July 31, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



139 



maintained what he believed to be the truth, 

 and had that open mind and craving for knowl- 

 edge which has ever characterized the best and 

 noblest of its members. This is not the time to 

 refer specially to his labors ; but we may feel 

 assured that such sterling work as he accom- 

 plished will ever hold an honored place in the 

 annals of British geology. The Council at 

 their sitting this afternoon passed the following 

 resolutions, which I feel no doubt all the Fel- 

 lows present will cordially endorse : 



(1) That the President, Council and Fellows of 

 the Geological Society of London desire to convey to 

 Lady Prestwich the assurance of their heartfelt sym- 

 pathy with her in the sad and irreparable loss that 

 she has sustained, and at the same time to place on 

 record their high appreciation of the lifelong geologi- 

 cal work achieved by Sir Joseph Prestwich, who for 

 sixty-three years was a member of their body, alike 

 respected and beloved. 



(2) That this Eesolution be placed upon the Min- 

 utes, and a copy of it be communicated to Lady 

 Prestwich. 



The above resolutions were then passed 

 unanimously. 



' A NEW FACTOR IN EVOLUTION. ' 



Under this title Prof. J. Mark Baldwin has 

 contributed an article to The American Naturalist 

 (June and July) enlarging upon the views pub- 

 lished by him in this Journal (Aug. 23, 1895, 

 Mar. 20, Apr. 10, 1896). Prof. Baldwin thus 

 sums up the factors in evolution which he desig- 

 nates ' organic selection ' and ' social heredity. ' 



" Organic Selection. — The process of ontoge- 

 netic adaptation considered as keeping single or- 

 ganisms alive and so securing determinate lines 

 of variation in subsequent generations. Or- 

 ganic selection is, therefore, a general principle 

 of development which is a direct substitute for 

 the Lamarkian factor in most, if not in all in- 

 stances. If it is really a new factor, then it 

 deserves a new name, however contracted its 

 sphere of application may finally turn out to be. 

 The use of the word ' organic ' in the phrase 

 was suggested from the fact that the organism 

 itself cooperates in the formation of the adapta- 

 tions which are effected, and also from the fact 

 that, in the results, the organism is itself selected; 

 since those organisms which do not secure the 

 adaptations fall by the principle of natural 



selection. And the word ' selection ' used in 

 the phrase is appropriate for just the same two 

 reasons. 



^'■Social Heredity. — The acquisition of func- 

 tions from the social environment, also consid- 

 ered as a method of determining phylogenetic 

 variations. It is a form of organic selection, 

 but it deserves a special name because of its 

 special way of operation. It is really heredity, 

 since it influences the direction of phylogenetic 

 variation by keeping socially adaptive creatures 

 alive, while others which do not adapt them- 

 selves in this way are cut off. It is also hered- 

 ity since it is a continuous influence from gen- 

 eration to generation. Animals may be kept 

 alive, let us say, in a given environment by so- 

 cial cooperation only ; these transmit this social 

 type of variation to posterity ; thus social adap- 

 tation sets the direction of physical phylogeny and 

 physical heredity is determined in part by this fac- 

 tor. Furthermore, the process is all the while, 

 from generation to generation, aided by the con- 

 tinuous chain of extra-organic or purely social 

 transmissions. Here are adequate reasons for 

 marking oflf this influence with a name. ' ' 



GENERAL. 



The Astronomer Eoyal, Mr. Christie, has 

 been unanimously elected corresponding mem- 

 ber of the Paris Academy of Sciences in the 

 place of the late Mr. Hind. 



Advices from Japan state that the two 

 American expeditions to observe the solar 

 eclipse under the charge of Professors Todd and 

 Schseberle, respectively, have reached Yoko- 

 hama. 



The sum of $5,000 has been subscribed for 

 the purpose of erecting a statue as a memorial 

 to the late Wilhelm Mayer, of Copenhagen, the 

 discoverer of adenoid vegetation of the pharynx. 

 It appears that the largest sum has been sub- 

 scribed in America (about $1,500), Great Britain 

 and Denmark each having subscribed in the 

 neighborhood of $1,200 and Germany $500. 



Mrs. Huxley, widow of Prof. T. H. Hux- 

 ley, has been granted a Civil List pension of 

 £200 a year. 



At the celebration of the centennial of the 

 founding of the city of Cleveland, it was an- 



