New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-10

$40. Macmillan Co.
As usual with Professor Calderwood, the reader
will find that he must plod patiently down many
pages before he becomes interested. and even ne
fore he can make sure that the author himself
has more than perfunctOry feeling Tor MS 'asn'
This is unfortunate, because among living 'hihh-
ers almost none is a more trustworthy guluc 'nd'
CalderwoOd. lie is calm, critical, dlspaSeio"'c'
IL is impossible to starte him with novelties IN
thought and vet he welcomes the new win
cordialitv Natural Selection seems to him the
most satisfactory induction of modern science
Ue savs as much, and then he proceeds 10 the
erasure of nearly all that the apostles OF Natural
Selecton have written upon the one point vi
human intelligence. "Our hfst al", says me-
toward the classification OF mental phenoiieia Is
o. no found in the contrast between lower and
HIGHER orders Of life. The exact line oil sew
erance NAV be difficult TO trace. put 'hc
contrast be granted so far as TO set the lo"er
orders Of life on one side and the higher mamiala
IN the other we have scope for induction "hen
Twin undertakes to show that there is no
fundamental difference between man ana '"o
higher mammals in their mental faculties We
.nooanize this contrast Consistency here VIII
,ood N important results. While, however, Oar
,,;r makes the contrast conspicuous wheh ue"n
inc tho limits within which he undertakes 10
,.od nroof. no. unfortunately, does not au''eio
a. ,bose limits in the course of his argument
Y..,he object is TO show that there Is no luh"a""'
d;e.rence between man ard the higher h'ai'""'''
in their mental faculties 1t seems linp'' ~
there is a fundamental difference oe."oo'' ,
and the lower mammals, else there Is no :,
~ drawing the line Or the o'he' """'
.on,ol mowers, are to be attributed 10 ain"'
v.rr low in the scale, we neeo so"o r,,,
understanding of what is meh'ai' .
toc,s IN he attributed to the sensofi-"o'o a,
in fishes. amphibians and insects n'u ~. ,,,;oh
+inpuished from those 1ac's III '"'" h;olocist
ore attributed to mental faculties
h.s o,temptod this ncedul disthcuoh. .:o,s
""o ,'. eoot &c that the biologists and physio'o7
~ Co,derwood criticises have perslS'e""S
o1 tho worry points in their theory oi WV
,'.;or a, mind which required to I've proN'"
I,,,;ss and mental achievements cannot ="
- ~ creatures which have never p''"
=. ,,ossess mental apparatus. Not a l''ie oi we" ns
rosaa. for scientific Investigation '''P .;h
.birtino of ants and bees should I've i''i' or
tho fables of Aesop 1t Involve, 'he va" ~, oor-
'h' 1900 rroce-ses of animal life the sell-con
nv" 'Nsnos. If the observer. All that his hc'ioh
1,cks 70 make il good as that o, ',',ce
chat no should make his Insects use wv " =,
~ the sons of Adam. and shoulo 'aoh VII ,s,
,.o.ab,a haze fabula docet at the emf 'hoet''
'e0'" ,Ir,r ,vbo have taken lessons from 'he
'o =. soc;,lism have adorned tales ana pointer
.uo,s that would turn the Arabian LuKin.'h 'ro'i,
- o, Groom with envy Professor Caioei"oou
.,,;ros tho case of the ant with some care anu
. sbo,y that all the wonders which 1t a'cohpiiS"c'
-. matter of nervous sensibility. not OF lh'ci-
lot noints TO the incontrovertlbie Iac' ''"''
rr;v.d of it's antennae it becomes aoooiu"S "
canable of labor and in fact ceases u my
xvhereas a human being. ana even WV
borse NAV overcome almost any uei'o' vi "
s.nses "When now we return 70 'o'sne' '"0
;naction of the ant deprived OF its an'ennae' Il"
coes on TO say, nothing is clearer IMAM 'e MY
% modify the reference to disturbance IN ''e III
.Sn;a.ooo ~ the animal What here seems most
consnicuous is the lack Of intelligence P'e'
ooainst the marvellous power of sensibillty. "hen
wa turn TO observe the consequences In the iiio
~ a man. following on permanent injury to the
,.rvas of vision the painful restriction on his re-
,a.;on. 70 the external world has over against
II exercise of intellectual power, rendered more
corsnicuous We are at once arrested ny the
abiding interests of such life we even I"
ceive specal lessons. impressive and inspiring as
IN our common work of self-government. from tie
life of a Milton or a Fawcett.
Il ia impossible 10 donesticatc insects in the
manner rendered familiar by the examples OF the
dog and the horse. man may in a measure
understand the Deee Ill MS hlNts He may 'i''i
labors but he cannot make them understand him
Their relation 10 him is one of complete indlher-
ence. AT one time" said old beekeepcr
thought they knew me, but find 1t is only that
know Them for i can work as readily among an
other mans bees as among my own.
Rut even in the case of the higher mammals the
meaning of the word intelligence must be sadly
restricted in order TO place them on common
ground with man. Communication by means OF
simple sensible signs is the utmost mat Is posi-
lie at the present stage OF investigation. NO
proof is forthcoming that even the animals dearest
20 man combine their experiences for the sake Of
improved knowledge The indications of reason !
ING power which they give are rudmentary at the
best. Whenever we pass beyond the inerpreta-
tion of signs TO look for Independent action of a
rational power the search becomes fruitless.' 80
marked is the contrast that the difference be-
tween the brain of the ape the dog and the
human BRAIN great as it is. is insignificant in com
harrison with the distance which separates the lives
of these animals from the life of the ordinary man,
even il uncivlzed man be taken as our standard
of human capability." On the other hand the line
of dcmarcaton between instinct and intelligence
even in the higher animals is one which no ny
pothesis has vet removed. The assertion that the
one has been evolved from the other remains an
assertion and nothing more. How much more en-
phatically this Is true of man his own conscious
ness tells him. Nor can the experimental psychoI
ogst deny this testimony of consciousness for III
the very act of denying it he rcasserts It, Only
by interrogatng his own mind can he interpret the
acts of animals. Thus. however much the en-
pirica method may be lauded. its own adherents
fall back in spite of themselves on introspecton
when they attempt to explain their experiments
or 70 argue from their results OF this sef-con-
M al is \
psychologist would be living contradiction of his
own existence But when it is found that self
consciousness in any form must be denied to all
animals except man. it is seen that reflection must
re impossible TO them also. That is his preroga-
tive and it is more TO be accounted Tor from
the point of view Of simple intelligence than the
latter is TO be explained as an evolution Of III