MORE SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR

Uniform with this Volume 1 The Mighty Atom Marie Corelli 2 Jane Marie Corelli 3 Boy Marie Corelli 231 Cameos Marie Corelli 4 Spanish Gold G. A. Birmingham 9 The Unofficial Honeymoon Doll Wyllarde 18 Round the Red Lamp Sir A. Conan Doyle 20 Light Freights W. W. Jacobs 22 The Long Road John Oxenham 71 The Gates of Wrath Arnold Bennett 81 The Card Arnold Bennett 87 Lalage's Lovers G. A. Birmingham 92 White Fang Jack London 108 The Adventures of Dr. Whitty G. A. Birmingham 113 Lavender and Old Lace Myrtle Reed 125 The Regent Arnold Bennett 135 A Spinner in the Sun Myrtle Reed 137 The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu Sax Rohmer 143 Sandy Married Dorothea Conyers 212 Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad 215 Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo E. Phillips Oppenheim 224 Broken Shackles John Oxenham 227 Byeways Robert Hichens 229 My Friend the Chauffeur C. N. & A. M. Williamson 259 Anthony Cuthbert Richard Bagot 261 Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Burroughs 268 His Island Princess W. Clark Russell 275 Secret History C. N. and A. M. Williamson 276 Mary All-alone John Oxenham 277 Darneley Place Richard Bagot 278 The Desert Trail Dane Coolidge 279 The War Wedding C. N. and A. M. Williamson 281 Because of these Things Marjorie Bowen 282 Mrs. Peter Howard Mary E. Mann 288 A Great Man Arnold Bennett 289 The Rest Cure W. B. Maxwell 290 The Devil Doctor Sax Rohmer 291 Master of the Vineyard Myrtle Reed 293 The Si-Fan Mysteries Sax Rohmer 294 The Guiding Thread Beatrice Harraden 295 The Hillman E. Phillips Oppenheim 296 William, by the Grace of God Marjorie Bowen 297 Below Stairs Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick 301 Love and Louisa E. Maria Albanesi 302 The Joss Richard Marsh 303 The Carissima Lucas Malet 304 The Return of Tarzan Edgar Rice Burroughs 313 The Wall Street Girl Frederick Orin Bartlett 315 The Flying Inn G. K. Chesterton 316 Whom God Hath Joined Arnold Bennett 318 An Affair of State J. C. Snaith 320 The Dweller on the Threshold Robert Hichens 325 A Set of Six Joseph Conrad 329 '1914' John Oxenham 330 The Fortune of Christina McNab S. Macnaughtan 334 Bellamy Elinor Mordaunt 343 The Shadow of Victory Myrtle Reed 344 This Woman to this Man C. N. and A. M. Williamson 345 Something Fresh P. G. Wodehouse A short Selection only. Uniform with this Volume 36 De Profundis Oscar Wilde 37 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime Oscar Wilde 38 Selected Poems Oscar Wilde 39 An Ideal Husband Oscar Wilde 40 Intentions Oscar Wilde 41 Lady Windermere's Fan Oscar Wilde 77 Selected Prose Oscar Wilde 85 The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde 146 A Woman of No

Importance Oscar Wilde 43 Harvest Home E. V. Lucas 44 A Little of Everything E. V. Lucas 78 The Best of Lamb E. V. Lucas 141 Variety Lane E. V. Lucas 292 Mixed Vintages E. V. Lucas 45 Vailima Letters Robert Louis Stevenson 80 Selected Letters Robert Louis Stevenson 46 Hills and the Sea Hilaire Belloc 96 A Picked Company Hilaire Belloc 193 On Nothing Hilaire Belloc 226 On Everything Hilaire Belloc 254 On Something Hilaire Belloc 47 The Blue Bird Maurice Maeterlinck 214 Select Essays Maurice Maeterlinck 50 Charles Dickens G. K. Chesterton 94 All Things Considered G. K. Chesterton 54 The Life of John Ruskin W. G. Collingwood 57 Sevastopol and other Stories Leo Tolstoy 91 Social Evils and their Remedy Leo Tolstoy 223 Two Generations Leo Tolstoy 253 My Childhood and Boyhood Leo Tolstoy 286 My Youth Leo Tolstoy 58 The Lore of the Honey-Bee Tickner Edwardes 63 Oscar Wilde Arthur Ransome 64 The Vicar of Morwenstow S. Baring-Gould 76 Home Life in France M. Betham-Edwards 83 Reason and Belief Sir Oliver Lodge 93 The Substance of Faith Sir Oliver Lodge 116 The Survival of Man Sir Oliver Lodge 284 Modern Problems Sir Oliver Lodge 95 The Mirror of the Sea Joseph Conrad 126 Science from an Easy Chair Sir Ray Lankester 149 A Shepherd's Life W. H. Hudson 200 Jane Austen and her Times G. E. Mitton 218 R. L. S. Francis Watt 234 Records and Reminiscences Sir Francis Burnand 285 The Old Time Parson P. H. Ditchfield 287 The Customs of Old England F. J. Snell A Selection only.

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MORE SCIENCE FROM
AN EASY CHAIR

BY

Sir RAY LANKESTER
K.C.B., F.R.S.

WITH 34 ILLUSTRATIONS

METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.
LONDON

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First Issued in this Cheap Form in 1920

Originally published by Messrs. Adlard & Son in 1913
First published by Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1914
Second Edition 1915
Third Edition 1920

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PREFACE

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CONTENTS

I. A Day in the Oberland 1 Fertilization of Sage—The Edelweiss—The Jungfrau's Breast—Contortions of Rock-strata—The Jungfrau Railway—Mountain Sickness. II. Switzerland in Early Summer 13 Alpine Flowers—Flowers of the Meadows and Woods—The Herb Paris. III. Gletsch 19 From Baveno to the Rhone Glacier—A Glacier by the Roadside—Changes in the Glacier. IV. The Problem of the Galloping Horse 25 The Cinematograph—Ancient Representations of

Gallop—The Dog in Mycenæan Art—What ought an Artist to do?—Attention as a Condition of Seeing—Judgment and Prejudice—Natural and Artificial Paces—Photographs by Electric Spark—Use of Instantaneous Photographs—Errors as to the Size of the Moon—The Painter and the Moon—The Moon on the Stage. V. The Jewel in the Toad's Head 55 The Decay of Credulity—A Sceptical Physician—How to Test a Toadstone—Other Magical Stones—Medicinal and Magical Stones. VI. Elephants 65 The Indian and the African Elephant—Size of Modern Elephants—Ears and Teeth of Elephants—Earliest Elephants brought to Europe—The Elephant's Legs—Tusks used in Digging—Elephants used in War—Geological Strata since the Chalk—Ancestral Mammals—The Typical or Ancestral Set of Teeth—The Peculiarities of the Teeth of Elephants—Extinct Relatives of Elephants—Ancestors of Elephants—Origin of the Elephant's Trunk.

VII. A Strange Extinct Beast 92 Fossil Skeletons and Jaw-bones—The Skull and Teeth of Goats—The Teeth of Rats—The Rat-toothed Goat—Origin of the Rat-toothed Goat. VIII. Vegetarians and Their Teeth 102 Teeth of Carnivors—Mixed Diets—Disease-germs in Food. IX. Food and Cookery 113 Special Diet of Various Races—Food and Habit—Nervous Control of Digestion—Wholesale Food and Mechanical Cookery—The Burnt Offering of the Jews—Women Neglect Cookery—A Great German's Appreciation. X. Smells and Perfumes 126 Smells and Memory—Accidental Qualities—Bacteria and Smells—Some Remarkable Smells. XI. Kisses 134 Kissing and Smelling—Variations in the Sense of Smell—Radiation and Odours—Attraction by Smell—Unconscious Guidance by Smell. XII. Laughter 144 Why do we Laugh?—Varieties of Laughter—The Laugh of Escape from Death—The Laugh of Derision. XIII. Fatherless Frogs 152 Fertilization of the Egg-cell—Egg-cells Developing Unfertilized—M. Bataillon's Discovery. XIV. Primitive Beliefs about Fatherless Progeny 159 Harvey and Milton—Reproduction by Budding—Stories of Virgin Births—Spiritual Theory of Conception. XV. The Pygmy Races of Men 167 Characteristics of Pygmies—Colour of the Skin—Egyptian Stories of Pygmies—Congo and New Guinea Pygmies—The Causes of Small Size—Smallness a Correlation.

XVI. Prehistoric Petticoats 180 Early Carvings and Pictures—Paintings in Caverns—Painting of Human Figures—Artistic Sympathy—Aurignacians and Bushmen Allied. XVII. New Year's Day and the Calendar 191 Make-believe and New Year—Divisions of Time—The Difficulties of the Calendar—Pope Gregory's Ten Days—The Astronomer Royal and the Shah. XVIII. Eastertide, Shamrocks and Spermaceti 201 The Real Shamrock—Sham Shamrock—Leonardo or Lucas?—Various Fats. XIX. Museums 209 The Muses—The Museum of Alexandria—Picture Galleries and Museums—The Purposes of Museums—The First Business of Museums—National Value of Museums—University Museums—Not for Children but for Adults—Screens and Electric Lifts—Frames and Setting of Pictures. XX. The Secret of a Terrible Disease 227 The Angel of Death—The Tyranny of Parasites—Typhus and Monkeys—Typhus Fever in Russia. XXI.

class="tl">Carriers of Disease 235 The Entrance of Parasites—Man as a Carrier of Disease—House Flies and Disease. XXII. Immunity and Curative Inoculations 241 Inoculation of Smallpox—Antitoxins—The Wonderful Properties of Blood—Germ-killing Poisons in the Blood—Opsonins or Sauce for Germs. XXIII. The Strange Story of Animal Life in New Zealand 251 Strange Birds—Destroyed by Europeans—Introduced Animals. XXIV. The Effacement of Nature by Man 259 Disappearance of Great Animals—Man's Reckless Greed—Hope in Irrigation.

XXV. The Extinction of the Bison and of Whales 266 Drowning in a Dead Whale's Heart—The Value of Whalebone—No more Turtle Soup. XXVI. More about Whales 273 The Shape of Whales—Enormous Pressure of Gas in the Blood—The Killer and the Narwhal—Fossil Whales. XXVII. Misconceptions about Science 281 What Science does not explain—Darwin's Theory is adequate—The Aquosity of Water—Need for Interpreters of Science—The Exploded Ghost called "Caloric"—Nightmares Destroyed by Science—When did the Soul arrive?—The Great Silence.

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURES

1. Flower of the Yellow Sage 4 2. The Edelweiss 5 3. "Folding" of Rock Strata 8 4. A Man Extracting the Jewel from a Toad's Head 58 5. The Palate of the Fossil Fish Lepidotus 60 6. The Indian Elephant 66 7. The African Elephant 67 8. The Crowns of Three "Grinders" or Molars of Elephants Compared 71 9. Skeleton of the Indian Elephant 81 10. The Teeth in the Upper and Lower Jaw-bone of the Common Pig 84 11. A Reconstruction of the Extinct American Mastodon 86 12. Skull and Restored Outline of the Head of the Long-jawed Extinct Elephant called Tetrabelodon 87 13. Head of the Ancestral Elephant—Palæomastodon 89 14. Restored Model of the Skull and Lower Jaw of the Ancestral Elephant—Palæomastodon 90 15. Head of the Early Ancestor of Elephants—Meritherium—as it appeared in life 91 16. Skull and Lower Jaw of a Goat

href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@27015@[email protected]#Page_94" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">94 17. Teeth in the Lower and Upper Jaw of the Goat 95 18. Skull of a Typical "Rodent" Mammal, the Coypu Rat 96 19. Teeth of the Coypu Rat 97 20. Skull of the Rat-toothed Goat, Myotragus 99 21. Skull of a Clouded Tiger 103 22. Teeth of the Lower and Upper Jaw of the same Clouded Tiger's Skull 104 23. Figure from a Group Drawn on a Greek Vase 171 24. Group of Women Clothed in Jacket and Skirt with "Wasp-like" Waists 185 25. Further Portion of same Group as Fig. 24 186

PLATES

I. Consecutive Poses of the Galloping Horse 27 II. Various Representations of the Gallop 29 III. Representations of the Gallop 31 IV. The Track of the Rising Moon 49 V. Three Figures—Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Lloyd George, and Mr. Asquith 52 VI. Teeth of the Upper and Lower Jaw of Man 108 VII. Teeth of the Upper and Lower Jaw of the Gibbon 110 VIII. Votary or Priestess of the Goddess to whom Snakes were Sacred 188 IX. Fresco Drawing of Two Female Acrobats 190

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MORE SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR

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CHAPTER I

A DAY IN THE OBERLAND

I am writing in early September from Interlaken, one of the loveliest spots in Europe when blessed with a full blaze of sunlight and only a few high-floating clouds, but absolutely detestable in dull, rainy weather, losing its beauty as the fairy scenes of a theatre do when viewed by dreary daylight. It is the case of the little girl of whom it is recorded that "When she was good she was very good, and when she was not she was horrid." This morning, after four days' misconduct, Interlaken was very good. The tremendous sun-blaze seemed to fill the valleys with a pale blue luminous vapour, cut sharply by the shadows of steep hill-sides. Here and there the smoke of some burning weeds showed up as brightest blue. Far away through the gap formed in the long range of nearer mountains, where the Lütschine Valley opens into the vale of Interlaken, the Jungfrau appeared in full majesty, absolutely brilliant and unearthly. So I walked towards her up the valley. Zweilütschinen is the name given to the spot where the valley divides into two, that to the left leading up to Grindelwald, under the shadow of the Mönch and the Wetterhorn, that to the right bringing one to Lauterbrünnen and the Staubbach waterfall, with the snow-fields of the Tchingel finally closing the way—over which I climbed years ago to Ried in the Loetschen Thal.

The autumn crocus was already up in many of the closely trimmed little meadows, whilst the sweet scent of the late hay-crop spread from the newly cut herbage of others.

At Zweilütschinen, where the white glacier-torrent unites with the black, and the milky stream is nearly as cold as ice, and is boiling along over huge rocks, its banks bordered with pine forest, I came upon a native fishing for trout. He was using a short rod and a weighted line with a small "grub" as bait. He dropped his line into the water close to the steep bank, where some projecting rock or half-sunk boulder staved off the violence of the stream. He had already caught half-a-dozen beautiful, red-spotted fish, which he

carried in a wooden tank full of water, with a close-fitting lid to prevent their jumping out. I saw him take a seventh. The largest must have weighed nearly two pounds. It seems almost incredible that fish should inhabit water so cold, so opaque, and so torrential, and should find there any kind of nourishment. They make their way up by keeping close to the bank, and are able, even in that milky current, to perceive and snatch the unfortunate worm or grub which has been washed into the flood and is being hurried along at headlong speed. Only the trout has the courage, strength, and love of nearly freezing water necessary for such a life—no other fish ventures into such conditions. Trout are actually caught in some mountain pools at a height of 8,000 ft., edged by perpetual snow.

You are rarely given trout to eat here in the hotels. A lake fish, called "ferras," a large species of the salmonid genus Coregonus, to which the skelly, powan, and vendayce of British lakes belong, is the commonest fish of the table d'hôte, and not very good. A better one is the perch-pike or zander. It is common in all the larger shallow lakes of Central Europe, and abounds in the "broads" which extend from Potsdam to Hamburg, though it is unknown in the British Isles. It is quite the best of the European fresh-water fish for the table, and there should be no difficulty about introducing it into the Norfolk Broads. It would be worth an effort on the part of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to do so, as the perch-pike, unlike other fresh-water fishes, would hold its own on the market against haddock, brill, and plaice. Another interesting fresh-water fish which grows to a large size in the Lake of Geneva (where I have seen it netted) is the burbot—called "lote" in French—a true cod of fresh-water habit which, though common throughout Europe and Northern Asia, is, in our country, only taken in a few rivers opening on the east coast. It is a brilliantly coloured fish, orange-brown, mottled with black, and is very good eating.

Passing up the Lauterbrünnen valley, I came upon some wild raspberries and quantities of the fine, large-flowered sage, Salvia glutinosa, with its yellow flowers, in shape like those of the dead-nettle, but much bigger. They were being visited by humble-bees, and I was able to see the effective mechanism at work by which the bee's body is dusted with the pollen of the flower. I have illustrated this in some drawings (Fig. 1) which are accompanied by a detailed explanation. Two long stamens, a1, arch high up over the lip of the flower, li, on which the bee alights, and are protected by a keel or hood of the corolla. Each stamen is provided with a broad process, a2, standing out low down on its arched stalk, and blocking the way to the nectar in the cup of the flower. When the bee pushes his head against these obstacles and forces them backwards, the result is to swing the long arched stalk, with its pollen sacks, in the opposite direction, namely, forwards and downwards on to the bee's back. It was easy to see this movement going on, and the consequent dusting of the bee's back with pollen. In somewhat older flowers, which have been relieved of their pollen, the style, st., or free stalk-like extremity of the egg-holding capsule, already as long as the stamens, grows longer and bends down towards the lip or landing-place of the yellow flower. When a pollen-dusted bee alights on one of these maturer flowers the sticky end of the now depending style is gently rubbed by the bee's back and smeared with a few pollen-grains brought by the bee from a distant flower. These rapidly expand into "pollen tubes," or filaments, and, penetrating the long style, reach the egg-germs below. Thus cross-fertilization is brought about by the bees which come for the nectar of Salvia. The stalks and outer parts of the flower of this plant produce a very sticky secretion which effectually prevents any small insects from crawling up and helping themselves to the nectar exclusively provided for the attraction of the humble-bee, whose services are indispensable.