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diff --git a/old/53751-h/53751-h.htm b/old/53751-h/53751-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 4139110..0000000 --- a/old/53751-h/53751-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10666 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Secrets of Earth and Sea, by Sir Ray Lankester. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - /* PAGE DIMENSIONS */ - @media screen - { - body { width:80%; max-width:45em; margin:auto; text-align:justify;} - } - - /* HEADINGS */ - h1, h2, h3 { text-align:center; clear:both; } - - /*PARAGRAPHS */ - p { margin-top:.75em; text-align:justify; margin-bottom:.75em; - text-indent:1em; } - div.chapter { page-break-before:always; page-break-inside: avoid; } - - /* TEXT ALIGNMENT AND MARGINS */ - .ac { text-align:center; } - .ar { text-align:right; } - .noindent { text-indent:0em; } - .p2 { margin-top:2em; } - .p4 { margin-top:4em; } - - /* FONTS */ - .sc { font-variant:small-caps; } - .x-smaller { font-size:70%; } - .smaller { font-size:83%; } - .xx-larger { font-size:200%; } - - /* left-indent */ - .indent-left { text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom; padding-top: 1em; - padding-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em; } - - /* BLOCK QUOTES */ - .bq { margin-left:5%;margin-right:5%; text-align:left; - max-width: 50em; font-size:85%;} - /* HORIZONTAL LINES */ - hr.chap { margin-top:5em; margin-bottom:5em; margin-left:20%; - margin-right:20%; width:60%; } - - /* TABLES */ - table { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:100%; border:0; - border-spacing:0px; padding:2px; } - -/* Table of contents */ - td.c1 { text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding-right:0em; - padding-left:1.5em; text-indent:-1.5em; padding-top:0.5em; } - td.c2 { text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom; padding-right:1em; - padding-left:1em; } - td.c2-1 { text-align:right; vertical-align:top; padding-right:1em; - padding-left:1em; padding-top:0.5em; } - - /* IMAGES */ - img { max-width:100%; height:auto; } - /* Image border */ - .bord img { padding:1px; border: 2px solid black; } - .figcenter { clear:both; margin:auto; text-align:center; max-width:100%; - padding-top:1em; } - .caption1 { font-size: .8em; text-align:center; } - .caption { font-size: .8em; text-align:left; padding-left:1.5em; - text-indent:-1.5em; } - -/* Dropcaps */ - p.drop-cap { text-indent:0em; } - p.drop-cap:first-letter { float:left; margin:0.1em 0.1em 0em 0em; font-size:250%; - line-height:0.85em; } - - /* VERSES */ - .poetry { margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align:left; - max-width:30em; display:inline-block; } - .poetry .verse { padding-left:3em; text-indent:-3em; font-size:90%; } - .poetry-container { text-align:center; } - - /* PAGINATION */ - .pagenum { position:absolute; right:5%; text-indent:0em; - text-align:right; font-size:70%; font-weight:normal; - font-variant:normal; font-style:normal; - letter-spacing:normal; line-height:normal; color:#acacac; - border:1px solid #acacac; background:#ffffff; - padding:1px 2px; visibility: visible; } - - /* FOOTNOTES */ - /* Footnotes container*/ - .footnotes { padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; } - .footnote { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em; } - .footnote .label { padding-right:0.5em; } - .fnanchor { vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none; } - - /* Index */ - ul.index { list-style-type:none; text-align:left; padding:0; margin:0; } - li.indx { margin-top:.5em; padding-left:1.5em; text-indent:-1.5em; } - li.ifrst { margin-top:2em; padding-left:1.5em; text-indent:-1.5em; } - li.isub2 { text-indent:-1.2em; padding-left:2.4em; } - li.isub3 { text-indent:-1.2em; padding-left:3.4em; } - - /* TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES */ - .transnote { background-color:#E6E6FA; color:black; padding-bottom:1em; - padding-top:.3em; margin-top:3em; margin-left:5%; - margin-right:5%; padding-left:2em; padding-right:1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; page-break-inside:avoid; } - - /* MEDIA-SPECIFIC FORMATTING */ - @media handheld { - body { margin:0; } - - p.drop-cap:first-letter { float:none; margin: 0; font-size: 100%; } - - .transnote { page-break-before:always; margin-left:2%; margin-right:2%; - margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; padding:.5em; } - } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Secrets of Earth and Sea, by Ray Lankester - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Secrets of Earth and Sea - -Author: Ray Lankester - -Release Date: December 17, 2016 [EBook #53751] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Christian Boissonnas and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<p class="ac noindent p4">SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="frontis.jpg" id="frontis.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="600" height="384" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1">DIMETRODON GIGAS, AN EXTINCT LIZARD, SEVEN FEET LONG</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h1> -SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA</h1> - -<p class="ac noindent p2">BY<br /> -<br /> -<span class="sc">Sir</span> RAY LANKESTER<br /> -K.C.B., F.R.S.</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller p4">WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS</p> - -<p class="ac noindent p4">NEW YORK<br /> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -1920</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE present volume is, like its predecessors, "Science -from an Easy Chair" (Series I and Series II) and -"Diversions of a Naturalist"—mainly a revision and -reprint—with considerable additions—of articles published -in daily or weekly journals. The first chapter appeared -originally in "The Field." The Chapters VI, XX, XXI, -and XXII were published in the "Illustrated London -News," under the title "About a Number of Things." The -rest are some of the articles which, as "Science from an -Easy Chair," I contributed, during seven years, to the -"Daily Telegraph." That, to me very happy, conjunction -was, like so many other happy things, necessarily interrupted -by the Great War.</p> - -<p>One result of that terrible cataclysm is that not a few -thoughtful writers have been led to deny the existence of -what they call "Progress," meaning by that word the -development of mankind from a less to a more complete -attainment of moral and physical well-being. The -question raised is obscured by the arbitrary use of the -word "progress," since by it any movement from point -to point—whether advantageous and desirable or the -reverse—is described, as, for instance, in the familiar titles -given by Bunyan to his book "The Pilgrim's Progress" -and by Hogarth to his pictures "The Rake's Progress." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> -Those who to-day despair of man's future limit their -outlook on the past to the conventional history of some -three or four thousand years. The only solid ground -upon which we can base the supposition that mankind -has moved from a less to a more complete attainment -of moral and physical well-being and will continue to -do so, exists in the ascertained facts of the past history -of living things on this Earth, and of man since his -earliest emergence from among the man-like apes made -known to us by his stone-implements and fossilized -bones. That there has been a development from lower, -simpler structure to higher, more complex, more efficient -structure is demonstrable, and so is the proposition that -there has been in the human race a continuous development -in the direction of increased adaptation to the -conditions of social life and an increased control by man -of those natural agencies which he can either favour when -conducive to his prosperity, or on the other hand can -arrest when inimical to it. "The continuous weakening of -selfishness and the continuous strengthening of sympathy" -(to adopt the words of the American philosopher, -Fiske) are, in spite of numerous lapses and outbursts of -savagery, patent features of the long history of mankind. -We have no reason to doubt their continuation, whilst -at the same time we must be prepared for and accept, -without desponding, the ups and the downs, the disasters -as well as the triumphs, which inevitably characterize the -natural process of evolution. One thing, above all others, -we as conscious, reasoning beings can do which must -tend to the further development and security of human -well-being: we can ascertain ever more and more of the -truth, or in other words, "that which is." We can discover -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> -the actual conditions of natural law, under which we exist -and promote the knowledge of that truth among our -fellows. To do that which is right, we must know that -which is true. To act rightly, we must know truly.</p> - -<p>We possess, a vast heritage of knowledge handed on -to us in tradition and in writings from our father-man in -the past. But there are yet immense fields of knowledge -to be explored and yet a greater task to be accomplished -in spreading the knowledge which we possess, and in -persuading all men that it is their right and their duty -to acquire it and to enjoy the power and the pleasure -which it gives. All must also help, directly or indirectly, -in the making of new knowledge. Whilst mankind is -still so backward in knowledge and the worship of wisdom, -it is idle to indulge in despair of the future. A chief way -to increased welfare is still open and untrodden.</p> - -<p>These are big speculations and problems with which -to preface a small book. But I am content to offer -the small book as a contribution, however restricted, to -the spread of a desire for further knowledge of the things -about which it tells—a possible incitement to serious -study of some one or other among them.</p> - -<p class="noindent ar">E. RAY LANKESTER</p> -<p class="noindent"><i>June 2nd, 1920</i></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="TOC" summary="CONTENTS"> - <tbody><tr> - <td class="c2-1"><span class="x-smaller">CHAP.</span></td> - <td></td> - <td class="c2"><span class="smaller sc">Page</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">I.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="sc">The Earliest Picture in - the World</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">II.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="sc">Portraits of Mammoths - by Men Who Saw Them</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">26</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">III.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="sc">The Art of Prehistoric - Men</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">35</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">IV.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="sc">Vesuvius in Eruption</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">55</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">V.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="sc">Blue Water</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">74</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">VI.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="sc">The Biggest Beast</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">84</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">VII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="sc">What is meant by - "a Species"?</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">92</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">VIII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="sc">More about Species</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">100</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">IX.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="sc">Species in the Making</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">108</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">X.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="sc">Some Specific Characters</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">118</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XI.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="sc">Hybrids</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">131</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="sc">The Cross-breeding - of Races</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">139</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XIII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="sc">Wheel Animalcules</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">157</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XIV.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="sc">More about Wheel - Animalcules</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">165</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XV.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="sc">Suspended Animation</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">173</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XVI.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="sc">More about Suspended - Animation</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">182</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XVII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="sc">The Swastika</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">191</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XVIII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="sc">The Origin of the - Swastika</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XIX.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="sc">The Tomoye and - the Swastika</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">209</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XX.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="sc">Coal</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">217</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XXI.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="sc">Boring for Oil</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">223</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">XXII.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="sc">The Story of Lime-Juice - and Scurvy</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">229</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#INDEX"><span class="sc">Index</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">239</td> - </tr> -</tbody></table> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="EXPLANATION_OF_THE" id="EXPLANATION_OF_THE"></a>EXPLANATION OF THE - FRONTISPIECE</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THIS plate shows the restoration of the extinct lizard, -Dimetrodon gigas (Cope), lately made by Mr. Charles -W. Gilmore of the United States National Museum, -by whose kind permission it is here reproduced from the -Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, vol. 56, 1919. -It is based upon the study of a very fine skeleton -and some hundred bones of allied species, collected by -Mr. Sternberg from "the Permian formation" exposed -in the vicinity of Seymour, Texas, U.S.A. It is selected -for illustration here because its most striking feature—the -high dorsal fin-like crest along the middle of the back -formed by the elongation of the neural spines of the -vertebræ—is a puzzle to the conscientious Darwinian. -Professor Case says of it: "The elongate spines were useless, -so far as I can imagine, and I have been puzzling -over them for several years. It is impossible to conceive -of them as useful either for defence or concealment, or in -any other way than as a great burden to the creatures -(terrestrial non-aquatic animals) that bore them. They -must have been a nuisance in getting through the vegetation, -and a great drain upon the creature's vitality, both -to develop them and keep them in repair." The reader -is referred to pp. 127, 128, where a brief discussion of such -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> -exuberant growths will be found. The excessive growth -of the median fins in the fish Pteraclis allied to the -Dolphin which displays changing floods of surface colour -as it dies—and in the Australian Blenny called Patæcus—both -figured on p. 130—should be compared with that -of the strange crest of the grotesque Dimetrodon.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="ILLOS" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS"> - <tbody><tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#frontis.jpg"><span class="sc">Dimetrodon</span></a></td> - <td class="c2"><span class="smaller sc"><i>Frontispiece</i></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"><span class="x-smaller">FIGS.</span></td> - <td></td> - <td class="c2"><span class="x-smaller sc">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td style="width:4em" class="c2-1">1, 2.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_1-2.jpg"><span class="sc">Engraved Cylinder of Red-Deer's - Antler, from the Azilian (Elapho-Tarandian) Horizon of the Cavern of Lortet</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">3.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_03.jpg"><span class="sc"><i>A.</i> - Perforated Harpoon of the Azilian or Red-Deer Period. <i>B.</i> and <i>C.</i> - Imperforate Harpoons or Lance Heads</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">4.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_04.jpg"><span class="sc">Rolled Impression or "Development" - of the Engraving on the Lortet Antler</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">12</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">5.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_05.jpg"><span class="sc">Restoration (or Completion) of the - Engraving on the Lortet Antler</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">13</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">6.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_06.jpg"><span class="sc">Fragment of a Roughly-painted Vase - of the Dipylon Age (<i>circa</i> 800 b.c.) from Tiryns</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">23</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">7.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_07.jpg"><span class="sc">Engraving of a Mammoth drawn upon - a Piece of Mammoth Ivory</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">26</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">8.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_08.jpg"><span class="sc">Outline Engravings of Mammoths on - the Wall of the Cavern known as the "Font de Gaume," near Eyzies (Dordogne)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">32</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">9.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_09.jpg"><span class="sc">Similar Engravings from the Neighbouring - Cave of Combarelles</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">32</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">10.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_10.jpg"><span class="sc"><i>A</i>, Similar Engraving from the - Cave of Combarelles. <i>B</i>, Mammoth enclosed by Plank-like Structure–supposed to be - either a Cage or a Trap</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">33</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">11.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_11.jpg"><span class="sc">Horse (Wall Engraving), Cave of - Marsoulas, Haute Garonne</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">43</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">12.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_12.jpg"><span class="sc">Horse (Wall Engraving) Outline in - Black, Cave of Niaux (Ariège)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">43 - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">13.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_13.jpg"><span class="sc">Horses: <i>A</i>, Wall Engraving (Cave - of Hornos de la Péna). <i>B</i>, Wall Engraving from Cavern of Combarelles. <i>C</i>, - engraved on reindeer Antler (Mas d'Azil)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">43</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">14.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_14.jpg"><span class="sc">Drawing (of the Actual Size of the - Original) of a Flat Carving in Shoulder-bone of a Horse's Head, showing Twisted - Rope-bridle and Trappings</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">45</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">15.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_15.jpg"><span class="sc">Drawing (of the Actual Size of the - Original) of a fully rounded Carving in Reindeer's Antler of the Head of a Neighing - Horse</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">45</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">16.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_16.jpg"><span class="sc">Reindeer (Engraving on - Schist)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">46</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">17.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_17.jpg"><span class="sc">Rhinoceros in Red Outline</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">46</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">18.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_18.jpg"><span class="sc">Bison from the Roof of the Cavern of - Altamira</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">19.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_19.jpg"><span class="sc">Bison: Wall Engravings</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">20.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_20.jpg"><span class="sc">Bear: Engraved on Stalagmite, from the - Cave of Teyjat near Eyzies</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">21.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_21.jpg"><span class="sc">Bear: Engraved on Stone, Massol - (Ariège)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">22.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_22.jpg"><span class="sc">Wolf: Engraved on Wall of the Cave of - Combarelles</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">23.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_23.jpg"><span class="sc">Wall Engraving of a Cave Lion - (Combarelles)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">24.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_24.jpg"><span class="sc">Goose: Small Engraving on Reindeer - Antler</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">49</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">25.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_25.jpg"><span class="sc">Female Figure carved in Oolitic Limestone - from Willendorf, near Krems, Lower Austria (1908)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">50</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">26.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_26.jpg"><span class="sc">Drawing (of the Actual Size of the - Original) of an Ivory Carving (fully rounded) of a Female Head</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">51</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">27.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_27.jpg"><span class="sc">Seated Figure of a Woman holding a - Bovine Horn in the Right Hand</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">51</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">28.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_28.jpg"><span class="sc">Male Figure represented in the Act of - drawing a Bow or throwing a Spear</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">51 - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">29.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_29.jpg"><span class="sc">A Piece of Mammoth Ivory carved with - Spirals and Scrolls from the Cave of Arudy (Hautes Pyrénées)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">54</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">30.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_30.jpg"><span class="sc">Vesuvius as it appeared before the - Eruption of August 24, a.d. 79</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">57</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">31.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_31.jpg"><span class="sc">Five Successive Stages in the Change - of Form of Vesuvius (from Phillips' "Vesuvius," 1869)</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">61</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">32.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_32.jpg"><span class="sc">The Upper-arm Bone or Humerus of the - Great Reptile (Gigantosaurus) of Tendagoroo</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">88</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_32a.jpg"><span class="sc">The Gigantic Reptile Diplodocus on - Land</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">91</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">33.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_33.jpg"><span class="sc">The Rudimentary Gill-plume of a - Crayfish from that Part of the Body-wall to which the First Pair of Jaw-legs - (Maxillipedes) is articulated</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">122</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_33a.jpg"><span class="sc">Strangely-shaped Fishes</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">130</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">34.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_34.jpg"><span class="sc">Diagram of <i>Rotifer vulgaris</i>–The - Common Wheel Animalcule–One Hundred and Twenty Times as long as the Creature - itself</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">158</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">35.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_35.jpg"><span class="sc">The Rotifer <i>Pedalion - mirum</i>–seen from the Right Side, magnified 180 Diameters</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">161</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">36.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_36.jpg"><span class="sc">The Rotifer <i>Pedalion mirum</i>–seen - from the Ventral Surface</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">161</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">37.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_37.jpg"><span class="sc">The Rotifer <i>Noteus - quadricornis</i>–to show its curious Four-horned Carapace</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">163</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_37a.jpg"><span class="sc">The Larval or Young Form of Crustacea - known as "the Nauplius"</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">164</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">37 (<i>bis</i>).</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_37b.jpg"><span class="sc">Three Tube-building - Wheel Animacules</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">169</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1"></td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_37c.jpg"><span class="sc">Young Stages of Growth or Veliger - Larvæ of Marine Snails</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">181</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">38.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_38.jpg"><span class="sc">The Swastika in its simplest Rectangular - Form</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">191 - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">39.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_39.jpg"><span class="sc">Three Simple Varieties of the - Swastika</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">192</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">40.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_40.jpg"><span class="sc">Footprint of the Buddha</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">192</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">41.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_41.jpg"><span class="sc">Vase from Cyprus (Mykenæan Age, - <i>circa</i> 1200 b.c.); Painted with Lotus, Bird and Four Swastikas</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">194</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">42.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_42.jpg"><span class="sc">Terra-Cotta Spindle-Whorl marked with - Swastikas</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">194</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">43.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_43.jpg"><span class="sc">Ornament from an Archaic (pre-Hellenic) - Bœotian Vase, showing Several Swastikas, Greek Crosses and Two Serpents</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">195</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">43 (<i>bis</i>).</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_43a.jpg"><span class="sc">Swastikas in Bronze - Repoussé</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">195</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">44.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_44.jpg"><span class="sc">Silver-plated Bronze Horse Gear from - Scandinavia, showing two Swastikas, and below a Complex Elaboration of a - Swastika</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">195</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">45.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_45.jpg"><span class="sc">Anglo-Saxon Urn from Shropham, Norfolk, - Ornamented by Twenty Small Hand-made Swastikas stamped into the Clay</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">195</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">46.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_46.jpg"><span class="sc">Piece of a Ceremonial Bead-worked - Garter, showing Star and Two Swastikas</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">197</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">47.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_47.jpg"><span class="sc">A Stone Slab from the Ancient City of - Mayapan (Yucatan, Central America), on which (Right Side) a Curvilinear Swastika is - carved</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">198</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">48.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_48.jpg"><span class="sc">Diagram to show the Derivation of - the Swastika from a Greek Cross enclosed by a Circle</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">199</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">49.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_49.jpg"><span class="sc">The Greek Key Pattern in <i>A</i> - Rectangular, and <i>B</i> Curvilinear or "Current" Form</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">202</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">50.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_50.jpg"><span class="sc">Diagrams of the - "Triskelion"</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">203</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">51.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_51.jpg"><span class="sc">Four Stages in the Simplification - of a Decorative Design–The Alligator</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">205</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">52.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_52.jpg"><span class="sc">Simplification (grammatizing) of Decorative - Design</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">206</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">53.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_53.jpg"><span class="sc">Spindle-Whorl from Troy (Fourth City), - with Three Swastikas</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">206 - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">54.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_54.jpg"><span class="sc">The "Tomoye"–The Japanese Badge of - Triumph</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">209</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">55.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_55.jpg"><span class="sc">Symbols of the History of the Universe - used by the Ancient Chinese Philosopher Chu-Hsi</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">209</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">56.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_56.jpg"><span class="sc">Diagrams to show the possible - Derivation of the Swastika from the Inscription of Two S-like Lines (or "Ogees") within - a Circle so as to divide the Circle into Four Bent Cones</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">209</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">57.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_57.jpg"><span class="sc">Terra-cotta Cone with a Seven-armed - Sun-like Figure</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">211</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">58.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_58.jpg"><span class="sc">Scalloped Shell Disk, from a Mound - near Nashville, Tennessee, showing in the Centre a Tetraskelion with Four Curved - Arms</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">211</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">59.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_59.jpg"><span class="sc">An Altar-stone of Prehistoric - Age</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">213</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c2-1">60.</td> - <td class="c1"><a href="#i_60.jpg"><span class="sc">Diagrams of Arbeli</span></a></td> - <td class="c2">214</td> - </tr> -</tbody></table> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="ac noindent xx-larger p4">SECRETS OF - EARTH AND SEA</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE EARLIEST PICTURE IN THE WORLD</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">IN Figs. 1 and 2 on the next page a cylindrical piece -of the antler of a red deer is represented of half the -natural size. On it are carved by in-sunk lines certain -representations of animals. It was found in the cavern of -Lortet, near Lourdes, in the department of the Hautes -Pyrénées, in the south of France, together with many other -remains of prehistoric man. This cavern was excavated -and all its contents of human origin carefully preserved -by M. Edouard Piette in 1873 and the following years. -Drawings of this and other remarkable carved pieces of -bone and antler, many in the form of harpoon heads, and -of small chipped flint implements, all found in this cave, -were published by him.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> He excavated also several other -caverns with great care, and his collections were bequeathed -by him on his death to the great Museum of -National Archæology at St. Germain, near Paris, where I -have had the advantage of studying them.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_1-2.jpg" id="i_1-2.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_1-2.jpg" width="600" height="332" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Figs. 1 and 2.</span>–Engraved cylinder of red-deer's - antler, from the Azilian (Elapho-Tarandian) horizon of the cavern of Lortet. Drawn of a - little more than half the actual size of the specimen.</div> -</div> - -<p>The age assigned to this carving is that called by Piette -"Elapho-Tarandian." At this period the reindeer (Tarandus), -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> -which previously abounded, is giving place to the -red deer (Elaphus). The layer in which this carving was -found belongs to the latest of -the Palæolithic cave deposits, -and was followed by a warmer -period, in which the red deer -and the modern fauna entirely -replaced the old fauna of the -Glacial period. The deposits -in Pyrenean caves of the -Elapho-Tarandian age are -characterized by an abundance -of large flat harpoons -serrated on both sides. In this -latest horizon of the Reindeer -period the art of engraving -in outline on bone and stone -had attained the highest pitch -of excellence which it reached -in the prehistoric race of -South-West Europe.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_03.jpg" id="i_03.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_03.jpg" width="377" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 3.</span>–<i>A.</i> Perforated harpoon - of the Azilian or Red-Deer period, made from antler of - red deer, found in quantity in the upper layers of deposit - in the cavern of the Mas d'Azil (Arriège). <i>B</i> and <i>C</i>. Imperforate - harpoons or lance heads made from reindeer antler of the - Magdalenian period (Reindeer epoch). <i>B</i> from Bruniquel Cave - (Tarn-et-Garonne). <i>C</i> from a cavern in the Hautes Pyrénées. - Same size as the objects.</div> -</div> - -<p>A very natural tendency -among those who hear from -time to time something of -what is being discovered about -primitive man is to confuse -all the periods and races of -prehistoric man together, and -so picture to themselves one -ideal "primitive man." My -friend Mr. Rudyard Kipling does this, although it would -be no further from a true conception were he to blend -his ancient Britons, his Phenicians, his Romans, his -Saxons, his Normans, and a few Hindoos into one -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> -imaginary man and represent him as taking a coloured -photograph of the Druids of Stonehenge on a piece of -Egyptian papyrus. Here is Mr. Kipling's vision of -primitive man:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse">Once on a glittering icefield, ages and ages ago,</div> - <div class="verse">Ung, a maker of pictures, fashioned an image of snow.</div> - <div class="verse">Later he pictured an aurochs, later he pictured a bear–</div> - <div class="verse">Pictured the sabre-tooth tiger dragging a man to his lair–</div> - <div class="verse">Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone–</div> - <div class="verse">Out of the love that he bore them, scribing them clearly on bone,</div> - <div class="verse">Straight on the glittering icefield, by the caves of the lost - Dordogne,</div> - <div class="verse">Ung, a maker of pictures, fell to his scribing on bone.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The fact is that several prehistoric races have succeeded -one another in Western Europe during the immensely -long period—amounting to hundreds of thousands of -years—during which man existed before the dawn of -history. The "lost" or "prehistoric Dordogne" was like -the present historic Dordogne in regard to the fact that -many races and dynasties successively held possession of -it and left their work in its soil and caves.</p> - -<p>Passing back through the historic age of iron and the -sub-historic age of bronze, we come to a time, about four -thousand years ago, when there were no men in the west -of Europe who made use of metals at all, although, for a -thousand or two years earlier, men were using bronze and -copper in the East. European races immediately before -the first use of metals made beautiful implements of -stone (chiefly flint), and finished them by grinding and -polishing them. These men are spoken of as Neolithic -men, or men of the Neolithic period. They had herds -and cultivated crops, and they built after a fashion rough -houses in wood and tombs and temples with great slabs of -stone. They made pottery and woven cloth. The animals -and plants of Europe were the same in those late prehistoric -times as they are to-day. The Lake dwellings of -Switzerland belong to this epoch and yield us their remains -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -as evidence. The men had very nearly the same set of -domesticated animals as we have to-day, but they had no -skill in carving outlines of animals. Their only decorative -work consisted of parallel lines, straight or in zigzags or in -circles, graven on the great stone slabs which they erected.</p> - -<p>We can trace them back to some seven thousand years -<span class="sc">B.C.</span> and then comes a huge gap—we do not know how -many thousand years—in our evidence as to what was -going on in this part of the world. We find convincing -proof that before this interval the climate was -much colder than it is to-day, and that the land surface -of Europe was in many respects very different from what -it became later. Britain was continuous with the -Continent. There were in that remote period human -tribes spread over the less frigid valleys of Europe. They -had no fields, no herds; they fed on the roasted flesh -of the animals they chased and on the fish they speared, -and on wild fruits and roots. They dwelt chiefly, if not -wholly, in caves, probably also in skin tents, but they -did not build either in wood or in stone. The age -which we thus reach is called the Palæolithic, or -"ancient" Stone age, because men made use of stone, -which they chipped into shape, but, unlike the Neolithic -people, never polished it. We find enormous -numbers of these rough or Palæolithic stone implements -both in caves and in the gravels deposited in the -ancient beds of rivers. They are so abundant as to -prove the existence of a very considerable human population -in the remote ages when they were fashioned and -used. The changes which have taken place and the time -involved since some of these Palæolithic implements were -made and used may be guessed at (but cannot be definitely -calculated) from the fact that the beds of the rivers which -formed the gravel terraces in which they are found in -England were, in many cases, from one to six hundred -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -feet above the level of the present rivers. The land -surface has risen and the rivers have simultaneously -excavated deep and wide valleys leaving terraces of gravel -high up on their sides. These show where the rivers once -flowed. The vastness of the excavation of the valley from -the level of the old river bed 600 ft. up on the sloping -hill-side to its present low-lying bed in the floor of the -valley—gives us some measure of the time which has -elapsed in the process.</p> - -<p>No one can tell, at present, the limit in the past of -Palæolithic man. The period of time over which his -existence extended, as indicated by the trimmed flints -undoubtedly made by human workmanship, is a matter of -hundreds of thousands of years. In Western Europe races -came and went, succeeded one another and disappeared, -either migrating or absorbed or more rarely destroyed by -the later invaders. Naturally enough, in the later deposits -of rivers and in the higher layers of earth and limestone -cake which fill many caves to the depth of 30 or 40 ft. we -find the remains of man's workmanship more abundantly -than in the older deposits.</p> - -<p>We can broadly distinguish in the Palæolithic epoch -three (perhaps four) periods, separated by the occurrence -of great extensions of the northern or arctic ice cap of -such a volume as to cover North Europe and North -America, and the simultaneous extension of the glaciers -of the mountains of Europe. This period of the alternating -extension and retreat of the great northern glaciers -is known as the Glacial period, or Ice Age. The <i>latest</i> -Palæolithic men are subsequent to it—that is, post-Glacial. -We can distinguish several successive ages of these post-Glacial -Palæolithic men, altogether distinct from and -anterior to the Neolithic men. In the earlier of these -ages many of the great animals of the Glacial period—now -extinct or withdrawn to other regions—still survived -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -in Europe. The mammoth survived, but was fast dying -out in the south and centre of France, and we find its -outline scratched on ivory and on bone by the early post-Glacial -men. The lion still survived in Europe, also the -hyena, the bear and the rhinoceros. The reindeer seems -to have been especially abundant, and to have been -associated with the men of this period. The horse was -very abundant, and was largely eaten by the earlier -post-Glacial people. From the first these men show -extraordinary artistic skill, and have left in their caves -many carvings on ivory, bone and stone. In the -oldest deposits of the post-Glacial age the carvings are -complete all-round sculptures of small size or carvings in -low relief, all of rough primitive workmanship. Larger life-size -sculptures in rock are also found. In later deposits -we find better sculpture and also engraving on flat pieces -of bone and ivory, and also on stone. This art persisted, -and attained its greatest perfection in the latest deposits -of all in which the work of Palæolithic man is found. The -reindeer persisted through this post-Glacial period (hence -often called "the reindeer period") until the gradual -increase of temperature and change of herbage and forest -led to its migration northwards and to the relative -abundance of the red deer. It is to this latest period—the -Elapho-Tarandian of Piette—that the engraved -antler figured here (Figs. 1 and 2) belongs.</p> - -<p>At an earlier stage of the post-Glacial period men -hunted the bison and other large game in the north of -Spain and made coloured drawings of them on the roofs -and walls of their caves, drawings which have been copied -and preserved: whilst the mammoth, the rhinoceros, the -cave lion and bear still inhabited south central France -and are pictured on the walls of caves in that region—as -described in Chapter II. Later we lose all trace of -Palæolithic man and his wonderful artistic skill. He -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -seems either to have migrated or to have been absorbed -in the immigrant Neolithic race—a race singularly devoid -of any tendency to artistic sculpture or engraving.</p> - -<p>The skeletons and skulls of the men of the Reindeer -period, or post-Glacial Palæolithic men, have been discovered -here and there. They indicate a fine, tall people -with well-shaped skulls and jaws, comparable to the -nobler modern races. It is convenient to call them -Cromagnards, since good skulls of the race have been -described from Cromagnon, in France. There is evidence -(from skulls) that another race (the negroid so called -"Aurignacians") preceded and coexisted to some extent in -Western Europe with them, but we have, at present, no -evidence as to whence or how the Neolithic race or the -Cromagnard race or any of their predecessors came upon -the scene!</p> - -<p>When we go farther back and reach the actual Glacial -period we find a very different state of things. The men -who then existed in the caverns are called the Neander -men. They were a short, bandy-legged, long-armed, low-browed -people, great workers of flints. They had the -use of fire, and contended with hyenas and bears and lions -for the occupation of their caverns. In their day—the -day of European glaciation—the mammoth was in full -occupation of the pine forests on the edge of the glaciers. -But the Neander men made no sculptures, or carving, or -engravings. The gap between them and the Cromagnon -men is much greater than that between an Australian -black fellow and an average Englishman; indeed, the -difference is properly expressed by regarding the Neander -man as a distinct species—Homo neanderthalensis.</p> - -<p>Passing again farther back over an immense period -of time, we find Europe warm again; the glaciers have -(for a time) gone or retreated far up the mountains but -are found in extension again at a still earlier date. An -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -inter-Glacial set of animals is now found living in a comparatively -warm climate in Western Europe. Another -elephant (Elephas antiquus) is there (not the mammoth), -and another rhinoceros (not the woolly rhinoceros of the -later Glacial period); the hippopotamus flourished then -in Europe and swam in the Thames and Severn, and -there too, at last is the sabre-toothed tiger, which did not -exist at all at a later period! Now was the time when -a man, if he could, might have "scribed" the image of a -sabre-toothed tiger on a piece of bone, but, so far as we -know, he did not and could not. This was ages before -other succeeding men walked "on glittering ice fields," -and they, in turn, were ages earlier than the artistic -Cromagnards of the Reindeer period.</p> - -<p>The presence of men in the warm inter-Glacial times -in Europe is proved by the association of rough but -undisputed flint implements with the inter-Glacial animals -and by the discovery of a most interesting human jaw -(chinless, like that of the Neander men) in what is held -to be a præ-Glacial deposit at Heidelberg. We have very -little knowledge of Glacial and præ-Glacial man except -well characterized flint implements and two skeletons, -some detached limb bones, four or five jaws, and as many -skulls.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> But of post-Glacial Palæolithic man we know -the skeletons of the Cromagnard race, their sepulture, -their decorative necklaces, and their bone and ivory -carvings and engravings, and the coloured rock paintings -and other work of earlier races (the Aurignacians, and -others) belonging to successive epochs or eras, which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -have been discovered in caves in France, Spain, Belgium, -and Austria. It was long after them that the Neolithic -people appeared.</p> - -<p>The preceding remarks will have made it clear that -the engraved antler here figured was carved by a man -who was not really at all primitive, although he lived -probably between twenty and fifty thousand years ago. -It will also have been made clear that hundreds of such -engravings, more or less fragmentary, are known. Some -are very skilful works of art, others of a much inferior -quality. Many, however, show an astonishing familiarity -with the animal drawn and a sureness of drawing which -is not surpassed by the work of modern artists (see -Chapter III). The interest of the particular engraved -antler which I am describing is that it is the only carving -of its age as yet discovered which is more than a drawing -or sculpture of a single animal. It is a "picture" in the -sense of being a composition. It is not, it is true, painted—it -is engraved; but being a composition it is entitled -to be called "the earliest picture in the world." Let -me describe it a little more fully with the help of the -illustrations.</p> - -<p>The engraving has been made on a long cylindrical -piece of the red deer's antler. It can hardly be considered -as decorative, since the figures of the animals do -not show as such on the cylindrical surface (Figs. 1 and 2). -Pieces of antler, bone, and ivory carved with spiral scrolls -and circles which are really decorative and effective as -decoration are found in these caves (Fig. 29). But often -such pieces as the present are met with. It has been discovered -by French archæologists that the true intent of -such engravings may be rendered evident by rolling the -cylinder on a plastic substance (soft wax or similar -material), when the drawing is "printed off" or "developed" -as it is termed. A great number of such line -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -engravings have been thus printed off or developed, -and plaster casts made from the flat impressions are -preserved in the museum of St. Germain, the engraved -lines being rendered obvious by letting them fill with -printing ink. They often give us in this way a "printed" -drawing of remarkable accuracy and artistic quality. -The rolled-off print of our specimen is shown in Fig. 4. -The cylinder has been damaged by time, but the print -shows, more or less completely, a vigorous outline drawing -of three red deer, with six salmon-like fish placed -in a decorative way above them and between their legs. -Two lozenge-shaped outlines (above the larger stag) are -held by good authorities to be the signature of the artist. -The group of deer is represented in movement. The -largest stag is on the right; his hindquarters are broken -away by injury to the cylinder. He is commencing to -advance, and turns his head backwards to see what is the -thing which has alarmed him and his companions; at -the same time his mouth is open, and he is "blowing." -The second stag is a younger and smaller animal, and -is retreating more rapidly. The cylinder is damaged so -that, although all the four legs of this second stag are -preserved, the head and neck are gone, though the points -of the antlers are preserved. The same damage has -removed all but the hind legs of the still younger animal -who heads the group. The beauty of the drawing of these -hind legs and the extraordinary impression of graceful, -rapid movement given by their hanging pose, side by -side, is not surpassed, even if it be equalled, by the work -of any modern draughtsman. It is clear that the youngest -and smallest member of the group is, as is natural, the -most timid, and that he has sprung off with a sudden -bound on the occurrence of the alarm from the rear, which -is setting the whole group into motion with increasing -velocity as we pass from right to left.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_04.jpg" id="i_04.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_04.jpg" width="600" height="312" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 4.</span>—Rolled impression or - "development" of the engraving on the Lortet antler.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_05.jpg" id="i_05.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_05.jpg" width="600" height="282" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 5.</span>—Restoration (or completion) - of the engraving on the Lortet antler, as now (1919) suggested by the writer - (E. R. L.).</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - -<p>The "printed-off," or "unrolled," or "developed" -picture given in Fig. 3 is an exact reproduction of a copy -of the cast made and preserved in the Museum of -National Antiquities at St. Germain, for which I am -indebted to my friend M. Salomon Reinach, the distinguished -archæologist who is the director of that -museum. It is reproduced here, a little larger than half -the size of the original, as are the representations of the -carved cylinder itself (Figs. 1 and 2). In Fig. 4 we have -my attempt to restore the damaged portions of the -design and to present it as it was when the Palæolithic -man completed it some 20,000 years ago.</p> - -<p>I will return to the question of the correctness of this -restoration, but before doing so I wish to mention some -extremely interesting points as to the probable use of the -cylinder of stag's antler and the purpose of the carving -around its axis. In the first place, this and a few other -of the pieces of carving of the post-Glacial period were -certainly the work of highly gifted and practised artists. It -is obvious that this work is far superior both in conception -and execution to the more or less clever, often grotesque, -carvings and paintings made by modern savages or simple -pastoral folk. There is no reason to suppose that the -Cromagnards, or men of the post-Glacial or Reindeer -period of West Europe, differed from modern races in -being universally gifted with artistic capacity. This engraving -of three stags is almost certainly the work of -a man who belonged to a family or guild of picture-makers -who had cultivated such work for centuries and -handed it on from master to apprentice. This design is -probably one which had been perfected by many succeeding -observers and draughtsmen. Its sureness of line and -vivacity of movement are not the outcome of the sudden -inspiration of an untutored savage, but are the result of -the growth, cultivation, and development of artistic perception -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> -and the power of artistic execution in successive -generations.</p> - -<p>It seems in the highest degree improbable, if not -impossible, that so excellent a drawing as this should -have been cut on the cylindrical piece of antler by an -engraver who never saw the flat or rolled-off impress of -his design. One is driven to the conclusion that he must, -as he worked on the bone, have taken an impress of -the growing picture from time to time, using probably -animal fat and charcoal as an "ink" and printing on to a -piece of prepared skin or on to a birch-bark cloth. How -otherwise could he have made his engraving so truly that -when, ages afterwards, we print it off the cylinder, we are -astonished and delighted by its perfection of design and -execution? If this be once admitted—namely, that the -artist tested and checked his work by printing it off as he -proceeded with it—we gain what appears to me to be the -probable solution of the question which has been largely -debated, "For what were these carved cylinders or rods -used?" Those which are simple cylindrical rods, such as -the present one, must be distinguished from others which -have one or more circular holes bored in them and others -which are curiously bent at an angle. Such specimens -are often carved with small unimportant ornament, not -requiring development or printing. They as well as the -present class have been spoken of as "wands of authority" -and "sceptres"; some are considered to be arrow -straighteners; others have been supposed to be "divining -rods" or "rods of witchcraft"; whilst one of those discovered -by M. Piette (others similar to it are known) -has been regarded as a "lance thrower" or "propulsor" -(such as modern primitive races use), having a notch at -one end upon which the lance to be thrown is made to -rest. The latest suggestion as to these notch-and-hook-bearing -rods, is that they are large crochet hooks -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -used in making nets. It has also been suggested that -some of these carved rods were used as "fasteners" of the -skins used as clothing.</p> - -<p>I venture to suggest that the elaborately carved -cylinder which we are considering and others bearing -similar carvings, which only show up when a printing of -them is taken, were used by the men who made them for -this very same "printing" as an end in itself. The picture -could be thus impressed on skins, birch bark, and other -material. This race was thoroughly familiar with the use -of paint formed by mixing grease with charcoal (to produce -black), red ochre (to produce red), yellow ochre (to produce -yellow), and some preparation of limestone or chalk -(to produce white). Coloured pictures representing animals -of the chase, coloured with red, yellow, white, and black -and outlined by engraving, have been discovered on the -rock walls of the caves used by them. Such pictures are -found of relatively early as well as of late date within -the post-Glacial Palæolithic period (see Chapter III). The -rock picture of a single animal is usually from two to five -feet long. People who could make those coloured designs -and who could draw and compose so admirably as the -author of the "Three Red Deer" would have desired to -"roll off" and to possess printings of their favourite representations -of animal life, whilst we must admit that their -skill and ingenuity was assuredly equal to the task of -so printing them. If this carving of the "Three Red -Deer" were never printed it could not have been executed -in the first place, nor seen and admired when completed. -If even only half a dozen or a dozen impressions were -taken from it for ornamenting the skins or other material -used by a chief, or a wizard, or a woman, its production -becomes intelligible. It is true that there is nothing -known as to the use of such printing from a cylinder -among existing primitive people, but it is known in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -very early times (4500 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>), since cylindrical seals -were used by the Babylonians. Elaborately grooved -blocks used for printing on cloth are known from Fiji -and Samoa, and the mere practice of printing on to a -flat surface is common enough among savage races in -regard to the human hand, impressions or prints of which -obtained by the use of a greasy pigment are found upon -rocks or stones. Sometimes prints of the hand or fingers -are taken in clay.</p> - -<p>We must not, however, forget that the primary purpose -of savage and primitive mankind in making images or -engravings of animals is that of influencing the animals -by witchcraft or magic, as has been urged by Reinach. -From such magic-working drawings the art of savages has -gradually developed just as religious figures and designs -have been the initial motive of historic European art.</p> - -<p>It seems in any case fairly certain that the artist who -engraved our picture of the three deer on to the stag's -antler must have worked from and copied a completed flat -drawing, and probably printed it in some way on to the -prepared antler before engraving its lines thereon and -also checked the work, as he proceeded, by successive -trial printings or "proofs" on to a flat surface. It is -possible though it does not seem very probable, that the -drawing was thus committed to perpetual invisibility on -a cylindrical rod—for the purpose of exercising "magic" -with that rod. It seems to me that the Cromagnard -owner of the rod would have wished to see "what the -picture really looked like," and so would have on some -occasion and more than once have "printed it off" or as -we say "unrolled it."</p> - -<p>Leaving that question aside I have a few words -to say as to the present attempted "completion" of -the picture. My difficulty has been in realizing the -suggestion of a free, graceful "bounding" action given by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -the pair of small hind legs which form all that remains of -the smallest of the three deer. I have tried various poses -of the calf indicated by these legs—bucking and jumping, -and with fore legs closely bent to the horizontal or in a -more open position. The fact is there is very little in -existing drawings or photographs which can help us to a -decision of the problem, "How did the prehistoric artist -complete that exquisite little pair of hanging legs?" The -problem is more obscure even than that of the pose of the -arms of the Venus of Melos. One feels sure that the -man who made this carving was an artist who must keep -a certain rhythm and flow in the action and form of the -three successive animals, and it is clear that he was a -wonderful observer of the phases of the limbs in movement. -It is, perhaps, a presumptuous thing to attempt -on such a basis to recall the thought of a man who died -twenty thousand years ago, but I set out to do so with the -belief that there is a necessary figure determined by those -hind legs.</p> - -<p>Some years ago, as a step towards a solution of the -problem, I published a "restoration" or "completion" of -this picture in the "Field" (May 13th, 1911), and asked for -criticisms and suggestions from the readers of that journal. -I had no difficulty as to the completion of the biggest -stag by drawing in his haunches and hind-legs, but the -completion of the head and antlers of the smaller stag—and -still more the calling into being of the entire calf as -an inference from his or her suspended hind-feet and hoofs -alone—were not easy tasks. I consulted many authorities -and some instantaneous photographs, but I was not satisfied -with the pose I finally suggested for the calf nor with -the "points" assigned by my draughtsman to the antlers of -the smaller stag. Some interesting suggestions were -made in reply to my appeal by readers of the "Field." -Those which seemed to me of conclusive weight and value -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -were offered by Mr. Walter Winans, who combines the -qualifications of a great observer of big game with those of -a great artist. In the restoration now given in Fig. 5 I have -profited by Mr. Walter Winans' criticism and have been -especially glad to make use of the spirited sketch made by -him for my benefit, and published in the "Field" of 1911, of a -red-deer calf when hopping along with all the feet together, a -movement known as "buck-jumping." "Of course," writes -Mr. Winans, "this is quite different to the bronco-pony's -action when trying to get rid of a rider. In the case of -this kind she does not come down with a jar—but as -she lands bends her knees and hocks simultaneously and -then straightens them, also simultaneously, bounding in -the air with bent back, tail curled tight on back, head -thrown back, and ears forward; she never puts her fore-legs, -either knee or fetlock, beyond her shoulder in this -action." These words of Mr. Winans and his outline -sketch of the buck-jumping calf precisely realize what -the little hanging legs of the rubbed-out calf had been, as -it were, urging my tired brain to recall and visualize. I -am convinced that Mr. Winans' sketch gives the completion -of the picture as drawn by the artist of the Lortet cavern, -and satisfies the demand made by the gracefully suspended -limbs shown in the incompletely preserved original. And -so I have used it in my final restoration here given in Fig. 5.</p> - -<p>The following letter by Mr. Winans, giving valuable -comments on the Lortet picture, was published in the -"Field," and will assist others in appreciating its significance: -it enabled me to get the middle stag's antlers -correctly drawn. I have omitted a few lines referring -to defects in the original restoration—now corrected.</p> - -<p class="bq"><span class="sc">Sir</span>,—As Sir Ray Lankester asks for criticism of this -wonderful drawing of three deer, perhaps the following -may be of interest. I have known deer all my life, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -lived amongst them the last twelve years. I agree that -the picture is wonderful—better than anything Landseer -or Rosa Bonheur drew, because these latter were only -artists: one can see by their pictures (full of faults as to -attitudes and actions) that they knew nothing of deer. -For instance, Landseer's stags were much too big in the -body and their heads too small, and even the shape of -their horns was conventional....</p> - -<p class="bq">"The Lorthet drawings enable one to know all details -about the three deer (looking at the original mutilated -'development'). First, the deer have 'got the wind' of -an enemy, have come a long way, and are moving -leisurely, the big stag, as usual, bringing up the rear and -taking a last look round before the herd goes out of sight. -The second is the younger stag who generally accompanies -the big stag and acts as his sentinel when he is -sleeping, a stag too small to give the big stag any jealousy -as to his hinds. The third is undoubtedly a calf (Red deer -are 'stags,' 'hinds,' and 'calves,' not 'does' and 'fawns'; -the latter terms apply to Fallow deer and Roe-deer).</p> - -<p class="bq">"The deer are typical Red deer, not Wapiti, except that -the only tail showing (that of the middle deer) is the short -Wapiti tail, not the longer tail of the Red deer, and the -ears are shorter than those of any existing species of deer.</p> - -<p class="bq">"The horns of the big stag are those of typical park Red -deer, exactly like the Warnham Park big stag: brow, -bay, and tray, with a bunch on top, and the horns are -short and straight for their thickness.</p> - -<p class="bq">"Now as to the short tail. I am trying, by crossing the -Wapiti, Red deer, and Altai to get back to the original -deer before the various species got separated, and my -'three-cross' deer show these very characteristics, as -follows: Red deer or Warnham horns, short Wapiti tail, -and the rather Roman nose which this 'development' -print shows. The only difference is the short ears. Is it -not possible that, as the artist is able to draw the horns in -perspective and show the anatomy and proportions so -well, that the ears are meant to be drawn fore-shortened?</p> - -<p class="bq">"The stag's mouth is open because he is big and fat -and is blowing (not roaring or bellowing). If it was the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -rutting season, when stags roar, the stag would be -tucked up in the belly and have a tuft of hair hanging -under the middle of it. He and the stag in front are -moving in the real action (not the conventional action -Rosa Bonheur and Landseer drew, but what the ancient -Egyptians drew sometimes) of a slow, easy canter.... -Now as to the middle stag's horns. I should give -him, bearing in mind he is the small sentry stag, brow, -tray, and three on top—a ten-pointer, the thin points -showing in the original drawing indicating that he had -thin horns—in fact, a three-year old.</p> - -<p class="bq">"In a Scotch forest a ten-pointer is a comparatively old -stag, but at Warnham and my place, where the feeding -is good (and in my case there is hand feeding all the -year round), a spike stag gets six points and can almost -be a royal the next year.</p> - -<p class="bq">"All this shows that the deer at the time this drawing -was made must have had very good feeding and come -to maturity quickly, like modern park deer. The big -stag would never have allowed a ten-pointer in his herd -if the latter had been an old stag.</p> - -<p class="bq">"As to the action of the leading hind. I think she is -a hind-calf by her legs, and is jumping with all four -legs together, the way young deer do when playing, and, -being young, is paying no attention to the danger -behind, but is full of life, like a horse playing about -when he is fresh. One often sees the calves of a herd -playing like this if the herd is moving along steadily....</p> - -<p class="bq">"From the position of the hind legs of the little calf -I judge that she is jumping with all four legs together -(the jump from which the expression 'buck jumping' -comes); her tail would be curled up tight over her back -like a pug dog carries it, only without the curl, and her -ears pricked forward. The piece of horn broken off -would show the rest of the hinds and calves, led -by an old 'yeld' (<i>i.e.</i>, barren) hind, who would be leading -the herd up wind with her nose and ears forward to -'get the wind' of any danger ahead.</p> - -<p class="bq">"The day is a hot one in the middle of August, shown -by the big stag blowing and his being with the hinds, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -instead of with other stags by themselves, and by his -not having 'run' yet, though his horns are clear of -velvet. He is most likely the stag on whose horn this is -engraved. The length of the deer's feet shows that they -live on ground which is soft and not many stones about -to wear down their toes.</p> - -<p class="bq">"Maybe the fish indicate that the deer are crossing a -shallow ford, and the salmon are getting frightened and -jumping. The right-hand-most fish is just in the attitude -of a hooked salmon trying to leap clear of the fly....</p> - -<p class="bq">"The picture was most likely first drawn on some flat -flexible surface, skin or bark, in a sticky medium, and -then transferred to the horn by rolling it round the horn -and then rubbing it. This would give a transfer, -which would guide the subsequent engraving, otherwise -it would be very difficult to engrave direct on the horn, -and mistakes could not easily be corrected.</p> - -<p class="ar"> -"<span class="sc">Walter Winans</span> -</p> - -<p class="bq"> -"<span class="sc">Surrenden Park, Pluckley, Kent</span></p> - -<p>With regard to the six fishes in the picture of "The -Three Red Deer," I think that there can be little doubt -that they are put in in the same spirit of exuberance -which induced early Italian masters to introduce a cherub -wherever a space for him could be found. The fish represented -are the same in each case, and are undeniably -salmonids. Presumably they are drawn on a larger scale -than the deer. Their markings and the form of the head -are deserving of some criticism and comment by those -who are familiar with fish as seen by the fisherman. -Probably the artist's friends at Lourdes captured fish in -those days by spearing them with serrated bone-headed -fish spears or harpoons (Fig. 3). No fish hooks of bone -have been found in the cave of Lortet or in others of like -age, although needles and whistles of bone and other -useful little instruments, as well as serrated spear heads -and harpoons have been obtained in several of them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<p>The tool used by the prehistoric man in engraving the -cylinder of stag's antler was undoubtedly a suitable chipped-out -piece of flint—a flint graving tool, in fact a "burin," -such as are abundant in these caves.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_06.jpg" id="i_06.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_06.jpg" width="549" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 6.</span>—Fragment of a - roughly-painted vase of the Dipylon age (<i>circa</i> 800 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>) - from Tiryns, figured by Schliemann and cited by Hörnes in - his "History of Pictorial Art in Europe." Compare the fish between the - horse's legs with the fish in the Lortet picture of the Three Deer; also - note the lozenge-shaped designs (similar to the pair above the big stag - in the Lortet picture) near the fish and near the man's head (<i>d</i>); and, - further, the swastika (<i>s</i>).</div> -</div> - -<p>Attention has been drawn by Hörnes in his "History of -Pictorial Art in Europe" to the resemblance of the Lortet -picture to a fragment of a roughly painted vase of the -Dipylon age (<i>circa</i> 800 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>) found at Tiryns and figured -by Schliemann in his account of excavations made at that -ancient Mykenæan fortress of the Peloponese. The fragment -(Fig. 6) shows very roughly drawn figures of a man -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -and of a horse. Between the fore and hind legs of the -horse a large elaborately ornate fish is represented, reminding -us of the fishes between the deer's legs in the Lortet -picture. Two other similar fragments of pottery, showing -a fish in this position, are recorded by Schliemann. The -drawing is conventional and careless. It is of a debased -decorative character, and is very far removed from the -careful nature-true work of the Lortet cave-man. It is -not possible to trace by any known line of transmission -a connection between the engraving executed 20,000 years -ago in the caves of the Pyrénées and the figures rapidly -knocked off in black paint on the Tiryns vase some 17,000 -years later by the local dealers in cheap pottery. Yet we -cannot avoid the suggestion that there is some connection -between the two designs. For the Tiryns painting shows -not only the curious upright fish between the horse's legs, -but also diamond-shaped figures—one marked <i>d</i> in Fig. 6, -another near the fish's tail, and another between the man's -feet—closely resembling the pair of diamond-shaped -figures engraved above the neck of the big stag in the -Lortet picture (see Figs. 4 and 5). As we do not know -what these diamond-shaped figures or "lozenges" are -intended to signify in either case, we do not get, at -present, beyond the bald fact of their coincidence. -The Tiryns painting also shows (at <i>s</i> in Fig. 6) a -"swastika" (see Chapter XVII), and below the man's -arm a carelessly drawn bit of the ancient wave-fret or -key-pattern. It is, of course, possible that the tradition -of an ancient design—even dating so far back in origin -as many thousands of years—may be preserved in the -use made in the Tiryns decoration of the fish and the -diamond-shaped lozenges, though associated with the -swastika and the bit of wave-fret which are probably of -later origin and are not known in the decorative work of -the cave-men. The Mykenæan decorative assimilation of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -geese to the ship's barnacle exercised its influence over -three thousand years and led to the mediæval belief in the -hatching of young geese from barnacles attached to floating -timber, and even from the buds of trees (see my -"Diversions of a Naturalist": Methuen, 1915). Nevertheless -it must not be supposed that the connection of the Lortet -engraving and the vase-painting of Tiryns is probable or -more than a very remote possibility. The gap in time is -too vast, and our present ignorance of what took place in -that interval too complete, to warrant us in regarding the -resemblance as more than a coincidence.</p> - - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - <div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a> - <a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> - "L'Age du Renne," a posthumous work, with one hundred coloured - quarto plates of objects in the Piette collection, is published by Masson, of - Paris, and gives the complete list of Piette's numerous earlier papers, issued - as his excavations proceeded.</p> - </div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a> - <a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> - Seven years ago the ape-like lower jaw and thick walled brain-case called - "Eoanthropus" were discovered in a sparse gravel near Lewes in Sussex. - It is probably of older date than either the Neander men or the Heidelberg - men. See on this subject the chapters on "The Missing Link" in my - "Diversions of a Naturalist" (1915) and those on "The Most Ancient - Men" and "The Cave-men's Skulls" in "Science from an Easy Chair. - First Series" (1910).</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">PORTRAITS OF MAMMOTHS BY MEN WHO -SAW THEM</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">SOME fifty-five years ago pieces of reindeer's antler -were discovered in the cave known as "La Madeleine" -in the Dordogne (a department of France -some eighty miles east of Bordeaux), upon which were -engraved the outlines of various animals such as reindeer -and horses. They and the bone spear-heads and needles, -and the flint knives found with them, were the first -revelation to later man of the existence of the prehistoric -cave-men. Among the carvings was a piece of ivory which -excited the profoundest interest. Partly hidden by a confused -mass of scratches it showed the well-drawn outline of -the great extinct elephant, thus scratched or "engraved" -on a bit of its own tusk (Fig. 7). The engraving was -barely 5 in. long, and has been reproduced in many books. -The specimen is now in Paris, and was for long the only -known representation of the Mammoth by the ancient -men who lived with it in Western Europe.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_07.jpg" id="i_07.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_07.jpg" width="600" height="267" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 7.</span>—Engraving of a mammoth - drawn upon a piece of mammoth's ivory, found in the cave of La Madeleine - in the Dordogne, in 1864. The specimen is in the Museum of Natural History, Paris. - The engraving is here represented of the actual size.</div> -</div> - -<p>During the last fifteen years, however, our knowledge -of the works of art executed by these ancient men has -increased to an extraordinary extent, chiefly owing to the -energy and skill of the French explorers of the caverns -in the south central region of that country. As long ago -as 1879 a little girl, the daughter of Señor Sautuolo—a -proud woman she should be if alive to-day—when visiting -the cavern of Altamira, near Santander, in the north of</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> - -<p>Spain, with her father, drew his attention to a number of -"pictures of animals," painted on the rocky vault or roof -of the cave. At first no one believed that these pictures -were more than a few hundred years old, whilst some held -them to be modern and made with fraudulent purpose. -In 1887 Piette, the distinguished French investigator of -the remains of human work in the caverns of the French -Pyrénées (whose great illustrated book of carved and -engraved portions of reindeer antler, ivory, and stones -discovered by his excavations, is a classic), declared that -in his opinion the pictures of the Altamira cave were of -the same age as the bone and ivory carvings of the -Madeleine cave—that is to say, dated from what "prehistorians" -call the later Palæolithic age, an age when the -mammoth, the bison, the cave lion, and the reindeer still -existed in Western Europe, and when the British Isles were -not yet separated by sea from the Continent. The age -indicated is probably from 25,000 to 50,000 years ago. -Still, the opinion prevailed that the "wall-drawings" and -"roof-drawing" of the Altamira cave were either mediæval -or modern until the French explorers discovered wall-paintings -in some of the caves of the Dordogne. Then -they proceeded to a careful investigation of the Altamira -cave, and discovered conclusive evidence of the great age -of the paintings by the removal of some of the undisturbed -deposit in the cave, in which were found flint implements -and small engravings on bone, proving the deposit to be -of the late Palæolithic age. When this deposit was -removed, pictures of animals, partly engraved and partly -completed in colour (black, red, yellow, and white), were -found on the wall of the cave previously covered up by -the deposit. M. Cartailhac, who had been a leading -opponent of the view that the Altamira wall-pictures -were very ancient, now renounced his former position and -became an enthusiastic investigator and exponent of these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -pictures. M. Breuil, who had discovered wall-pictures, -including those of the mammoth, in French caves, and -had been met by disbelief and even suspicion, now received -due recognition, and joined Cartailhac in preparing a -complete account of the wall and roof pictures of the -Altamira cave. The Prince of Monaco, who had carried -out, with the aid of French experts, an investigation of -the caves on his property at Mentone, on the Mediterranean -"Riviera," undertook the expense of producing -a splendid volume, giving coloured reproductions of the -Altamira pictures. To him the world is indebted, not -only for most important discoveries of human skeletons -and objects of human workmanship in the caves of -Mentone (there are no wall-pictures there), but for the -publication in illustrated form of the Mentone discoveries -and of those obtained in the Altamira cave. He has not -rested at this stage of accomplishment, but has produced -at his own expense large volumes by MM. Breuil, Capitan, -and Peyrony, illustrating and describing the discoveries -made by them of wall-paintings and engravings of animals -in the cave known as the "Font de Gaume," in the -Dordogne. The Prince has also published a volume, by -MM. Breuil, de Rio, and Sierra, reproducing the drawings -found in a whole series of caves and rock-shelters in -various parts of the Spanish peninsula, where the rock-painting -race seems to have persisted to a somewhat later -period and to have painted, more frequently, pictures of -human beings as well as of animals. These, whilst less -artistic and truthful than those of the North Spanish and -South French area, yet have surpassing interest, since they -have special similarity to ancient rock-paintings found in -North Africa and to the rock-paintings of the Bushmen -of South Africa.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Monaco has finally established the -great study in which he has played so valuable a part by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -founding in Paris an "Institute of Human Palæontology"; -that is, "of the study of prehistoric man," which he has -endowed with a magnificent building, comprising laboratories -and residences for professors, together with funds -to pay for its maintenance and the proper publication of -results. This he has done in addition to founding entirely -at his own expense a similarly complete Institute for the -study of "oceanography"—the study of the living contents -and history of the great seas.</p> - -<p>The illustrations in this chapter are (with the exception -of Fig. 7) copies, greatly reduced in size, of faithful representations -of the great hairy elephant or mammoth which -still survived in southern France in the days when the -caves were occupied and decorated by men. I am indebted -to the valuable little book "Repertoire de l'Art -Quatermaire," by M. Salomon Reinach, for these outlines -carefully drawn by him from various large illustrations -by the use of a tracing and reducing instrument. In the -next chapter I have given examples from the same source -of similar drawings of other animals.</p> - -<p>There are five kinds of artistic work of Palæolithic age -found in the caverns of France and Spain; namely (1) -small solid carvings (complete all round) in bone, ivory, -or stone; (2) small engravings in sunk outline on similar -material, rarely with relief of the outlined figure; (3) large -stone statues, 2 ft. to 6 ft. across, in high relief, with -complete modelling of the visible surface; (4) rock engravings -and paintings on the walls and roofs of caverns -or rock shelters, often partly outlined by engraving and -scraping of the surface, and then completed in black -or red paint or in several colours (black, red, yellow, -white); they are of large size, from 2 to 5 ft. in cross -measurement; (5) models in clay, one side only shown, -the other resting on rock; a few incomplete clay models -of this nature representing the bison of about 2 ft. in</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> - -<p>length, have recently been discovered in one of the French -caverns, and are the only examples of modelling in clay -by the Palæolithic men yet discovered.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_08.jpg" id="i_08.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_08.jpg" width="497" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 8.</span>—Outline engravings of - mammoths on the wall of the cavern known as the "Font de Gaume," near Eyzies - (Dordogne). Each figure is about 2 ft. long.</div> -</div> - -<p>Our figures of the mammoth are (excepting Fig. 7) all -of the fourth class—namely, rock-paintings in one colour -(black or red) partly -engraved and scraped. -The originals are from -1-1/2 ft. to 2-1/2 ft. long. -The mammoths given -in Fig. 8 are carefully -copied from engravings -discovered, -reproduced, and described -by M. Breuil -and his fellow-workers. -They are -on the walls of the -cavern known as the -"Font de Gaume," in -the commune of Tayac -in the Dordogne. -Those copied in Fig. -9 and Fig. 10, A, -were discovered on -the walls of the cave -of Les Combarelles -in the same district.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_09.jpg" id="i_09.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_09.jpg" width="423" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 9.</span>—Similar engravings from - the neighbouring cave of Combarelles. The lower figure is an enlargement of the smaller of - the two above it.</div> -</div> - -<p>Fig. 10, B, is from a cave at Bernifal, near les Eyzies, in -the Dordogne, and shows a mammoth enclosed in a -triangular design, which is believed to represent a trap, -or else a cage. Such triangular figures with upright and -also bent supports are found in various degrees of elaboration -on both small and large engravings of this period, and -are generally accepted as representing huts or enclosures -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -supported by wooden poles. They are called "tectiforms" -by the French explorers.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_10.jpg" id="i_10.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_10.jpg" width="358" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 10.</span>—<i>A</i>, similar engraving - from the cave of Combarelles. <i>B</i>, Mammoth enclosed by plank-like - structure—supposed to be either a cage or a trap. (Called - tectiform structures, and often seen in these wall engravings.) From - the cave of Bernifal, five miles from Eyzies.</div> -</div> - -<p>The bones and teeth of the mammoth are very -common in the river gravels and clays of Western -Europe and England, and -a complete skull, with its -tusks, dug up at Ilford, in -the east of London, is in the -Natural History Museum. -Frozen carcasses of this -animal are found in Northern -Siberia, and two showing -much of the skin and hair -are in the museum of -Petrograd. There is no -tradition or knowledge of -the mammoth among living -races of men. The natives -of Siberia, who have from -time immemorial done a -large trade in the ivory, -regard the tusks as "horns," -and have stories about the -ghosts of the mammoth, but -no tradition of it as a living -beast. The mammoth was -closer to the Indian elephant -of to-day than to the African -one. It had, as these drawings -show, a pelt of long hair. Indian elephants from -upland regions often have a good deal of hair all -over the body: and the newborn young of both the -Indian and African elephant has a complete coat of -hair. The drawings here reproduced are not only of -thrilling interest because they are the work of remotely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -ancient men who lived with and observed mammoths in -the south of France, but also because they show an -extraordinary skill in "sketching"—in giving the essential -lines of the creature portrayed and in reproducing the -artist's "impression." These artists were "impressionists"—the -earliest and most sincere—without self-consciousness -or other purpose than that of making line and colour -truly register and indicate their vivid impressions. It is -interesting to note that (as in other works of art showing -true artistic gift) actual error in drawing (for instance, in -the size and shape of the eye and the placing of the two -tusks on the same side of the trunk—possibly due to the -unfinished state of the drawing) sometimes accompanies -the most penetrating observation and skilful delineation of -the characteristic form and pose of the animal. Probably -mammoths were getting rare in the south of France when -these drawings were made, and were not so familiar in -all their details to the artist as were bison, horse, and -deer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE ART OF PREHISTORIC MEN</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE works of art produced by the cave-men are, -as we have already seen, of five kinds or classes—(1) -All-round small statuettes, or "high-relief" -carvings, in ivory, bone, or stone (examples of which are -shown in Figs. 14, 25, 26, 27, 28 of the present chapter); -(2) small engravings on bits of ivory, deer's antler, bone, -or stone (examples are shown in Figs. 15, 16, 20, and -24); (3) large statues, hewn in rock, and left in place; -(4) drawings of large size—two to five feet in diameter -(partly engraved and partly coloured) on the rocky walls -and vaults of limestone caverns (shown in Figs. 11, 12, 13, -17, 18, 19, 23, as well as in the figures of mammoths in -the last chapter); (5) models (high relief) worked in clay. -I give reproductions in the present chapter of several -samples of this art, showing how skilfully these men of -50,000 years ago could portray a variety of animals.</p> - -<p>Who were these men, and why did they make these -remarkable carvings and drawings? First, as to their age. -We now know of a long succession of human inhabitants -of this part of the world, namely, Western Europe. -The earliest reach back to an antiquity never dreamed -of fifty years ago. We cannot fix with any certainty -the number of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of -years which is represented by this succession, but we can -place the different periods in order, one later than the -other, each distinguished chiefly by the character of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -workmanship belonging to it, though in a few instances -we have also the actual limb-bones, skulls, and jaw-bones -of the men themselves, which differ in different periods. -It is practically certain that these prehistoric successive -periods of humanity do not represent the steps of growth -and change of one single race belonging to this part -of the world, but that successive races have arrived on -the scene of Western Europe from other parts, and it -is usually very difficult even to guess where they came -from and where they went to!</p> - -<p>It is convenient to divide the human epoch, the time -which has elapsed since man definitely took shape as -man—characterized by his large brain, small teeth, upright -carriage, and large opposable thumb and still larger and -more peculiar non-opposable great toe—into the historic -and the prehistoric sections. In this part of the world -(Europe) the first use of metals (first of all copper, then -bronze, and then iron), as the material for the fabrication -of implements and tools of all kinds, occurs just on the -line between the historic and the prehistoric sections; -that is to say, between those times of which we know -something by tradition and writing, and those earlier -times of which we have no record and no tradition, but -concerning which we have to make out what we can by -searching the refuse heaps and ruins of man's dwelling-places -and carefully collecting such of his "works" as have -not utterly perished, whilst noting which lie deeper in the -ground, which above and which below the others.</p> - -<p>Practically the men of the prehistoric ages in Europe -had not the use of metals (though our quasi-historical -records go back to a less remote time in many parts of -Europe than they do in Greece, Assyria, and Egypt). -The prehistoric peoples are spoken of as the men of -the Stone Age, because they used stone, chiefly flint, -as many savage races do to-day, as the material from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -which they fabricated by means of deftly struck blows -all sorts of implements. Undoubtedly they also, by aid -of stone knives, saws and planes, made weapons and other -implements of wood and of the horns, bones, and teeth -of animals. But these latter substances are perishable, -and have only been preserved from decay under special -circumstances, such as their inclusion in the deposits on -the floors of caverns.</p> - -<p>The Stone Age is itself readily and obviously divisible -into two periods. The latter is a comparatively very short -and recent period, when great skill in chipping flints and -other stones was attained, and the implements so shaped -were often rubbed on large stones of very hard material -(siliceous grit), so as to polish their surfaces. This is -the "Neolithic," or later Stone, period, and extends back -in Europe certainly to 7000 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>, and probably a few -thousand years further. Passing further back than this, -we leave what are called "recent" deposits, and come to -those associated with great changes of the earth's surface. -We enter upon "geological" time, and vastly changed -climatic and geographical conditions. We are in the -older Stone period, called the "Palæolithic period." -It is not really comparable to the "Neolithic," since it -comprises many successive ages of man, and, although -called the "Palæolithic" or "ancient Stone" period, has -no unity, but, whilst readily divisible into several sub-periods -or epochs of comparatively late date, stretches -back into immense geologic antiquity indicated by flint -implements of special and diverse types, which are found -in definitely ascertained geologic horizons.</p> - -<p>The Pleistocene strata—the latest of the geologists' list—are -the river gravels of existing river valleys, the deposits -in many caves, and the sands and clays piled up by ice -action during the repeated glacial extensions or epochs -of glaciation which alternated with milder climate for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> -many thousands of years over north and middle Europe. -It is identical with the Palæolithic period, which, however, -probably extends beyond it into the Pliocene and even -further back. In the later deposits of the Pleistocene, -which necessarily have been less frequently disturbed and -re-deposited than the older ones, we find more numerous -remains of man's handwork, and in less disturbed order -of succession, than in the older deposits. Lately we have -obtained in East Anglia beautifully-worked flint implements—the -rostro-carinate, or eagle's beaks—from below -shelly marine deposits—the Red Crag of Suffolk and the -Norwich Crag—the oldest beds of the Pleistocene. They -were made by men who <i>lived</i> in the Pliocene period, and -carry the ancient Stone period of man back to a much -earlier period than was admitted nine years ago.</p> - -<p>The Pleistocene series or "system " of strata—also called -the "Quaternary" to mark its distinction from the underlying -long series of "Tertiary" strata—does not comprise -the actual surface-deposits in which the remains of Neolithic -man are found. It is usual, though perhaps not -altogether logical, to separate these as "Recent" and to -begin the long enumeration of "geologic" strata after -a certain interval when the relative levels of land and sea -and the depth of river-valleys were not precisely what -they are to-day, and the human inhabitants of Western -Europe were hunters using rough unpolished flint implements—in -fact, when the "Palæolithic" period of human -culture had not given place to the "Neolithic," which -was after some ten thousand years itself to be superseded -by the age of metals. "Prehistorians," the students of -prehistoric man—divide the Pleistocene series of deposits -with a view to a systematic conception of the successive -changes of man and his surroundings during the period -occupied by their deposition, into an upper, a middle -and a lower group—and further have distinguished certain -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -successive "horizons" in these groups—characterized by -the remains of man and animals which they contain. -They are exhibited in the tabular statement here given -in the ascertained order of their succession, and are represented -in the southern part of Britain as well as in France.</p> - - -<p class="ac noindent">HORIZONS OR EPOCHS OF THE PLEISTOCENE -OR QUATERNARY SYSTEM</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="ac noindent"><i>A.</i> <span class="ac sc">Upper Pleistocene</span> (post-glacial; -also called epoch of the Reindeer).</p> - -<p class="indent-left">1. <i>The Azilian:</i> (Elapho-Tarandian of Piette) nearest -to the Neolithic section of the Recent Period and more or less transitional to that -period; named after the cavern of the Mas d'Azil in the department -of the Ariège. The Reindeer had largely given place to the great -Red Deer (Cervus elephus).</p> - -<p class="indent-left">2. <i>The Magdelenian:</i> named after the cave of La Madeleine -in the Dordogne.</p> - -<p class="indent-left">3. <i>The Solutrian:</i> after Solutré near Macon.</p> - -<p class="indent-left">4. <i>The Aurignacian:</i> after the grotto of Aurignac in the -Haute Garonne.</p> - - -<p class="ac noindent"><i>B.</i> <span class="sc">Middle Pleistocene</span> (period of - the last great extension of glaciers).</p> - -<p class="indent-left">1. <i>The Moustierian:</i> so named after the cave of Le Moustier -in Dordogne; the epoch of the Neander men. Also called the "epoch of the -Mammoth," whilst the upper Pleistocene is called the epoch of the -Reindeer, though the Mammoth still survived then in reduced numbers.</p> - - -<p class="ac noindent"><i>C.</i> <span class="sc">Lower Pleistocene</span> (inter-glacial -and early glacial, also called period of the Hippopotamus and of Elephas antiquus and -Rhinoceros Merckii).</p> - - -<p class="indent-left">1. <i>The Chellian:</i> named after Chelles on the upper Seine, river -gravels and sands earlier than the Moustierian. Large tongue-shaped flint -implements, flaked on both surfaces—the later and better-finished -classed as "Acheulæan," after St. Acheul, near Amiens.</p> - -<p class="indent-left">2, 3, 4 ... various fluviatile and lacustrine gravels, sands and clays -divisible into separate successive horizons, as well as marine deposits, -some of glacial origin—including the mid-glacial gravel, the boulder -clays and shelly Red Crag and Norwich Crag (but <i>not</i> the underlying -"Coralline" Crag, which must be classed with the Pliocene). The -relations of the marine deposits to the older river-gravels and fresh-water -deposits, and to the earlier periods of glacial extension indicated -by the glacial moraines of central Europe, have not been, as yet, -satisfactorily determined.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> - -<p>The amount of the sedimentary deposits of the earth's -crust belonging to the Pleistocene or Quaternary Period—about -250 feet in thickness—is exceedingly small, and -represents a surprisingly short space of time as compared -with that indicated by the vast thickness of underlying -deposits. It has nevertheless been possible to study and -classify the "horizons" of this latest very short period -minutely because the deposits are easily excavated, and -having been more recently "laid down" have not suffered -so much subsequent breaking up and destruction as have -the older strata; and further, because they embed at -certain levels and in favourable situations an abundance -of well-preserved bones and teeth of animals and the -implements and carvings in stone and bone made by -man. It is worth while to look at this matter a little -more exactly.</p> - -<p>The total thickness of sedimentary deposits—that is, -deposit laid down by the action of water on the earth's -surface, and now estimated by the measurement of strata -lying one over the other in various parts of the globe—tilted -and exposed to view so that we can trace out -their order of super-position—is about 130,000 feet. The -lower half of this huge deposit contains no fossilized -remains of the living things which were present in the -waters which laid it down; they were soft, probably -shell-less and boneless, and so no fossilized trace of them -is preserved. Thus we divide the sedimentary crust into -65,000 feet of "archaic" non-fossiliferous deposit, and an -overlying 65,000 feet of fossil-containing deposits.</p> - -<p>The earliest remains of living things known are not -very different from marine creatures of to-day; they are -the strange shrimp-like Trilobites and the Lingula-shells -found in the lower Cambrian rocks of Wales. Over them -lie 65,000 feet of sedimentary deposit teaming with fossils—the -petrified remains of animals and plants. The -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -Trilobites and the Lingulas must have had a long series -of ancestors leading up to them from the simplest -beginnings of life—for they are highly organized creatures. -But no trace of those ancestors is preserved in the -65,000 feet of sedimentary rock underlying the earliest -fossils.</p> - -<p>This great basal mass of non-fossiliferous deposit is -called "the Archæan series." The 65,000 feet of deposit -<i>above</i> it are divided by geologists into three very unequal -series. The first and lowest is the Primary or Palæozoic -series, occupying the enormous thickness of 52,000 feet; -above these we have the Secondary or Mesozoic series -of 10,000 feet, and lastly, bringing us to recent time, we -have the Tertiary or Cainozoic of only 3000 feet. These -three series amount in all to 65,000 feet. The Palæozoic -series is more than five times as thick as the Mesozoic, and -these two taken together are twenty times the thickness of -the Tertiary. Each series is divided by geologists into a -series of systems, distinguished by the fossils they contain, -which, on the whole, indicate animals of a higher -degree of evolution as we ascend the series.</p> - -<p>The Palæozoic series include the vast thicknesses of -the Cambrian, the Ordovician, the Silurian, Devonian, -Carboniferous and Permian systems. The first "trilobite" -is found in the lowest Cambrian rocks, and the last or -most recent existed in the Permian period—after 50,000 -feet of rock had been deposited. None are known -of later age. The first fossil remains of a vertebrate -are found in the uppermost beds of the Silurian—in -"beds" (that is to say, stratified rocks) which are just -<i>half-way</i> in position so far as the measurable thickness -of the deposits are concerned, between the earliest -Cambrian fossils and the sediments of the present day. -To put it another way, 34,000 feet of fossiliferous rock -precede the stratum (upper Silurian) in which the earliest -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -remains of vertebrates are found. These first vertebrates -to appear (others soft and destructible preceded them) -are fishes—a group which, apart from this fact, are -shown by their structure to present the ancestral form -of all the vertebrate classes. In later Palæozoic beds we -find the remains of four-legged creatures like our living -newts and salamanders. The Secondary or Mesozoic -series is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous -systems. It ends with the familiar chalk deposit of this -part of the world, and is often called the age of Reptiles, -because large reptiles abounded in this period. The -Tertiary or Cainozoic series are divided into the Eocene, -Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene systems. -The huge reptiles disappear and their place is taken by an -endless variety of warm-blooded, hairy animals—the -Mammals—small at first, but in later beds often of great -size. As we pass upwards from the Eocene we can trace -the ancestry of our living Mammals such as the horse, -rhinoceros, pig and elephant in successive forms. Complete -skeletons are preserved in the rocks and show a -gradual transition from the more primitive Eocene kinds—through -Miocene and Pliocene modifications—until -in the Pleistocene strata many of the species now -inhabiting the earth's surface are found. A number -of horizons, characterized by the special mammalian -and other animal remains preserved in them, are distinguished -by geologists in each of the "systems" -of sands, clays and harder beds known as Eocene, -Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene. At last we arrive at -the latest or most recent 250 feet of deposit, consisting -of sand, clay and gravel. This is called "Pleistocene." -It is only a very small fraction (1/260<sup>th</sup>) of the thickness -of the whole fossil-bearing sedimentary crust of -the earth—about the proportion of the thickness of a -common paving-stone to the whole height of Shakespeare's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -cliff at Dover. This Pleistocene or post-glacial Tertiary—often -now called Quaternary—has been so carefully -examined that we divide it as shown on page 39 into -upper, middle and lower, and each of these divisions -into successive horizons (only a few feet thick) characterized -by the remains of different species of animals -and often by the differing implements and carvings as -well as the bones of successive races of men.</p> - -<p>When we are concerned with written history, ancient -Egypt seems to be of vast and almost appalling antiquity; -on the other hand, if we study the cave-men, -ancient Egypt becomes relatively modern, and the first -cold period and extension of glaciers, which 500,000 years -ago marked the passage from Pliocene to Pleistocene, -becomes our familiar example of something belonging to -the remote past—beyond or below which we rarely let our -thoughts wander. That is a natural result of concentration -on a special study. But it has had the curious result, -in many cases, of making students of ancient man unwilling -to admit the discovery of evidences of the existence -of man at an earlier date than that which belongs to the -deposits and remains to which their life-long studies have -been confined and upon which their thought is concentrated. -The last 500,000 years of the earth's vicissitudes, -which resulted in the 250 feet of "Pleistocene" deposit -and the marvellous treasures of early humanity embedded -in them, form but a trivial postscript to the great -geological record which precedes it.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_11.jpg" id="i_11.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_11.jpg" width="600" height="341" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 11.</span>—Horse (wall engraving), - cave of Marsoulas, Haute Garonne. The drawing suggests the Southern less heavy - breed as compared with Figs. 12 and 13.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_12.jpg" id="i_12.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_12.jpg" width="600" height="395" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 12.</span>—Horse (wall engraving) - outlined in black, cave of Niaux (Ariège).</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_13.jpg" id="i_13.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_13.jpg" width="600" height="202" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 13.</span>—Horses: <i>A</i>, wall - engraving (cave of Hornos de la Péna). <i>B</i>, wall engraving from cavern of - Combarelles. <i>C</i>, engraved on reindeer antler (Mas d'Azil). Note the halter - in <i>A</i> and in <i>C</i>; also note the heavy head and face of <i>B</i> like - that of Prejalvski's horse.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<p>No estimate can be made of the time represented -by the 65,000 feet of fossiliferous strata known to us and -the same thickness of non-fossiliferous deposit which precedes -them. There are no facts known upon which a -calculation of the related lapse of time can be based. -But most geologists would agree that whilst we have good -ground for assigning half a million years to the formation -of the Pleistocene strata, -it is not an unreasonable -supposition that the period -required for the formation -of the fossiliferous rocks -which precede them in -time, is not less and -probably more than -five hundred million -years.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_14.jpg" id="i_14.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_14.jpg" width="600" height="427" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 14.</span>—Drawing (of the actual size - of the original) of a flat carving in shoulder-bone of a horse's head, - showing twisted rope-bridle and trappings. <i>a</i> appears to represent - a flat ornamented band of wood or skin connecting the muzzling rope - <i>b</i> with other pieces <i>c</i> and <i>d</i>. This specimen is from the cave of St. - Michel d'Arudy, and is of the Reindeer period. This, and others like it are - in the same museum of St. Germain.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_15.jpg" id="i_15.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_15.jpg" width="600" height="314" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 15.</span>—Drawing (of the actual size of the - original) of a fully rounded carving in reindeer's - antler of the head of a neighing horse. The head resembles that of the Mongolian horse. - This is one of the most artistic of the cave-men's carvings yet discovered. It is of - the Palæolithic age (early Reindeer period), probably not less than 50,000 years old. - It was found in the cavern of Mas d'Azil, Ariège, France, and is now in the museum - of St. Germain.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The pictures and carvings -with which we are -for the moment concerned -all belong to the <i>later</i> -Pleistocene or Reindeer -epoch. None have been -found in the middle and -earlier Pleistocene, though finely-chipped flints of several -successive types are found in those earlier beds. So that -it is clear that many -successive ages of -man had elapsed -in Western Europe -before these pictures—immensely -ancient -as they are—were -executed. The men -who made these -works of art had -ages of humanity, -tradition, and culture -(of a kind) behind -them. Yet they -were themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -tens of thousands of years earlier than the ancient -Egyptians!</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_16.jpg" id="i_16.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_16.jpg" width="600" height="514" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 16.</span>—Reindeer engraving on schist, - small size (cavern of Laugerie basse).</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_17.jpg" id="i_17.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_17.jpg" width="600" height="259" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 17.</span>—Rhinoceros in red outline - (2-1/2 feet long), drawn on the wall of the cavern of Font de Gaume.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Our illustrations show a variety of drawings and -carvings. It appears -probable that the -primitive intention of -ancient man in depicting -animals was "to -work magic" on those -which he hunted. This -is the case at the present -day among many -"savage" races. The -drawings of bisons in -Fig. 19 are from the -walls of the cavern of -Font de Gaume, in the Dordogne, and are about 5 ft. long, -partly engraved and scraped, partly outlined in black, and -coloured. The body is often coloured in red, white and -black, so as to give a true representation of the masses of -hair and surface -contours. -A specially -well preserved -painting of -this kind—from -the -cavern of -Altamira—is -shown in -Fig. 18, where the colours of the original—black, -red, and brown, and white are indicated by the varied -shading. These drawings, like those of the mammoths -figured in the last chapter, are found in the recesses of -caverns where no daylight reaches them, and must have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -been executed and viewed by aid of torch or lamp-light. -They probably were exhibited as part of a ceremony -connected with witchcraft and magic. These, like the -mammoths and all the specimens figured here, were -executed in the Reindeer, or later Pleistocene period. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> -The exact "horizon" of each is, as a rule, well ascertained, -but there is uncertainty as to whether some specimens -should be attributed to the Aurignacian or to the Magdalenian -horizon—and as to whether work by men of the -Magdalenian race is not in some cases associated in the -cave deposits with that by the earlier negroid Aurignacians.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_18.jpg" id="i_18.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_18.jpg" width="600" height="421" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 18.</span>—Bison from the roof of - the cavern of Altamira: engraved, and also painted in three colours (5 feet long).</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_19.jpg" id="i_19.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_19.jpg" width="600" height="224" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 19.</span>—Bison: wall engravings - (5 feet long) filled in with colour (Font de Gaume).</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_20.jpg" id="i_20.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_20.jpg" width="600" height="433" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 20.</span>—Bear: engraved on stalagmite, - from the cave of Teyjat near Eyzies. (Small size.)</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_21.jpg" id="i_21.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_21.jpg" width="600" height="438" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 21.</span>—Bear, engraved on - stone, Massol (Ariège).</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_22.jpg" id="i_22.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_22.jpg" width="421" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 22.</span>—Wolf, - engraved on wall of the cave of Combarelles.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_23.jpg" id="i_23.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_23.jpg" width="600" height="408" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 23.</span>—Wall engraving of a Cave Lion - (Combarelles).</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The horses shown are from various caves. Fig. 12 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -is drawn in black on the wall of a cave at Niaux -(Ariège), and Fig. 11 is a similar drawing from a cave in -the Haute Garonne. Both are remarkable for the exact -representation of natural poses of the horse. Figs. 13, A -and B, are also from the walls of caves. The latter is -remarkable for the large head, short mane, and thick -muzzle, which closely correspond with the same parts in -the existing wild horse of the Gobi desert in Tartary (to -be seen alive in the Zoological Gardens in London). The -horse drawn in Fig. 11 seems to belong to a distinct race, -suggesting the Southern "Arab" horse rather than the -heavier and more clumsy horse of the Gobi desert. Fig. -13, C, is engraved of the size here given, on a piece of -reindeer's antler. It is remarkable -for the halter-like ring around the -muzzle. A similar cord or rope is -seen in Fig. 12 and in Fig. 13, A.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_24.jpg" id="i_24.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_24.jpg" width="600" height="334" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 24.</span>—Goose: small - engraving on reindeer antler (Gourdan).</div> -</div> - -<p>The most remarkable horses' -heads obtained are those drawn (of -the actual size of the carvings) in -Figs. 14 and 15. Fig. 14 is from -the cave of St. Michael d'Arudy, engraved on a flat -piece of shoulder-bone. It shows what can only be -interpreted as some kind of "halter," made apparently -of twisted rope (<i>b</i>, <i>c</i>, <i>d</i>), disposed about the animal's -head, whilst a broad, flat piece ornamented with angular -marks is attached at the regions marked "<i>a</i>." This and -other drawings similar to Fig. 13, C (of which there are -many), go far to prove that these early men had mastered -the horse and put a kind of bridle on his head. Fig. 15 is -a solid all-round carving in reindeer's antler from the cave -of Mas d'Azil, Ariège (France). The original is of this -size, and is supposed to be one of the oldest and yet is the -most artistic yet discovered, and worthy to compare with -the horses of the Parthenon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<p>In Fig. 20 we have a wonderful outline of a bear -engraved on a piece of stone, from the cave of Teyjat, in -the Dordogne; Fig. 22, the head of a wolf on the wall of -the cave of Combarelles, Dordogne; Fig. 23, lion (mane-less), -engraved on the wall of the same cave; Fig. 21, small -bear, engraved on a pebble; Fig. 24, a duck engraved on -a piece of reindeer's antler (Gourdan, Haute Garonne); -Fig. 17, the square-mouthed, two-horned -rhinoceros, drawn in red -(ochre) outline on the wall of the -cavern of the Font de Gaume. This -drawing is 2-1/2 ft. long. In successful -characterization the bear (Fig. 20), the -wolf (Fig. 22), and the feline (Fig. 23) -far surpass any of the attempts at -animal drawing made by modern savages, -such as the Bushmen of South -Africa, Californian Indians, and Australian -black fellows.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_25.jpg" id="i_25.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_25.jpg" width="307" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 25.</span>—Female - figure carved in oolitic limestone from Willendorf near Krems, Lower Austria (1908). - Half the size (linear) of the original.</div> -</div> - -<p>Fig. 27 is an outline sketch of a -rock-carved statue, 18 in. high, proved -by the kind of flint implements found -with it to be of Aurignacian age. It -was discovered on a rubble-covered -face of a rock-cliff at Laussel, in the -Dordogne, by M. Lalanne. The woman -holds a bovine horn in her right hand. The face is -obliterated by "weathering." Four other human statues -were found in the same place, one a male, much broken, -but obviously standing in the position taken by (Fig. 28) -a man throwing a spear or drawing a bow. -<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Near these -were found a frieze of life-sized horses carved in high -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -relief on the rock. These are the only statues of any -size, executed by the Reindeer men, yet discovered.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_26.jpg" id="i_26.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_26.jpg" width="373" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 26.</span>—Drawing - (of the actual size of the original) of an ivory carving (fully rounded) of - a female head. The specimen was found in the cavern of Brassempouy, in the - Landes. It is of the earliest Reindeer period, and the arrangement - of the hair or cap is remarkable.</div> -</div> - -<p>The representations of men are rare among these -earliest works of art, and less successfully carried out than -those of animals. But several small statuettes of women -in bone, ivory, and stone of the early -Aurignacian horizon are known. They -suggest, by their form of body, affinity -with the Bushmen race of to-day (Fig. 25). -The all-round carving of a female head -(Fig. 26) also suggests Ethiopian affinities -in the dressing of the hair. Some regard -this hair-like head-dress as a cap. Here -and there badly executed outline engravings -of men, some apparently wearing -masks, have been discovered.</p> - -<p>The fact that the "Reindeer men" -were skilful in devising decorative design—not -representing actual natural objects—is -shown by the carving drawn in Fig. -29 and in many others like it.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_27.jpg" id="i_27.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_27.jpg" width="405" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 27.</span>—Seated figure of a woman - holding a bovine horn in the right hand; - high relief carved on a limestone rock; about 18 inches high. Discovered - at Laussel (Dordogne) in a rock-shelter in 1911, by M. Lalanne.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_28.jpg" id="i_28.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_28.jpg" width="332" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 28.</span>—Male figure represented - in the act of drawing a bow or throwing a spear. Carved on limestone rock; about - 16 inches high. Discovered by M. Lalanne with that drawn in Fig. 27.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The later horizons of the Reindeer -period or Upper Pleistocene yield some -beautiful outline engravings of red deer -and reindeer (Fig. 16) on antler-bone, as -well as of other animals. One celebrated -carving I have described in the first -chapter of this book. It is now regarded -as probable that whilst the art of the Aurignacians persisted -and developed in the South of France and North-West of -Spain until and during the time of the Magdalenian horizon, -yet a distinct race, with a different style of art, spread -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -through South-East Spain and also from Italy into that -region, and affected injuriously the "naturalistic" Aurignacian -art, and superseded it in Azilian and Neolithic times. -We find late drawings (Azilian age?) in some of the east -Spanish caves of a very much simplified character, small -human figures armed with bow and arrow, and others -reduced to geometric or mere symbolic lines derived from -human and animal form (see Fig. 52, p. 206). The latest -studies of Breuil on this subject tend to throw light by aid -of these simplified inartistic and symbolic drawings on the -migrations of very early races in the south and south-east -of Europe, and to connect them perhaps with North -African contemporary races. The subject is as difficult as -it is fascinating. Those who wish to get to the original -sources of information should consult the last ten years' -issues of the invaluable French periodical called -"L'Anthropologie," edited by Professor Marcelin Boule.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_29.jpg" id="i_29.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_29.jpg" width="236" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 29.</span>—A piece of mammoth - ivory carved with spirals and scrolls from the cave of Arudy (Hautes - Pyrénées). Same size as the object.</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a> - <a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> - M. Reinach relates ("Repertoire de l'Art Quatermaire") that two of - these statues were in 1912 deliberately stolen by the German Verworn professor - of Physiology in Bonn, who repaid the hospitality of M. Lalanne by - bribing his workman and secretly carrying off these valuable specimens to - Germany, where (it is stated) they were sold to the museum of Berlin for a - large sum.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">VESUVIUS IN ERUPTION</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">AT intervals of ten to twenty years the best-known -volcano in the world—Vesuvius, on the Bay of -Naples—has in the last two centuries burst into -eruption, and the probability of the recurrence of this -violent state of activity, at no distant date, render some -account of my own acquaintance with that great and -wonderful thing seasonable. We inhabitants of the West -of Europe have little personal experience of earthquakes, -and still less of volcanoes, for there is not in the British -Islands even an "extinct" volcanic cone to remind us of -the terrible forces held down beneath our feet by the crust -of the earth. In regions as near as the Auvergne of -Central France and the Eiffel, close to the junction of the -Moselle with the Rhine, there are complete volcanic -craters whose fiery origin is recognized even by the local -peasantry. They are, however, regarded by these -optimist folk as the products of ancient fires long since -burnt out. The natives have as little apprehension of a -renewed activity of their volcanoes as we have of the outburst -of molten lava and devastating clouds of ashes and -poisonous vapour from the top of Primrose Hill. Nevertheless, -the hot springs and gas issuing from fissures in the -Auvergne show that the subterranean fires are not yet closed -down, and may at any day burst again into violent activity.</p> - -<p>Such also was the happy indifference with which from -time immemorial the Greek colonists and other earlier -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -and later inhabitants of the rich and beautiful shores of -the Neapolitan bay before the fateful year <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79, had -regarded the low crater-topped mountain called Vesuvius -or Vesbius, as well as the great circular forest-grown or -lake-holding cups near Cumæ and the Cape Misenum, at -the northern end of the bay—known to-day as the -Solfatara, Astroni, Monti Grillo, Barbaro, and Cigliano—and -the lakes Lucrino, Averno, and Agnano. These -together with the Monte Nuovo—which suddenly rose -from the sea near Baiæ in 1538 and as suddenly disappeared—constitute -"the Phlegræan fields." Vesuvius -was loftier than any one of the Phlegræan craters, and -the gentle slope by which it rose from the sea level to a -height of nearly 3700 ft. had, as now, a circumference of -ten miles. It did not terminate in a "cone," as in later -ages, but in a depressed, circular, forest-covered area -measuring a mile across, which was the ancient crater. A -drawing showing the shape of the mountain at this period -is the work of the late Prof. Phillips of Oxford (Fig. 30). -The soil formed around and upon the ancient lava-streams -of Vesuvius appears to have been always especially fertile, -so that flourishing towns and villages occupied its slopes, -and the ports of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiæ were -the seats of a busy and long-established population. The -existence of active volcanoes at no great distance from -Vesuvius was, however, well known to the ancient Greeks -and Romans. The great Sicilian mountain, Etna—more -than 10,000 ft. in height, rising from a base of ninety -miles in circumference—and the Lipari Islands, such as -Stromboli and Volcano, were for many centuries in intermittent -activity before the first recorded eruption of -Vesuvius—that of <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79—and great eruptions are -recorded as having occurred in the mountain mass of -the island of Ischia, close to the Bay of Naples, in the -fifth, third, and first centuries <span class="sc">B.C. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_30.jpg" id="i_30.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_30.jpg" width="600" height="398" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 30.</span>—Vesuvius as it appeared - before the eruption of August 24, <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79. From a sketch by - Prof. Phillips, F.R.S.</div> -</div> - -<p>Nevertheless, the outburst of Vesuvius in <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79 and its -re-entrance into a state of activity came upon the unfortunate -population around it as an absolutely unexpected -thing. At least a thousand years—probably several -thousand years—had passed since Vesuvius had become -"extinct." All tradition of its prehistoric activity had -disappeared, though the learned Greek traveller Strabo -had pointed out the indications it presented of having -been once a seat of consuming fire. From <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 63 there -were during sixteen years frequent earthquakes in its -neighbourhood, which, as we know by records and inscriptions, -caused serious damage to the towns around it, -and then suddenly, on the night of Aug. 24, <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79, vast -explosions burst from its summit. A huge black cloud of -fine dust and cinders, lasting for three days, spread from -it for twenty miles around, streams of boiling mud poured -down its sides, and in a few hours covered the city of -Herculaneum, whilst a dense shower of hot volcanic dust -completely buried the gay little seaside resort known as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> -Pompeii. Many thousand persons perished, choked by -the vapours or overwhelmed by the hot cinders or engulfed -in the boiling mud.</p> - -<p>The great naturalist Pliny was in command of the -fleet at Cape Misenum, and went by ship across the bay -to render assistance to the inhabitants of the towns at the -foot of Vesuvius. Pliny's nephew wrote two letters to -the historian Tacitus, giving an account of these events -and of the remarkable courage and coolness of his uncle, -who, after sleeping the night at Stabiæ, was suffocated by -the sulphurous vapours as he advanced into the open -country near the volcano. The friends who were with -him left him to his fate and made their escape. The -younger Pliny had prudently remained, out of danger, -with his mother at Misenum.</p> - -<p>The alternating periods of activity and of rest exhibited -by volcanoes seem to us capricious, and even at the -present day are not sufficiently well understood to enable -us to discern any order or regularity in their succession. -Vesuvius is a thousand centuries old, and we have only -known it for thirty. We cannot expect to get the time-table -of its activities on so brief an acquaintance. Strangely -enough, Vesuvius, having, after immemorial silence, spasmodically -burst into eruption and spread devastation -around it, resumed its slumber for many years. There -is no mention of its activity for 130 years after <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79. -Then it growled and sent forth steam and cinder-dust to an -extent sufficient to attract attention again; its efforts were -thereafter recorded once or so in a century, though little, if -any, harm was done by it. In <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 1139 there was a great -throwing-up of dust and stones, with steam, which reflected -the light of molten lava within the crater, and looked -like flames. And then for close on 500 years there was -little, if any, sign of activity. The "eruptions" between -that of <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79 and that of -<span class="sc">A.D.</span> 1139 had been ejections of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -steam and cinders, unaccompanied by any flow or stream -of lava. Then suddenly the whole business shut up for -500 years, and after that—also quite suddenly—in 1631, -a really big eruption took place, exceeding in volume the -catastrophe of Pliny's date. Not only were columns of -dust and vapour ejected to a height of many miles, but -several streams of white-hot lava overflowed the edge of -the crater and reached the seacoast, destroying towns and -villages on the way. Some of these lava-streams were -five miles broad, and can be studied at the present day. -As many as 18,000 persons were killed.</p> - -<p>There were three more eruptions in the seventeenth -century, and from that date there set in a period of far -more frequent outbursts, which have continued to our own -times. In the eighteenth century there were twenty-three -distinct eruptions, lasting each from a few hours to -two or three days, and of varying degrees of violence—a -vast steam-jet forcing up cinders and stones from the -crater into the air, usually accompanied by the outflow of -lava, from cracks in sides of the crater, in greater or less -quantity. In the nineteenth century there were twenty-five -distinct eruptions, the most formidable of which were -those of 1822, 1834, and 1872. All of the eruptions of -Vesuvius in the last 280 years have been carefully -described, and most of them recorded in coloured pictures -(a favourite industry of the Neapolitans), showing the -appearance of the active volcano both by day and night -and its change of shape in successive years. Sir William -Hamilton, the British Ambassador at the Court of Naples -at the end of the eighteenth century (of whose great folio -volumes I am the fortunate possessor), largely occupied -himself in the study and description of Vesuvius, and -published illustrations of the kind mentioned above, showing -the appearance of the mountain at various epochs. -Since his day there has been no lack of descriptions of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -every succeeding eruption, and now we have the records -of photography.</p> - -<p>The crater or basin formed by a volcano starts with -the opening of a fissure in the earth's surface communicating -by a pipe-like passage with very deeply-seated molten -matter and steam. Whether the molten matter thus -naturally "tapped" is only a local, though vast, accumulation, -or is universally distributed at a given depth below -the earth's crust, and at how many miles from the surface, -is not known. It seems to be certain that the great -pressure of the crust of the earth (from five to twenty-five -miles thick) must prevent the heated matter below it -from becoming either liquid or gaseous, whether the heat -of that mass be due to the cracking of the earth's crust -and the friction of the moving surfaces as the crust cools -and shrinks, or is to be accounted for by the original high -temperature of the entire mass of the terrestrial globe. -It is only when the gigantic pressure is relieved by the -cracking or fissuring of the closed case called "the crust of -the earth" that the enclosed deep-lying matter of immensely -high temperature liquefies, or even vaporizes, and rushes -into the up-leading fissure. Steam and gas thus "set -free" drive everything before them, carrying solid masses -along with them, tearing, rending, shaking "the foundations -of the hills," and issuing in terrific jets from the earth's -surface, as through a safety valve, into the astonished -world above. Often in a few hours they choke their own -path by the destruction they produce and the falling in of -the walls of their briefly-opened channels. Then there is -a lull of hours, days, or even centuries, and after that -again, a movement of the crust, a "giving" of the blockage -of the deep, vertical pipe, and a renewed rush and jet of -expanding gas and liquefying rock.</p> - -<p>The general scheme of this process and its relations -to the structure and properties of the outer crust and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -inner mass of the globe is still a matter of discussion, -theory and verification; but whatever conclusions geologists -may reach on these matters, the main fact of -importance is that steam and gases issue from these -fissures with enormous velocity and pressure, and that -"a vent" of this kind, once established, continues, as a -rule, to serve intermittently for centuries, and, indeed, for -vast periods to which we can assign no definite limits. -The solid matter ejected becomes piled up around the -vent as a mound, its outline taking the graceful catenary -curves of rest and adjustment to which are due the great -beauty of volcanic cones. The apex of the cone is blown -away at intervals by the violent blasts issuing from the -vent, and thus we have formed the "crater," varying in -the area enclosed by its margin and in the depth and -appearance of the cup so produced. At a rate depending -on the amount of solid matter ejected by the crater, the -mound will grow in the course of time to be a mountain, -and often secondary craters or temporary openings, -connected at some depth with the main passage leading -to the central vent, will form on the sides of the mound -or mountain. Sometimes the old crater will cease to -grow in consequence of the blocking of its central vent -and the formation of one or more subsidiary vents, the -activity of which may blast away or smother the cup-like -edge of the first crater.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_31.jpg" id="i_31.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_31.jpg" width="406" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 31.</span>—Five successive stages in - the change of form of Vesuvius (after Phillips' "Vesuvius," Oxford, 1869). In the oldest - (lowest figure) we see the mountain with its still earlier outline completed by the cone - drawn in dotted line. Within the period of historic record that cone - had not been seen. The mountain had, so far as men knew, always - been truncated as shown here and in Fig. 30. The next figure above - shows the further lowering of the mountain by the first eruption on - record—that which destroyed Pompeii in <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79. The commencing - formation of a new ash-cone is indicated by a dotted line. In the three - upper figures we trace the gradual growth of the new cone from 1631 to - 1868. In 1872 the top of the new ash-cone was blown away, and the - mountain reverted to the shape of 1822. Now (1920) the cone has - accumulated once more and is higher than it was in 1868.</div> -</div> - -<p>Such a history has been that of Vesuvius shown in -outline in Fig. 31. In geologic ages—perhaps some -thousands of centuries ago—Vesuvius was probably a -perfect cone (its outline is shown at the bottom of p. 62) -some 7000 ft. high, rising by a characteristically accelerated -upgrowth from a circle of ten miles or more -in diameter to its delicate central peak, hollowed out -at the summit by a small crater a couple of hundred -yards across. Its eruptions at that time were neither -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -excessive nor violent. Then came a period of greatly -increased energy—the steam-jet blew with such violence -that it shattered and dispersed the cone, lowering the -mountain to 3700 ft. in height, truncating it and leaving -a proportionately widened crater of a mile and a half -in diameter. And then the mountain reposed for long -centuries. We do not know how long this period of -extinction was, for we do not know when it began, but -we know that this was the state of the mountain when in -<span class="sc">A.D.</span> 79 it once more burst into life. In recent years—that -is, since the seventeenth century <span class="sc">A.D.</span>, a curious change -took place in the mountain: the vent or orifice of the -conducting channel by which eruptive matters were -brought to the surface ceased to be in the centre of -the wide broken-down crater of Pliny's time, and a vent -was formed a few hundred yards to the south of the -centre of the old crater, nearer to the south side of the -old crater's wall. From this ashes or cinders issued, and -were piled up to form a new cone, which soon added -600 ft. to the height of the mountain and covered in the -southern half of the old crater's lip, whilst leaving the -northern half or semicircle free. This latter uncovered -part was called by the Italians "Monte Somma," and -the new cone low down in the southern side of which -the rest of the old crater-lip could be traced, was henceforth -spoken of as "the ash-cone" and sometimes misleadingly -as "the true" Vesuvius. Clearly it was not -"the true Vesuvius" since it was a new growth. The -original old Vesuvius was crowned by a crater formed by -the cliffs of Monte Somma and their continuation round -to the south side, now more or less completely concealed -by the new ash-cone.</p> - -<p>In the course of various eruptions during the last two -centuries the new ash-cone thus formed was blown away -more or less completely, and gradually grew up again. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> -During the nineteenth century it was a permanent feature -of the mountain, though a good deal cut down in 1822, -and later grew so high as to give a total elevation from the -sea-level of 4300 ft. The crater at the top of the ash-cone -has varied during the past century in width and depth, -according to its building up or blowing away by the central -steam jet. In 1822 it is reported to have been funnel-like -and 2000 ft. deep, tapering downwards to the narrow -fissures which are the actual vent. At other times it has -been largely filled by débris, and only 200 ft. deep. -Molten lava has often issued from fissures in the sides of -the ash-cone, and even lower down on the sides of the -mountain, and a very small secondary crater has sometimes -appeared on the side of the ash-cone 100 ft. or -200 ft. from the terminal crater which "finishes off" -the cone.</p> - -<p>Such was the condition of the mountain when I first -saw it in the autumn of 1871. Six months later I witnessed -the most violent eruption of the nineteenth century. -Vesuvius kept up a continuous roar like that of a railway -engine letting off steam when at rest in a covered station -only a thousandfold bigger. Its vibrations shook with a -deep musical note, for twenty-four hours, the house nine -miles distant in Naples in which I was staying. My -windows commanded a view of the mountain, and when -the noise ceased and the huge steam-cloud cleared away, -I saw a different Vesuvius, the higher part of the ash-cone -was gone, and a huge gap in it had been formed by the -blowing away of its northern side.</p> - -<p>In October 1871, when I joined my friend Anton -Dohrn at Naples in order to study the marine creatures -of the beautiful bay, Vesuvius was in the proud possession -of a splendid cone, completing its graceful outline. A -little steam-cloud hung about one side of the cone during -the day, and as night came on Vesuvius used, as we said, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> -to "light his cigar." In fact, a very small quantity of -molten lava was at that time flowing from the side of the -ash-cone, about 100 ft. from its summit, and this gave a -most picturesque effect as we watched it from our balcony -high up on Pausilippo, when the sun set. It was a -friendly sort of beacon, far away on the commanding -mountain's top, which was answered by the lighting up -of a thousand lamps along the coast, and by innumerable -flaming faggots in the fishermen's boats moving across -the bay, drawing to their light strange fishes, to be impaled -by the long tridents of the skilful spearmen. That -little beacon light on Vesuvius increased in volume in the -course of three weeks, and was supplemented by other -flaming streams and by showers of red-hot stones from -the crater. This small "eruption" was the precursor by -six months of the great eruption of the end of April 1872, -and I spent a night on Vesuvius during its progress, and -looked into the crater from which the glowing masses of -rock were being belched forth.</p> - -<p>Not long before I went, in 1871, to Naples I had spent -some weeks in visiting the extinct volcanoes of the -Auvergne and of the Eiffel, and I was eager to examine -the still living Vesuvius. In the first week of October I -made an excursion to the crater of Vesuvius in company -with the son of a Russian admiral, whose name, "Popoff," -was under the circumstances unpleasantly suggestive. -We examined some black slaglike masses of old lava-streams, -and struggled up the loose sandy ash-cone (there -was no "funicular" in those days), and prodded with our -sticks the few yards of molten lava which emerged from -the side of the cone about 100 ft. from the summit. -On Nov. 1 my friend Anton Dohrn (who was then -negotiating with the Naples Municipality for a site in -the Villa Nazionale on which to erect the great Zoological -Station and Aquarium, now so well known) was with me -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> -and some Neapolitan acquaintances looking at Vesuvius -across the bay from Pausilippo, where we had established -ourselves, when we noticed that a long line of steam was -rising from the lower part of the ash-cone and that puffs -of steam were issuing at intervals from the crater. "Dio -mio! Dio di Dio!" cried the Neapolitans in terror, and -expressed their intention of leaving Naples without an -hour's delay. As night fell a new glowing line of fire -appeared far down near the base of the ash-cone, whilst -what looked in the distance like sparks from a furnace, -but were really red-hot stones—each as big as a Gladstone -bag—were thrown every two or three minutes from -the crater.</p> - -<p>We hired a carriage, drove to Resina (built above -buried Herculaneum), and walked up towards the -Observatory in order to spend the night on the burning -mountain. We found that two white-hot streams, each -about twenty yards broad at the free end, were issuing -from the base of the cone. The glowing stones thrown up -by the crater were now separately visible; a loud roar -accompanied each spasmodic ejection. The night was -very clear, and a white firmly-cut cloud, due to the -steam ejected by the crater, hung above it. At intervals -we heard a milder detonation—that of thunder which -accompanied the lightning which played in the cloud, -giving it a greenish illumination by contrast with the -red flame colour reflected on to it by red-hot material -within the crater. The flames attributed to volcanoes are -generally of this nature, but actual flames do sometimes -occur in volcanic eruptions by the ignition of combustible -gases. The puffs of steam from the crater were separated -by intervals of about three minutes. When an eruption -becomes violent they succeed one another at the rate of -many in a second, and the force of the steam jet is -gigantic, driving a column of transparent super-heated -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -steam with such vigour that as it cools into the condition -of "cloud" an appearance like that of a gigantic pine-tree -seven miles high (in the case of Vesuvius) is produced.</p> - -<p>We made our way to the advancing end of one of the -lava-streams (like the "snout" of a glacier), which was -20 ft. high, and moved forwards but slowly, in successive -jerks. Two hundred yards farther up, where it issued -from the sandy ashes, the lava was white-hot and running -like water, but it was not in very great quantity and rapidly -cooled on the surface and became "sticky." A cooled -skin of slag was formed in this way, which arrested the -advancing stream of lava. At intervals of a few minutes -this cooled crust was broken into innumerable clinkers -by the pressure of the stream, and there was a noise like -the smashing of a gigantic store of crockery ware as the -pieces or "clinkers" fell over one another down the nearly -vertical "snout" of the lava-stream, whilst the red-hot -molten material burst forward for a few feet, but immediately -became again "crusted over" and stopped in its -progress. We watched the coming together and fusion of -the two streams and the overwhelming and burning up of -several trees by the steadily, though slowly, advancing -river of fire. Then we climbed up the ash-cone, getting -nearer and nearer to the rim of the crater, from which -showers of glowing stones were being shot. The deep -roar of the mountain at each effort was echoed from the -cliffs of the ancient mother-crater, Monte Somma, and the -ground shook under our feet as does a ship at sea when -struck by a wave. The night was very still in the intervals. -The moon was shining, and a weird melancholy "ritornelle" -sung by peasants far off in some village below us -came to our ears with strange distinctness. It might -have been the chorus of the imprisoned giants of Vulcan's -forge as they blew the sparks with their bellows and shook -the mountains with the heavy blows of their hammers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>As we ascended the upper part of the cone the red-hot -stones were falling to our left, and we determined to risk -a rapid climb to the edge of the crater on the right or -southern side, and to look into it. We did so, and as we -peered into the great steaming pit a terrific roar, accompanied -by a shuddering of the whole mountain, burst -from it. Hundreds of red-hot stones rose in the air to a -height of 400 ft., and fell, happily in accordance with -our expectation, to our left. We ran quickly down the -sandy side of the cone to a safe position, about 300 ft. -below the crater's lip, and having lit our pipes from one -of the red-hot "bombs," rested for a while at a safe distance -and waited for the sunrise. A vast horizontal layer -of cloud had now formed below us, and Vesuvius and the -hills around Naples appeared as islands emerging from a -sea. The brilliant sunlight was reassuring after this night -of strange experiences. The fields and lanes were deserted -in the early morning as we descended to the sea-level. -On our way we met a procession of weird figures clad in -long white robes, enveloping the head closely but leaving -apertures for the eyes. They were a party of the lay-brothers -of the Misericordia carrying a dead man to his -grave. Then we found our carriage, and drove quickly -back to Naples and sleep!</p> - -<p>In the following March I acted as guide to my friend -Professor Huxley in expeditions up Vesuvius, now -quiescent, and to the Solfatara. Then suddenly, in April, -the great eruption of 1872 burst upon us. On the first -day of the outbreak some imprudent visitors were killed -by steam and gas ejected by the lava-stream. By the -next day the violence of the eruption was too great for -any one to venture near it. The crater sent forth no -intermittent "puffs" as in the preceding November, but a -continuously throbbing jet which produced a cloud five -miles high, like an enormous cauliflower in shape, suspended -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -above the mountain and making it look by comparison -like a mole-hill. Showers of fine ashes, as in the -days of Pompeii, fell thickly around, accumulating to the -depth of an inch in a few hours even at my house in -Pausilippo, nine miles distant across the bay. I was -recovering at the time from an attack of typhoid fever, -and lay in bed, listening to the deep humming sound and -wondering at the darkness until my doctor came and told -me of the eruption. I was able to get up and see from -the window the great cauliflower-like cloud and the vacant -place where the ash-cone was, but whence it had how -been scattered into the sky. (It has been gradually re-formed -by later eruptions, of which the last of any size -was in 1906.) I could also see steam rising like smoke -from a long line reaching six miles down the mountain -into the flat country below. It was the great lava-stream -which had destroyed two prosperous villages in its course.</p> - -<p>After ten days I was able to get about, and drove -over to one of these villages and along its main street, -which was closely blocked at the end by what looked like -a railway embankment some 40 ft. high. This was the -side of the great lava-stream now cooled and hardened -on the surface. It had sharply cut the houses, on each -side of the street, in half without setting them on fire, so -that the various rooms were exposed in section—pictures -hanging on the walls, and even chairs and other furniture -remaining in place on the unbroken portion of the floor. -The villagers had provided ladders by which I ascended -the steep side of the embankment-like mass at the end of -the street, and there a wonderful sight revealed itself. -One looked out on a great river seven miles long, narrow -where it started from the broken-down crater, but widening -to three miles where I stood, and wider still farther -on as it descended. This river, with all its waves and -ripples, was turned to stone, and greatly resembled a Swiss -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> -glacier in appearance. A foot below the surface it was -still red-hot, and a stick pushed into a crevice caught fire. -It was not safe to venture far on to the pie-crust surface. -A couple of miles away the campanile of the church of a -village called Massa di Somma stood out, leaning like -that of Pisa, from the petrified mass, whilst the rest of the -village was overwhelmed and covered in by the great -stream.</p> - -<p>The curious resemblance of the lava-stream to a glacier -arose from the fact that it was almost completely covered -by a white snow-like powder. This snow-like powder, which -often appears on freshly-run lava, is salt—common sea -salt and other mineral salts dissolved in the water ejected -as steam mixed with the lava. The steam condenses, as -the lava cools, into water and evaporates slowly, leaving -the salt as crystals. Often these are not white, but contain -iron salt, mixed with the white sodium, potassium, -and ammonium chlorides, which gives them a yellow or -orange colour. Salts coloured in this way have the -appearance of sulphur, and are often mistaken for it. -The whole of the interior of the crater of Vesuvius -when I revisited it in 1875 was thus coloured yellow, -and I have a water-colour sketch of the scene made -by a friend who came with me for the purpose. As -a matter of fact, though small quantities of the choking -gas called "sulphurous acid" are among the vapours -given off by Vesuvius, there is no deposit of sulphur -there. Some large volcanoes (in Mexico and Japan) -have made deposits of sulphur, which are dug for commercial -purposes; but the sulphur of Sicily is not, and has -not been, thrown out or volatilized by Etna. It occurs in -rough masses and in splendid crystals in a tertiary calcareous -marine deposit, and its deposition was probably -due to a chemical decomposition of constituents of the sea -water brought about by minute plants, known as "sulphur -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -bacteria." Whether the neighbouring great volcano had -any share in the process seems to be doubtful.</p> - -<p>It is generally supposed that sea-water makes its way -in large quantity through fissures connected with volcanic -channels, and is one of the agents of the explosions -caused by the subterranean molten matter. Gaseous -water, hydrochloric acid, carbonic acid, hydrofluoric acid, -and even pure hydrogen and oxygen and argon are -among the gases ejected by volcanoes.</p> - -<p>The molten matter forced up from the bowels of the -earth and poured out by volcanoes is made up of various -chemical substances, differing in different localities, and -even in different eruptions of the same volcano. It -consists largely of silicates of iron, lime, magnesium, -aluminium, and the alkali metals, with possible admixture -of nearly every other element. Some volcanoes eject -"pitch" or "bitumen." When the molten matter cools, -interesting crystals of various "species" (<i>i.e.</i>, of various -chemical composition) usually form in the deeper part of -the mass. The lavas of Vesuvius frequently contain -beautiful opaque-white twelve-sided crystals of a siliceous -mineral called "leucite." I have collected in the lava of -Niedermendig, on the Rhine, specimens embedding bright -blue transparent crystals (a mineral called Haüynite) -scattered in the grey porous rock. The lava-streams, and -even the "roots," of extinct volcanoes which are of great -geologic age, sometimes become exposed by the change of -the earth's surface, and extensive sheets of volcanic rock -of various kinds are thus laid bare. Basalt is one of these -rocks, and it not unfrequently presents itself as a mass of -perpendicular six-sided columns, each column 10 ft. or -more high, and often a foot or more in diameter. The -"Giant's Causeway," in the North of Ireland, and the -"Pavée des Géants," in the Ardêche of Southern France, -are examples both of which I have visited. It is not easy -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> -to explain how the molten basalt has come to take this -columnar structure on cooling. It has nothing to do with -"crystallization," but is similar to the columnar formation -shown by commercial "starch" and occasionally by -"tabular flint". A theoretical explanation of its formation -has been given by Prof. J. Thompson, brother of the -late Lord Kelvin.</p> - -<p>The varieties of volcanoes and their products make -up a long story—too long to be told here. There are -from 300 to 400 active craters in Existence to-day—mostly -not isolated, but grouped along certain great -lines, as, for instance, along the Andean chain, or in -more irregular tracks. If we add to the list craters no -longer active, but still recognizable, we must multiply -it by ten. Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the -mainland of Europe—Hecla, Etna, Stromboli, Volcano, -and the volcanoes of the Santorin group are on islands. -The biggest volcanoes are in South America, Mexico, Java, -and Japan. Volcanoes and the related "earthquakes" -have been most carefully studied with a view to the -safety of the population in Japan. The graceful and -well-beloved volcano, Fujiyama, is more than 12,000 ft. -high, but, unlike others in those islands, it has been -quiescent now for just 200 years. The most violent -volcanic eruptions of recent times, with the largest -"output" of solid matter, are those of the Soufrière of -St. Vincent in 1812, of the Mont Pelée of Martinique in -1902, and of Krakatoa in 1883. A single moderate -eruption of the great volcano Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, -nearly 14,000 feet high, throws out a greater quantity -of solid matter than Vesuvius has ejected in all the -years which have elapsed since the destruction of Pompeii. -Many hundred millions of tons of solid matter were -ejected by Mont Pelée in 1902, when also a peculiar -heavy cloud descended from the mountain, hot and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -acrid, charged with incandescent sand, and rolling along -like a liquid rather than a vapour. It burnt up the -town of St. Pierre and its inhabitants and the shipping -in the harbour. In the eruption of the volcano of -St. Vincent in 1812 three million tons of ashes were -projected on to the Bahamas Islands, 100 miles distant, -besides a larger quantity which fell elsewhere. The -great explosion at Krakatoa, lasting two days, blew an -island of 1400 ft. high, into the air. A good deal of -it was projected as excessively fine needlelike particles -of pumice with such force as to carry it up thirty miles -into the upper regions of the atmosphere, where it was -carried by air currents all over the world, causing the -"red sunsets" of the following year. The sky over -Batavia, 100 miles distant, was darkened at midday so -completely that lamps had to be used—as I heard from -my brother who was there at the time. The explosions -were heard in Mauritius, 3000 miles away. A sea wave -50 ft. high was set going by the submarine disturbance, -and reaching Java and neighbouring islands inundated -the land and destroyed 36,000 persons. This wave -travelled in reduced size over a vast tract of the ocean, -and was observed and recorded at Cape Horn, 7800 miles -distant from its seat of origin.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">BLUE WATER</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">MOST people know and admire the splendid -expanse of blue colour offered by the clear sea -water on many parts of our coasts, and by that -of lakes at home and abroad. I find that there is still -a sort of a fixed determination not to believe that this -colour is due (as it is) to the actual blue colour of pure -water. Pure, transparent water is blue. Those who -think they know better will point to a glass of pure -water, hold it up to the light, and affirm that it is colourless. -But this apparent colourlessness is due to the -small breadth of water in the glass through which the -light passes. It is definitely ascertained that if water -as pure and as free from either dissolved or suspended -matter as it is possible to make it (by distillation and -the use of vessels not acted upon by water) be made to -fill an opaque tube 15 ft. long, closed at each end by -a transparent plate, and then a beam of light be made -to traverse the length of the tube, so that the eye receives -the light after it has passed through this length of 15 ft. -of water, the colour of the light is a strong blue. Water -is blue in virtue of its own molecular character, just as -sulphate of copper is. Liquid oxygen, prepared by the -use of intense cold, is also transparent blue, and the -peculiar condensed form of oxygen known as "ozone" is, -when liquefied, of a darker or stronger blue than oxygen.</p> - -<p>At one time (some thirty years ago) there was still -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -some doubt as to whether water was self-coloured blue, -or whether its blue colour was due to the action on light -of excessively minute solid white particles of chalk suspended -in the water. Such fine suspended particles in -some cases act on the light which falls on to them so -as to reflect the blue rays. This occurs in certain -natural objects which have a blue colour. But these -can be distinguished from transparent self-coloured blue -substances by the fact that whilst the light reflected from -their surface is blue, the light which is made to traverse -them (when they are held up to the light so that they -come between one's eye and the sun's rays) is brown. -This is the case with very hot smoke, and can be well -seen when a cigar is smoked in the sunlight. The smoke -which comes off from the lighted end of the cigar is very -hot, and its particles are more minute than those of -cooler smoke. The hot smoke shows a bright blue -colour when the sunlight falls on it and is reflected, but -when you look through the smoke-cloud at a surface -reflecting the sunlight, the cloud has a reddish-brown -tint. As the smoke cools its particles adhere to one -another and form larger particles, and the light reflected -from the cloud is no longer blue but grey, and even -white. Thus the smoke which the smoker keeps for -half a minute in his mouth is cooled and condensed, and -reflects white light—is, in fact, a white cloud—when he -puffs it out, and contrasts strongly with the blue cloud -coming off from the burning tobacco at the lighted end of -the cigar. The blue colour of the sky is held by many -physicists (though other views have been of late advanced) -to be due to the same action on the part of the very -finest particles of watery vapour, which are diffused -through vast regions of our atmosphere above the condensed -white-looking clouds consisting of larger floating -particles of water.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<p>Vapours are given off by many liquids, and even by -some solids, varying in their production according to the -heat applied in different cases. They are gases, and quite -transparent and invisible at the proper temperature, like -the atmospheric air. Thus water is always giving off -"water-vapour," which is quite invisible. When water -is heated to the boiling point it is rapidly converted -into transparent invisible vapour. Steam, as this vapour -is called, is invisible, and we all habitually make a -misleading use of the word "steam" when we apply it -both to this and to the slightly cooled and condensed -cloud which we can see issuing from the spout of a -kettle or from a railway engine. It seems that the -fault lies with the scientific writers, who have applied -the word "steam" to the invisible water vapour or gas -before it has condensed to form a cloud. The old English -word "steam" certainly means a visible cloudy emanation, -and not a transparent invisible gas. A cloud is not -a vapour, but is produced by the coming together or -condensation of the minute invisible particles of a vapour -to form larger particles, which float and hang together, -and reflect the light, and thus are visible.</p> - -<p>By the examination of other vapours or gases than that -which is gaseous water, namely, the vapours of bodies like -chloroform and ether, it has been shown that "cloud" -forms in a vapour not merely in consequence of the -cooling of the vapour, but in consequence of the presence -in the air (or in the tube in which the vapour is enclosed -for observation) of very fine floating dust particles. They -act as centres of attraction and condensation for the -vapour particles. When there are no dust particles -present clouds do not form readily in cooling vapours, -or only at lower temperatures, and in larger mass. -Tyndall made some beautiful experiments on this subject, -obtaining clouds of great tenuity in vapours enclosed in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -tubes, which reflected the most vivid blue tints when -illuminated by the electric arc-lamp. Later Aitken, of -Edinburgh, showed that the "fog" which forms in smoke-ridden -towns is due to the condensation of previously -invisible watery vapour as "cloud" around the solid -floating particles of carbon of the smoke. Aitken further -used this property of solid floating particles, namely, -that they cause the formation of fog and cloud in vapours—to -test the question as to whether the excessively minute -odoriferous particles which affect our noses as "smell" are -distinct solid floating particles as often supposed, or are of -the nature of gas and vapour. He admitted strong perfumes -such as musk into tubes containing watery vapour, at -such a temperature that the vapour was in a "critical" state—just -ready to condense and precipitate as "cloud." If -he had admitted fine solid particles such as a minute -whiff of smoke, or some "dusty" air—the cloud would -have formed. But the admission of the perfume had no -such effect Therefore, he concluded that the odoriferous -emanations used by him are not distinct particles like -those of smoke or dust, but are gaseous.</p> - -<p>The beautiful blue tint of the semi-transparent "white" -of a boiled plover's egg is due to a fine-particled cloud -dispersed in the clear albumen. London milk used to -be "sky-blue" for a similar reason, before the recent -legislation against the adulteration of food. The blue eyes -of our fair-haired race and of young foxes are not due to -any "pigment"—that is to say, a separable self-coloured -substance—but to a fine cloud floating in a transparent -medium which reflects blue rays of light as blue smoke does. -The iris of the eye can and often does develop a pigment, -but it is a brown one. When present in small quantity it -produces a green-coloured iris, the pale yellow-brown -being added to the blue cloud-caused colouring. When -present in larger quantity the same pigment gives us brown -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -and so-called "black" eyes. The blue colours in birds' -feathers and insects' wings are produced without blue pigment -by special effects of reflection, and where green is -the colour it is often due to the addition of a small -quantity of yellow pigment to what would otherwise look -blue: though some caterpillars and grasshoppers have a -real green pigment in their skin. Flowers, on the other -hand, have true soluble blue "pigments," and green ones -too, notably that called leaf-green or chlorophyll. The -little green tree frog has no blue or green pigment in its -skin; only a yellow pigment. Sometimes rare specimens -are found in which the yellow pigment is absent altogether, -and then the little frog is turquoise-blue in colour. But -there is no blue pigment in the skin; only a finely-clouded -translucent film overlying a dead-black deep -layer of the skin, and the result is that the frog is of a -wonderful pure blue. Sometimes the commoner large -edible frog is found with a similar absence of yellow pigment -(I found some in a garden near Geneva six years -ago), and then all the parts of its skin which usually are -green show as brilliant blue.</p> - -<p>It is at first difficult to believe that such fine, smoothly-spread -turquoise blue as that of the blue frog is due -merely to a "reflection effect," and that there is no blue -pigment present which would show as blue if light were -transmitted through it, or could be separated and -dissolved in some medium. Yet this is undoubtedly the -case. The nearest experimental production of such a -blue surface without blue pigment is obtained by first -varnishing a black board, and when the varnish is nearly -dry passing a sponge wetted with water over it. Some -of the varnish is precipitated from its solution in the spirit -(or it may be turpentine) as a fine cloud, and until the water -has evaporated it looks like blue paint, as the poet Goethe -found when cleaning a picture. It would be interesting -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -to know more precisely the precautions to be taken in -order to get the blue colour in this way in fullest degree.</p> - -<p>It appears that when light is reflected from a cloud of -fine colourless particles so as to give a predominant blue -colour, the light so reflected is affected in that special way -which physicists describe as being "polarized." It is -possible by the use of certain apparatus (the polariscope) -to distinguish polarized from non-polarized light, so that -it should be possible to decide (or at any rate to gain -evidence) whether blue water—a sheet of blue water—owes -its colour to fine particles suspended in it or to the -self-colour of the water. An admirable case for making -this simple experiment is presented by the great tanks—some -20 ft. cube—which are used by the water companies -which draw their water supply from the chalk, for the -purpose of precipitating the dissolved chalk—"Clarking" -the water, as it is called, after the inventor of the process—and -so getting rid of its excessive "hardness." Such -tanks are to be seen by the side of the railway near -Caterham. The water in these tanks is of such a -brilliant turquoise blue that many people suppose that -copper has been added to the water to free it from -microbes! Such, at any rate, was the conviction expressed -by a friend in conversation with me only a few weeks ago. -The water in these tanks, when seen from the railway, looks -like a magnificent blue dye, and a very important point -for those (not a few) who believe that the blue colour of -seas and lakes is due to the reflection of the blue colour of -the sky overhead is that the water in the tanks looks just -as blue when the sky is overcast with cloud as when -there is blue sky. The blue colour of water has, as a rule, -nothing to do with the reflection of the sky, though it is -the fact that a shallow film of water may at a certain -angle reflect the sky to our eyes, just as a mirror may. -The effect is quite unlike that due to light passing through -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> -deep water when reflected from below it. If we examine -the tanks in question we find that they have been filled -with water pumped from the chalk, and that then lime has -been added to the water in order to combine with the carbonic -acid dissolved in it and form chalk or carbonate of -lime—which is insoluble in pure water and falls as an -excessively fine white powder to the bottom of the tank. -But the important fact is that water having carbonic acid -dissolved in it can dissolve carbonate of lime or chalk to a -certain amount: and this water pumped from the chalk, -having carbonic acid naturally dissolved in it, has consequently -also dissolved a quantity of chalk. It is this -which gives the chalk-spring water the objectionable -quality of "hardness." When lime is added to the chalk-spring -water as pumped into the tanks, the carbonic acid -in it is taken up by the lime, and the chalk previously -dissolved by the carbonic-acid-holding water is, so to speak, -"undissolved," and thrown down as a very fine white -powder, together with the chalk newly formed by the -union of the lime and the carbonic acid. These large -tanks are used to allow the fine powder of chalk to settle -down and leave the water clear. The brilliantly white -chalk sediment accumulates not only on the floor of the -tank, but on its sides. Any light which falls on the tank -is refracted and reflected from side to floor and from floor -to side, and eventually emerges from the tank, a great -deal of it having traversed the 20 ft. breadth and depth -many times. Most of its red, yellow, and green rays are -quenched by the many feet of blue water through which it -has passed, and it issues as predominantly blue. This is -largely due to the fine reflecting surface furnished by the -"white-washed" or chalk-coated floor and sides and the -great purity of the white reflecting material—no yellow -or brown matter being present to give a greenish tinge to -the result I remember being taken to see "Clark's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -process" in use, and the splendid blue colour of the water -in the "softening" tanks at Plumstead, when the process -was first used by the North Kent Water Company, sixty-four -years ago.</p> - -<p>It is, I think, still a possible question as to whether the -fine floating particles of precipitating chalk act in any way -as a "cloud"—in short, as the blue clouds of smoke, egg-white, -milk, and varnish. There is no evidence that they -do, but no one, so far as I know, has ever taken the trouble -to settle the question. It could be done by examining the -blue light from the tanks with a polariscope, and also by -sinking a black tarpaulin into the tank to cover the white -floor and hanging others at the sides. Then if the blue -colour were due to light reflected from the white floor and -sides traversing repeatedly the clear self-coloured blue -water, the blue colour should no longer be visible, for the -reflecting surfaces would be covered by the black tarpaulin -and little light sent up through the water. But if it were -due to a cloud of greatest delicacy in the water—like fine -smoke reflecting the blue light rather than the other rays—then -the colour should be as intense or more intense -when the black background is introduced. I am surprised -that some inquirer, younger and more active than I am, -does not put the matter to the test of experiment.</p> - -<p>On the whole, practically all the facts which we know -about "blue water" are consistent with the blue self-colour -of water, and not with that of a "blue cloud" in the water. -Now that we have porcelain baths of the purest white and -of large size, one may often see the strong blue colour of -water of great purity in the bath, especially where waves -or ripples send to our eyes those rays of light which have -taken a more or less horizontal course from side to side of -the bath, and have thus been through a large thickness of -the pale-coloured fluid. Great masses of clear ice, such as -one may study in glaciers, are blue; the "crevasses" which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -transmit light which has passed through a considerable -thickness of ice (as, for instance, in an ice cave), are deep -blue; there is no question of a reflection from suspended -particles. The green colour which some glaciers show at -a little distance is due to the yellow rust—iron oxide—blown -on to the surface of the ice and dissolved. Many -glaciers or parts of glaciers are quite free from it, and of a -splendid indigo blue in their deeper fissures. So, too, as -to the sea and lakes. The Blue Grotto or Cavern of the -island of Capri, near Naples, is a case in point. All the -light which enters it comes through the sea-water and is -blue. I was taken to it in a boat rowed by two men. As -the boat enters the low mouth of the cavern you have to -bend down to avoid knocking your head against the rock. -Then you find yourself floating in a vast and lofty -chamber the white rocky floor of which is some twenty -feet below the surface of the clear water. No light enters -the cavern by the low part of the entrance above water. -Below the surface it widens and the strong Southern sun -shines through the clear water and its light is reflected up -into the cave from the bottom. It is blue, and everything -in the cave above as well as below the water is suffused -with a blue glow—a truly wonderful and fascinating -spectacle. In order to get the best effect you must -choose an hour when the sun is in a favourable position. -Where there is a white bottom at a depth of fifty or a -hundred feet, the sea has a fine ultra-marine colour, so -long as it is clear. It is often made green by yellow-coloured -impurities, either fine iron-stained sediment or by -minute living things in the water. The colour of the -water of either sea or lakes, when it is clear and overlying -great depths (200 fathoms and more), tends to be dark -indigo owing to the deficiency of reflected light. But -there are enough white particles as a rule to send some of -the light, which penetrates the water, upwards again. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -Even the great ocean has a dark purplish-blue colour, -but never the bright blue of clear water in shallow seas -with light-coloured or white bottom.</p> - -<p>One of the most beautiful exhibitions of the colour of -clear water in various thicknesses which I know, is at the -entrance of the Rhone into the Lake of Geneva. The -thick pale-coloured brownish-white sediment of the river -shoots out for a quarter of a mile or more into the dark -blue waters of the deep lake, and on a bright sunny day as -it subsides reflects the light upwards from different depths -through the clear water. Where it has sunk but little the -colour is green, owing to the influence of the yellow mud. -Farther on it is ultra-marine blue, and then, where it has -sunk deeper, we get full indigo tints. The movement of -the water and its churning up by the steamers' paddles -add to the variety of effects, since the foam of air-bubbles -submerged throws up the light through the water. It is -not possible to doubt as one watches the admixture of the -river and the lake, and the eddies and hanging walls of -sediment, that one is floating over a vast depth of -magnificent blue self-coloured fluid which is traversed by -the sunlight in ways and degrees varying according to its -depth and the volume of the pale mud of the in-rushing -Rhone and the abundance of fine air-bubbles "churned" -into the water by the paddle-wheels of the steamer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE BIGGEST BEAST</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THERE is a prevalent notion, encouraged by the -fanciful exaggerations of newspaper gossips, that -the animals of past ages, whose bones are from time -to time dug out of rocks and sand quarries, were many of -them much bigger than any at present existing, and that -we are living in an age of degeneracy. It is true that the -mammoth and the mastodon were enormous creatures, -but they were <i>not</i> bigger than their living representatives, -the great elephants of Africa and India. The African -elephant often stands 11 ft. high at the shoulder, and -occasionally attains 12 ft.</p> - -<p>Some eighty years ago Dr. Gideon Mantell became -celebrated by his discovery of the bones of huge reptiles—far -bigger than any existing crocodile or lizard—nearly -as big as elephants, in the Wealden rocks of -Tilgate Forest in Sussex. He and Sir Richard Owen -distinguished several kinds—the Iguanodon, the Megalosaurus, -the Hylæosaurus, and others. Models of these -creatures as they appeared when clothed in flesh and hide -were carefully made, and placed picturesquely among the -ponds and islands of the gardens of the Crystal Palace -at Sydenham when it was first opened to an enchanted -public in the fifties. As a small boy I, at that time, -fell under their spell.</p> - -<p>The passing years have brought to us more complete -knowledge of these strange beasts—now classed as the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -"Dinosauria"—and new kinds and complete skeletons of -those already known have been discovered in the United -States and in Belgium. The leg bones and vertebræ of -one of the biggest were found near Oxford, and are in -the Oxford Museum; it received the name Cetiosaurus. -Only a few years ago a very complete skeleton of a -creature closely allied to Cetiosaurus was with great -labour and skill dug out of the Jurassic rocks of Wyoming, -U.S.A., by Dr. Holland, at the charges of Mr. Andrew -Carnegie. It was known as Diplodocus (referring to -certain bones in its tail), and a wonderful cast of the -completely reconstructed skeleton was presented to the -Natural History Museum in London, when I was -Director, by Mr. Carnegie. The skeleton is 84 ft. -long; but we must not be mis-led as to the animal's -actual bulk by this measurement, for the tail is 46 -ft. long and whip-like, whilst the neck is 23 ft. -long and carries a small head not bigger than that -of a cart-horse. The jaws were provided with small peg-like -teeth, showing that the beast fed on soft vegetable -matter. The body, apart from neck and tail, was really -only a little bigger than that of a large elephant, and the -limb-bones longer in the proportion of about six to five. -Another reptile very similar to these and also found in -the mesozoic rocks of the U.S. America is Brontosaurus.</p> - -<p>The fact is that, if we wish to make an intelligent -comparison of the sizes of different animals, we have -carefully to ascertain not merely the length measurements, -but the <i>proportions</i> of the various parts, and the actual -bulk and probable weight of the beasts under consideration. -Also (and this is a very important and decisive matter) -we must know whether the beasts were terrestrial in habit, -walking with their bodies raised high on their legs, or -whether they were aquatic and swam in the lakes or seas, -their bodies buoyed up and supported by the water. By -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -far the biggest animals of which we have any knowledge -are the various kinds of whales still flourishing in the sea. -A mechanical limit is set to the size of land-walking -animals, and that limit has been reached by the elephant -"Flesh and blood," and we may add "bone," cannot carry -on dry land a greater bulk than his. He is always in -danger of sinking by his own weight into soft earth and -bog. His legs have to be much thicker in proportion -than those of smaller animals—made of the same material—or -they would bend and snap. His feet have to be -padded with huge discs of fat and fibre to ease the local -pressure, and his legs are kept straight not bent at the -joints, when he stands (a fact to which Shakespeare makes -Ulysses refer), so that the vast weight of his body shall -be supported by the stiff column formed by the upper -and lower half of the limb-bones kept upright in one -straight line. A well-grown elephant weighs five tons. -Compare his weight and shape with that of a big whale-bone -whale! No extinct animal known approaches the -existing whale in bulk and weight. He is 80 to 90 ft. -long, and has no neck nor any length of tail. His outline -is egg-like, narrower at the hinder end. He weighs -200 tons—forty times as much as a big elephant—and -is perfectly supported without any strain on his structure -by the water in which he floats. There is no such limit -to his possible size as there is in the case of land-walking -animals. But it seems probable that he too is -limited in size by mechanical conditions of another kind. -Probably he cannot exceed some 90 ft. in length and 200 -tons of bulk on account of the relatively great increase -of proportionate size and power in the heart required in -order to propel the blood through such a vast mass of -living tissue and keep him "going" as a warm-blooded -mammal. The original pattern—the small dog-like -ancestor of the whale—cannot be indefinitely expanded -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -as an efficient working machine, though its limit of growth -is not determined by the same mechanical causes as those -which limit the bulk of the terrestrial quadruped.</p> - -<p>These considerations make it clear that we should -compare as to "bigness" terrestrial animals with other -terrestrial animals, and aquatic animals with aquatic ones. -It seems probable that Diplodocus was an aquatic -reptile, and never raised himself on to his four legs on -dry land as the Carnegie skeleton at the Natural History -Museum is doing. His legs and feet are quite unfitted -to support his weight on a land surface; on land he -would have rested on his belly, as a crocodile does, -with much bent legs on each side. But submerged -in 20 ft. depth of water, he could have trotted along, -half-floating, with his feet touching the bottom and his -head raised on its long neck to the surface, slowly -sucking the floating vegetation into his moderate-sized -mouth. (See drawing on p. 91.)</p> - -<p>Diplodocus and Cetiosaurus have huge thigh-bones -and upper-arm bones—respectively 5 ft. 9 in. and 3 -ft. 2 in. in length—until lately the biggest known <i>limb</i>-bones, -although the lower jaw-bone of a Right Whale -grows to be 18 ft. in length. But a thigh-bone (femur) -of a reptile similar to Diplodocus has been found in -Wyoming, 6 ft. 2 in. in length. This reptile was named -Atlantosaurus, and a cast of the huge bone—the biggest -known when it was placed there—stands in our museum -gallery. However, its glory has departed, for we now -know "than this biggest bone, a bigger still." The bones -of several individuals of a huge reptile similar to -Diplodocus, but actually twice as big in linear dimensions, -were found by Dr. Fraas at Tendagoroo, fifty miles from -the coast in German East Africa, and brought safely to -Berlin in 1912, though they have not yet been mounted -as a complete specimen. They were lying in a sandy -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -deposit of the same geologic age as our Sussex Wealden. -A special expedition of 500 negroes was sent—not by -the Government, but by the Berlin "Society of the -Friends of Natural History" (we need such a society in -England), at a cost of £10,000, to fetch the bones. They -were of many individuals, and had to be skilfully dug -out and packed. Dr. Fraas calls this biggest of all -quadrupeds "Gigantosaurus." A cast of the humerus, -or upper-arm bone, is now exhibited in the Natural -History Museum. It is over 7 ft. in length. The -femur, or thigh-bone, was still bigger—it was over 10 -ft. in length. Alas for the glory of Atlantosaurus! -This enormous creature was, of course, like Diplodocus, -aquatic. Its bulk was much less than that of a big -whale, but extinct aquatic reptiles may yet be found of -greater size. Ichthyosaurus, the extinct whale-like reptile, -does not exceed 30 ft. in length. Our engraving (Fig. 32) -shows the relative size of the humerus of man, the -elephant,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and the Gigantosaurus. How puny is that -human arm-bone! And yet...!</p> - -<p>When stretched on the shore, resting on the belly, the -body of the great lizard of Tendagoroo bulked like a -breakwater 12 ft. high, and his tail like a huge serpent -extended 80 ft. beyond it; whilst his head and neck -reached 40 ft. along the mud in front.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_32.jpg" id="i_32.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_32.jpg" width="347" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 32.</span>—The upper-arm bone or humerus - of the great reptile (Gigantosaurus) of Tendagoroo—compared with that of man and - of an Indian elephant.</div> -</div> - -<p>An important limitation to great size in an animal is, -it must be remembered, often imposed by the nature of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> -the animal's food. Ten individuals each weighing a -hundredweight will more easily pick up and swallow the -amount of food required to nourish ten hundredweight -of the species than will one individual responsible for the -whole bulk, provided that the food is scattered and not -ready to the mouth in unlimited quantity. A creature -which has unlimited forest or grass or seaweed as its -food will be at no disadvantage owing to its size. But a -carnivor or a fish-eater or one depending on special fruits -and roots not offered to him by nature in mass has to -search for, and sometimes to hunt, or at any rate to -compete with others, for the scattered and elusive "bits" -of food. So it is that we find that the fruit-eating apes -are not very big, and that terrestrial carnivors are small, -though powerful and swift, as compared with cattle, deer, -and vegetarian beasts. Ten carnivors weighing each ten -stone will with their ten mouths "pick up" more prey -than one carnivor weighing a hundred stone and having -only one mouth. Even the carnivorous Dinosaurs such -as Megalosaurus and Tyrannosaurus were much smaller -than the vegetarian Iguanodon, Diplodocus, Brontosaurus -and Triceratops on which (or on the like of which) they -preyed—just as a tiger is smaller than a buffalo, and a -wolf smaller than a horse. It is owing to causes of this -nature that the life of some animals, and consequently -their growth, is limited in duration. Occasionally the -common lobster lives to a great age, and grows to be -more than 2 ft. long. But he is doomed by his size; the -smaller lobsters "go quickly around" and get all the -food (carrion of the sea), and the big fellow has to starve. -The whale-bone whales, it is true, take animal food; but -it occurs in the form of minute sea-slugs and shrimps, -which fill the surface waters in countless millions over -hundreds of miles of ocean. Hence the whales of this -kind have only to swim along with their mouths open -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -through an unlimited supply of luscious food. The size -of terrestrial animals is also, it appears, definitely related -to the natural water-supply. There are very few small -quadrupeds in the interior of Africa. On account of -frequent "drought," the mammals have often to run a -hundred miles or more in search of water. Only animals -as big as the larger antelopes and the zebra can cover the -ground. The smaller kinds die (and have, in fact, died -out in past ages) in these regions of sudden drought.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_32a.jpg" id="i_32a.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_32a.jpg" width="576" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1">The gigantic reptile Diplodocus on land.</div> -</div> - - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> -The elephant, the thigh-bone of which, measuring nearly 3 ft. in length, -is drawn in Fig. 32, is a large Indian one. This species is exceeded in size by -the African. See "Science from an Easy Chair," Second series, p. 123.—The -largest elephant the bones of which are known is the Elephas antiquus of -the Pleistocene, bigger than either of the living species and bigger than the -mammoth, Elephas primigenius. The arm-bone (humerus) of one of this -species (Elephas antiquus) lately dug up near Chatham and now in the Natural -History Museum, is 4 ft. 3 in. in length.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">WHAT IS MEANT BY "A SPECIES"?</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THOSE who take an interest in natural history must -find it necessary to know what the naturalist -means by "a species" of animal or plant. What -does he mean when he says: "This is not the same species -as that," or "This is a species closely allied to this other -species," or "This is a new species"? What are the -"species" concerning the origin of which Darwin propounded -his great theory? There is really no English -word which can be exactly used in place of the word -"species." I often have to use the word when writing -about plants or animals, and should like once for all to -say what is meant by it. One might suppose that a -"kind" is the same thing as a species. And so it often is; -but, on the other hand, by the word "kind" we often -mean a group including several species. For instance, -we say the "cat-kind" or the "daisy-kind," meaning the -"cat-like" animals or the "daisy-like" plants. The -expression "the cat-kind" includes the common cat and -the wild cat, and even leopards, lions, and tigers, each of -which is a species of cat. And by the "daisy-kind" we -understand a group including several species of daisies, -such as the common daisy, the ox-eye daisy, the camomile -daisy, the michaelmas daisy, and others. Hence we -cannot translate species simply by the word "kind." -"Kind" is the same word as "kin"—"a little more than -kin and less than kind," runs Hamlet's bitter pun. "Kind" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -means a group held together by kinship, and it may be a -larger or a smaller group held together by a close kinship -or by a more distant one. "Sort," again, will not serve -our purpose as an English translation of "species." For, -although "a sort" implies a certain selection and similarity -of the things included in the "sort," the amount of -similarity implied may be very great or it may be indefinitely -vague and remote. Hence naturalists have to -stick to the word "species," and to use it with a clear -definition of what they mean by it.</p> - -<p>Suppose we get together a large unsorted collection—many -hundred "specimens" or individuals—of the -common butterflies of England. Then, if we look them -over, we shall find that we can pick out and arrange the -specimens into definite groups, according to their colour-pattern. -We find that the kinds which we readily -distinguish are called in English the swallow-tails, the -whites, the sulphurs, the clouded yellows, the tortoise-shells, -the peacocks, the red admirals, the painted ladies, -the gatekeepers, the meadow browns, the heaths, the -coppers, and the blues. There might be others in such -a collection, but that is enough for our purpose. On -examining the specimens closely, we find that the colour-markings -and "venation" or network by which the wings -are marked and the shape of the wings, body, and legs -of all the specimens of the swallow-tails are almost exactly -alike, and unlike those of any of the others. We shall -find if we have a dozen or two specimens that there is a -slight difference in the pattern, size, and colour of wing of -some of the swallow-tails, dividing them into two groups, -which we soon ascertain to be the males and females; but -this is so small a difference that we may ignore it. The -swallow-tail is obviously and at once distinguished from -any of the other butterflies in the collection by its colour-pattern -and shape. So also with the others, there will be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> -many specimens in each case agreeing in colour and -pattern, and recognizable and distinguishable from the -rest by the colour-pattern and by the "venation" or -"nervures" of the wings. If we collect butterflies again -in other years and in other parts of the country, we find -the same set of shapes and patterns exactly, corresponding -to what we have learnt to call swallow-tails, whites, -sulphurs, clouded yellows, tortoise-shells, etc. There are, -we thus learn, several distinct, unchanging kinds of -butterfly, which are common in this country, and appear -every year. Similarly we may go into a meadow in -spring, and gather a number of flowers, and a naturalist -will roughly arrange our bouquet into "kinds"; there -will be the buttercups, the daisies, the clovers, the dead -nettles, the poppies, the roses, the orchids, etc.</p> - -<p>If, now, we look more carefully at our collection of -butterflies, sorted out roughly into kinds or species, we -shall find that the "whites," although holding together -by a close similarity in having merely white wings edged -and spotted with black, yet differ amongst themselves, -so that we distinguish a larger kind, the large garden-white, -and a smaller, commoner kind, the smaller -garden-white, and we distinguish also the green-veined -white, and possibly the rare Bath white, each of them -differing a little in their spots as well as their size. -These different sorts of "whites" can, once our attention -is drawn to the matter, be readily distinguished from one -another, and constantly are found in our collections. We -thus arrive at the conclusion that, though the whites are -much alike, and are a kind distinct from the other kinds -of butterflies, yet the "whites" themselves can be divided -into and arranged as several kinds distinct from one -another. In fact, we discover (and an illustrated book on -butterflies confirms us in the conclusion) that there are -several ultimate kinds of whites which cannot be further -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -separated into groups. These are what are called "species." -The whites are therefore not a single species, as are our -British swallow-tails, but a group of species, closely related -to one another. We find the same thing to be true with -regard to the blues. Though they are much alike, agreeing -in a variety of details of spotting and colour, yet we can distinguish -the chalk-hill blue, the common blue, the azure-blue, -the Adonis blue, and others, as distinct "species" of blues. -Then, again, when we carefully examine our English -specimens of tortoise-shells, we find that there are two -distinct "species"—the greater and the smaller—differing -not only in size, but in pattern; and when we compare -with these the painted lady and the peacock and the red -admiral, we find that there is a certain agreement of wing-pattern -(venation and outline) and details of shape among -them all, although their tints and the shape of the spots -and bands of colour differ. These different species "hold -together" just as the whites do and just as the blues do. -Naturalists have met the need for expressing this similarity -of a number of distinct species to one another by introducing -the term "genus" for such a group. In fact we arrange -several species into a "genus." The "genus" is a "kind," -but a more comprehensive "kind," than is a species. The -species is an assemblage of <i>individuals</i> closely alike to one -another; the genus is a group of <i>species</i> which are more -like to one another than any of them are to other -species.</p> - -<p>Naturalists give to every genus a name, and also a name -to each species in the genus. Since we naturalists want -to know what butterflies or other species of animals and -plants are found in other countries, and to be sure that we -all (whatever our native language may be) mean the same -thing by a name, Latin names are given to the genera -and the species, and are necessarily used when one wishes -to be sure that one is understood. The greatest trouble -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -is taken to make certain that the name used is applied -only to the original species and the original genus to -which it was applied, for only so can one be sure that a -writer in America or one in Italy or France means the -same thing by a name as we do here in England. This -is rendered possible and is actually brought about by the -preparation of catalogues in which the species are described -and figured, especially with regard to obvious points of -detail which are constant, and are called "specific -characters." These are chosen for special description, not -haphazard, but with a view to their being recognized with -certainty by those who study other specimens. Another -extremely important proceeding in connection with this -purpose of uniform naming, which involves vast labour -and expense, is the maintenance of great collections of -preserved animals and plants by the State in all civilized -countries. In these collections either the original specimens -to which names were given by recognized describers (called -"type-specimens" or "the type") are preserved, or else -specimens which have been compared with those original -described specimens, and authoritatively ascertained to be -the same as the "type." The maintenance of accuracy -and agreement in regard to the names of all the "species" -of plants and animals is a big task. It is now carried out -by international councils, in which the skilled naturalists -of the world are represented. Certain principles have -been agreed upon as to the method of determining the -priority of one name over others which have been employed -for one and the same species by naturalists of different -countries and at different times, and a general agreement -as to what names are to be used has been arrived at. It -is a matter which has involved a great deal of uncertainty -and dispute, and still causes difficulty. By the exercise -of good sense, and in consequence of the existence of an -urgent desire really to understand one another, there is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -now every year an increasing uniformity and agreement -among naturalists about the exact name to be applied to -every species of living thing.</p> - -<p>Returning to our collections of butterflies and meadow -flowers, we may take the names of some of the species and -genera as an example of the system of naming in use by -scientific naturalists. The common swallow-tail is assigned -to the genus Papilio. Its "specific name" is "Machaon," -given to it by Linnæus, hence it is spoken of as Papilio -Machaon. It is found in various parts of Europe as -well as in England. But in Central Europe (often -seen in Switzerland) there is also another species of -swallow-tail, which only occurs as a rare accident in -England. This is the pale swallow-tail, differing, not only -by its paler colour but by definite spots and markings of -the wings, from the English species. Its species name, -or "specific name," is "Podalirius," and so it is known -as Papilio Podalirius. Species of Papilio are found all -over the world; more than 500 are known. Our two -commonest whites belong to the genus Pieris—they are -called respectively Pieris brassicæ (the larger) and Pieris -rapæ (the smaller). The green-veined white is Pieris napi. -Each of these three is called after the plant, cabbage, -rape, or turnip, on which its caterpillar feeds. The rare -Bath white is Pieris daplidice. Its caterpillar feeds on -mignonette. There are dozens of species in other parts -of the world allied to our "whites," which naturalists have -carefully distinguished and characterized by their marks.</p> - -<p>Several of our most beautiful species of English butterflies -which are much alike have been enrolled in one -genus—the genus Vanessa. This genus includes the great -tortoise-shell, called Vanessa polychloros; the smaller -tortoise-shell, Vanessa urticæ; the peacock, Vanessa Io; -the painted lady, Vanessa cardui; the red admiral, -Vanessa Atalanta; and the comma butterfly, Vanessa -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -C-album. There are other European, Asiatic, and -American species of Vanessa.</p> - -<p>In the same way we find with our meadow plants that -what we at first thought was a single kind, "<i>the</i>" buttercup -really bears a name applicable to a genus in which are -several common species. The genus is called Ranunculus, -and there are several common English species with yellow -flowers, but distinguished from one another by definite -characters. They are Ranunculus acris, Ranunculus -flammula, Ranunculus bulbosus, Ranunculus arvensis, -Ranunculus ficaria (the lesser celandine). And then there -is the white-flowered Ranunculus aquatilis—a common -pond plant. Clover, again, is by no means the name for -a single species. The clovers form the genus Trifolium, -and in any English meadow we may come across the -white clover, Trifolium repens; the red clover, Trifolium -pratense; the hop clover, Trifolium agrarium: the strawberry -clover, Trifolium fragiferum; the haresfoot clover, -Trifolium arvense. So it is with the plants which at first -sight we distinguish merely as "daisies." There are -several distinct genera of daisies—Aster, Bellis, Chrysanthemum -(ox-eye), Anthemis (camomile), and others, -with several distinct species in each genus.</p> - -<p>Enough has been said to show the reader that the -mere notion of "kinds" does not carry the same meaning -as "species," but that there are a number of regularly -occurring definite forms of both animals and plants which -can be arranged in groups consisting only of individuals -which are very nearly identical with one another. A -group of living things of this degree of likeness is called -"a species," and receives a name. A less degree of likeness -holds together a number of species to form what we -call a genus, and the name of the genus is cited together -with the name of the species when we wish to speak of the -species with clearness and certainty. This system of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> -double names we owe to the great Swedish naturalist of -the eighteenth century, Linnæus. He proposed also that -the relationships of living things to one another should be -further expressed by grouping like genera into "families," -then like families into "orders," and like orders into -"classes." And since his day we go further and group -classes into "phyla" or great stems of the animal pedigree. -In this way a complete hierarchy or system of less and -more comprehensive groups has been established, and is -the means by which we indicate the natural groups of the -family-trees of plants and of animals, what, in fact, is -called the "classification" of each of these great series of -living things. Linnæus compared his system of groups to -the subdivisions of two armies. Thus, the one army -represents the whole animal series, the other the whole -vegetable series. An army is divided into (1) "legions," -these into (2) "divisions," "divisions" into (3) "regiments," -regiments into (4) battalions, and battalions consist of -(5) companies, consisting of individual soldiers. According -to Linnæus, we may compare the legions to -classes, which are divided into orders, comparable to -divisions; these into families, comparable to regiments; -these into genera, comparable to battalions; and these -into species, comparable to companies, or ultimate -groups of individual units or soldiers.</p> - -<p>Just as the legions, divisions, regiments, battalions -and companies of an army have each their own name or -at any rate a distinctive numeral assigned to them in -order that they may be cited and directed, so are names -given to each class, order, family, genus and species of -the classification or enumeration of the kinds of animals -and plants. Here, for instance, are the names of the -greater and smaller groups in which our common "white" -finds itself enrolled. <i>Class</i>—Insects. <i>Order</i>—Lepidoptera. -<i>Family</i>—Pieridæ. <i>Genus</i>—Pieris. <i>Species</i>—brassicæ.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">MORE ABOUT SPECIES</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">I WROTE in the last chapter of the recognition of -that degree of "likeness" or kinship in animals and -plants which we point to by the word "species," and -of the grouping of several similar species to form a -"genus," and of several genera to form a family, of families -to form orders, and of orders to form classes—and of the -giving of names to all these groups. Whilst the making -of this or that lot of species into a distinct <i>genus</i>, and -giving it a new name is a mere matter of convenience -for the indication of more or less important agreements -and divergences, and is to a large extent arbitrary or an -expression of opinion—it has always been recognized -among naturalists that the group called "a species" is -not a mere convention, but has a real natural limitation. -It is true that the actual things which we see in studying -natural history are so many units or individuals. -But the possibility of arranging these by pattern, colour -and shape into ultimate companies of which all the -units are alike and differ from all the units of another -company, has been regarded as a natural fact of -primary importance and not a mere convention or -convenience. The conception of the "naturalness" of -a species depends really upon a further qualification of -great importance as to what we naturalists understand -by it.</p> - -<p>We find by rearing plants from seed and by causing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -animals to breed under actual observation that the individuals -of a species pair with one another, and not -with individuals of other species, and further, that the -young which they produce are like the parents—show -themselves, in fact, to be of the same "species." The -species continually year after year reproduces itself with -little variation, though some variation does occur. The -faculty of pairing only within the group, of never -naturally breeding with members of other groups, has -accordingly been adopted as a test of species. Hybrids -between two species do not occur, except in very rare -cases, in the state of nature. It is not always the case -that the members of two species cannot possibly pair -together, but it is the fact that they do not do so. Man -sometimes brings about such crossing or hybridization, -and it is a curious fact that the hybrids are often infertile -or give rise only to weakly offspring, which could not -survive in the natural struggle for existence. Sometimes, -however, when the two hybridized species happen to -come from regions of the world remote from one another, -the resulting hybrids establish a vigorous race. There -are real obstacles (of which I will say more below) in -natural conditions to hybrid-breeding between any two -species which occur naturally in the same territory. Thus -the idea of a species is expanded so as to be not merely -"a group of individuals of constant likeness in form and -characteristics," but we add to that definition a living or -constitutional quality expressed by the words, "which -produce fertile offspring by pairing with one another, but -do not pair with the members of other species."</p> - -<p>This enables us to distinguish the conception of a -"species" from that of a "variety" or a "race." We -find occasionally peculiarly-marked examples of a species -of plant or animal, or even local races of peculiar -form; but we do not regard them as "distinct species" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> -if we find that they breed as a rule with the ordinary -members of the species. The decisive test is the breeding. -If the variety is found not to breed with the regular -species, but to keep apart and breed only with other -individuals like itself, then we say, "This is no mere -variety! It is a distinct species!" Unfortunately we -have vast series of animals, insects, and others, from all -parts of the world, collected and preserved in our -museums, of which we know only the dead preserved -specimens. So that we cannot be sure in doubtful -cases whether a series of forms differing a little from -the ordinary members of a species indicate distinct -species, as defined and tested by breeding. We have -in such a case to note the difference, and record it -either as a variety or as a species by a guess at the -probabilities one way or the other. Naturalists really -<i>intend</i> by the word "species" to designate a form -represented by numerous like individuals, which, in the -present natural conditions of the region they inhabit, have -attained a certain "stability" of distinctive form and -character (not without some variability within definite -limits) and constitute a more or less widely distributed -population, the members of which inter-breed but do -not produce offspring with other allied species.</p> - -<p>A good case by which to exhibit further our conception -of a species is that afforded by the species which -are united in the genus Equus—the horse-genus. There -are living at the present day several wild kinds of Equus—namely, -the wild horse, or Tarpan, of the Gobi desert of -Mongolia, called after the Russian explorer Przewalski; two -kinds of Asiatic wild ass, called the Kiang and the Onegar; -the African wild ass, and two or three kinds of zebra. -There are, besides, many kinds of domesticated horses, -ranging from the Shetland pony to the Flemish dray horse, -and from the Shire horse to the Arab. Then there are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -many kinds of fossil extinct horses known, some of which -clearly must be placed in the genus Equus with the -living kinds; others which have to be separated into -special genera (Hippidium, Onohippidium, etc.). Now, -as to the living forms or form-kinds of the genus Equus—which -are we to regard as true species, and which are -only varieties and races of lower significance than species? -The answer is clear enough in regard to several of them. -The wild Mongolian horse and all the domesticated horses -are varieties, races, or breeds of one species, judged not -only by such marks as the possession of callosities on -both the hind and the fore legs, but also by the test of -breeding. They breed together and produce persisting -races. But the asses and the zebras, though they will -form mules with the horse, do not in a state of nature -freely breed with it. When an ass or zebra is mated by -man with the horse it will produce hybrids, called "Mules," -but will not in "a state of nature" <i>establish</i> a hybrid race. -The asses and the zebras are distinct from the horse, not -only in markings and certain details of shape and hair, -but in the fact that they cannot be fused into one race -with him. There are no sufficient experiments on the -aloofness of zebras and asses from one another in regard -to breeding, although it seems that they cannot establish -a mixed race, and are, therefore, distinct species judged -by that test as well as by their form and marking. It -is not known whether the so-called species of wild ass—the -Asiatic and the African—would prove to produce -fertile or infertile mules if intercrossed, nor has the test -been applied to the very differently-marked local races -of the African zebras—Grevy's zebra, Burchell's zebra, -and the mountain zebra. It is likely enough that the -three or more "species" distinguished among zebras on -account of their being differently striped, and existing -in different localities, would be found to breed freely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -together, and prove themselves thus to be entitled to -be regarded as local "varieties" or "races," but not as -fully-separated true species.</p> - -<p>Thus one sees how difficult it is to have knowledge -of the breeding test, even in regard to large animals. -It is obvious that the difficulty of obtaining it in -regard to the thousands of kinds of minute creatures -is much greater. Yet when they say, "This is a distinct -species," naturalists do mean that it is not only marked -off from other animals or plants most like to it by a -certain shape, colour, or other quality or qualities, but -that it breeds apart with its own kind and does not -naturally hybridize with those other forms most like -to it.</p> - -<p>Although the kind of naturalist called a "systematist" -who makes it his business to accurately describe and -record and distinguish from one another all the existing -species of some one group—say, of antelopes, of mice, -of flowering plants, of fishes, or of fleas—has only a -knowledge in a few instances of the breeding of the -organisms which he describes as "distinct species," he yet -does know, in regard to some one or more of his species -in most groups, the facts of pairing and reproduction, and -what are the limits of variation in the markings and other -characteristics of at least one or two species definitely -submitted to the "breeding test," that is to say, ascertained -to be "true physiological species," kept apart by deep-seated -chemical differences in their blood and tissues. -Hence it is legitimate for him, by careful balancing and -consideration of all the facts, to determine—not absolutely, -but by analogy—the value to be assigned (whether as -indicating true species or merely varieties capable of -pairing with the main stock) to points of difference among -the specimens of a dead collection brought from some -distant land or from some position in which it would be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -impossible to make observations with regard to "pairing" -and "breeding true."</p> - -<p>Some 400 species of fleas have been described, and -we are certain as to the value of the characters relied on -to distinguish those species, owing to what we know of -the breeding of some common species of fleas. The flea -of the domestic fowl, that of the domestic pigeon, that -from the house-martin, and that from the sand-martin—used -to be considered as one species until they were -carefully examined twenty years ago. In reality each of -them has its own peculiar "marks," and they do not mix -with one another. The nests of the sand-martin yield -only one species of flea, namely that peculiar to the -sand-martin. The hen-house, the dove-cote, and the -nests of the house-martin yield each their flea maggots, -which can be reared and become in each case a -distinct species with definite recognizable "characters." -On the other hand, the flea of the rabbit gives an -opportunity of studying the limits of variation in a -"good" species. Rabbit warrens swarm with the rabbit -flea, and often a great number are found on one -rabbit, the individual fleas "varying"—"differing" from -one another to a slight extent. The "systematist" thus -gets to know what organs are variable within the limits -of an undoubted physiological species of flea, and what -are comparatively constant—so that he can form a -reasonable opinion about the claim of other specimens -which he may receive without full history of their habits, -to be regarded as true distinct species.</p> - -<p>The fact that most important chemical differences of the -blood and digestive juices often accompany the small external -differences which enable us to distinguish one species -of animal or plant from another, makes it obvious that -the knowledge of species is a very valuable and necessary -thing. One species of flea, the Pulex Cheopis, habitually -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -carries the plague bacillus from animals to man, and is -a cause of death; other species, extremely like it in appearance, -but distinguishable by a trained observer, do not -carry the plague bacillus, but if they swallow it, destroy it -by digestion. One species of gnat, the common grey gnat, -digests and destroys malaria germs when it sucks them up -with blood; in an allied species, the spot-winged gnat or -Anopheles, the chemical juices of the gut allow the germ to -live in it and multiply, and so to be carried to men by the -gnat's bite. So with many other flies and parasites the -recognition of the dangerous species is of vital importance, -and that recognition often depends on minute features of -form and colour not at once obvious to an ordinary -observer.</p> - -<p>But this recognition of distinct species is, from the -point of view of the study of Nature, only a preliminary -to the question, "How did these species come about? -How is it that there are so many species, some very like -one another, forming genera, and these genera grouped -into related families, these into larger groups, and so on, -like the branches of a family tree?" The answer to these -questions given by Linnæus was: "There are just so -many species as the Infinite Being created at the beginning -of things, and they have continued to propagate themselves -unchanged ever since." The answer which we give to-day -is that the appearance of a huge family tree which our -classification of animals takes is due to the simple fact -that it really is neither more nor less than a family tree -or pedigree—the "tree of life," of which the green leaves -and buds are the existing species. Further, we hold that -the existing species of a genus have "come into existence" -by natural birth from one ancestral species, its offspring -having slightly varied (we are all familiar with this -individual variation in our own species, in dogs, cats, trees, -and shrubs), and that the varieties have wandered apart -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> -and become continuously emphasized and selected for -survival by their fitness or suitability to the changed -conditions around each of them. Meanwhile a natural -destruction, or failure of intermediate forms to survive, -has gone on.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">SPECIES IN THE MAKING</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">A SERIES of important conceptions are implied in -the word "species," as used by naturalists. Some -of these we have noted in the last chapter. There -is first, as a starting-point, the conception that a species -is a number or company of individuals, all closely and -clearly alike (though presenting some minor individual -variations), and capable of sharp separation by certain -"characters" from other similar groups or companies. -Then follows the addition (2) that the species is constant -if the conditions of life are not changed, or but little -changed, and that year after year it reproduces itself -without change. It has a certain stability (but not -permanent immutability) greater in some species than in -others. Next we find (3) that the species constitutes a -group of individuals which have descended by natural -breeding from common parents, not differing greatly from -the present individuals. They are, in fact, one "stock." -Then (4) that the species is a group, the individuals of -which pair with one another in breeding, but do not pair -with the individuals of another species, and that this is -due to various peculiar and inherent chemical, physiological -and (in higher animals) psychological characteristics -of the species.</p> - -<p>We have now further to note that species have their -special geographical <i>centres of origin</i> from which most -spread only a small distance, whilst others have a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -wonderful power of dispersal, and have become cosmopolitan. -Moreover, we find that some species are -numerically very abundant, others very rare; that rare -and abundant species have often invaded each other's -territory, and exist side by side.</p> - -<p>Whilst we often find a number of species, fifty or more, -so much alike that we unite them in a single genus (as, -for instance, in the case of the cats, lions, tigers, leopards, -which form the genus "Felis," and the hundred or more -species of the hedge brambles or blackberries, which form -the genus "Rubus"), there are many species which to-day -have, as it were, lost all their relatives and stand alone, the -solitary species in a well-marked genus, or have perhaps -only one other living co-species. And sometimes (curiously -enough) that one co-species is an inhabitant of a region -very remote from that inhabited by the other. Thus the -two living mammals called tapirs (genus Tapirus) inhabit, -the one the Malay region, and the other Central America. -This is explained by the fact that tapirs formerly existed -all over the land-surfaces of North Europe, North Asia, -and North America, which connect these widely-separate -spots. We find the bones and teeth of the extinct tapirs -embedded in the Tertiary deposits of the connecting -regions.</p> - -<p>Once we have gained the fundamental conceptions -as to what is meant by a "species," we are able -intelligently to consider innumerable facts of the most -diverse kind as to their peculiar structure and colours, -their number, localities, their interaction and dependence -on other living things, their modifications for special -modes of life, their isolation or their ubiquity. We can -discuss their genetic relations to one another, and to -extinct fossil species, which have all been to a very large -extent "accounted for" or "explained" by Mr. Darwin's -theory of the origin of species by the natural selection -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -of favoured races in the struggle for existence. But -there is always more to be made out—difficulties to be -removed, new instances to be studied. The classification -of the genera of plants and animals, with their included -species into larger groups, helps us to state and to -remember their actual build and structure, and to survey, -as it were, the living world, from the animalcule to the -man, or from the microbe to the magnolia tree. Every one -interested in natural history should carry in his mind as -complete a scheme of the classification of animals and -plants as possible.</p> - -<p>The older naturalists held that species were suddenly -"created" as they exist, and have propagated their like -ever since. Darwin has taught us that the present -"species" have developed by a slow process of transformation -from preceding species, and these from other predecessors, -and so on to the remotest geologic ages and -the dawn of life. The agents at work have been "variation"—that -is to say, the response to the never-ceasing variation -of the surrounding world or environment—and the survival -in the struggle for existence of the fittest varieties so -produced.</p> - -<p>There is nothing surprising or extraordinary in the -existence of variation. The conditions of life and growth -are never absolutely identical in two individuals, and the -wonder is not that species vary, but that they vary so -little. The living substance of animals and plants is an -extremely complex chemical substance, ever decomposing -and ever being renewed. It is the most "labile" as it is -by far the most elaborately built-up chemical body which -chemists have ever ventured to imagine. It differs, -chemically, not only in every species but in every individual -and is incessantly acted upon—influenced as we may say—by -the ever-changing physical and chemical conditions -around it. At the same time it has, subject to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -permanence of essential conditions, a definite stability -and limitation to its change or variation in response to -variations of its environment. That part of the living -substance which in all but the lowest plants and animals -is set aside during growth to form the eggs and sperms -by which they multiply or "reproduce" themselves, is -called the "germ-plasm," and is peculiarly sensitive to -variations in (that is a <i>change</i> in) the environment of the -plant or animal.</p> - -<p>New conditions of life (locality and climate)—unusual -food or reproductive activity—act often in a powerful way -upon the germ-plasm and cause it to vary—that is to say, -they alter some of its qualities, though not necessarily disturbing -in any way the general living substance of the -organism so far as to produce any important change perceptible -to the human eye. In consequence, the young produced -after such disturbance of the germ-plasm are found -to differ more from their parents than in cases where no -such disturbance has been set up by the natural never-ceasing -variation of the surrounding world. This fact is -well known to horticulturists and breeders, and is made -use of by them. When a gardener wishes to obtain variations -of a plant from which to select and establish a new -breed, he deliberately sets to work to disturb—to shake -up, to act upon in a tentative, experimental way—the -germ-plasm of one or more parent plants by change of -soil, climate, food and often by cross-fertilizing them with -another breed or variety. In this way he to some extent -"breaks" the constitutional stability of the germ-plasm of -the plant and obtains abundant "variations" in the offspring. -These are not precisely foreseen, and show -themselves in all parts of the new generation. But some -of them are what the gardener wants, and are "selected" -by him for retention, rearing and breeding.</p> - -<p>The response of the germ-plasm of organisms to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -stimulus of new environmental conditions has been compared -to that of the well-known pattern-producing toy—the -kaleidoscope. The bits of glass, beads and silk which -you see in a kaleidoscope, forming by reflection in its -mirrors a beautiful and definite pattern, are changed -by a simple vibration caused by tapping the instrument -into a very different pattern, the coloured fragments -being displaced and rearranged. The apparent change -or variation is very great though produced by slight -mechanical disturbance, and the new pattern is altogether -without any special significance—the fortuitous outcome -of a small displacement of the constituent coloured -fragments. We can imagine that similarly slight disturbances -of the organic molecules of the germ-plasm -may produce considerable and important variations in it -and the new growth to which it gives rise: and, further, -that these variations may prove to be either (1) injurious, -or (2) of life-saving value, or often enough (3) of no consequence -whatever although bulking largely in our human -eyes and thereby misleading our judgment of them.</p> - -<p>There is no reason to doubt that the same sequence of -events occurs in nature apart from man's interference. -Changes occur in the earth's surface, or the organism is -transported by currents of water or air into new conditions. -The germ-plasm is "disturbed," "shaken" or -"shocked" by those new conditions, and a variation, in -several structures and qualities of the offspring subsequently -produced, follows. Then also follows the selection -of one of the new varieties by survival of the fitter to -the new conditions into which the organism has been -transported or have developed in the region where it was -previously established.</p> - -<p>This process of germ-variation is obviously as necessary -and constant a feature of the living organism as is the -variation in the contour of land and sea and in the extent -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> -of the polar ice-cap—a necessary feature of the physical -conditions of the terrestrial globe. But it is the fashion -with a certain school of writers nowadays to declare -that "variation" in organisms is a "mystery" unsolved. -Another very common and almost universal error is to -overlook the fact that variation is constitutional and -affects whole systems of organs and their deeply related -parts, and is <i>not</i>, as it is so frequently and erroneously -assumed to be, a mere local affair of patches and scraps -visible on this or that part of the surface of an animal or -plant. These superficial "marks," readily seen and noted -by the collector, are rarely of any life-saving importance: -they are but the outward and visible signs of deep-lying -physiological or constitutional change or variation. The -varying organism has, like Hamlet, "that within which -passeth show" and the superficial variations (like his -"inky cloak" and other customary features of mourning) -are but "the trappings and the suits" of a deep-lying -change. Variation is not an inexplicable mystery, nor, -on the other hand, are "varieties" sufficiently dealt with -and their nature appreciated when one or two surface -peculiarities are enumerated by which the collector can -recognize them. A deeper study of the varying organism -is both possible and needed.</p> - -<p>If the gradual formation of new species from ancestral -species is a true account of the matter, we must expect to -find, at any rate here and there, if not frequently, traces of -the process—for instance, gradations, or series of intermediate -forms, connecting new, well-established species -with the ancestral form or with one another. We do find -such gradations—sometimes more, sometimes less, completely -persisting over a wide tract of country, or discoverable -in the fossiliferous deposits containing the remains of -extinct animals.</p> - -<p>For instance, when we look at the butterflies of a much -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -larger region than our little island—namely, at those of a -great continent like Africa or South America—we find that -there are species which show gradations. Thus at a series -of points, A, B, C, D, separated by some hundreds of miles -from each other, we find a corresponding series of butterflies -which are apparently closely similar species of one genus, -differing by a few spots of colour, or darker and lighter -tint, much as our Large White, Garden White, and Green-veined -White differ. But when the butterflies are caught -which occur at points intermediate between A and B, B and -C, C and D, we find intermediate varieties, and, in fact, if -we get a very large number from intermediate regions, we -can, in some instances, arrange them in line so that they -constitute a graduated series of forms, each being scarcely -distinguishable from the one before or the one behind it, -yet differing clearly from one a dozen places away. In -such cases there is often evidence to show that the variety -found at A breeds with that found at B, that of B with -that of C, of C with D, so that they form an inter-breeding -group, though perhaps the varieties at D will not pair with -those at A, or even with those at B. Then sometimes we -find in such a series, otherwise complete, a gap. Let us -suppose it is between the butterflies of B and C. We -find the series of gradations nearly complete, but some -natural condition—such as the encroachment of the sea, -or the slow elevation of a mountain range, or the climatic -destruction of the necessary food-plant—has "wiped out" -a few forms somewhere between those of B and C. They -no longer exist. The series is no longer connected by -inter-breeding forms; those occurring from A to B and -some distance beyond are one "species" varying in the -direction of the series C to D, but abruptly broken off -from the latter. The series C to D is also a "species" -with graduated varieties, but distinct; it is cut off from the -lot once in continuity with it by the destruction of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -intermediate forms inhabiting an intermediate area. Thus -the one species becomes two, and these may again break -up, and, having become thus disconnected and stabilized, -they may spread over one another's territory—fly side by -side and yet remain distinct forms which do not pair -together—although originally they were varieties spreading -from a common centre, where the ancestral species -lived and multiplied.</p> - -<p>Other similar gradational series of an interesting -character have been noticed in the case of fresh-water -fossil snail-shells. In the layers of clay and marl exposed -by digging a railway cutting or a pit we may find that the -successive layers represent a continuous deposit of 100,000 -years or more, and we find sometimes that a form of -snail-shell (not a species living to-day) occurs in the -lowest stratum very different from that occurring in the -highest stratum—the lowest being short and spherical, -the highest elongated and of differing texture. In -the intermediate layers, each 6 or 12 ins. thick and -occupying perhaps altogether 30 ft. of vertical thickness, -we find a graduated series of snail-shells leading -almost imperceptibly from the oldest lowest form to the -latest uppermost form. Such cases are known. But it -is an exceptional thing to find these graduated series -either spread over an area of the earth's surface, or -following one another in successive strata. When they -came into existence they were rapidly superseded and -destroyed as a rule, and have left only one or two widely-separated -examples of the intermediate forms. This we -should naturally expect by analogy from what we know -of the successive traces of human manufactures in the -deposits on the site of some of the great cities of the -ancient world which have been carefully excavated layer -by layer. But still we have the important fact that here -and there such gradational series have been found, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -we are justified in considering a few isolated intermediate -forms (which often occur connecting two greatly-differing -species) as survivors of a former complete graduated -series of intermediate forms, which came into existence -by slow modification of an ancestral stock, and may, when -the stock was widely spread over a continental area, not -merely have succeeded one another in time, but actually -coexisted in neighbouring regions.</p> - -<p>There are many remarkable facts bearing upon the -origin of "species," the description of which fills volumes -written by such men as Darwin, Wallace, Poulton, and -others, and become interesting to every one who has -gained a correct notion of what naturalists mean by a -"species." I will cite one in order to illustrate this. The -bird which we call the red grouse, or nowadays simply -"grouse" (the old Scotch name for it was "muir-fowl"), is -one of twenty-four birds (among the 400 species of birds -which live in the British Islands), including several kinds of -titmouse, the goldfinch, bullfinch, song-thrush, stonechat, -jay, dipper, and others which are very closely similar to -species of birds living in Continental Europe, yet show -some definite and constant marks, such as small differences -in the colour of a group of feathers, enabling us to distinguish -the British from the Continental forms. Are these -twenty-four British forms to be regarded as distinct species?</p> - -<p>The red grouse is placed in a genus called "Lagopus," -of which there are several species in the northern hemisphere. -In Scotland the red grouse, which is distinguished -as Lagopus Scoticus, is accompanied by a rarer species -of Lagopus, which lives in high, bare regions. This is -the bird called by the Celtic name "ptarmigan"; it -differs in several points from the red grouse, and acquires -white plumage in the winter, which the latter bird does -not; it is called Lagopus mutus. Now in Norway we -find also two species of grouse or Lagopus, called "rypé" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -(pronounced "reeper") by the Norwegians. One is the -same bird in every respect as the Scotch ptarmigan, and -is known as "the mountain rypé." The other is very -close to our red grouse, and is called "the common or -bush rypé," and by English naturalists the "willow -grouse," and by ornithologists "Lagopus salicetus." It -agrees in habits, voice, eggs, and anatomical detail with -our red grouse, but the back of the cock-bird of the red -grouse and the whole plumage of the hen-bird have a -darker colour. Moreover, the willow grouse, like the -ptarmigan or mountain rypé, turns white—acquires a -white plumage—in the winter which the red grouse does -not. Are the red grouse and the willow grouse to be -regarded as distinct species? Our British red grouse -lives on heather-grown moors; the willow grouse prefers -the shrubby growths of berry-bearing plants interspersed -with willows, whence its name. Their food differs accordingly. -Formerly the red grouse lived on the moors of -the South of England, and when in Pleistocene times -England was a part of the Continent of Europe the -willow grouse and the red grouse were one undivided -species inhabiting all the north-west of Europe. It is -probable, though the experiment would be almost impossible -to carry out, that were the eggs of a number of -willow grouse now brought to Scotland and hatched on -the moors, they would tend to keep apart from the -native red grouse, and not inter-breed with them, in which -case we should say that the Scotch form is a "species on -the make," or, even, a completed and distinct species. On -the other hand, it is possible that the two forms would -freely pair with another, and that the colour and winter -coat of the one (probably that of the Scotch form if the -experiment were tried in Scotland) would predominate, -and after some generations no trace of the other strain -would be observable.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">SOME SPECIFIC CHARACTERS</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">AN interesting case, showing that qualities which -are life-preserving under certain severe conditions -exist in some varieties of a species and not in -others, was recorded some eight years ago. After a very -severe "blizzard" 136 common sparrows were found benumbed -on the ground by Professor Bumpus at Providence, -United States. They were brought into a warm room -and laid on the floor. After a short time seventy-two -revived and sixty-four perished. They were compared to -see if the survivors were distinguished by any measurable -character from those which died. It was found that the -survivors were smaller birds (the sexes and young birds -being separately compared) than those which died, and -were lighter in weight by one-twenty-fifth than the latter. -Also, the birds which survived had a decidedly longer -breastbone than those which died.</p> - -<p>Similarly, the late Professor Weldon found that in the -young of the common shore-crab, taken in certain parts -of Plymouth harbour, those with a little peculiarity in the -shape of the front of the shell survived when those without -this peculiarity died. Many thousands were collected -and measured in this experiment. It is not necessary -to suppose that the distinguishing mark of the survivors -in such cases is "the cause" of their survival. Such marks -as the breadth of the front part of the crab's shell and the -length of a bird's breastbone very probably are but "the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -outward and visible signs of an inward and (physiological) -grace."</p> - -<p>The marks, little peculiarities of colour and proportionate -size, or some peculiar knob or horn, by which the -student of species distinguishes one constant form from -another, can rarely, if ever, be shown to have in themselves -an active value in aiding or saving the life of the -species of plant or animal. The mark or "character" is -an accompaniment of a chemical, nutritional, physiological -condition, and is in itself of no account. It is what is -called "a correlated character." Such, for instance, is the -black colour of the skin of pigs which in Virginia, U.S., are -found, as stated by Darwin, not to be poisoned by a marsh -plant ("the paint-root," Lachnanthes tinctoria), whilst all -other coloured and colourless pigs are. The pigs which -are not black develop a disease of their hoofs which rot -and fall off, causing their death when they eat this special -plant "the paint-root." The colour does not save the pig—it -cannot correctly be called the <i>cause</i> of the pig's -survival—but is an accompaniment of the physiological -quality which enables the pig to resist the poisonous herb. -So, too, with white-spotted animals. They are known to -breeders as being liable to diseases from which others -are free. Fantail pigeons have extra vertebræ in their -tails, and pouter pigeons have their vertebræ increased -in number and size. But the vertebræ were never thought -of and "selected" by the breeders. They only wanted a -fanlike set of tail feathers in the one case, and a longer -body in the other. Some varieties of feathering maintained -by pigeon breeders lead to the growth of abundant -feathers on the legs (as in Cochin-China fowls), and it is -found that these feather-legged pigeons always have the -two outer toes connected by a web of skin. If it were a -stabilized wild form we should separate it as a species on -account of its webbed toes, yet the real selection and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -survival in the hands of the breeder had nothing to do -with the toes or their web, but was simply "caused" by -these pigeons having feathers of "survival or selection -value" in his judgment. Male white cats with blue eyes -are deaf. If deafness were ever an advantage (a difficult -thing to imagine), you would get a species of cat with -white hair and blue eyes, and be led to distinguish the -species by those characters, not by the real cause of -survival, namely, deafness. Not enough is yet known of -this curious and very important subject of correlation, -but its bearing on the significance of "specific characters" -is sufficiently indicated by what I have said.</p> - -<p>An interesting group of species, three of which are to -be purchased alive through London fishmongers, are the -European crayfishes, not to be confused with the rock-lobster -or Langouste (Palinurus), sometimes called "crawfish" -in London, nor with the Dublin prawn (Nephrops). -The little river crayfishes are like small lobsters, and -were placed by older naturalists in one genus with the -lobsters. Now we keep the European species of crayfishes -as the genus Astacus, and the common lobster and the -American lobster have been put (by H. Milne-Edwards) into -a separate genus (Homarus). You can buy in London the -"écrevisses à pattes rouges" of French and German rivers, -which is called Astacus fluviatilis, and differs from that of -the Thames and other English and European rivers -(which you can also buy) called A. pallipes ("pattes -blanches" of the French), by the bright orange-red tips -of its legs, and by having the side teeth of the horn or -beak at the front of the head larger and more distinct. -The English crayfish grows to be nearly as large as the -"pattes rouges" in the Avon at Salisbury, though it has -nearly disappeared about Oxford. You can also sometimes -buy in London the big, long-clawed Astacus leptodactylus -of East Europe. There are two or three other species, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -named and distinguished, which do not come into the -London market.</p> - -<p>Crayfishes, lobsters and the like have groups of plume-like -gills (corresponding in the most ancient forms to the -number of the legs and jaw-legs) overhung and hidden by -the sides of the great shield or "head" of the animal. -The common lobsters and crayfishes retain most of these -in full size and activity, but have lost in the course of -geologic ages the original complete number. These -plume-like gills—each half an inch or so in length—are -attached, some to the bases of the legs and some -to the sides of the body above the legs. In the -ancestral form there were thirty-two plumes on each -side, twenty-four attached to the bases of the legs, -and eight placed each at some distance above the connection -of one of the eight legs with the side of the body. -It is those on the side of the body which have suffered -most diminution in the course of the development of -modern crayfishes (and lobsters) from the ancestral form -provided with the full equipment of thirty-two gill-plumes -on each side. In fact, only one <i>well-grown</i> gill-plume, out -of the eight which should exist on each side of the body-wall, -is to be found—and that is the one placed above the -insertion of the hindermost or eighth of the eight legs -(eight when we reckon the three jaw-legs as "legs" as -well as the five walking-legs). In front of this the side or -wall of the body is bare of gill-plumes though they are -present in full size on the basal part of most of the legs. -Nevertheless, when one examines carefully with a lens -the bare side of the body overhung by the head-shield or -"carapace," one finds in a specimen of the common -English "pale-footed crayfish" a very minute gill-plume -high above the articulation of the seventh leg and another -above the articulation of the sixth leg. They are small -dwindled things, as though on the way to extinction, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -are the mere vestiges of what were once well-grown gill-plumes, -and still are so in the rock lobster and some -prawns. In the red-footed crayfish of the Continent -(Astacus fluviatilis) yet another minute vestige of a gill-plume -is found, farther in front, on the body-wall above -the fifth leg on each side of the animal. This furnishes -a definite mark or character by which we can distinguish -the red-footed crayfish from the common English pale-footed -one. But these three rudimentary gill-plumes in -the red-foot species, and two in the pale-foot species are -all that until lately were recorded. The region of the -body-wall above the fourth, third, second, and first of the -legs was declared to be devoid even of a vestige of the -branchial plumes which were there in ancestral forms, and -have been retained more or less in some exceptional -prawn-like creatures allied to the crayfish.</p> - -<p>Zoologists take a special interest in the crayfish -because it is found to be a most convenient type for the -purpose of teaching the principles of zoology to young -students, and with that end in view was made the subject -of a very beautiful little book by the great teacher -Huxley. The conclusions above stated in regard to the -gills are set forth in that book with admirable illustrative -drawings, and the striking fact of the dwindling and -suppression of the various gill-plumes is clearly explained.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_33.jpg" id="i_33.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_33.jpg" width="425" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 33.</span>—The rudimentary - gill-plume of a crayfish from that part of the body-wall to which the first pair of - jaw-legs (maxillipedes) is articulated. Found in the red-footed crayfish (Astacus - fluviatilis) but in no other species of Astacus. It is one-fifteenth of an inch long. - Drawn by Miss Margery Moseley in 1904. ("Quart. Journal of Microscopical - Science," vol. 26 (1904-5).)</div> -</div> - -<p>And now we come to an interesting discovery in this -matter of the gill-plumes of crayfishes. Some fifteen years -ago the daughter of my friend and colleague—Professor -Moseley—was a member of the class of Elementary Biology -at Oxford. She had to examine and identify these and -other points in the structure of the crayfish. The class -was supplied with specimens of the French red-footed -crayfish "Astacus fluviatilis," as it is more readily obtained -from fishmongers than our own "pale-foot" or "Astacus -pallipes." She found in her specimen far forward on each -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -side of the "head" a very minute gill far away from the -others and previously unknown. The demonstrator in -charge of the class refused even to look at her discovery. -So she confirmed it by examining three other specimens—made -drawings of the tiny -branched gill (as shown in Fig. -33) and their position, and sent -them to me in London. It was -at once clear that she had discovered -in this much studied -little animal a very interesting -pair of gills (right and left)—unknown -to Huxley and the rest -of the zoological world. She -proceeded to examine specimens -of A. fluviatilis from various -rivers of Germany and France -and always found the new gill-plume. -She also showed (I -supplied her with specimens at -the Natural History Museum) -that it was, on the other hand, -absent from A. leptodactylus, -A. pallipes, and all the foreign -species (some from Asia) which -are known, and she published -an illustrated account of it in -the "Quarterly Journal of -Microscopical Science." This -tiny gill-plume is placed very far forward on each side -of the body, the farthest point forward at which any -gill-plume is found in any kind of prawn, shrimp or -lobster, namely in the region where the first pair of jaw-legs -is attached, so that there are three empty spaces -between it and the rudimentary gill over the fifth pair of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -legs, already known in the red-footed crayfish. It is only -two millimetres long—about one-fifteenth of an inch! -But its presence serves very distinctly to separate the red-footed -crayfish, Astacus fluviatilis of French and German -rivers, thus discovered to have four pairs of rudimentary -gill-plumes, from the Astacus leptodactylus of the Danube -basin and East Europe, which has only three pairs, and -still more to emphasize the difference between it and our -British species, the "white-foot" or Astacus pallipes, -which has only two!</p> - -<p>This little history is noteworthy, firstly, because it -shows that a young student may, to use an appropriate -term, "wipe the eye" of an expert observer and rightly -venerated teacher (who would have delighted in the -little discovery had he been alive), as well as the eyes of -tens of thousands of students and teachers (including myself) -who have studied the red-foot crayfish year after year, -and missed the little gill. It is also interesting as showing -us a good sample of a specific mark or character which -has no survival value; that is, could not advantage the -crayfish in the struggle for life. The fact is, that this one -particular very minute forward pair of gill-plumes is like -the other rudimentary gills—a survival in a reduced condition -of a pair of gill-plumes which were well-grown, -useful plumes aerating the blood, in the prawn-like -ancestors of all crayfishes, lobsters, shrimps, and prawns, -and is, owing to circumstances of nutrition and growth -which we know nothing about but can vaguely imagine, -retained by the red-foot species of crayfish, but lost by -all other crayfishes, lobsters, common prawns and -shrimps, and, in fact, only retained besides by a very few -out-of-the-way kinds of marine prawns. That is the sort -of thing which frequently has to serve as "a specific -character" or mark, distinguishing one "species" from -another.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> - -<p>A more ample discussion of the origin of species is not -within the scope of this book. But I may say that until -recently the conception that <i>every</i> organ, part and feature -of a plant and animal <i>must</i> be explained, and can <i>only</i> be -explained, as being of life-saving value to its possessor, and -accordingly "selected" and preserved in the struggle for -existence, was held by many "Darwinians" in too uncompromising -a spirit. This conception was, really from the -first, qualified by the admission that the life-saving value -and consequent preservation of a structure must undoubtedly -in some cases have been in operation in -ancestors of the existing species, and is no longer operative -in their descendants although they inherit the -structure which has now become useless. Moreover, the -operation of those subtle laws of nutrition and of form -which are spoken of as the "correlation of parts in growth -and in variation" (mentioned on p. 119) was pointed out -by Darwin himself as probably accounting for many remarkable -growths, structures and colour-marks which we -cannot imagine to be now, or ever to have been in past -ancestry, of a life-saving value. Nevertheless, the old -"teleology," according to which, in pre-Darwinian days, -it was held that every part and feature of an animal or -plant has been specially created to fulfil a definite pre-ordained -function or useful purpose, still influenced the -minds of many naturalists. Natural selection and survival -of the fittest were reconciled with the old teleological -scheme, and it was held that we must as good Darwinians -account for every structure and distinctive feature in -every animal and plant as due to its life-saving value. -Herbert Spencer's term, "the survival of the <i>fittest</i>," conduced -to the diffusion of this extreme view: Darwin's -equivalent term, "the preservation of <i>favoured</i> races," did -not raise the question of greater or less fitness.</p> - -<p>The extreme view is now, however, giving place to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -recognition of the fact that the actual tendencies to variation—accumulated -in the living substance of the various -stocks or lines of descent and handed on during an -immense succession of ages of change by hereditary -transmission—counts for more in the production of new -species and strange, divergent, even grotesque forms of -both animals and plants than had been supposed.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly selection or survival of the fittest mainly -accounts for the colouring and adaptive shaping of -living things, and so for those several great types -of modelling which arrest the eye and have excited -the interest of inquisitive man. But there seems to be -no justification for the assumption that in all cases a -variation—that is to say, an increase or a diminution -of the volume of some existing structure in proportion -to other coexisting structures in the body of a living -plant or animal—must be <i>either</i> favourable, that is, conducive -to survival, <i>or</i> injurious, that is, tending to the -defeat and destruction of its possessors or their race. On -the contrary, it is the fact that there are vast areas and -conditions related to countless myriads of living creatures -in which variations of those creatures of large and imposing -kind and degree are neither advantageous nor disadvantageous, -but matters of <i>absolute indifference</i>, that is -to say, without any effect upon the preservation or survival -of their race or stock. Nature is far more tolerant than -some of us were inclined to assume. In certain restricted -conditions of competition and in regard to some special -structures and components which are often so minute and -obscure as to be not yet detected by that recent arrival, -the investigating biologist—though sometimes, fortunately -for him, large enough to jump to his eyes—it is undeniable -that there must be a "survival" or "favouring" of -individuals presenting a variation in increase, or it may be -decreased, of this or that special feature of its "make-up" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -or structural components. But it is a more correct statement -of the case to say that natural selection or survival -preserves <i>not the fittest</i>, but <i>the least fit possible</i> under the -circumstances—namely, all those which, however great -their divagations and eccentricities of variation in other -respects, yet at the same time attain to a minimum -standard of qualification in those structures (or inner -chemical qualities) essential for success in the competition -for safety, food and mating determined by the -particular conditions in which the competition is taking -place. Consequently forms which are meaningless so far -as standards of utility or "life-saving" are concerned, and -are rightly described as grotesque, monstrous, gigantic or -dwarfed—excessive (as compared with more familiar -kinds) in hypertrophy or atrophy of their colouring and -clothing, or of out-growths such as leaves of plants and -limbs, jaws or other regions of the body of animals—are -found existing in various degrees of eccentricity in every -class of both plants and animals. Among animals such -tolerated "exuberances of non-significant growth" are -more striking than in plants. The group of fishes seems -to be especially privileged in this way. They are freely -variable in the position of the fins, the suppression or -exaggeration of them, as well as of the scales on the -surface of the body (<i>e.g.</i> leather carp and mirror carp). -Take, for example, the mackerel and the salmon as -standards of utilitarian adaptation of the body to an active -life in sea or river, and then compare with theirs the -astounding proportions of the sun-fish (Orthagoriscus) like -a cherub "all head and no body," or the almost incredible -Pteraclis—with its little body framed immovably -between a huge dorsal and a huge ventral fin (see figures -on p. 130). The fin-like crest of enormous size on the -back of the great extinct lizard Dimetrodon of the -Permian age supported by long bony spines is a similarly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -excessive and useless outgrowth. (This astonishing -creature is shown in our Frontispiece.) Such exuberant -products may be ascribed to an unrestrained "momentum" -of growth which once set going by fortuitous variation has -been <i>tolerated</i> but not <i>favoured</i> by natural selection. -Or (as supposed by some) their excessive development -may be due to the <i>persistence</i> of some nutritional condition -which at first resulted in a moderate growth of the -fin-like crests in question as a serviceable structure, but -has persisted and increased long after the fin or crest has -attained a sufficient size—simply because its increase -though of no life-saving value—yet was not harmful and -so did not bring its owner under the guillotine of natural -selection. Such disproportionate exuberance of growth -due to innate variability, tolerated but not specially -favoured by natural selection, will account for many -strange and grotesque forms of living things. From time -to time in the long process of change, such exuberances -may suddenly become of service and be, so to speak, -taken in hand by natural selection, or they may become -dangerous and lead to the extermination of the stock in -which they have been previously tolerated.</p> - -<p>Before my reader turns—as I hope he or she will do—to -some handbook of zoology in which the genealogical -tree or classification of the species of animals and of -plants is treated at length, I will endeavour to give some -estimate of the immense numbers of "species" which -exist. As to mere individuals, it is impossible to form -any estimate, but when we reckon up the teaming population -of a meadow or forest in England, the hundreds of -thousands of plants, including the smallest mosses and -grasses, as well as the larger flowers, shrubs, and trees, -the still greater number of insects, spiders, snails, and -larger animals and birds, feeding on and hiding among -them, and when we remember that in the ever-warm tropical -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> -regions of the earth life is ten or twenty times more -exuberant than with us,—then the immensity of the living -population of the land and water of the globe becomes -as difficult to realize as are the figures in which the -astronomer tells of the number and distances of the stars. -On the other hand, some idea of the number of distinct -species of animals and plants which have up to this date -been recognized and described by naturalists as at present -existing, may be formed by a statement of those which -have been described in some of the more familiar groups. -About 10,000 species of mammals have been described; -about 14,000 of birds; 7000 of reptiles; 15,000 of fishes; -500,000 of six-legged insects; 14,000 of crustacea (shrimps, -lobsters, crabs); 62,000 of molluscs (snails, mussels, etc.); -15,000 of star-fishes and sea-urchins; 5000 of corals and -polyps; 3000 of sponges; and 6000 of microscopic protozoa. -In all about 800,000 species of animals have been -recorded, and probably as many more remain yet to be -recognized and described.</p> - -<p>The total number of described species of plants has -never been estimated, but some idea of it may be formed -from the fact that 1860 species of flowering plants alone -have been distinguished in Britain, 17,000 in British India, -and 22,000 in Brazil, not to mention those of Africa and -Australia! These figures do not include the vast numbers -of flowerless plants, the ferns, mosses, sea-weeds, mushrooms, -moulds, lichens, and microscopic plants.</p> - -<p>And then we have to add to these enumerations of -living species the extinct species of successive geological -ages, the remains of which are sufficiently well preserved -to admit of identification. Those which are known are -only a few thousands in number, and a mere fragment of -the vast series of species which <i>have</i> existed in successive -past ages of the earth. They are a few samples of the predecessors -of the existing species, and some of them were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> -the actual ancestors of those existing to-day. The larger -number of them have left no direct issue, but represent side -branches of the "tree of life" which have died out ages ago.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_33a.jpg" id="i_33a.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_33a.jpg" width="471" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Strangely-shaped Fishes.</span>—1. The - Coffer-fish (Ostracion); 2. Pteraclis, an oceanic fish allied to the so-called - Dolphins; 3. The Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus); 4. An Australian Blenny Patæcus.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">HYBRIDS</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE subject treated in this and the next chapter -is one of the most interesting to mankind, and is -surrounded by extraordinary prejudice, sentiment, -and ignorance. It is one upon which really trustworthy -information is to a very large extent absent—and difficult -to obtain. I cannot profess to supply this deficiency, but -I can put the matter before the reader.</p> - -<p>It is a well-established fact that the various "kinds" -of animals and of plants do not breed promiscuously with -one another. The individuals of a "species" only breed -with other individuals of that "species." They do not even, -as a habit, breed with the individuals of an allied species. -So nearly universal is this rule that it was for a long -time held by naturalists to be an absolute definition of -"a species," that it is a group of individuals capable of -producing fertile young by breeding with one another -and incapable of producing fertile young by mating with -individuals of another such group, which were, therefore, -held to constitute a distinct species. The practical importance -of this definition was that it could, in a large -number of instances among animals, and still more -amongst plants, be made use of as a test and decided -by experiment.</p> - -<p>It is a curious fact that popular belief amongst -country-folk and those who have opportunities of coming -to a conclusion on so simple and direct a question has -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -never accepted this law of the limitation of species in -breeding as more than a general rule to which it has -always been supposed that frequent exceptions occur. -I mention this not in order to add that "there is always -some basis of truth in these popular beliefs," but on the -contrary to point out that popular beliefs on such matters -are very frequently altogether erroneous, and though -their origin can sometimes be explained, it is rare to -find that they are due, in however small a degree, to -true observation and inference. Where the subject under -consideration has the obscurity and strong fascination for -the natural man which all that relates to the processes -of life, growth, and reproduction possess, we find that -traditional fancies of the most unwarrantable kind are -current, and hold their ground with tenacity even at -the present day. Some 250 years ago, and earlier—in -fact, before the commencement of that definite epoch of -"the New Philosophy" marked by the foundation of -the Royal Society of London—any queer-looking animal -brought from remote lands, and any misshapen monstrosity -born of cattle, sheep, dogs, or men, was "explained," -and confidently regarded as a "hybrid," the -result of a "cross" or irregular coupling of two distinct -species of animals to which the "monster" presented -some fanciful resemblance. Whole books were devoted -to the description and picturing of such supposed examples -of mis-begotten progeny.</p> - -<p>The belief in the existence of such extraordinary -hybrids is still common among so-called "well-educated" -people. I have with difficulty avoided causing annoyance -and offence to a friend, a celebrated painter, by refusing -to admit that a deformed cat, of which he gave me an -account, was a hybrid between a cat and a rabbit. A very -eminent person whom I was conducting some years ago -round the galleries of the Natural History Museum, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> -declared, as we stood in front of the specimen of the -Okapi of the Congo Forest, that it was clearly a hybrid -between the giraffe and the zebra. He insisted that it -was obvious that such was its explanation, and pointed -to its striped haunches and legs, and its cloven hoofs -and giraffe-like head. I failed to change his opinion.</p> - -<p>It is the fact—ascertained by careful observation of -natural occurrences and by experiment—that, in spite -of the almost absolute law or general truth to the effect -that the members of a species (whether of plant or -animal) only produce fertile offspring by mating with -members of that same species, yet there are rare instances -known in which individuals of two distinct but allied -species have mated and produced fertile offspring. The -cases in which such unions have resulted in the production -of offspring, but in which the offspring so produced prove -to be infertile—that is, incapable of producing offspring -in their turn—are much more numerous. An important -distinction has also to be made between cases of either -fertile or infertile hybrid-production which occur spontaneously -in nature, and those in which man by separating -the parent animals or plants from their natural conditions -of life, or by bringing about impregnation (as in -"pollinating" one flower with the pollen-dust of another) -succeeds in obtaining a "cross" or "hybrid," whether -fertile or infertile, not known to occur in "wild" (that -is, not humanly controlled) nature. The rarest case -would be that of the production of fertile hybrids in -uncontrolled natural conditions. Such possibly occur in -the case of some fishes in which the fertilization of the -eggs takes place in water, the fertilizing microscopic -sperms passing from the males like dust into the water and -thus reaching the eggs laid by the females. Occasionally -hybrids are thus produced between some common fresh-water -fishes—species of the same genus—and between -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -species of flat-fish, such as the turbot and the brill, though -it is difficult to be sure that the rare hybrids so produced -are fertile even if they attain to maturity. The same is -true as to certain small flowering plants having distinct -regions of natural distribution and occurrence. At the -confines of the regions proper to two such allied species, -insects passing from one to the other do sometimes effect -a reciprocal fertilization of the two species, and a natural -hybrid is the result. Here, again, it is difficult to follow -the subsequent history of the hybrids, but it is believed -that in some instances they are fertile, and that the -hybrid race is only gradually merged by subsequent -crossing into one or other of the parent species. Not -a single instance is on record of the production of a -"natural" hybrid (that is to say, one produced in natural -conditions without man's interference), whether fertile or -infertile, between two species of the larger animals (such -as between horse and ass or zebra and ass, or between -lion and tiger or any of the species of cats, or between -species of bears) or birds (such as pheasants of various -species, including the jungle cock, the wild original of -our domestic fowl, or between various species of ducks, -various species of geese, or between various species of -the grouse-birds).</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, in conditions brought about by man—that -is to say, confinement in cages or paddocks, or at -any rate removal from their native climate and home—all -the groups of species just cited commonly and frequently -produce hybrids <i>inter se</i>, that is, one or more -species of the horse group thus inter-breed with one -another, so will certain species of cats, certain species -of bears, many species of pheasants, also of ducks, of -geese, and of grouse. In nearly every case the hybrids -so produced are infertile; they will not mate with a -similar hybrid, and even when mated with one of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> -parent species rarely produce offspring, though they sometimes -do so. The best cases of the production of fertile -hybrids are between species of flowering plants brought -to this country from widely separated regions. The -surprising and instructive result has been obtained that -a cross between two allied species (that is, of one and -the same "genus") which will fail altogether or "come -to nothing" as infertile hybrids—if the two species crossed -are from the same or contiguous regions—yet will yield -readily vigorous fertile hybrid offspring when the two -species (always, of course, of one and the same genus) -have their native homes in widely separate parts of the -world—as, for instance, the Indian Himalaya range and -the South American Andean range.</p> - -<p>This has been found in crossing species of rhododendrons, -of orchids, and of many other plants with which -horticulturists occupy themselves for commercial purposes. -It is in some ways the reverse of what one might expect. -It would be reasonable to suppose that allied species from -the same climate and geographical region would have -more affinity and be more readily hybridized than species -from widely remote and physically differing regions. But -the reverse is the case, many thriving hybrid stocks which -duly fertilize and set their seed are now in cultivation, -having been produced by the union of parent species -from "the opposite ends of the earth."</p> - -<p>The consideration of this case throws some light on -the significance of the non-occurrence of natural hybrids -and of the very remarkable and curious fact that hybrids -are so usually sterile. When we come to think of it, the -natural preliminary assumption should be (as is that of -unsophisticated humanity) that any animal or plant -might, so far as possibilities go, breed with any other; -and the questions to be answered are: (1) What advantage -to a species is it not to be able to hybridize with other -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -species, and (2) how—that is to say, by what structure or -by what subtle chemical differences or other features in -their make-up and habit—are they prevented from so -hybridizing? Then we come on further to the question, -Why should a hybrid, once produced, fail to bear healthy -eggs or sperms according to its sex, although it grows up -to full size and is to all appearances mature? And why -should hybrids between parents of origin locally remote -from one another not show this failure, but behave like -ordinary healthy organisms?</p> - -<p>In the full solution of these inquiries we should get -very near to some of the most important secrets of the -living body which have still to be searched out. But a -reply to these questions which is probably in large -measure true, and serves to help us in the further -collection and examination of facts, is as follows: First, -the production and maintenance of "species" of plants -and of animals by survival of favourable variations in the -struggle for existence (Darwin and Wallace's theory of -the origin of species) requires the maintenance of the purity -of the favourable stock which survives in the struggle. If -it were continually liable to hybridization by other species -it would never establish its own distinctive features. It -would deteriorate by departing from those characteristics -which have been "naturally selected" and have rendered -it a successful "species." Thus the breeder, when he -has selected a stock for propagation which approaches -the standard at which he is aiming, keeps it apart, and -does not allow it to be "crossed" by other stock. One of -the qualities "naturally selected" in "the wild" is the -power of resistance to fertilization by neighbouring -species.</p> - -<p>This power of resistance or immunity to fertilization -by other species may be attained by several different -methods. Amongst these are (1) a difference in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> -season of breeding or sexual ripening; (2) the production -of secretions (whether by plant or by animal) which poison -or paralyse the fertilizing sperms of allied and locally -associated species, but are harmless to those of the secreting -species; (3) the mechanical differences of size, etc., -which prevent the fertilizing material of a strange species -from gaining access to the egg-cells; (4) psychical activities -(antipathies) in the case of animals or mere attraction and -repulsion by odoriferous substances, which serve to repel a -strange species, but are attractive to individuals of the -same species; (5) finally, a chemical and physiological -incompatibility between the sperms of one species and -the germs of another (as distinct from the attraction or -repulsion of the entire living individual), which, even when -all other difficulties are absent or have been overcome, -may be, and frequently is, present, so that the spermatozoon -cannot penetrate the egg-cell even when resting upon it, -but may be paralysed or repelled, and in any case is not -guided and drawn into the aperture of the egg-covering, -called the micropyle, or "little entry," so as to fuse with -and fertilize the egg.</p> - -<p>The operation of these hindrances to hybrid fertilization -and breeding have been ascertained in several different -instances. It is not always possible, and certainly not -easy to ascertain, which is at work in any and every case. -But we can well conceive that one or other of these -agencies have been developed and accentuated by survival -of the fittest, so as to protect a species against fertilization -by a neighbouring species, and thus to enable it to maintain -its own "bundle of characteristics" free from the swamping -effects of "mixture" (that is, "hybridization") with another -species. It is also thus intelligible that an allied species -from a distant land against which our native species and -its closer ancestry—struggling for purity of race—have had -no occasion or opportunity to develop a repelling protection—will -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> -have no such difficulty in effecting the fertilization of -the native species as have those adjacent species against -whose intrusions the latter is specifically moulded and -selected by long generations of severe natural selection.</p> - -<p>The failure of hybrids generally to ripen their ova and -sperm so as to reproduce themselves is a subject upon -which, considering its enormous importance and significance, -singularly little has been done in the way of investigation. -Fifty years ago it was usually taught that the -mule, between the horse and the ass, so largely produced -under human superintendence for transport service, was -unable to breed owing to some deformity in the reproductive -passages. Even now no adequate study of the subject has -been made, but it appears that whilst a female mule can -be, and sometimes is, successfully mated to a horse or an -ass, giving birth to a foal, the male mule does not produce -fully-formed spermatozoa. What precisely is the nature -of this failure, what the ultimate microscopic condition of -the sperm cells in infertile male mules, or in any other infertile -male hybrids, has not yet been properly worked out -by modern cytological methods. It would be a matter of -vast interest to determine what is the difference in the -structure of the sperm-cells of a fertile and of an infertile -male hybrid. At present, so far as I know, this has not -been done.</p> - -<p>So far what I have written applies to hybridization—the -inter-breeding of distinct species. A similar but by -no means identical subject is that of the inter-breeding of -distinct races or varieties of one species, and the production -of "mongrels." "Mongrels" are to races what "hybrids" -are to species. To this branch of the subject belongs the -study of the effects of intermarriage between distinct -races of men.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE CROSS-BREEDING OF RACES</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">WE have seen that there is no simple rule as to -the "mating" of individuals of a species with -individuals of another closely allied but distinct -species. Such mating very rarely comes about in natural -conditions, but man by his interference sometimes succeeds -in procuring "hybrids" between allied species. Hybrids -between species belonging to groups so different as to be -distinguished by zoologists as distinct "families" or -"orders" are quite unknown under any circumstances. -Such remoteness of natural character and structure as is -indicated by the two great divisions of hoofed mammals—the -even-toed (including sheep, cattle, deer, antelopes, -giraffes, pigs and camels), and the odd-toed (including -tapirs, rhinoceroses, horses, asses and zebras) is an -absolute bar to inter-breeding. So, too, the carnivora -(cats, dogs, bears and seals, and smaller kinds) are so -remote in their nature from the rabbits, hares and rats—called -"the rodents"—that no mating between members -of the one and the other of these groups has ever been -observed, either in nature or under artificial conditions.</p> - -<p>Even when individuals of closely allied species mate -with one another it is a very rare occurrence that the -hybrids so produced ripen their ova and sperms so as -to be capable of carrying on the hybrid race, though -sometimes they do ripen them and breed. The great -naturalist Alfred Wallace, in his most valuable and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -readable book called "Darwinism," expressed the opinion -that the apparent failure of hybrid races to perpetuate -themselves by breeding was to a large extent due to the -small number of individuals used in experiments on this -matter, and the in-and-in breeding which was the consequence. -One of the great generalizations established -by Darwin is that in-and-in breeding is, as a rule, resisted -in all animals and plants, and leads when it occurs to a -dying-out of the inbred race by resulting feebleness and -infertility. A large part of Darwin's work consisted in -demonstrating the devices existing in the natural structure -and qualities of plants and animals for securing cross-fertilization -among individuals of the same species but of -different stock. Both extremes seem to be barred in -nature—namely, the inter-breeding of stocks so diverse -in structure and quality as to be what we call "distinct -species," and again the inter-breeding of individuals of -the same immediate parentage or near cousinship. What -seems to be favoured by the natural structure and qualities -of the plant or the animal is that it shall only breed within -a certain group—the species—and shall within that group -avoid constant self-fertilization or fertilization by near -cousins. Thus we find numerous cases in which, though -the same flower has both pollen and ovules, and might -fertilize itself, the visits of insects (specially made use of -by mechanisms in the flower) carry the pollen of one flower -to the ovules of another and to flowers on separate plants -growing at a distance. It is necessary to note that there -are, nevertheless, self-fertilizing flowers, and also self-fertilizing -lower animals, the special conditions of which -require and have received careful examination and consideration, -upon which I cannot now enter.</p> - -<p>In relation to the question of the possibility of establishing -hybrids between various species experimentally, I -must (before going on to the cognate question of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -"mongrels") tell of an interesting suggestion made to -me by my friend Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards -not long before he died, and never published by him. He -was director of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where -there is a menagerie of living beasts as well as a botanic -garden and great museum collections and laboratories. -He held it to be probable, as many physiologists would -agree, that the fertilization of the egg of one species by -the sperm of another, even a remotely related one, is -ultimately prevented by a chemical incompatibility—chemical -in the sense that the highly complex molecular -constitution of such bodies as the anti-toxins and serums -with which physiologists are beginning to deal is -"chemical"—and that all the other and secondary -obstacles to fertilization can be overcome or evaded in -the course of experiment. He proposed to inject one -species by "serums" extracted from the other, in such -a way as seemed most likely to bring the chemical state -of their reproductive elements into harmony, that is to -say, into a condition in which they should not be actively -antagonistic but admit of fusion and union. He proposed, -by the exchange of living or highly organized fluids (by -means of injection or transfusion) between a male and -female of separate species, to assimilate the chemical -constitution of one to that of the other, and thus possibly -so to affect their reproductive elements that the one could -tolerate and fertilize the other. The suggestion is not -unreasonable, but would require a long series of experiments -in which the possibility of producing such "assimilation," -even to a small extent and in respect of less -complex processes than those ultimately aimed at, would -have to be, first of all, established. My friend did not -live to commence this investigation, but it is possible that -some day we may see the obstacle to the union of ovum -and sperm of species, which are to some extent allied, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> -removed in this way by transfusion or injection of -important fluids from the one into the other.</p> - -<p>We must not lose sight of the fact, in the midst of -these various and diverging observations about the -fertilization of the ova of one species by sperms of -another species, that there is such a thing as "parthenogenesis," -or virgin-birth. In some of the insects and -lower forms of animals the egg-cell habitually and -regularly develops and gives rise to a new individual -without being fertilized at all. And in other cases by -special treatment, such as rubbing with a brush, or in the -case of marine animals by addition of certain salts to the -water in which the eggs are floating—or, again, in the -case of the eggs of the common frog by gently scratching -them with a needle—the eggs which usually and regularly -require to be penetrated by and fused with a spermatozoon -or sperm-filament before they will develop, proceed to -develop into complete new individuals without the action -upon them of any spermatozoon. In such marine animals -as the sea-urchins or sea-eggs it has been found that the -eggs deposited in pure sea-water, though they would die -and decompose if left there alone, can be made to develop -and proceed on their growth by the addition to the sea-water -of the sperm filaments of a star-fish (the feather -star or comatula). The spermatozoa or sperm-filaments -do not, however, in this case fuse with the egg-cells. -They mechanically pierce the egg-coat, but contribute -no substance to the embryo into which the egg develops. -They have merely served, like the scratch of a needle on -the frog's egg and the brushing of insects' eggs, to start -the egg on its growth, to "stimulate" it and set changes -going. It appears thus that the fertilizing sperm-filaments -of organisms generally have two separate and very important -influences upon the egg-cells with which they -fuse. The one is to stimulate the egg and start the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -changes of embryonic growth; the other is to contribute -some living material from the male parent to the new -individual arising from the growth and shaping of the -egg-cell. The first influence can be exercised without -the second, as is seen in the case of the eggs of some -sea-urchins stimulated to growth by the spermatozoa of -some star-fishes. It happens that these marine animals -are convenient for study and experiment because their -eggs are small and transparent and that they and the -spermatozoa are freely passed into the sea-water at the -breeding season, in which the fertilization of the eggs -takes place.</p> - -<p>When these facts are considered we have to admit that -in the mating of two species which will not regularly and -naturally breed together, there may be a limited action of -the spermatic element which may stimulate the egg to -development without contributing by fusion in the regular -way to the actual substance of the young so produced, or -only contributing an amount insufficient to produce a full -and normal development of the hybrid young. Such -cases not improbably sometimes occur in higher animals, -though they have not been, as yet, shown to exist except -in the experiments with sea-urchins' eggs and feather-star's -sperm.</p> - -<p>In all animals and plants, but especially in domesticated -and cultivated stocks or strains, varieties arise which, -by natural or artificial separation, breed apart, and give -rise to what are called "races." Such races in natural -conditions may become species. Species are races or -groups of individuals, which, by long estrangement (not -necessarily local isolation) from the parent stock and by -adaptation to special conditions of life, have become more -or less "stable"—that is, permanent and unchanging in -the conditions to which they have become adapted. They -acquire by one device or another the habit of not breeding -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -with the stock from which they originally diverged—a -repugnance which may be overcome by human contrivance -or by natural accident, but is, nevertheless, an effective -and real quality. Distinct forms, which have not arrived -at the stability and separation characteristic of species, are -spoken of as "races," or "varieties." It is very generally -the case that the "races" of one species can inter-breed -freely with one another, and with the original stock, when -it still exists. Comparatively little is known as to the behaviour -of wild or naturally-produced "races." Practically -all our views on the subject of "races" and their inter-breeding -are derived from our observation of the immense -number and range of "races" and "breeds" produced by -man—as farmer, fancier, and horticulturist. It has been -generally received as a rule, that the various races produced -in the farm or garden by breeding from a species, -will inter-breed freely, and produce offspring which are -fertile. A special and important series of races, in which -human purpose and voluntary selection necessarily have -a leading part, are the races of man.</p> - -<p>The offspring of parents of two different races is called -a mongrel, whilst the term "hybrid" has been of late -limited, for the sake of convenience, to the offspring of -parents of two different species. Mongrels, it has been -generally held, are fertile—often more fertile than pure-bred -individuals whose parents are both of the same race, -whilst "hybrids" are contrasted with them, in being infertile. -We have seen that infertility is not an absolute -rule in the case of hybrids, and it appears that there is also -a source of error in the observations which lead to the -notion that "mongrels" are always fertile. The fact is -that observations on this matter have nearly always been -made with domesticated animals and plants which are, of -course, selected and bred by man on account of their -fertility, and thus are exceptionally characterized by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> -fertility, which is transmitted in an exceptional degree to -the races or varieties which are experimentally inter-bred, -and, consequently, may be expected to produce fertile -mongrels. Alfred Russel Wallace insisted upon this fact, -and pointed out that in a few cases colour varieties of a -given species of plant have been found to be incapable of -inter-breeding, or only produce very few "mongrels." -This has been established in the case of two dissimilarly-coloured -varieties of mullein. Also the red and the blue -pimpernel (the poor man's weather-glass, Anagallis), which -are classed by botanists as two varieties of one species, -have been found after repeated trials to be definitely incapable -of inter-breeding. Wallace insists in regard to -crossing, that some degree of difference favours fertility, -but a little more tends to infertility. We must remember -that the fertility of both plants and animals is very easily -upset. Changed conditions of life—such as domestication—may -lead (we do not know why) to complete or -nearly complete infertility; and, again, "change of air," -or of locality, has an extraordinary and not-as-yet-explained -effect on fertility.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse">"Oh, the little more and how much it is!</div> - <div class="verse">And the little less, and what worlds away!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Infertile horses sent from their native home to a different -climate (as, for instance, from Scotland to Newmarket) -become fertile. A judicious crossing of varieties or races -threatened with infertility will often lead to increased vigour -and fertility in the new generation, just as change of locality -will produce such a result. Physiological processes which -are not obvious and cannot be exactly estimated or -measured are then, we must conclude, largely connected -with the question of sterility and fertility. Mr. Darwin -has collected facts which go far to prove that colour (as -in the case of the black pigs of Virginia, which I cited -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -in Chapter X.), instead of being a trifling and unimportant -character, as was supposed by the older naturalists, is -really one of great significance, often correlated with -important constitutional differences. It is pointed out by -Alfred Wallace that in all the recorded cases in which a -decided infertility occurs between varieties (or races) of the -same species of plants (such as those just cited), those -varieties are distinguished by a difference of colour. He -gives reasons for thinking that the correlation of colour -with infertility which has been detected in several cases in -plants may also extend to animals in a state of nature. -The constant preference of animals—even mere varieties -of dog, sheep, horses, and pigeons—for their like, has -been well established by observation. Colour is one -of the readiest appeals to the eye in guiding animals -in such selection and association, and is connected with -deep-seated constitutional qualities. "Birds of a feather -flock together" is a popular statement confirmed by the -careful observation of naturalists. Thus we arrive at some -indication of features which may determine the inter-breeding, -or the abstention from inter-breeding, of diverse -races sprung from one original stock. The "colour -bar" is not merely the invention of human prejudice, -but already exists in wild plants and animals.</p> - -<p>We now come to the questions, the assertions, the beliefs, -and the acts concerning the inter-breeding of human races, -to the consideration of which I have been preparing the -way. The dog-fancier has generally a great contempt for -"mongrels." Breeders generally dislike accidental crosses, -because they interfere with the purpose which the breeder -has in view of producing animals or plants of a quality, -form, and character which he has determined on before-hand. -This interference with his purpose seems to be the -explanation of beliefs and statements, to the prejudice of -"mongrels." Really, as is well known to great breeders -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -and horticulturists, a determined and selective crossing of -breeds is the very foundation of the breeder's art, and -there is no reason to suppose that a "mongrel" is -necessarily, or even probably, inferior in vigour or in -qualities which are advantageous in the struggle for life in -"natural"—that is to say, "larger"—conditions of an -animal's or plant's life; not those limited conditions for -which the breeder intends his products. Indeed, the very -opposite is the case. In nature, as Mr. Darwin showed, -there are innumerable contrivances to ensure the cross-breeding -of allied but distinct strains. Dog-owners who -are not exclusively bent upon possessing a dog which -shows in a perfect way the "points" of a breed favoured -by the fashion of the moment, or fitting it for some -special employment, know very well that a "mongrel" -may often exhibit finer qualities of intelligence, or endurance, -than those exhibited by a dog of pure-bred "race." -And the very "races" which are spoken of to-day as -"pure-bred," or "thoroughbred," have (as is well known) -been produced as "mongrels"—that is to say, by crossing -or mating individuals of previously-existing distinct and -pure breeds. The history of many such "mongrel breeds," -now spoken of as "thoroughbred," is well known. The -English racehorse was gradually produced by the "mongrelizing," -or cross-breeding, of several breeds or races—the -English warhorse, the Arab, the Barb. A very fine -mongrel stock having at last been obtained, it was found, -or, at any rate, was considered to be demonstrated, that no -further improvement (for the purposes aimed at, namely, -flat-racing) could be effected by introducing the blood of -other stock. The offspring of the "mongrels" Herod, -Matchem, and Eclipse accordingly became established as -"the" English racehorse, and thenceforward was mated -only within its own race or stock, and was kept pure or -"thoroughbred." Another well-known mongrel breed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -which is now kept pure, or nearly so, is that of the St. -Bernard's dog, a blend of Newfoundland, Bloodhound, -and English Mastiff.</p> - -<p>Often the word "mongrel" is limited in its use to -signify an undesired or undesirable result of the cross-breeding -of individuals of established races. But this is -not quite fair to mongrels in general, since, as we have -seen, the name really refers only to the fact they are -crosses between two breeds. When they happen to suit -some artificial and arbitrary requirement they are favoured, -and made the starting-point of a new breed, and kept -pure in their own line; but when they do not fit some -capricious demand of the breeder they are sneered at -and condemned, although they may be fine and capable -animals. No doubt some mongrels between races differing -greatly from one another, or having some peculiar mixture -of incompatible qualities the exact nature of which we -have not ascertained, are wanting in vigour, and cannot -be readily established as a new breed. In nature the -success of the mongrel depends on whether or not its -mixture of qualities makes it fitter than others to the -actual conditions of its life, and able to survive in the competition -for food and place. In man's breeding operations -with varieties of domesticated animals and "cultivated" -plants, the survival of the mongrel depends upon its -fitting some arbitrary standard applied by man, who -destroys those which do not suit his fancy, and selects -for survival and continued breeding those which do.</p> - -<p>What is called "miscegenation," or the inter-breeding -of human races, must be looked at from both these points -of view. We require to know how far, if at all, the mixed -or mongrel offspring of a human race A with a human -race B is really inferior to either of the original stocks A -and B, judged by general capacity and life-preserving -qualities in the varied conditions of the great area of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -habitable globe. And how far an arbitrary or fanciful -standard is set up by human races, similar to that set up -by the "fancier" or cultivator of breeds of domestic animals. -The matter is complicated by the fact that what we loosely -speak of as "races" of man are of very various degrees of -consanguinity or nearness to one another in blood, that is, -in stock or in ultimate ancestry. It is also complicated -by the fact that we cannot place any reliance upon the -antipathies or preferences shown by the general sentiment -of a race in this (or other matters) as necessarily indicating -what is beneficial for humanity in general or for the -immediate future of any section of it. Nor have we any -assurance that what is called "sexual selection"—the -preference or taste in the matter of choosing a mate—is -among human beings necessarily anything of greater importance—so -far as the prosperity of a race or of humanity -in general is concerned—than a mere caprice or a meaningless -persistence of the human mind in favouring a choice -which is habitual and traditional. I have referred to this -point again in the last paragraph of this chapter.</p> - -<p>In regard to marriage between individuals of different -European nationalities, a certain amount of unwillingness -exists on the part of both men and women which cannot -be ascribed to any deep-seated inborn antipathy, but is -due to a mistrust of the unknown "foreigner," which very -readily disappears on acquaintance, or may arise from -dislike of the laws and customs of a foreign people. -English, French, Dutch, Scandinavians, Germans, Russians, -Greeks, Italians and Spaniards have no deep-rooted prejudices -on the subject, and readily intermarry when -circumstances bring them into association. Though the -Jews by their present traditional practice are opposed to -marriage with those not of their faith, there is no effective -aversion of a racial kind to such unions, and in early -times they have been very frequent. During the "captivity" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -in Babylon and again after the "dispersal" by the Romans, -the original Jewish race was practically swamped by -mixture with cognate Oriental races who adopted the -Jewish faith. So far from there being inborn prejudice -against intermarriage of the peoples above cited, it is -very generally admitted that such "miscegenation" leads -frequently to the foundation of families of fine quality. -The blend is successful, as may be seen in the number -of prominent Englishmen who have Huguenot, German, -Dutch, or Jewish blood in their veins.</p> - -<p>But when we come to the intermarriage of members -of the white race of Europe with members of either the -negroid (black) race or of the yellow and red mongoloid -race, a much greater and more deeply-rooted aversion is -found, and this is extended even to members of the -Caucasian race who, possibly by prehistoric mixture with -negro-like races, are very dark-skinned, as is the case -with the Aryan population in India and Polynesia. It -is a very difficult matter; in fact, it seems to me not -possible in our present knowledge of the facts, to decide -whether there is a natural inborn or congenital disinclination -to the marriage of the white race, especially of the -Anglo-Saxon branch of it, with "coloured" people, or -whether the whole attitude (as I am inclined to think) is -one of "pride of race," an attitude which can be defended -on the highest grounds, though it may lead to erroneous -beliefs as to the immediate evil results of such unions, -and to an unreasonable and cruel treatment both of the -individuals so intermarrying and of their offspring. There -is little or no evidence of objection to mixed unions on -the part of the coloured people with whites, no evidence -of physical dislike to the white man or white woman, -but, on the contrary, ready acquiescence.</p> - -<p>A curious aversion to marriages with whites on the -part both of North American Indians and of negroes is, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> -however, recorded from time to time in the official reports -of the United States Government.</p> - -<p>Two beliefs about such unions are more or less -prevalent among white men in the regions where -they not infrequently occur. Neither of these beliefs -is supported by anything like conclusive evidence. -The one is that such unions lead to the production -of relatively infertile offspring; the mixed breed or -stock is said to die out after a few (some seven or -eight) generations. It is, however, the fact that the -circumstances under which this occurs suggest that it -is not due to a natural and necessary infertility. The -other assertion is that the offspring of parents—one -of white race and the other of black, yellow or brown—tend -by some strange fatality to inherit the bad qualities -of both races and the good qualities of neither. This is -a case to which must be applied the saying, "Give a dog -a bad name and hang him." The white man in North -America, in India, and in New Zealand desires the increase -and prosperity of his own race. Like the fancier set on -the production of certain breeds of domesticated animals, -he has no toleration for a "mongrel." In so far as it is true -that miscegenation (marriage of white and coloured race) -produces a stock which rapidly dies out—this is due to -the adverse conditions, the opposition and hostility to -which the mixed race is exposed by the attitude of the -dominant white race. To the same cause is due the -development of ignoble and possibly dangerous characteristics -in the unfortunate offspring of these marriages -more frequently than in those who find their natural place -and healthy up-bringing either in the white or the coloured -sections of the community. The "half-breed" is in some -countries inexorably rejected by the race of his or her -white parent and forced to take up an equivocal association -with the coloured race.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> - -<p>That some, at any rate, of the evils attributed to -"miscegenation" are due to the baneful influence of "pride -of race" is evident from the fact that the Portuguese (with -the exception of a small aristocratic class) have not since the -early days of the fourteenth century, perhaps in consequence -of established association with the Moorish and other -North African races, shown that pride of race and aversion -to mixture with dark-skinned races which is so strong a -feature in the Anglo-Saxons, their successors and rivals -as colonists. The long-standing admixture of black blood -in the Portuguese population before the colonization of -South America, has led to a toleration on the part of the -Portuguese colonists of "miscegenation," both with Indians -and the liberated descendants of imported negro slaves. -The consequence is that in Brazil there is no condemnation -of black blood; children of mixed parentage and of -coloured race attend the same schools as those of European -blood, and freely associate with them. There is no notion -that that portion of the population which is of mixed -negro, Indian, and white blood is less vigorous or fertile -than the unmixed, nor that vice and feebleness are the -characteristics of the former, whilst virtue and capacity -belong to the latter.</p> - -<p>The determined hostility of the Anglo-Saxon race in -North America and in British India to "miscegenation" -is in the case of the United States to be explained by -the peculiar relation of a large slave population in the -Southern States to a pure white slave-owning race: whilst -in India we have a handful of white men temporarily -stationed as rulers of millions of "natives," but never -accepting India as their home. The attitude of the -Anglo-Saxon race to the North American Indians, and -also to the Maoris of New Zealand, has never been so -extreme in the matter of miscegenation as it has been -to negroid people and to the very different though dark-skinned -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -people of the East. In support of that opinion -may be cited the fact that some of "the first families of -Virginia" are proud of their descent from Pocahontes, -the Algonkian "Princess" who married the Englishman -Rolfe. In New Zealand there are many families of mixed -Anglo-Saxon and Maori blood. Though they are not -ostracized, as are the half-breeds of negro blood in the -United States, there is a firm tendency to relegate the -half-breeds in New Zealand to the Maori section of the -population, which it must be remembered includes some -of the richest and most prosperous landowners in the -colony.</p> - -<p>It may be questioned whether there is in this matter -a greater "pride of race" among Anglo-Saxons than -among other Northern European peoples. Neither the -French nor the Germans have established great colonies -like the English, nor undertaken the administration of -a huge Eastern Empire, and have, therefore, not shown -what attitude they would adopt under such circumstances. -The tolerance and easy-going humanitarianism of the -French in relation to "miscegenation" in their dependencies -in past times has never had the significance or -practical importance which it would have possessed in -the English Colonies and in the great Indian Empire.</p> - -<p>There is, on account of the sporadic and exceptional -occurrence of modern instances, no information of any -value as to the results of mixture of other races of man. -In early times and among more primitive or less civilized -peoples there appears to have been, when immigration -or conquest gave the opportunity, no obstacle to a free -intermixture of an incoming race with the natives of an -invaded territory. The "pride of race" has, nevertheless, -throughout historic time been a frequent factor in the -adjustment of populations of diverse races, and though -"colour" has been a frequent "test" or symbol of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -superior and exclusive race, it has not been the only -characteristic exalted to such importance. Such "pride -of race" has frequently excluded the members of a -closely allied but conquered racial group from intermarriage -with the conquerors, and has only disappeared -after centuries of persistence. The term "blue blood" is -interesting in this connection. It is the "saing d'azure" -of the Gothic invaders, the conquerors of the Iberian and -Moorish people of Spain. It refers not to any "blueness" -of the blood itself, such as distinguishes veinous from -arterial blood, but to the blue colour of the veins as -seen through the colourless skin of a northern race (the -Goths), as compared with the invisibility of the veins -when the skin is rendered more or less opaque by a -brown pigment, as in the Moors and the swarthy Iberians.</p> - -<p>Among the people of Western Europe marriage has -assumed more and more a character which is almost -unknown in the rest of the world. Whatever the future -may be in regard to this matter, there is no doubt -possible that the place given to women in Western -Europe by the ideals of chivalry and the practice of -the northern race (which has so largely displaced the -traditions of the Roman Empire) has established a relation -of the sexes in which marriage and consequent parentage -have ceased to be regarded as a mere regularization of -animal desire and appetite. The accepted, but not always -consciously recognized, view of marriage in Western -Europe is that the union so sanctioned and the families -thereby produced should be the result not of the mere -physical necessity of irresponsible victims of an impulse -common to all animals, but the outcome of the deliberate -choice of man and woman attracted to one another by -sympathy, understanding and reciprocal admiration, based -upon knowledge of character, mental gifts and aspirations, -as well as upon bodily charm. A rarely-expressed but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -none the less deeply-seated conviction exists that from -such unions children of the finest nature, nurtured in -circumstances most likely to make them worthy members -of the community, will be born and reared. It is this -conviction which leads to, or at any rate endorses, the -exclusiveness which is described as "pride of race." The -Anglo-Saxon man and equally the Anglo-Saxon woman -(as well as the allied races of neighbouring nationalities) -recognize a responsibility, a race duty, resulting from -accumulated tradition, the heirloom of long ages of family -life, which causes the man to be ashamed of, and the -woman to shrink with instinctive horror from, union with -an individual of a remote race with whom there can be -no real sympathy, no intimate understanding. That -seems to me to be the explanation and the justification -of the "colour bar."</p> - -<p>In relation to the probable effectiveness of sexual -selection among uncivilized peoples in favouring and -maintaining a particular type or form of features, hair, etc., -characteristic of the race, independently of the life-preserving -value of such qualities, I may mention, before -quitting this difficult but strangely fascinating subject, -a fact observed by a traveller in Africa, and related to -me by him. Other similar facts are on record. Among -the negroes employed as "porters" by my friend, some -thirty in number, was one who had a narrow aquiline -nose and thin lips. He was as black and as woolly-haired -as any of them, but would if of fair complexion -have been regarded by Europeans as a very handsome, -fine-featured man. Such cases are not uncommon in -parts of Africa, where probably an unrecognized mixture -with Arab or Hamite blood has occurred. My friend -expected this man to be a favourite, on account of what -to him appeared to be "good looks," with the girls of -the villages at which he camped during a three months' -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -journey. At every such village, as they journeyed on, -the travellers were received with joy and good nature. -The negro porters were fêted and made much of by the -young women. But one alone was unpopular and regarded -with ridicule and dislike. This was the handsome negro -with the fine, well-modelled nose and beautiful European -lips. The black beauties turned their backs on him, in -spite of his amiable character and kindly overtures. They -invariably and by open confession preferred the men -with the thickest lips, the broadest noses, and the most -thoroughly (as we should say) degraded prognathous -appearance and disgusting expression. Hence no doubt -the young negresses were likely to perpetuate in their -offspring the features which are characteristic of their -race, and hence it is probable that mere capricious sexual -selection of individuals most completely conforming to -a preferred type—irrespective of the value of the features -preferred—may have great effect in both the selection -and the maintenance of the peculiarities of the type. -Dark skin may thus have been selected, until it became -actually black; a slight curling of the hair, until it -became woolly; thickish lips and broadish nose, until -they became excessive in thickness and breadth.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">WHEEL ANIMALCULES</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">TWO hundred years ago the Dutch naturalist -Leuwenhoek, who made many discoveries with the -highly magnifying lenses which he himself ground -and mounted, wrote to the Royal Society of London -that he had "discovered several animalcula that protrude -two wheels out of the forepart of their body as they -swim, or go on the sides of the glass jar in which they -are living." He says that "the two wheels are thick -set with teeth as the wheel of a watch," and he sent to -the society for publication drawings of these wonderful -little creatures. This was the first account of the Wheel -Animalcules. Since then they have been studied by many -microscopists, especially by Ehrenberg, who figured many -in his great book on animalcules in 1838. Fourteen years -later the delightful English naturalist, P. H. Gosse, who -studied and illustrated the "sea-anemones" so ably—and, -by his example and charming descriptions, made -the keeping of these beautiful things in marine aquaria -a favourite occupation among people of leisure, blessed -with a "curiosity concerning the things of nature"—published -some microscopical studies on Wheel Animalcules, -and continued throughout his life to make them -a special subject of his investigation.</p> - -<p>The microscope was greatly improved—in fact, reached -its present state of perfection—during Mr. Gosse's lifetime, -and a wonderful amount was added to our knowledge -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> -not only as to the various kinds of wheel animalcules -(which now number not less than 900 species), but also -with regard to the minutest details of their structure, -their growth from the egg, and their habits. Another -English lover of these minute creatures, Dr. C. T. Hudson, -of Clifton (Bristol), began his observations a few years -later, and also discovered many wonderful kinds. It -was my good fortune to bring these two devotees of the -Rotifera, or Wheel Animalcules, together, and to induce -them to write a conjoint work on their favourites—after, -as they say in their preface, they had each continued -their studies almost daily for thirty years, and had made -innumerable drawings from living specimens, which are -reproduced in the many hundred (mostly coloured) figures -engraved in the thirty-four quarto plates of their monumental -book. This was published in 1889, a year after -Mr. Gosse's death at the age of 78. My friend, Mr. -Edmund Gosse, the distinguished man of letters, is the -son of the naturalist; the microscope, the aquarium, and -the rock-pools of the seashore were the familiar delights -of his boyhood, as of mine.</p> - -<p>In Fig. 34 I have sketched the common Rotifer or -wheel animalcule. It is about the one-fortieth of an inch -long. The two specimens drawn in Figs. 34, A and B, are -seen to be clinging by the forked tail-end of the body to -a piece of weed (drawn in dotted lines). The body is -stretched in these specimens to its full length. It can be -shortened by a "telescoping" or pulling in of either end, -so as to make the animal a mere oval particle. The four -narrower joints or segments at the tail-end can be pulled -in like the segments of a telescope, whilst the two wheels -and adjacent parts can be drawn down into the body as -shown in Fig. 34, C, where the two wheels (W) are seen -showing through the skin by transparency.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_34.jpg" id="i_34.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_34.jpg" width="356" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 34.</span>—Diagram of <i>Rotifer - vulgaris</i>—the common wheel animalcule—one - hundred and twenty times as long as the creature itself. <i>A</i>, front view. - <i>B</i>, side view. <i>C</i>, head showing eyes <i>S</i>, - and retracted wheel apparatus <i>W</i>. The letters in <i>A</i> and <i>B</i> have the - following signification: <i>M</i>, mouth. <i>W</i>, wheel or ciliated disc. <i>S</i>, eye - spots on head. <i>T</i>, spur or tentacle. <i>G</i>, gizzard. <i>St</i>, - stomach. <i>Int</i>, intestines. <i>V</i>, vent: aperture of intestine.</div> -</div> - -<p>The common rotifer can walk like a looping caterpillar -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -or a leech—fixing itself by its tail, then stretching out the -head and fixing that, -whilst letting go the tail -and bringing it up by -"telescoping" it, near -to the head region. The -tail is forked, and in the -side view (Fig. 34, B) it -is seen to have a soft -branched process, which -helps it to cling. The -letter V in Fig. 34, A, -points to the vent or -opening of the gut at -the fork of the tail. -The mouth, marked -M, is seen between the -two "wheels." The two -"wheels" are really -two discs, the edges of -which are beset by -coarse "cilia," or vibrating -hairs of protoplasm.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> -These cilia "lash" and -straighten again one -after the other, so that -the optical illusion is -produced of the toothed -edge of the disc being -in movement like a -wheel. They may be -"focused" with the -microscope so that the groups or "bunches" of them -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -look like stiff, motionless "teeth," although they are -really, all the time, lashing and beating in regular rhythm. -When the animal is fixed by its tail, the lashing of the -cilia on the wheels causes currents in the water which set -with great strength to the mouth and bring floating food -particles to it. It is thus that the Rotifer feeds. When -the tail is not grasping a support, the movement of the -cilia on the wheels causes the animal to swim forward -through the water, so that it has two modes of locomotion—the -leech-like crawling method and the free swimming -method.</p> - -<p>The various internal organs of a Rotifer are readily seen -through its transparent skin (Fig. 34, A). It has a nervous -system, many bands of contractile muscles and a pair of -little tubular kidneys or nephridia, besides reproductive -germs (the eggs). I have here sketched only the digestive -canal. The mouth leads through a gullet to a very curious -organ called the "gizzard," marked G. All the wheel -animalcules have this gizzard, but its teeth, shown as two -oval bodies in the drawing, differ a great deal in shape -and complexity in the different kinds. Whilst the Rotifer -is feeding by bringing currents of water to its mouth, the -two halves of the gizzard are kept in rapid movement by -muscles, causing them to rub against one another and to -grind up the food particles which reach them through the -gullet. The gizzard (G) is followed by the digestive -stomach (St), and that by the intestine (Int), which opens -at the vent (V). The side (or three-quarter profile) view -of a similar specimen (Fig. 34, B) shows only the surface -of the little animal, and is intended to show especially the -snout-like head-lobe (S), with its two eye-spots, which -are red in colour. Standing out backwards from this is -a finger-like process (T), which is called the spur, or -tentacle. It has hairs at its tip, and is a sensory -organ.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_35.jpg" id="i_35.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_35.jpg" width="387" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 35.</span>—The Rotifer <i>Pedalion - mirum</i>—seen from the right side, magnified 180 - diameters. <i>w.a.</i>, wheel apparatus or "ciliated" margin of the cephalic disc. - <i>r.e.</i>, right side eye-spot. <i>m.</i>, mouth. <i>p.</i>, tactile process. - <i>d.l.</i>, median dorsal limb (as it is seen in profile, only three of - the fringed hairs at its extremity are seen). <i>v.l.</i>, the great ventral limb - (only five of its fan of eight fringed hairs are seen). - <i>l.l.</i><sup>1</sup>, dorso-lateral, and <i>l.l.</i><sup>2</sup>, ventro-lateral - limbs of the right side: they show the complete fans of eight fringed hairs. - <i>x.</i>, the pair of posterior processes tipped with vibratile cilia, better - seen in Fig. 36.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_36.jpg" id="i_36.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_36.jpg" width="369" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 36.</span>—The Rotifer <i>Pedalion - mirum</i>—seen from the ventral surface. Letters as in Fig. 35. - The complete fan of eight fringed hairs terminating the great ventral - limb are seen, and the three spine-like processes on each side - of it. The fringed hairs of the two ventro-lateral limbs, <i>l.l.</i><sup>2</sup>, are - omitted; they are fully shown in Fig. 35, and are the same in - number and disposition as those forming the "fan" of the great - ventral limb. Compare these hairs with those of the "Nauplius" - Crustacean larva drawn as a tail-piece to Chapter XIII.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In some wheel animalcules there is a pair of these -spurs, and the very -remarkable wheel -animalcule drawn in -Figs. 35 and 36 has -six large processes -which, though much -bigger, appear to be -of the same nature. -Of these four are seen -in Fig. 35, namely, -<i>d.l.</i>, the dorsal limb, -<i>v.l.</i>, the great ventral -limb, and <i>l.l.</i><sup>1</sup> and <i>l.l.</i><sup>2</sup>, -the two lateral limbs -of the right side, all -of them carrying fan-like -groups of fringed -hairs. They are moved -by very powerful -muscles, and strike the -water with energetic -strokes, so as to cause -the little owner to -dart through it. This -jumping or darting -wheel animalcule is -called "Pedalion," -and was discovered -and described by -Dr. Hudson. It is -so astonishing and -wonderful a little -beast, that when Dr. -Hudson sent me some alive in a tube by post in 1872, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -soon after he had discovered it, I could not believe -my eyes, and thought I must -be dreaming. It is very -like the young form of -Crustaceans known as a -"Nauplius" (see tail-piece to -the present chapter) in having -(what no other wheel animalcule -has) great hollow paired -limbs moved by <i>striated</i> muscular -fibre, carrying fringed -hairs only known before in -Crustaceans (crabs, shrimps -and water fleas), and striking -the water violently just as do -those of the Nauplius. And -yet all the while it has on its -head a pair of large ciliated -wheels which serve it just -as do those of the common -Rotifer. No Crustacean, -young or old, has this "wheel-apparatus" -nor any vibratile -"cilia" on the surface of its -body. Pedalion possesses an -astounding "blend" of characters. -Fig. 35 shows, besides -the "paddles" or "legs" (of -which two on the other side -of the animal are not seen), -the broad and large wheel-apparatus -W (within which -the right eye-spot <i>r.e.</i> is seen), -and a little lobe (<i>p</i>) called the "chin" lying just below -the mouth (<i>m</i>). The big leg (<i>v.l.</i>) and the pair on each -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -side (<i>l.l.</i><sup>1</sup> and <i>l.l.</i><sup>2</sup>), of which -that on the right side only -is seen, end in beautiful fringed hairs, which are only -seen elsewhere in the Crustacea (water-fleas and others). -Those on the lateral limbs and -the great ventral limb (Fig. 36) -are set in two groups of four on -each side of the free end of the -limb, whilst those on the dorsal -leg (<i>d.l.</i>) are apparently not so -numerous. I have corrected the -drawings, Figs. 35 and 36, by reference -to actual specimens kindly -given to me by Mr. Rousselet.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_37.jpg" id="i_37.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_37.jpg" width="335" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 37.</span>—The Rotifer - <i>Noteus quadricornis</i>—to show its curious four-horned - carapace—from which the wheel apparatus, - <i>wa</i>, emerges in front, and the tail, <i>t</i>, behind; somewhat - as the head and tail of a tortoise emerge from - its protective "box" or carapace. The ridges on - the horney covering of the Rotifer recall the horney - plates of the tortoises and turtles.</div> -</div> - -<p>The 500 different species of -Wheel Animalcules or Rotifera -differ from one another in the exact -shape of the wheel-apparatus, -in the jointing of the body and its -general shape, and in the development, -in some, of a hard skin or -shell like a turtle's or tortoise's shell -(Fig. 37) over that broadest region -of the body in which in our Fig. 34, A, -the stomach marked "St" is placed. -They differ also in the shape of the -gizzard's teeth, in the presence of -paddles or legs (in Pedalion alone), -and in the presence in some of longer -or shorter projecting movable rods -or bristles in pairs or in bunches. -Many build for themselves tubular -habitations of jelly or of hard cemented particles. They -are all minute (from the ¹/₁₂ to the ¹/₅₀₀ in. in length). -They are divided into five principal groups, which are -(1) the crawlers, like the common Rotifer (Fig. 34), which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -can crawl like a leech and also swim freely by aid of their -wheel-apparatus; (2) the naked free swimmers, which do -not crawl, but move only by swimming; (3) the turtle-shelled -free swimmers (Fig. 37) like the last, but provided -with strong, often faceted, angular, and spike-bearing -shells or "bucklers," from which head and wheel-apparatus -project in front and narrow tail behind; (4) the rooted or -fixed forms (Figs. 37 <i>bis</i>); these never swim when full -grown, but each forms and inhabits a protective tube or -case; (5) the skipping or darting forms. Of these there -is only the Pedalion mirum (Figs. 35 and 36), which is -quite unlike all the other wheel animalcules in having limbs -like those of the minute water-fleas (Nauplius, Cyclops) -which strike the water and are fringed with feather-like -hairs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_37a.jpg" id="i_37a.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_37a.jpg" width="562" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption">The larval or young form of Crustacea known as "the Nauplius." This is - the "Nauplius" of a kind of Prawn. The three pairs of branched limbs - are well seen. Much magnified.</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> -For some account of "cilia," see "Science from an Easy Chair," -Figs. 29, 33, 40 and the accompanying text.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">MORE ABOUT WHEEL ANIMALCULES</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">MICROSCOPIC as the wheel animalcules are -they yet have been watched and examined by -their admirers to as great a point of intimacy as -that reached by the devotees of insects or of birds. A -remarkable fact about them is that in about 130 different -species (out of the 500 known) it has been found that the -males are diminutive creatures, about one-tenth the size -of the females, and devoid of digestive canal; in fact, little -more than minute swimming sacs full of spermatozoa. -In one group, that of the crawling Rotifers, to which the -common wheel animalcule, figured in the last chapter, -belongs, no male at all has ever been discovered. They -are all females. They are precisely those wheel animalcules -which are known to microscopists for their power of -surviving (like the little water-bears or tardigrades and -some other minute animalcules) the desiccation, or -"drying-up" of the water in which they were living, -swimming, and crawling (see Chapters XV. and XVI.). -And it is quite probable that this power of resistance -to the adverse conditions of changing seasons has, in -the crawling Rotifers, taken the place of the production -of eggs fertilized by a male. For, as in the case -of the crustacean water-fleas (and of the terrestrial -plant-lice, or aphides and gall-flies), it is found that the -female Rotifers or wheel animalcules, which hatch from -fertilized eggs, are themselves "parthenogenetic," and lay -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> -eggs which develop without fertilization by males—that -is to say, are "impaternate." In the case of the water-fleas -these are called "summer eggs," and after one or more -generations of such fatherless females a proportion of -males are produced which fertilize the females hatched -at the same period. The eggs so fertilized acquire a -thick shell and are called "winter eggs." They remain -dormant for some months and resist the injurious influences -of winter cold, or, it may be, of drying up and -conversion of the pond-mud into dust, but hatch out when -warmer and wetter conditions return.</p> - -<p>This, however, is just what the adult crawling kind -of Rotifer can do in the full-grown state by drawing -up her body into the shape of a ball and exuding -a jelly-like or horny coat. So that she has no need -of "winter eggs," and the whole process of forming -them and of males to impregnate them has "dropped -out" of the life-history of this special kind of resistant -Rotifers. The minute insignificant males and the -eventual disappearance of males altogether in some races -is a subject which may well occupy the attention of -our human "suffragettes." That the males are minute -creatures, less than the thousandth part of the size of the -females, is a fact also ascertained in the case of some -curious marine worms (called Bonellia and Hamingia). -The only other instance of such degradation of the male -sex is in some of the barnacles (discovered by Darwin), in -which the big individuals are of double sex (hermaphrodite). -Adhering to the shells of these are found minute dot-like -"supplemental males." It is to be observed that these -are instances where the inferiority of the male is an -obvious measurable fact. In the mammals, the group of -vertebrate animals to which man belongs, the male -possesses measurably greater activity and size than does -the female, and is provided with more powerful natural -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -weapons, such as teeth and horns. He entirely dominates -and controls the female, or a whole company of females, -and in no case is there equality of the sexes, or any -approach to it, still less inferiority of the male. It is, -perhaps, a question whether "by taking thought" this -natural inferiority of the mammalian female can be -changed.</p> - -<p>The survival of Rotifers, especially of a pink-coloured -species (called Philodina roseola), after long drying or -"desiccation," has been experimentally studied. It is -found that if the water in which some are swimming is -placed in a watch-glass and allowed to dry up rapidly -the Rotifers are killed, none reappear when after a few -hours fresh water is poured into the watch-glass. But if -a few grains of sand or particles of moss are present from -the first in the water the final drying up takes place more -slowly and the Rotifers find their way between the sheltering -fragments, where the water remains long enough to -give them time to form a little gelatinous case, each for -itself. When thus encased they survive, motionless, for -months. The experiment has often been made, and is -not in doubt. According to trustworthy statements, -Philodina can thus survive even for so long as five years. -The processes of life are arrested, but the drying has not -proceeded to the extent which is called chemical drying -or dehydration. The tiny Rotifers are still of soft consistence: -the protoplasm is not chemically destroyed. -When one is watched with the microscope as water is -allowed to flow round it after several months of dust-like -aridity, it is seen to emerge from its protective case -and at once to commence swimming and searching for -food by means of the currents directed towards its mouth -by its so-called "wheel-apparatus." I may just say that -in the case of the slime-mould called "flowers of tan" the -protoplasm dries to the consistency of hard wax, and I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -have kept it for years in that state and then revived it -by moisture into full activity and growth. I used also at -one time to keep in my laboratory a supply of the dried -yellow lichen from apple-trees, in which one could always -rely upon finding the animalcules called "Macrobiotus" -or "water-bears" ready to be revived from a desiccated -condition, after three or four years passed in that condition.</p> - -<p>Many of the Rotifers carry their eggs when ripe -extruded from the body in two bunches or clusters, as is -the habit also of the little microscopic shrimps known as -Cyclops. There is a whole group of Rotifers which fix -themselves by the tail, when full grown, to some solid -support. Each then forms a protective tube or case -around itself, from the mouth of which it puts forth its -wheel-apparatus and into which it can retire for protection. -Some of the largest and most beautiful of the -wheel animalcules belong to this group of fixed or -sedentary Rotifers. The crown animalcule (Stephanoceros) -is one of these, having what are discs edged with -vibrating hairs in the common Rotifer—here drawn out -into a circlet of tapering lobes like the points of a -coronet (Fig. 37 (<i>bis</i>), B). Another is the floscule -(Floscularia), in which the wheel-apparatus has the form -of five knobs arranged on a pentagonal disc around -the mouth (A in same figure). Each knob has a -bundle of excessively fine, long, stiff, motionless hairs -spreading out from it ready to entangle food particles -which may drift into contact with them. I used to find -the stems of the fresh-water polyp (Cordylophora) of -Victoria Dock a sure source of supply of these fine little -creatures. When seen under the microscope as brightly -illuminated glassy florets on a black ground (by what is -called "dark ground illumination") their strange delicacy -and beauty cannot be surpassed. A rare species of -floscule (which I have never seen) has extra-long and fine -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -filaments, each of which shows a fine streaming current -in its substance, and is, in fact, a naked filament of living -protoplasm like one of the ray-like filaments of the sun-animalcules.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_37b.jpg" id="i_37b.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_37b.jpg" width="600" height="554" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 37</span> (<i>bis</i>).—Three - tube-building wheel animalcules. <i>A</i>, Floscularia - campanulata. <i>B</i>, Stephanoceros Eichhornii. <i>C</i>, Melicerta ringens.</div> -</div> - -<p>The most curious of the tube-building Rotifers are those -which form their tubes of little, equal-sized pellets of solid -matter—as it were, "bricks"—which they first form by compacting -fine particles in a special pit on the head and then -build them up and cement them together in rows to form the -tube, adding row after row as the animal itself increases in -length (Fig. 37 (<i>bis</i>), C). These are known as Melicerta; -and, though some kinds use any minute particles to make -their bricks, one kind is frequent which uses its own -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> -excrement for this purpose. By feeding the little creatures -first with food coloured with carmine and then with blue-stained -material, one can obtain alternate rows of pink -and blue pellets, carefully manufactured and laid in position -to build up the growing length of tube. Melicerta -has certainly an extraordinary and economical way of disposing -of that refuse which we larger creatures carefully -remove from our habitations and should be very unwilling -to employ as building material. The individuals of one -rare and interesting kind of the tube-builders, after swimming -freely in the youngest stage, settle down together and -form their gelatinous transparent tubes side by side, to the -number of fifty or more, in such a way as to produce a -perfect sphere, a twentieth of an inch or more in diameter, -built up of fused jelly-like tubes radiating from a common -centre. The inhabitant of each tube is quite separate -from and independent of his neighbours, but they all -protrude their vibrating wheel-apparatus simultaneously, -and cause the glass-like ball to rotate and travel through -the water. Many years ago I found this beautiful little -thing in a small moss-pool (not more than 3 ft. wide), -high up the sloping-side of the north-west section of -Hampstead heath, above the "Leg of Mutton Pond." -The well-meant care of the public guardians of the heath -has now drained this region, and my little moss-pools and -the "bog," in which grew the Drosera, or Sun-dew, and the -Bog-bean and such plants, have gone for ever. But we -must console ourselves with the fact that the same progressive -expansion of the great city has given us electric -railways, tubes, and tramways by which we can go farther -afield than Hampstead in a few minutes, and still find -moss-pools and the undisturbed glories of ancient swamps -and bog-land.</p> - -<p>Many of the Rotifers have a pair of ruby-red eyes, and -in some of them there is a minute crystalline lens overlying -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -the red sensitive spot, which receives the fibres of -the optic nerve coming from the brain—one on each side. -It is almost incredible that so minute a creature—often -only the one-fiftieth of an inch long when full grown—should -have a nervous system and special organs of touch -(sensory hairs) as well as eyes, and on the other hand -muscles running from one attachment to another and -called into activity by nerves connected with this same -central brain. The pair of branched tubes, which end -internally in flickering "flame-cells" and open externally -far back at the vent, are kidneys. Similar tubes called -"nephridia" or little kidneys are found in many of the -smaller animals; the earthworm has a pair in each ring -of its body.</p> - -<p>There is little doubt that the wheel animalcules are -related in pedigree to the primitive ancestors of the -marine segmented or annulate worms, which also gave -rise to the ringed leg-bearing jaw-footed creatures with -hard skin, called Crustacea, Arachnids and Insects (the -Arthropods). The wheel-apparatus or cilia-fringed discs -of the Rotifer is seen in the young stages of many marine -worms, and also in the young of marine snails, known as -the "veliger"—"velum" or "sail" being the name given -to the wheel-apparatus of the young snails (see the -drawing on p. 181). There are very minute marine -annulate or segmented worms (Dinophilus and others), -which come near to the Rotifers in many features, -whilst the ringed or segmented character of the body is -obvious in the common wheel animalcule.</p> - -<p>The Rotifers are so small that they are built up of very -few "cells" or nucleated units of protoplasm. Many of -them are of smaller size than some of the big infusorian -animalcules, which consist of a single cell. The Rotifers -are probably a dwindled pygmy race descended from -ancestors of ten or a hundred times their linear measurement. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -It is an important fact that in the possession of a -toothed gizzard, in the hard body-case or cuirass of some -kinds, and in Pedalion's rapidly-moving legs or paddles, -fringed with plumose hairs and moved by that peculiar -variety of muscular tissue which is called "striped -muscular tissue," the wheel animalcules give evidence of -relationship to the Crustacea—that is to say, it appears -to be probable that they were derived from the common -ancestor of marine worms and Crustacea before those two -lines of descent had diverged.</p> - -<p>Rotifera or wheel animalcules are found all over the -world, in the tropics, the temperate zones, the Arctic and -Antarctic, and many species have a world-wide distribution. -They occur in fresh waters and in the sea, in -great lakes, in gutters which dry up, in pools in the polar -regions and on high mountains which are solid ice for the -greater part of the year. A few are parasitic, some living -on the legs of minute Crustacea. One which I discovered -in 1868 in the Channel Islands lives in crowds on the skin -of a remarkable sea-worm (Synapta), which burrows in -the sand, exposed at low tide. It holds on (as I found -and figured) by a true sucker, which replaces the forked -tail of other commoner Rotifers. It was named "Discopus" -by Zelinka, who searched for it in consequence of -my description, and gave a very detailed account of it. -Others are parasitic inside earthworms, and one is found -inside the globe animalcule Volvox! Another causes the -growth of warts or "galls" in a curious kind of Alga -called Vaucheria.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">SUSPENDED ANIMATION</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">OUR leading newspapers, with rare exceptions, never -report the discoveries announced at our scientific -societies. But they often seek to astonish their -readers with silly stories of monsters said to have been -seen in tropical forests, ghostly "manifestations" and -such rubbish transmitted to them at a high price by -crafty "newsmongers," and do much harm to themselves -and to the public thereby. On the other hand, foreign -newspapers do occasionally report the proceedings of -their local Academies—and then "our own correspondent" -telegraphs to London with a flourish, a confused report -of what he has read and ignorantly imagines to be "a -startling discovery" because he knows nothing whatever -of the subject. Thus shortly before the recent war—the -confirmation by a French experimenter of the fact, -long since demonstrated, that the seeds of plants can -survive exposure to very low temperature, was announced -with ridiculous emphasis by one of these "fat boys" of -journalism <i>pour épater le bourgeois</i>.</p> - -<p>A temperature very near to that of the total absence -of that molecular movement or vibration which we call -"heat," can now be attained by the use of liquid hydrogen, -which enables us, by its evaporation, to come within a -few degrees (actually three!) of that condition known -as the "absolute zero." We divide into one hundred -equal steps or degrees the column of liquid (mercury, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> -spirit, or other liquid) of a thermometer as it expands -from the shrunken bulk which it occupies when placed -in freezing water to the full length which it attains when -the water is heated to boiling point. This is called the -centigrade scale, or scale of a hundred degrees. But, -as we know by the records of travellers in the Arctic -regions and by the experiments made in laboratories, -there are "degrees" of coldness or diminution of heat -which are much below that of freezing water, and can -be measured by the further shrinking of the column of -liquid in the thermometer, so that we record "degrees -below zero centigrade," each of the same length as -those above it and corresponding to the same "quantum" -of decrease or increment of heat. As we pass from the -temperature at which water is solid to that much lower -or diminished state of hotness at which mercury becomes -solid, the shrinking column of the thermometer (in which -a liquid is used not rendered solid by this amount of -cooling) falls through 39 degrees of the centigrade size, -so that we say that mercury freezes at minus 39 or at -39 degrees below zero of the centigrade scale. The conclusion -has now been reached that the absolute zero or -cessation of all heat in a body is represented by a fall -of no less than 273 degrees below zero on the centigrade -scale. Hydrogen gas becomes a liquid at 252 degrees -below zero centigrade, and a solid at 264 degrees. If we -start our counting of those degrees or increments of heat, -of which there are 100 between the freezing and boiling -points of water, at the absolute zero or condition of total -absence of heat, we must say that hydrogen "melts"—that -is, passes from the solid to the liquid state—at -11 degrees (absolute), and boils at about 20 degrees -(absolute), whilst water does not melt until 273 degrees -(absolute) of temperature are reached, and boils at -373 degrees above the absolute zero.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is the fact that, from the year 1860 onward, -numerous observers have experimented on the influence -of very low temperatures upon seeds, and have uniformly -shown that the power of germination and healthy growth -of the seeds is not destroyed by exposure to very low -temperatures. The celebrated Swiss botanist, De Candolle, -published the first careful observations on this subject -in conjunction with Raoul Pictet, who had devised an -apparatus for producing exceedingly low temperatures. -Pictet in 1893 exposed various bacteria and also seeds -to a temperature of nearly 200 degrees below zero centigrade -without injury to them. They "resumed" their -life when gradually restored to the normal temperature. -Pictet concluded that since all chemical action of the -kind which goes on in living things requires a certain -degree of temperature for its occurrence, and that this is -demonstrably considerably higher than minus 100 degrees -centigrade, we must suppose that all chemical action in -living things (as in nearly all other bodies) is annihilated -at 100 degrees below zero centigrade. Accordingly he -maintained that what we call "life," or "living," is a -manifestation of chemical forces similar to those shown -in other natural bodies, and liable to interruption and -resumption by the operation of unfavourable or favourable -conditions as are other chemical processes. In 1897, -Mr. Horace Brown and Mr. F. Escombe published, in -the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, an -account of experiments in which they exposed seeds of -twelve plants belonging to widely different natural orders -to a temperature varying from 183 degrees to 192 degrees -below zero centigrade for a period of 110 consecutive -hours (about four days and a half). As a result the -germinative powers of the seeds showed no appreciable -difference from that of seed not subjected to cold, and -they produced healthy plants. The low temperature was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -obtained by the use of liquid air in a vacuum-jacketed -flask (like the well-known "thermos" flasks), into which -the seeds were introduced in thin glass tubes. Professor -M'Kendrick had previously shown that the putrescence -of meat, blood and milk by bacteria infesting them was -temporarily arrested, but not permanently so, by exposing -those substances for one hour to a temperature of -182 degrees below zero centigrade. It appeared that -the putrefactive bacteria present in those substances were -not destroyed by that degree of cold, but returned to -a state of activity when the normal temperature was -restored. Professor M'Kendrick also showed that seeds -would germinate after exposure to like treatment.</p> - -<p>All this is ancient history, twenty years and more in -the past. The experiments of a French observer, mentioned -at the beginning of this chapter as foolishly -trumpeted in a London paper, were of service as confirming -the extensive and careful work of his predecessors. -It is only when our old well-bottled discoveries have, -however tardily, been brought before the Paris Academy -of Sciences and sent back to us by the Paris correspondents -of news agencies as "startling novelties" and "amazing -discoveries" (twenty years old), that any attempt is made -to mention them in the London daily Press. And then -they are announced without any reference to their true -history. This habit of culling stale morsels of information -from the proceedings of foreign academies points to the -fact that there is incompetence both in the purveyor and -publisher of such scraps. If our newspaper editors must -publish scraps about scientific novelties, they should -employ educated assistants to see that they do not -make themselves ridiculous. The scraps which come -round to our newspapers from Paris are usually plagiarized -from a French newspaper by some one who has a very -imperfect knowledge of the subject to which they refer, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> -and adds his own blunders to those of the original -reporter.</p> - -<p>The action of extreme cold in arresting life in such -minute organisms as plant seeds and bacteria without -destroying the possibility of the resumption of those -chemical and physical changes when warmth is restored, -is dependent on the fact that those chemical changes -can only proceed in and by the aid of liquid water. -When thoroughly frozen the chemical constituents of -minute organisms and seeds—which until frozen were -living and undergoing continuous, though perhaps slow, -change—become solid, and can no longer act on one -another or be acted on by surrounding chemical bodies -equally reduced in temperature. They may be compared -to the solid dry constituents of a Seidlitz powder—one -an acid, the other a carbonate. So long as they are -dry they remain—when mixed and shaken together—inert, -without action on one another. Even if one is -dissolved in water and then frozen solid and mixed in -a powdered state with the other at an equally low -temperature the mixture remains dry and inert. Nothing -happens so long as the low temperature is maintained. -But if we raise the temperature above the freezing-point—so -as to liquefy the solution—chemical action will -immediately ensue. With much fizzing and escape of -gas the two chemicals will unite. The effect of cold on -living matter is of this nature. It is a real "suspension" -of the changes which were—however slowly and quietly—going -on before complete solidification of the protoplasm -by freezing. A frozen seed and frozen bacteria are in -a state of "suspended animation."</p> - -<p>It is not the fact that absolutely all chemical union -and change whatsoever is prevented—that is to say, -arrested or suspended—by extreme cold, although the -union with oxygen and other such changes of the essential -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -material of living things, which we call "protoplasm," -and most other chemical changes are thus arrested or -suspended. The most striking exception is that of the -most active of all elements, the gas fluorine, which -becomes a liquid at 210 degrees below zero centigrade, -and in that condition attacks turpentine if brought into -contact with it at the same low temperature with explosive -force. Even solid fluorine combines with liquid -hydrogen with violent explosion. It seems certain, however, -that elements or chemical compounds brought into -the solid (not merely liquid) condition by extreme cold -cannot act chemically upon other bodies in the same solid -condition, even when they would at normal temperatures -so act with the greatest readiness, because they are then -either liquid or gaseous.</p> - -<p>The conception of an arrest of the changes in -organisms, which we call life, followed by their resumption -after a greater or less interval of suspense, -was long ago suggested and discussed before we had -knowledge of the action of low temperatures. The -winter-sleep of some animals and the "comatose" condition -sometimes exhibited by human beings had led to -the notion of "suspended animation." But a careful study -of hybernating animals and of human instances of prolonged -"coma" satisfied physiologists nearly 100 years -ago that the processes of life—the beating of the heart -and the respiration—were not actually and absolutely -suspended in these cases, but reduced to a minimum. The -chemical processes connected with life were still very -slowly carried on.</p> - -<p>Again, a great deal of interest and discussion was -excited in the last century by the drying up of delicate -yet complex aquatic animalcules, such as the Rotifers -(the wheel animalcules described in our last chapter) -and Tardigrades (bear animalcules), and the fact that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> -after their preservation as mere dust for many months -dried on a glass-slip they could be revived and made to -return to life by wetting them with a minute drop of -water, whilst the whole process of revival was watched -under the microscope. Letters were published in the -"Times" in the "fifties" by the Rev. Lord Sydney -Godolphin Osborn, describing his observations and experiments -on these animalcules.</p> - -<p>The yellow slime-fungus called "flowers of tan," after -creeping as a naked network of protoplasm over the -"spent tan," thrown out from tan-pits, will in dry -weather gather itself into little knobs, each of which is -as hard and brittle as a piece of sealing-wax. Yet (as -I have repeatedly experienced in using material given -to me by the great botanist, de Bary) a fragment of one -of these hard pieces, if carefully guarded in a dry pill-box -for two or three years, will when placed on a film of water -at summer-heat gradually absorb moisture and expand -itself into threads of creeping, flowing protoplasm, nourish -itself, and grow and reproduce. It was formerly suggested -in regard to these cases of resuscitation after drying, as -also in the case of seeds which germinate after being kept -in a dry condition for many years, that really they were -not thoroughly dried, but were sufficiently moist to allow -of very slow oxidation and gas exchange, which it was -said was so small in amount as to escape observation. -There was a plausible comparison of the condition of -these dried organisms to that of hybernating mammals, -desiccated snails, and comatose men. It was held that -here, too, the life-processes were not absolutely arrested, -but reduced to an imperceptible minimum.</p> - -<p>This view of the matter was connected, no doubt, -with a traditional assumption that life was an entity—an -"anima animans"—which entered a living body, kept it -continually "going" or "living," and if driven out from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -it could not return. Curiously enough, Mr. Herbert -Spencer seems to have been (perhaps unconsciously) -affected by this traditional view, since he defined life as "the -continuous"—that is the important word—"adaptation -of internal to external relations." This definition prejudiced -the view of some distinguished physiologists on -the question of "suspended animation," and I remember -a very warm dinner-table discussion with Michael Foster -and other friends, some twenty-five years ago, when I -put forward the view that so long as the intimate -structure—in fact, the chemical structure—of the protoplasm -of a living thing is not destroyed, it does not -"die" though all chemical change in it may be arrested. -I compared the dried seed and dried animalcule—as I -would now compare the frozen seed and the frozen -bacteria—to a well wound watch which is stopped by -the intrusion of a needle between the spokes of its balance -wheel, or, better, by the cooling on the wheel of a tiny -drop of soft wax so as to clog it. The works of the -watch are rendered absolutely motionless, but it is not -"dead." As soon as the needle is removed or the tiny -speck of wax melted by a gentle warmth it resumes its -movement. It is, as we say, "alive again." So, too, -the frozen or dried organism is absolutely motionless. -No chemical movements can go on in it. They are -stopped by the solidity set up by freezing, or in the case -of simple "desiccation," by the absence of the moisture -necessary for bringing the chemical molecules into contact. -If protected from destructive agents, the mechanism -remains perfect for just so many years or centuries as -that protection lasts. Whenever the frozen organism -thaws or the dried organism becomes wet, the life-processes -are resumed, the seed germinates, the bacteria -grow and multiply.</p> - -<p>Thus we see what are some of the points of interest -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> -and importance raised by the old experiments of Pictet, -M'Kendrick, and Horace Brown, the results of which were -the same as those announced as Parisian novelties. I -have yet to say a few words as to the reason why we -cannot produce "suspended animation" in higher organisms -or in man by the application to them of extreme -cold. Further, the influence of extreme cold on the -possible passage, through space, of living germs from -other worlds to this earth—a possibility suggested by -the late Lord Kelvin—requires some consideration in -connection with the striking experiments with phosphorescent -bacteria described ten years ago by Sir James -Dewar.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_37c.jpg" id="i_37c.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_37c.jpg" width="600" height="322" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption">Young stages of growth or Veliger larvæ of marine snails, - showing the ciliated band or velum which is identical - with the wheel apparatus of the Rotifers or Wheel animalcules.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">MORE ABOUT SUSPENDED ANIMATION</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">I GAVE some account in the last chapter of the -experiments made within the last twenty years, -which have shown that, in certain very simple -organisms and in seeds, all chemical change can be stopped -by the application to them of methods of freezing. The -continuous changes which go on in these living things -under ordinary circumstances are arrested by the solidification -of what was more or less "moist" material. Water -in the liquid state, though it may be in extremely minute -quantity, is necessary for the chemical combinations and -decompositions which go on in living things. Hence not -only the solidification of all moisture, in or having access -to the living bodies experimented on, arrests those -chemical combinations and decompositions, but very -thorough drying also has this result. Yet either on -thawing the frozen liquid or supplying moisture to the -"dried up" organism, the previously continuous chemical -and physical changes are resumed as though no arrest or -suspension of them had occurred. No limit is known to -the length of time during which this arrest may be -continued, and yet a resumption of living changes occur -when the cause of arrest—namely, either solidification by -cold or else dryness—is removed. The apparatus—the -exact structure and the exact chemical materials—of the -seeds or the bacteria remains uninjured and unchanged -by either freezing or drying carefully applied. It is, of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> -course, impossible to guarantee that no accident, no -unforeseen change in the surroundings, shall take place -and destroy in one way or another the experiment. But -the arrest of all change, such as goes on in life, has been, -in many experiments, maintained under careful supervision -and protection for several months, and yet life has been -resumed when the cause arresting chemical change has -been removed. The presumption, then, is in favour of -the possibility of the arrest being maintained for an unlimited -period, and yet at any time being resumed when -the arresting cause (cold or dryness) is removed.</p> - -<p>Before what we may call "the suspensory action" of -very low temperatures had become generally known, the -question occurred as to whether seeds kept in a dry -condition for several months, or even years, and yet -capable of germination when placed in moist earth, are -during their dry condition undergoing any chemical -changes. The matter presented itself in this way. -The dry seeds can germinate when sown, therefore -they are not dead, but living. According to various -physiologists and philosophers (<i>e.g.</i>, Herbert Spencer), -life is a continuous adjustment of internal to external -relations. Burdon Sanderson, the Oxford professor of -Physiology, declared that "life is a state of ceaseless -change." If this is a correct conception, and if by "living" -we mean, as the great Oxford English Dictionary tells -us, "manifesting the property called life," then the seeds -which, though dry, are still "living" or "alive" or -"endowed with life," should yield some evidence of the -"ceaseless change" (by which is meant chemical change) -of which, as things not dead but living, they are supposed -to be the seat. The late Dr. George Romanes published -in 1893 some experiments on this matter. We know that -free oxygen is very generally (though not universally) -necessary for the continual chemical changes which the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> -minutest as well as the largest plants and animals carry -on. Romanes enclosed a quantity of dry seeds in glass -tubes, from which he pumped out all gas as completely -as possible—that is to say, all except one-millionth of -the original volume. He also expelled all oxygen by -replacing it by other gases. As a result of this treatment, -continued for as much as fifteen months, he found that -neither a high vacuum nor subsequent exposure for twelve -months in separate instances to oxygen or to hydrogen, -or nitrogen, or carbon monoxide, or carbon dioxide, or -hydrogen sulphide, or the vapour of ether or of chloroform, -had any effect on the subsequent germinative power of the -seeds employed. These experiments proved that anything -like respiration by ordinary gaseous exchange with the -atmosphere was <i>not</i> going on in the seeds, and that if -they are the seat of "ceaseless change" because not dead, -the changes must be chemical interactions of some kind -or other within their protoplasm.</p> - -<p>The keeping of seeds and also of bacteria for days and -even months—at temperatures as low as 100 degrees below -zero centigrade—and their subsequent resumption of life, -has removed the possibility (not excluded by Romanes) -of the occurrence of chemical interactions within the -substance of these organisms preserved during long -periods of time, and yet not ceasing to be what is ordinarily -called "alive," or endowed with "life." It is time that we -should definitely abandon Herbert Spencer's and Burdon -Sanderson's definitions or verbal characterizations of -"life." The word "life" is commonly and properly used -to designate the condition of a "living thing" or a thing -which is "alive." A thing which has lost life—that is, -which was living, but is so no more, and cannot be -"restored to life" or resuscitated—is, in correct English, -said to have "died," or to be "dead." The motionless, -unchanging frozen seed or bacterium, which resumes its -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -living activities when carefully thawed, has <i>not</i> "died." -The mere fact that it can be resuscitated justifies the -application to it, according to correct English usage, of -the word "alive"—it is still "alive." It is not possible to -alter the significance of the words "life," "living" and -"alive," so as to retain the definitions of Herbert Spencer -and Burdon Sanderson as correct. They are incorrect. -Life is not continuous or ceaseless change. It is a property -of the more active substance of plants and animals which -has special structure and definite chemical constituents. -The property is, no doubt, usually manifested under -normal conditions of temperature, light, moisture, pressure, -chemical and electrical surroundings in a continuous -series of changes, both chemical and physical. But at -exceptionally low temperature, and in other arresting -circumstances these changes can, in a few exceptional -organisms, be absolutely stopped, though the organism -in which the changes cease is uninjured as a mechanism. -It still possesses "the property of life"—is still "alive" -although motionless and unchanging. Its life is in -suspense, as is that of a clock with arrested pendulum.</p> - -<p>The unjustified conception of "life," or "living," or -being "alive," and not dead, as necessarily a state of -incessant chemical and other change, is bound up with the -old fancy that life is not to be considered as a state or -motion of a special and complex structure called protoplasm, -but is a thing, a spirit or an essence, which takes -possession of organic bodies and makes them "live." -According to Sir Oliver Lodge, if chemists could build up -the chemical materials which constitute protoplasm, the -protoplasm so made by them would not live. It would -(he stated at the meeting of the British Association in -Birmingham in 1912) have to receive a charge or infusion, -as it were, of this thing suggested by the word "life." It -cannot live itself (according to the suppositions of Sir -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -Oliver), but serves as the vehicle, the receptacle, for this -supposed intangible entity "life." In the same imaginative -vein, our grandfathers used to say that heat was due to -the entity or "fairy" "caloric" which could be enticed -into or driven from material bodies, making them "hot" -by its presence and cold by its greater or less exclusion. -The suspended animation of frozen germs and their return -to life when warmed could thus be represented as an -affection or affinity between the fairy "Vitalis" and the -fairy "Caloric," the former fleeing from the body and -waiting near when the latter deserts his place, but returning -to happy union with "Caloric" when he again, however -feebly, pervades once more the vehicle provided for -"Vitalis." Such imaginary essences are not of any -assistance to us in arriving at a knowledge of the facts, -and so far from helping us to a comprehension of the -ultimate nature of things (which we have no reason to -suppose that it is possible for us to attain) their introduction -tends to the substitution of imaginary causes -and unverified assumptions for the carefully-tested and -demonstrated conclusions of science.</p> - -<p>In 1871 Lord Kelvin, when president of the British -Association, suggested that the origin of life as we know -it may have been extra-terrestrial, and due to the "moss-grown -fragments from the ruins of another world," which -reached the earth as meteorites. It was objected to this -that the extreme cold—very near to the absolute zero—which -prevails in interstellar space would be fatal to all -germs of life carried by such meteoric stones. But twenty -years later Sir James Dewar showed that this objection -did not hold, since at any rate some forms of life—certain -bacteria—could survive an exposure of several days to a -temperature approaching the absolute zero. Later Sir -James made some very striking experiments by exposing -cultivations of phosphorescent bacteria to the temperature -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> -of liquid hydrogen (252 degrees below zero centigrade). -These bacteria may be obtained by selective cultivation -from sea-water taken on the coast, in which a few are -always scattered. A rich growth of these bacteria in -gelatine broth gives off a brilliant greenish light when -shaken with atmospheric air or otherwise exposed to -oxygen. The light is so intense that a glass flask holding -a pint of the cultivation gives off sufficient light to enable -one to read in an otherwise dark room. The emission of -light is dependent on the chemical activity of the living -bacteria in the presence of oxygen. In the absence of -free oxygen they cease to be luminous. As soon as they -are killed the light ceases. When they are frozen solid -the light ceases, even in the presence of free oxygen gas. -When a film consisting of such a culture is frozen solid it -will remain inactive if the low temperature be maintained -for months, though exposed to free oxygen gas, and then, -as soon as it is liquefied by a gentle rise in temperature, -the active changes recommence, and the phosphorescent -light beams forth. Sir James Dewar exposed such films -to the low temperature of liquid hydrogen for (so far as I -remember) six months, and obtained from them at once -the evidence of their living chemical activity, namely, their -"phosphorescence," as soon as they were thawed. In the -frozen state, at a temperature of minus 250 degrees centigrade, -nothing, it appeared, could injure these phosphorescent -bacteria. No chemical can "get at them" at that -temperature, the most biting acid, the most caustic alkali -cannot touch them when, like them, it is in a hard, solid -condition. Powdering the film by mechanical pressure -has no effect on the bacteria. They are too small to be -crushed by any mill. Such germs would, it seemed, surely -be able to travel through interstellar space, as suggested -by Kelvin.</p> - -<p>Then it occurred to Sir James that light—the strangely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> -active ultra-violet rays of light—might be able to disintegrate -and destroy the bacteria, even when frozen solid at -the lowest temperature. He exposed his frozen cultures -to strong light, excluding any heat-giving rays, and found -that the bacteria no longer recovered when subsequently -the culture was thawed. Light, certain rays of light, can, -it thus appears, penetrate and cause destructive vibrations -in chemical bodies protected from all other disintegrating -agencies by the solidity conferred by extreme cold. I am -not able to say, at the moment, how far this important -matter has been pursued by further experiment, nor -whether what are called the "chemically active" rays of -light and other rays such as the Röntgen rays can effect -chemical change in other bodies (besides living germs), -upon which they act at normal temperatures, but in regard -to which they might be expected to be inoperative when -the bodies in question are brought into the peculiar state -of inactivity produced by extreme cold. Since light is far -more intense outside our atmosphere than within it, it -seemed, at first, that the demonstration of its destructive -action on frozen germs puts an end to Kelvin's theory of -a meteoric origin of life. It must, however, be remembered -that minute living germs could conceivably be protected -from the access of light by being embedded in even very -small opaque particles of meteoric clay. So Lord -Kelvin's suggestion as to the travelling of life on meteoric -dust cannot be set aside as involving the supposition of -the persistence of life in conditions known to be destructive -of it.</p> - -<p>The great interest in former times in relation to -"suspended animation" has naturally been in relation to -the occurrence of this condition in man and the possibility -of producing it in man by this or that treatment. There -is no doubt whatever, at the present day, that "death-like" -trances, whether occurring naturally or after the administration -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -of drugs, in the case of man and of higher animals, -are not due to that complete suspension of living changes -which we can produce, as I have here related, in certain -lower forms of life. These death-like trances are merely -cases of reduction of the living changes to a very low -degree.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>The bodies of all but the simplest animals and plants -are too large and too complex to survive the bursting and -disruptive action of extreme cold, due to the unequal -distribution of water within them and its irresistible -expansion when frozen. Their living mechanism is -broken, mechanically destroyed by this expansion. We -cannot hope to apply cold to man so as to produce -"suspended animation." It is true that experiments are -on record in which fish and even frogs have survived -enclosure within a solid mass of ice by the freezing of the -water in which they were living. But careful experiments -are wanting which would demonstrate that these animals -were actually frozen through and through, and that either -fish or other cold-blooded animals can survive a thorough -solidification by freezing of their entire substance. Such -survival cannot be pronounced to be impossible, but it has -not been demonstrated in any cold-blooded animal—even -shell-fish or worm or polyp—let alone a warm-blooded -mammal. It appears that, apart from disruptive effects, -the protoplasm of even very minute and simple organisms, -such as the Protozoa, does not in all kinds, even if in any, -survive exposure to great cold. The toleration of great -cold and return to living activity after thorough freezing -is, it appears, a special quality attained by the living -material of vegetable seeds and by many kinds of bacteria. -A similar special toleration of high temperatures, a good -deal short of the boiling point, but high enough to kill -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> -most plants and animals, is known to characterize certain -bacteria and allied Schizophyta found in hot springs. It -is a matter of common knowledge that many animals -and plants are killed by a temperature (whether too -high or too low for them) which allows others to flourish -and may be necessary for their life. Minute organisms -(flagellate monads) have been cultivated experimentally in -a nourishing liquid, the temperature of which was raised -daily by one or two degrees until the liquid was so hot -that the same species of organism was at once killed by -it when abruptly transferred to it from liquid at ordinary -summer temperature.</p> - -<p>The true "suspended animation" of many vegetable -seeds and of many kinds of bacteria under the influence -of cold is not an exhibition of a general property of living -things, but is due to a special quality of resistance gradually -attained by natural selection of variations a little more -tolerant of cold or of drought than are the majority. It is -of life-saving value and a cause of survival to the species -of plants and bacteria concerned. No doubt there is need -of further experiment on the subject of the "killing" or -destructive effect exerted by different degrees of diminution -of temperature upon the protoplasm of all kinds of -organisms, and with the knowledge so obtained we shall -be able to frame a conception of the actual mechanical -and chemical peculiarities of the protoplasm of those -bacteria and of those vegetable seeds which can be exposed -to the extreme of cold for many months or for an indefinite -period and yet subsequently recover or live again. -Probably in order to survive freezing, protoplasm must be, -not absolutely dry, but free from all but a minimum of -moisture.</p> - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> -See the chapter on "Sleep," in my "Science from an Easy Chair," -Methuen, 1909.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE SWASTIKA</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_38.jpg" id="i_38.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_38.jpg" width="600" height="563" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 38.</span>—The swastika - in its simplest rectangular form. It may turn to the right, as here, or to the left, a - less usual thing, but without significance.</div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">A GOOD many people have never heard of the -Swastika. It is an emblem or device such as is -the Cross or the Crescent. Here it is (Fig. 38) -in its most simple and most common form. In India it -is in common use at the present day, and has been so -for ages. It is the emblem of good -luck. The name "Swastika," by which -it is widely known, is a Sanskrit word -meaning "good luck." The word is -composed of Su, the equivalent of the -Greek <i>eu</i>, signifying "well" or "good," -and asti (like the Greek <i>esto</i>), signifying -"being," whilst ka is a suffix completing -the word as a substantive. -The sign or emblem called Swastika -must have existed and been largely -used in decoration of temples, images, -swords, banners, utensils, and personal -trinkets of all sorts long before this name was given to it. -It has a name in many widely separate languages. It -is often referred to by English writers as the fylfot, the -gammadion, and the "crux ansata," also as the "croix -gammée." It is often found more roughly drawn (on -pottery or cloth) as shown in Fig. 39. Often the arms of -the cross are bent rigidly at right angles as in Fig. 38, -but they are often only curved as seen in Fig. 39, C, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -or curled spirally as in B, when it is called an "ogee." -The arms of the Swastika are sometimes bent to the -right as in Fig. 38, and sometimes to the left as in Fig. 39. -This difference does not appear to have any symbolic -significance, but to depend on the fancy of the artist.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_39.jpg" id="i_39.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_39.jpg" width="600" height="185" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 39.</span>—Three simple varieties - of the swastika. <i>A</i>, the normal rectangular. <i>B</i>, the - ogee variety (with spiral extremities). <i>C</i>, the - curvilinear or "current" variety.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_40.jpg" id="i_40.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_40.jpg" width="529" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 40.</span>—Footprint of the Buddha, - from an ancient Indian carving, showing several swastikas. (Fergusson and - Schliemann.)</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In Figs. 40 to 45 a few examples are shown of the -Swastika from various places and ages. It was in use -in Japan in ancient times, and is still common there and -in Korea. In China, where it is called "wan," it was at -one time used, when enclosed in a circle, as a character -or pictograph to signify the sun. It has been employed -in China from time immemorial to mark sacred or -specially honoured -works of art, buildings, -porcelain, -pictures, robes, and -is sometimes tattooed -on the hands, arms, -or breast. In India -it is widely used in -decoration by both -Buddhists and Brahmins; children have it painted on -their shaven heads, and it is introduced in various -ceremonies. The gigantic carved footprints of Buddha -from an Indian temple drawn in Fig. 40 show several -Swastikas on the soles of the feet and on the toes. In -the Near East and in Europe the Swastika is no longer -in use: it is not, in fact, popularly known. But in ancient -and very remote times it was in constant use in these -regions, especially by the Mykenæan people and those -who came under their influence, and also by the people -of the Bronze Age—before the use of iron in Europe. -Fig. 41 shows a vase of Mykenæan age (about 1200 -years <span class="sc">B.C.</span>) from Cyprus ornamented with Swastikas. -Hundreds of terra-cotta "spindle-whorls" like Fig. 42 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> -were found by Schliemann in excavating Hissarlik and -the site of ancient Troy, and some of them date from -3000 <span class="sc">B.C.</span> in layers of different ages. The vase on which -is painted the ornament shown in Fig. 43 is from Bœotia, -and belongs to the same early period—the "Mykenæan" -or "Ægæan" before that of the Hellenes. It still -survives in the pottery of the Dipylon period (<i>circa</i> -800 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>), as is seen in the fragment drawn in Fig. 6, -Chapter I. The later Greeks of the great classical period -(Hellenes) did not use the Swastika. Nor has it been -found on the works of art of the ancient Egyptians, nor -in the remains of Babylonia, Assyria or Persia. It, in -fact, seems to have belonged especially to that ancient -"Minoan" civilization, the remains of which are found in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> -Crete and the other Greek islands. The same culture -and the same race is revealed -to us by the discoveries of -Schliemann at Mykenæ and -other spots in Greece, and at -Hissarlik, the seat of ancient -Troy. The Mykenæan art -seems not to have been transmitted -to the post-Homeric -Greeks, nor to Egypt, nor to -Babylonia and Assyria. The -Swastika seems, like the "flying -gallop" of Mykenæan art, to -have travelled in very ancient -times by a north-eastern route -to the Far East. I have given -some account of the latter, with -illustrations, in "Science from -an Easy Chair," Second series. -Like the representation of the galloping horse, with -both fore and hind legs stretched and the hoofs of the -hind legs turned upwards, the Swastika is found in the -remarkable metal work (Fig. 43 <i>bis</i>) -discovered in the necropolis of Koban, -in the Caucasus, dating from 500 <span class="sc">B.C.</span> -The Swastika and the "flying gallop" -probably travelled together across -Asia to China and the Far East, -and so eventually to India on the -one hand and Japan on the other—the -Swastika thus escaping altogether, -as does the pose of the "flying -gallop," the Near East and later -Greece. This is a very remarkable and interesting -association.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_41.jpg" id="i_41.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_41.jpg" width="434" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 41.</span>—Vase from Cyprus - (Mykenæan Age, <i>circa</i> 1200 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>); painted with lotus, - bird and four swastikas (Metropolitan Museum, New York City).</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_42.jpg" id="i_42.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_42.jpg" width="600" height="597" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 42.</span>—Terra-cotta - spindle-whorl marked with swastikas. Troy, 4th city (Schliemann).</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Mykenæans and their island relatives obtained -the Swastika either from the ancient Bronze-age people -of Europe or else gave it to them, since it is very nearly -as common as a decoration or symbol on the bronze -swords, spear-heads, shields, and other metal work of -these prehistoric people of the middle and north of Europe -(also occurring in the pottery of the Swiss Lake dwellings), -as it is in the islands and adjacent -lands of the Eastern Mediterranean. -The Swastika is also -found abundantly on the early -work of the Etruscans, but disappeared -from general use in -Italy, as it did from the rest of -Europe, before historic times, -although occasionally used (as -in the decoration of the walls of -a house at Pompeii). All over -Germany, Scandinavia, France, -and Britain it is found (Fig. 44) -on objects of the Bronze period—sometimes -on stone as well as -on bronze utensils, ornaments, -and weapons. A few objects of -Anglo-Saxon age are ornamented -with it—especially remarkable -is a piece of pottery of that age from Norfolk -(Fig. 45).</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_43.jpg" id="i_43.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_43.jpg" width="385" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 43.</span>—Ornament from an - archaic (pre-Hellenic) Bœotian vase, showing several - swastikas, Greek crosses and two serpents (from Goodyear).</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_43a.jpg" id="i_43a.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_43a.jpg" width="600" height="347" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 43.</span> (<i>bis</i>).—Swastika in - bronze repoussé, from the necropolis of Koban, - Caucasus (after Chantre "Le Caucase"), about 500 <span class="sc">B.C.</span></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_44.jpg" id="i_44.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_44.jpg" width="600" height="518" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 44.</span>—Silver-plated bronze horse-gear - from Scandinavia, showing two swastikas, and below a complex elaboration of a swastika. - (Bronze Age, about 1500 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>)</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_45.jpg" id="i_45.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_45.jpg" width="515" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 45.</span>—Anglo-Saxon urn from - Shropham, Norfolk, ornamented by twenty small hand-made - swastikas stamped into the clay. (British Museum.)</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The history of the "Swastika" would be remarkable -enough if it ended here with the disappearance of its use -in Europe in prehistoric times and its continued use in -the Far East and India. But the most curious fact about -it is that we find it as a very common and favourite -decoration and device among the native tribes in North -America and Mexico, and exceptionally in Brazil. It is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> -found in use among the Indians of Kansas and other -tribes—as a device in pottery, in bead-work (Fig. 46), -patch-work, quill-embroidery, and other decorative fabrics. -The Indians called Sacs, Kickapoos, and Pottawottamies, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -who worship the sun (which is associated with the -Swastika in China), call it by a native name signifying -"the luck." It is also found as a decorative design in -the most ancient remains of man in America, dating (so -far as can be guessed) from a thousand years or more -before Columbus (Fig. 47).</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_46.jpg" id="i_46.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_46.jpg" width="600" height="219" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 46.</span>—Piece of a ceremonial - bead-worked garter, showing star and - two swastikas made by the Sac Indians, Cook County, Kansas. (Modern.)</div> -</div> - -<p>It is generally held that the Swastika must have been -introduced into America in prehistoric times by early -redskin immigrants from Asia. The question has been -raised as to whether this introduction was before or after -the worship of Buddha in Asia. It is only amongst -Buddhists that the Swastika has a religious or sacred -character. Elsewhere it seems to have been a mark -or sign carrying "good luck." A representation of a -sitting human figure incised on shell has been found in a -prehistoric burial-mound in Tennessee, which has remarkable -resemblance to the Asiatic statues of the Buddha. -Shell ornaments have also been found here decorated -with sharply-cut Swastikas, and in a mound in Ohio -thin plates of copper were found cut into simple Swastika -shapes like that of Fig. 38, four inches across. Modern -Mexican Indians make brooches of gold and turquoise in -the form of the Swastika, and it is a favourite device -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> -among the Indians of neighbouring territory. Swastikas -occur as decorations or lucky marks on the small terra-cotta -"fig-leaf," which was worn by the women of some -of the aboriginal tribes of Brazil, and have also been -found on native pottery from the Paraguay River.</p> - -<p>Some students of this subject have held the opinion -that the "Swastika" has been invented independently at -different times in different parts of the world. It is a -fairly simple device, it is true; but the view which is -accepted at present is that it has spread from one centre—probably -European in the -late Stone period—through -the Mykenæans, across Asia, -and so with early immigrants -across the Pacific into the -American continent.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_47.jpg" id="i_47.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_47.jpg" width="600" height="438" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 47.</span>—A stone slab from the - ancient city of Mayapan (Yucatan, Central America), on which (right - side) a curvilinear swastika is carved. (From the American Antiquarian - Society, 1881.)</div> -</div> - -<p>Apart from this problem, -there is an interesting -question as to how the -device probably took its -origin. The "Swastika" -is sometimes called the -"gammadion," because it -may be regarded as four -individuals of the Greek letter gamma (which has this -shape [Greek: G]) joined at right angles to one another. The old -English name for it, dating from Anglo-Saxon times, -was fylfot—an old Norse word of doubtful meaning, which -has no currency at the present day.</p> - -<p>A method of making the Swastika by piling up sand -or grain on a flat surface, actually in use at the present -time in India, is shown in Fig. 48. The artist makes -first of all a circle with a cross drawn within it (A). -Then the circle is rubbed out or cut away at four -corresponding points where the arms of the cross touch -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> -the circle, and so we get B. Then by the straightening -of the curved pieces we get the correct rectangular -Swastika, C. It is not probable that this is the way -in which the Swastika was originally devised, though it is -not possible to arrive at any certainty on the subject.</p> - -<p>In these matters concerning the origin of simple -ornamental patterns, designs, and symbols, we always -have to deal with certain natural opposing tendencies -on the part of the artist-draughtsman or designer, one or -other of which may be variously called into prominence -by the softness or hardness or other quality of the -material he has to use, or by the individual fancy for -elaboration or for simplification which exists in him. I -will call four of these tendencies which concern us in -regard to the Swastika: 1, the rectilinear as opposed to -2, the curvilinear, and 3, the grammatizing as opposed -to 4, the naturalizing tendency, and will show what -bearing they may have on the origin of the device known -as the Swastika.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_48.jpg" id="i_48.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_48.jpg" width="600" height="246" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 48.</span>—Diagram to show the - derivation of the swastika from a Greek cross enclosed by a circle. In India the swastika - is actually modelled in this way—in native ceremonies with - rice-grain spread on the ground. The successive figures - drawn above are produced by moving the rice with the hand.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE ORIGIN OF THE SWASTIKA</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE Swastika is, we have seen, a very early device -or symbol in use among ancient races in Europe, -Asia and America. Though it has been found -on an ingot of metal in Ashanti it was of late foreign -introduction there, and is not known in Africa, nor in -Polynesia and Australia, nor among the Eskimos. How -did it as a mere matter of shape and pattern come into -existence? One might suppose that such combinations -of lines as the simple cross and this modified cross, with -the arms bent each half-way along its length to form a -right angle, would be very natural things for a primitive -man—or a child—to make when trying to produce some -ornamental effect by tracing simple rectilinear and symmetrical -figures. No doubt such a "playing with lines" -is a common phase or stage of the human search for -decorative design. It leads by gradual steps to very -complex line-decoration in early pottery and woven work, -which is sometimes called "geometrical design."</p> - -<p>It is, however, the fact, and a very interesting one, -that the tendency to make geometrical design is not so -pronounced in the very earliest examples of human -drawing and ornament known to us, as is the tendency -to copy natural objects. And this would appear to be -especially the case where the drawing is to be a symbol -or significant badge. In the earliest art-work known to -us—that of the cave-men of the late Pleistocene period in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> -Western Europe (see Chaps. I., II. and III.)—the artists -were busy with attempts (often wonderfully successful -ones) to present the outlines of familiar animals (and -sometimes plants) by incised carving on bone or painting -on the rock walls of caves—preceded, it is true, by a -period in which "all-round" sculpture in bone or stone -or modelling in clay was the method employed. The -extensive use of lines—concentric or parallel, like those -on the finger-tips—as decoration of stone work is not -known until the later or Neolithic period. -<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> On one at -least of the incised bone drawings of the Palæolithic -cave-men two little diamond-shaped lozenges are engraved. -They are seen in the cave-men's drawing of -a stag figured on pp. 12, 13 of this book. These lozenges -are supposed to be the "signature" of the artist, and, -if so, are not only the first examples of a geometrical -rectilinear figure as ornament, but the earliest examples -known of the use of a badge or symbol as a means of -identification.</p> - -<p>When we compare the simpler decorative designs -made use of by the less cultivated races of men, we find -that there are certain distinct and opposed tendencies -the predominance of which is of importance in helping -us to explain the origin of the design. The tendency to -make straight lines and rectilinear angles, which we may -call the "rectilinear habit," is found in work executed -on hard stone by a graving tool, and in work where -square-cut stones are set together or flat pieces of wood -or straw are interlaced, and in coarser kinds of weaving, -bead-work, and basketwork. The opposite tendency is -found in work executed with a brush and fluid paint on -pottery or cloth, or even with a graver on soft clay or bone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> - -<p>The contrast is well shown in the two renderings of -one and the same "pattern," shown in A and B of Fig. 49. -A is the rectilinear angular decorative design which is -known as the "Greek key pattern," whilst the scroll -below it is the "curvilinear" treatment of the same -subject. The first takes its rectilinear character from -a structure built up of hard blocklike pieces; the other -is the flowing, easily moving line of a brush laying on -paint, or of a style moving over clay or soft wax. The -contrast is the same as that of the capital letters of the -Roman alphabet, as used in print, with their equivalents -in "copper-plate," -cursive handwriting.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_49.jpg" id="i_49.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_49.jpg" width="600" height="325" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 49.</span>—The Greek Key pattern - in <i>A</i> rectangular, and <i>B</i> curvilinear or "current" form.</div> -</div> - -<p>Another pair of -tendencies opposed -to each other which -have much significance -in the explanation -of decorative -design is the tendency -to convert the -simple lines of an -original design into a drawing representing some animal -or plant shape. At the end of the last chapter I distinguished -this as the "naturalizing" tendency, contrasting -it with the grammatizing or simplifying tendency. -A good example of it is seen in Fig. 50. In A of that -figure we see a circle divided into three cones by curved -lines; this is a known design. It is called a "triskelion" -(meaning a three-legged figure), or is more correctly -termed "a three-branched scroll." The curves are converted -into angles and straight lines in B, and then the -stiff rectilinear "triskelion" is subsequently developed into -three human legs, as shown in C, Fig. 50. It is naturalized. -Were the change to proceed in the other way from the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> -three human legs to the simple lines, we should have an -example of the opposed tendency, namely, that of converting -drawings of natural objects—by a degenerative or -reducing process—to the simplest lines representative of -them. This tendency, which we call "grammatizing" -(from gramma, the Greek for a line), is far commoner -in early art than the naturalizing tendency which sets -in when the artist is exuberant, self-confident, and -imaginative. We see a "naturalizing" tendency in the -flamboyant and arabesque decorative work of the renascence, -but it is also found among the happy Minoan, -or Ægæan, island folk -who decorated great -pots and basins in -Cyprus and Crete with -forms suggested by -birds, sea-creatures, -and climbing plants, -and worshipped the -great mother Nature -as Aphrodite, the sea-born -goddess.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_50.jpg" id="i_50.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_50.jpg" width="600" height="234" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 50.</span>—Diagrams of the "triskelion" or - figure formed by the division of a circle into three equal bent cones as in <i>A</i>. - <i>B</i> is the rectangular form derived from it. <i>C</i> - is a "naturalized" form derived from it, namely, the three conjoined legs used as - the badge of Sicily and of the Isle of Man.</div> -</div> - -<p>The triangular island of Sicily (called also Trinacria) -had in ancient times (even as far back as 300 <span class="sc">B.C.</span>) the -conjoined three legs (shown in Fig. 50, C) as its badge or -armorial emblem. An ancient Greek vase found at -Girgenti has this badge painted on it. Ancient Lycia -had a triskelion formed by three conjoined cocks' heads -stamped on its coins. Though it has no direct connection -with the Swastika, the introduction of the "three legs" -as the armorial emblem of the Isle of Man is worth -relating, as it is not known to most of those who are -familiar with the device, with its motto, "Quocunque -jeceris stabit" on the copper pence minted for that island -up to as late a date as 1864, and current in Great Britain. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> -King Alexander III of Scotland expelled the Norse -Vikings from the Isle of Man in <span class="sc">A.D.</span> 1266, and substituted -for their armorial emblem in the island, which was a ship -under full sail, the three legs of Sicily. Frederick II, -King of Sicily, married Isabella, the daughter of Henry III -of England. Alexander III of Scotland married Margaret, -another daughter of Henry, and Henry's son, Edmund -the Hunchback, became King of Sicily, in succession to -his brother-in-law Frederick. Alexander of Scotland was -thus brother-in-law both of Frederick II and of Edmund, -successive kings of Sicily. It was in this way that he -was led, when he added the Isle of Man to his kingdom, -to replace the former Norse emblem of the island by the -picturesque and striking device of that other island—Sicily—with -which he had so close a family connection.</p> - -<p>The tendency for drawings of men and animals when -used as decorative designs to degenerate, in the course -of time and repetition, into more and more simple lines, -to become more and more "grammatized" and simplified, -till at last their origin is hardly recognizable, is both a -very remarkable and a very usual thing. The process -of degeneration, step by step, can often be traced, and -curious remnants of important parts of the original drawing -are found surviving in the final simplified design. The -paddles and other carvings of some of the South Sea -Islanders show very curious "degenerations" of this kind. -A carved human head with open mouth becomes by repeated -copying and simplification a mere crescent or hook, -which is the vastly enlarged mouth of the original face. It -alone survives, and is of enormous size, when all other -features and detail have been abandoned. In some -carvings of a face the tongue is shown projecting as an -indication of defiance. In course of simplification in -successive reproductions the face becomes a mere curved -surface with a large pointed piece standing out from it; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> -it is the tongue. That one significant thing—suggesting -defiance—alone persists. The study of this process in -human art covers a very wide field, including all races -and all times. An excellent example is that given in -Fig. 51. It shows the step by step "grammatizing" of -a favourite decorative drawing—that of an alligator, as -painted by the Chiriqui Indians of Panama on pottery. -We start in Fig. 51, A, with an alligator, already considerably -"schematized" or conventionalized. The Indians -could do better than that, but it served for pottery -decoration. The figures B, C, D show three stages of -further "grammatizing" -of the design -(from different parts -of the surface of a pot) -till, in D, we get the -alligator reduced to a -yoke-like line and a -dot!</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_51.jpg" id="i_51.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_51.jpg" width="600" height="280" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 51.</span>—Four stages in the simplification - of a decorative design—the Alligator—as painted on pottery by the Chiriqui - Indians. (Holmes.)</div> -</div> - -<p>Familiar modern -examples of this reduction -of an animal -figure to one or two lines, with mysterious-looking branches -(representing limbs or horns), are seen in the scattered -devices on the Turkey carpets so largely used at the -present day. A comparison of various examples of such -carpets of different age and locality reveals the true nature -of these queer-looking patterns as representations of -animals! Another familiar instance of the grammatizing -of an animal form is that shown in Fig. 52, D, which is -the common symbol in modern European art for a flying -bird. Fig. 52 shows, however, some more important -simplifications of animal form. The series marked E are -a few examples from hundreds painted on the walls of -caves in Cantabria (Spain) by prehistoric men. They -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -start with a clearly recognizable figure of a man—many -such, an inch or two high, occur on some parts of the -cave-walls—and then we have all sorts of simplifications -and deviations from the more naturalistic initial design, -as shown by the rest of the series, ending in a T—a -primitive symbol -often arrived at by -savage decorative -artists in various -parts of the world -by reducing and -grammatizing the -human figure. The -letters of many -alphabets have -been simplified in -this way from original -picture-like -signs or pictographs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_52.jpg" id="i_52.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_52.jpg" width="523" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 52.</span>—Simplification (grammatizing) of - decorative design. <i>A</i>, a stork walking. <i>B</i>, a stag. <i>C</i>, a stork with - wings spread for flying—resulting when fully "grammatized" - in a curvilinear swastika. <i>A</i>, <i>B</i>, and <i>C</i>, - from spindle-whorls found at Hissarlik. <i>D</i>, conventional representation of three - flying birds. <i>E</i>, grammatized human figure from the walls of caverns in - Cantabria.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_53.jpg" id="i_53.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_53.jpg" width="586" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 53.</span>—Spindle-whorl - from Troy (fourth city), with three swastikas—two resembling - "stylized" storks (see Fig. 52, C). (Schliemann.)</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The drawings -lettered A, B and C -in Fig. 52 represent -accurately figures -scratched on the -clay "spindle-whorls" -(before baking), so abundant -in the remains -of the ancient cities on the hill of Hissarlik (Troy), -found by Schliemann (see Figs. 42 and 53). These -heavy, bun-like spindle-whorls have retained their use -and shape since Neolithic times (they are found in -the Swiss lake-dwellings) to the present day. Similar -whorls were made of modern porcelain, variously decorated, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> -in France in the last century and sold to the -peasants for giving weight and rotatory stability to -the spindle used in spinning, and are still used wherever -the spindle survives, as among the Indians of -Central America. A "grammatized" profile representation -of a stork (Fig. 52, A) is one of the designs on -these Hissarlik spindle-whorls, and so is the linear representation -of a stag (Fig. 52, B). And now we come -back to the Swastika. The four figures in a row, marked -C in Fig. 52, are a few of the representations -of "flying" storks on -these same spindle-whorls; one so -marked is drawn in Fig. 53. They -are of various degrees of simplification, -and the last but one on the -right hand side is identical with a -Swastika! It must be carefully -remembered that these clay spindle-whorls -from Hissarlik are very -commonly inscribed with undoubted -well-shaped Swastikas, as shown in -Fig. 42. The Swastika is quite -a common and usual decorative -lucky badge in the household art -of that locality and age. Hence it is not surprising -that M. Solomon Reinach, of Paris, has suggested -that the Swastika may have originated thus—by the -"stylizing" or "grammatizing" of a favourite and sacred -bird—the stork. Once thus suggested and drawn in the -simple Swastika shape the emblem (it would be supposed) -became fixed, and made as rectilinear and simple as -possible. Thenceforward it was accepted as an emblem -of good luck, which has been transmitted throughout the -ancient world of Europe, Asia and America. This theory -has a plausible aspect, but I understand from M. Reinach -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -that he no longer attaches importance to it. I do not -know what theory, if any, of the origin of the Swastika -now commends itself to him, nor whether he thinks it has -originated independently in several times and places, or -holds that it has one common origin. I am inclined to -favour the theory that the Swastika has been started by -the copying of the form of a natural object on the part of -a primitive race of men, and that this form has lent itself -to the invention of other badges and symbols besides that -known as the Swastika. I will explain this in the next -chapter.</p> - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> -<div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> -But spiral and leaf-like decorative designs engraved on bone (see Fig. -29, p. 54) are found in caves associated with other carvings made by cave-men -of the Reindeer or late Palæolithic period.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE TOMOYE AND THE SWASTIKA</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_54.jpg" id="i_54.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_54.jpg" width="589" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 54.</span>—The - "Tomoye"—the Japanese badge of triumph.</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_55.jpg" id="i_55.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_55.jpg" width="600" height="164" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 55.</span>—Symbols of the history - of the universe used by the ancient Chinese philosopher Chu-Hsi. - <i>A</i>, The original "void." <i>B</i>, The great - monad. <i>C</i>, The monad divides into two, male - and female. <i>D</i>, The halves in rotatory movement, - suggested by the S-like bending of the - dividing line or diameter of the circle.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="p4"> -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_56.jpg" id="i_56.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_56.jpg" width="600" height="297" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 56.</span>—Diagrams - to show the possible derivation of - the swastika from the inscription of two S-like lines - (or "ogees") within a circle so as to divide the - circle into four bent cones. <i>B</i> and <i>C</i> are ogee and - rectangular swastikas easily produced by modification - of the encircled figure.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">FIG. 54 represents a remarkable design which is a -sort of national emblem, a universally accepted -badge of triumph and honour in Japan, and is called -"Tomoye"—meaning "triumph." The black and white -portions are in that country painted respectively red and -yellow. It is simply a circle divided -into two equal cone-like figures by the -inscription within it of a doubly-curved -line like the letter S. Where and how -did the Japanese get this badge? Who -invented it, or from what natural object -is it copied? A modified Tomoye with -the cones dislocated is used as the -national flag of Korea. A single one -of these curious, tapering, one-sided -cones is closely similar to the cone-like -figures sometimes called "pines" which one sees -on Indian shawls. The origin of these is sometimes -said to be a copying of some fruit or vegetable growth, -but is really not ascertained—and is possibly half of a -Tomoye! A great circular altar-stone has been found in -Central America, 5 ft. across, divided by a deep S-shaped -groove into two equal one-sided cones (Fig. 59) like the -Tomoye. The figure formed by an S within a circle is -found in the writings of the ancient Chinese philosopher -Chu-Hsi. He gives a series of symbols representing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> -(according to him) the history of the universe. They are -shown in Fig. 55, and are explained as follows. The -empty circle A -represents the -original "void"—the -boundary line -is conventional. -After untold æons -the great monad -appeared. It is -represented by B. -Then we get the -division of the -great monad (now called "Tai-I") into two, shown in -C of our Fig. 55—singularly recalling the division of the -nucleated cell or protoplasmic unit of animal and vegetable -structure. The two halves, however, in this case represent -the feminine called "Yin" and the masculine called -"Yang." The last drawing, D of Fig. 55, shows the Yin -and the Yang in -rotatory motion. -This is indicated -by the S-like -bending of the -diameter, and -the consequent -formation of a -figure like the -Tomoye. By -this motion the -visible universe -is supposed—by -the philosopher Chu-Hsi—to be produced. The figure -marked D is described as a "cosmological symbol." -It does not help us to the origin of the figure showing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> -the division of the circle as in the Tomoye, for it dates -only from about the twelfth century of our era.</p> - -<p>If we suppose the circle divided, as in the Tomoye, -to be a very ancient badge or device, dating from prehistoric -man, then it is probably derived from a natural -object. And this object was probably a ground-down -transverse section across a whelk-shell, for if one makes -such a section just above the mouth of the shell -at right angles to its length, one gets two adjacent -chambers of the spirally-coiled shell separated by an -S-like partition, the resulting figure given by the slice -across the shell being that of the -"tomoye," with its paired, one-sided, -cone-like constituents. Shells are -amongst the chief ornaments used by -prehistoric and modern savage man. -Large ones are ground down to make -armlets. The perception of the spiral -as a decorative line is almost certainly -due to the handling and grinding-down -of snail shells, and, indeed, we -find spirals and reversed spiral scrolls -engraved on bone by the Pleistocene cave-men (see -Fig. 29).</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_57.jpg" id="i_57.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_57.jpg" width="600" height="456" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 57.</span>—Terra-cotta - cone with a seven-armed sun-like figure engraving on it. Troy. (Schliemann.)</div> -</div> - -<p>The Ægæan people of the Greek islands (of whom -the Mykenæans are a part) copied a variety of forms of -marine animals in their decorations of pottery, and, in -fact, natural shapes were the basis of their decorative art. -They simplified and "grammatized" their more nature-true -designs into badges and symbols.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_58.jpg" id="i_58.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_58.jpg" width="600" height="548" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 58.</span>—Scalloped Shell Disk, from a - mound near Nashville, Tennessee, showing in the centre a tetraskelion with four - curved arms, about four inches in diameter, made of polished shell. (Peabody - Museum.)</div> -</div> - -<p>We find in early work discovered in the ancient mounds -of North America decorative circles (Fig. 58) in which two -S-like lines at right angles to one another are inscribed -as shown in Fig. 56, and we find also that these curved -rays may be prolonged as a marvellous enveloping -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -spiral coil or helix—especially in the painting of pottery. -When the curved rays are many in number, as in Fig. -57, the design has been interpreted by some archæologists -as symbolizing the sun, and it is important to -remember that the Swastika itself was used in China -as the pictograph of the sun. A single curved S-like -line has been found cut on a great circular slab, an -ancient altar-stone (Fig. 59) in Honduras (Copan)—so as -to divide the circle as is -done in the Japanese -Tomoye. It is obvious -that the exact geometric -character of the -S-like division is of -great significance in -these designs and requires -careful study -and explanation. I -have briefly discussed -this matter at the end -of the chapter. In -the common "ogee -Swastika," Fig. 56, B, -the more or less -elaborately helicoid -arms are merely careless -flourishes of the painter's brush. The simple four-rayed -figure, shown in Fig. 56, A, is often spoken of as -a "tetraskelion," or four-legged scroll, and is associated -with the three-legged figure or triskelion which I wrote -of in the last chapter. If the curvilinear "tetraskelion" -be angularized—that is to say, rectangles substituted for -semicircles, we get the correct fully developed Swastika, -Fig. 56, C. And if, abandoning the circle, the draughtsman -rapidly drew with a brush or on soft clay lines like -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> -an S crossing one another at right angles, he produced -what is common enough wherever the more formal rectangular -Swastika is found, namely, the curvilinear or -"ogee Swastika," Fig. 56, B.</p> - -<p>It is not possible with our present knowledge to penetrate -into the remote past and really ascertain the origin -of the shape or device called a Swastika. But it is, I think, -quite likely that in manipulating the "tomoye" symbol -(whether copied from a section of shell or originating by -more independent invention and "trying" of lines and -curves and circles), very -early man duplicated the -symmetrical S by which -he had divided a circle -and produced the tetraskelion -seen in Fig. 56, A. -The conversion of this -into the rectangular -Swastika and into -varieties of the ogee and -menander (which I have -not found space to describe) -would be an easy -and natural sequence.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_59.jpg" id="i_59.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_59.jpg" width="600" height="470" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="sc">Fig. 59.</span>—An altar-stone of prehistoric - age. The circular surface is cut into by a trough of S-shape, which divides it so - as to resemble the Japanese "Tomoye." From Copan, Honduras.</div> -</div> - -<p>At the same time, I have no conviction that this is -the real origin of the Swastika, and await further evidence. -The "flying-stork theory," which was put forward by -Reinach, is very attractive. Birds as badges and "totems" -are frequent among primitive mankind, and certain species -are often regarded as sacred and bringing good luck. -The stork is one of these. If the artists who marked the -very ancient clay-pottery of Hissarlik with the Swastika -and also with outlines of the flying stork, strongly -resembling a Swastika, did not derive the Swastika from -the stork, but had received it from some independent -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> -source, then it is probable that they purposely drew the -flying stork, so as to make it resemble as much as possible -a Swastika.</p> - -<p>When we take account of the apparently arbitrary -passage of human decorative design from the naturalistic -to the linear, and from the linear to the naturalistic; from -the curvilinear to the rectilinear, and from rectilinear to -curvilinear; when we also reflect that some races and -populations of men have been prone to seek for the -forms of their decoration in the natural forms of plants -and animals, whilst others have made use of mere -mechanical patterns of parallel or interlacing lines, we must -conclude that by the appeal to one or other of these -various tendencies it is easy to invent a large variety of -more or less plausible theories as to the origin of the -Swastika. The truth of the matter can only be decided, -if ever, by more direct and conclusive evidence than we -at present possess. Nevertheless, it is a legitimate and -fascinating thing to speculate on the origin of this -wonderful world-pervading emblem coming to us from -the mists of prehistoric ages, and to endeavour to arrive, -if possible, at possible points of contact between it and -other "devices" and "symbols," even though they may -be of equally obscure birth.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_60.jpg" id="i_60.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_60.jpg" width="600" height="494" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption1"><span class="sc">Fig. 60.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>The accurate division of a circle into two equal -comma-shaped areas of the special shape presented by -the "Tomoye" of the Japanese (Fig. 54) and the rotating -"Great Monad" of Chinese cosmogony (Fig. 55), is effected -by describing within a given circle two circles each having -its diameter equal to a radius of the enclosing circle. The -two inscribed circles touch one another at the centre -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> -of the latter, but do not overlap. The area of the enclosing -circle is thus divided into four areas, <i>a</i>, <i>b</i>, <i>c</i> and <i>d</i> -(see Fig. 60, A). The areas <i>a</i>, <i>b</i> are the two inscribed -circles. Each of the residual areas <i>c</i>, <i>d</i> is called (as Sir -Thos. Heath, F.R.S., kindly informs me) an "arbelus" by -ancient Greek geometricians—a name used for a rounded -knife used by shoemakers. The comma-shaped bent -cone or pine is formed by the fusion of one of the two -small circles with one of the adjacent arbeli (Fig. 60, B). -The figure so formed which to-day is loosely spoken of as -a "bent cone," a "pine," or a "comma," has never, so far as -I can ascertain, received a name in geometry, nor in the -language of decorative design or pattern-making. Nor -has the S-like line made by the two semicircles separating -the contiguous "pines" or "commas" received any -designation though vaguely indicated by the word "ogee." -The comma-like areas might conveniently be called -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> -"streptocones," and their S-like boundary "a hemicyclic -sigmoid." As shown in Fig. 56, by drawing a second -hemicyclic sigmoid of the same dimensions at right angles -to the first, the circle is divided into four smaller streptocones. -By using sigmoids or half-sigmoids of a curvature -of a different order from that of the hemicyclic one, but of -a precisely defined nature, the circle may be divided into -three, six, eight or more equal "streptocones" of graceful -proportions, some of which have been used either in series -as borders in metal work (for circular dishes and goblets) or -as detached or grouped elements in pattern-designs (stone-work -tracery, embroidery, woven and printed fabrics).</p> - -<p>Apart from this development of the "streptocone" as -an important feature in decorative work, it is not without -interest in connection with the probable importance and -significance of the Japanese double streptocone, as we may -call the Tomoye, to note some of its geometrical features. -Referring to the Fig. 60, it is obvious that each of the -paired streptocones is equal in area to half the enclosing -circle, also that each of the two inscribed circles (<i>a</i>, <i>b</i>) has -an area of one-fourth of that of the enclosing circle—and -that each arbelus (<i>c</i>, <i>d</i>) has also an area one-fourth that -of the enclosing circle and is equal in area to each of the -inscribed circles (<i>a</i>, <i>b</i>). Each of the two constituent -"streptocones" is made up of a <i>complete</i> circle capped by -an "arbelus" equal in area to it (namely, one-quarter of -that of the big circle). It is obvious that the area of the -arbelus formed in a semicircle by two enclosed semicircles -which are contiguous and of equal base as in Fig. 60, -is equal to that of a circle the diameter of which is the -vertical line drawn from the apex of the arbelus to the arc -of the semicircle (Fig 60). This is true whether the -enclosed contiguous semicircles have chords of equal or -unequal length (Fig. 60). This fact was known to the -Greek geometricians, as I am informed by Sir Thos. Heath.</p> - -<div class="footnotes p4"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - <div class="footnote"> - <p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a> - <a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> - I am indebted for the figures (not the diagrams) illustrating Chapters - XVII., XVIII., XIX. to the report by Mr. Thomas Wilson on the Swastika—in - the Smithsonian Reports, 1894. Those interested in this subject will find - a vast store of information in that report.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">COAL</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">COAL is so much "a matter of course" in our daily -life that most people are only now, when its supply -is becoming precarious, anxious to know something -of its nature and history. By the word "coal," or "coles," -our ancestors understood what we now distinguish as -"charcoal," prepared from wood by the "charcoal-burner," -or "charbonnier," as the French call him. What we -now call "coal" was known to them as "sea-coal," and, -later, as "black" or "stone cole," to distinguish it from -"brown coal," known nowadays as "lignite," though the -name "stone coal" is locally applied in England to that -very hard kind of black coal also called "anthracite," of -which jet is only an extremely hard and dense variety -found in small quantities in the oolitic strata of Whitby, -Spain, and other localities.</p> - -<p>It is on record that in the year 1306 a citizen of -London was tried, condemned, and executed for burning -"sea-coal." This severe treatment was held to be justified -by the poisonous and otherwise injurious nature of the -smoke produced by fires of sea-coal. I have not met -with any records of the earliest digging for and trade in -"sea-coal," but presumably it was obtained near the -coast in the North of England and brought to London by -ship—hence its name. The coal-trade of Newcastle -began in the thirteenth century, but, owing to an Act of -Parliament in the reign of Edward I forbidding the use -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -of sea-coal in London, did not become important until -the seventeenth century. It came very gradually into -use, and we find that Evelyn (the diarist) in 1661 noted -the withering and bad condition of rose-bushes and other -plants in London gardens, which he attributed to the -pestilential action of the smoke given off by the newly -introduced "sea-coal" which was increasingly used as -fuel in London houses. The sea-coal was not yet largely, -if at all, used in the production of iron; and Evelyn as a -forest-owner and lover of trees, has much to say about the -necessity for attention to the cultivation of our forests in -connection with the iron industry which then flourished -in the Weald of Sussex; charcoal procured by the slow -burning or roasting of wood being the fuel used in the -smelting furnaces, whilst the ore was the orange-brown -wealden sand. It was during the eighteenth century -that what we now call simply "coal" came rapidly into -use—not only for domestic heating, but for furnaces of -all kinds employed in industrial enterprise, and, at a -later date, for the earlier and later forms of steam-engines. -The smoke of the new coal was everywhere regarded as -a terrible nuisance, and a source of injury to both animal -and vegetable life. The poisonous action of coal-smoke -is not due to the finely divided black particles of carbon -of which it largely consists, but to the sulphuric acid -derived from the small quantities of sulphur present in -coal. It is calculated that more than sixteen million tons -of coal are annually used in London alone for heating -purposes, and that 480,000 tons of black carbon powder -are discharged over London by its chimneys every year, -together with very nearly the same weight of poisonous -sulphuric acid!</p> - -<p>What, then, is this "sea-coal" or "coal" of our modern -life? We all know its black, glistening appearance, and -more or less friable character. Its nature and origin are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> -best conveyed by the statement that it is very ancient -"peat," compressed and naturally changed by chemical -action and retaining little or no trace of its original -structure. Peat, as we know it from the low land of -English and French river valleys and the bogs of Scotland -and Ireland, is formed by the annual growth and death -of "mosses" of several kinds and of other accompanying -vegetation. It retains the woody forms of the vegetable -growths which constitute it, and they are often but loosely -adherent to one another. Peat may be merely a growth -of the past five years, but is sometimes many thousand -years old. Older than peat, and more caked and compressed, -is lignite, or brown coal, which occurs on the -Continent of Europe, also in South Devon and elsewhere, -in geological strata newer than those which yield our black -coal. Then we have the most important class of black -coals which are known as "bituminous coals," because they -soften when heated and form hydrocarbons of both viscid -and gaseous nature. They are used for domestic purposes, -and wherever flame is desired. They are, in fact, -the "lumps of coal" familiar in our scuttles. The -"bituminous coal" with the greatest amount of hydrogen -in it is the cannel or candle coal, so called from its bright -flame when burning. This kind is especially valuable for -gas-making, and of smaller value as fuel. The term -"anthracite" is reserved for a hard, stone-like coal which -is very nearly pure carbon (ninety per cent). This class -of coal burns with a very small amount of flame, gives -intense heat, and no smoke. It is used in drying malt -and hops.</p> - -<p>Like all woody matter, that from which peat is formed -consists of a combination of the elements carbon, hydrogen -and oxygen; and these remain in somewhat changed -chemical union in the brown coal, bituminous coal, and -anthracite. The carbon and a varying and small proportion -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> -of the original hydrogen of the woody peat, are the -important elements in coal; and we may well ask how -they come to be produced as a black or dark brown mass -from dead vegetable growths which are often bleached -and colourless. It is true that vegetable refuse does not -necessarily blacken when left to itself. We know that -by roasting or charring wood (or animals' flesh or bone) -we can drive off the elements oxygen and hydrogen -and nitrogen (if there), and obtain a black mass of -carbon (so-called charcoal). That blackness is the -actual true tint of carbon. The dead weeds and leaves -at the bottom of a stagnant pond break down and form -a pitch-black mud. They would not, and do not, go -black if exposed to the oxygen of the atmosphere; but -at the bottom of a stagnant pond or in a refuse heap they -are excluded from the air, and a microbe—a bacterium -which has been carefully studied, and is of a kind which -can only flourish in the absence of free oxygen—attacks -the dead weeds, producing by change of their substance -marsh-gas and black carbon, the black mud emitting -bubbles of gas which one may stir up with a pole in such -a pond. This chemical attack by anaërobic bacteria goes -on in the deeper layers of all marshes and stagnant pools, -remote from the oxygen of the air; and it is fairly -certain that the black coal which we find in strata of -great geological age was so produced by the action of -special kinds of bacteria upon peat-like masses of vegetable -refuse. Indeed, by studying microscopic sections -of coal, numerous forms of bacteria have been recognized -which might be capable of effecting such chemical -changes. On the other hand, we must remember that -it is not possible to conclude by form alone as to what -subtle chemical work a bacterium or bacillus or micro-coccus -may be, or may have been, carrying on. The -peat-like deposits which became carbonized and so formed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> -the "coal" were probably masses of algæ, mosses and soft -aquatic plants, which were brought down and accumulated -in swampy, forest-covered ground about the mouths -of rivers, the deposit being covered in owing to rapid -oscillations of level by beds of sand or clay, followed by -new growth and deposit.</p> - -<p>Our British coal and a good deal of foreign coal is -found in certain stratified rocks of the earth's crust -known as "the Carboniferous System," about 12,000 ft. -thick, consisting chiefly of very dense limestone. The -"seams," or stratified beds of coal, occur in sandy rock -known as the "Coal Measures," and vary in thickness -from a mere film to 40 ft. Above the Carboniferous -System are later deposits, some 14,000 ft. in thickness—the -Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary -strata. Below them we find stratified deposits containing -fossilized remains of plants and animals, to a depth of -another 40,000 ft.: they are the Devonian, Silurian, and -Cambrian "systems" or series of strata. Coal of a workable -nature is found in many parts of the world in the -beds or strata of later age than our Coal Measures—namely, -those of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary age.</p> - -<p>Coal is so valuable and used in such vast quantities by -modern man that, though procured at first from beds -lying at or near the surface, it has been found remunerative -to mine far into the depths of the earth's surface, -where its existence is ascertained, in order to procure it. -A depth of 4000 ft. is apparently the limit set to such -mining by the increase of temperature in mines which -penetrate to that extent below the surface. In 1905 the -annual output of British coal-mines was in round numbers -230,000,000 tons. It is certain that there is a limit to -this production, but not possible to calculate what that -limit may be, owing to the uncertainty as to the future -working of coal-fields as yet unexplored.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such questions have been, and are being, considered by -experts on behalf of the Government. A matter of interest -of another kind is that in and associated with the coal -seams of our Coal Measures, fossilized remains of peculiar -fern-like trees, ferns, and other strange plants, and of very -peculiar, extinct newt-like animals (as large as crocodiles) -are found in great variety. The notion that the toads -occasionally found embedded in the black mud of a coal-yard -or even in a fractured lump of coal are survivals from -the time—many millions of years past—when the plants -and animals of the Coal Measure swamps were living, is -a baseless fancy. The toads so found are of the kind or -species now living on the earth—totally different from -those whose bones occur in the Coal Measures, and the -presence of such modern toads embedded in black slime, -in coal-heaps in store-yards, or even in coal-scuttles, is -only what may be expected to occur and does occur in -damp quarries and other places where these familiar little -beasts love to hide.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">BORING FOR OIL</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">CLOSELY similar to coal in chemical matter—that -is to say, consisting chiefly of definite chemical -compounds, called hydrocarbons, built up of only -two elements, carbon and hydrogen, and of no other—is -a very remarkable class of mineral substances known to -the ancients as "bitumen." In its widest sense, it includes -"natural gas," the variously mixed liquids called -"petroleum" and the solid "asphalts." In ancient times -the more fluid kinds of petroleum issuing from the ground -in South Russia and Persia were called "naphtha," and -that name is still applied to the more volatile hydrocarbons -obtained by the distillation of such substances as -coal-tar (the residue of the extraction by heat of commercial -gas from coal), bituminous shale, petroleum, wood -and some other bodies which owe their existence to the -activity either of living or of long-extinct and "fossilized" -plants and animals.</p> - -<p>The bitumens, together with coal, present in their -natural state a very large variety of inflammable constituents—gaseous, -liquid, and solid hydrocarbons; but, -when "distilled" at various temperatures and under conditions -determined by the manufacturing chemist, they -yield a still larger series of pure separable bodies, which -have been minutely studied and classified according to -their chemical constitution. They are produced in great -chemical factories in large quantities for use in the most -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> -diverse ways invented by human ingenuity. Thus -natural gas—superseded by distilled coal-gas—has served -for fuel and for illumination: refined petroleum serves not -only for those uses in general, but as the special source of -power in the engines of motor-cars and aeroplanes. A -wonderful solid crystalline wax-like substance, paraffin, -as white as snow, is distilled in enormous quantities -(nearly three million tons a year) from "bituminous shale" -or "oil-shale" in this country alone. It can be obtained -in soft (vaseline) and liquid forms, and in fact the "paraffin -series" recognized by chemists starts from the gas -"methane," or marsh-gas, and comprises some thirty kinds, -leading from gas to volatile liquids, thence to viscid liquids, -to butter-like solids, and up to hard crystalline substances -which melt only at the temperature of boiling water. -Endless chemical manufacturing industries—<i>e.g.</i>, those of -dye-stuffs and explosives—depend upon the chemical -treatment of these paraffins and of various bodies obtained -as secondary products in their preparation. Benzine and -aniline are chiefly obtained from coal-tar. The oils and -waxes of quasi-mineral origin have a great advantage over -vegetable and animal oils in many uses, since they are not -liable to become "rancid"; that is to say, to decompose -owing to the action on them of bacteria. A marked -difference between the paraffins (often distinguished, -together with the "olefines," as "mineral" oils) and the -oils and fats found in living plants and animals is that they -do not "saponify"; that is to say, they do not form those -combinations with alkalis and other bases which are called -"soaps," nor can they serve as food to man or any other -animal. They are not acted on by the digestive juices.</p> - -<p>From ancient times natural deposits or outpourings of -"bitumens" have been known and used by mankind. -The Assyrians and other early peoples of the East used -"asphalt" (translated by the word "slime" in the English -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> -version of the Bible) in place of calcareous mortar in -building; and to this day it is used largely in this country -as a "damp-course" in walls built of brick. Great deposits -of asphalt are found in Central America and some of the -West Indian islands, and "quarried" for commercial -purposes. The great pitch-lake of Trinidad yields an -abundant supply. In the Val de Travers, in the Canton -of Neuchatel (Switzerland), a rich deposit is worked which, -mixed with earthy material, forms a road-making concrete, -largely used in London and other cities, and also for -main roads in country districts. The ancient Egyptians -used asphalt for embalming the dead. But the ancients -also knew natural springs of liquid bitumen—that which -nowadays we call petroleum—some of them freely flowing -like water, which would take fire and burn for long -periods, and were described as fountains of "burning -water." We find, as we pass from the Middle Ages to the -days of geographical exploration, records of such springs -of inflammable oil and of natural inflammable gas in all -parts of the world—Japan, China, Burma, Persia, Galicia, -Italy (Salsomaggiore), Central and North America, and of -not a few in these islands—for instance, in Shropshire, -Derbyshire, Sussex, Kimmeridge and various sites in the -southern counties. The oil was, until the middle of the -last century, valued chiefly as a medicinal application, and -"Seneca oil" and "American medicinal oil" were largely -sold and used as an embrocation in the United States.</p> - -<p>We owe the introduction of the name "petroleum" to -Professor Silliman, who in 1855 reported upon the "rock -oil or petroleum" of Venango County, Pennsylvania. -The first attempt as a commercial enterprise to obtain -rock-oil or petroleum by <i>boring</i> into the strata in which -there was local evidence of its existence in greater or less -quantity, was made in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Rock Oil -Company. After some unsuccessful attempts, when the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> -drilling had been carried to a depth of 69 ft. the tools -suddenly dropped into a subterranean cavity, and on the -following day the well was found to have "struck oil," and -twenty-five barrels a day were yielded by that well for -some time. From here the industry spread over the -States and Canada, and in 1908 the year's yield was -45,000,000 barrels.</p> - -<p>Since 1870 the industry has spread all over the globe—Russia, -Galicia, Rumania, Java, Borneo and Burma being -prominent sources of the oil supply of the world. The -raw petroleum of different localities differs in each case in -the amount of solid paraffins and olefines dissolved in the -liquid paraffins. Other substances also are dissolved in it -in variable amount—such as benzene, acetylene, camphene -and naphthalene. The fact that the oil, when reached by -a boring, is often found to be under a considerable -pressure, so that it rises and flows from the surface of the -well, or even may shoot up as a great fountain, is an -important feature in the oil-seeking industry, though the -supply depends largely on pumping and not necessarily -on natural flow. The borings when made, act like Artesian -wells, and sometimes are carried to a great depth. Those -in Pennsylvania vary in depth from 300 ft. to 3700 ft., -according to the distance below the surface at which the -oil-bearing strata (usually a sandstone) is situate. As in -the case of an Artesian well, the boring is in the first -instance an exploration subject to uncertainty as to -"striking" the desired liquid, but the uncertainty is -greater in the case of the search for oil than in that for -water. The water-well is also far less likely to "give -out" when once flowing than is that bored for oil, -which, even if at first successful, may be soon exhausted -owing to the small area of the oil-bearing strata tapped. -A cause of the high pressure in many oil-wells is the gas -which accompanies the oil. The pressure may amount to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> -as much as 1000 lb. to the square inch. In the Northern -Caucasus spouting wells caused by the high pressure of -gas in the boring are frequent. A famous fountain-well in -that region, which began to flow in August 1895, threw -up 4-1/2 million gallons a day, gradually diminishing during -fifteen months until it became exhausted. At first, when -boring was introduced, such outbursts led to an enormous -loss of the oil, for there was not sufficient means of storing -or transporting it. Ordinary cartage in barrels was the -earlier method; then followed tanks on railway trains and -canal boats; and this has been supplemented by the use -of pipes along which the oil is pumped from the well to -the refinery. In Pennsylvania there are said to be no less -than 25,000 miles of such pipes in use for the distribution -of petroleum.</p> - -<p>It will be obvious from what is here stated that the -attempt to discover an oil-supply in Derbyshire must not -be regarded, at present, as more than a praiseworthy and -interesting enterprise. There is no room for doubt that -the best expert opinion has been brought to bear on the -matter. A small quantity of petroleum has already been -raised; but whether the flow will be sufficient to cover the -expenses of the boring, and how long the flow may last, -or how much it may amount to, are matters quite impossible -to foretell. In any case, it is in the highest -degree improbable that such an abundance of oil will be -obtained as to count much, if at all, in the world's production -of petroleum. It must also be remembered that -products similar to those yielded by petroleum are -already extracted in quantity as a remunerative industry -by the distillation of oil-shales in various parts of the -United Kingdom; and that there are oil-shales in this -country still unworked. So that we need not be in despair -if we do not tap an oil-spring of any importance close to -hand. The world's supply is still open to British -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> -enterprise. Another reflection of some importance is that -these world-wide sources of rock-oil or petroleum are -likely to be exhausted by exploitation much sooner than -are the coal-fields of the world. We cannot rely on their -long duration.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ac noindent">THE STORY OF LIME-JUICE AND SCURVY</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">FROM mediæval times onward a serious constitutional -disease—a morbid condition of the blood and tissues—has -been known by the name "scurvy," and the -word "scorbutic" has been coined from it. It is to-day -practically unknown in the ordinary conditions of civilized -life, but formerly was common, and the cause of disablement -and of frightful mortality in ships' crews, beleaguered -cities, armies on campaign, and war-stricken regions. It -begins with a certain failure of strength. Breathlessness, -exhaustion, and mental depression follow. The face looks -haggard, sallow, and dusky. After some weeks the exhaustion -becomes extreme; the gums are livid, ulcerated, -and bleeding; the teeth loosen and drop out; purple -spots appear on the skin; ulcers break out on the limbs; -effusions of blood-stained fluid take place in the great -cavities of the body; profound exhaustion and coma -follow; and death results from disorganization of the -lungs, kidneys, or digestive tract. It was recognized in -early times that the disease was dependent on the -character of the food of those attacked by it; and not -the least of the horrors accompanying it was the terror -caused by the well-founded conviction that the appearance -of a single case in a ship's crew or other specially circumscribed -community was an unfailing index, and meant -that all were likely within a few days—owing to the -enforced identity of their food and conditions of life—to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> -develop the disease. Often, in past centuries, a half -or two-thirds of a ship's company have been carried off -by it before a port could be reached and healthy food -and conditions of life obtained. At the present moment -in view of the actual condition of Europe, it is a fact -of very grave importance that scurvy is known to break -out and cause a terrible mortality among civil communities -in time of scarcity—especially in prisons, workhouses, and -other public institutions, which are the first to suffer -deprivations when food is scarce.</p> - -<p>Three hundred years ago it was held that fresh -vegetables and fruit-juices were both a cure for and a -preventive of scurvy, or "anti-scorbutic." But the fact -was not appreciated by Army and Admiralty officials -that <i>dried</i> vegetables, even of kinds which were held to -be especially "anti-scorbutic," would not serve in place -of <i>fresh</i> ones. In 1720, <i>dried</i> "anti-scorbutic" herbs were -supplied to the Austrian Army when suffering from -scurvy; but they were of no avail, and thousands of the -soldiers perished from the disease. A few years later, -the British Lords of the Admiralty (actuated by a -spirit of blundering parsimony) proposed to supply the -Navy with dried spinach, although it was well known -that dried vegetables were useless against scurvy. In -the American Civil War, 1861-1865, in spite of this -knowledge, large rations of dried vegetables were supplied -to the armies, and failed to prevent outbreaks of scurvy. -Even at the present day so little attention has been -given of late years to the subject, that many ignorant -officials, upon whose action the life of thousands depends, -regard dried vegetables as equivalent in value to fresh!</p> - -<p>A great advance was made in the second half of the -eighteenth century, when the British Admiralty became -convinced by the repeated experience of its officers that -"lime-juice" <i>is</i> a specific remedy and preventive for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -scurvy, and, in spite of the great expense and difficulties -entailed, adopted its use officially. In those days of -sailing-ships, long voyages (such as those of Captain Cook) -were safely carried through without serious outbreak of -scurvy so long as a ration of so-called "lime-juice" (about -one ounce) was swallowed each day by each sailor. But -it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century -that the disease was practically eliminated from the Navy -by the introduction (after many foolish delays) of a -general issue of what was called "lime-juice."</p> - -<p>The complete control and elimination of scurvy by -the use of so-called "lime-juice" sufficed to carry us on -until the introduction of steam navigation, when it became -superfluous owing to the fact that long absence from land, -where fresh food could be obtained, ceased to be usual. -Moreover, after a mutiny on the part of our defrauded -sailors, better food and greater variety of it was secured -for them, and the profits of murderous contractors were -stopped.</p> - -<p>The history of outbreaks of scurvy for the last -century is practically confined to the experiences of Arctic -Expeditions and the campaigning of troops in remote or -devastated regions. So little had scurvy been investigated, -or any serious study made of the nature of the remedial -and preventive action of lime-juice, that up to the year -1914 it was regarded as a matter of course that the acid, -the citric acid, of lime-juice was what gave to it its virtue, -and samples of lime-juice supplied by contractors were -tested solely as to the percentage of that acid present. -Eminent medical authorities proposed to use crystals -of citric acid in place of the juice; others declared that -vinegar would do just as well; others, in spite of the -overwhelming record as to the value of lime-juice, held -that scurvy was due <i>not</i> to the absence of a food constituent—supplied -by fresh vegetables and fruit-juice—but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -to a peculiar poison present in the salted and dried -meat served out as rations; others again, without any -study of the disease, have expressed the opinion that it -is due to a bacterial micro-organism.</p> - -<p>A blow to the easy-going belief of the Admiralty that -they had mastered and made an end of scurvy was struck -when scurvy broke out (60 cases among 122 men) in the -expedition to the North Pole which sailed in May 1875 in -the <i>Alert</i> and the <i>Discovery</i>, under the command of Sir -George Nares. The expedition had to return prematurely -after seventeen months' absence, and a committee was -appointed to inquire into the cause of the outbreak. The -stores of food and of lime-juice were shown to have been -ample; and the action of the leader in equipping his -sledging parties was in accordance with the judgment -and experience of successful explorers who gave evidence. -The cause of the outbreak remained a mystery. The -firm belief in the anti-scorbutic powers of "lime-juice" was -shaken, and this unfavourable opinion of its value has -been confirmed by medical officers who, during the recent -war, have been confronted by outbreaks of scurvy. These -outbreaks occurred among troops who, in military circumstances -which rendered an adequate supply of fresh meat -and vegetables impossible, were supplied with lime-juice -prepared from the West Indian "sour-lime."</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances, an experimental study of -scurvy has been carried out during the last four years -by a group of workers at the Lister Institute, together -with a historical inquiry as to the use of lime-juice. The -reports of these investigators have very great practical -value and far-reaching interest, as showing what disastrous -results may arise from inaccurate use of a word, and the -neglect to ascertain the exact nature of the material thing -upon which the issue between life and death may depend.</p> - -<p>Here let me say that the staff of the Lister Institute -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> -for medical research has done work in its laboratories in -Chelsea Gardens of the very greatest national importance -during the war. It was founded by public subscription, -and has now an endowment of some £10,000 a year. -Sir David Bruce, the chairman of its Council, gives in -the Report of the Governing Body for 1919 a very striking -summary of the work done in the laboratories and by the -staff of the Institute. The successful investigation of -trench fever and of tetanus, of the destruction of lice, and -of the effects of cold storage on food, besides the study -of scurvy and other diseases due to deficiency of what -are now called "<i>accessory food factors</i>," are, we learn, -the chief matters in which the Lister Institute was engaged -in the year 1918-19. Besides this, however, at its -farm at Elstree it has prepared and supplied to the War -Office, the Admiralty, the Overseas Forces, and the Local -Government Board more than a million doses of anti-toxins -(diphtheria and tetanus), bacterial vaccines (cholera, -plague, influenza), and other similar curative fluids—requiring -for their safe production the highest skill and -most complete knowledge of recent discovery. And this -is only a sample of what the Lister Institute has been -doing for many consecutive years.</p> - -<p>Now we return to the investigation of scurvy. Within -the last ten years the fact has been established (which -was more or less guessed and acted upon by medical men -of past days) that, in order to maintain health, the diet -of man and of many animals must contain not merely -the necessary quantities of meat or cheese-like bodies, -of fat and starch and sugar, but also minute quantities -of accessory food-factors which it is convenient to term -"vitamines." The name serves (though its etymology is -unsatisfactory) to indicate certain "proteids" or highly -complex nitrogenous compounds which are only to be -obtained from fresh and uncooked or slightly heated -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -vegetables and from some foods of animal origin. These -"vitamines" are destroyed by heat and by desiccation. -They have not yet been isolated though in some cases -extracted in a nearly pure state. Their presence or -absence is demonstrated by careful experiments in feeding -animals, such as guinea-pigs, with weighed quantities of -different foods. The "vitamine" is often found to be -present only in one part of a seed or fruit or special kind -of fat liable to be rejected in food preparation. An -important fact is that it may not amount to as much as -one-ten-thousandth of the weight of the food in which -it occurs; and the part containing it may be overlooked -and rejected, or its value destroyed by heat or by desiccation. -A committee on these "accessory food-factors" -is carrying on experiments at the Lister Institute. Dr. -F. G. Hopkins, F.R.S., who first discovered the importance -of one of these factors in feeding young rats, is the chairman, -and Dr. Harriette Chick is the secretary. Three -kinds of these vitamines, or accessory food-factors, have -up to this date been recognized. The first is the anti-neuritic -or anti-beri-beri vitamine. Its principal sources -are the seeds of plants and the eggs of animals—yeast-cells -are a rich source of it. Where "polished rice," as -in the Far East, is the staple article of diet, to the almost -entire exclusion of other food-stuffs, lassitude and severe -pains like those of rheumatism set in, and a whole colony -or shipload of Chinese "coolies" may be disabled. The -disease is called beri-beri, and it can be cured by administering -that part of the rice-grain (the skin and germ) -which is removed by "polishing," and unfortunately is -just that part which contains the needful vitamine. It -exists in very minute quantity, amounting to only one -part in ten thousand by weight of rice-grain. The second -"vitamine" recognized is the anti-rachitic factor (studied -by Hopkins), which tends to promote growth and prevent -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -"rickets" in young animals. Certain fats of animal origin -(milk) and green leaves contain it in minute quantity, and -are necessary for the life of young animals and for the -health of adults.</p> - -<p>The third vitamine recognized is the anti-scorbutic, -the factor which prevents scurvy. It is found in fresh -vegetable tissues, and to a less extent in fresh animal -tissues. Its richest sources are cabbage, swedes, turnips, -lettuce, water-cress, and such fruits as lemons, oranges, -raspberries, and tomatoes; other vegetables have a less -value. Fresh milk and meat possess a definite but low -anti-scorbutic value. This vitamine (I am quoting the -report of the Committee, which has been issued to our -military, naval, and medical administrators and famine-relief-workers -throughout the world) <i>suffers destruction</i> -when the fresh food-stuffs containing it are subjected -to <i>heat</i>, or <i>drying</i>, as methods of preservation. It is -habitually destroyed and wasted by stewing fresh vegetables -with meat for two or three hours. All dry food-stuffs, -such as cereals, pulses, dried vegetables and dried milk, -are deficient in anti-scorbutic properties; so also are -<i>tinned vegetables</i> and <i>tinned meat</i>—hence the disgust to -which they soon give rise!</p> - -<p>The explanation of the mystery about lime-juice -(which a hundred years ago was used with absolute -success to prevent scurvy, and in 1875 was a dead failure) -is shown by the workers at the Lister Institute to be this—namely, -"lime" and "lemon" are in origin the same -word, and have become applied in ways unrecognized by -the Admiralty and their medical advisers in various parts -of the world to which the citron, the lemon, the sweet-lime -and the sour-lime—all varieties of one species, <i>Citrus -medica</i> of Linnæus—have been carried from their original -home of origin, the south-east of Asia. The original -effective and valuable "<i>lime</i>-juice" of the eighteenth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -century was <i>lemon</i>-juice, carefully prepared from lemons -in Sicily and Italy, and from 1804 to 1860 in Malta. -When the demand for it increased in the nineteenth -century, it was adulterated and made up from poor -fruit, as the commercial enterprise of contractors and -the fatuous incapacity of the naval authorities progressed -hand in hand. And then, in the early fifties, the West -Indian growers of the small sour-lime (<i>Citrus medica -var. acida</i>) in Montserrat got the naval contracts, the -honest intention of Sir William Burnett, the chief medical -officer of the Navy, being to establish a permanent and -first-rate supply. Strangely enough, the naval "lime-juice" -now really was <i>lime</i>-juice and no longer <i>lemon</i>-juice. By -a natural but fatal misconception, the medical value of -the juice, whether of lemon or of lime, was by all authorities -attributed to the citric acid present; and the only -tests applied to it were chemical ones, and not therapeutic. -The Lister Institute Committee have shown by therapeutic -experiment—the feeding of guinea-pigs, in which scurvy -can be produced and cured at will—that <i>the anti-scorbutic -vitamine remains active and unimpaired in lemon-juice -from which all the citric acid has been extracted</i>. And, -further, that the juice of the West Indian sour-lime -(<i>Citrus medica acida</i>), although very rich in citric acid, -<i>contains only one-fourth the anti-scorbutic vitamine</i> which -the same quantity of the juice of the true lemon (<i>Citrus -medica limonum</i>) contains. This has been most carefully -established by prolonged series of feeding experiments. -It explains the failure of the <i>lime</i>-juice in Sir George -Nares' Polar Expedition, and restores the confidence in -<i>lemon</i>-juice based on the unanimous testimony of the -early records of its use.</p> - -<p>Whilst lemon-juice is thus justified, Dr. Harriette -Chick has made a discovery which will go far to remove -it from supremacy. She finds that an anti-scorbutic food -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> -can be prepared, when fresh vegetables or fruit are -scarce, by moistening any available seeds (wheat, barley, -rye, peas, beans, lentils) and allowing them to germinate. -This sprouted material possesses an anti-scorbutic value -equal to that of many fresh vegetables; the unsprouted -seeds have none. Probably this explains the anti-scorbutic -value of sweet-wort and of beers made from lightly dried -malt; and the total failure in this respect of our modern -beers made from kiln-dried malt. Dr. Chick, amongst -many other interesting and important results published -by members of the Lister Institute Committee, states -that the juice of raw swedes and of raw turnips is a -valuable anti-scorbutic (to be added to milk for the use -of artificially nourished infants); so, she states, is orange-juice. -But, contrary to the usual opinion, she finds that -beetroot has little or no anti-scorbutic value. The whole -subject is of extreme importance, and is necessarily in -a tentative stage of pioneer experiment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter p4"> - <h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class="index"> - <li class="ifrst">Ages, successive, of stone, bronze, and iron, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Aitken, Dr., F.R.S., on fog, cloud, and odoriferous particles, - <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Alligator, simplification of, in the decorative work of the Chiriqui - Indians, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Altamira, cave of, discovery of pictures in, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - - <li class="indx">America (Central), stone slab from, with carved swastika, - <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - - <li class="indx">American Indians bead-work garter with two swastikas, - <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Anglo-Saxon urn ornamented with swastikas, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Aniline, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Animalcules, wheel, <a href="#Page_157">157-172</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Animation, suspended, <a href="#Page_173">173-190</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Anthracite, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Anti-scorbutic value of germinating wheat, barley, peas, beans, - lentils, discovered, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Anti-scorbutics, no use when dried, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - <li class="isub2">or preservatives against scurvy described, - <a href="#Page_235">235-236</a> studied at the Lister Institute, - <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Antler, engraved, from the cavern of Lortet, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Arbelus, the, of ancient Greek geometers, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Asphalt, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Aurignacian negroid race, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Bacteria, suspended animation of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, - <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bear engraved on stalagmite, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Beer, modern, not so effective an anti-scorbutic (preserver from - scurvy) as older sorts, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Benzine, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bison, pictures of, from walls of caves, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bitumen, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bituminous coal, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Blue blood and pride of race, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - <li class="isub2">colour of frogs, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - <li class="isub3"> of the Lake of Geneva, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - <li class="isub3"> of water, <a href="#Page_74">74-85</a></li> - <li class="isub2">Grotto of Capri, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Breeding and inter-breeding as a test, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, - <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bridle seen in engravings of horse, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, - <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Brown, Horace, F.R.S., his experiments with seeds at low - temperatures, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bruce, Sir David, his report of the work done by the Lister - Institute in 1919, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Buddha, footprint of the, picture showing swastikas, - <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Bumpus, Prof., on variation in sparrows, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Burnett, Sir William, by mistake introduces in the Navy juice of the</li> - <li class="isub3">sour-lime in place of lemon-juice, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Burning water, fountains of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Butterflies of the genus Vanessa, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - <li class="isub2">several different species of white and of blue, - <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - <li class="isub2">several species united to form one larger kind–a genus, - <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - <li class="isub2">species of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - <li class="isub2">the kinds of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Caloric, an assumed entity, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cannel (or candle) coal, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Carbon, weight of, annually discharged over London, - <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Carboniferous system, the, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cats, male, with blue eyes are deaf, <a href="#Page_120">120</a> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></li> - - <li class="indx">Cause of survival in the struggle for life, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, - <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cave of Altamira, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Brassempouy, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Combarelles, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Font de Gaume, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Laugerie basse, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Lortet, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Marsoulas (Haute Garonne), <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Mas d'Azil, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of Niaux (Ariège), <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of St. Michel d'Arudy, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Caves, pictures on walls of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Census of species of animals, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Chick, Dr. Harriette, secretary, and Dr. Hopkins, F.R.S., chairman, - of a committee investigating accessory food-factors, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Chinese "great monad," <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Circle, how to divide it so as to describe a Tomoye, - <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - - <li class="indx"><i>Citrus medica limonum</i>, the lemon, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - <li class="isub2"><i>acida</i>, the West Indian sour-lime, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Coal, <a href="#Page_217">217-222</a></li> - <li class="isub2">mines, annual output of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Coal-tar, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Coffer-fish, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cold, action of extreme, in preventing chemical combination, - <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Copan, circular altar-stone from, divided by an S-shaped trough so as - to resemble the Tomoye, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Correlated characters or structures, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, - <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Crab, common shore, variations in, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Crag, the Red, of Suffolk, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - <li class="isub2">the Norwich, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Crayfish, species of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cromagnard race, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Cross-breeding of races, <a href="#Page_140">140-156</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Crystal Palace, the, sixty years ago, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Decorative design, <a href="#Page_200">200-208</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Deer, the picture of the Three, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Dewar, Sir James, his important experiments on action of cold and of - light on phosphorescent bacteria, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Diplodocus, a gigantic reptile, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, - <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Discoveries falsely announced, and others misrepresented or - unnoticed by newspapers, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Dolphins (oceanic colour-changing fish), <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Equus the horse genus, the history of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Exuberances of non-significant growth, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, - <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Fat boys of journalism, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Fertilization, resistance to hybrid, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, - <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Fish drawn between horse's legs, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Fishes, examples of strangely-shaped, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Fleas, species of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Flowers of tan survive desiccation, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Food, the accessory factors in, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Fylfot, the, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Gammadion, the, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Geometrical properties of the Tomoye, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Germ variation, a constant process, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Gigantic reptiles, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Gigantosaurus, discovery of, in Africa, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - <li class="isub2">upper-arm bone of, compared with that of an elephant and of man, - <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Gills of crayfishes, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - <li class="isub2">a new one discovered by a lady student at Oxford, - <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Glacial period, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Goose engraved on reindeer antler, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Grammatizing <i>v.</i> naturalizing in decorative art, - <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Grouse, the red and allied species, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, - <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Harpoons of Azilian and Magdalenian period, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Horses, cave-men's pictures of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, - <a href="#Page_45">45</a> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></li> - - <li class="indx">Horses' heads drawn with bridle or halter, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, - <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Hybrids, <a href="#Page_131">131-138</a></li> - <li class="isub2">among allied species of fish, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, - <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - <li class="isub2">infertile and fertile, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, - <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Inter-Glacial climate and animals, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Kaleidoscope, the living organism compared to a, - <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Kelvin, Lord, on the origin of life, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Kipling, Mr. Rudyard, on primitive man, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Koban necropolis, swastikas from, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Lake dwellings of Switzerland, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lalanne, M., discovery by, of human statuettes, - <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Laussel, rock-shelter of, human statuettes from, - <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Life-saving qualities not alone survive in nature, - <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lime-juice, action of, was not understood, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - <li class="isub2">and scurvy, <a href="#Page_229">229-237</a></li> - <li class="isub2">on long voyages, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - <li class="isub2">shown to be effective when prepared from the true lemon, - <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - <li class="isub2">the original lime-juice was lemon-juice, not the juice of the - sour-lime, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - <li class="isub2">when prepared from West Indian sour-lime not effective, - <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Linnæus, his method of naming and classifying animals and plants, - <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lion, wall engraving of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lister Institute, investigations carried on there, - <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lodge, Sir Oliver, on life, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Lortet, cavern of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Mammoth, engraving of, on ivory, from the cave of La Madeleine, - <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Mammoths, engravings of, on walls of caves, - <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Man, Isle of, and the Sicilian three-legged emblem, - <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Mantell, Dr. Gideon, discoverer of gigantic extinct reptiles, - <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Marsh-gas, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Milne-Edwards, Alphonse, his proposed experiment on cross-breeding of - races and species, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Miscegenation or cross-breeding of human races, - <a href="#Page_148">148-156</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Monaco, Prince of, his researches and publications, - <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Mongrels defined as distinct from hybrids, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, - <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - <li class="isub2">may exhibit fine qualities, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Monsters, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Mules between horse and ass, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Mykenæan age, swastikas of, illustrated, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, - <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Neander men, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Negro with European features disliked by other negroes, - <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Neolithic people, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Ogee, a vague term, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - <li class="isub2">swastika, so-called, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, - <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Oil, boring for, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Oil-boring industry, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Oil-shales, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Okapi of the Congo Forest, not a hybrid, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Olefines, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Osborn, Rev. Lord Sydney Godolphin, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Pairing as a test of species, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, - <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Palæolithic or ancient Stone Age, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Papilio, the genus of swallow-tailed butterflies, - <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Paraffin series, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Peat, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pedalion, the leg-bearing wheel animalcule, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, - <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - <li class="isub2">to be compared with young of certain prawns, - <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Petroleum, the name invented in 1855 by Prof. Silliman, - <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pictet and de Candolle on suspended animation, - <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Picture, the earliest, in the world, <a href="#Page_1">1-25</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of the Three Red Deer, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, - <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Piette, Edouard, his excavations of caves, <a href="#Page_1">1</a> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></li> - - <li class="indx">Pigs and the paint-root, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, - <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pimpernel, red and blue, will not inter-breed, - <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pine ornament of Indian shawls, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pleistocene, a small fraction of earth's crust, - <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - <li class="isub2">series or system, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pliny the elder at Vesuvius, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Pocahontes, the Algonkian princess, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Prehistoric men, art of, <a href="#Page_35">35-54</a></li> - <li class="isub2">successive ages of, <a href="#Page_36">36-39</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Printings from engraved cylinders, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, - <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Race, pride of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, - <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Racehorse, English thoroughbred, history of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Races, nature of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> - <li class="isub2">produce mongrels by cross-breeding, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Reindeer, cave-man's engraving of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - <li class="isub2">period, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Restoration of the Lortet picture of the Three Deer, - <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Rhinoceros drawn on wall of a cavern, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Rice, polished, the story of, and the disease beri-beri, - <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Rock-oil, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Romanes, Dr. George, his experiments on the suspended animation of - seeds, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Rotifer, the common, or wheel animalcule, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Scandinavian silver work showing swastikas, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Schliemann, fragment of pottery found by, in Tiryns, - <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - <li class="isub2">swastikas discovered by, at Hissarlik, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Scurvy, description of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Seeds, frozen, survive, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Simplification of decorative designs (figures of), - <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Smoke nuisance, London citizen executed for producing it in - 1306, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Sparrows, variations in, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Species, an attempt to estimate their number, - <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - <li class="isub2">in the making, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - <li class="isub2">Latin names for, why used, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - <li class="isub2">not a convention, but a naturally limited group of individuals, - <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - <li class="isub2">not the same as a variety or a race, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of common English plants, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - <li class="isub2">of crayfish, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - <li class="isub2">types or type-specimens of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - <li class="isub2">what the word means, <a href="#Page_91">91-99</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Specific characters, <a href="#Page_118">118-130</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Spencer, Herbert, on life, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Spirals carved on mammoth ivory, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Statuette of a man, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - - <li class="indx">St. Germain, museum of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, - <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Stork theory of the swastika, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Strata of the earth's crust, thickness of, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, - <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Streptocone, the bent cone or comma-like figure forming half a - Tomoye, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Sulphuric acid, weight of poisonous, annually discharged over</li> - <li class="isub3">London, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Sun-fish, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Survival value, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Suspended animation, <a href="#Page_173">173-190</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Swastika, mode of forming a, in India, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - <li class="isub2">on a piece of painted pottery from Tiryns, figure of, associated - with horse and fish, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - <li class="isub2">possible derivation from a doubled Tomoye, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - <li class="isub2">related to the tetraskelion, with four curved arms, shown in - Fig. 58, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - <li class="isub2">the, <a href="#Page_191">191-208</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Tapirs, the two living species of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Temperature, measurement of, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Thoroughbred English racehorse a mongrel, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Tiger, sabre-toothed, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Time, estimate of, in geology, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Tinning of vegetables destroys their anti-scorbutic value, - <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Tiryns, fragment of pottery from (date 800 B.C.), and having swastika - and horse and fish, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Toads in coal, <a href="#Page_221">221</a> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></li> - - <li class="indx">Toleration in nature, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Tomoye, the, and its relation to the swastika, - <a href="#Page_208">208-216</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Triskelion of Sicily and the Isle of Man, history of, - <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Variation in nature, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - <li class="isub2">made use of by gardeners and breeders, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Varieties and gradational series in nature, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, - <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Veliger, young stage of marine snail, drawing of, to compare with a - wheel animalcule, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Vesuvius, <a href="#Page_55">55-73</a></li> - <li class="isub2">as it appeared in A.D. <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, - <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> - <li class="isub2">ascent of, during eruption, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - <li class="isub2">eruption of 1872 witnessed, <a href="#Page_68">68-70</a></li> - <li class="isub2">history of eruptions, <a href="#Page_61">61-64</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Vitamines or accessory food factors, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Volcanoes and eruptions, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, - <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Water, blue colour of, <a href="#Page_74">74-85</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Weldon, Prof., on variation in the shore-crab, - <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Wells, spouting and fountain, of rock-oil, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Whales, their size and its limit, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Wheel animalcule, parasitic, on the sea-worm Synapta, - <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - <li class="isub2">animalcules, <a href="#Page_157">157-172</a></li> - <li class="isub3">book on, by Mr. Gosse and Dr. Hudson, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - <li class="isub3">compared with the young stages of growth of marine - snails, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - <li class="isub3">minute males of some, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - <li class="isub3">pictures of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, - <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - <li class="isub3">some survive drying up of the water in which they live, - <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, - <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Willendorf, female statuette from, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Winans, Mr. Walter, on the picture of the Three Deer, - <a href="#Page_19">19-22</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Wolf, engraving of head of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li class="indx">Women, carvings representing, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, - <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - - - <li class="ifrst">Zebras, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li></ul> - -</div> - -<p class="p4 ac noindent x-smaller"> - PRINTED BY<br /> - MORRISON AND GIBB LTD.<br /> - EDINBURGH -</p> - -<div class="transnote p2"> -<h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> -<ul> - <li>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.</li> - <li>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.</li> - <li>Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs - and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that - references them. The paginations in the list of illustrations and Index - have been adjusted accordingly.</li> - <li>Footnotes were moved to the end of chapters and numbered in one continuous - sequence</li> - <li>Other corrections: - <ul> - <li> p. 72: Suffrière changed to Soufrière (Soufrière of St. Vincent in 1812).</li> - <li>pp. 153, 242: Pocahontes changed to Pocahontas.</li> - </ul> - </li> -</ul> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Secrets of Earth and Sea, by Ray Lankester - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA *** - -***** This file should be named 53751-h.htm or 53751-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/7/5/53751/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Christian Boissonnas and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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