group we yet know with any approach to completeness are the Birds; and though these may not be supposed to be the best adapted to test a question of this kind, yet ornithologists know that a very moderate extent of ocean practically limits the range of most land birds. The total number of species found in any of these islands is very small. For example, if we exclude the waders, swimmers, and birds of prey as having roving habits and great powers of flight, we find that according to the best information only twentytwo species of land birds inhabit the group of the Society Islands, and of these seven are found in other groups ranging as far as the Marquesas, the Fiji Islands, and even to the Sandwich Islands. These are almost all birds of moderate powers of flight and such as inhabit the forests and mountains, and do not generally range far. In Mr. G. R. Gray's list of the birds of the Pacific Islands I find eleven species of the genera Myzomela, Meliphaga, Tatare, Monarcha, Coriphilus, Eudynamis, and Ptilonopus, which are known from two or more of the distinct and well separated groups of islands in the central Pacific, and some of them have a very wide range. Among these are two very distinct genera, Tatare and Coriphilus, which are entirely confined to the Polynesian area. Now these facts would certainly indicate a more intimate connection of the various groups of islands within the period of living species, and therefore within the human period, than now exists. The phenomena presented by the distribution of man are thus to some extent reproduced by the distribution of land-birds in the same area, and entitle us to believe that the subsidence of land indicated by coral reefs took place since man inhabited the earth. This subsidence was probably coincident with, perhaps caused by, the elevation of the existing volcanic islands; and while man and birds were able to migrate to these, the mammalia dwindled away and finally perished, when the last mountain-top of the old Pacific land sank beneath the Ocean.

This hypothesis is one which does not outrage nature, as does that of the direct and recent derivation of the Polynesians from the Malays. It harmonizes at once with the Geological, the Zoological, and the Anthropological phenomena; and if it is held that the facts are not sufficient to prove it, or that even if proved it only removes the origin of the race in question one step further back into the obscurity of the past, it may be suggested that in a case of such admitted difficulty we can hardly do more. We ought not to expect that the beginnings of every race are to be discovered within the short epoch of human history or tradition, and we have every reason to be suspicious of the theory that professes such a discovery. In the present case, the very erroneous views prevalent on the subject arise from two causes. One is the occurrence of a number of Malay words in the Polynesian language; the other, the similarity of the brown tint of the Malays and Polynesians,

while they are separated by a group of people of a much darker colour. The similarity of tint has led many travellers in the one area to jump to the conclusion that the people of the other area, of which they have little knowledge, are the same race. It unfortunately happens that not a single traveller appears to be well acquainted with both races, and for that reason their opinions as to the similarity of the two should be received with great doubt. If, on the contrary, my account of the physical and mental characteristics of the Malays be taken as correct (and I resided among them for eight years), and if it be compared with that of the Polynesians given by Cook, and by recent travellers and missionaries, the differences will be seen to be so striking and radical, that all idea of their being the same race must be given up. In the case of the Malays in particular, much confusion has arisen from travellers having confounded with them the many peoples of distinct race which inhabit the eastern parts of the Malayan Archipelago, such as the Timorese, the mountaineers of Ceram and Gilolo, and of the small islands near New Guinea; and this mistake has been rendered excusable by the number of halfbreeds between the two races to be found everywhere. Many of these people are, perhaps, allied to the Polynesians,* but they are certainly not Malays, who are essentially a Mongol race, with many of the Mongol characteristics very strongly marked. The Papuans of New Guinea form the extreme type of another and a widely different race, and all the evidence goes to show that in every characteristic except colour, the Polynesians are nearer to the Papuans than they are to the Malays, although it is not improbable that they are equally distinct from both.

IV. LOUIS FIGUIER.

THERE are two distinct classes of scientific writers whose labours tend to raise the intelligence of our age; those who, by the publication of original researches (usually in the Transactions of Scientific Societies, or in the pages of technical journals), constitute the pioneers of scientific progress, and by their industry extend our knowledge of the laws of nature; and those again, who, appreciating the value of such original researches, and feeling the necessity for diffusing knowledge amongst the masses in a form in which it will be best understood by them, bring their literary powers to bear in a noble cause, and render comprehensible to the multitude laws and facts which would otherwise be appreciated only by the limited circle of what we are accustomed to call "Savans." Each of these two

The mountaineers of Gilolo and Ceram are perhaps true outliers of the Polynesians, and may represent the effect of that westerly migration from Samoa, of which Mr. Pritchard speaks.

classes has its work to do, but unfortunately neither sufficiently appreciates the efforts of the other. The originator or discoverer of new facts and theories is too apt to regard the popular exponent of those laws as a "hanger-on of Science," pilfering where he cannot honourably gain; whilst the accomplished littérateur, to whom the patient investigator owes it that he and his newly discovered data are not consigned to oblivion in the archives of some learned but little known society, often entertains slight respect for the man who has but one idol besides science, and that is himself.

Of course there are many noble exceptions to this rule; and every day we find the number increasing. Men of research are beginning to cultivate their literary powers, whilst clever writers find it necessary to devote a larger amount of time to mastering the facts of science; and thus we have in every branch men who combine the rare talents of correct thought, careful investigation, and poetic expression; and the sooner all scientific men become sufficiently modest to appreciate the fact that they can best serve their noble calling by condescending to consult the tastes and feelings of the masses, or by availing themselves of the services of those who can gain the ear of the multitude, the sooner will science assume its true rank amongst the various branches of human intelligence, and its professors will cast away that stigma of vanity and self-conceit which often attaches itself to them.

Louis Figuier is one of those men whose ardour in the work of popularizing Science seems to know no bounds. Nothing comes amiss to him. He animates the dead and silent rocks, transports his reader with equal facility to the mute age of extinct Saurians, and to the tropical forests of to-day, alive with the songs of their feathered denizens.

Now, he conveys him on the wings of thought to the distant Coal period, lighting the way with the bright facts of Science; now, he descends with him into the Coal regions of our own time, initiates him into mysteries of the collier's craft, and relates in glowing terms how the precious fuel has been utilized to conquer the elements, to minister to man's tastes, desires, and necessities. To-day we may, if we choose, speculate with him upon the appearance of primeval man, whilst he was still struggling for supremacy with the hairy elephant, the hyena, and the cave-bear,* to-morrow we may observe with him how the hardy labourers of Spain or Algeria are engaged in stripping the bark of the Cork-tree.*

Not, however, that his scenic representations always render his scientific views quite comprehensible to us, or satisfy us that he is quite clear on all debated points himself; the strange jumble of Genesis and Geology, of the placid Garden of Eden and the wild Flint-folk, point to an element of superstition which it is to be

* See Plates.

regretted should have found its way into a work intended to enlighten the populace, and convey the results of advancing science.

M. Figuier (Guillaume Louis) was born at Montpellier, 19th February, 1819, and is the son of a chemist, and nephew of a professor of chemistry in that town.

He was admitted as Doctor of Medicine at Montpellier in 1841, and then removed to Paris with a view to study chemistry, which he did under M. Balard (of the Institute). In 1846 he was nominated by the Minister of Public Instruction to the post of Professor in the School of Pharmacy at Montpellier, and returned to his native town, where he remained five years engaged in his professional avocations. In 1850 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Physical Science at Toulouse; in 1853 he returned to Paris and secured a vacant Professorship in the School of Pharmacy, by competition; and from that time to the present he has been occupied either in original researches, chiefly in chemico-physiology, or in the compilation of popular scientific works. Of these the best known in England are naturally those which have been translated into our own language, and we now mean to devote a few pages to their consideration.

In his World before the Deluge M. Figuier, consistently with the views of modern men of Science, adopts the nebular hypothesis as his cosmical theory; but although he seeks to state it as fairly as possible, yet seeing that his nationality precludes him from following the latest researches of English physicists, and that Mr. Bristow, his able translator and editor, is a mineralogist, and not a student of physical science, we think it would have been better if he had passed over the hypothetical, and leaving the nebular theory to take care of itself, had commenced at the beginning of known Geological history.

It must not be supposed, from these remarks, that we object to the original speculations of professed geologists as to the origin of the earth, for these must necessarily precede or accompany the determination of the true character of its constitution, but in the volume before us we find the hypothesis, as enunciated in the 'Fortnightly Review,' of Mr. Tyndall put forward in support of the nebular theory, whilst the solid researches of Balfour Stewart, Miller, and Huggins are left unnoticed. It may be as clear to M. Figuier or to Mr. Bristow, as it is to Mr. Tyndall, that the luminiferous ether is infinitely more attenuated, but more solid, than gas; and "rather resembles jelly than air;" but if the author or translator had described the experiments of Stewart to show

*The World before the Deluge,' by Louis Figuier; a new edition: the Geological portion carefully revised and much original matter added by Henry W. Bristow, F.R.S. Thirty-four Full Page Illustrations of extinct animals and Ideal Landscapes of the Ancient World, by Riou; and 202 other figures, London: Chapman & Hall,

that probably there is an ether, and those of the eminent spectroscopic observers of the nebulæ, Huggins and Miller, which point to the existence of still unformed systems, his readers would have had sound scientific facts to guide them, and would have been able to compare them with the well-established data of astronomers.

As the matter stands at present, the arguments of M. Figuier or his translator are based to a large extent on hypotheses, which operate like a double-edged sword.

For example, the central heat of the earth inferred from the existence of volcanoes and hot springs in so many parts of the globe, and from the increase in the temperature of 1° Fht. for every 60 feet descent, is a very plausible argument in favour of the original state of igneous fusion, of which these phenomena seem to be but traces, but it is no proof. Although this increase in temperature as we descend is stoutly denied by some, yet it seems to be generally admitted; but the question still remains, could this state of fluidity exist at the centre consonant with the undoubted immense pressure of the circumference? Sir Charles Lyell says:-"This theory seems wholly inconsistent with the laws which regulate the circulation of heat through fluid bodies; for if the central heat were as intense as is represented, there must be a circulation of currents tending to equalize the temperature of the resulting fluids, and the solid crust itself would be melted. Instead of an original central heat, we may, perhaps, refer the heat of the interior to chemical changes constantly going on in the earth's crust; for the general effects of chemical combination is the evolution of heat and electricity, which, in their turn, become sources of new chemical changes."

When Sir Humphry Davy succeeded in isolating the metals potassium and sodium, it was supposed that immense quantities of unoxidized metals might exist at great depths; and when water percolating through the rocks gained access to these masses, oxidation of the metals took place with the evolution of intense heat sufficient to melt neighbouring rocks, the hydrogen of the water would escape in the direction of least resistance, carrying with it molten lava, and producing the ordinary volcanic phenomena. Dr. Daubeny also supports this view, and there can be no doubt that chemical operation going on in the interior of the earth is sufficient to produce volcanic action of any degree of intensity.

With regard to the origin of life on our globe, M. Figuier does not dogmatize:-" Did plants precede animals, we cannot tell, but such would appear to have been the order of creation." Our globe, he thinks, during the Cambrian and Silurian periods was not yet mature enough for the existence of the higher organisms.

* Principles,' 9th edition, p. 545.

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