New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-03
A HERETO IN SCIENCE.
FIR HupsoHs LATEST VOLUME.


snAakins two words for himself and one for his
sesthered proteccs. If he had bis own way nc
v~ould doubtless rot be cooped up in London,
vaxed nv thr noises Ct mult,udcs OF people. lie
would I've wandering free upon the plains OF
Argentina and Patagonia. studying anew uc
beosts and birds which he has already described 81
we'll II is easy to read the unhapiincss OF son
Of nat,re in prison beneath the sympathy oil the
author for that other wild freeman Herman Mel
vile. who in his far wandcrinss had lost 'nc
miserable warping memories Of traditions ana W
towns The same thing is to Dc rcao' 'oo' Al
Mr. Uudson's own rucful forebo,Lg that he must
now live out his remaining years in the grci'
town. r.,
His readers will certainly share hls regret. lie
IA one of the masters in his field OF nature s'uis
In his far southern habitat he was almost WIN
out n competitor But the case Is different VIII"
him now The book in hand Though 10 is en-
ri.led with all that acuteness oil ooser'a'ioh IVA
which its author has become famous cannot "e
oomu,rcd with others that have flowed from ms
nn. He loves Thorcau and John Burroughs ou'
no cannot do the work that they have done. lie
rao.,s a wilder scene than trim English wo'd-
land or village common. One should DC sa'u,
,.,od with literature as well as with the results OF
observation 10 rake the best of essays'S VI.
nature in the haunts of civilization Not 'i"'
ono .ionld be always trimming over WIN p'o'o
rd u,etical quotations but the effect OF vas' gen
ersI reading should be seen in his Writing DIS '"o
shining sand and shells and pebpleS are or'i
through the deep water Of pellucid idNc' ""'
much Of Mr.. Hudson's literary allusioh scel"s ~
come with ar effort. Only once wIeh Nv oie'N'
forth in praise of a beloved spanish. poe' arc =.
s,lowed Z, catch a glimpse of book Knowledge Ill
,yh;ob the author can really teach his raders'
7, !. refreshing TO see him drive suddenly a'Uwaf'
III en-. vani,ies of those who love Englls'l liter'-
ture not wisely but too well, that IS 100 eNciu-
.ivcIv. IL doubt. for one thing, tie eAo'ai"''
";f we are justified in the boast we sometimes
mako tl,at the feeling for nature is stronger l"
our poets than in those OF other countries
mort scientific critic may be unable 10 PICK "o'o
in Tennyson's botany and zoology, put inc pasSi'"
for and the feeling of oneness with nature n''s
exist without this modern minute accuracy
All this came of sort Of day dream Inc HAT
uralist had found his way to sedgy pool o'cr
,,,ich the water lilies spread, while the margin
was fringed with rushes. Stout ola poiiaru WI,
lows stood sentinel in the meadows near by, ana
brambles and rosebrars made rich and beautiful
,arr,e. A little wooden bridge. no longer usea
hv humankind. made lesting-place for the BIRDS
before they fitted down to their feedng-places III
the nool "Thrushcs, backbirds, sparrows, reed
huntincs tits wrens with many other species, sue
ceeded each other all day long; for now they
mostly had young to provide for, and II was 'heir
busiest time" In this secluded spot lac wouid
have built a cabin where lie might live away
from all human comparionship lie wouia nave
only one book and this book must be some Span
ish poet, "Nielendez for preference-oniy sn'aii
.o,.n,ior from his too voluminous writings; for
be albeit An eighteenth century singer, was per-
h.ns the last of that long ilustious line OF poets
who Gang as no others have sung OF the p"f"
deliQhtfulpess of life with nature" How el.husi
astlc he is for his favOrites! In the 1recr Alnus
nj S,anish poetry there are numberless verses 'a'
make the smoothest lines and lyrics OF our sweet
eat and most facile singers, from HerrlcK 10 swim,
hume seem hard and mechanical by comparison
lie is delighted by the careless ease' 'iie hen'no's
of heart. the delicacy the seeming artlessness OF
nc old moot and above all by the old, SIMPLE
healthy. natural gladness in nature, and 1eelihs
~ Linsb;n with all the children of lie
.Tb;s il rank beresy," will be the resentful eN-
lamation of staid admirers OF EnglSh c'as'i's '"''
No But there are no two fields of human endeaVor
,h.ra herctics can lie more useful at present 'iah
n ENGLISH literature and in natural science. MI
Hudson is a thorough going hereto III sciehce.
IJe takes the moor hen, the little hali-clVliizeo
creature that drops down every summer ny "e
vaterside in Hyde Park after its winter Journey
10 some southern cline, as pretext lor a'.aoN-
Inr the superstition that phus ha,o
an instructive or inherited fear of man. lie
.II,das IN this as dictum of Darwin, and doubt
less Darwin did give it the sanction of science
but H. is far older. Did not the friends oil
J'horcau talk as if there was something "h-
cannv in the confidence which plrds ana
beasts showed toward him? deep unia'hohl-
able mystery has been made of what Is no mystery
n all. Those moor hens are simply indiherent
IN tho millions Of human creatures that surround
thenS because they are not molested. e And as
with these moor hens" adds the author, so 1t IL
With ALI wild birds: they fear and fly from ana
susniciously watch from safe distance, what
aver molests them, and wherever man suspends
his hostility toward them they quickly outgrow
the suspicion which experience has taught them
Neither moor hen Eor any other wlld Dird cares
he insists, for the noises OF CIVILIZATION. Inc
little creatures that flutter wildly at sight of
ek-lo0king cat or crazy fox-terrier or an III
ouisitive small boy build their nests In railroad
bridge few inches beneath the irons over which
trains thunder every quarter OF an hour. III Is
mt the "harmless racket Of civilization which
drives away the birds but the senseless yet in
territorial war made upon them The oird-
catcher. the nest-robber. the cockney sportsman.
the unreasoning slayer of wild creatures. these
are the enemies who make the birds distrustful
Of human beings. Mr.. Hudson also has good
word to say for the English sparrow which it is
the fashion TO Willy. He evidently does not he
;eve all that he hears from America and Australia
.bout this little denizen of city streets. lie
,eed not The sparrow is far better than>some
vho have spoken i'll of him. When the pot
,urters have killed all of his kind in the United
ststes and the cooks have turned the tiny carcass -
INTO reed birds by some hocuspocus Of tie fry
and when the tent worms begin crawl
M about. and breeding by the millions as they
lid wears ago, then it is to be hoped that those
,eople who know so much that is not SO about
,parfows will have the grace to confess their
ault
..h.. ,o;nt on which an army of misguided