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Fraser ' s Mayazine . No . 370 . October , i 860 . London , J . W Parker and Son . "A . 1 £ . H . 33 . " opens the present number with a very amusing and delectable paper , entitled "Concerning Seylla and CJharybdis , " by which are typified ' the extremes of conduct into which people riishj so seldom flndiug the " golden mean . " There is a" Last Word on ! Lord Macaulay , " which will be read with interest . The number also contains chapter * 27 lo 29 of " G-ryli Grange . " « ' Ida Conway , '' chapters 3 and 4 . " A Ride for the . Ring , " one of Gv J . Why te Melville's amusing papers ; " A Snow Pic-nic ; " "The English Pompeii , " may also be specified . Tlie " Chronicle of Current History , " summarises the month ' s events , after the condensed and comprehensive fashion of our " IRecord . " The graver articles , in addition to the Chronicle , are a paper on- " The Financial Condition of Turkey , " and one on Professor Owen ' s work on Palaeontology , the importance of the
discussions in which cannot , in a scientific point of view , be over-rated . We extract the following passages : — " With respect to the . origin of Bpecies , the two extreme views , one or the other of which has hitherto been generally held by speculators upon this most interesting subject , may be broadly stated as follows . According to one each species is distinct and immutable , and was originally produced by a distinct act of creative powers according to the other , species are mutable , and have been produced by constant transitional variations froni a small number of original types . The adoption b y Mr . Darwin of a peculiarly attractive form of the latter of these views has recently directed the public attention most strongly to this subject ; and the opinion of so distinguished an authority as Professor Owen cannot but be anxiously looked for and respectfully received . On this question the Professor expresses himself with the utmost caution . One things
however , is clear , that he does riot believe that each species has had its origin in the direct interference of a first cause—in a distinct and special exertion of the creative power . 'It is not probable , he says , ' that the species of the mineralogist and the botanist should be owing to intluenccs 39 different as is implied by the operation of a second caiise and the direct interference of a first cause . The nature of the forces -operating , in the production of a lichen may not be so clearly understood as those which arranged the atoms of the crystal on which the lichen spreads . Pouchefc has contributed the most valuable evidence as to the fact and . mode of the production by external influences of species of Protozoa . "We would simply remark , that if it be granted that species are originated , not by a direct interference of creative power , but by soino inodifieation of the bi'dinarv course of ¦ generation , the question is at
once limited to the amount of time require * for the production ol a new species . Does one species pass into another , as supposed by Darwin , Lamarck , &c , through , a long series of infinitely smaU transitional modifications ; or is the change effected , as has already been suggested by the author of Vestiges of Creation , by a sudden and abrupt leap ? Is ic more probable that the dog should , through a series of gradations extending over many generations , have descended from the wolf 5 or that , when the time for the introduction of the new species was fully come , a pair of specific wolves should have suddenly produced a specific dog ? Another question closely related to those to wliieh we have just referred is , whether the course of ununal hie upon timehas
the earth , from the earliest periods down to tlie present , or has not been one of progressive development . We can scarcely conceive how any one who attaches a real value to paltvontological evidence can hesitate to agree with Professor Owen ' s verdict on this question , that , as fur as any " genoral conclusion can be derived from the existing mass of evidence , it is against the doetrino of the uniforniitarian , and that , in regard to animal life and its assigned work on this planet , there has plainly been an ascent and progress in tho main . ' The principal objection urged by the uniforinita-rian against tho theory of the progressionist is , that this theory rests entirely upon negativo evidence . But on what other than negative evidence does he admit tho provisional distinction between Daleoozoie , mosozoic , and cainozoic stmta ? On
• what other evidence does ho base his conviction that eiiuliosaurd did not exist ; in tho tertiary period , or that the numerous marine invertobrata wliioh are characteristic of tlie ptilroozoic ago are extinct iu existing Beas ? When Mr . Darwin propounds his tboovy of natural selection , does the uniformitarian hesitate to bring against him tlie negativo evidenoe afforded by tho non-discovery of fossil transitionul lorma f Did it never occur to him that he is relying upon precisely that imperfection in tho geological record which the most advanced ot progressionists is compelled to postulate in support of -his theory r Ae Professor Owen . ' well observes , no order of tho mammalian olaas is at tho present day represented by such nuniorous and widelydiBPQreed individuals as that oi' cetaoea , whioh ' tis ilahes , dwell uud Oftii only live in the ocean . Tho mombors of this order attain to a size far surpassing that of the largest rooent or extinot animals ; and are admirably adapted for fossil preservation , by tho complete : *!„ ., n ,-. ^ ^ e fii-iii . a \ roA , xtnr \ niifi \\\ n In vna niiiTilitn i * of their voi'tobnu .
If , thereforo , oetat'eii had oxistod in palceossoio or niosozoio seas , it is absolutely inooncoivable that they should not huvo loft abundant evidonoo of their ejtistenoo in the deposits of theso oceans . When we compare tho soanty and dubious evidonuo of thorn in secondary strata with tho extraordinary abunchmuo of . thenremains in tho Suffolk eruig , surely Uw only rational conclusion ia to rogm-cl tho former indjotttiond aa marking tho ponod of tho first introduction of this order into tho sous of our globo . Evidonoo has , howevor , boon recently udduuod whioh boouis lo show that tho introduction of mnn into this planot took placo at a date groatly eai'lior than tliat usually assigned to this ovont by tho atudonts of Bibh ' oal chronology . Flint ; insti'iimonU oullocl aelta , ' unquestionably tho work of human Jiande , ha , ve rooently boon diBoovoiwl » t
oon-Bidoxablo depths bolow tho surfuo ' o , in bods of slralilloU gnvvuj , prouaoiy of poet-pUooono ago , associated with tho fossil remains of many oxt . mot ranr » muHan animals . Human bonus havo liljowiso boon Jound , mixed with those of oxtinot onmivom , in oflsiforouH uiivorns ' in vunoiia pirns of Kuropo . Tho prosout . condition of tho evidence is soarooly euoh as to warrant any authoritative oonduaion on I hi * iuohL intorOHlnuj point j but Sir 0 . Lyoll , at tho mooting of tho British A . e » oemtion at Aberdeen , oxnroBBod his opinion that tha antiquity of Hm » o flint inafci-umontu , it compnrocl with tho times of hintory mul t vuditicMi , is Rvoat uidood 1 his
belief being mainly grounded upon the immense time required for the formation of the gravel deposits in which they have been found . " Once a Week , Part 15- September .- London : Bradbury and 32 vans . — -There scarcely ever was a periodical , publication , of any price whatever , in which so wide a range , and so complete an ensemble , as regards variety in the instructive and amusing elements of a literary journal , and those of first-class quality ,-have : been presented to the public as in the excellent serial before us . The illustrations are capital , the fiction of a sterling character , and the information copious and accurate . In the part before us there is an interesting paper on " Representative Women . " The " Scientific Students" selected are Caroline L . Herschel , Sophio Germain , and Mrs . Somerville . The history and . character of the second are very curious . We quote the article : — " Next comes £ ho Frencli lady , who was born later and died
earlier than Caroline . Herschel . Sophie G-ermain began her career m a very different way . Hers was a case of such a preponderance of the mathematical faculties that they regulated her whole mind and life . She loved poetry , as many mathematicians have done ; and she insisted that the division set up between reason and imagination was arbitrary aiid false . "We now and then hear from superficial persons an expression of wonder that the finest taste is found in thOs < 3 who arc conspicuous for judgment ; but Mademoiselle Germain would have wondered more if the case had been ' . otherwise ; for she saw how the decisions of reason must harmonise ' with the . principles of taste . Goodness was , in her eyes , order ; and wisdom was the discernment of fundamental order ., As fixed relations exist among oil truths and all objects , and the discovery of xiny one may lead to the discernment of any number , no heights of speculation astonished , and no flights of
fancy disconcerted her . She was mathematical if ever human being was so ; but this did not mean that she was prosaic , rigid , and harrow . She was qualified for large and philosophical criticism in literature , no less than for inquisition into the theory of numbers ; and she applied herself , amidst the tortures of death by cancer , to exhibit the state of not only the science ? , but of literature at different periods of their culture , This was the subject of her posthumous , work . . . . , The more terrible the prophecies she heard in her father ' s drawing-room ( he being a member of the- Constituent Assembly , and therefore living in political s&ciety ) the more strenuously did , little-. Sophie apply her faculties to this History of Mathematics and the studies it indicated , to the amazement of her family , w ho eduld not conceive why she was . suddenly engrossed in the study of Euler . They were not only amazed but displeased : ami among other modes of opposition they took away ull her clothes at night , when the weather was so cold as to freeze tho ink
in the glass . Sophie quietly rose , when they were all asleep , wrapped herself iii the bedclothes , and pursued her studies . The elementary books she could lay hold of were not such as we have to learn from now . They were full of faults and omissions , according to our present view ; and they gave her more trouble than her family did . She advanced beyond those books , liowever ; and in time her family let her alone During the Reign of Terror she made herself mistress of the Differential Calculus of Cousin . Times improved for her when society was so far settled as that the Normal and Polytechnic schools of Paris were opened . By one device or another sho obtained the notes of many of the professors' lessons ; and she was presently bewitched by Lagrange ' s new and luminous analysis . It was the custom for such students as desired it to oiler their observations in writing to tho professor , at the close of his course . Sophie took advantage of this custom to get her notes handed in to Lugrange , ae coming from a student ; and grout was
the praise awarded to tho mysterious . student , whoso real name was soon betrayed to tho great man . Her first specific enterprise illustrates her courage and perseverance as thouroughly as her whole life . Napoleon was dissatisfied that there was no scientific expression of tho results of tho curious experiments , of Oliliulni on tho vibrations of elustic metal plates ; and ho oll ' erod an extraordinary prize if tho Institute could discover the mathematical laws of thoso vibrations . Lagrango at onoo declared tho thing impossible ; that is , it would require a now species of analysis . Fovv would havo thought of proceeding in the face of such an opinion : but Sophie said , 'My doar master , why not try ? ' After a world of study , sho sent in , as tho result , an equation of tho movement of elastic surfaces . It was faulty ; and sho saw why . But for the irregularity of her mathematical education , the failure could not have happened ; and sho set to work to remedy tho evil . Sho actually produced tho now kind of unalysis whioh Lagrango had doelured to bo necessary ; and ho was the firat to applaud tho foat . Moreover , ho
obtained tho oxaot equation from her suhorap . Sho horsoll pursued tho application , and ' obtained honourable mention for this second attempt . She was invited to ontor again into tho competition ; and on this third 00-ension aho suocoeded completely She wrought out tho applications of hor own methods , andsup |> liod eovoral theorems to Logondro on tho theory of numbers , which ho published in tho supplement to his socond edition ; and tho fui-thor slio went in mathoinatios tho more widely who extended hor studios in other departments , ospooially chemistry , physios , geography , and the liiutory of philosophy , science , and literature . Sho emp loyed hor Analytic faculty in all directions , and manifested hor aho touohod told that
synthetic powov 011 ( ivory subject which . Wo aro in hor luannors'and-conversation , tho utniOBt grace of accuracy was manifested . Hor expression of hor- ideas and feelings , and hor narrative ol incidents wore bo prooiso , ho brief , bo perfect , that no improvement was possible , and every alteration must bo for the worse . Tho sumo fltnoss , olourneflB , einoority , uppourod in'ull sho did . Ilor life wan not tho loss goniul for this , nor her conversation the lesa livel y « ud nutural . It had a soniowhut pootjoal oust , or sooinod to havo to thono who wore oxpooting to find a mathematical prude , ' or a dry pedant . Sho diou in 1831 , uftor long uud cruel suffering , lioroioally borne , blio vmattiiy voavs old—younirei' by n generation than Oarolino Jiorsoliol , but dying
Bovontoon voura boforo lioi ' . .. ' it n Tlio Christian ftvambtbr , No . 221 . Soptombor , 180 U . J <» » > JJ'B . . Walker , WJuo , onil Co . The ounwit muuuor of tills * Amonoan p « Sal oonl ' « l , i 8 tho second article on ^ o }{ o ^ t a . ^^ iShy o [ K& « sesse * asW gpwn , ' woai * well , though fhcywmy not at ouco captivato tho fancy .
Untitled Article
Oct . 6 , 1860 ] The Saturday Analyst arid Leader . 851
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 6, 1860, page 851, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2368/page/11/
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