Medical Practitioners, Lecturing, Ethnography, Imperialism,
Environmentalism, Agriculture, Utilitarianism, Politics, Statistics
Mark Robart's father is a physician without 'private means', but whose
'lucrative practice' enables him to maintain and educate his children with 'all
the advantages which money can give in this country' (1). The Conservative MP
Harold Smith is to lecture on 'the Australian archipelago' at Barchester (7).
The Chase of Chaldicotes, an ancient forest, is soon to be deforested. In
'these utilitarian days' the aged oaks and beeches 'are to give way to wheat
and turnips' because 'a ruthless Chancellor of the Exchequer [...] requires
money returns from the lands'. (16) Smith's forte is 'Well-docketed papers and
statistical facts' (21).
In his prospectus to the Cornhill in November 1859,
William M
ThackerayThackeray, William Makepeace
(1811–63)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> insisted that as well as novels and fiction, the new
magazine should also have 'as much reality as possible' including 'familiar
reports of scientific discovery' (Ray ed.
1946Ray, Gordon N, ed. 1946. The Letters and Private Papers
of William Makepeace Thackeray, 4 vols, Oxford University Press
CloseView the register entry >>: 4, 160). A month earlier,
George SmithSmith, George
(1824–1901)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> had
commissioned Lewes to contribute a suitable series of articles on natural
history at the generous rate of 25s. a page (Ashton 1991Ashton, Rosemary 1991. G.H. Lewes: A Life, Oxford:
Clarendon Press
CloseView the register entry >>: 203). Lewes's series of six articles
(split into chapters and already planned as a book) attempts to present the
leading arguments of mid-century natural history to a readership which Lewes
self-consciously constructs as both male and 'popular'. They are written in a
familiar, but nonetheless authoritative tone, with frequent references both to
scientific authorities and Lewes's own experimental work. Some familiarity with
the principal works of contemporary science is assumed.
The first chapter begins with an invocation to study a feminized nature that
reveals herself in myriad forms of life. In a strong narrative of wonder
regarding the immanence of life, Lewes insists that although 'man is the
noblest study', he can be known fully only through understanding 'the laws of
universal life'. His 'Life forms but one grand illustration of
Biology—the science of life, as he forms but the apex of the animal
world'. A footnote adds that the term 'Biology' is both 'needful' and now being
'generally adopted' (61n.). The remainder of the article chiefly concerns the
study of infusoria, and the rejection of
Christian G
Ehrenberg'sEhrenberg, Christian Gottfried
(1795–1876)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> notion of their complex organization. In addition,
self-conscious digressions offer practical advice on the study of microscopy,
and an analogy between infusorial and human anatomy with regard to health and
industrial working conditions. The extremely simple organization of infusoria
is part of 'an ascending series of animal organisms' (67) that accords with the
'grand law [...] of animal life', enunciated by
Johann W von
GoetheGoethe, Johann Wolfgang von
(1749–1832)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
Karl E von
BaerBaer, Karl Ernst von
(1792–1876)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, that 'Development is always from the general to the special,
from the simple to the complex'. Lewes illustrates this law of development with
a passage from 'the music of our deeply meditative'
Alfred
TennysonTennyson, Alfred, 1st Baron Tennyson
(1809–92)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. (68) The article closes with an apologia for the study of
nature, and microscopy in particular. In an impassioned defence of more popular
forms of research into the natural world, Lewes warns against 'the sneers or
objections' of those who 'wish to close the temple against new comers'
(74).
Military Technology, Political Economy, Professionalization,
Machinery, Vitalism
Notes the importance to the army of proficiency in the use of newly invented
military technology. The pacific attitude of the English is linked to their
'industrial impulses and the principles of political economy'. 'Soldiership'
has become 'a scientific profession' for which 'an apprenticeship [...] with
skill and experience in every branch of it' is necessary to acquire the
requisite skill and discipline (78). Compares an 'army advancing in solid
masses' with 'some vast and complex machine animated by life and motion'
(79).
Diary account of the 1857–59 expedition led by
Francis L
McClintockMcClintock, Sir Francis Leopold
(1819–1907)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> in search of the two ships which carried John Franklin's
Arctic exploration in 1845–47, including many ethnographical, natural
historical, and scientific observations. In a brief introduction to his private
journal, Young valorises the heroism of Franklin and the 'gallant men' who 'had
given up their lives' to 'give to the world the scientific results of the
expedition' (97). He also refers to the eminent scientific men, such as
Roderick I
MurchisonMurchison, Sir Roderick Impey, 1st Baronet
(1792–1871)
DSBODNB CloseView the register entry >> and
Edward SabineSabine, Edward
(1788–1883)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
who supported
Jane Franklin'sFranklin, Jane, Lady
(1792–1875)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
plan for an expedition in search of her husband's ships. The diary narrative of
the expedition records the use of astronomy and meteorology to fix the position
of HMS Fox, and reflects upon the enormous advantages of
steamships for Arctic exploration. It also details the frequent culling of
seals, bears, and various species of birds, articulating the sailor's
imperialist attitude towards the natural world of the Arctic. The narrative
ends with the discovery of remnants of Franklin's lost expedition and the first
account of their fate. Young gives their failure the heroic character of a hard
won scientific discovery and reflects that 'in dying in the cause of their
country, their dearest consolation must have been to feel that Englishmen would
not rest until they had followed their footsteps, and had given to the world
what they could not then give—the grand result of their dreadful
voyage—their Discovery of the North-West Passage' (120).
See also:
Marlow 1982Marlow, James E. 1982. 'The Fate of Sir John Franklin:
Three Phases of Response in Victorian Periodicals', Victorian Periodicals
Review, 15, 3–11
CloseView the register entry >>
Advocates moderation in novel reading, and asserts, 'All people love
them—almost all women;—a vast number of clever, hard-headed men',
including 'one of the most learned physicians in England'. Mathematicians, in
particular, 'are notorious novel readers'. (127) Informs the reader, however,
that 'our CORNHILL MAGAZINE owners strive to provide thee with
facts as well as fiction', and takes
Allen W Young'sYoung, Sir Allen William
(1827–1915)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
scientific article on the voyage of
HMS FoxHMS Fox CloseView the register entry >>
[[Allen W Young], 'The Search for
Sir John
Franklin. (From the Private Journal of an Officer of the "Fox").', Cornhill Magazine, 1 (1860), 96–121] as an example of this policy
(128).
Brief reference to the stone placed at Greenwich by the Americans in memory
of the 'gallant young' naval explorer
Joseph R Bellot
Bellot, Joseph René
(1826–53)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> (132).
Proposes that England should feel secure from the threat of invasion as
there is a natural 'abundance of coal, iron, timber, and almost all other
munitions of war', and 'railways intersect and encircle her on all sides'
(135). During the 1795–1805 invasion panics the British army was 'a
costly and not very useful toy, chiefly maintained for the diversion of
royalty', but after organizational and tactical improvements it has now become
'an important national engine' (148–49).
Quackery, Medical Treatment, Patents, Lecturing, Ethnography,
Imperialism, Mapping, Statistics
Miss Dunstable, who identifies herself as a 'quack doctor', is the
'proprietress of the celebrated Oil of Lebanon, invented by her late respected
father, and patented by him with such wonderful results in the way of
accumulated fortune' (155). Harold Smith hopes to 'talk the British world into
civilizing New Guinea', but his wife and ecclesiastical friends give him the
sarcastic titles 'Viscount Papua and Baron Borneo' (168). He lectures on the
Malay Archipelago at the Barchester Mechanics' Institute, making use of maps
and 'a huge bundle of statistics' (174). However, his assertions that the
genius of civilization will make 'every rood of earth subservient to his
purposes' fail to engage the audience (173).
Urges that the ideal biographer, who will combine strength with delicacy,
must have 'a mind like a
Nasmyth'sNasmyth, James
(1808–90)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> steam
hammer, that can roll out huge bars of iron, and anon knock a tin-tack into a
deal board with gentle accurate taps' (179). In the 1690s
Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> is
one of those 'brave men hard at work for the nineteenth century' (188).
The second chapter begins with the narration of an imagined visit to the
ponds of
Wimbledon
CommonWimbledon Common
CloseView the register entry >> which, while they are 'not so rich and lovely as
rock-pools', nevertheless yield much to 'tempt us [...] to bring net and
wide-mouthed jar' (198). Brief instructions are given concerning the equipment
necessary for the examination of pond-life. The main part of the essay concerns
the 'immense variety of tiny animals' that inhabit inland ponds, but the
article is frequently punctuated by eclectic digressions. In an elegiac aside,
for instance, Lewes discusses the childhood memories which the 'gaunt' windmill
on the Common 'recalls [...] by the subtle laws of association' (199).
Similarly, the consideration of sexual dimorphism in Entomostraca prompts a
discussion of the inferiority of the male sex in 'some great families' such as
the falcon and the bee. Explicitly identifying his readers as male, Lewes
observes that 'It must be confessed that our sex cuts but a poor figure', and
later adds 'this digression is becoming humiliating' (202). He goes on to
explain the background of the scientific controversy over the animal or
plant-like nature of Volvox, a dispute that, as he tells the lay reader, 'may
perhaps excite your surprise'. In addition,
Thomas H
Huxley'sHuxley, Thomas Henry
(1825–95)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> coinage 'zöoids' is introduced as a new scientific
term (203). The frequency of 'retrogression' in the metamorphosis of animal
life is illustrated by 'human animals' who 'exhibit a somewhat similar
metamorphosis, and make up for the fitful capriciousness of wandering youth, by
the steady severity of their application to business, when width of waistcoat
and smoothness of cranium suggest a sense of their responsibilities'
(201–02). Discussing a 'blood-red' Polype, Lewes alerts the indifferent
reader to the exciting 'discovery [...] of a species hitherto undescribed in
text-books', but reflects that there 'must be a basis of knowledge before
wonder can be felt' (206). The article concludes with an anecdote about a
passing Irish labourer's initial contempt for Lewes's specimen collecting being
soon transformed into a reverence both for divine creation and the practice of
science.
An historical account of the development of the lighthouse system in the
United Kingdom. The article avows that private ownership of lighthouses has
been injurious to the national interest, and that fortunately they have
recently 'got back to what
Queen Elizabeth
IElizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland
(1533–1603)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> meant them to be—public trusts in public hands for public
uses' (221). It was nevertheless private enterprise that impelled the building
and perpetual rebuilding of the
Eddystone
lighthouseEddystone Lighthouse
CloseView the register entry >> during the eighteenth century, at great personal cost,
as the narrative emphasises, to the 'heroic' engineers of the day. The present
structure at Eddystone, completed by
John SmeatonSmeaton, John
(1724–92)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> in
1759, will 'remain the pattern lighthouse of the world for ever'. (222) The
eighteenth-century engineering practices of Smeaton, who 'worked from analogy'
and 'tells us of his desire to make his lighthouse resemble the trunk of a
stately tree', are compared with those of
Alan StevensonStevenson, Alan
(1807–65)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
who designed the
Skerryvore
lighthouseSkerryvore, lighthouse, Scotland CloseView the register entry >> in the 1830s, and worked entirely 'from mathematical
calculation' (224). In a discussion of the hardships endured by lighthouse
keepers, observes that 'it is an occupation in which the modern claim for
feminine participation has been forestalled', but also concedes that the only
'woman light-keeper' currently employed 'does her duty properly' (229). The
article reports that oil has become 'the standard material for light in
lighthouses', though it remains 'the object of a thousand and one nice
adaptations in regard to its preparation and the machinery by which it is
consumed' (229). Furthermore, scientific men have increasingly given their
attention to finding other sources of illumination. Recent unsuccessful
innovations have included the Bude lamp, various Lime lights, and the electric
light. Finally, however,
Michael
FaradayFaraday, Michael
(1791–1867)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> 'discovered' the principle of electromagnetic induction in
1831, and 'upon this hint' an apparatus has been constructed that can produce
an artificial light that is powerful enough to penetrate even through some
fogs. Declares that Faraday's 'genius' has produced an apparatus that is 'very
glorious to the eye [...] a piece of sunlight poured out upon the night' (230).
In discussing this new apparatus, notes that although there are 'divisions
among scientific men as to the abstract nature and action of light', there is a
general consensus as to its 'secondary laws', and the catoptric system of
lighting by reflection, as well as the dioptric system, which works by
refraction, are agreed upon as the best means of making use of the artificial
light (230–31). The article concludes with the assertion that the
erection of a lighthouse, even by an enemy during war, is 'a great holy good,
to serve and save humanity' (232).
Despite the growth of urbanization, the natural world of Creation remains
eternal, and even amongst the 'chimney stacks' of Holborn Hill, it is
'impossible to forget her, or to escape her religious gaze'. Only the heart of
an 'atheist' cannot be moved by the eternal spectacle of nature, and, as is
added in parentheses, this 'creature, and not the ape, as some have supposed,
is the link between brutes and men'. (249) A footnote employs the recently
published reflections of
W Mattieu
WilliamsWilliams, William Mattieu
(1820–92)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> on the atmospheric changes of the sun even when it is at
the same altitude to confirm the 'fancy that every day dies a natural death'
(252n.). The 'telegraphs that we make such a noise about' pale beside the
eternity of nature. Man becomes smaller still in comparison with the 'tract of
light called the Milky Way, which [...] astronomers tell us [...] is a
universe, in which individual stars are so many that they are like the sands on
the shore'. These separate stars, moreover, cannot be made out even 'with all
our appliances'. (255)
Compares the historical judgement of Thomas B Macaulay with the
palaeontology of
Georges CuvierCuvier, Georges
(1769–1832)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
who, if you gave him 'a tarsal bone, he constructed you, with unerring
certainty, a humming-bird or an elephant'. Also notes that the recently
deceased Macaulay was 'at once the most Paleyan and the most forensic of
historical inquirers'. (259)
Reflecting on an old garden wall, Lewes begins the third chapter by
asserting that in 'the wondrous metamorphosis momently going on everywhere in
the world, there is change, but no loss'. In case the reader
'should imagine this to be poetry, and not science', he gives the example of
the alterations affected by 'every beam of light'. (283) Even humans are
'involved in the universal metamorphosis', as is shown by the cases of
uneducated women who suddenly begin using Greek and Hebrew phrases long stored
in their unconscious minds. These 'vagabond thoughts' lead on to the main part
of the article, which concerns Rotifera. The 'celebrity of these creatures' has
been established by 'their power of resurrection' (286). Lewes, however,
verifies experimentally that a Rotifer can be resurrected only from a state of
'suspended animation' in which the water in its tissues has not been evaporated
(288). Once it becomes completely dry the Rotifer is dead and, contrary to the
erroneous conclusions of earlier investigators, cannot be brought back to life.
Apropos of the 'inherent love of the marvellous' which makes 'men greedily
accept the idea of resuscitation' (289), Lewes proposes that 'the study of
science is valuable as a means of culture' because 'in it the mind learns to
submit to realities, instead of thrusting its figments in the place of
realities'. In particular, biology, because of the complexity of the cases
which it investigates and by cultivating caution, is both 'pre-eminent as a
means of culture' and 'a mental tonic of inestimable worth'. Addressing the
'reader unfamiliar with the language of Natural History', Lewes concludes the
article by listing the five plans of structure under which all animals are
classed. (290) In a footnote concerning the position of organs in vertebrate
monstrosities, he uses an example from
Molière'sMolière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin)
(1622–73)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> play
Le médecin malgré lui.
Georges
Cuvier'sCuvier, Georges
(1769–1832)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> classification of the animal kingdom into four divisions,
which is based upon 'an unphilosphical view of morphology', requires
supplementing with a fifth division made up of the 'simplest of all animals
[which] represent, as it were, the beginnings of life'. Furthermore, Cuvier's
inadequate system, as Lewes notes, was 'secretly determined by the desire' to
oppose the idea, held by
Jean B P A de Monet,
chevalier de LamarckLamarck, Jean Baptiste Pierre
Antoine de Monet, chevalier de
(1744–1829)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
Étienne Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,
Étienne
(1772–1844)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, of the 'unity of composition throughout the animal
kingdom;—in other words, that all varieties of animal forms were produced
by successive modifications'. (294)
Anti-Scientism, Supernaturalism, Theology of Nature, Environmentalism,
Politics
Lord Boanerges attempts to teach Miss Dunstable to 'blow soap-bubbles on
scientific principles', to which she responds that those who have 'never asked
the reason why [....] have the best of it'. 'What pleasure', she remarks, 'can
one have in a ghost after one has seen the phosphorus rubbed on?' (310), and
then she sings an excerpt from an oratorio by
Georg F HandelHändel, Georg Friedrich
(1685–1759)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
which states, 'Did I not own Jehovah's power / How vain were all I knew'.
Boanerges, who does not know the oratorio but nevertheless gets the best of the
argument over knowledge and spirituality, reasons that 'perhaps one might help
the other'. (311) The ancient trees at Chaldicotes forest are not only to be
cut down, but rooted up; 'a murderous shame', comments Frank Gresham, which
only 'a whig government would do' (312).
Mr Drencher, a 'neat and trim general practitioner' who attends the
workhouse as well as rich private patients, is jealous and suspicious of the
aristocratic and dandified Charles Batchelor, who reports that the 'serpents of
that miserable Æsculapius unwound themselves from his rod, and were
gnawing at his swollen heart!' (343).
Asks, 'Are mathematics confined to the reeds of Cam [...]?' (366), and
suggests instead that 'learning may be obtained elsewhere than at college. For
that matter, indeed, most men are self-educated' (366–67). In arguing
that the principal purpose of a university is to provide society, proposes that
the great defect of Scottish universities is the lack of the 'society of equal
minds' (377), and notes that
University College LondonUniversity College London
CloseView the register entry >> is 'in this respect a type of the
Scottish university system'. In this system, the 'student who has all the
morning been dissecting dead bodies [...] returns to dine with his sisters'.
(368) The Scottish system, however, has the advantage that 'university
education is open to the peasant not less than to the peer' (374–75).
Also remarks that 'the study of the human mind [...] is pursued with great
ardour in the Scottish universities', and observes that it is 'simply
psychology—that is to say, the natural history of the human mind' which
is taught there, rather than metaphysics. This 'knowledge of men obtained in
the scientific analysis of the class-room' is 'not to be found in the English
universities'. (376) Dallas also discusses the lecturing style of
William
HamiltonHamilton, Sir William Sterling
(1788–1856)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> at the
University of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh
CloseView the register entry >> (under whom
he studied philosophy in the 1840s), who encouraged the student to enter into a
'regular tussle with his master about the action of the mind in sleep, and in a
state of semi-consciousness' (377).
Lady Baker suggests that an engagement between the governess Elizabeth Prior
and Mr Drencher, who she describes as a 'low, vulgar [...] Sawbones' with
'dubious h's', is 'a very fitting match' (394–95).
After noting that both
John DaltonDalton, John
(1766–1844)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
John F W
HerschelHerschel, Sir John Frederick William
(1792–1871)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> suffered from colour blindness, the article begins with a
discussion of recent experiments on light and colour. The spectrum of the
rainbow, it has been shown, is made up of 'a number of concentric circular
lines of colour' most of which are 'mixtures of some few that are really
primitive and pure, and necessarily belong to solar light'. These primitive
colours, 'generally supposed to be red, yellow, and blue', are mixed to form
the colours of our everyday experience. (404) With this scientific knowledge of
the mixtures of colour, the 'strict photologist at once puts [...] down' the
artist 'by informing him that he knows nothing of the real state of the case'
(405). The beams of white light which emanate from the sun and are received on
the retina are formed by 'rays of coloured light'. Colour blindness is caused
by 'the optic nerve being insensible to the stimulus of pure red light'. As
well as light, however, the rays from the sun that produce heat and chemical
action 'are certainly quite as important in preserving life and carrying on the
business of the world'. (409) Concludes by advising that 'when children show an
unusual difficulty in describing colours' they should be tested at once for the
symptoms of colour blindness in order that they do not 'waste time in learning
accomplishments or professions which they must always be unable to practise'
(410–11).
Observes several differences between the habits of the Cantonese and those
of Western people. The Cantonese, for instance, 'do not appear to understand
the use of wheels, or beasts of burden; everything is carried on bamboo poles
by the intensely hard-working coolie population' (414).
Compares 'our magnificent museums in Great Russell Street, Lincoln's Inn
Fields and Brompton' with the 'queer, almost silly things, exhibited' in the
1720s. The 'rarities [...] set down with a ponderous, simple-minded solemnity'
in a 'Royal
SocietyRoyal Society of London
CloseView the register entry >> catalogue' of the time include 'a dog without a mouth;
[...] a bird of paradise' and 'a burning-glass contrived by that excellent
philosopher and mathematician
Sir Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>'.
(424)
The fourth chapter begins with an anecdote concerning
Richard Owen'sOwen, Richard
(1804–92)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
ability to identify instantly an extinct species of rhinoceros from merely a
fossil of 'the third molar of the under-jaw'. This seemingly uncanny ability is
in fact the product of 'the united labours of thousands of diligent inquirers
[...] directed to the classification of animals'. (438) The 'anatomical
investigation of the internal structure of animals' has established a system of
classification, which arranges the animal kingdom into subordinate groups, and
places an 'immense mass of details' in a recognisable order (439). Although it
is 'imperfect, the scheme is a magnificent product of human ingenuity and
labour'. In considering what is the cause of the underlying anatomical
resemblance of the different animal forms compared, Lewes quotes a passage from
On the Origin of Species
Darwin, Charles
Robert 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,
London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >>in which
Charles R
DarwinDarwin, Charles Robert
(1809–82)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> proposes that it is 'propinquity of descent'. (441) Lewes
then notes 'the philosophical discussion which inevitably arises on the mention
of Mr. Darwin's book', and adds that it is 'at present exciting very great
attention, and [...] will, at any rate, aid in general culture by opening to
many minds new tracts of thought'. All 'discussion as to the origin of
species', however, cannot begin properly until naturalists have 'settled
what species is'. (442) Rather than existing as 'a definite concrete
reality', Lewes insists, species means only 'a relation of resemblances between
animals' which can change over time (443). Like animal forms themselves,
species are therefore variable, and 'every new form becomes established only
through the long and gradual accumulation of minute differences in divergent
directions'. Lewes cautions the reader that, like those of his opponents,
Darwin's 'opinions are necessarily hypothetical' and that 'there can be nothing
like positive proof adduced' for them (444). At the same time, however, the
evolutionary descent of animal forms is 'not a whit more improbable than the
development of numerous languages out of a common parent language, which modern
philologists have proved to be indubitably the case'. Without directly stating
it, Lewes implies that the 'very remarkable analogy between philology and
zoology in this respect' (445), seen most clearly in the work of
Friedrich
Max MüllerMax Müller, Friedrich
(1823–1900)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, absolves Darwin and his followers from the
'absurdities' ascribed to them, and allows one to 'see what solid argument they
have for the basis of their hypothesis' (447).
Progress, Conservatism, Gas Chemistry, Telegraphy, Railways,
Invention
Although full of 'sentiments, fancies, and prejudices in favour of the past'
(477), the author claims to be 'not a "fogey"' and willingly accepts the
trappings of modernity with which 'the gods provide me'. He states, 'I have no
prejudices against gas; though I wish it could be supplied without so much
parochial quarrelling. It may generate poison, as certain chemists assert; but
it certainly generates too many pamphlets and public meetings. I use the
electric telegraph; I travel by railway; and I am thankful to their inventors
and originators. The moment, however, I leave the railway, I plunge rapidly
into the past'. (476)
Physiognomy, Mental Illness, Physiological Psychology, Class
Matilda Fitzgibbon, a pupil at a ladies' school where she eschews the
company of the other girls, has a 'physiognomy' that would 'have repelled' her
teachers had 'she been a poor child' (490). The story relates that in 'some
disturbed state of the digestive organs Miss Fitzgibbon took to sleep-walking'
and 'one night terrified the school into a panic by passing through the
bedrooms, all white in her night-dress, moaning and holding out her hands as
she went' (493). Then, 'within a fortnight after the somnambulistic feat', she
is found 'curled round on the landing, blue, cold, and stiff, without any light
in her half-open eyes', and when 'roused from this fit [...] her senses seemed
half scattered' (493–94). At the end of the fragmentary story, the child
is confronted with doubts about her upper-class background and falls to the
ground 'overcome, but not unconscious' (498).
After complaining that the reporting of surgery in the popular press is
based on 'Scraps of hearsay [...] eagerly gathered up by the penny-a-liner',
the article also condemns 'an over-prying public' that 'peeps within the pages
of the medical press, hoping to unravel some of the mysteries of professional
craft' and 'gets nothing but error for its pains'. Insists that the
'technicalities which medical men must necessarily employ when writing for each
other, are instructive only to the initiated'. (499) The statistics of illness
and accidents compiled by
Francis G P
NeisonNeison, Francis Gustavus Paulus
()
WBI CloseView the register entry >> and
Henry T BuckleBuckle, Henry Thomas
(1821–62)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
however, make it clear that 'everybody has a direct practical concern' with the
procedures of modern surgery. Chloroform has been a 'blessed boon', but in an
earlier age it might have been used to perform 'miracles', and 'dogmas might
[...] have been made divine and true by its influence'. Also asserts, 'Happy
was it that those great powers, the magic of chemical and electrical discovery,
have been brought to light in a time when they can be used mainly to enlighten
and bless, and not to darken and oppress mankind'. (500) The rest of the
article relates the history of amputation techniques over the last four hundred
years, and contrasts them with a modern operation performed in a teaching
hospital and employing chloroform which is so efficient that the patient, when
returned to consciousness, does not 'realize the happy truth' that the
amputation has already taken place (504).
Addressed to 'our unprofessional readers' who are 'wholly ignorant of the
science of gunnery', the article gives a technical account of the movement of
gun shots detailing the experiments of the subject's 'principal establisher'
Benjamin
RobinsRobins, Benjamin
(1707–51)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>. Throughout, it endeavours 'not to use too scientific
language' (508) or 'to be too mathematical' (511). While through 'improved
machinery' men have 'advanced considerably in the Art or practice of
destruction', it was Robins, in the eighteenth century, who 'smoothed the way
for all our present discoveries; and [...] left the science of gunnery
much as we have it now'. (505) The main part of the article touches upon the
need to control the rotation of bullets by scoring grooves on a rifle barrel,
the greater accuracy of elongated bullets, and the resistance of the atmosphere
to the parabola of a gun shot. To test this atmospheric resistance, Robins
'invented the Ballistic Pendulum and Whirling Machine' (510). His understanding
that the rotation of the earth about its axis throws projectiles to the right
parallels
Jean B L
Foucault'sFoucault, Jean Bernard Léon
(1819–68)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> 'experiment with the vibrating pendulum' (512).
Advises that if 'telegraphic communication' within China be 'deemed a
desirable object' it is imperative that 'batteries be sent out as well as
wire'. When a 'similar attempt was made in China, it was not until the after
the wire was laid down [...] that the discovery was made that the most
essential item had been forgotten' (538).
Claims that the philosophy of satirists is 'properly of the inductive
order'. They 'owe but little to inspiration. They can move the world with the
lever of wit, but they must have a fulcrum of fact. [...] Without facts, facts
to reason upon, their arguments would be tedious and pointless' (567).
Beginning with a humorous anecdote concerning the representation of beetles
in ancient Egyptian art, Lewes goes on to refute the favourite argument of
Georges CuvierCuvier, Georges
(1769–1832)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
and his followers that 'Species are unchangeable' because 'the testimony of
paintings and sculptures' shows that 'during four thousand years Species and
Races have not changed' (598). This argument, which assumes that 'there is
something above all individuals—the species—and that cannot
vary' (599), does not accord with the known 'law of hereditary transmission'
which involves constant 'accidental variations' in animal forms (601). When it
is also remembered that 'Species have no existence' except as a certain
assemblage of specific characters shared by a group of animals, it becomes
clear that the fixity of species is no longer a tenable idea (603). Lewes then
quotes a substantial passage from
On the Origin of
SpeciesDarwin, Charles
Robert 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,
London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >> in which
Charles R
DarwinDarwin, Charles Robert
(1809–82)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> accounts for the hierarchical relation which all plants and
all animals have with each other by 'inheritance, and the complex action of
natural selection'. 'Mr. Darwin's book', he reports, 'is in everybody's hands,
and my object has been to facilitate, if possible, the comprehension of his
book, and the adoption of a more philosophical hypothesis, by pointing out the
chief weakness of the argument on the other side'. (603) Once more, however,
Lewes insists that evolution is only a 'hypothesis [...] still very far from
demonstration [...] when we come to seek for the evidence of the development
hypothesis, that evidence fails us. It may be true, but we cannot say
that it is true'. Furthermore, the 'history of any science' affords
numerous examples of erroneous hypotheses that were 'formed and accepted' and
now provide only 'a laugh at credulity'. (605) Lewes concludes by detailing the
mistaken ideas concerning the shells of oysters held by
PlinyPliny (Gaius Plinius Secundus)
(c. 23–79)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and others, and inquires
of the reader, 'I presume you know that shells are formed by a secretion from
the mantle?'. This observation is based on the kind of 'microscopic
examination' demonstrated in earlier chapters. (606)
Reports that at Harchester College, 'one of our most celebrated public
schools' (609), the 'regular business of the school consisted solely in the
study of Latin and Greek', whilst of 'arithmetic, or mathematics, we learnt
nothing'. In addition, the 'Harchester boys were never required to touch their
hats to the [...] mathematical masters; whilst to the classical masters [...]
they were required to be always hat in hand'. (610) Suggests that along with
modern languages, 'arithmetic, and mathematics, should be made part of the
"regular business"' of public schools, and commends the plan to 'the attention
of
H. R. H. Prince
AlbertAlbert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha],
prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria
(1819–61)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>' (615).
In a narrative written at 'the request of Dr. —' in order to help
'account for some of the anomalies which he confesses have perplexed him in the
treatment' of the patient's case (617), the narrator tells of 'the prophetic
power manifest in the gift of second sight' which belonged to several of his
ancestors as well as to his elderly nurse maid. He, however, has 'completed the
usual curriculum' of 'mathematics and physics' at 'one of the Scottish
universities' (621), and this 'book-learning' at first makes him sceptical of
'the fancies of a foolish old woman' (628). His initially rational view concurs
with 'the assertion that we see around us only what is within us: marvellous
things enough will show themselves to the marvellous mood' (625). Nevertheless,
the chapter closes with an assurance that 'Before many years had elapsed, my
foster-mother's prevision [...] was fulfilled' (630).
In showing the absurdity of trying to reward all forms of ingenuity with
national honours, lists deserving recipients such as a 'great historian' and a
'great engineer', but then comments, 'A chemist puts in his claim for having
invented a new colour; an apothecary for a new pill; the cook for a new sauce;
the tailor for a new cut of trousers. We have brought the star of Minerva down
from the breast to the pantaloons. Stars and garters! can we go any further
[...] ?' (634). After bemoaning the ostentation of ornamental honours, remarks,
'Have you seen the new magnificent Pavo Spicifer at the
Zoological GardensZoological Society of London —Gardens
CloseView the register entry >>, and do
you grudge him his jewelled coronet and the azure splendour of his waistcoat?'
(635). Insists that it is the skill and heroism of merchant seamen which truly
deserve national recognition, and recounts how on a recent trip to America on a
ship of 'the noble
Cunard
CompanyCunard Company
CloseView the register entry >>', the 'officers who sailed her knew her place within a
minute or two, and guided us with a wonderful providence safe on our way'
(636). At sea, moreover, there 'occur almost daily instances and occasions for
the display of science, skill, bravery, fortitude in trying circumstances,
resources in danger' (640).
Military Technology, Steamships, Engineering, Education,
Societies
Urges that to defend London from military attack 'the science we must call
to our aid is Fortification' (645). This plan should be undertaken by
volunteers whose 'superior intelligence' not only makes them the best riflemen,
but 'fit[s] them in a still higher degree for engineers'. Military engineering
is 'a science which above all others distinguishes the educated from the
uneducated, the man of intellect from the mere fighting machine'. (647)
Suggests that the
School of Military EngineersSchool of Military Engineers
CloseView the register entry >>
should be relocated from Chatham to Wimbledon, where the engineers 'however
learned or scientific they may be, would be none the worse for being placed
within nearer reach of the various meetings of learned and scientific societies
which are always taking place in the metropolis' (650). Also observes that
'steam has rendered necessary the reconstruction of our navy' (647).
Cornhill Magazine, 1 (1860), 670–81.
The Portent Ch. 2[2/3][George Macdonald], 'The Portent Ch. 1', Cornhill Magazine, 1 (1860), 617–30 [George Macdonald], 'The Portent Ch. 3', Cornhill Magazine, 2 (1860), 74–83
During a somnambulistic trance, the body of Lady Alice Hilton is merely 'the
present symbol of an absent life', and when she begins to recover the narrator
observes 'the dawn of a soul on the horizon of the material'. Falling in love
with Alice, the narrator expresses the wish 'that will were power!', and soon
discovers 'a new power which sprang into being within me'. This 'operative
volition (if I may be allowed the phrase)' allows him to impel the
sleep-walking Alice to enter his room. (680) Only in a somnambulistic trance,
he remarks, 'did she enter that state of existence in which my will could
exercise authority over her' (681).
Warning that 'Natural History is full of paradoxes', Lewes asserts that the
'several distinct organs' that make up 'an animal Organism' (682) are at the
same time both independent and entirely dependent upon the rest of the
organism: 'a very dependent independence' (683). This can be seen most clearly
in polype colonies, where each is an individual but all rely on a common
nutritive fluid. Applying a provocative metaphor from human society, Lewes
observes of them, 'the labours of each enrich all. It is animal Socialism of
the purest kind—there are no rich and no poor, neither are there any
idlers' (683). Later he adds, 'no bee or ant could exist if separated from its
colony. So great is "the physiological division of labour", which has taken
place among these insects' (684). In the following paragraph, however, Lewes
adopts the language of natural history to describe humans in society. We, he
enjoins, are equally dependent upon 'all created things, directly or
indirectly', 'Nor is the moral dependence less than the physical'. We cannot,
after all, 'isolate ourselves if we would. The thoughts of others, the
sympathies of others, the needs of others,—these too make up our life;
without these we should quickly perish'. (685) Curtailing this line of argument
with an abrupt announcement that 'at this present moment there is nothing under
our Microscope which can seduce us from the pleasant volume' of youthful
letters by
Georges CuvierCuvier, Georges
(1769–1832)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
Lewes proposes 'we let our "Studies" take a biographical direction' (686). In
these biographical reflections he observes that a talent for drawing is
invaluable in natural history as 'it not only enables a man to preserve
observations of fugitive appearances, but sharpens his faculty of observation
by the exercise it gives' (687). He also notes that 'In science, incessant and
enlightened labour is necessary, even to the smallest success. Labour is not
all; but without it, genius is nothing' (690). Lewes closes the article, and
the series, with the 'hope' that it might be 'resumed hereafter [...] with as
much willingness' on the part of the reader 'as desire to interest you on mine'
(690).
George SmithSmith, George
(1824–1901)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> asked
Lewes to continue the series in January 1862, but he declined, perhaps in
protest at the publisher's complaints about his heterodoxy and cautious support
for
Charles R
DarwinDarwin, Charles Robert
(1809–82)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> (Ashton
1991Ashton, Rosemary 1991. G.H. Lewes: A Life, Oxford:
Clarendon Press
CloseView the register entry >>, 215).
Nutrition, Statistics, Utilitarianism, Error, Communism, Darwinism,
Natural Law
Compares the nutritious diets of prisoners with the meagre victuals endured
by working men. Bemoaning the Utilitarian emphasis on calculating statistical
averages for the requisite level of nutrition, Dallas declaims, 'granting that,
scientifically, the weighing machine is a fair test of what a man ought to eat
[...] practically, it is not a standard to which the common sense of mankind
can submit. There is a fallacy in these measurements' (746). In order to
alleviate the suffering of labourers, Dallas suggests they eat brown bread
('the most wholesome, nourishing, and palatable form of the staff of life') and
oat meal (747). He also advises the establishment of communal kitchens based on
the 'system of the division of labour', but has to concede that the 'wild
theories of communists have unfortunately brought discredit on the principle of
combination as applied to the domestic life' (751). Applying an explicitly
Darwinian language to human society, Dallas remarks, 'It is a very humiliating
reflection that eating and drinking occupy more of our thoughts than anything
else in heaven above or in the earth beneath. [...] Man is like the lower
animals in this respect that with the vast majority of our race, the struggle
for existence is a struggle for dinner'. 'Who can count', he asks, 'all the
wars, murders and quarrels that have arisen out of this one question of
dinner—the question of questions?', and the article concludes by
considering the 'natural law which makes man chiefly dependent on his food'.
(754)