MAN AND NATURE.*
THE first five books lying before us deal with the place of man in the world. They attack that great and endless problem in diverse ways, which yet may all claim to come within the vast embrace of science. Mr. Duckworth's text- book of Morphology and Anthropology, supplemented by the smaller volume in which he utilises part of the extremely rich collection of anthropological material contained in the Cambridge Anatomical Museum, is an invaluable piece of exact work, somewhat beyond the needs of the general reader, but admirably adapted to those of the student. Physical anthropology—the study, that is to say, of the anatomical characters of the various types of man, and the indications which they afford of his past history and relationships—is still a young science, which has to justify its claim to an • (1) Morphology and Anthropology. By W. L. H. Duckworth. Cambridge at the University Press. [15s. net.]—(2) Studies in Anthropology. Same author and publishers. [10s. net.]—(3) The Wonders of Life. By Ernst Hasckel. London: Watts and Co. 165. net.1—(4) The Cycle of Life. By C. W. Saleeby. London Harper and Brothers. [7s. 6d. net.]—(5) The Art of Creation. By Edward Carpenter. London : George Allen. (6s. net.1— /6) A Boy's Control and Expression. By Eustace Miles. Cambridge: Miles. 68.]—(7) Ambidexterity. By John Jackson. London Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. [68. net.]—(8) "N" Rays. By B. Blondlot. London : Longmans and Co. [3s. 6d. net.]—(9) Astronomical Discovery. By H. EL Turner. London : E. Arnold. [10s. 6d. net.]—(10) Manual of Quuternion.. By C. .7. Joly. London : Macmillan and Co. floe. net.)—(11) The Edens' Year-Book for BM. London: King, Bell, and Olding. (58. net.]
independent place among the biological sciences. It can only do this by such a method as Mr. Duckworth has described in his introductory chapter. He there gives an excellently lucid though brief account of the history of physical anthropology, which may practically be considered to date from the remark- able work on the orang-outang which Tyson published in 1699 describing "the Anatomy of a Pygmie " (really an immature chimpanzee) "compared with that of a Monkey, an Ape, and a Man."
Till quite recently the consideration of man's place in the physical world was seriously hampered by religious considera- tions. It was thought almost blasphemous to suggest that his frame, showing so many points of similarity to that of other mammals, had come into existence by any method but that of direct and instantaneous creation. Darwin and his fellow-workers have happily changed all that, and nowadays the most ardent theologian can recognise that his theories of the Providential origination and governance of the world are in no way bound up with the necessity to close his mind to the teachings of science. Thus physical anthropology—which is differentiated from the wider science of Lord Avebury and Mr. Tylor by confining itself to considering anatomical and morphological features—is able to face the threefold problem which Mr. Duckworth states as falling within the scope of
his inquiry In the first place, the attempt must be made to realise the position occupied by Man in the animal kingdom : and secondly, enquiry must be made into the nature of the ancestors of Man. Finally, we may be in a position to discuss the question whether the series of animal forms which has produced Man has now reached its termination or not." The text-book now before us is mainly occupied with the light which comparative anatomy throws upon the two former questions. It is pretty clear that man is a close relation of the Simiidae, or higher apes,—hylobates, gorilla, orang-outang, and chimpanzee. But he cannot be classed as their de- scendant,—we must rather look back to a common ancestor from whom both man and the apes have sprung. "As Klatsch puts it, the ancestors of the modern Simiidae were more anthropoid than the actual Simiidae, just as the ancestor of the Hominidae was more pithecoid than modern Man." If the material for man's physical history were fully available—most of it has unfortunately perished from the pages of the geological record—it is almost certain that we could trace him back, through the lowest Primates or Lemuroidae, to the simplest vertebrates. It is also probable
that the appearance of a creature which could be called human on the face of the earth must be carried back to a very distant time ; the early Tertiary epoch is indicated,
and Africa or Southern Asia was the presumable cradle of humanity. In these non-technical pages we cannot pretend to follow the steps by which Mr. Duckworth and other workers have been led to these conclusions, but we can confidently refer the student who desires further insight to this admirable text-book. We may, however, note the nature of the answer adumbrated to the third and most practically important question as to man's future. The factors of past evolution .may be summed up under the comprehensive term "environ- ment." With man, as with all other living creatures, the path of advance is determined by the conditions in which he lives, and by his readiness to conform to their requirements :— " From these considerations, it is evident that due and proper reaction between the vascular, nervous, and other systems is a condition of survival. Such physiological equilibrium can only be obtained by the proper exercise of its functions by each system of tissues involved. We are thus led to the conclusion that cerebral specialisation, the prime factor in the future, as it has been in the past evolution of the Homicides, is ultimately dependent on what may, in the widest sense, be termed hygienic conditions. By the exercise or neglect of these the future evolu- tion of the Homicides will be determined: failure to comply with such demands will eventually lead to extinction."
This, of course, is the doctrine of efficiency which our statesmen have at last awoke to the need of preaching : it comes with peculiar weight when urged with the cold and passionless sincerity of science, and when applicable not merely to a nation but to the whole race. Those who accept it may welcome Mr. Eustace Miles's well-meaning and able, though somewhat too gushing, plea for a better education of our boys, in criticism of which one can only object that it rather threatens the creation of a new race of prigs ; but even
the "slacker." Mr. John Jackson's interesting treatise on Ambidexterity, again, sums up the teachings of a promising movement of which he is the prophet and the founder. He shows in its entertaining and earnest pages how simple it is to make the left hand take its share in the duties of life, and how much may be gained in all departments of human activity by two-handedness. Like golf and the violin, ambi- dexterity ought to be taught young, and Mr. Jackson's book should be carefully studied by all parents, schoolmasters, and others who have the control of the rising generation.
Professor Haeckel's new book, which has been well trans- lated by Mr. Joseph McCabe, is a sequel to his Biddle of the Universe. He wrote it during a winter holiday at Rapa,llo in 1903-4. It contains a response to inquiries made by many readers of his earlier work, and a further explanation of his well-known monistic theory of the universe. As opposed to the dualistic theory of Kant and other meta- physicians, this holds that science is based on a purely natural process, that all knowledge must be a posteriori or empirical, and that experience is the sole ground of our beliefs. It denies that there is a spiritual or inspirational element in knowledge, and regards the brain as a purely physiological organ. This is not a theory that can be criticised in a few lines, taking us, as it does, down to the very roots of human activity and thought; it is enough for us, while entering a caveat to his conclusions, to say that these words of the veteran Professor Haeckel, who has done so much for the establishment of the evolutionary doctrine, will be read with interest. Dr. Saleeby's book, composed of a number of ably written popular expositions of scientific matters which he has published in the columns of the Academy, deals largely with the same subjects; and is a lucid and agreeable contribution to the kind of work done by Proctor, Grant Allen, and Mr. Clodd for the "man in the street." Mr. Carpenter's book is rather a rhapsody than an argument ; but it is written with his well-known fire and originality, and affords sufficient food for thought to be welcome in a day when too many books of the kind are a mere hash-up of other men's opinions.
The other books on our list, which deal with physical science rather than with man, call for brief notice. Mr. Garcin's translation of Professor Blondlot's memoirs on the much-discussed " N " rays is good as far as it goes, but in view of the heated debate as to the real existence of these radiations, it is a pity that he did not see his way to add some of the contributions of other investigators, so as to give the public to whom the book is addressed an opportunity of understanding the con, as well as the in.° of this alleged discovery. Professor Turner's lectures on astronomical discovery, which were delivered last summer at Chicago, are lucid and interesting, like all that be writes, but do not take us very far into the subject. Professor Joly's Manual of Qu,aternicms adds another to the long list of handbooks on higher mathematics for which Dublin has earned the gratitude of students throughout the world, and should supersede Tait, whilst affording a useful introduction to the classic work of Hamilton in this fascinating branch of analysis. The new Science Year-Book, edited by Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell, promises to be a hardy annual, especially if in future editions the scientific articles are made a little more technical and better furnished with references. At present they are of little use to the class of persons who may chiefly be expected to buy such a publication.
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