December 25, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



569 



/ [0 (J?), g]. Hence it follows that the evolution 

 itself is a function (F) of the reproductive force 

 and the social force of gravitation, E=F {R, g). 

 In consequence of this we may say, conversely, 

 B = 'f (E, g), where -f expresses the function repre- 

 sented by i?." The last of these equations is 

 marked III, being the third and last of the great 

 formulas arrived at by Mr. Nossig. 



We cannot take leave of Mr. Nossig without an 

 apology to our readers for having given him so 

 much space ; but our defence is twofold. In the 

 first place, it seemed worth while to stigmatize 

 even so worthless a production when it had been 

 accorded forty pages of space in Kosmos; and, 

 secondly, although Nossig's childish endeavors at 

 theory-making serve to expose his incapacity for 

 scientific thought, his criticisms are not unfair 

 specimens of a large part of anti-Malthus lit- 

 erature. 



In speaking of Mr. Bonar's book there is less 

 occasion for criticism than for description. It is 

 not intended as an original contribution to the 

 discussion, but as an account of the discussion as 

 it has actually taken place ; though, to be sure, 

 there are not wanting passages in which the 

 author gives his own judgment upon the merits of 

 rival arguments. He narrates how Malthus' first 

 essay on population arose out of debates between 

 Malthus and his father on the opinions of William 

 Godwin, and shows how the impression produced 

 by this first essay decided the bent of its author's 

 life, and how the second essay, published five 

 years later (in 1803), differed from the first through 

 being the embodiment of extensive personal ob- 

 servation as weU as reading and reflection. This 

 is followed by a detailed account of the larger es- 

 say, so far as it relates immediately to the ques- 

 tion of population in a narrow sense ; and after 

 tliis we have a summary of Malthus' views on 

 the greatest economic questions, not only as they 

 appeared in his great essay, but also as he pre- 

 sented them in his other works. We shall not 

 attempt to give a summary of a summary, but it 

 may be worth while to direct attention to one or 

 two points wliich will perhaps be surprising to 

 those who fancy that humanity and moderation 

 are a new thing in political economists. To such 

 men it may sound strange to hear that " to Mal- 

 thus the discovery of truth was less important 

 than the improvement of society. When an eco- 

 nomical truth could not be made a means of im- 

 provement, he seems to have lost interest in it." 

 Nor will they be less surprised to learn that he 

 had " the virtue of refusing to join the economical 

 Pharisees, who would not admit the elasticity of 

 economic laws, lest they should discredit their 

 science." And though it is the followers of 



Ricardo whom Mr. Bonar here designates as the 

 economical Pharisees, one may profitably ponder 

 the words which Mr. Bonar quotes from a letter 

 written by Ricardo to Malthus : " Our differ- 

 ences may, in some resjjects, I think, be ascribed 

 to your considering my book as more practical 

 than I intended it to be. My object was to 

 elucidate principles ; and to do this I imagined 

 strong cases, that I might show the operation of 

 these principles." The misfortune of the matter 

 is not that the critics, but that the followers, of 

 Ricardo imagined his book to be ' more practical 

 than he intended ; ' and thus it has happened that 

 economists of the present generation, finding as 

 the most conspicuous effect of Ricardian teaching 

 the prevalence of certain practical dogmas, have 

 thought that in exposing the untenableness of 

 these dogmas they were overthrowing the scien- 

 tific method on which the theory of political 

 economy had been built up. 



The last three chapters of Mr. Bonar's book are 

 devoted respectively to Malthus' views in moral 

 and political philosophy, to 'the critics,' and to 

 the biography of Malthus. The chapter on the 

 critics is one of the most interesting in the book. 

 The whole work shows evidence of the most 

 minute and painstaking study : in fact, it would, 

 we are convinced, have been decidedly more useful 

 had the author not been quite so well informed as to 

 the exact changes made in successive editions, and 

 had he omitted many details wliich were neces- 

 sary in the time of Malthus, but which are with- 

 out interest now. The book might, without loss, 

 have been greatly abridged ; and, as the main ser- 

 vice it will render is to make Malthus more readily 

 accessible, this would have been an important im- 

 provement. 



THE FORMS OF SHIPS FOR WAR AND 

 FOR PEACE. 



Among a collection of very valuable papers 

 recently published by the British institution of 

 civil engineers, is a report of a lecture of excep- 

 tional value by the great naval architect. Sir 

 Edward J. Reed. The address was a short one, 

 but very comprehensive. The speaker begins by 

 comparing the conditions affecting the long and 

 the short ship of equal weight-carrying power, 

 showing that the character of the work for which 

 the vessel is intended, and even the nature of the 

 material of which its hull is composed, are cir- 

 cumstances affecting the form of maximum 

 efficiency. The long ship of small wave-makmg 

 action, but of great friction-producing power, is 

 shown to be best for the case of light hull and 

 heavy loading : the short, broad vessel, on the 



