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THE KINGDOM OF MAN
THE KINGDOM OF MAN
BY E. RAY LANKESTER M.A. D.Sc. LL.D. F.R.S. HONORARY FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD; CORRESPONDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE; EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON; PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE DIRECTOR OF THE NATURAL HISTORY DEPARTMENTS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD 10 ORANGE STREET, LEICESTER SQUARE 1907 EXTINCT ANIMALS BY Prof. E. RAY LANKESTER, F.R.S. With a Portrait of the Author, and 218 other Illustra
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PREFACE
PREFACE
This little volume is founded on three discourses which I have slightly modified for the present purpose, and have endeavoured to render interesting by the introduction of illustrative process blocks, which are described sufficiently fully to form a large extension of the original text. The first, entitled ‘Nature’s Insurgent Son,’ formed, under another title, the Romanes lecture at Oxford in 1905. Its object is to exhibit in brief the ‘Kingdom of Man,’ to shew that there is undue neglect in the
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ERRATUM.
ERRATUM.
Page 98: first line of description beneath Fig. 16. , for Limnocodium read Limnocnida. THE KINGDOM OF MAN...
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1. The Outlook.
1. The Outlook.
It has become more and more a matter of conviction to me—and I believe that I share that conviction with a large body of fellow students both in this country and other civilized states—that the time has arrived when the true relation of Nature to Man has been so clearly ascertained that it should be more generally known than is at present the case, and that this knowledge should form far more largely than it does at this moment, the object of human activity and endeavour,—that it should be, in f
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2. The word ‘Nature.’
2. The word ‘Nature.’
The signification attached to the word ‘Nature’ is by no means the same at the present day as it has been in the past: as commonly used it is a word of varied meanings and limitations, so that misconception and confusion is liable to be associated with it. By the professed student of modern sciences it is usually understood as a name for the entire mechanism of the universe, the kosmos in all its parts; and it is in this sense that I use it. But many still identify ‘Nature’ with a limited portio
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3. Nature-searchers.
3. Nature-searchers.
The discovery of regular processes, of expected effects following upon specified antecedents, of constant properties and qualities in the material around him, has from the earliest recorded times been a chief occupation of Man and has led to the attainment by Man of an extraordinarily complex control of the conditions in which his life is carried on. But it was not until Bruno’s conception of the unity of terrestrial nature with that of the kosmos had commended itself that a deliberate and deter
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4. The Doctrine of Evolution.
4. The Doctrine of Evolution.
What is sometimes called the scientific movement, but may be more appropriately described as the Nature-searching movement, rapidly attained an immense development. In the latter half of the last century this culminated in so complete a knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies, their chemical nature and physical condition—so detailed a determination of the history of the crust of this earth and of the living things upon it, of the chemical and physical processes which go on in Man and o
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5. Unwarranted inferences from the Evolution of Man.
5. Unwarranted inferences from the Evolution of Man.
There are not wanting those who, accepting this conclusion, seek to belittle Man and endeavour to represent that the veil is lifted, that all is ‘explained’ obvious, commonplace, and mean in regard to the significance of life and of Man, because it has become clear that the kosmic process has brought them forth in due order. There are others who rightly perceive that life is no common property of our cooling matter, but unique and exceptional, and that Man stands apart from and above all natural
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6. Nature’s Mode of Producing Organic Forms.
6. Nature’s Mode of Producing Organic Forms.
The general process by which the higher and more elaborate forms of life, and eventually man himself, have been produced has been shown by Darwin to depend upon two important properties of living matter manifested in connexion with the multiplication of individuals. Living matter has a special property of adding to its bulk by taking up the chemical elements which it requires and building up the food so taken as additional living matter. It further has the power of separating from itself minute
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7. The Limited Variety of Nature’s Products.
7. The Limited Variety of Nature’s Products.
The process of development of an immense variety of animal and vegetable forms has proceeded in this way through countless ages of geologic time, but it must not be supposed that any and every conceivable form and variety has been produced. There are only two great diverging lines of descent from original living matter—only the animals and the plants. And in each of these there are and have been only a limited number of branches to the pedigree—some coming off at a lower level, others at higher
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8. The Emergence of Man.
8. The Emergence of Man.
As to how and when man emerged from the terrestrial animal population so strictly controlled and moulded by natural selection is a matter upon which we gain further information year by year. There must be many here who remember, as I do, the astounding and almost sudden discovery some forty-five years ago of abundant and overwhelming evidence that man had existed in Western Europe as a contemporary of the mammoth and rhinoceros, the hyaena and the lion. The dispute over the facts submitted to th
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9. The Enlarged Brain.
9. The Enlarged Brain.
The leading feature in the development and separation of man from amongst other animals is undoubtedly the relatively enormous size of the brain in man, and the corresponding increase in its activities and capacity. It is a very striking fact that it was not in the ancestors of man alone that this increase in the size of the brain took place at this same period, viz. the Miocene. The great mammals such as the titanotherium, which represented the rhinoceros in early Tertiary times, had a brain wh
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10. The Progress of Man.
10. The Progress of Man.
The origin of Man by the process of Natural Selection is one chapter in man’s history; another one begins with the consideration of his further development and his diffusion over the surface of the globe. The mental qualities which have developed in Man, though traceable in a vague and rudimentary condition in some of his animal associates, are of such an unprecedented power and so far dominate everything else in his activities as a living organism, that they have to a very large extent, if not
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11. The Attainment by Man of the Knowledge of his Relations to Nature.
11. The Attainment by Man of the Knowledge of his Relations to Nature.
But to many the greatest result achieved by the progress of Natural Knowledge seems not to have been so much in its practical applications and its material gifts to humanity as in the fact that Man has arrived through it at spiritual emancipation and freedom of thought. In the latter part of the last century man’s place in Nature became clearly marked out by the accumulation of definite evidence. The significance and the immeasurable importance of the knowledge of Nature to philosophy and the hi
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12. The Regnum Hominis.
12. The Regnum Hominis.
As a matter of fact the new knowledge of Nature—the newly-ascertained capacity of Man for a control of Nature so thorough as to be almost unlimited—has not as yet had an opportunity for showing what it can do. A lull after victory, a lethargic contentment, has to some extent followed on the crowning triumphs of the great Nature-searchers whose days were numbered with the closing years of that nineteenth century which through them marks an epoch. No power has called on Man to arise and enter upon
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13. Man’s Destiny.
13. Man’s Destiny.
Within the last few years an attempt to spur the will of Englishmen in this direction has been made by some who have represented that this way lie great fortunes, national ascendancy, imperial domination. The effort has not met with much success. On the other hand, I speak for those who would urge the conscious and deliberate assumption of his kingdom by Man—not as a matter of markets and of increased opportunity for the cosmopolitan dealers in finance—but as an absolute duty, the fulfilment of
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14. Man and Disease.
14. Man and Disease.
In the extra-human system of Nature there is no disease and there is no conjunction of incompatible forms of life, such as Man has brought about on the surface of the globe. In extra-human Nature the selection of the fittest necessarily eliminates those diseased or liable to disease. Disease both of parasitic and congenital origin occurs as a minor phenomenon. The congenitally diseased are destroyed before they can reproduce: the attacks of parasites great and small either serve only to carry of
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15. The Increase of Human Population.
15. The Increase of Human Population.
Whilst there is a certainty of Man’s power to remove all disease from his life, a difficulty which he has already created for himself will be thereby increased. That difficulty is the increase of human population beyond the capacity of the earth’s surface to provide food and the other necessities of life. By rebelling against Nature’s method, Man has made himself the only animal which constantly increases in numbers. Whenever disease is controlled his increase will be still more rapid than at pr
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16. An Untouched Source of Energy.
16. An Untouched Source of Energy.
The applications of steam and electricity have so far astonished and gratified the rebel Man, that he is sometimes disposed to conclude that he has come to the end of his power of relieving himself from the use of his own muscles for anything but refined movements and well-considered health-giving exercises. One of the greatest of chemical discoverers at this time living, M. Berthelot, has, however, recently pressed on our attention the question of the possibility of tapping the central heat of
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17. Speculations as to the Martians.
17. Speculations as to the Martians.
Such audacious control of the resources of our planet is suggested as a possibility, a legitimate hope and aim, by recent observations and speculations as to our neighbour, the planet Mars. I do not venture to express any opinion as to the interpretation of the appearances revealed by the telescope on the surface of the planet Mars, and indeed would take the most sceptical attitude until further information is obtained. But the influence of these statements about Mars on the imagination and hope
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18. The Investigation of the Human Mind.
18. The Investigation of the Human Mind.
In such a desultory survey as that on which I have ventured, of Man’s kingdom and its dangers, it occurs to me to mention another area upon which it seems urgent that the activities of nature-searchers should be immediately turned with increased power and number. The experimental study of his body and of that of animals has been carried far and with valuable results by inquiring Man. But a singularly small amount of attention has as yet been given to the investigation of Man’s mind as a natural
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19. Man’s Delay: its Cause and Remedy.
19. Man’s Delay: its Cause and Remedy.
Even the slight and rapid review just given of Man’s position, face to face with Nature, enables us to see what a tremendous step he has taken, what desperate conditions he has created by the wonderful exercise of his will; how much he has done and can do to control the order of Nature, and how urgent it is, beyond all that words can say, for him to apply his whole strength and capacity to gaining further control, so that he may accomplish his destiny and escape from misery. It is obvious enough
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20. The Influence of Oxford.
20. The Influence of Oxford.
If I venture now to consider more specifically the influence exercised by the University of Oxford upon the welfare of the State and of the human community in general, in view of the conclusions which have been set forth in what has preceded, I beg to say that I do so with the greatest respect to the opinions of others who differ from me. When I say this I am not using an empty formula. I mean that I believe that there must be many University men who are fair-minded and disinterested, and have g
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
I add here a brief statement published by me in the Times , May 17th, 1903, which touches on the question of the origin of life, and certain theories of creation. “It seems to me that, were the discussion excited by Lord Kelvin’s statements to the Christian Association at University College allowed to close in its present phase, the public would be misled and injustice done both to Lord Kelvin and his critics. I therefore beg you to allow me to point out what appear to me to be the significant f
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1. The Increase of Knowledge in the Several Branches of Science.
1. The Increase of Knowledge in the Several Branches of Science.
The boundaries of my own understanding and the practical consideration of what is appropriate to a brief essay must limit my attempt to give to the general reader some presentation of what has been going on in the workshops of science in this last quarter of a century. My point of view is essentially that of the naturalist, and in my endeavour to speak of some of the new things and new properties of things discovered in recent years I find it is impossible to give any systematic or detailed acco
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2. The Advancement of Science as Measured by the Support given to it by Public Funds, and the Respect Accorded to Scientific Work by the British Government and the Community at Large.
2. The Advancement of Science as Measured by the Support given to it by Public Funds, and the Respect Accorded to Scientific Work by the British Government and the Community at Large.
It is, unfortunately, true that the successive political administrators of the affairs of this country, as well as the permanent officials, are altogether unaware to-day, as they were twenty-five years ago, of the vital importance of that knowledge which we call science, and of the urgent need for making use of it in a variety of public affairs. Whole departments of Government in which scientific knowledge is the one thing needful are carried on by ministers, permanent secretaries, assistant sec
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CHAPTER III. NATURE’S REVENGES: THE SLEEPING SICKNESS.
CHAPTER III. NATURE’S REVENGES: THE SLEEPING SICKNESS.
Among the strange and mysterious diseases to which mankind is subject in regions less familiar to the civilised world than Western Europe, none is stranger or more appalling in its quiet, inexorable deadliness than the Sleeping Sickness of the West African coast. Apparently it has existed among the natives of that region from time immemorial; but the first printed record we have of it is due to Winterbottom, who, writing in 1803 of Sierra Leone, said, “The Africans are very subject to a species
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