Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-08-17

William I;aieSon. president ~ the Brit
ish Association for the Advancement ~
Science declared Yesterday i'll an intense
IN interesting address before that ar.
ganization at IL first meeting ia Ans
tralia. that the Old view Of variations IN
forms Of life proceeding from the simple
10 the complex might BE- completely turn
eel about. The true process Of evolution
might hc from the complex to the sim
pie.
Ii will be- remembered that al lust
years meeting of this famous Crganiza.
ton In birmingham. Sir Oliver Lodge
startled the scientific world with the
bold introduction Of a proposal for clos
er investigation into the life after
death" theory. Today. Professor Bate
son, with perhaps less pronoun ed opin-
ions. urged his fellow scientists 10 open
their minds to The possibility that cvo-
luton came largely 'by loss" rather than
by addition.
From n lay standpoint his observe
tions might H. summarized a. follows:
In contradiction NJ Darwin and or most
scientists who have accepted the belief
that contemporary variations ia the
formS ~ life have come about who'll,
by crossing. and thus by the addition OF
new factors ~ life il i probable that the
variations are due 40 the loss Or suppress.
sion Of factors present in the original
species.
\ pointed sentence was this remark:
II have confidence that the artistic gifts
of mankind will prove to be- due not t.
something added 10 the makeup Of the
ordinary man. Int 10 the absence of fac
tors which in the normal person inhabii.
ell the development Of these gifts.
Prof. BateSon's subject was IIcrcdity.
OF this he has made a particular study
for many years. lie will be- remembered
by some in the United States as sill.
lecturer mt Yale University seven wears
ago. The stand he took ia his address to
day was not that Of . %proIoundcr 81 \
theory. The time for the development az
theories of the origin ~ life had not vet
come. h. said: the student ~ g~cmctir~
would rather stick 10 The seed pan and
the incubator"
The doctrine ~ the survival ~ the
%fittcSt. he said. lis n~ndcmiahlo ~ long
as IL il applied to the organism M Il
whole. but ~ attempt bv this principle
10 find the value IN aIl dcfinilcnc~s of
parts and I unctions. and in the nafac 81
science Ia see fitness everywhere * mere
eighteenth century optimism. Yet II aaS
IN application to the partS. 10 the De-
fufIS .f Nsa..tff... jim.
on the pcacockS tail. To the c%olorin. Of
the orchid flower. AMI hosts Of Sarh cN.
amplcS. that the potency of Natural Sci
ection was urged with strongest cmpha
sis. Shora of these prclentionS The hoe.
triae II The survival II favored races
Is u trui>m. helping scarcely Al al AZ
account COR the diversity Of species.
The appearance Of con,cmporary VI
iiabili.s proves ~ h. I'm illusion. Va~i.
aiiat from Stcf. Ia Step ~ the series
must occur either ~ the addition Or h,
10 be- fairly clear evidence. but ~ the
contemporary acquisition ~ any new
Factor ! See 40 satisfactory proof. Though
! admit there are rare examples which
may be- 20 interpreted. We are left with
4 picture of variation utterly different
from that which we saw az first. Naria-
ton now stands ON; a. 4 definite phv~i
olo.lcal event. We have done with the
notion that Darwin came ~lattcriv a. A.
vor. that large differences can arise h,
accumulation Of small differences. Slch
small differences are often mere cphmcr.
NJ effects of conditions of life. and aS
such are no. tran>missihlc.-
The speaker referred to the contea-
ton by Lo~ty that the sole source of vor;a-
ton was by crossing. bu. declared this was
unSafeg round. IN spit, of rcDcated
trials NO one has yet succeeded IN CROSSING
the sweet pea with amy other lcerminou-
Species h. argued. The picottcr ~,ree,
pea. with IT. purple edges cam surely ~
nothing hut = condition which ordinaril,
makes the fully purple flower. ouantita-
lively diminished. The pied animal. ~n,I,
as the Dutch rabbit. must -:milarlv NV NJ.
gardcd ~ The Result N =. -yial defect NJ
me chrulnogcn from which the pigment II
formed, or conccivably the factor which
ELECTS ~ oxidation. on such hines I think
We may with great confidence interpret al
these mtcrgradmg forms sAnsch breed trne
and arr not sfodnced ~ iactorial inter-
ference.
Having IN view these and other CON
sidcrations which might be developed. i feel
no reasonable doubt thai though we may
have L. forego q claim 10 variations bv adj
diilon OF facts. yet variation both by loss
Of factors and BY lraeiiona:ion of factor.
= "A senune phenomenon Of contemporary
nature. II then W. have 10 dispense. as