On this page

• Departments (1)
  • 
• Text (7)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    UrtlA«Ai.+«A ILtluUliU?* ¦

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    M . E . XiiiTB-E ,. the-life-long friend and most eminent disciple of Atjgttste CoaiTE , has recently addressed a circular to the friends and followers of that distinguished thinker . His object in this circular is twofold—to rally the disciples of Positivism round the doctrines of their master , and provide , through their united efforts , an annuity for his wido-w . Such an effort comes most appropriately from M . Littee . While M . Comte lived he proved

    himself his faithful and devoted friend , assisting him in his domestic and personal reverses , expounding-his doctrines , defending his character , and bearing with equanimity those outbursts of pride and irritability which latterly- alienated some of Comte ' s earliest friends , and separated him from many of his "warmest admirers . And though the master is now no more , the letter before us sufficiently shows that M . Littre still retains towards him the double relation of disciple and friend , and tliat he is anxious to fulfil to the utmost tie duties it imposes by providing for the family he has left , and extending the influence o f the doctrines he taught . In appealing to his fellow-disciples on behalf of their niaster and his system , M . Litxke gives a sketch of the true character , the present position , and future- prospects of Positivism . And his aim being to rouse

    them to united action , he naturally dwells on the practical side of M . Comte ' s speculations . " Had he simply founded a purely philosophic ' . school , " M . Littee urges , " this might have been left to the care of isolated thinkers / as happens to most systems whose reign is provisional , and whose social utility is only indirect . But the positive philosophy has a directly practical bearing . Through the historic development which it has been M . Comte ' s happiness and glory to work out , Humanity now , leaving the age of instincts and aspirations , enters on that of consciousness and self-government . And that it may pass safely through this epoch , of crisis and realize its future , it has need of science ¦ which explains what w , of philosophy which systematizes science , and of the ideal which elevates and cousecTates philosophy , "the work ; of M . Comte is

    therefore some tiling very different from ai school . It is intimately connected with the greatest interests of the time , as M . Comte felt , and as his disciples still feel . " M . Littbe proceeds to point out that the influence of Positivism has extended beyond the circle of its disciples , and is felt by many who know nothing directly of its doctrines . " Its ideas , " he truly says , " areappropriated by inany who arc ignorant of the source whence they are derived . They have become a sort of common , possession amongst the more advanced and liberal thinkers of the time ; and that not only in France , but in almost every civilized country . It may be easily seen , however , that the work of assimilation between the new truths and the old society is latent rather than manifest , and more fragmentary than general . The positivist aptitudes of the time are still feeble , uncertain , and nascent . To multiply and strengthen these aptitudes

    is the task of M . Com . te ' s immediate disciples . " Further" on lie repeats , emphatically , " Tliat to show to all , high as well as low , the strict connexion that indissolubly unites speculative and political activity , and that makes them neither more nor less than one mid the same problem , one and the same interest , is , above all , the function of those who attach themselves to Positivism . " " With regard to the more immediate and benevolent object of M . Littbe ' s letter , we may add that he proposes , with the help of others interested in the matter , to continue to Madame Comte a pension of 2000 francs , which she received during her husband ' s life . And he appeals to the friends of Positivism to make the fulfilment of this kindly duty the first bond of their new and closer union , the augury of their more vigorous and united activity on behalf of the doctrines of their master .

    Untitled Article

    M . Euixe Fooigues , the conscientious and devoted literary executor of Lamennajs , is actively engaged in preparing for publication the Lctfcrs of Lamennais , and in writing an Introduction which we doubt not will add greatly to the interest and value of the correspondence . One volume , we hear , is already in print , but M . Fouguks has wisely resolved to abstain from publishing until all is completed .

    Untitled Article

    RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST . TU Jiamhleeof a JTatm-afht on the Coast * nf France , Spain , and Skit ?] , By A . do Quatrefagcs . Translated by E . C . Otttf . 2 voIh . Longman 11 ml Co . M . » e Quatrkfages is well and honourably known to all naturalists in Europe as a diligent -worker , a successful investigator , and an agreeable writer . His contributions to our knowledge of the simpler organisms , especially of the various classes of worms , have been numerous and important ; ami if not sifted with any depth of philosophic insight , he has constantly studied zoology by tho light of philosophic ideas . A popular work * L * t ° " i favou" | - ° to P ! ° , ! " not l > e otherwise than ncceptafoo ; and in these two volumes of « Rambles' ho has gathered together tho various articles

    which from time to time he published in the Revue dee Deux Mondes , adding to them a variety of notes , biographical and explanatory . To naturalists and amateurs his work will be very welcome ; but -unfortunately , although expressly meant for the general public , it will not be very intelligible 1 o that public , because , although his exposition is clear and untechnical he generally assumes that the reader knows something of the animals he is writing about . The general reader will be able to form no definite conception of-these animals , and M . Quatrefages gives no plates or diagrams to supply this want . This is a serious drawback to the popularity or a work which might otherwise be widely read . In spite of that drawback it will be read with pleasure , for the sake of its enthusiasm , its sketches of the various coasts and their inhabitants , and its revelations of the marvels of organization . As a mere book of travels it will be of interest , for , although the scenes visited by him are by no means untrodden , they are of eternal attraction , and he gossips very pleasantly , mingling- useful information with hisj >; ossip . He tells us of his introduction to marine zoology : —

    I had spent the spring of 1841 in studying some of the inferior forms of animal life which occur in the environs of Paris . In the course of these researches I explored the ponds of Plessis-Piquefc and Meudon , the stagnant pools around Ylncenues , the basins in the gardens at Versailles , and even the ditches along the high roads . My table was daily covered with vessels containing the water which I had brought home with me from , these excursions ; and while the aquatic plants tliat had been left undisturbed were exhibiting an active state of vegetation , the delicate filaments of their roots formed a place of retreat for thousands of those minute beings whose existence and marvellous organization are only revealed to us by the microscope . In this passage we see how near he was to the discovery of the Aquarium which , now that the principle is understood , has become the ornament of thousands of drawing-rooms ; but although he allowed the plants to grow in his vessels , it was only to afford a shelter for his animals : he had no idea of the balance of animal and vegetable life being thus preserved . The wonders revealed to him in the study of these simple organisms were not simply amusements : —

    Such studies are highly attractive , even . when .. considered on the simple grounds of curiosity : this , however , is not their only claim upon our attention , fox they possess another and a far greater source of interest . In . the higher forms of animal life , the size and opacity of the organs do not allow of our studying the mechanism of their actions and functions in the living state ; in their case we must content ourselves with the mere study of their anatomy . In . the lower animals , on the other hand , we are enabled to trace the operations of nature at the very moment of their accomplishment : thus , for instance , in . the animalcule / we can follow the alimentary molecule from the very moment in which it is swallowed until it is rejected by the animal , after having yielded up all its nutritious matter . The changes which this molecule undergoes in its passage through the animalcule , and the successive action of the animal organs and fluids , are all displayed before our eyes , so that these crystalline organisms seem almost to invite science to raise a corner-of the veil . which conceals from us the mysteries of that which we term life ^ Again : — ¦' :. '¦ ¦¦ ' ¦' .. ¦ ¦ ¦ ; . ; : .. ¦¦ ' ¦ - . ' - ' ' / "' ¦ ' ¦ ¦ . ¦¦ ¦ •¦¦ . ' - ¦ ¦'

    In physical science man controls , to a certain extent , the object of his investigations . Thus , for instance , in the examination of a machine he may successively study each , of the parts , consider their respective actions , and judge of the effect of the whole . It is very different , however , in the case of the natural sciences generally , and especially of zoology . Here we-must , wait and watch . The multiplicity of vital acts in animals which occupy the highest places in the scale of being too frequently conceals the truth from us , while it is impossible for us to imitate the physicist in isolating a single phenomenon ; for when we do this , the whole is lost to our inquiry , and the animal ceases to exist . But in proportion as we descend the scale of being , we find that organization is simplified , and that life , without being altered in its essential nature , is to a certain degree modified in its manifestations . The animal machine , if we may use the expression , is shown to ua piece by piece , as if to reveal the action of its several parts , and to demonstrate to us the great laws of physiology apart from all accessory phenomena . -These laws-are the same for the highest mammal and the lowest zoophyte ; the same for man , whose complicated anatomy has been studied for ages past , and for the sponge , whose organs appear to be blended into one sole living homogeneous mass , the smallest particle of which participates in all the properties accorded to the entire organism .

    But thrilled as he was by the marvels constantly revealed , he began to long for a wider field . The treasures of" the deep allured him . He had never seen the sea , yet knew the wealth it contained . Packing up his books and instruments he set off for the coast . Tho spot chosen was the archipelago of Chausey , near St . Michael ' s Mount ; and very interesting is the picture he gives of his four months' residence there . Imagine what endless delight the sea must have furnished liim ! The dweller on the oartli must sow the seed , plant trees , or turn the soil with his plough before he can gather in the grain that is to nourish him , or pluck the fruit that is to quench his thirst . Months , nay years , may puss before his labours will be recompensed , and perhaps at tho very moment when lie is about to reap the reward of his toil , n blast of wind , or a hailstorm , comes utterly to destroy his hopes . Tho ocean demands no such protracted waiting , and gives birth to no such painful disappointments . Tho tide falls !—to work ! to -work ! both young and old ! there is room for all , and labour proportioned to every age and to eveTy degree of strength . Tho men and their sturdy helpmates , spade in hand , turn up the sand , which has been covered by tho sea for some hours , and soon their iuskets are filled -with cockles , razor-fishes , and | venuses , which although less delicate , are more nourishing than oysters ; besides these , there is al 6 o the sand-eel ( Ammcdylcs tobianus et A . lancea ) , a little fish which is held in high esteem , but which is not so easily captured as the shell-fish , for it lovos to hide itself under the sand , whore it moves about with marvellous agility . During this time the young girls are dropping their pockct-liko nets into the pools which have been left by the retiring tide , busily employed in collecting shrimps , or in catching somo lobster or crab , or perchance even soino stray shore . fisli , which has been arrested before it could regain its distant place of retreat . Others , armed with a stick , terminating in a strong hook , scrapu the siuid l > olow the stones and hollows of tho rock , and from time to time draw forth a congor-eol with glistening nkin , or some cuttlu-lisli or Cftlamary , which vainly attempts to escape by tthrouding itself in a cloud of ink . The children in the meantime gather from tho rocks limpets , periwinkles , whelkh , roaring buckics , ormors , or j uuhscIh , which hang clustering together like bunches of grapett , suspended by the threads of tho bysBun , which the animal weaves for itself . For two or threu hoiua tho beach is full oflil ' o and activity , whilst a whole population pours forth to seek its daily food ; but . soon the waves ruturn towards tho shore , tho tide rises , ami all Imslo ' n homowuru , certain that the sea will replace tho bounteous gifts which it is taking from them , and that In a few hours they may come forth again to reap a harvest which has needed no season of planting or . of sowing , ' r '"

    Untitled Article

    Clitics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of Uterat-ure . They do not make laws—they interpret a : nd try to enforce them . —JEdinbtirg 7 i Heview .

    Urtla«Ai.+«A Iltluuliu?* ¦

    JDtfmtimt * : - * _

    Untitled Article

    The Memoirs of M . Guizot , which arc to appear soon , will perhaps disappoint , in a certain sense , the expectations of a class of readers who are on the look-out for questionable confidences i " or ever trembling on the verge of scandal . These Memoirs ( a private letter from Paris assures us ) contain scarcely any facts : they arc a sort of series of political papers : nearly all discussion , and little or no narrative .

    Untitled Article

    No . 401 , November 28 , 1857 . ] THE LE APEE . 1143

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 28, 1857, page 1143, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2219/page/15/