The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-11

IN, casting q shadow before that "a
many seemed the eclipse of spiritual
hope. But the naturalist looks wis,
candor at both sides OF the case. VhA
civilization Of the day, 70 some fo,ks
crushing and soul killing" has two
surfaces: ut arms US With the forces
OF earth, dir and water. while Il
weakens our hold upon the sources o,
personal power: 1t lcngthens life Will.
1t curtails leisure: 1t multiplies ou..
wants while It lessons our capacity Is.
simple enjoyments; II vastl,.
increases the machinery of education.
while II does SO little for real culture"
II subordinates the local to the unlycr.
sal. the Individual part to the who'll,
brings extremes to an approximate
level OF averages. There Is no germ
OF despair In science unless Il iuvnlcs
allen territory. AS is quite commor,y
the way Of Investigators, AIr. lS,r.
roughs goes on discovering that life =
what It Ia. lie breaches literature and
art as means to the satisfaction Of tho
department OF human desire and hoae
that science cannot feed. Science nni
poetry. knowing and feeling. prcscg.
to him no irreconcilablc opposition;
true science, far from killing emotion.
creates new emotion. as of the sui.
lime. ffe would perhaps call scicncc 1,
foot. poetry a wing. His views ar.
vigorous and stimulating. though
often TO hard headed folks not given
to mysticism they will act as a cha.
lenge 20 debate rather than as an
invitation to complacent endorsement.
The scientific temperament worsAps
order. We hear so much about tho
scheme" Of things that It Is refreshing
to have nature described as a prodigsl
workman, evolution as a "waywarl.
laundering" course. the result OF tire.
mendously proportional hit or miss
methods; animated, II by any intel.l-
gence at ALL by n cropping intelligence
that owes It's success to sheer per-
sistence. You may call the sum "
matter and the sum OF force constar,
quantities. says Mr.. Burroughs; yet
though matter does not beget mater
life does beget life: start the worm
and In due time will man appear
Perhaps II will be felt by admirers O..
the authors earlier. more OBJECTIVE
writings chat his scptuagenarian spec.
ulations on evolution are less valuable
than either OF his two other depart
ments Of nature writing. the field notes
and tho examination OF instinct IN
animals.
With laboratory study OF animal WAYS
the author has no patience. Under OBJ
servation the animals are not them
selves. the conditions are artificial The
problems posed for test are not ANNA,
problems but human problems: you
cannot control life as sou can che,nica,
reactions" People write to him stories
Of the wonderful Intelligence" Of their
cat and dog pets; he replies. animals
can be trained but cannot be educated.
He admits that 1T would seem as II a.,
nature were pervaded with mind o.
mind stuff" and. citing innumer.lle
observations in his own experience,
equally divided between seeming !nd!-
cations OF reasoning power and thu-
manly grotesquc manifestations "
Its utter absence, his final conviction
apparently settles upon a Qualitative"
difference In orders OF Intelligence wh!c'.
We can detect but cannot hope to e.
plain. Although the expression Is used
without emphasis. the reader Will find
that phrase mind stuff" sticking in Ills
own mind. 1t helps explain the defin.-
ton OF inetinct ia which inherited
habits Is made tho prime element, for
inheritance Of habit has its own mys-
terry. Some engaging speculations:
II our eAperimenters can prove that
b'rGs are color blind they VIII rsi.c have,
Win barw!n's sexual eeleetion Theory
The male OF the promethca moth
has biackish wings and the female reddish
brown. A. q. Mayer glued .hs
wings Of the male TO the female and Vt! =
versa. and found that they mated Just IL.
same Are birds tone deaf In ~"
sense that they are probably color bIirle
Does the roii!ckng and hilarious strain ,.
| the boool!Hs count for nothing IA !ts %.
The harsh. raucoua voiced t-,.
| are ss acceptable 20 their nate ~ ate tn
| musical voiced TO theirs.
a monkey of an egg eating species
| took the first egg lac had ever seen AID
! sucked IL after the manner Of his l:.nd.
Another sin!an Of = nut eating spec,,s
| Waen AN egg WAS given him, cracked Il
| as II Il had been nut; examining the cs
| capped contents. lie scoopcd It up and
! ate II shell and all. a writer describi! Z,
| the experiment attributed reasouils
! power to the second monkey: Mr.. Bur
| roughs prefers to believe that, the M,
| eating instinct having failed. "the sin.
pie eating instinct" operated; and. r..
| says, slyly: "A coon knows how t.
suck an egg because he comes OF a race
OF egg suckers. but the tame coon had
in my youth knew instantly what 10 do
with the first pancake 1t ever saw" AZ
interesting as study Of suggestions Of
reason In the conduct OF animals would
be an examination OF the extent 20
which mere instinct works in man.
Anybody who likes animals will lii;s
to read this book about them. whether
or not lie can agree with the philosophy
that the author squeezes out Of hir eN-
tensive and skilful observation Of -.
1 nal life IN its natural cstuta