist haue ich iiber die Schnautze " 

 (I slap your spirit on the snout). Scientific 

 men may have as individuals their o^^^l 

 visions and guesses and formulae of Uni- 

 versal Philosophy. Spiritual gj^mnastics are 

 not without value to any worker, and men 

 of science have often suffered from their 

 neglect. But this suffering is purely indi- 

 vidual. The running high jump does hot 

 hasten the progress of knowledge. Science 



wUl have none of it. Nor will she tolerate 

 a di^^ning rod even in the hands of her 

 wisest devotees. In other words, where 

 the facts stop Science stops also. 



David Stare Jordan. 

 Stanfoed Univeesity. 



the genus zaglossus. 

 To the Editor of Science : Mr. T. S. 

 Palmer's article in Science of May 10th fixes 

 the synonymy of this genus with precision ; 

 but one statement he makes is incorrect, 

 namely, that ' Zaglossits Gill seems never to 

 have been mentioned bj^ any subsequent au- 

 thor.' The Century Dictionary has three 

 articles fi-om my pen on the subject. 1. Zag- 

 lossus is defined as ' the proper name of that 

 genus of prickly ant-eaters which is better 

 known by its sjnoujm. Acanthoglossvs (which 

 see).' 2. Under J.ea?i</iO(7Zo6's»s the genus is 

 characterized, with the statement that this 

 name ' is antedated b j' Zaglossus of Gill. ' 

 3. Under Echidnida- the animal is figured 

 with the legend ' Zaglossus or Acanthoglossiis 

 hruijni.'' Elliott Coties. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 The Cambridge jVatural History, III., Mollmes : 

 By the Eev. A. H. Cook ; Brachiopods 

 (Eecent) : By A. E. Shipley ; Bvachiojwds 

 (Fossil) : By F. E. C. Eeed. New York, 

 Macmillan & Co. 1895. XIV., 536. 

 Pp. 8°. Illustrated. 

 This work is one of a series intended es- 

 pecially for intelligent persons without 

 scientific training, but in which the attempt 

 is made to combine popular treatment and 

 untechnical language -ndth the latest re- 

 sults of scientific research. 



Mr. Cooke, who is known as a pains- 

 taking and well informed conchologist, has 

 endeavored to unite in one general classifi- 

 cation the views of specialists in the various 

 groups, such as Hoj4e for the recent, Foord 

 and Fischer for the fossil Cephalopods, Bergh 

 for the Nudibranches, Pelseneer for the 

 Pelecypoda, etc.; but, in conformity with 



