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No. 395, Octobe r 17, 1857.] THE LEADER....
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¦ . ¦ ? ¦ Critics are not the legislator...
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The most striking articles in the last n...
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We can only this week announce the appea...
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATHANAEL CULVERWEL. O...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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No. 395, Octobe R 17, 1857.] The Leader....
No . 395 , Octobe r 17 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . iQQi
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¦ . ¦ ? ¦ Critics Are Not The Legislator...
¦ . ¦ ? ¦ Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review . ? ¦ ¦ . ¦
The Most Striking Articles In The Last N...
The most striking articles in the last number of the National Review are those entitled ' The Ultimate La- \ vs of Physiology , ' and ' Unspiritual Religion Professor Rogers . ' The writer of the former states at the outset that he might have termed 3 iis paper an Essay on Transcendental Physiology , as he proposes to consider the higliest or ultimate laws of the science , and the term transcendental is used in philosophy to denote inquiries of the most abstract character , such as deal , or endeavour to deal , not with special phenomena , but ¦ with the fundamental conditions of thought and existence . ' He is mistaken .
however , in supposing that the term ' transcendental' is used in philosophy to express higher and more abstract generalizations . It is employed to denote the search for existences that transcend the sphere of sense and perception ; being thus , in fact , synonymous with ontology . In this sense , no doubt , there might be a > transcendental physiology ; whether of much value or not is another question . If , for instance , following the development hypothesis , there were discovered in man rudiments of higher organs whose development might constitute a new species or genus , a paper discussing the nature and attributes of these nobler beings might , in strictness of speech , he termed an Essay on Transcendental Physiology . The term is , however , already employed in biological science , and there is no harm in this when its meaning is so precisely defined as by the writer of the
paper in question . " The title Transcendental Anatomy , " lie says , "is used to distinguish the division of biological science , whicli treats not of the structure of individual organisms , but of the general principles of structure common to vast and various groups of organisms , the unity of plan , the constancy of type , discernible throughout multitudinous genera and orders which are more or less widely different in appearance . And here , under the . head of Transcendental Physiology , we propose putting together sundry laws of development and function which apply not to particular kinds or classes of organisms , but to all organisms ; laws , some of which have not , we believe , been hitherto enunciated . " Though ihe promise of the last clause is scarcely fulfilled , the paper contains a number of wide and striking generalizations—too wide and general , in fact , to be of much use . The drift of the first general law enunciated is given in the following passage : — And first , returning to the last of the great generalisations above given , let us inquire more nearly how this cliange from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous is carried on . Usually it is said to result from successive differentiations . This , however , we conceive to be a very incomplete account of the process . As every physiologist knovs , ' there occurs , daring the evolution , of an organism , not only separation of parts , but coalescence of parts . There is not only segregation , but aggregation . The heart , at first a large , long , pulsating blood-vessel , by and by twists upon itself and becomes integrated . The layer of bile-cells constituting the rudimen tary liver , do not simply diverge from the surface of the intestine on which they at first lie , but they simultaneously consolidate into a definite organ . Aud the gradual concentration seen in these and otlier cases forms an essential part of the developmental process . This progressive Integration , which is seen alike in tracing up the several stages passed through by every emlryo , and in ascending from the lower organic forms to the higher , may be most conveniently studied under several heads . Let us consider first what mav be called longitudinal intearatiort .
The lower Annulosa—worms , myriapods , & c . —are characterized by the great number of segments of which they consist , reaching in some cases to several hundreds 5 but as we advance to the higher A nnulosa — centipedes , crustaceans , insects , spiders- — we find this number greatly reduced , down to twenty-two , thirteen , and even fewer ; and accompanying this there is a shortening or integration of the whole body , reaching its extreme in the crah and the spider , which stand at the head of this subkingdom . Similarly if we -watch the development of an individual crustacean or insect . The thorax of a lobster , which in the adult forms , with the head , one compact box containing the viscera , is made up by the union of a number of segments which in the embryo were separable .
That which wo may distinguish as transverse integration , is clearly illustrated among the Annulosa in the development of the nervous system . Leaving out those most degraded forms which < lo not present distinct ganglia , it is to be observed that the lower annulose animals , in common with the larvaj of the higher , are severally characterized by a double chain of ganglia running from , end to end of the body ; while in the more perfectly formed annulose animals this double chain becomes more or less completely united into a single chain . Here is the second general law : — Intimately related to the general truth that the evolution of all organisms is carried on by combined differentiations and integrations , is another general truth , -which physiologists not to have
appear recognised . When wo look at the organic creation in its ensemble , we may observe that , on passing from lower to higher forms , we pass to forms which are not only characterized by a greater differentiation of parts , but are at the same time more completely differentiated from the surrounding medium . This truth may bo contemplated under various aspects . In tho first place , it is illustrated in structure . Tlio advance from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous itself involves an increasing distinction from the inorganic world . In the lowostiVotoxoa , as that structureless speck of jelly the Amalm , we have a homogeneity nearly as great as that of air , water , or earth ; and the ascent to organisms of greater and greater comploxity of structure , is an ascent to organisms that aro in that respect moro strongly contrasted with the structureless environment
. _ Inform again wo seethe same fact . One of tho characteristic * or inorganic matter u its indehmtonoBB of form ; and this is also a characteristic of the lower organisms , as compared with the higher . Speaking generally , plants aro less definite than anS mals , both in shape and size-admit of greater modification from variations of position and nutrition . Among animals , the AmaAa and its allies aro not only structureless but amorphous : the form is never specific , and is constantly changing . that wh ? i r f « nT B n ™ * '"* ! lf ° m i ° £ 6 re ^ ion of amoeba-lilce creatures , we fufd that while some , as the rhizopoda , aasuma a certain definitouesa of form , in their
shells at least , others , as the sponges , are very irregular . In the zoophytes and in the Polyzoa -we see compound organisms , most of which have a mode of growth not more determinate than that of plants . But among the higher animals , -we find not only that the mature shape of each species is very definite , but that the individuals of each , species differ very little in size . This difference is illustrated ia a number of other points , such as chemical composition , specific gravity , temperature , and self-mobility . The latter part of the paper is occupied with a review of the controversy going on between Professors Owen and Huxley with regard to the value of the deductive method as a guide and instrument of discovery in physiological inquiries . In this discussion , we cannot help feeling that Professor Owen pushes Ctjvieb . ' s noble principle touching- the correlation of forms to an extreme . Deduction js a valuable , often an in . valuable 3 but not an infallible , guide iit physiological researches .
The article on Professor Rogers , headed ' Unspiritual Religion , ' obviously from a well-know n pen , is excellent in thought and purpose , spirit and style . The writer only expresses what most earnest minds must have felt in . reading Professor Rogers ' s religious polemics , that they are marked by a hard , sneering , flippant spirit , a petty logic ,, and a narrow charity , utterly at variance with the subject and avowed purpose of the writer . There is a gratuitous insult in the very position Professor Rogers assumes towards his opponent . He presupposes at the outset that he is either a rogue or a fool , and deals with . him accordingly , the discussion being a curious mixture of vulgar abuse and small eunnin < r .
The National contains , besides the above , a genial gossiping article on the veteran naturalist Charles Waterxon ; a paper on Beranger , ¦ containing suggestive passages , but too vaguely philosophical and diffuse ; and a review of Alexander . Smith , which , though true in the * main , is far too sweeping and . severe . Smith ' s power of description may be greater than his power of thought , but he is not so utterly destitute of all thinking faculty as the writer would make out . He lacks dramatic force and intensity , but even in his smallest pieces there is a reflective aud imaginative insight sufficient to redeem them from the charge of being simply musical lines .
The Londo ? i Quarterly Revieu ? opens with an article on the University of London , towards the close of wliich the position recently taken by a majority of the graduates agaiiist the Senate in favour of what is called the ' College system , ' is defended . There h a good deal to be said for the graduates' position , but we suspect it "will be found untenable . Apart from the fact that it is opposed to the whole educational tendencies of the time , it is really too late to restrict the action of the London "University to institutions that can , with propriety of speech , be called colleges . The college principle has been in effect abandoned , and the scope of tlie University is already so wide that the proposed change would probably make little difference ia this respect . The Review also contains an article on ' Contemporary Trench Philosophy , ' very readable but too superficial ; as well as an interesting notice of 'Lord Campbell ' s Lives of the Chief Justices . '
The most interesting paper in the Journal of Psychological Medicine is the opening one by the editor , on ' The Mission of the Psychologist . '
We Can Only This Week Announce The Appea...
We can only this week announce the appearance of two important works , whicli mark the return , of the literary season —The Accession of Nicholas I ., compiled , by special command of the Emperor Alexander II ., by Baron Korff , and published in English by Mr . Murray ; and Mr . Oxenfoiud's translation of Fischer ' s Francis Bacon of Ferulam , published by Messrs . Longman . The former of these books is a curiosity in historical literature .
The Philosophy Of Nathanael Culverwel. O...
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATHANAEL CULVERWEL . Of the . Liyht of Nature . A Discourse . By Nathanael Culverwel , M . A . Edited . by-John Brown , D . D . With a Critical Essay hy John Cairns , M . A . Edinburgh : Constable and Co . Thk latter half of the seventeenth century was illustrated by the writings of numerous great moralists— Cudworth , Cumberland , Jeremy Taylor . But before their works appeared Culverwel hud published his Discourse on the Light of Nature , —a treatise neglected by scholars , yet one that left an impression upon the literature of the period . Culverwel was a Puritan , and this one book suffices to refute the favourite assertion of Church critics that the Puritan school was destitute of taste and elegance . So far from being cold or harsh , the com position is enriched with imaginative ornaments of the most relined and brilliant order . Dillingluun , indeed , says it is ' cloth of gold , woven of sunbeams ; ' but , ornate ub the stylo is , the force of the
reasoning is even mo-re remarkable , while tho extent of learning , unostentatiously displayed , is , considering the « ge in which Culverwel wrote , absolutely prodigious . Not only does he sift the opinions of the leading Greek and Koman philosophers , the Fathers of the Church , the chiefs of tho Schoolmen , the two Bacons , Selden , Grotius , and Hooker , but his researches , spreading far beyond that luminous circle , penetrate the recondite disquisitions of Suarcz and Vasquez , Ncmesius and Zabarella , Averroesand Prosper Ho was allied , in point of philosophical genius , says Mr . Cairns , with the Cambridge l'latonists of his day ; but he was less 11 pedant thum most of them . Although an antagonist of Descartes , he had a sympathy with that peculiar , thoughtful , original , erudite mind . Generous in ¦ his appreciation of Bncon , he nevertheless refused to cant a slur upon Aristotle . Though a Puritan , he testified to the unsurpassed virtues of JLord Herbert of ' Chcrbury ; though a Protestant , he boro witness to tho merits of tho Jesuit Juarez . Aa intellect so expansive and a heart so warm could not but reverence all the masters of learning , whether Irncrius or Abelurd , whether Alexandrian
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 17, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17101857/page/17/
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