,,science ,,in ,,arcady ,,by ,,grant ,,allen ,,london3 ,,lawrence ,,bullen1 #af1 ,,henrietta ,,street1 ,,covent ,,garden1 ,w4,c4 #ahib4 ,to ,,grant ,,richards1 ,,in ,,grateful ,,acknowledgment ,,of ,,many ,,kind ,,offices4 ,avuncular ,greeting4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,my ,,islands #a ,,tropical ,,education #ba ,,on ,,the ,,wings ,,of ,,the ,,wind #dj ,a ,,desert ,,fruit #ef ,,pretty ,,poll #ga ,,high ,,life #ij ,,eight-,,legged ,,friends #aje ,,mud #abc ,,the ,,greenwood ,,tree #adj ,,fish ,,as ,,fathers #aeg ,,an ,,english ,,shire #agg ,,the ,,bronze ,,axe #bab ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,ruim #bca ,a ,,hill-,,top ,,stronghold #bej ,a ,,persistent ,,nationality #bff ,,casters ,,and ,,chesters #bgd ,,preface4 ,these essays deal for the most part with ,science in ,arcady4 ',tis my native country3 for ,i am not of those who 'praise the busy town4' ,on the contrary1 in the words of the great poet who has just departed to join ,milton and ,shelley in a place of high collateral glory1 ,i 'love to rail against it still1' with a naturalist's bitterness4 ,for the town is always dead and lifeless4 ,there are who admire it1 they say--poor purblind creatures--because1 forsooth1 'there is so much life there4' ,so much life1 indeed6 ,no grass in the streets2 no flowers in the lanes2 no beetles or butterflies on the dull stone pavements6 ,brick and mortar have killed out all life over square miles of ,middlesex4 ,for myself1 ,i love better the densely-peopled fields than this human desert1 this beflagged and macadamised man-made solitude4 ,the country teems with life on every hand2 a thousand different plants and flowers in the spangled meadows2 a thousand varied denizens of pond1 and air1 and heath1 and copses4 ,their ways are endless4 ,they attract me far more with their infinite diversity than the grey and gloomy haunts of the cab-horse and the stock-broker4 ,but my ,arcady1 as you will see1 is none the less tolerably broad and eclectic in its limits4 ,these various essays have been suggested to my pen by rambles far and wide between its elastic confines4 ,the little tractate on ,mud1 for example1 recalls to mind some pleasant weeks among the ,italian lakes and on the plain of ,lombardy4 ,a ,desert ,fruit owes its origin to a morning at ,luxor4 ,high ,life had its key-note struck by a fortnight in the ,tyrol4 ,tropical ,education is a dim reminiscence of old ,jamaican experiences4 ,our ,eight-,legged ,friends were observed at leisure on the window-panes of our own little nook at ,dorking4 ,a ,hill-,top ,stronghold was sketched in situ at ,florence by a window that looked across the valley to ,fiesole4 ,excursions into books or into the remoter past have given occasion for the archological essays relegated here to the end of the volume4 ,my thanks are due to ,messrs4 ,longmans for permission to reprint from their magazine ,my ,islands1 ,a ,hill-,top ,stronghold1 ,a ,desert ,fruit1 ,the ,isle of ,ruim1 ,eight-,legged ,friends1 and ,tropical ,education4 ,i have also to acknowledge a similar courtesy on the part of ,messrs4 ,smith ,elder with regard to ,mud1 ,the ,bronze ,axe1 ,high ,life1 ,pretty ,poll1 ,the ,greenwood ,tree1 ,on the ,wings of the ,wind1 ,casters and ,chesters1 and ,fish as ,fathers1 all of which originally appeared in the ,cornhill4 ,messrs4 ,chatto ,windus have been equally kind as regards the paper on ,an ,english ,shire contributed to the ,gentleman's4 ,a ,persistent ,nationality made its first bow in the ,north ,american ,review1 and has still to be introduced to an ,english audience4 ,g4,a4 ,hind ,head1 ,surrey1 ,oct41 #ahib4 ,,science ,,in ,,arcady4 ,,my ,,islands4 ,about the middle of the ,miocene period1 as well as ,i can now remember 7for ,i made no note of the precise date at the moment71 my islands first appeared above the stormy sheet of the ,north-,west ,atlantic as a little rising group of mountain tops1 capping a broad boss of submarine volcanoes4 ,my attention was originally called to the new archipelago by a brother investigator of my own aerial race1 who pointed out to me on the wing that at a spot some #ijj miles to the west of the ,portuguese coast1 just opposite the place where your mushroom city of ,lisbon now stands1 the water of the ocean1 as seen in a bird's-eye view from some three thousand feet above1 formed a distinct greenish patch such as always betokens shoals or rising ground at the bottom4 ,flying out at once to the point he indicated1 and poising myself above it on my broad pinions at a giddy altitude1 ,i saw at a glance that my friend was quite right4 ,land making was in progress4 ,a volcanic upheaval was taking place on the bed of the sea4 ,a new island group was being forced right up by lateral pressure or internal energies from a depth of at least two thousand fathoms4 ,i had always had a great liking for the study of material plants and animals1 and ,i was so much interested in the occurrence of this novel phenomenon--the growth and development of an oceanic island before my very eyes--that ,i determined to devote the next few thousand centuries or so of my onian existence to watching the course of its gradual evolution4 ,if ,i trusted to unaided memory1 however1 for my dates and facts1 ,i might perhaps at this distance of time be uncertain whether the moment was really what ,i have roughly given1 within a geological age or two1 the period of the ,mid-,miocene4 ,but existing remains on one of the islands constituting my group 7now called in your new-fangled terminology ,santa ,maria7 help me to fix with comparative certainty the precise epoch of their original upheaval4 ,for these remains1 still in evidence on the spot1 consist of a few small marine deposits of ,upper ,miocene age2 and ,i recollect distinctly that after the main group had been for some time raised above the surface of the ocean1 and after sand and streams had formed a small sedimentary deposit containing ,upper ,miocene fossils beneath the shoal water surrounding the main group1 a slight change of level occurred1 during which this minor island was pushed up with the ,miocene deposits on its shoulders1 as a sort of natural memorandum to assist my random scientific recollections4 ,with that solitary exception1 however1 the entire group remains essentially volcanic in its composition1 exactly as it was when ,i first saw its youthful craters and its red-hot ash-cones pushed gradually up1 century after century1 from the deep blue waters of the ,mid-,miocene ocean4 ,all round my islands the ,atlantic then1 as now1 had a depth1 as ,i said before1 of two thousand fathoms2 indeed1 in some parts between the group and ,portugal the plummet of your human navigators finds no bottom1 ,i have often heard them say1 till it reaches #b1ejj2 and out of this profound sea-bed the volcanic energies pushed up my islands as a small submarine mountain range1 whose topmost summits alone stood out bit by bit above the level of the surrounding sea4 ,one of them1 the most abrupt and cone-like1 by name now ,pico1 rises to this day1 a magnificent sight1 sheer seven thousand feet into the sky from the placid sheet that girds it round on every side4 ,you creatures of to-day1 approaching it in one of your clumsy new-fashioned fire-driven canoes that you call steamers1 must admire immensely its conical peak1 as it stands out silhouetted against the glowing horizon in the deep red glare of a sub-tropical ,atlantic sunset4 ,but when ,i1 from my solitary aerial perch1 saw my islands rise bare and massive first from the water's edge1 the earliest idea that occurred to me as an investigator of nature was simply this3 how will they ever get clad with soil and herbage and living creatures8 ,so naked and barren were their black crags and rocks of volcanic slag1 that ,i could hardly conceive how they could ever come to resemble the other smiling oceanic islands which ,i looked down upon in my flight from day to day over so many wide and scattered oceans4 ,i set myself to watch1 accordingly1 whence they would derive the first seeds of life1 and what changes would take place under dint of time upon their desolate surface4 ,for a long epoch1 while the mountains were still rising in their active volcanic state1 ,i saw but little evidence of a marked sort of the growth of living creatures upon their loose piles of pumice4 ,gradually1 however1 ,i observed that spores of lichens1 blown towards them by the wind1 were beginning to sprout upon the more settled rocks1 and to discolour the surface in places with grey and yellow patches4 ,bit by bit1 as rain fell upon the new-born hills1 it brought down from their weathered summits sand and mud1 which the torrents ground small and deposited in little hollows in the valleys2 and at last something like earth was found at certain spots1 on which seeds1 if there had been any1 might doubtless have rooted and flourished exceedingly4 ,my primitive idea1 as ,i watched my islands in this their almost lifeless condition1 was that the ,gulf ,stream and the trade winds from ,america would bring the earliest higher plants and animals to our shores4 ,but in this ,i soon found ,i was quite mistaken4 ,the distance to be traversed was so great1 and the current so slow1 that the few seeds or germs of ,american species cast up upon the shore from time to time were mostly far too old and water-logged to show signs of life in such ungenial conditions4 ,it was from the nearer coasts of ,europe1 on the contrary1 that our earliest colonists seemed to come4 ,though the prevalent winds set from the west1 more violent storms reached us occasionally from the eastward direction2 and these1 blowing from ,europe1 which lay so much closer to our group1 were far more likely to bring with them by waves or wind some waifs and strays of the ,european fauna and flora4 ,i well remember the first of these great storms that produced any distinct impression on my islands4 ,the plants that followed in its wake were a few small ferns1 whose light spores were more readily carried on the breeze than any regular seeds of flowering plants4 ,for a month or two nothing very marked occurred in the way of change1 but slowly the spores rooted1 and soon produced a small crop of ferns1 which1 finding the ground unoccupied1 spread when once fairly started with extraordinary rapidity1 till they covered all the suitable positions throughout the islands4 ,for the most part1 however1 additions to the flora1 and still more to the fauna1 were very gradually made2 so much so that most of the species now found in the group did not arrive there till after the end of the ,glacial epoch1 and belong essentially to the modern ,european assemblage of plants and animals4 ,this was partly because the islands themselves were surrounded by pack-ice during that chilly period1 which interrupted for a time the course of my experiment4 ,it was interesting1 too1 after the ice cleared away1 to note what kinds could manage by stray accidents to cross the ocean with a fair chance of sprouting or hatching out on the new soil1 and which were totally unable by original constitution to survive the ordeal of immersion in the sea4 ,for instance1 ,i looked anxiously at first for the arrival of some casual acorn or some floating filbert1 which might stock my islands with waving greenery of oaks and hazel bushes4 ,but ,i gradually discovered1 in the course of a few centuries1 that these heavy nuts never floated securely so far as the outskirts of my little archipelago2 and that consequently no chestnuts1 apple trees1 beeches1 alders1 larches1 or pines ever came to diversify my island valleys4 ,the seeds that did really reach us from time to time belonged rather to one or other of four special classes4 ,either they were very small and light1 like the spores of ferns1 fungi1 and club-mosses2 or they were winged and feathery1 like dandelion and thistle-down2 or they were the stones of fruits that are eaten by birds1 like rose-hips and hawthorn2 or they were chaffy grains1 enclosed in papery scales1 like grasses and sedges1 of a kind well adapted to be readily borne on the surface of the water4 ,in all these ways new plants did really get wafted by slow degrees to the islands2 and if they were of kinds adapted to the climate they grew and flourished1 living down the first growth of ferns and flowerless herbs in the rich valleys4 ,the time which it took to people my archipelago with these various plants was1 of course1 when judged by your human standards1 immensely long1 as often the group received only a single new addition in the lapse of two or three centuries4 ,but ,i noticed one very curious result of this haphazard and lengthy mode of stocking the country3 some of the plants which arrived the earliest1 having the coast all clear to themselves1 free from the fierce competition to which they had always been exposed on the mainland of ,europe1 began to sport a great deal in various directions1 and being acted upon here by new conditions1 soon assumed under stress of natural selection totally distinct specific forms4 7,you see1 ,i have quite mastered your best modern scientific vocabulary47 ,for instance1 there were at first no insects of any sort on the islands2 and so those plants which in ,europe depended for their fertilisation upon bees or butterflies had here either to adapt themselves somehow to the wind as a carrier of their pollen or else to die out for want of crossing4 ,again1 the number of enemies being reduced to a minimum1 these early plants tended to lose various defences or protections they had acquired on the mainland against slugs or ants1 and so to become different in a corresponding degree from their ,european ancestors4 ,the consequence was that by the time you men first discovered the archipelago no fewer than forty kinds of plants had so far diverged from the parent forms in ,europe or elsewhere that your savants considered them at once as distinct species1 and set them down at first as indigenous creations4 ,it amused me immensely4 ,for out of these forty plants thirty-four were to my certain knowledge of ,european origin4 ,i had seen their seeds brought over by the wind or waves1 and ,i had watched them gradually altering under stress of the new conditions into fresh varieties1 which in process of time became distinct species4 ,two of the oldest were flowers of the dandelion and daisy group1 provided with feathery seeds which enable them to fly far before the carrying breeze2 and these two underwent such profound modifications in their insular home that the systematic botanists who at last examined them insisted upon putting each into a new genus1 all by itself1 invented for the special purpose of their reception4 ,one almost equally ancient inhabitant1 a sort of harebell1 also became in process of time extremely unlike any other harebell ,i had ever seen in any part of my airy wanderings4 ,but the remaining thirty new species or so evolved in the islands by the special circumstances of the group had varied so comparatively little from their primitive ,european ancestors1 that they hardly deserved to be called anything more than very distinct and divergent varieties4 ,some five or six plants1 however1 ,i noted arrive in my archipelago1 not from ,europe1 but from the ,canaries or ,madeira1 whose distant blue peaks lay dim on the horizon far to the south-west of us1 as ,i poised in mid-air high above the topmost pinnacle of my wild craggy ,pico4 ,these kinds1 belonging to a much warmer region1 soon1 as ,i noticed1 underwent considerable modification in our cooler climate1 and were all of them adjudged distinct species by the learned gentlemen who finally reported upon my island realm to ,british science4 ,as far as ,i can recollect1 then1 the total number of flowering plants ,i noted in the islands before the arrival of man was about #bjj2 and of these1 as ,i said before1 only forty had so far altered in type as to be considered at present peculiar to the archipelago4 ,the remainder were either comparatively recent arrivals or else had found the conditions of their new home so like those of the old one from which they migrated1 that comparatively little change took place in their forms or habits4 ,of course1 just in proportion as the islands got stocked ,i noticed that the changes were less and less marked2 for each new plant1 insect1 or bird that established itself successfully tended to make the balance of nature more similar to the one that obtained in the mainland opposite1 and so decreased the chances of novelty of variation4 ,hence1 it struck me that the oldest arrivals were the ones which altered most in adaptation to the circumstances1 while the newest1 finding themselves in comparatively familiar surroundings1 had less occasion to be selected for strange and curious freaks or sports of form or colour4 ,the peopling of the islands with birds and animals1 however1 was to me even a more interesting and engrossing study in natural evolution than its peopling by plants1 shrubs1 and trees4 ,i may as well begin1 therefore1 by telling you at once that no furry or hairy quadruped of any sort--no mammal1 as ,i understand your men of science call them--was ever stranded alive upon the shores of my islands4 ,for twenty or thirty centuries indeed1 ,i waited patiently1 examining every piece of driftwood cast up upon our beaches1 in the faint hope that perhaps some tiny mouse or shrew or water-vole might lurk half drowned in some cranny or crevice of the bark or trunk4 ,but it was all in vain4 ,i ought to have known beforehand that terrestrial animals of the higher types never by any chance reach an oceanic island in any part of this planet4 ,the only three specimens of mammals ,i ever saw tossed up on the beach were two drowned mice and an unhappy squirrel1 all as dead as doornails1 and horribly mauled by the sea and the breakers4 ,nor did we ever get a snake1 a lizard1 a frog1 or a fresh-water fish1 whose eggs ,i at first fondly supposed might occasionally be transported to us on bits of floating trees or matted turf1 torn by floods from those prehistoric ,lusitanian or ,african forests4 ,no such luck was ours4 ,not a single terrestrial vertebrate of any sort appeared upon our shores before the advent of man with his domestic animals1 who played havoc at once with my interesting experiment4 ,it was quite otherwise with the unobtrusive small deer of life--the snails1 and beetles1 and flies1 and earthworms--and especially with the winged things3 birds1 bats1 and butterflies4 ,in the very earliest days of my islands' existence1 indeed1 a few stray feathered fowls of the air were driven ashore here by violent storms1 at a time when vegetation had not yet begun to clothe the naked pumice and volcanic rock2 but these1 of course1 perished for want of food1 as did also a few later arrivals1 who came under stress of weather at the period when only ferns1 lichens1 and mosses had as yet obtained a foothold on the young archipelago4 ,sea-birds1 of course1 soon found out our rocks2 but as they live off fish only1 they contributed little more than rich beds of guano to the permanent colonising of the islands4 ,as well as ,i can remember1 the land-snails were the earliest truly terrestrial casuals that managed to pick up a stray livelihood in these first colonial days of the archipelago4 ,they came oftenest in the egg1 sometimes clinging to water-logged leaves cast up by storms1 sometimes hidden in the bark of floating driftwood1 and sometimes swimming free on the open ocean4 ,in one case1 as ,i recall to myself well1 a swallow1 driven off from the ,portuguese coast1 a little before the ,glacial period had begun to whiten the distant mountains of central and northern ,europe1 fell exhausted at last upon the shore of ,terceira4 ,there were no insects then for the poor bird to feed upon1 so it died of starvation and weariness before the day was out2 but a little earth that clung in a pellet to one of its feet contained the egg of a land-shell1 while the prickly seed of a common ,spanish plant was entangled among the winged feathers by its hooked awns4 ,the egg hatched out1 and became the parent of a large brood of minute snails1 which1 outliving the cold spell of the ,ice ,age1 had developed into a very distinct type in the long period that intervened before the advent of man in the islands2 while the seed sprang up on the natural manure heap afforded by the swallow's decaying body1 and clinging to the valleys during the ,glacial ,age on the hill-tops1 gave birth in due season to one of the most markedly indigenous of our ,terceira plants4 ,occasionally1 too1 very minute land-snails would arrive alive on the island after their long sea-voyage on bits of broken forest-trees--a circumstance which ,i would perhaps hesitate to mention in mere human society were it not that ,i have been credibly informed your own great naturalist1 ,darwin1 tried the experiment himself with one of the biggest ,european land-molluscs1 the great edible ,roman snail1 and found that it still lived on in vigorous style after immersion in sea-water for twenty days4 ,now1 ,i myself observed that several of these bits of broken trees1 torn down by floods in heavy storm time from the banks of ,spanish or ,portuguese rivers1 reached my island in eight or ten days after leaving the mainland1 and sometimes contained eggs of small land-snails4 ,but as very long periods often passed without a single new species being introduced into the group1 any kind that once managed to establish itself on any of the islands usually remained for ages undisturbed by new arrivals1 and so had plenty of opportunity to adapt itself perfectly by natural selection to the new conditions4 ,the consequence was1 that out of some seventy land-snails now known in the islands1 thirty-two had assumed distinct specific features before the advent of man1 while thirty-seven 7many of which1 ,i think1 ,i never noticed till the introduction of cultivated plants7 are common to my group with ,europe or with the other ,atlantic islands4 ,most of these1 ,i believe1 came in with man and his disconcerting agriculture4 ,as to the pond and river snails1 so far as ,i could observe1 they mostly reached us later1 being conveyed in the egg on the feet of stray waders or water-birds1 which gradually peopled the island after the ,glacial epoch4 ,birds and all other flying creatures are now very abundant in all the islands2 but ,i could tell you some curious and interesting facts1 too1 as to the mode of their arrival and the vicissitudes of their settlement4 ,for example1 during the age of the ,forest ,beds in ,europe1 a stray bullfinch was driven out to sea by a violent storm1 and perched at last on a bush at ,fayal4 ,i wondered at first whether he would effect a settlement4 ,but at that time no seeds or fruits fit for bullfinches to eat existed on the islands4 ,still1 as it turned out1 this particular bullfinch happened to have in his crop several undigested seeds of ,european plants exactly suited to the bullfinch taste2 so when he died on the spot1 these seeds1 germinating abundantly1 gave rise to a whole valleyful of appropriate plants for bullfinches to feed upon4 ,now1 however1 there was no bullfinch to eat them4 ,for a long time1 indeed1 no other bullfinches arrived at my archipelago4 ,once1 to be sure1 a few hundred years later1 a single cock bird did reach the island alone1 much exhausted with his journey1 and managed to pick up a living for himself off the seeds introduced by his unhappy predecessor4 ,but as he had no mate1 he died at last1 as your lawyers would say1 without issue4 ,it was a couple of hundred years or so more before ,i saw a third bullfinch--which didn't surprise me1 for bullfinches are very woodland birds1 and non-migratory into the bargain--so that they didn't often get blown seaward over the broad ,atlantic4 ,at the end of that time1 however1 ,i observed one morning a pair of finches1 after a heavy storm1 drying their poor battered wings upon a shrub in one of the islands4 ,from this solitary pair a new race sprang up1 which developed after a time1 as ,i imagined they must1 into a distinct species4 ,these local bullfinches now form the only birds peculiar to the islands2 and the reason is one well divined by one of your own great naturalists 7to whom ,i mean before ,i end to make the amende honorable74 ,in almost all other cases the birds kept getting reinforced from time to time by others of their kind blown out to sea accidentally--for only such species were likely to arrive there--and this kept up the purity of the original race1 by ensuring a cross every now and again with the ,european community4 ,but the bullfinches1 being the merest casuals1 never again to my knowledge were reinforced from the mainland1 and so they have produced at last a special island type1 exactly adapted to the peculiarities of their new habitat4 ,you see1 there was hardly ever a big storm on land that didn't bring at least one or two new birds of some sort or other to the islands4 ,naturally1 too1 the newcomers landed always on the first shore they could sight2 and so at the present day the greatest number of species is found on the two easternmost islands nearest the mainland1 which have forty kinds of land-birds1 while the central islands have but thirty-six1 and the western only twenty-nine4 ,it would have been quite different1 of course1 if the birds came mainly from ,america with the trade winds and the ,gulf ,stream1 as ,i at first anticipated4 ,in that case1 there would have been most kinds in the westernmost islands1 and fewest stragglers in the far eastern4 ,but your own naturalists have rightly seen that the existing distribution necessarily implies the opposite explanation4 ,birds1 ,i early noticed1 are always great carriers of fruit-seeds1 because they eat the berries1 but don't digest the hard little stones within4 ,it was in that way1 ,i fancy1 that the ,portugal laurel first came to my islands1 because it has an edible fruit with a very hard seed2 and the same reason must account for the presence of the myrtle1 with its small blue berry2 the laurustinus with its currant-like fruit2 the elder-tree1 the canary laurel1 the local sweet-gale1 and the peculiar juniper4 ,before these shrubs were introduced thus unconsciously by our feathered guests1 there were no fruits on which berry-eating birds could live2 but now they are the only native trees or large bushes on the islands--,i mean the only ones not directly planted by you mischief-making men1 who have entirely spoilt my nice little experiment4 ,it was much the same with the history of some among the birds themselves4 ,not a few birds of prey1 for example1 were driven to my little archipelago by stress of weather in its very early days2 but they all perished for want of sufficient small quarry to make a living out of4 ,as soon1 however1 as the islands had got well stocked with robins1 black-caps1 wrens1 and wagtails1 of ,european types--as soon as the chaffinches had established themselves on the seaward plains1 and the canary had learnt to nest without fear among the ,portugal laurels--then buzzards1 long-eared owls1 and common barn-owls1 driven westward by tempests1 began to pick up a decent living on all the islands1 and have ever since been permanent residents1 to the immense terror and discomfort of our smaller song-birds4 ,thus the older the archipelago got the less chance was there of local variation taking place to any large degree1 because the balance of life each day grew more closely to resemble that which each species had left behind it in its native ,european or ,african mainland4 ,i said a little while ago we had no mammal in the islands4 ,in that ,i was not quite strictly correct4 ,i ought to have said1 no terrestrial mammal4 ,a little ,spanish bat got blown to us once by a rough nor'easter1 and took up its abode at once among the caves of our archipelago1 where it hawks to this day after our flies and beetles4 ,this seemed to me to show very conspicuously the advantage which winged animals have in the matter of cosmopolitan dispersion2 for while it was quite impossible for rats1 mice1 or squirrels to cross the intervening belt of three hundred leagues of sea1 their little winged relation1 the flitter-mouse1 made the journey across quite safely on his own leathery vans1 and with no greater difficulty than a swallow or a wood-pigeon4 ,the insects of my archipelago tell very much the same story as the birds and the plants4 ,here1 too1 winged species have stood at a great advantage4 ,to be sure1 the earliest butterflies and bees that arrived in the fern-clad period were starved for want of honey2 but as soon as the valleys began to be thickly tangled with composites1 harebells1 and sweet-scented myrtle bushes1 these nectar-eating insects established themselves successfully1 and kept their breed true by occasional crosses with fresh arrivals blown to sea afterwards4 ,the development of the beetles ,i watched with far greater interest1 as they assumed fresh forms much more rapidly under their new conditions of restricted food and limited enemies4 ,many kinds ,i observed which came originally from ,europe1 sometimes in the larval state1 sometimes in the egg1 and sometimes flying as full-grown insects before the blast of the angry tempest4 ,several of these changed their features rapidly after their arrival in the islands1 producing at first divergent varieties1 and finally1 by dint of selection1 acting in various ways1 through climate1 food1 or enemies1 on these nascent forms1 evolving into stable and well-adapted species4 ,but ,i noticed three cases where bits of driftwood thrown up from ,south ,america on the western coasts contained the eggs or larvae of ,american beetles1 while several others were driven ashore from the ,canaries or ,madeira2 and in one instance even a small insect1 belonging to a type now confined to ,madagascar1 found its way safely by sea to this remote spot1 where1 being a female with eggs1 it succeeded in establishing a flourishing colony4 ,i believe1 however1 that at the time of its arrival it still existed on the ,african continent1 but becoming extinct there under stress of competition with higher forms1 it now survives only in these two widely separated insular areas4 ,it was an endless amusement to me during those long centuries1 while ,i devoted myself entirely to the task of watching my fauna and flora develop itself1 to look out from day to day for any chance arrival by wind or waves1 and to follow the course of its subsequent vicissitudes and evolution4 ,in a great many cases1 especially at first1 the new-comer found no niche ready for it in the established order of things on the islands1 and was fain at last1 after a hard struggle1 to retire for ever from the unequal contest4 ,but often enough1 too1 he made a gallant fight for it1 and1 adapting himself rapidly to his new environment1 changed his form and habits with surprising facility4 ,for natural selection1 ,i found1 is a hard schoolmaster4 ,if you happen to fit your place in the world1 you live and thrive1 but if you don't happen to fit it1 to the wall with you without quarter4 ,thus sometimes ,i would see a small canary beetle quickly take to new food and new modes of life on my islands under my very eyes1 so that in a century or so ,i judged him myself worthy of the distinction of a separate species2 while in another case1 ,i remember1 a south ,european weevil evolved before long into something so wholly different from his former self that a systematic entomologist would have been forced to enrol him in a distinct genus4 ,i often wish now that ,i had kept a regular collection of all the intermediate forms1 to present as an illustrative series to one of your human museums2 but in those days1 of course1 we none of us imagined anybody but ourselves would ever take an interest in these problems of the development of life1 and we let the chance slide till it was too late to recover it4 ,naturally1 during all these ages changes of other sorts were going on in my islands--elevations and subsidences1 separations and reunions1 which helped to modify the life of the group considerably4 ,indeed1 volcanic action was constantly at work altering the shapes and sizes of the different rocky mountain-tops1 and bringing now one1 now another1 into closer relations than before with its neighbours4 ,why1 as recently as #ahaa 7a date which is so fresh in my memory that ,i could hardly forget it7 a new island was suddenly formed by submarine eruption off the coast of ,st4 ,michael's1 to which the name of ,sabrina was momentarily given by your human geographers4 ,it was about a mile around and #cjj feet high2 but1 consisting as it did of loose cinders only1 it was soon washed away by the force of the waves in that stormy region4 ,i merely mention it here to show how recently volcanic changes have taken place in my islands1 and how continuously the internal energy has been at work modifying and re-arranging them4 ,up to the moment of the arrival of man in the archipelago the whole population1 animal and vegetable1 consisted entirely of these waifs and strays1 blown out to sea from ,europe or ,africa1 and modified more or less on the spot in accordance with the varying needs of their new home4 ,but the advent of the obtrusive human species spoilt the game at once for an independent observer4 ,man immediately introduced oranges1 bananas1 sweet potatoes1 grapes1 plums1 almonds1 and many other trees or shrubs1 in which1 for selfish reasons1 he was personally interested4 ,at the same time he quite unconsciously and unintentionally stocked the islands with a fine vigorous crop of ,european weeds1 so that the number of kinds of flowering plants included in the modern flora of my little archipelago exceeds1 ,i think1 by fully one-half that which ,i remember before the date of the ,portuguese occupation4 ,in the same way1 besides his domestic animals1 this spoil-sport colonist man brought in his train accidentally rabbits1 weasels1 mice1 and rats1 which now abound in many parts of the group1 so that the islands have now in effect a wild mammalian fauna4 ,what is more odd1 a small lizard has also got about in the walls--not as you would imagine1 a native-born ,portuguese subject1 but of a kind found only in ,madeira and ,teneriffe1 and1 as far as ,i could make out at the time1 it seemed to me to come over with cuttings of ,madeira vines for planting at ,st4 ,michael's4 ,it was about the same time1 ,i imagine1 that eels and gold-fish first got loose from glass globes into the ponds and water-courses4 ,i have forgotten to mention1 what you will no doubt yourself long since have inferred1 that my archipelago is known among human beings in modern times as the ,azores2 and also that traces of all these curious facts of introduction and modification1 which ,i have detailed here in their historical order1 may still be detected by an acute observer and reasoner in the existing condition of the fauna and flora4 ,indeed1 one of your own countrymen1 ,mr4 ,goodman1 has collected all the most salient of these facts in his ',natural ,history of the ,azores1' and another of your distinguished men of science1 ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace1 has given essentially the same explanations beforehand as those which ,i have here ventured to lay1 from another point of view1 before a critical human audience4 ,but while ,mr4 ,wallace has arrived at them by a process of arguing backward from existing facts to prior causes and probable antecedents1 it occurred to me1 who had enjoyed such exceptional opportunities of watching the whole process unfold itself from the very beginning1 that a strictly historical account of how ,i had seen it come about1 step after step1 might possess for some of you a greater direct interest than ,mr4 ,wallace's inferential solution of the self-same problem4 ,if1 through lapse of memory or inattention to detail at so remote a period1 ,i have set down aught amiss1 ,i sincerely trust you will be kind enough to forgive me4 ,but this little epic of the peopling of a single oceanic archipelago by casual strays1 which ,i alone have had the good fortune to follow through all its episodes1 seemed to me too unique and valuable a chapter in the annals of life to be withheld entirely from the scientific world of your eager1 ephemeral1 nineteenth century humanity4 ,,tropical ,,education4 ,if any one were to ask me 7which is highly unlikely7 ',in what university would an intelligent young man do best to study8' ,i think ,i should be very much inclined indeed to answer offhand1 ',in the ,tropics4' ,no doubt this advice sounds on first hearing just a trifle paradoxical2 and no doubt1 too1 the proposed university has certain serious drawbacks 7like many others7 on the various grounds of health1 expense1 faith1 and morals4 ,senior ,proctors are unknown at ,honolulu2 ,select ,preachers don't range as far as the ,west ,coast4 ,but it has always seemed to me1 nevertheless1 that certain elements of a liberal education are to be acquired tropically which can never be acquired in a temperate1 still less in an arctic or antarctic academy4 ,this is more especially true1 ,i allow1 in the particular cases of the biologist and the sociologist2 but it is also true in a somewhat less degree of the mere common arts course1 and the mere average seeker after liberal culture4 ,vast aspects of nature and human life exist which can never adequately be understood aright except in tropical countries2 vivid side-lights are cast upon our own history and the history of our globe which can never adequately be appreciated except beneath the searching and all too garish rays of a tropical sun4 ,whenever ,i meet a cultivated man who knows his ,tropics--and more particularly one who has known his ,tropics during the formative period of mental development1 say from eighteen to thirty--,i feel instinctively that he possesses certain keys of man and nature1 certain clues to the problems of the world we live in1 not possessed in anything like the same degree by the mere average annual output of ,oxford or of ,heidelberg4 ,i feel that we talk like ,freemasons together--we of the ,higher ,brotherhood who have worshipped the sun1 prsentiorem deum1 in his own nearer temples4 ,let me begin by positing an extreme parallel4 ,how obviously inadequate is the conception of life enjoyed by the ordinary ,laplander or the most intelligent ,fuegian6 ,suppose even he has attended the mission school of his native village1 and become learned there in all the learning of the ,egyptians1 up to the extreme level of the sixth standard1 yet how feeble must be his idea of the planet on which he moves6 ,how much must his horizon be cabined1 cribbed1 confined by the frost and snow1 the gloom and poverty1 of the bare land around him6 ,he lives in a dark cold world of scrubby vegetation and scant animal life3 a world where human existence is necessarily preserved only by ceaseless labour and at severe odds2 a world out of which all the noblest and most beautiful living creatures have been ruthlessly pressed2 a world where nothing great has been or can be2 a world doomed by its mere physical conditions to eternal poverty1 discomfort1 and squalor4 ,for green fields he has snow and reindeer moss3 for singing birds and flowers1 the ptarmigan and the tundra4 ,how can he ever form any fitting conception of the glory of life--of the means by which animal and vegetable organisms first grew and flourished8 ,how can he frame to himself any reasonable picture of civilised society1 or of the origin and development of human faculty and human organisation8 ,somewhat the same1 though of course in a highly mitigated degree1 are the disadvantages under which the pure temperate education labours1 when compared with the education unconsciously drunk in at every pore by an intelligent mind in tropical climates4 ,and fully to understand this pregnant educational importance of the ,tropics we must consider with ourselves how large a part tropical conditions have borne in the development of life in general1 and of human life and society in particular4 ,the ,tropics1 we must carefully remember1 are the norma of nature3 the way things mostly are and always have been4 ,they represent to us the common condition of the whole world during by far the greater part of its entire existence4 ,not only are they still in the strictest sense the biological head-quarters3 they are also the standard or central type by which we must explain all the rest of nature1 both in man and beast1 in plant and animal4 ,the temperate and arctic worlds1 on the other hand1 are a mere passing accident in the history of our planet3 a hole-and-corner development2 a special result of the great ,glacial epoch1 and of that vast slow secular cooling which preceded and led up to it1 from the beginning of the ,miocene or ,mid-,tertiary period4 ,our ,european ideas1 poor1 harsh1 and narrow1 are mainly formed among a chilled and stunted fauna and flora1 under inclement skies1 and in gloomy days1 all of which can give us but a very cramped and faint conception of the joyous exuberance1 the teeming vitality1 the fierce hand-to-hand conflict1 and the victorious exultation of tropical life in its full free development4 ,all through the ,primary and ,secondary epochs of geology1 it is now pretty certain1 hothouse conditions practically prevailed almost without a break over the whole world from pole to pole4 ,it may be true1 indeed1 as ,dr4 ,croli believes 7and his reasoning on the point ,i confess is fairly convincing71 that from time to time glacial periods in one or other hemisphere broke in for a while upon the genial warmth that characterised the greater part of those vast and immeasurable primval ons4 ,but even if that were so--if at long intervals the world for some hours in its cosmical year was chilled and frozen in an insignificant cap at either extremity--these casual episodes in a long story do not interfere with the general truth of the principle that life as a whole during the greater portion of its antique existence has been carried on under essentially tropical conditions4 ,no matter what geological formation we examine1 we find everywhere the same tale unfolded in plain inscriptions before our eyes4 ,take1 for example1 the giant club-mosses and luxuriant tree-ferns nature-printed on shales of the coal age in ,britain3 and we see in the wild undergrowth of those palozoic forests ample evidence of a warm and almost ,west ,indian climate among the low basking islets of our northern carboniferous seas4 ,or take once more the oolitic epoch in ,england1 lithographed on its own mud1 with its puzzle-monkeys and its sago-palms1 its crocodiles and its deinosaurs1 its winged pterodactyls and its whale-like lizards4 ,all these huge creatures and these broad-leaved trees plainly indicate the existence of a temperature over the whole of ,northern ,europe almost as warm as that of the ,malay ,archipelago in our own day4 ,the weather report for all the earlier ages stands almost uninterruptedly at ,set ,fair4 ,roughly speaking1 indeed1 one may say that through the long series of ,primary and ,secondary formations hardly a trace can be found of ice or snow1 autumn or winter1 leafless boughs or pinched and starved deciduous vegetation4 ,everything is powerful1 luxuriant1 vivid4 ,life1 as ,comus feared1 was strangled with its waste fertility4 ,once1 indeed1 in the ,permian ,age1 all over the temperate regions1 north and south1 we get passing indications of what seems very like a glacial epoch1 partially comparable to that great glaciation on whose last fringe we still abide to-day4 ,but the ,ice ,age of the ,permian1 if such there were1 passed away entirely1 leaving the world once more warm and fruitful up to the very poles under conditions which we would now describe as essentially tropical4 ,it was with the ,tertiary period--perhaps1 indeed1 only with the middle subdivision of that period--that the gradual cooling of the polar and intermediate regions began4 ,we know from the deposits of the chalk epoch in ,greenland that late in ,secondary times ferns1 magnolias1 myrtles1 and sago-palms--an ,indian or ,mexican flora--flourished exceedingly in what is now the dreariest and most ice-clad region of the northern hemisphere4 ,later still1 in the ,eocene days1 though the plants of ,greenland had grown slightly more temperate in type1 we still find among the fossils1 not only oaks1 planes1 vines1 and walnuts1 but also wellingtonias like the big trees of ,california1 ,spanish chestnuts1 quaint southern salisburias1 broad-leaved liquidambars1 and ,american sassafras4 ,nay1 even in glacier-clad ,spitzbergen itself1 where the character of the flora already begins to show signs of incipient chilling1 we nevertheless see among the ,eocene types such plants as the swamp-cyprus of the ,carolinas and the wellingtonias of the ,far ,west1 together with a rich forest vegetation of poplars1 birches1 oaks1 planes1 hazels1 walnuts1 water-lilies1 and irises4 ,as a whole1 this vegetation still bespeaks a climate considerably more genial1 mild1 and equable than that of modern ,england4 ,it was in this basking world of the chalk and the ,eocene that the great mammalian fauna first took its rise2 it was in this easy world of fruits and sunshine that the primitive ancestors of man first began to work upwards toward the distinctively human level of the palolithic period4 ,but then1 in the mid-career of that third day of the geological drama1 came a frost--a nipping-frost2 and slowly but surely the whole arctic and antarctic worlds were chilled and cramped1 degree after degree1 by the gradual on-coming of the ,great ,ice ,age4 ,i am not going to deal here with either the causes or the extent of that colossal cataclysm2 ,i shall take all those for granted at present3 what we are concerned with now are the results it left behind--the changes which it wrought on fauna and flora and on human society4 ,especially is it of importance in this connection to point out that the ,glacial epoch is not yet entirely finished--if1 indeed1 it is ever destined to be finished4 ,we are living still on the fringe of the ,ice ,age1 in a cold and cheerless era1 the legacy of the accumulated glaciers of the northern and southern snow-fields4 ,if once that ice were melted off--ah1 well1 there is much virtue in an if4 ,still1 ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace seems to suggest somewhere that the sun is gradually making inroads even now on those great glacier-sheets of the northern cap1 just as we know he is doing on the smaller glacier-sheets of ,switzerland 7most of which are receding71 and that in time perhaps 7say in a hundred thousand years or so7 warm ocean currents may once more penetrate to the very poles themselves4 ,that1 however1 is neither here nor there4 ,the fact remains that we of ,northern ,europe live to-day in a cramped1 chilled1 contracted world2 a world from which all the larger1 fiercer1 and grander types have either been killed off or driven south2 a world which stands to the full and vigorous world of the ,eocene and ,miocene periods in somewhat the same relation as ,lapland stands to-day to ,italy or the ,riviera4 ,this being so1 it naturally results that if we want really to understand the history of life1 its origin and its episodes1 we must turn nowadays to that part of our planet which still most nearly preserves the original conditions--that is to say1 the ,tropics4 ,and it has always seemed to me1 both priori and posteriori1 that the ,tropics on this account do really possess for every one of us a vast and for the most part unrecognised educational importance4 ,i say 'for every one of us1' of deliberate design4 ,i don't mean merely for the biologist1 though to him1 no doubt1 their value in this respect is greatest of all4 ,indeed1 ,i doubt whether the very ideas of the struggle for life1 natural selection1 the survival of the fittest1 would ever have occurred at all to the stay-at-home naturalists of the ,linnan epoch4 ,it was in the depths of ,brazilian forests1 or under the broad shade of ,east ,indian palms1 that those fertile conceptions first flashed independently upon two southern explorers4 ,it is very noteworthy indeed that all the biologists who have done most to revolutionise the science of life in our own day--,darwin1 ,huxley1 ,wallace1 ,bates1 ,fritz ,mller1 and ,belt--have without exception formed their notions of the plant and animal world during tropical travels in early life4 ,no one can read the ',voyage of the ,beagle1' the ',naturalist on the ,amazons1' or the ',malay ,archipelago' without feeling at every page how profoundly the facts of tropical nature had penetrated and modified their authors' minds4 ,on the other hand1 it is well worth while to notice that the formal opposition to the new and more expansive evolutionary views came mainly from the museum and laboratory type of naturalists in ,london and ,paris1 the official exponents of dry bones1 who knew nature only through books and preserved specimens1 or through her impoverished and far less plastic developments in northern lands4 ,the battle of organic evolution has been waged by the ,darwins1 the ,huxleys1 and the ,mllers on the one hand1 against the ,cuviers1 the ,owens1 and the ,virchows on the other4 ,still1 it is not only in biology1 as ,i said just now1 that a taste of the ,tropics in early life exerts a marked widening and philosophic influence upon a man's whole mental horizon4 ,in ten thousand ways1 in that great tropical university1 men feel themselves in closer touch than elsewhere with the ultimate facts and truths of nature4 ,i don't know whether it is all fancy and preconceived opinion1 but ,i often imagine when ,i talk with new-met men that ,i can detect a certain difference in tone and feeling at first sight between those who have and those who have not passed the ,tropical ,tripos4 ,in the ,tropics1 in short1 we seem to get down to the very roots of things4 ,thousands of questions1 social1 political1 economical1 ethical1 present themselves at once in new and more engagingly simple aspects4 ,difficulties vanish1 distinctions disappear1 conventions fade1 clothes are reduced to their least common measure1 man stands forth in his native nakedness4 ,things that in the ,north we had come to regard as inevitable--garments1 firing1 income tax1 morality--evaporate or simplify themselves with instructive ease and phantasmagoric readiness4 ,malthus and the food question assume fresh forms1 as in dissolving views1 before our very eyes4 ,how are slums conceivable or ,east ,ends possible where every man can plant his own yam and cocoa-nut1 and reap their fruit four-hundred-fold8 ,how can ,mrs4 ,grundy thrive where every woman may rear her own ten children on her ten-rood plot without aid or assistance from their indeterminate fathers8 ,what need of carpentry where a few bamboos1 cut down at random1 can be fastened together with thongs into a comfortable chair8 ,what use of pottery where calabashes hang on every tree1 and cocoa-nuts1 with the water fresh and pure within1 supply at once the cup1 and the filter1 and the ,apollinaris within8 ,of course ,i don't mean to assert1 either1 that this tropical university will in itself suffice for all the needs of educated or rather of educable men4 ,it must be taken1 bien entendu1 as a supplementary course to the ,liter ,humaniores4 ,there are things which can only be learnt in the crowded haunts and cities of men--in ,london1 ,paris1 ,new ,york1 ,vienna4 ,there are things which can only be learnt in the centres of culture or of artistic handicraft--in ,oxford1 ,munich1 ,florence1 ,venice1 ,rome4 ,there is only one ,grand ,canal and only one ,pitti ,palace4 ,we must have ,shakespeare1 ,homer1 ,catullus1 ,dante2 we must have ,phidias1 ,fra ,angelico1 ,rafael1 ,mendelssohn2 we must have ,aristotle1 ,newton1 ,laplace1 ,spencer4 ,but after all these1 and before all these1 there is something more left to learn4 ,having first read them1 we must read ourselves out of them4 ,we must forget all this formal modern life2 we must break away from this cramped1 cold1 northern world2 we must find ourselves face to face at last1 in ,pacific isles or ,african forests1 with the underlying truths of simple naked nature4 ,for that1 in its perfection1 we must go to the ,tropics2 and there1 we shall learn and unlearn much1 coming back1 no doubt1 with shattered faiths and broken gods1 and strangely disconcerted ,european prejudices1 but looking out upon life with a new outlook1 an outlook undimmed by ten thousand preconceptions which hem in the vision and obstruct the view of the mere temperately educated4 ,nor is it only on the lite of the world that this tropical training has in its own way a widening influence4 ,it is good1 of course1 for our ,galtons to have seen ,south ,africa2 good for our ,tylors to have studied ,mexico2 good for our ,hookers to have numbered the rhododendrons and deodars of the ,himalayas4 ,i sometimes fancy1 even1 that in the works of our very greatest stay-at-home thinkers on anthropological or sociological subjects1 ,i detect here and there a certain formalist and schematic note which betrays the want of first-hand acquaintance with the plastic and expansive nature of tropical society4 ,the beliefs and relations of the actual savage have not quite that definiteness of form and expression which our ,university ,professors would fain assign to them4 ,but apart from the widening influence of the ,tropics on these picked minds1 there is a widening influence exerted insensibly on the very planters or merchants1 the rank and file of ,european settlers1 which can hardly fail to impress all those who have lived amongst them4 ,the cramping effect of the winter cold and the artificial life is all removed4 ,men live in a freer1 wider1 warmer air2 their doors and windows stand open day and night2 the scent of flowers and the hum of insects blow in upon them with every breeze2 their brother man and sister woman are more patent in every action to their eyes2 the world shows itself more frankly2 it has fewer secrets1 and readier sympathies4 ,i don't mean to say the result is all gain4 ,far from it4 ,there are evils inherent in tropical life which1 as a noble lord remarks of nature generally1 no preacher can heal4 ,but viewed as education1 like ,saint-,simon's thieving1 it is all valuable4 ,i should think most men who have once passed through a tropical experience would no more wish that full chapter blotted out of their lives than they would consent to lose their university culture1 their ,continental travel1 or their literary1 scientific1 or artistic education4 ,and what are the elements of this tropical curriculum which give it such immense educational value8 ,i think they are manifold4 ,a few only may be selected as of typical importance4 ,in the first place1 because first in order of realisation1 there is its value as a mental bouleversement1 a revolution in ideas1 a sort of moral and intellectual cold shower-bath1 a nervous shock to the system generally4 ,the patient or pupil gets so thoroughly upset in all his preconceived ideas2 he finds all round him a life so different from the life to which he has been accustomed in colder regions1 that he wakes up suddenly1 rubs his eyes hard1 and begins to look about him for some general explanation of the world he lives in4 ,it is good for the ordinary man to get thus unceremoniously upset4 ,take the average young intelligence of the ,london streets1 with its glib ideas already formed from supply and demand in a civilised country1 where soil is appropriated1 and classes distinct1 and commodities drop as it were from the clouds upon the middle-class breakfast-table--take such an intelligence1 self-satisfied and empty1 and place its possessor all at once in a new environment1 where everything material1 mental1 and moral seems topsy-turvy1 where life is real and morals are rudimentary--and unless he is a very particular fool indeed1 what a lot you must really give that blithe new-comer to turn over and think about6 ,the sun that shifts now north1 now south of him2 the seasons that go by fours instead of twos2 the trees that blossom and bear fruit from ,january to ,december1 with no apparent regard for the calendar months as by law established2 the black1 brown1 or yellow people1 who know not his creed or his social code2 the castes and cross-divisions that puzzle and surprise him2 the pride and the scruples1 deeper than those of civilised life1 but that nevertheless run counter to his own2 the economic conditions that defy his preconceptions2 the virtues and the vices that equally rub him up the wrong way--all these things are highly conducive to the production of that first substratum of philosophic thinking1 a ,socratic attitude of supreme ignorance1 a pure ,cartesian frame of universal doubt4 ,then again there is the marvellous exuberance and novelty of the fauna and flora4 ,and this once more has something better for us all than mere specialist interest4 ,sugar and ginger grow for all alike4 ,for we must remember that not only do the ,tropics represent the vastly greater portion of the world's past3 they also represent the vastly greater portion of the world's present4 ,by far the larger part of the land surface of the earth is tropical or subtropical2 the temperate and arctic regions make up but a minor and unimportant fraction of the soil of our planet4 ,and if we include the sea as well1 this truth becomes even more strikingly evident3 the ,tropics are even now the rule of life2 the colder regions are but an abnormal and outlying eccentricity of nature4 ,yet it is from this starved and dwarfed and impoverished northern area that most of us have formed our views of life1 to the total exclusion of the wider1 richer1 more varied world that calls for our admiration in tropical latitudes4 ,insensibly this richness and vividness of nature all around one1 on a first visit to the ,tropics1 sinks into one's mind1 and produces profound1 though at first unconscious1 modifications in one's whole mode of regarding man and his universe4 ,especially is this the case in early life1 when the character is still plastic and the eye still keen3 pictures are formed in that brilliant sunshine and under those dim arches of hot grey sky that photograph themselves for ever on the lasting tablets of the human memory4 ,john ,stuart ,mill in his ,autobiography dwells lovingly1 ,i remember1 on the profound effect produced on himself by his childish visits to ,jeremy ,bentham at ,ford ,abbey in ,dorsetshire1 on the delightful sense of space and freedom and generous expansion given to his mind by the mere act of living and moving in those stately halls and wide airy gardens4 ,every university man must look back with pleasure of somewhat the same sort to the free breezy memories of the quadrangles and common rooms of ,christ ,church or of ,trinity4 ,but in the tropical university everybody passes his time in arcades of ,greek or ,pompeian airiness3 the palm-trees wave and whisper around his head as he sits for coolness on his wide verandah2 the humming-birds dart from flower to flower on the delicate bouquets that crowd his drawing-room4 ,i knew a lady who made a capital collection of butterflies and moths at her own dinner-table by simply impounding in paper boxes the insects that flitted about the lamp at dessert4 ,why1 if it comes to that1 the very bread itself comprises generally a whole entomological cabinet1 and contains in fragments the disjecta membra of specimens enough to stock entire glass cases at severe ,south ,kensington4 ,how's that for an inducement to study life where it is richest and most abundant in its native starting-place8 ,but above all in educational importance ,i rank the advantage of seeing human nature in its primitive surroundings1 far from the squalid and chilly influences of the tail-end of the ,glacial epoch4 ,i admit at once that cold has done much1 exceeding much1 for human development--has been the mother of civilisation in somewhat the same sense that necessity has been the mother of invention4 ,to it1 no doubt1 we owe to a great extent1 in varying stages1 clothing1 the house1 fire1 the steam-engine4 ,yet none the less is it true that the first levels of society must needs have been passed under essentially tropical conditions1 and that nascent civilisation spread but slowly northward1 from ,egypt and ,asia1 through ,greece and ,italy1 to the cloudy regions where its chief centres are at present domiciled under canopies of coal smoke4 ,and even to-day the sight of the tropics1 green and luxuriant1 brings us into touch at once with earlier ideas and habits of the race--makes us more able not only to understand1 but also to sympathise with1 our ancient ancestors of the naked-and-not-ashamed era of culture4 ,views formed exclusively in the ,north tend too much to imitate the reduced gentlewoman's outlook upon life2 views formed in the ,tropics correct this refractive influence by a certain genial and tolerant virile expansion1 not to be learned at the ,common1 ,clapham4 ,to one whose economic pendulum has hitherto oscillated between selfish luxury in ,mayfair and squalid poverty in ,seven ,dials1 there is indeed a world of novelty in the first view of the tropical poverty that is not squalid but contentedly luxurious--of the dusky father with his wife or wives 7the mere number is a detail7 sprawling at full length1 half clad1 in the eye of the sun1 before the palm-thatched hut1 while the fat black babies and the fat black little pigs wallow together almost indistinguishably in the dust at his side1 just out of reach of the muscular foot that might otherwise of pure wantonness molest them4 ,what a flood of light it all casts upon the future possibilities of society1 that leisured1 cultureless household1 on whose garden-plot yam or bread-fruit or bananas or sweet potatoes can be grown in sufficient quantity to support the family without more labour than in ,england would pay for its kitchen coals2 where the hut is but a shelter from rain1 or a bed-curtain for night1 and where the untaxed sun supplies the place of a drawing-room fire all the year round1 and warms the water for the baby's bath at nothing the gallon6 ,if there is any man who doesn't sympathise with his dusky brother when he sees him thus at home in his airy palace--any man who doesn't fraternise closely with his kind when thus brought face to face with our primitive existence1 ,i don't envy him his stern and wild ,caledonian ethics4 ,the beach-comber instinct should be strong in all sane minds4 ,or if that blunt way of putting it perchance offend the weaker brethren1 let us say rather1 the spirit of the ,lotus-eaters4 ,for the man who doesn't want to eat of the ,lotus just once in his life has become too civilised3 the iron of the ,gradgrind era of universal competition and payment by results has entered to deeply into his sordid soul4 ,he wants a course of ,egypt and ,tahiti4 ,oh1 yes2 ,i know what you are going to object1 and ,i grant it at once3 the influence of the ,tropics is by no means an ascetic one4 ,they1 tend rather to encourage a certain genial and friendly tolerance of all possible human forms of society--even the lowest4 ,they are essentially democratic1 not to say socialistic and revolutionary in tone4 ,by bringing us all down to the underlying verities of life1 apart from its conventions1 they beget perhaps a somewhat hasty impatience of ,court dress and the ,lord ,chamberlain's regulations4 ,but1 per contra1 they teach us to feel that every man1 whether black1 brown1 or white1 is very human1 and every woman and child1 if possible1 even a trifle more so4 ,wicked as it all is1 there is yet in tropical political economy more of the ,gospel according to ,st4 ,john1 and less of ,adam ,smith1 ,ricardo1 and ,malthus1 than in any orthodox political economy prescribed by examiners for the ,university of ,london4 ,it is something to see a world where ceaseless toil is not the necessary and inevitable lot of all who don't pay income tax on a thousand a year1 even if ,board schools are unknown and quadratic equations a vanishing quantity4 ,it is something to see a stick of sugar-cane protruding from the mouth of every child1 and oranges retailed at twelve for a ha'penny4 ,it is something to know how the vast majority of the human race still live and move and have their being1 and to feel that after all their mode of life1 though lacking in ,greek iambics1 wallpapers1 and the ,saturday ,review1 yet appeals in its own beach-comberish way to some of one's inmost and deepest yearnings4 ,the hibiscus that flames before the wattled hut1 the parrot that chatters from the green and golden mango-tree1 the lithe1 healthy figures of the children in the stream1 are some compensation for the lack of ,london mud1 ,london fog1 and ,london illustrations of practical ,christianity in the ,isle of ,dogs and the ,bermondsey purlieus4 ,i don't know whether ,i am knocking the last nail into the completed coffin of my own contention1 but ,i believe every right-minded man returns from the ,tropics a good deal more of a ,communist than when he went there4 ,one word of explanation to prevent mistake4 ,i am not myself1 like ,kingsley or ,wallace1 an enthusiastic tropicist4 ,on the contrary1 viewed as a place of permanent residence1 ,i don't at all like the ,tropics to live in4 ,i am pleading here only for their educational value1 in small doses4 ,spending two or three years there in the heyday of life is very much like reading ,herodotus--a thing one is glad one had once to do1 but one would never willingly do again for any money4 ,we northern creatures are remote products of the ,great ,ice ,age1 and by this time1 like ,polar bears1 we have grown adapted to our glacial environment4 ,all the more1 therefore1 is it a useful shaking-up for us to get transported bodily from our cramped and poverty-stricken northern slums1 just once in our life1 to the palms and temples of the ,south1 the lands where the human body is a hardy plant1 not a frail exotic4 ,we come back to our chilly home among the fogs and bogs with wider projects for the thawing down of the social ice-heap1 and the introduction of the bread-fruit-tree and the currant-bun-bush into the remotest wilds of the borough of ,hackney4 ,i am not even quite sure that tropical experience doesn't predispose us somewhat in favour of planting the sweet potato instead of grazing battering-rams in the uplands of ,connemara4 ,but hush2 ,i hear an editorial frown4 ,no more of this heresy4 ,,on ,,the ,,wings ,,of ,,the ,,wind4 ,of course1 you know my friend the squirting cucumber4 ,if you don't1 that can be only because you've never looked in the right place to find him4 ,on all waste ground outside most southern cities--,nice1 ,cannes1 ,florence3 ,rome1 ,algiers1 ,granada3 ,athens1 ,palermo1 ,tunis1 where you will--the soil is thickly covered by dark trailing vines which bear on their branches a queer hairy green fruit1 much like a common cucumber at that early stage of its existence when we know it best in the commercial form of pickled gherkins4 ,as long as you don't interfere with them1 these hairy green fruits do nothing out of the common in the way of personal aggressiveness4 ,like the model young lady of the books on etiquette1 they don't speak unless they're spoken to4 ,but if peradventure you chance to brush up against the plant accidentally1 or you irritate it of set purpose with your foot or your cane1 then1 as ,mr4 ,rider ,haggard would say1 'a strange thing happens'3 off jumps the little green fruit with a startling bounce1 and scatters its juice and pulp and seeds explosively through a hole in the end where the stem joined on to it4 ,the entire central part of the cucumber1 in short 7answering to the seeds and pulp of a ripe melon71 squirts out elastically through the breach in the outer wall1 leaving the hollow shell behind as a mere empty windbag4 ,naturally1 the squirting cucumber knows its own business best1 and is not without sufficient reasons of its own for this strange and1 to some extent1 unmannerly behaviour4 ,by its queer trick of squirting1 it manages to kill at least two birds with one stone4 ,for1 in the first place1 the sudden elastic jump of the fruit frightens away browsing animals1 such as goats and cattle4 ,those meditative ruminants are little accustomed to finding shrubs or plants take the aggressive against them2 and when they see a fruit that quite literally flies in their faces of its own accord1 they hesitate to attack the uncanny vine which bristles with such magical and almost miraculous defences4 ,moreover1 the juice of the squirting cucumber is bitter and nauseous1 and if it gets into the eyes or nostrils of man or beast1 it impresses itself on the memory by stinging like red pepper4 ,so the trick of squirting serves in a double way as a protection to the plant against the attacks of herbivorous animals and other enemies4 ,but that's not all4 ,even when no enemy is near1 the ripe fruits at last drop off of themselves1 and scatter their seeds elastically in every direction4 ,this they do simply in order to disseminate their kind in new and unoccupied spots1 where the seedlings will root and find an opening in life for themselves4 ,observe1 indeed1 that the very word 'disseminate' implies a general vague recognition of this principle of plant-life on the part of humanity4 ,it means1 etymologically1 to scatter seed2 and it points to the fact that everywhere in nature seeds are scattered broadcast1 infinite pains being taken by the mother-plant for their general diffusion over wide areas of woodland1 plain1 or prairie4 ,let us take as examples a single little set of instances1 familiar to everybody1 but far commoner in the world at large than the inhabitants of towns are at all aware of3 ,i mean1 the winged seeds1 that fly about freely in the air by means of feathery hairs or gossamer1 like thistle-down and dandelion4 ,of these winged types we have many hundred varieties in ,england alone4 ,all the willow-herbs1 for example1 have such feathery seeds 7or rather fruits7 to help them on their way through life2 and one kind1 the beautiful pink rose-bay1 flies about so readily1 and over such wide spaces of open country1 that the plant is known to farmers in ,america as fireweed1 because it always springs up at once over whole square miles of charred and smoking soil after every devastating forest fire4 ,it travels fast1 for it travels like ,ariel4 ,in much the same way1 the coltsfoot grows on all new ,english railway banks1 because its winged seeds are wafted everywhere in myriads on the winds of ,march4 ,all the willows and poplars have also winged seeds3 so have the whole vast tribe of hawkweeds1 groundsels1 ragworts1 thistles1 fleabanes1 cat's-ears1 dandelions1 and lettuces4 ,indeed1 one may say roughly1 there are very few plants of any size or importance in the economy of nature which don't deliberately provide1 in one way or another1 for the dispersal and dissemination of their fruits or seedlings4 ,why is this8 ,why isn't the plant content just to let its grains or berries drop quietly on to the soil beneath1 and there shift for themselves as best they may on their own resources8 ,the answer is a more profound one than you would at first imagine4 ,plants discovered the grand principle of the rotation of crops long before man did4 ,the farmer now knows that if he sows wheat or turnips too many years running on the same plot1 he 'exhausts the soil1' as we say--deprives it of certain special mineral or animal constituents needful for that particular crop1 and makes the growth of the plant1 therefore1 feeble or even impossible4 ,to avoid this misfortune1 he lets the land lie fallow1 or varies his crops from year to year according to a regular and deliberate cycle4 ,well1 natural selection forced the same discovery upon the plants themselves long before the farmer had dreamed of its existence4 ,for plants1 being1 in the strictest sense1 'rooted to the spot1' absolutely require that all their needs should be supplied quite locally4 ,hence1 from the very beginning1 those plants which scattered their seeds widest throve the best2 while those which merely dropped them on the ground under their own shadow1 and on soil exhausted by their own previous demands upon it1 fared ill in the struggle for life against their more discursive competitors4 ,the result has been that in the long run few species have survived1 except those which in one way or another arranged beforehand for the dispersal of their seeds and fruits over fresh and unoccupied areas of plain or hillside4 ,i don't1 of course1 by any means intend to assert that seeds always do it by the simple device of wings or feathery projections4 ,every variety of plan or dodge or expedient has been adopted in turn to secure the self-same end2 and provided only it succeeds in securing it1 any variety of them all is equally satisfactory4 ,one might parallel it with the case of hatching birds' eggs4 ,most birds sit upon their eggs themselves1 and supply the necessary warmth from their own bodies4 ,but any alternative plan that attains the same end does just as well4 ,the felonious cuckoo drops her foundlings unawares in another bird's nest3 the ostrich trusts her unhatched offspring to the heat of the burning desert sand3 and the ,australian brush-turkeys1 with vicarious maternal instinct1 collect great mounds of decaying and fermenting leaves and rubbish1 in which they deposit their eggs to be artificially incubated1 as it were1 by the slow heat generated in the process of putrefaction4 ,just in the same way1 we shall see in the case of seeds that any method of dispersion will serve the plant's purpose equally well1 provided only it succeeds in carrying a few of the young seedlings to a proper place in which they may start fair at last in the struggle for existence4 ,as in the case of the fertilization of flowers1 so in that of the dispersal of seeds1 there are two main ways in which the work is effected--by animals and by wind-power4 ,i will not insult the intelligence of the reader at the present time of day by telling him that pollen is usually transferred from blossom to blossom in one or other of these two chief ways--it is carried on the heads or bodies of bees and other honey-seeking insects1 or else it is wafted on the wings of the wind to the sensitive surface of a sister-flower4 ,so1 too1 seeds are for the most part either dispersed by animals or blown about by the breezes of heaven to new situations4 ,these are the two most obvious means of locomotion provided by nature2 and it is curious to see that they have both been utilized almost equally by plants1 alike for their pollen and their seeds1 just as they have been utilized by man for his own purposes on sea or land1 in ship1 or windmill1 or pack-horse1 or carriage4 ,there are two ways in which animals may be employed to disperse seeds--voluntarily and involuntarily4 ,they may be compelled to carry them against their wills3 or they may be bribed and cajoled and flattered into doing the plant's work for it in return for some substantial advantage or benefit the plant confers upon them4 ,the first plan is the one adopted by burrs and cleavers4 ,these adhesive fruits are like the man who buttonholes you and won't be shaken off3 they are provided with little curved hooks or bent and barbed hairs which catch upon the wool of sheep1 the coat of cattle1 or the nether integuments of wayfaring humanity1 and can't be got rid of without some little difficulty4 ,most of them1 you will find on examination1 belonged to confirmed hedgerow or woodside plants3 they grow among bushes or low scrub1 and thickets of gorse or bramble4 ,now1 to such plants as these1 it is obviously useful to have adhesive fruits and seeds3 for when sheep or other animals get them caught in their coats1 they carry them away to other bushy spots1 and there1 to get rid of the annoyance caused by the foreign body1 scratch them off at once against some holly-bush or blackthorn4 ,you may often find seeds of this type sticking on thorns as the nucleus of a little matted mass of wool1 so left by the sheep in the very spots best adapted for the free growth of their vigorous seedlings4 ,even among plants which trust to the involuntary services of animals in dispersing their seeds1 a great many varieties of detail may be observed on close inspection4 ,for example1 in hound's-tongue and goose-grass1 two of the best-known instances among our common ,english weeds1 each little nut is covered with many small hooks1 which make it catch on firmly by several points of attachment to passing animals4 ,these are the kinds we human beings of either sex oftenest find clinging to our skirts or trousers after a walk in a rabbit-warren4 ,but in herb-bennet and avens each nut has a single long awn1 crooked near the middle with a very peculiar ,s-shaped joint1 which effectually catches on to the wool or hair1 but drops at the elbow after a short period of withering4 ,sometimes1 too1 the whole fruit is provided with prehensile hooks1 while sometimes it is rather the individual seeds themselves that are so accommodated4 ,oddest of all is the plan followed by the common burdock4 ,here1 an involucre or common cup-shaped receptacle of hooked bracts surrounds an entire head of purple tubular flowers1 and each of these flowers produces in time a distinct fruit2 but the hooked involucre contains the whole compound mass1 and1 being pulled off bodily by a stray sheep or dog1 effects the transference of the composite lot at once to some fitting place for their germination4 ,those plants1 on the other hand1 which depend rather1 like ,london hospitals1 upon the voluntary system1 produce that very familiar form of edible capsule which we commonly call in the restricted sense a fruit or berry4 ,in such cases1 the seed-vessel is usually swollen and pulpy3 it is stored with sweet juices to attract the birds or other animal allies1 and it is brightly coloured so as to advertise to their eyes the presence of the alluring sugary foodstuff4 ,these instances1 however1 are now so familiar to everybody that ,i won't dwell upon them at any length4 ,even the degenerate schoolboy of the present day1 much as he has declined from the high standard set forth by ,macaulay1 knows all about the way the actual seed itself is covered 7as in the plum or the cherry7 by a hard stony coat which 'resists the action of the gastric juice' 7so physiologists put it1 with their usual frankness71 and thus passes undigested through the body of its swallower4 ,all ,i will do here1 therefore1 is to note very briefly that some edible fruits1 like the two just mentioned1 as well as the apricot1 the peach1 the nectarine1 and the mango1 consist of a single seed with its outer covering2 in others1 as in the raspberry1 the blackberry1 the cloudberry1 and the dew-berry1 many seeds are massed together1 each with a separate edible pulp2 in yet others1 as in the gooseberry1 the currant1 the grape1 and the whortleberry1 several seeds are embedded within the fruit in a common pulpy mass2 and in others again1 as in the apple1 pear1 quince1 and medlar1 they are surrounded by a quantity of spongy edible flesh4 ,indeed1 the variety that prevails among fruits in this respect almost defies classification3 for sometimes1 as in the mulberry1 the separate little fruits of several distinct flowers grow together at last into a common berry3 sometimes1 as in a fig1 the general flower-stalk of several tiny one-seeded blossoms forms the edible part3 and sometimes1 as in the strawberry1 the true little nuts or fruits appear as mere specks or dots on the bloated surface of the swollen and overgrown stem1 which forms the luscious morsel dear to the human palate4 ,yet in every case it is interesting to observe that1 while the seeds which depend for dispersion upon the breeze are easily detached from the parent plant and blown about by every wind of doctrine1 the seeds or fruits which depend for their dispersion upon birds or animals always1 on the contrary1 hang on to their native boughs to the very last1 till some unconscious friend pecks them off and devours them4 ,haws1 rose-hips1 and holly-berries will wither and wilt on the tree in mild winters1 because they can't drop off of themselves without the aid of birds1 while the birds are too well supplied with other food to care for them4 ,one of the strangest cases of all1 however1 is that of the mistletoe1 which1 living parasitically upon the forest-boughs and apple-trees1 would of course be utterly lost if its berries dropped their seeds on to the ground beneath it4 ,to avoid such a misfortune1 the mistletoe berries are filled with an exceedingly viscid and sticky pulp1 surrounding the hard little nut-like seeds3 and this pulp makes the seeds cling to the bills and feet of various birds which feed upon the fruit1 but most particularly of the missel thrush1 who derives his common ,english name from his devotion to the mistletoe4 ,the birds then carry them away unwittingly to some neighbouring tree1 and rub them off1 when they get uncomfortable1 against a forked branch--the exact spots that best suits the young mistletoe for sprouting in4 ,man1 in turn1 makes use of the sticky pulp for the manufacture of bird-lime1 and so employs against the birds the very qualities which the plant intended as a bribe for their kindly services4 ,among seeds that trust for their disposal to the wind1 the commonest1 simplest1 and least evolved type is that of the ordinary capsule1 as in the poppies and campions4 ,at first sight1 to be sure1 a casual observer might suppose there existed in these cases no recognisable device at all for the dissemination of the seedlings4 ,but you and ,i1 most excellent and discreet reader1 are emphatically not1 of course1 mere casual observers4 ,we look close1 and go to the very root of things4 ,and when we do so1 we see for ourselves at once that almost all capsules open--where8 why1 at the top1 so that the seeds can only be shaken out when there is a high enough wind blowing to sway the stems to and fro with some violence1 and scatter the small black grains inside to a considerable distance4 ,furthermore1 in many instances1 of which the common poppy-head is an excellent example1 the capsule opens by lateral pores at the top of a flat head--a further precaution which allows the seeds to get out only by a few at a time1 after a distinct jerk1 and so scatters them pretty evenly1 with different winds1 over a wide circular space around the mother plant4 ,experiment will show how this simple dodge works4 ,try to shake out the poppy-seed from a ripe poppy-head on the plant as it grows1 without breaking the stem or bending it unnaturally1 and you will easily see how much force of wind is required in order to put this unobtrusive but very effective mechanism into working order4 ,the devices of this character employed by various plants for the dispersal of seeds even in ordinary dry capsules are far too numerous for me to describe in full detail1 though they form a delightful subject for individual study in any small suburban garden4 ,i will only give one more illustrative case1 just to show the sort of point an amateur should always be on the look-out for4 ,there is an extremely common1 though inconspicuous1 ,english weed1 the mouse-ear chickweed1 found everywhere in flower-beds or grass-plots1 however small1 and noticeable for its quaint little horn-shaped capsules4 ,these have a very odd sort of twist or cock-up in the middle1 just above the part where the seeds lie2 and they open at the top by ten small teeth1 pointed obliquely outward for no apparent reason4 ,yet every point has a meaning of its own for all that4 ,the plant is one that lies rather close upon the ground2 and the effect of this twist in the capsule is that the seeds1 which are relatively heavy1 and well stored with nutriment1 can never get out at all1 unless a very strong wind is blowing1 which sweeps over the herbage in long quick waves1 and carries everything it shakes out for great distances before it4 ,so much design have even the smallest weeds put into the mechanism for the dispersion of their precious seeds1 the hope of their race and the earnest of their future6 ,artillery marks a higher stage than the sling and the stone4 ,just so1 in many plants1 a step higher in the evolutionary scale as regards the method of dispersion1 the capsule itself bursts open explosively1 and scatters its contents to the four winds of heaven4 ,such plants may be said to discharge their grains on the principle of the bow and arrow4 ,the balsam is a familiar example of this startling mode of moving to fresh fields and pastures new3 its capsule consists of five long straight valves1 which break asunder elastically the moment they are touched1 when fully ripe1 and shed their seeds on all sides1 like so many small bombshells4 ,our friend the squirting cucumber1 which served as the prime text for this present discourse1 falls into somewhat the same category1 though in other ways it rather resembles the true succulent fruits1 and belongs1 indeed1 to the same family as the melon1 the gourd1 the pumpkin1 and the vegetable-marrow1 almost all of which are edible and in every way fruit-like4 ,among ,english weeds1 the little bittercress that grows on dry walls and hedge-banks forms an excellent example of the same device4 ,village children love to touch the long1 ripe1 brown capsules on the top with one timid finger1 and then jump away1 half laughing1 half terrified1 when the mild-looking little plant goes off suddenly with a small bang and shoots its grains like a catapult point-blank in their faces4 ,it is in the tropics1 however1 that these elastic fruits reach their highest development4 ,there they have to fight1 not merely against such small fry as robins1 squirrels1 and harvest-mice1 but against the aggressive parrot1 the hard-billed toucan1 the persistent lemur1 and the inquisitive monkey4 ,moreover1 the elastic fruits of the tropics grow often on spreading forest trees1 and must therefore shed their seeds to immense distances if they are to reach comparatively virgin soil1 unexhausted by the deep-set roots of the mother trunk4 ,under such exceptional circumstances1 the tropical examples of these elastic capsules are by no means mere toys to be lightly played with by babes and sucklings4 ,the sand-box tree of the ,west ,indies has large round fruits1 containing seeds about as big as an ,english horsebean2 and the capsule explodes1 when ripe1 with a detonation like a pistol1 scattering its contents with as much violence as a shot from an air-gun4 ,it is dangerous to go too near these natural batteries during the shooting season4 ,a blow in the eye from one would blind a man instantly4 ,i well remember the very first night ,i spent in my own house in ,jamaica1 where ,i went to live shortly after the repression of ',governor ,eyre's rebellion1' as everybody calls it locally4 ,all night long ,i heard somebody1 as ,i thought1 practising with a revolver in my own back garden3 a sound which somewhat alarmed me under those very unstable social conditions4 ,an earthquake about midnight1 it is true1 diverted my attention temporarily from the recurring shots1 but didn't produce the slightest effect upon the supposed rebel's devotion to the improvement of his marksmanship4 ,when morning dawned1 however1 ,i found it was only a sand-box tree1 and that the shots were nothing more than the explosions of the capsules4 ,as to the wonderful tales told about the ,brazilian cannon-ball tree1 ,i cannot personally endorse them from original observation1 and will not stain this veracious page with any second-hand quotations from the strange stories of modern scientific ,munchausens4 ,still higher in the evolutionary scale than the elastic fruits are those airy species which have taken to themselves wings like the eagle1 and soar forth upon the free breeze in search of what the ,americans describe as 'fresh locations4' ,of this class the simplest type may be seen in those forest-trees1 like the maple and the sycamore1 whose fruits are flattened out into long expansions or parachutes1 technically known as 'keys1' by whose aid they flutter down obliquely to the ground at a considerable distance4 ,the keys of the sycamore1 to take a single instance1 when detached from the tree in autumn1 fall spirally through the air owing to the twist of the winged arm1 and are carried so far that1 as every gardener knows1 young sycamore trees rank among the commonest weeds among our plots and flower-beds4 ,a curious variant upon this type is presented by the lime1 or linden1 whose fruits are in themselves small wingless nuts2 but they are born in clusters upon a common stalk1 which is winged on either side by a large membranous bract4 ,when the nuts are ripe1 the whole cluster detaches itself in a body from the branch1 and flutters away before the breeze by means of the common parachute1 to some spot a hundred yards or more1 where the wind chances to land it4 ,the topmost place of all in the hierarchy of seed life1 it seems to me1 is taken by the feathery fruits and seeds which float freely hither and thither wherever the wind may bear them4 ,an immense number of the very highest plants--the aristocrats of the vegetable kingdom1 such as the lordly composites1 those ultimate products of plant evolution--possess such floating feathery seeds2 though here1 again1 the varieties of detail are too infinite for rapid or popular classification4 ,indeed1 among the composites alone--the thistle and dandelion tribe with downy fruits--,i can reckon up more than a hundred and fifty distinct variations of plan among the winged seeds known to me in various parts of ,europe4 ,but if ,i am strong1 ,i am merciful3 ,i will let the public off with a hundred and forty-eight of them4 ,my two exceptions shall be ,john-go-to-bed-at-noon and the hairy hawkweed1 both of them common ,english meadow-plants4 ,the first1 and more quaintly named1 of the two has little ribbed fruits that end in a long and narrow beak1 supporting a radial rib-work of spokes like the frame of an umbrella2 and from rib to rib of this framework stretch feathery cross-pieces1 continuous all round1 so as to make of the whole mechanism a perfect circular parachute1 resembling somewhat the web of a geometrical spider4 ,but the hairy hawkweed is still more cunning in its generation2 for that clever and cautious weed produces its seeds or fruits in clustered heads1 of which the central ones are winged1 while the outer are heavy1 squat1 and wingless4 ,thus does the plant make the best of all chances that may happen to open before it3 if one lot goes far and fares but ill1 the other is pretty sure to score a bull's-eye4 ,these are only a few selected examples of the infinite dodges employed by enlightened herbs and shrubs to propagate their scions in foreign parts4 ,many more1 equally interesting1 must be left undescribed4 ,only for a single case more can ,i still find room--that of the subterranean clover1 which has been driven by its numerous enemies to take refuge at last in a very remarkable and almost unique mode1 of protecting its offspring4 ,this particular kind of clover affects smooth and close-cropped hillsides1 where the sheep nibble down the grass and other herbage almost as fast as it springs up again4 ,now1 clover seeds resemble their allies of the pea and bean tribe in being exceedingly rich in starch and other valuable foodstuffs4 ,hence1 they are much sought after by the inquiring sheep1 which eat them off wherever found1 as exceptionally nutritious and dainty morsels4 ,under these circumstances1 the subterranean clover has learnt to produce small heads of bloom1 pressed close to the ground1 in which only the outer flowers are perfect and fertile1 while the inner ones are transformed into tiny wriggling corkscrews4 ,as soon as the fertile flowers have begun to set their seed1 by the kind aid of the bees1 the whole stem bends downward1 automatically1 of its own accord2 the little corkscrews then worm their way into the turf beneath2 and the pods ripen and mature in the actual soil itself1 where no prying ewe can poke an inquisitive nose to grub them up and devour them4 ,cases like this point in certain ways to the absolute high-water-mark of vegetable ingenuity3 they go nearest of all in the plant-world to the similitude of conscious animal intelligence4 ,a ,,desert ,,fruit4 ,who knows the ,mediterranean1 knows the prickly pear4 ,not that that quaint and uncanny-looking cactus1 with its yellow blossoms and bristling fruits that seem to grow paradoxically out of the edge of thick fleshy leaves1 is really a native of ,italy1 ,spain1 and ,north ,africa1 where it now abounds on every sun-smitten hillside4 ,like ,mr4 ,henry ,james and ,mr4 ,marion ,crawford1 the ,barbary fig1 as the ,french call it1 is1 in point of fact1 an ,american citizen1 domiciled and half naturalised on this side of the ,atlantic1 but redolent still at heart of its ,columbian origin4 ,nothing is more common1 indeed1 than to see classical pictures of the ,alma-,tadema school--not1 of course1 from the brush of the master himself1 who is impeccable in such details1 but fair works of decent imitators--in which ,caia or ,marcia leans gracefully in her white stole on one pensive elbow against a marble lintel1 beside a courtyard decorated with a ,pompeian basin1 and overgrown with prickly pear or ,american aloes4 ,i need hardly say that1 as a matter of plain historical fact1 neither cactuses nor agaves were known in ,europe till long after ,christopher ,columbus had steered his wandering bark to the sandy shores of ,cat's ,island in the ,bahamas4 7,i have seen ,cat's ,island with these very eyes1 and can honestly assure you that its shores are sandy47 ,but this is only one among the many pardonable little inaccuracies of painters1 who thrust scarlet geraniums from the ,cape of ,good ,hope into the fingers of ,aspasia1 or supply ,king ,solomon in all his glory with ,japanese lilies of the most recent introduction4 ,at the present day1 it is true1 both the prickly-pear cactus and the ,american agave 7which the world at large insists upon confounding with the aloe1 a member of a totally distinct family7 have spread themselves in an apparently wild condition over all the rocky coasts both of ,southern ,europe and of ,northern ,africa4 ,the alien desert weeds have fixed their roots firmly in the sunbaked clefts of ,ligurian ,apennines2 the tall candelabrum of the western agave has reared its great spike of branching blossoms 7which flower1 not once in a century1 as legend avers1 but once in some fifteen years or so7 on all the basking hillsides of the ,mauritanian ,atlas4 ,but for the origin1 and therefore for the evolutionary history1 of either plant1 we must look away from the shore of the inland sea to the arid expanse of the ,mexican desert4 ,it was there1 among the sweltering rocks of the ,tierras ,calientes1 that these ungainly cactuses first learned to clothe themselves in prickly mail1 to store in their loose tissues an abundant supply of sticky moisture1 and to set at defiance the persistent attacks of all external enemies4 ,the prickly pear1 in fact1 is a typical instance of a desert plant1 as the camel is a typical instance of a desert animal4 ,each lays itself out to endure the long droughts of its almost rainless habitat by drinking as much as it can when opportunity offers1 hoarding up the superfluous water for future use1 and economising evaporation by every means in its power4 ,if you ask that convenient fiction1 the ,man in the ,street1 what sort of plant a cactus is1 he will probably tell you it is all leaf and no stem1 and each of the leaves grows out of the last one4 ,whenever we set up the ,man in the ,street1 however1 you must have noticed we do it in order to knock him down again like a nine-pin next moment3 and this particular instance is no exception to the rule2 for the truth is that a cactus is practically all stem and no leaves1 what looks like a leaf being really a branch sticking out at an angle4 ,the true leaves1 if there are any1 are reduced to mere spines or prickles on the surface1 while the branches1 in the prickly-pear and many of the ornamental hot-house cactuses1 are flattened out like a leaf to perform foliar functions4 ,in most plants1 to put it simply1 the leaves are the mouths and stomachs of the organism2 their thin and flattened blades are spread out horizontally in a wide expanse1 covered with tiny throats and lips which suck in carbonic acid from the surrounding air1 and disintegrate it in their own cells under the influence of sunlight4 ,in the prickly pears1 on the contrary1 it is the flattened stem and branches which undertake this essential operation in the life of the plant--the sucking-in of carbon and giving-out of oxygen1 which is to the vegetable exactly what the eating and digesting of food is to the animal organism4 ,in their old age1 however1 the stems of the prickly pear display their true character by becoming woody in texture and losing their articulated leaf-like appearance4 ,everything on this earth can best be understood by investigating the history of its origin and development1 and in order to understand this curious reversal of the ordinary rule in the cactus tribe we must look at the circumstances under which the race was evolved in the howling waste of ,american deserts4 7,all deserts have a prescriptive right to howl1 and ,i wouldn't for worlds deprive them of the privilege47 ,some familiar analogies will help us to see the utility of this arrangement4 ,everybody knows our common ,english stone-crops--or if he doesn't he ought to1 for they are pretty and ubiquitous4 ,now stone-crops grow for the most part in chinks of the rock or thirsty sandy soil2 they are essentially plants of very dry positions4 ,hence they have thick and succulent little stems and leaves1 which merge into one another by imperceptible gradations4 ,all parts of the plant alike are stumpy1 green1 and cylindrical4 ,if you squash them with your finger and thumb you find that though the outer skin or epidermis is thick and firm1 the inside is sticky1 moist1 and jelly-like4 ,the reason for all this is plain2 the stone-crops drink greedily by their roots whenever they get a chance1 and store up the water so obtained to keep them from withering under the hot and pitiless sun that beats down upon them for hours in the baked clefts of their granite matrix4 ,it's the camel trick over again4 ,so leaves and stem grow thick and round and juicy within2 but outside they are enclosed in a stout layer of epidermis1 which consists of empty glassy cells1 and which can be peeled off or flayed with a knife like the skin of an animal4 ,this outer layer prevents evaporation1 and is a marked feature of all succulent plants which grow exposed to the sun on arid rocks or in sandy deserts4 ,the tendency to produce rounded stems and leaves1 little distinguishable from one another1 is equally noticeable in many seaside plants which frequent the strip of thirsty sand beyond the reach of the tides4 ,that belt of dry beach that stretches between high-water mark and the zone of vegetable mould1 is to all intents and purpose a miniature desert4 ,true1 it is watered by rain from time to time2 but the drops sink in so fast that in half an hour1 as we know1 the entire strip is as dry as ,sahara again4 ,now there are many shore weeds of this intermediate sand-belt which mimic to a surprising degree the chief external features of the cactuses4 ,one such weed1 the common salicornia1 which grows in sandy bottoms or hollows of the beach1 has a jointed stem1 branched and succulent1 after the true cactus pattern1 and entirely without leaves or their equivalents in any way4 ,still more cactus-like in general effect is another familiar ,english seaside weed1 the kali or glasswort1 so called because it was formerly burnt to extract the soda4 ,the glasswort has leaves1 it is true1 but they are thick and fleshy1 continuous with the stem1 and each one terminating in a sharp1 needle-like spine1 which effectually protects the weed against all browsing aggressors4 ,now1 wherever you get very dry and sandy conditions of soil1 you get this same type of cactus-like vegetation--plantes grasses1 as the ,french well call them4 ,the species which exhibit it are not necessary related to one another in any way2 often they belong to most widely distinct families2 it is an adaptive resemblance alone1 due to similarity of external circumstances only4 ,the plants have to fight against the same difficulties1 and they adopt for the most part the same tactics to fight them with4 ,in other words1 any plant of whatever family1 which wishes to thrive in desert conditions1 must almost1 as a matter of course1 become thick and succulent1 so as to store up water1 and must be protected by a stout epidermis to prevent its evaporation under the fierce heat of the sunlight4 ,they do not necessarily lose their leaves in the process2 but the jointed stem usually answers the purpose of leaves under such conditions far better than any thin and exposed blade could do in the arid air of a baking desert4 ,and therefore1 as a rule1 desert plants are leafless4 ,in ,india1 for example1 there are no cactuses4 ,but ,i wouldn't advise you to dispute the point with a peppery1 fire-eating ,anglo-,indian colonel4 ,i did so once1 myself1 at the risk of my life1 at a table d'hte on the ,continent2 and the wonder is that ,i'm still alive to tell the story4 ,i had nothing but facts on my side1 while the colonel had fists1 and probably pistols4 ,and when ,i say no cactuses1 ,i mean1 of course1 no indigenous species2 for prickly pears and epiphyllums may naturally be planted by the hand of man anywhere4 ,but what people take for thickets of cactus in the ,indian jungle are really thickets of cactus-like spurges4 ,in the dry soil of ,india1 many spurges grow thick and succulent1 learn to suppress their leaves1 and assume the bizarre forms and quaint jointed appearance of the true cactuses4 ,in flower and fruit1 however1 they are euphorbias to the end2 it is only in the thick and fleshy stem that they resemble their nobler and more beautiful ,western rivals4 ,no true cactus grows truly wild anywhere on earth except in ,america4 ,the family was developed there1 and1 till man transplanted it1 never succeeded in gaining a foothold elsewhere4 ,essentially tropical in type1 it was provided with no means of dispersing its seeds across the enormous expanse of intervening ocean which separated its habitat from the sister continents4 ,but why are cactuses so almost universally prickly8 ,from the grotesque little melon-cactuses of our ,english hothouses to the huge and ungainly monsters which form miles of hedgerows on ,jamaican hillsides1 the members of this desert family are mostly distinguished by their abundant spines and thorns1 or by the irritating hairs which break off in your skin if you happen to brush incautiously against them4 ,cactuses are the hedgehogs of the vegetable world2 their motto is ,nemo me impune lacessit4 ,many a time in the ,west ,indies ,i have pushed my hand for a second into a bit of tangled 'bush1' as the negroes call it1 to seize some rare flower or some beautiful insect1 and been punished for twenty-four hours afterwards by the stings of the almost invisible and glass-like little cactus-needles4 ,when you rub them they only break in pieces1 and every piece inflicts a fresh wound on the flesh where it rankles4 ,some of the species have large1 stout prickles2 some have clusters of irritating hairs at measured distances2 and some rejoice in both means of defence at once1 scattered impartially over their entire surface4 ,in the prickly pear1 the bundles of prickles are arranged geometrically with great regularity in a perfect quincunx4 ,but that is a small consolation indeed to the reflective mind when you've stung yourself badly with them4 ,the reason for this bellicose disposition on the part of the cactuses is a tolerably easy one to guess4 ,fodder is rare in the desert4 ,the starving herbivores that find themselves from time to time belated on the confines of such thirsty regions would seize with avidity upon any succulent plant which offered them food and drink at once in their last extremity4 ,fancy the joy with which a lost caravan1 dying of hunger and thirst in the byways of ,sahara1 would hail a great bed of melons1 cucumbers1 and lettuces6 ,needless to say1 however1 under such circumstances melon1 cucumber1 and lettuce would soon be exterminated3 they would be promptly eaten up at discretion without leaving a descendant to represent them in the second generation4 ,in the ceaseless war between herbivore and plant1 which is waged every day and all day long the whole world over with far greater persistence than the war between carnivore and prey1 only those species of plant can survive in such exposed situations which happen to develop spines1 thorns1 or prickles as a means of defence against the mouths of hungry and desperate assailants4 ,nor is this so difficult a bit of evolution as it looks at first sight4 ,almost all plants are more or less covered with hairs1 and it needs but a slight thickening at the base1 a slight woody deposit at the point1 to turn them forthwith into the stout prickles of the rose or the bramble4 ,most leaves are more or less pointed at the end or at the summits of the lobes2 and it needs but a slight intensification of this pointed tendency to produce forthwith the sharp defensive foliage of gorse1 thistles1 and holly4 ,often one can see all the intermediate stages still surviving under one's very eyes4 ,the thistles1 themselves1 for example1 vary from soft and unarmed species which haunt out-of-the-way spots beyond the reach of browsing herbivores1 to such trebly-mailed types as that enemy of the agricultural interest1 the creeping thistle1 in which the leaves continue themselves as prickly wings down every side of the stem1 so that the whole plant is amply clad from head to foot in a defensive coat of fierce and bristling spearheads4 ,there is a common little ,english meadow weed1 the rest-harrow1 which in rich and uncropped fields produces no defensive armour of any sort2 but on the much-browsed-over suburban commons and in similar exposed spots1 where only gorse and blackthorn stand a chance for their lives against the cows and donkeys1 it has developed a protected variety in which some of the branches grow abortive1 and end abruptly in stout spines like a hawthorn's4 ,only those rest-harrows have there survived in the sharp struggle for existence which happened most to baffle their relentless pursuers4 ,desert plants naturally carry this tendency to its highest point of development4 ,nowhere else is the struggle for life so fierce2 nowhere else is the enemy so goaded by hunger and thirst to desperate measures4 ,it is a place for internecine warfare ,hence1 all desert plants are quite absurdly prickly4 ,the starving herbivores will attack and devour under such circumstances even thorny weeds1 which tear or sting their tender tongues and palates1 but which supply them at least with a little food and moisture3 so the plants are compelled in turn to take almost extravagant precautions4 ,sometimes the leaves end in a stout dagger-like point1 as with the agave1 or so-called ,american aloe2 sometimes they are reduced to mere prickles or bundles of needle-like spikes2 sometimes they are suppressed altogether1 and the work of defence is undertaken in their stead by irritating hairs intermixed with caltrops of spines pointing outward from a common centre in every direction4 ,when one remembers how delicately sensitive are the tender noses of most browsing herbivores1 one can realize what an excellent mode of defence these irritating hairs must naturally constitute4 ,i have seen cows in ,jamaica almost maddened by their stings1 and even savage bulls will think twice in their rage before they attempt to make their way through the serried spears of a dense cactus hedge4 ,to put it briefly1 plants have survived under very arid or sandy conditions precisely in proportion as they displayed this tendency towards the production of thorns1 spines1 bristles1 and prickles4 ,it is a marked characteristic of the cactus tribe to be very tenacious of life1 and when hacked to pieces1 to spring afresh in full vigour from every scrap or fragment4 ,true vegetable hydras1 when you cut down one1 ten spring in its place3 every separate morsel of the thick and succulent stem has the power of growing anew into a separate cactus4 ,surprising as this peculiarity seems at first sight1 it is only a special desert modification of a faculty possessed in a less degree by almost all plants and by many animals4 ,if you cut off the end of a rose branch and stick it in the ground under suitable conditions1 it grows into a rose tree4 ,if you take cuttings of scarlet geraniums or common verbenas1 and pot them in moist soil1 they bud out apace into new plants like their parents4 ,certain special types can even be propagated from fragments of the leaf2 for example1 there is a particularly vivacious begonia off which you may snap a corner of one blade1 and hang it up by a string from a peg or the ceiling1 when1 hi1 presto6 little begonia plants begin to bud out incontinently on every side from its edges4 ,a certain ,german professor went even further than that2 he chopped up a liverwort very fine into vegetable mincemeat1 which he then spread thin over a saucerful of moist sand1 and lo6 in a few days the whole surface of the mess was covered with a perfect forest of sprouting little liverworts4 ,roughly speaking1 one may say that every fragment of every organism has in it the power to rebuild in its entirety another organism like the one of which it once formed a component element4 ,similarly with animals4 ,cut off a lizard's tail1 and straightway a new tail grows in its place with surprising promptitude4 ,cut off a lobster's claw1 and in a very few weeks that lobster is walking about airily on his native rocks1 with two claws as usual4 ,true1 in these cases the tail and the claw don't bud out in turn into a new lizard or a new lobster4 ,but that is a penalty the higher organisms have to pay for their extreme complexity4 ,they have lost that plasticity1 that freedom of growth1 which characterizes the simpler and more primitive forms of life2 in their case the power of producing fresh organisms entire from a single fragment1 once diffused equally over the whole body1 is now confined to certain specialized cells which1 in their developed form1 we know as seeds or eggs4 ,yet1 even among animals1 at a low stage of development1 this original power of reproducing the whole from a single part remains inherent in the organism2 for you may chop up a fresh-water hydra into a hundred little bits1 and every bit will be capable of growing afresh into a complete hydra4 ,now1 desert plants would naturally retain this primitive tendency in a very high degree2 for they are specially organized to resist drought--being the survivors of generations of drought-proof ancestors--and1 like the camel1 they have often to struggle on through long periods of time without a drop of water4 ,exactly the same thing happens at home to many of our pretty little ,european stone-crops4 ,i have a rockery near my house overgrown with the little white sedum of our gardens4 ,the birds often peck off a tiny leaf or branch2 it drops on the dry soil1 and remains there for days without giving a sign of life4 ,but its thick epidermis effectually saves it from withering2 and as soon as rain falls1 wee white rootlets sprout out from the under side of the fragment as it lies1 and it grows before long into a fresh small sedum plant4 ,thus1 what seem like destructive agencies themselves1 are turned in the end by mere tenacity of life into a secondary means of propagation4 ,that is why the prickly pear is so common in all countries where the climate suits it1 and where it has once managed to gain a foothold4 ,the more you cut it down1 the thicker it springs2 each murdered bit becomes the parent in due time of a numerous offspring4 ,man1 however1 with his usual ingenuity1 has managed to best the plant1 on this its own ground1 and turn it into a useful fodder for his beasts of burden4 ,the prickly pear is planted abundantly on bare rocks in ,algeria1 where nothing else would grow1 and is cut down when adult1 divested of its thorns by a rough process of hacking1 and used as food for camels and cattle4 ,it thus provides fresh moist fodder in the ,african summer when the grass is dried up and all other pasture crops have failed entirely4 ,the flowers of the prickly pear1 as of many other cactuses1 grow apparently on the edge of the leaves1 which alone might give the observant mind a hint as to the true nature of those thick and flattened expansions4 ,for whenever what look like leaves bear flowers or fruit on their edge or midrib1 as in the familiar instance of butcher's broom1 you may be sure at a glance they are really branches in disguise masquerading as foliage4 ,the blossoms in the prickly pear are large1 handsome1 and yellow2 at least1 they would be handsome if one could ever see them1 but they are generally covered so thick in dust that it is difficult properly to appreciate their beauty4 ,they have a great many petals in numerous rows1 and a great many stamens in a rosette in the centre2 and1 to the best of my knowledge and belief1 as lawyers put it1 they are fertilized for the most part by tropical butterflies2 but on this point1 having observed them but little in their native habitats1 ,i speak under correction4 ,the fruit itself1 to which the plant owes its popular name1 is botanically a berry1 though a very big one1 and it exhibits in a highly specialized degree the general tactics of all its family4 ,as far as their leaf-like stems go1 the main object in life of the cactuses is--not to get eaten4 ,but when it comes to the fruit1 this object in life is exactly reversed2 the plant desires its fruit to be devoured by some friendly bird or adapted animal1 in order that the hard little seeds buried in the pulp within may be dispersed for germination under suitable conditions4 ,at the same time1 true to its central idea1 it covers even the pear itself with deterrent and prickly hairs1 meant to act as a defence against useless thieves or petty depredators1 who would eat the soft pulp on the plant as it stands 7much as wasps do peaches7 without benefiting the species in return by dispersing its seedlings4 ,this practice is fully in accordance with the general habit of tropical or sub-tropical fruits1 which lay themselves out to deserve the kind offices of monkeys1 parrots1 toucans1 hornbills1 and other such large and powerful fruit-feeders4 ,fruits which arrange themselves for a clientle1 of this character have usually thick or nauseous rinds1 prickly husks1 or other deterrent integuments2 but they are full within of juicy pulp1 embedding stony or nutlike seeds1 which pass undigested through the gizzards of their swallowers4 ,for a similar reason1 the actual prickly pears themselves are attractively coloured4 ,i need hardly point out1 ,i suppose1 at the present time of day1 that such tints in the vegetable world act like the gaudy posters of our ,london advertisers4 ,fruits and flowers which desire to attract the attention of beasts1 birds1 or insects1 are tricked out in flaunting hues of crimson1 purple1 blue1 and yellow2 fruits and flowers which could only be injured by the notice of animals are small and green1 or dingy and inconspicuous4 ,,pretty ,,poll4 ,it is an error of youth to despise parrots for their much talking4 ,loquacity isn't always a sign of empty-headedness1 nor is silence a sure proof of weight and wisdom4 ,biologists1 for their part1 know better than that4 ,by common consent1 they rank the parrot group as the very head and crown of bird creation4 ,not1 of course1 because pretty ,poll can talk 7in a state of nature1 parrots only chatter somewhat meaninglessly to one another71 but because the group display on the whole1 all round1 a greater amount of intelligence1 of cleverness1 and of adaptability to circumstances than any other birds1 including even their cunning and secretive rivals1 the ravens1 the jackdaws1 the crows1 and the magpies4 ,what are the efficient causes of this exceptionally high intelligence in parrots8 ,well1 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,i believe1 was the first to point out the intimate connection that exists throughout the animal world between mental development and the power of grasping an object all round so as to know exactly its shape and its tactile properties4 ,the possession of an effective prehensile organ--a hand or its equivalent--seems to be the first great requisite for the evolution of a high order of intellect4 ,man and the monkeys1 for example1 have a pair of hands2 and in their case one can see at a glance how dependent is their intelligence upon these grasping organs4 ,all human arts base themselves ultimately upon the human hand2 and even the apes approach nearest to humanity in virtue of their ever-active and busy little fingers4 ,the elephant1 again1 has his flexible trunk1 which1 as we have all heard over and over again1 usque ad nauseam1 is equally well adapted to pick up a pin or to break the great boughs of tropical forest trees4 7,that pin1 in particular1 is now a well-worn classic47 ,the squirrel1 once more1 celebrated for his unusual intelligence when judged by a rodent standard1 uses his pretty little paws as veritable hands1 by which he can grasp a nut or fruit all round1 and so gain in his small mind a clear conception of its true shape and properties4 ,throughout the animal kingdom generally1 indeed1 this correspondence1 or rather this chain of causation1 makes itself everywhere felt2 no high intelligence without a highly developed prehensile and grasping organ4 ,perhaps the opossum is the very best and most crucial instance that could possibly be adduced of the intimate connection which exists between touch and intellect4 ,for the opossum is a marsupial2 it belongs to the same group of lowly-organized1 antiquated1 and pouch-bearing animals as the kangaroo1 the wombat1 and the other belated ,australian mammals4 ,now everybody knows the marsupials as a class are nothing short of preternaturally stupid4 ,they are just about the very dullest and silliest of all existing quadrupeds4 ,and this is reasonable enough1 when one comes to think of it1 for they represent a very antique and early type1 the first rough sketch of the mammalian idea1 if ,i may so describe them1 with wits unsharpened as yet by contact with the world in the fierce competition of the struggle for life as it displays itself on the crowded stage of the great continents4 ,they stand1 in short1 to the lions and tigers1 the elephants and horses1 the monkeys and squirrels1 of ,europe and ,america1 as the ,australian blackfellow stands to the ,englishman or the ,yankee4 ,they are the last relic of the original secondary quadrupeds1 stranded for ages in a remote southern island1 and still keeping up among ,australian forests the antique type of life that went out of fashion in ,europe1 ,asia1 and ,america before the chalk was laid down or the ,london ,clay deposited on the bed of our northern oceans4 ,hence they have still very narrow brains1 and are so extremely stupid that a kangaroo1 it is said--though ,i don't vouch for it myself--when struck a smart blow1 will turn and bite the stick that hurts him instead of expending his anger on the hand that holds it4 ,now1 every ,girton girl is well aware that the opossum1 though it is a marsupial too1 differs inexpressibly in psychological development from the kangaroo and the wombat4 ,your opossum1 in short1 is active1 sly1 and extremely intelligent4 ,he knows his way about the world he lives in4 ',a 'possum up a gum-tree' is accepted by the observant ,american mind as the very incarnation of animal cleverness1 cunning1 and duplicity4 ,in negro folk-lore the resourceful 'possum takes the place of ,reynard the ,fox in ,european stories3 he is the ,macchiavelli of wild beasts3 there is no ruse on earth of which he isn't amply capable1 no artful trick which he can't design and execute1 no wily manoeuvre which he can't contrive and carry to an end successfully4 ,all guile and intrigue1 the 'possum can circumvent even ,uncle ,remus himself by his crafty diplomacy4 ,and what is it that makes all the difference between this 'cute ,yankee marsupial and his backward and belated ,australian cousins8 ,why1 nothing but the possession of a prehensile hand and tail4 ,therein lies the whole secret4 ,the opossum's hind foot has a genuine opposable thumb2 and he also uses his tail in climbing as a supernumerary hand1 almost as much as do any of the monkeys4 ,he often suspends himself by it1 like an acrobat1 swings his body to and fro to get up steam1 then lets go suddenly1 and flies away to a distant branch1 which he clutches by means of his hand-like hind feet4 ,if the toes play him false1 he can 'recover his tip1' as circus-folk put it1 with his prehensile tail4 ,the consequence is that the opossum1 being able to form for himself clear and accurate conceptions of the real shapes and relations of things by these two distinct grasping organs1 has acquired an unusual amount of general intelligence4 ,and further1 in the keen competition of the ,american continent1 he has been forced to develop an amount of cleverness and low cunning which leaves his ,australian poor relations far behind in the ,middle ,ages of evolution4 ,at the risk of seeming to run off at a tangent and forsake our ostensible subject1 pretty ,poll1 altogether1 ,i must just pause for one moment more to answer an objection which ,i know has been trembling on the tip of your tongue any time the last five minutes4 ,you've been waiting till you could get a word in edgeways to give me a friendly nudge and remark very wisely1 ',but look here1 ,i say2 how about the dog and the horse in your argument8 ,they've got no prehensile organ that ever ,i heard of1 and yet they're universally allowed to be the cleverest and most intelligent of all earthly quadrupeds4' ,true1 ,o most sapient and courteous objector4 ,i grant it you at once4 ,but observe the difference4 ,the cleverness of the horse and the dog is acquired1 not original4 ,it has probably arisen in the course of their long hereditary intercourse and companionship with man1 the cleverest and most serviceable individuals being deliberately selected from generation to generation1 as dams and sires to breed from4 ,we can't fairly compare these artificial human products1 therefore1 with wild races whose intelligence is all native and self-evolved4 ,moreover1 the horse at least has to some slight extent a prehensile organ in his very mobile and sensitive lip1 which he uses like an undeveloped or rudimentary proboscis to feel things all over with4 ,so that the dog alone remains as a contradictory instance2 and even the dog derives his cleverness indirectly from man1 whose hand and thumb in the last resort are really at the bottom of his vicarious wisdom4 ,we may conclude1 then1 ,i believe1 that touch1 as ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer admirably words it1 is 'the mother-tongue of the senses2' and that in proportion as animals have or have not highly developed and serviceable tactile organs will they rank high or low in the intellectual hierarchy of nature4 ,now1 how does this bear upon the family of parrots8 ,well1 in the first place1 everybody who has ever kept a cockatoo or a macaw in domestic slavery is well aware that in no other birds do the claws so closely resemble a human or simian hand1 not indeed in outer form or appearance1 but in opposability of the thumbs and in perfection of grasping power4 ,the toes on each foot are arranged in opposite pairs--two turning in front and two backward1 which gives all parrots their peculiar firmness in clinging on a perch or on the branch of a tree with one foot only1 while they extend the other to grasp a fruit or to clutch at any object they desire to take possession of4 ,true1 this peculiarity isn't entirely confined to the parrots alone1 as such4 ,they share the division of the foot into two thumbs and two fingers with a whole large group of allied birds1 called1 in the charmingly concise and poetical language of technical ornithology1 the ,scansorial ,picarians1 and more generally1 known to the unlearned herd 7meaning you and me7 by their several names of woodpeckers1 cuckoos1 toucans1 and plantain-eaters4 ,all the members of this great group1 of which the parrots proper are only the most advanced and developed family1 possess the same arrangement of the digits into front-toes and back-toes4 ,but in none is the arrangement so perfect as in the parrots1 and in none is the power of grasping an object all round so completely developed and so pregnant in moral and intellectual consequences4 ,all the ,scansorial ,picarians1 however 7if the reader with his proverbial courtesy will kindly pardon me the inevitable use of such very bad words71 are essentially tree-haunters2 and the tree-haunting and climbing habit1 as is well beknown1 seems particularly favourable to the growth of intelligence4 ,thus schoolboys climb trees--but ,i forgot3 this is a scientific article1 and such levity is inconsistent with the dignity of science4 ,let us be serious6 ,well1 at any rate1 monkeys1 squirrels1 opossums1 wild cats1 are all of them climbers1 and all of them1 in the act of clinging1 jumping1 and balancing themselves on boughs1 gain such an accurate idea of geometrical figure1 perspective1 distance1 and the true nature of space-relations1 as could hardly be acquired in any other manner4 ,in one word1 they thoroughly understand space of three dimensions1 and the tactual realities that answer to and underlie each visible appearance4 ,this is the very substratum of all intelligence2 and the monkeys1 possessing it more profoundly than any other animals1 have accordingly taken the top of the form in the competitive examination perpetually conducted by survival of the fittest4 ,so1 too1 among birds1 the parrots and their allies climb trees and rocks with exceptional ease and agility4 ,even in their own department they are the great feathered acrobats4 ,anybody who watches a woodpecker1 for example1 grasping the bark of a tree with its crooked and powerful toes1 while it steadies itself behind by digging its stiff tail-feathers into the crannies of the outer rind1 will readily understand how clear a notion the bird must gain into the practical action of the laws of gravity4 ,but the true parrots go a step further in the same direction than the woodpeckers or the toucans2 for1 in addition to prehensile feet1 they have also a highly-developed prehensile bill1 and within it a tongue which acts in reality as an organ of touch4 ,they use their crooked beaks to help them in climbing from branch to branch2 and being thus provided alike with wings1 legs1 hands1 fingers1 bill and tongue1 they are in fact the most truly arboreal of all known animals1 and present in the fullest and highest degree all the peculiar features of the tree-haunting existence4 ,nor is that all4 ,alone among birds or mammals1 the parrots have the curious peculiarity of being able to move the upper as well as the lower jaw4 ,it is this strange mobility of both the mandibles together1 combined with the crafty effect of the sideways glance from those artful eyes1 that gives the characteristic air of intelligence and wisdom to the parrot's face4 ,we naturally expect so clever a bird to speak4 ,and when it turns upon us suddenly with a copy-book maxim1 we are in no way astonished at its surpassing smartness4 ,parrots are vegetarians2 with a single degraded exception to whom ,i shall recur hereafter1 ,sir ,henry ,thompson himself couldn't find fault with their regimen4 ,they live chiefly upon a light but nutritious diet of fruit and seeds1 or upon the abundant nectar of rich tropical flowers4 ,and it is mainly for the sake of getting at their chosen food that they have developed the large and powerful bills which characterise the family4 ,you may have perhaps noted that most tropical fruit-eaters1 like the hornbills and the toucans1 are remarkable for the size and strength of their beaks3 if you haven't1 ,i dare say you will generously take my word for it4 ,and1 per contra1 it may also have struck you that most tropical fruits have thick or hard or nauseous rinds1 which need to be torn off before the monkeys or birds for whose use they are intended1 can get at them and eat them4 ,our little northern strawberries1 and raspberries1 and currants1 and whortleberries1 developed with a single eye to the petty robins and finches of temperate climates1 can be popped into1 the mouth whole and eaten as they stand3 they are meant for small birds to devour1 and to disperse the tiny undigested nut-like seeds in return for the bribe of the soft pulp that surrounds them4 ,but it is quite otherwise with oranges1 shaddocks1 bananas1 plantains1 mangoes1 and pine-apples3 those great tropical fruits can only be eaten properly with a knife and fork1 after stripping off the hard and often acrid rind that guards and preserves them4 ,they lay themselves out for dispersion by monkeys1 toucans1 and other relatively large and powerful fruit-eaters2 and the rind is put there as a barrier against small thieves who would rob the sweet pulp1 but be absolutely incapable of carrying away and dispersing the large and richly-stored seeds it covers4 ,parrots and toucans1 however1 have no knives and forks to cut off the rind with2 but as monkeys use their fingers1 so the birds use for the same purpose their sharp and powerful bills4 ,no better nut-crackers and fruit-parers could possibly be found4 ,the parrot1 in particular1 has developed for the purpose his curved and inflated beak--a wonderful weapon1 keen as a tailor's scissors1 and moved by powerful muscles on either side of the face which bring together the cutting edges with extraordinary energy4 ,the way the bird holds the fruit gingerly in one claw1 while he strips off the rind dexterously with his under-hung lower mandible1 and keeps a sharp look-out meanwhile on either side with those sly and stealthy eyes of his for a possible intruder1 suggests to the observing mind the whole living drama of his native forest4 ,one sees in that vivid world the watchful monkey ever ready to swoop down upon the tempting tail-feathers of his hereditary foe3 one sees the canny parrot ever prepared for his rapid attack1 and ever eager to make him pay with five joints of his tail for his impertinent interference with an unoffending fellow-citizen of the arboreal community4 ,still1 there are parrots and parrots1 of course4 ,not all this vast family are in all things of like passions one with another4 ,the great black cockatoo1 for example1 the largest of the tribe1 lives almost entirely off the central shoot or 'cabbage' of palm-trees3 an expensive kind of food1 for when once the 'cabbage' is eaten the tree dies forthwith1 so that each black cockatoo must have killed in his time whole groves of cabbage-palms4 ,others1 again1 feed off fruits and seeds2 and not a few are entirely adapted for flower-haunting and honey-sucking4 ,as a group1 the parrots are comparatively modern birds4 ,indeed1 they could have no place in the world till the big tropical fruits and nuts were beginning to be developed4 ,and it is now pretty certain that fruits and nuts are for the most part of very recent and special evolution4 ,to put it briefly1 the monkeys and parrots developed the fruits and nuts1 while the fruits and nuts returned the compliment by developing conversely the monkeys and parrots4 ,in other words1 both types grew up side by side in mutual dependence1 and evolved themselves pari passu for one another's benefit4 ,without the fruits there could be no fruit-eaters2 and without the fruit-eaters to disperse their seeds1 there could just to the same extent be no fruits to speak of4 ,most of the parrots very much resemble the monkeys and other tropical fruit-feeders in their habits and manners4 ,they are gregarious1 mischievous1 noisy1 and irresponsible4 ,they have no moral sense1 and are fond of practical jokes and other schoolboy horseplay4 ,they move about in flocks1 screeching aloud as they go1 and alight together on some tree well covered with berries4 ,no doubt1 they herd together for the sake of protection and screech both to keep the flock in a body and to strike alarm and consternation into the breasts of their enemies4 ,when danger threatens1 the first bird that perceives it sounds a note of warning2 and in a moment the whole troop is on the wing at once1 vociferous and eager1 roaring forth a song in their own tongue which may be roughly interpreted as stating in ,english that they don't want to fight1 but by ,jingo1 if they do1 they'll tear their enemy to shreds and drink his blood up too4 ,the common grey parrot1 the best known in confinement of all his kind1 and unrivalled as an orator for his graces of speech1 is a native of ,west ,africa2 so that he shares with other ,west ,africans that perfect command of language which has always been a marked characteristic of the negro race4 ,he feeds in a general way upon palm-nuts1 bananas1 mangoes1 and guavas1 but he is by no means averse1 if opportunity offers1 to the ,indian corn of the industrious native4 ,his wife accompanies him in his solitary rambles1 for they are not gregarious4 ,in her native haunts1 indeed1 ,polly is an unsociable bird4 ,it is only in confinement that her finer qualities come out1 and that she develops into a speech-maker of distinguished attainments4 ,a very peculiar and exceptional offshoot of the parrot group is the brush-tongued lory1 several species of which are common in ,australia1 ,india1 and the ,molucca ,islands4 ,these pretty and interesting creatures are in point of fact parrots which have practically made themselves into humming-birds by long continuance in the poetical habit of visiting flowers for food4 ,like ,mr4 ,oscar ,wilde in his sthetic days1 they breakfast off a lily4 ,flitting about from tree to tree with great rapidity1 they thrust their long extensible tongues1 pencilled with honey-gathering hairs1 into the tubes of many big tropical blossoms4 ,the lories1 indeed1 live entirely on nectar1 and they are so common in the region they have made their own that all the larger flowers there have been developed with a special view to their tastes and habits1 as well as to the structure of their peculiar brush-like honey-collector4 ,in most parrots the mouth is dry and the tongue horny2 but in the lories it is moist and much more like the same organ in the humming-birds and sun-birds4 ,the prevalence of very large and brilliantly coloured flowers in the ,malayan region must be set down for the most part to the selective action of these sthetic and colour-loving little brush-tongued parrots4 ,australia and ,new ,zealand1 as everybody knows1 are the countries where everything goes by contraries4 ,and it is here that the parrot group has developed some of its strangest and most abnormal offshoots4 ,one would imagine beforehand that no two birds could be more unlike in every respect than the gaudy1 noisy1 gregarious cockatoos and the sombre1 nocturnal1 solitary owls4 ,yet the ,new ,zealand owl-parrot is1 to put it plainly1 a lory which has assumed all the outer appearance and habits of an owl4 ,a lurker in the twilight or under the shades of night1 burrowing for its nest in holes in the ground1 it has dingy brown plumage like the owls1 with an undertone of green to bespeak its parrot origin3 while its face is entirely made up of two great disks1 surrounding the eyes1 which succeed in giving it a most marked and unmistakable owl-like appearance4 ,now1 why should a parrot so strangely disguise itself and belie its ancestry8 ,the reason is plain4 ,it found a place for it ready made in nature4 ,new ,zealand is a remote and sparsely-stocked island1 peopled by mere casual waifs and strays of life from adjacent but still very distant continents4 ,there are no dangerous enemies there4 ,here1 then1 was a clear chance for a nightly prowler4 ,the owl-parrot with true business instinct saw the opening thus clearly laid before it1 and took to a nocturnal and burrowing life1 with the natural consequence that it acquired in time the dingy plumage1 crepuscular eyes1 and broad disk-like reflectors of other prowling night-fliers4 ,unlike the owls1 however1 the owl-parrot1 true to the vegetarian instincts of the whole lory race1 lives almost entirely upon sprigs of mosses and other creeping plants4 ,it is thus essentially a ground bird2 and as it feeds at night in a country possessing no native beasts of prey1 it has almost lost the power of flight1 and uses its wings only as a sort of parachute to break its fall in descending from a rock or tree to its accustomed feeding-ground4 ,to get up again1 it climbs1 parrot-like1 with its hooked claws1 up the surface of the trunk or the face of a precipice4 ,even more aberrant in its ways1 however1 than the burrowing owl-parrot1 is that other strange and hated ,new ,zealand lory1 the kea1 which1 alone among its kind1 has abjured the gentle ancestral vegetarianism of the cockatoos and macaws1 in favour of a carnivorous diet of singular ferocity4 ,and what is odder still1 this evil habit has been developed in the kea since the colonization of ,new ,zealand by the ,english1 those most demoralizing of new-comers4 ,the settlers have taught the ,maori to wear tall hats and to drink strong liquors3 and they have thrown temptation in the way of even the once innocent native parrot4 ,before the white man came1 in fact1 the kea was a mild-mannered fruit-eating or honey-sucking bird4 ,but as soon as sheep-stations were established in the island these degenerate parrots began to acquire a distinct taste for raw mutton4 ,at first1 to be sure1 they ate only the sheep's heads and offal that were thrown out from the slaughter-houses picking the bones as clean of meat as a dog or a jackal4 ,but in process of time1 as the taste for blood grew upon them1 a still viler idea entered into their wicked heads4 ,the first step on the downward path suggested the second4 ,if dead sheep are good to eat1 why not also living ones8 ,the kea1 pondering deeply on this abstruse problem1 solved it at once with an emphatic affirmative4 ,and he straightway proceeded to act upon his convictions1 and invent a really hideous mode of procedure4 ,perching on the backs of the living sheep he has now learnt the exact spot where the kidneys are to be found2 and he tears open the flesh to get at these dainty morsels1 which he pulls out and devours1 leaving the unhappy animal to die in miserable agony4 ,as many as two hundred ewes have thus been killed in a night at a single station4 ,i need hardly add that the sheep-farmer naturally resents this irregular proceeding1 so opposed to all ideals of good grazing1 and that the days of the kea are now numbered in ,new ,zealand4 ,but from the purely psychological point of view the case is an interesting one1 as being the best recorded instance of the growth of a new and complex instinct actually under the eyes of human observers4 ,one word as to the general colouring of the parrot group as a whole4 ,tropical forestine birds have usually a ground tone of green because that colour enables them best to escape notice among the monotonous verdure of equatorial woodland scenery4 ,in the north1 to be sure1 green is a very conspicuous colour2 but that is only because for half the year our trees are bare1 and even during the other half they lack that 'breadth of tropic shade' which characterises the forests of all hot countries4 ,therefore1 in temperate climates1 the common ground-tone of birds is brown1 to harmonise with the bare boughs and leafless twigs1 the clods of earth and dead turf or stubble4 ,but in the evergreen tropics green is the right hue for concealment or defence4 ,therefore the parrots1 the most purely tropical family of birds on earth1 are mostly greenish2 and among the smaller and more defenceless sorts1 like the familiar little love-birds1 where the need for protection is greatest1 the green of the plumage is almost unbroken4 ,of the tiny ,pigmy ,parrots of ,new ,guinea1 for instance1 ,mr4 ,bowdler ,sharpe says3 ',owing to their small size and the resemblance of their green colouring to the forests they inhabit1 they are not easily seen1 and until recent years were very hard to procure4' ,and of the green parrot of ,jamaica1 ,mr4 ,gosse remarks3 ',often we hear their voices proceeding from a certain tree1 or else have marked the descent of a flock on it2 but on proceeding to the spot1 though the eye has not wandered from it1 we cannot discover an individual4 ,we go close to the tree1 but all is silent and still as death4 ,we institute a careful survey of every part with the eye1 to detect the slightest motion1 or the form of a bird among the leaves1 but all in vain4 ,we begin to think they have stolen off unperceived2 but on throwing a stone into the tree1 a dozen throats burst forth into a cry1 and as many green birds rush forth upon the wing4 ,green may thus be regarded as the normal or basal parrot tint1 from which all other colours are special decorative variations4 ,but fruit-eating and flower-feeding creatures1 like butterflies and humming-birds--seeking their food ever among the bright berries and brilliant flowers1 almost invariably acquire in the long run an sthetic taste for pure and varied colouring1 and by the aid of sexual selection this taste stereotypes itself at last in their own wings and plumage4 ,they choose their mates for colour as they choose their foodstuffs4 ,hence all the larger and more gregarious parrots1 in which the need for concealment is less1 tend to diversify the fundamental green of their coats with crimson1 yellow1 or blue1 which in some cases take possession of the entire body4 ,the largest kinds of all1 like the great blue and yellow or crimson macaws1 are as gorgeous as ,solomon in all his glory3 and they are also the species least afraid of enemies2 for in ,brazil you may often see them wending their way homeward openly in pairs every evening1 with as little attempt at concealment as rooks in ,england4 ,in the ,moluccas and ,new ,guinea1 says ,mr4 ,wallace1 white cockatoos and gorgeous lories in crimson and blue are the very commonest objects in the local fauna4 ,even the ,new ,zealand owl-parrot1 however1 still retains many traces of his original greenness1 mixed with the dirty brown and dingy yellow of his acquired nocturnal and burrowing nature4 ,if fruit-eaters are fine1 flower-haunters are magnificent4 ,and the brush-tongued lories1 that search for nectar among the bells of ,malayan blossoms1 are the brightest-coloured of all the parrot tribes4 ,indeed1 no group of birds1 according to ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace 7who ought to know1 if anybody does71 exhibits within the same limited number of types so extraordinary a diversity and richness of colouring as the parrots4 ',as a rule1' he says1 'parrots may be termed green birds1 the majority of the species having this colour as the basis of their plumage1 relieved by caps1 gorgets1 bands and wing-spots of other and brighter hues4 ,yet this general green tint sometimes changes into light or deep blue1 as in some macaws2 into pure yellow or rich orange1 as in some of the ,american macaw-parrots2 into purple1 grey or dove-colour1 as in some ,american1 ,african1 and ,indian species2 into the purest crimson1 as in some of the lories2 into rosy-white and pure white1 as in the cockatoos2 and into a deep purple1 ashy or black1 as in several ,papuan1 ,australian1 and ,mascarene species4 ,there is in fact hardly a single distinct and definable colour that cannot be fairly matched among the #cij species of known parrots4 ,their habits1 too1 are such as to bring them prominently before the eye4 ,they usually feed in flocks2 they are noisy1 and so attract attention2 they love gardens1 orchards1 and open sunny places2 they wander about far in search of food1 and towards sunset return homeward in noisy flocks1 or in constant pairs4 ,their forms and motions are often beautiful and attractive4 ,the immensely long tails of the macaws and the more slender tails of the ,indian parroquets1 the fine crest of the cockatoos1 the swift flight of many of the smaller species1 and the graceful motions of the little love-birds and allied forms1 together with their affectionate natures1 aptitude for domestication1 and power of mimicry1 combine to render them at once the most conspicuous and the most attractive of all the specially tropical forms of bird life4' ,i have purposely left to the last the one point about parrots which most often attracts the attention of the young1 the gay1 the giddy1 and the thoughtless3 ,i mean their power of mimicry in human language4 ,and ,i believe ,i am justified in passing it over lightly4 ,for in fact this power is but a very incidental result of the general intelligence of parrots1 combined with the other peculiarities of their social life and forestine character4 ,dominant woodland animals1 indeed1 like monkeys1 parrots1 toucans1 and hornbills1 at least if vegetarian in their habits1 are almost always gregarious1 noisy1 mischievous1 and imitative4 ,and the imitation results directly from the unusual intelligence2 for1 after all1 what is the power of learning itself--at least1 in all save its very highest phases--but the faculty of accurately imitating another8 ,monkeys for the most part imitate action only1 because they haven't very varied or flexible voices4 ,parrots and many other birds1 on the contrary--like the starling and still more markedly the ,american mocking-bird--being endowed with considerable flexibility of voice1 imitate either songs or spoken words with great distinctness4 ,in the parrot the power of attention is also very considerable1 for the bird will often try over with itself repeatedly the lesson it has set itself to learn4 ,but people too generally forget that at best the parrot knows only the general application of a sentence1 not the separate meanings of its component words4 ,it knows1 for example1 that ',polly wants a lump of sugar' is a phrase often followed by a present of food4 ,but to believe it can understand an abstract expression1 like the famous ',by ,jove6 what a beastly lot of parrots6' is to confound learning by rote with genuine comprehension4 ,a careful review of all the evidence makes almost every scientific observer conclude that at most a parrot knows a word of command as a horse knows ',whoa6' or a dog knows the order to hunt for rats in the wainscot4 ,,high ,,life4 ,everybody knows mountain flowers are beautiful4 ,as one rises up any minor height in the ,alps or the ,pyrenees below snow-level1 one notices at once the extraordinary brilliancy and richness of the blossoms one meets there4 ,all nature is dressed in its brightest robes4 ,great belts of blue gentian hang like a zone on the mountain slopes2 masses of yellow globe-flower star the upland pastures2 nodding heads of soldanella lurk low among the rugged boulders by the glacier's side4 ,no lowland blossoms have such vividness of colouring1 or grow in such conspicuous patches4 ,to strike the eye from afar1 to attract and allure at a distance1 is the great aim and end in life of the ,alpine flora4 ,now1 why are ,alpine plants so anxious to be seen of men and angels8 ,why do they flaunt their golden glories so openly before the world1 instead of shrinking in modest reserve beneath their own green leaves1 like the ,puritan primrose and the retiring violet8 ,the answer is1 ,because of the extreme rarity of the mountain air4 ,it's the barometer that does it4 ,at first sight1 ,i will readily admit1 this explanation seems as fanciful as the traditional connection between ,goodwin ,sands and ,tenterden ,steeple4 ,but1 like the amateur stories in country papers1 it is 'founded on fact1' for all that4 7,imagine1 by the way1 a tale founded entirely on fiction6 ,how charmingly aerial67 ,by a roundabout road1 through varying chains of cause and effect1 the rarity of the air does really account in the long run for the beauty and conspicuousness of the mountain flowers4 ,for bees1 the common go-betweens of the loves of the plants1 cease to range about a thousand or fifteen hundred feet below snow-level4 ,and why8 ,because it's too cold for them8 ,oh1 dear1 no3 on sunny days in early ,english spring1 when the thermometer doesn't rise above freezing in the shade1 you will see both the honey-bees and the great black bumble as busy as their conventional character demands of them among the golden cups of the first timid crocuses4 ,give the bee sunshine1 indeed1 with a temperature just about freezing-point1 and he'll flit about joyously on his communistic errand4 ,but bees1 one must remember1 have heavy bodies and relatively small wings3 in the rarefied air of mountain heights they can't manage to support themselves in the most literal sense4 ,hence their place in these high stations of the world is taken by the gay and airy butterflies1 which have lighter bodies and a much bigger expanse of wing-area to buoy them up4 ,in the valleys and plains the bee competes at an advantage with the butterflies for all the sweets of life3 but in this broad sub-glacial belt on the mountain-sides the butterflies in turn have things all their own way4 ,they flit about like monarchs of all they survey1 without a rival in the world to dispute their supremacy4 ,and how does the preponderance of butterflies in the upper regions of the air affect the colour and brilliancy of the flowers8 ,simply thus4 ,bees1 as we are all aware on the authority of the great ,dr4 ,watts1 are industrious creatures which employ each shining hour 7well-chosen epithet1 'shining'7 for the good of the community1 and to the best purpose4 ,the bee1 in fact1 is the bon bourgeois of the insect world3 he attends strictly to business1 loses no time in wild or reckless excursions1 and flies by the straightest path from flower to flower of the same species with mathematical precision4 ,moreover1 he is careful1 cautious1 observant1 and steady-going--a model business man1 in fact1 of sound middle-class morals and sober middle-class intelligence4 ,no flitting for him1 no coquetting1 no fickleness4 ,therefore1 the flowers that have adapted themselves to his needs1 and that depend upon him mainly or solely for fertilisation1 waste no unnecessary material on those big flaunting coloured posters which we human observers know as petals4 ,they have1 for the most part1 simple blue or purple flowers1 tubular in shape and1 individually1 inconspicuous in hue2 and they are oftenest arranged in long spikes of blossom to avoid wasting the time of their winged ,mr4 ,bultitudes4 ,so long as they are just bright enough to catch the bee's eye a few yards away1 they are certain to receive a visit in due season from that industrious and persistent commercial traveller4 ,having a circle of good customers upon whom they can depend with certainty for fertilisation1 they have no need to waste any large proportion of their substance upon expensive advertisements or gaudy petals4 ,it is just the opposite with butterflies4 ,those gay and irrepressible creatures1 the fashionable and frivolous element in the insect world1 gad about from flower to flower over great distances at once1 and think much more of sunning themselves and of attracting their fellows than of attention to business4 ,and the reason is obvious1 if one considers for a moment the difference in the political and domestic economy of the two opposed groups4 ,for the honey-bees are neuters1 sexless purveyors of the hive1 with no interest on earth save the storing of honey for the common benefit of the phalanstery to which they belong4 ,but the butterflies are full-fledged males and females1 on the hunt through the world for suitable partners3 they think far less of feeding than of displaying their charms3 a little honey to support them during their flight is all they need3--',for the bee1 a long round of ceaseless toil2 for me1' says the gay butterfly1 'a short life and a merry one4' ,mr4 ,harold ,skimpole needed only 'music1 sunshine1 a few grapes4' ,the butterflies are of his kind4 ,the high mountain zone is for them a true ball-room3 the flowers are light refreshments laid out in the vestibule4 ,their real business in life is not to gorge and lay by1 but to coquette and display themselves and find fitting partners4 ,so while the bees with their honey-bags1 like the financier with his money-bags1 are storing up profit for the composite community1 the butterfly1 on the contrary1 lays himself out for an agreeable flutter1 and sips nectar where he will1 over large areas of country4 ,he flies rather high1 flaunting his wings in the sun1 because he wants to show himself off in all his airy beauty3 and when he spies a bed of bright flowers afar off on the sun-smitten slopes1 he sails off towards them lazily1 like a grand signior who amuses himself4 ,no regular plodding through a monotonous spike of plain little bells for him3 what he wants is brilliant colour1 bold advertisement1 good honey1 and plenty of it4 ,he doesn't care to search4 ,who wants his favours must make himself conspicuous4 ,now1 plants are good shopkeepers2 they lay themselves out strictly to attract their customers4 ,hence the character of the flowers on this beeless belt of mountain side is entirely determined by the character of the butterfly fertilisers4 ,only those plants which laid themselves out from time immemorial to suit the butterflies1 in other words1 have succeeded in the long run in the struggle for existence4 ,so the butterfly-plants of the butterfly-zone are all strictly adapted to butterfly tastes and butterfly fancies4 ,they are1 for the most part1 individually large and brilliantly coloured3 they have lots of honey1 often stored at the base of a deep and open bell which the long proboscis of the insect can easily penetrate3 and they habitually grow close together in broad belts or patches1 so that the colour of each reinforces and aids the colour of the others4 ,it is this cumulative habit that accounts for the marked flowerbed or jam-tart character which everybody must have noticed in the high ,alpine flora4 ,aristocracies usually pride themselves on their antiquity3 and the high life of the mountains is undeniably ancient4 ,the plants and animals of the butterfly-zone belong to a special group which appears everywhere in ,europe and ,america about the limit of snow1 whether northward or upward4 ,for example1 ,i was pleased to note near the summit of ,mount ,washington 7the highest peak in ,new ,hampshire7 that a large number of the flowers belonged to species well known on the open plains of ,lapland and ,finland4 ,the plants of the ,high ,alps are found also1 as a rule1 not only on the ,high ,pyrenees1 the ,carpathians1 the ,scotch ,grampians1 and the ,norwegian fjelds1 but also round the ,arctic ,circle in ,europe and ,america4 ,they reappear at long distances where suitable conditions recur3 they follow the snow-line as the snow-line recedes ever in summer higher north toward the pole or higher vertically toward the mountain summits4 ,and this bespeaks in one way to the reasoning mind a very ancient ancestry4 ,it shows they date back to a very old and cold epoch4 ,let me give a single instance which strikingly illustrates the general principle4 ,near the top of ,mount ,washington1 as aforesaid1 lives to this day a little colony of very cold-loving and mountainous butterflies1 which never descend below a couple of thousand feet from the wind-swept summit4 ,except just there1 there are no more of there sort anywhere about3 and as far as the butterflies themselves are aware1 no others of their species exist on earth3 they never have seen a single one of their kind1 save of their own little colony4 ,one might compare them with the ,pitcairn ,islanders in the ,south ,seas--an isolated group of ,english origin1 cut off by a vast distance from all their congeners in ,europe or ,america4 ,but if you go north some eight or nine hundred miles from ,new ,hampshire to ,labrador1 at a certain point the same butterfly reappears1 and spreads northward toward the pole in great abundance4 ,now1 how did this little colony of chilly insects get separated from the main body1 and islanded1 as it were1 on a remote mountain-top in far warmer ,new ,hampshire8 ,the answer is1 they were stranded there at the end of the ,glacial epoch4 ,a couple of hundred thousand years ago or thereabouts--don't let us haggle1 ,i beg of you1 over a few casual centuries--the whole of northern ,europe and ,america was covered from end to end1 as everybody knows1 by a sheet of solid ice1 like the one which ,frithiof ,nansen crossed from sea to sea on his own account in ,greenland4 ,for many thousand years1 with occasional warmer spells1 that vast ice-sheet brooded1 silent and grim1 over the face of the two continents4 ,life was extinct as far south as the latitude of ,new ,york and ,london4 ,no plant or animal survived the general freezing4 ,not a creature broke the monotony of that endless glacial desert4 ,at last1 as the celestial cycle came round in due season1 fresh conditions supervened4 ,warmer weather set in1 and the ice began to melt4 ,then the plants and animals of the sub-glacial district were pushed slowly northward by the warmth after the retreating ice-cap4 ,as time went on1 the climate of the plains got too hot to hold them4 ,the summer was too much for the glacial types to endure4 ,they remained only on the highest mountain peaks or close to the southern limit of eternal snow4 ,in this way1 every isolated range in either continent has its own little colony of arctic or glacial plants and animals1 which still survive by themselves1 unaffected by intercourse with their unknown and unsuspected fellow-creatures elsewhere4 ,not only has the ,glacial epoch left these organic traces of its existence1 however2 in some parts of ,new ,hampshire1 where the glaciers were unusually thick and deep1 fragments of the primval ice itself still remain on the spots where they were originally stranded4 ,among the shady glens of the white mountains there occur here and there great masses of ancient ice1 the unmelted remnant of primval glaciers2 and one of these is so large that an artificial cave has been cleverly excavated in it1 as an attraction for tourists1 by the canny ,yankee proprietor4 ,elsewhere the old ice-blocks are buried under the dbris of moraine-stuff and alluvium1 and are only accidentally discovered by the sinking of what are locally known as ice-wells4 ,no existing conditions can account for the formation of such solid rocks of ice at such a depth in the soil4 ,they are essentially glacier-like in origin and character3 they result from the pressure of snow into a crystalline mass in a mountain valley3 and they must have remained there unmelted ever since the close of the ,glacial epoch1 which1 by ,dr4 ,croll's calculations1 must most probably have ceased to plague our earth some eighty thousand years ago4 ,modern ,america1 however1 has no respect for antiquity3 and it is at present engaged in using up this palocrystic deposit--this belated storehouse of prehistoric ice--in the manufacture of gin slings and brandy cocktails4 ,as one scales a mountain of moderate height--say seven or eight thousand feet--in a temperate climate1 one is sure to be struck by the gradual diminution as one goes in the size of the trees1 till at last they tail off into mere shrubs and bushes4 ,this diminution--an old commonplace of tourists--is a marked characteristic of mountain plants1 and it depends1 of course1 in the main upon the effect of cold1 and of the wind in winter4 ,cold1 however1 is by far the more potent factor of the two1 though it is the least often insisted upon3 and this can be seen in a moment by anyone who remembers that trees shade off in just the self-same manner near the southern limit of permanent snow in the ,arctic regions4 ,and the way the cold acts is simply this3 it nips off the young buds in spring in exposed situations1 as the chilly sea-breeze does with coast plants1 which1 as we commonly but incorrectly say1 are blown sideways from seaward4 ,of course1 the lower down one gets1 and the nearer to the soil1 the warmer the layer of air becomes1 both because there is greater radiation1 and because one can secure a little more shelter4 ,so1 very far north1 and very near the snow-line on mountains1 you always find the vegetation runs low and stunted4 ,it takes advantage of every crack1 every cranny in the rocks1 every sunny little nook1 every jutting point or wee promontory of shelter4 ,and as the mountain plants have been accustomed for ages to the strenuous conditions of such cold and wind-swept situations1 they have ended1 of course1 by adapting themselves to that station in life to which it has pleased the powers that be to call them4 ,they grow quite naturally low and stumpy and rosette-shaped3 they are compact of form and very hard of fibre3 they present no surface of resistance to the wind in any way2 rounded and boss-like1 they seldom rise above the level of the rooks and stones1 whose interstices they occupy4 ,it is this combination of characters that makes mountain plants such favourites with florists3 for they possess of themselves that close-grown habit and that rich profusion of clustered flowers which it is the grand object of the gardener by artificial selection to produce and encourage4 ,when one talks of the 'the limit of trees' on a mountain side1 however1 it must be remembered that the phrase is used in a strictly human or ,pickwickian sense1 and that it is only the size1 not the type1 of the vegetation that is really in question4 ,for trees exist even on the highest hill-tops3 only they have accommodated themselves to the exigencies of the situation4 ,smaller and ever smaller species have been developed by natural selection to suit the peculiarities of these inclement spots4 ,take1 for example1 the willow and poplar group4 ,nobody would deny that a weeping willow by an ,english river1 or a ,lombardy poplar in an ,italian avenue1 was as much of a true tree as an oak or a chestnut4 ,but as one mounts towards the bare and wind-swept mountain heights one finds that the willows begin to grow downward gradually4 ,the 'netted willow' of the ,alps and ,pyrenees1 which shelters itself under the lee of little jutting rocks1 attains the height of only a few inches2 while the 'herbaceous willow1' common on all very high mountains in ,western ,europe1 is a tiny creeping weed1 which nobody would ever take for a forest tree by origin at all1 unless he happened to see it in the catkin-bearing stage1 when its true nature and history would become at once apparent to him4 ,yet this little herb-like willow1 one of the most northerly and hardy of ,european plants1 is a true tree at heart none the less for all that4 ,soft and succulent as it looks in branch and leaf1 you may yet count on it sometimes as many rings of annual growth as on a lordly ,scotch fir-tree4 ,but where8 ,why1 underground4 ,for see how cunning it is1 this little stunted descendant of proud forest lords3 hard-pressed by nature1 it has learnt to make the best of its difficult and precarious position4 ,it has a woody trunk at core1 like all other trees2 but this trunk never appears above the level of the soil3 it creeps and roots underground in tortuous zigzags between the crags and boulders that lie strewn through its thin sheet of upland leaf-mould4 ,by this simple plan the willow manages to get protection in winter1 on the same principle as when we human gardeners lay down the stems of vines3 only the willow remains laid down all the year and always4 ,but in summer it sends up its short-lived herbaceous branches1 covered with tiny green leaves1 and ending at last in a single silky catkin4 ,yet between the great weeping willow and this last degraded mountain representative of the same primitive type1 you can trace in ,europe alone at least a dozen distinct intermediate forms1 all well marked in their differences1 and all progressively dwarfed by long stress of unfavourable conditions4 ,from the combination of such unfavourable conditions in ,arctic countries and under the snow-line of mountains there results a curious fact1 already hinted at above1 that the coldest floras are also1 from the purely human point of view1 the most beautiful4 ,not1 of course1 the most luxuriant3 for lush richness of foliage and 'breadth of tropic shade' 7to quote a noble lord7 one must go1 as everyone knows1 to the equatorial regions4 ,but1 contrary to the common opinion1 the tropics1 hoary shams1 are not remarkable for the abundance or beauty of their flowers4 ,quite otherwise1 indeed3 an unrelieved green strikes the keynote of equatorial forests4 ,this is my own experience1 and it is borne out 7which is far more important7 by ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace1 who has seen a wider range of the untouched tropics1 in all four hemispheres--northern1 southern1 eastern1 western--than any other man1 ,i suppose1 that ever lived on this planet4 ,and ,mr4 ,wallace is firm in his conviction that the tropics in this respect are a complete fraud4 ,bright flowers are there quite conspicuously absent4 ,it is rather in the cold and less favoured regions of the world that one must look for fine floral displays and bright masses of colour4 ,close up to the snow-line the wealth of flowers is always the greatest4 ,in order to understand this apparent paradox one must remember that the highest type of flowers1 from the point of view of organisation1 is not at the same time by any means the most beautiful4 ,on the contrary1 plants with very little special adaptation to any particular insect1 like the water-lilies and the poppies1 are obliged to flaunt forth in very brilliant hues1 and to run to very large sizes in order to attract the attention of a great number of visitors1 one or other of whom may casually fertilise them2 while plants with very special adaptations1 like the sage and mint group1 or the little ,english orchids1 are so cunningly arranged that they can't fail of fertilisation at the very first visit1 which of course enables them to a great extent to dispense with the aid of big or brilliant petals4 ,so that1 where the struggle for life is fiercest1 and adaptation most perfect1 the flora will on the whole be not most1 but least1 conspicuous in the matter of very handsome flowers4 ,now1 the struggle for life is fiercest1 and the wealth of nature is greatest1 one need hardly say1 in tropical climates4 ,there alone do we find every inch of soil 'encumbered by its waste fertility1' as ,comus puts it2 weighed down by luxuriant growth of tree1 shrub1 herb1 creeper4 ,there alone do lizards lurk in every hole2 beetles dwell manifold in every cranny2 butterflies flock thick in every grove2 bees1 ants1 and flies swarm by myriads on every sun-smitten hillside4 ,accordingly1 in the tropics1 adaptation reaches its highest point2 and tangled richness1 not beauty of colour1 becomes the dominant note of the equatorial forests4 ,now and then1 to be sure1 as you wander through ,brazilian or ,malayan woods1 you may light upon some bright tree clad in scarlet bloom1 or some glorious orchid drooping pendant from a bough with long sprays of beauty3 but such sights are infrequent4 ,green1 and green1 and ever green again--that is the general feeling of the equatorial forest3 as different as possible from the rich mosaic of a high alp in early ,june1 or a ,scotch hillside deep in golden gorse and purple heather in broad ,august sunshine4 ,in very cold countries1 on the other hand1 though the conditions are severe1 the struggle for existence is not really so hard1 because1 in one word1 there are fewer competitors4 ,the field is less occupied2 life is less rich1 less varied1 less self-strangling4 ,and therefore specialisation hasn't gone nearly so far in cold latitudes or altitudes4 ,lower and simpler types everywhere occupy the soil2 mosses1 matted flowers1 small beetles1 dwarf butterflies4 ,nature is less luxuriant1 yet in some ways more beautiful4 ,as we rise on the mountains the forest trees disappear1 and with them the forest beasts1 from bears to squirrels2 a low1 wind-swept vegetation succeeds1 very poor in species1 and stunted in growth1 but making a floor of rich flowers almost unknown elsewhere4 ,the humble butterflies and beetles of the chillier elevation produce in the result more beautiful bloom than the highly developed honey-seekers of the richer and warmer lowlands4 ,luxuriance is atoned for by a ,turkey carpet of floral magnificence4 ,how1 then1 has the world at large fallen into the pardonable error of believing tropical nature to be so rich in colouring1 and circumpolar nature to be so dingy and unlovable8 ,simply thus1 ,i believe4 ,the tropics embrace the largest land areas in the world1 and are richer by a thousand times in species of plants and animals than all the rest of the earth in a lump put together4 ,that richness necessarily results from the fierceness of the competition4 ,now among this enormous mass of tropical plants it naturally happens that some have finer flowers than any temperate species2 while as to the animals and birds1 they are undoubtedly1 on the whole1 both larger and handsomer than the fauna of colder climates4 ,but in the general aspect of tropical nature an occasional bright flower or brilliant parrot counts for very little among the mass of lush green which surrounds and conceals it4 ,on the other hand1 in our museums and conservatories we sedulously pick out the rarest and most beautiful of these rare and beautiful species1 and we isolate them completely from their natural surroundings4 ,the consequence is that the untravelled mind regards the tropics mentally as a sort of perpetual replica of the hot-houses at ,kew1 superimposed on the best of ,mr4 ,bull's orchid shows4 ,as a matter of fact1 people who know the hot world well can tell you that the average tropical woodland is much more like the dark shade of ,box ,hill or the deepest glades of the ,black ,forest4 ,for really fine floral display in the mass1 all at once1 you must go1 not to ,ceylon1 ,sumatra1 ,jamaica1 but to the far north of ,canada1 the ,bernese ,oberland1 the moors of ,inverness-shire1 the ,north ,cape of ,norway4 ,flowers are loveliest where the climate is coldest2 forests are greenest1 most luxuriant1 least blossoming1 where the conditions of life are richest1 warmest1 fiercest4 ,in one word1 ,high ,life is always poor but beautiful4 ,,eight-,,legged ,,friends4 ,a singular opportunity was afforded me last summer for making myself thoroughly at home with the habits and manners of the common ,english geometrical spider4 ,by the pure chance of circumstance1 two ladies of that intelligent and interesting species were kind enough to select for their temporary residence a large pane of glass just outside my drawing-room window4 ,now1 it so happened that this particular pane was constructed not to open1 being1 in fact1 part of a big bow-window1 the alternate sashes of which were alone intended for ventilation4 ,hence it came to pass that by diligent care ,i was enabled to preserve my two eight-legged acquaintances from the devouring broom of the ,british housemaid1 and to keep them constantly under observation at all times and seasons during a whole summer4 ,of course this result was only obtained by a distinct exercise of despotic authority1 for ,i know those poor spiders were a constant eyesore in ,ellen's sight--the housemaid of the moment bore the name of ,ellen--but ,i persisted in my prohibition of any forcible ejectment1 and ,i carried my point in the end in the very teeth of that constituted domestic authority4 ,so successful was ,i1 indeed1 that when at last we flitted southwards ourselves with the swallows on our annual migration to the ,mediterranean shores1 we left ,lucy and ,eliza--those were the names we had given them--in undisturbed possession of their prescriptive rights in the drawing-room windows4 ,this year they are gone1 and our home is left spiderless4 ,they were curious and uninviting pets1 ,i'm bound to admit1 those great juicy-looking creatures4 ,nobody could say that any form of spider is precisely what our ,italian friends prettily describe in their liquid way as simpatico4 ,at times1 indeed1 the conduct of ,lucy and ,eliza was so peculiarly horrible and blood-curdling in its atrocity1 that even ,i1 their best friend1 who had so often interceded for their lives and saved them from the devastating duster of the aggressive housemaid--even ,i myself1 ,i say1 more than once debated in my own mind whether ,i was justified in letting them go on any longer in their career of crime unchecked1 or whether ,i ought not rather to rush out at once1 avenging rag in hand1 and sweep them away at one fell swoop from the surface of a world they disgraced with their unbridled wickedness4 ,eliza1 in particular1 ,i'm constrained to allow1 was a perfect monster of vice--a sort of undeveloped arachnid ,borgia1 quick to slay and relentless in pursuit2 a mass of eight-legged sins1 stained with the colourless gore of ten thousand struggling victims1 and absolutely without a single redeeming point in her hateful character4 ,and yet1 whenever any more than usually horrible massacre of some pretty and innocent fly almost moved me in my righteous wrath to rush out into the garden in hot haste and put an end at once to the cruel wretch's existence with a judicial antimacassar1 a number of moral scruples1 such as could only be adequately resolved by the editor of the ,spectator1 always occurred spontaneously to my mind and conscience just in time to ensure that wicked ,eliza a fresh spell of life in which to continue unabashed her atrocious behaviour4 ,has man1 ,i asked myself at such moments1 mere human man1 any right to set himself up in the place of earthly providence1 as so much better and more moral than insentient nature8 ,if the spider cruelly devours living flies and intelligent or highly sensitive bees1 we must at least remember that she has no choice in the matter1 and that1 as the poet justly remarks1 ''tis her nature to4' ,but then1 on the other hand1 it might be plausibly argued that 'tis our nature equally to kill the creature that we see so hatefully fulfilling the law of its own cruel being4 ,and yet again it might be pleaded by any able counsel who undertook the defence of ,lucy or ,eliza on her trial for her life against her human accusers1 that she was impelled to all these evil deeds by maternal affection1 one of the noblest and most unselfish of animal instincts4 ,moreover1 if the spider didn't prey1 it would obviously die2 and it seems rather hard on any creature to condemn it to death for no better reason than because it happens to have been born a member of its own kind1 and not of any other and less morally objectionable species4 ,jedburgh justice o that sort rather savours of the method pursued by the famous countryman who was found cutting a harmless amphibian into a hundred pieces with his murderous spade1 and saying spitefully as he did so1 at every particularly savage cut3 ',i'll larn ye to be a twoad1 ,i will2 ,i'll larn ye to be a twoad6' ,nevertheless1 in spite of all this my vaunted philosophy1 ,i will frankly confess that more than once ,eliza and ,lucy sorely tried my patience1 and that ,i was often a good deal better than half-minded in my soul to rush out in a feverish fit of moral indignation and put an end to their ghastly career of crime without waiting to hear what they had to say in their own favour1 showing cause why sentence of death should not be executed upon them4 ,and ,i would have done it1 ,i believe1 had it not been for that peculiar arrangement of the drawing-room windows1 which made it impossible to get at the culprits direct1 without going out into the garden and round the house2 which1 of course1 is a severe strain in wet or windy weather to put upon anybody's moral enthusiasm4 ,in the end1 therefore1 ,i always gave the evil-doers the benefit of the doubt2 and ,i only mention my ethical scruples in the matter here lest scoffers should say1 when they come to read what manner of things ,lucy and ,eliza did3 ',oh yes1 that's just like those scientific folks2 they're always so cold-blooded4 ,he could stand by and see these poor helpless flies tortured slowly to death1 without a chance for their lives1 and never put out a helping hand to save them6' ,well1 ,i would only ask you one question1 my sapient friend1 who talk like that3 ,has it ever occurred to you that1 if you kill one spider1 you merely make room in the overflowing economy of nature for another to pick up a dishonest livelihood8 ,have you ever reflected that the prime blame of spiderhood rests with ,nature herself 7if we may venture to personify that impersonal entity72 and that she has provided such a constant supply or relay of spiders as will amply suffice to fill up all the possible vacancies that can ever occur in insect-eating circles8 ,unless you have considered all these points carefully1 and have an answer to give about them1 you are not in a position to pronounce upon the subject1 and you had better be referred for six months longer1 as the medical examiners gracefully put it1 to your ethical1 psychological1 and biological studies4 ,the great point about the position in which ,eliza and ,lucy had placed themselves was simply this4 ,they stood full against the light1 so that we could see right through their translucent bodies1 which were almost liquid to look upon1 and beautifully dappled with dark spots on a grey ground in a very pretty and effective pattern4 ,so favourable was the opportunity for observation1 indeed1 that we could clearly make out with the naked eye even the joints of their legs1 the hairs on their tarsi--excuse the phrase--and the very shape of their cruel tigerlike claws1 as they rushed forth upon their prey in a sort of carnivorous frenzy4 ,at all hours of the day we could notice exactly what they were doing or suffering2 and so familiar did we become with them individually and personally1 that before the end of the season we recognized in detail all the differences of their characters almost as one might do with cats or dogs1 and spoke of them by their ,christian names like old and well-known acquaintances4 ,as the webs which ,lucy and ,eliza spun were several times broken or mutilated during the year1 either by accident or the gardener1 we had plenty of chances for seeing how they proceeded in making them4 ,the lines were in both cases stretched between a white rose-bush that climbed up one side of the window1 and a purple clematis that occupied and draped the opposite mullion4 ,but ,lucy and ,eliza didn't live in the webs--those were only their snares or traps for prey2 each of them had in addition a private home or apartment of her own under shelter of a rose-leaf at some distance from the treacherous geometrical structure4 ,the house itself consisted merely of a silken cell1 built out from the rose-leaf1 and connected with the snare by a single stout cord of very solid construction4 ,on this cord the spider kept one foot--,i had almost said one hand--constantly fixed4 ,she poised it lightly by her claws1 and whenever an insect got entangled in the web1 a subtle electric message1 so to speak1 seemed to run along the line to the ever-watchful carnivore4 ,in one short second ,lucy or ,eliza1 as the case might be1 had darted out upon her quarry1 and was tackling it might main1 according to the particular way its size and strength rendered then and there advisable4 ,the method of procedure1 which ,i shall describe more fully by-and-by1 differed considerably from case to case1 as these very large and strong spiders have sometimes to deal with mere tiny midges1 and sometimes with extremely big and dangerous creatures1 like bumble-bees1 wasps1 and even hornets4 ,in building their webs1 as in many other small points1 ,lucy and ,eliza showed from the first no inconsiderable personal differences4 ,lucy began hers by spinning a long line from her spinnerets1 and letting the wind carry it wherever it would2 while ,eliza1 more architectural in character1 preferred to take her lines personally from point to point1 and see herself to their proper fastening4 ,in either case1 however1 the first thing done was to stretch some eight or ten stout threads from place to place on the outside of the future web1 to act as points d'appuy for the remainder of the structure4 ,to these outer threads1 which the spiders strengthened so as to bear a considerable strain by doubling and trebling them1 other thinner single threads were then carried radially at irregular distances1 like the spokes of a wheel1 from a point in the centre1 where they were all made fast and connected together4 ,as soon as this radiating framework or scaffolding was finished1 like the woof on a loom1 the industrious craftswoman started at the middle1 and began the task of putting in the cross-pieces or weft which were to complete and bind together the circular pattern4 ,these she wove round and round in a continuous spiral1 setting out at the centre1 and keeping on in ever-widening circlets1 till she arrived at last at the exterior or foundation threads4 ,how she fastened these cross-pieces to the ray-lines ,i could never quite make out1 though ,i often followed the work closely from inside through the pane of glass with a platyscopic lens2 for1 strange to say1 the spiders were not in the least disturbed by being watched at their work1 and never took the slightest notice of anything that went on at the other side of the window4 ,my impression is1 however1 that she gummed them together1 letting them harden into one as they dried2 for the thread itself is always semi-liquid when first exuded4 ,the cross-pieces1 we observed from the very beginning1 were invariably covered by little sparkling drops of something wet and beadlike1 which at first in our ignorance we took for dew2 for until ,i began systematically observing ,lucy and ,eliza1 ,i will frankly confess ,i had never paid any particular attention to the spider-kind with the solitary exception of my old winter friends1 the trap-door spiders of the ,mediterranean shores4 ,but1 after a little experience1 we soon found out that these pearly drops on the web were not dew at all1 but a sticky substance1 akin1 to that of the web1 secreted by the animals themselves from their own bodies4 ,we also quickly discovered1 coming to the observation as we did with minds unbiased by previous knowledge1 that the viscid liquid in question was of the utmost importance to the spiders in securing their prey1 and that unfortunate insects were not merely entangled but likewise gummed down or glued by it1 like birds in bird-lime or flies in treacle4 ,so necessary is the sticky stuff1 indeed1 to the success of the trap1 that ,lucy and ,eliza used to renew the entire set of cross-pieces in the web every morning1 and thus ensure from day to day a perfectly fresh supply of viscid fluid2 but1 so far as ,i could see1 they only renewed the rays and the foundation-threads under stress of necessity1 when the snare had been so greatly injured by large insects struggling in it1 or by the wind or the gardener1 as to render repairs absolutely unavoidable4 ,the whole structure1 when complete1 is so beautiful and wonderful a sight1 with its geometrical regularity and its beaded drops1 that if it were produced by a rare creature from ,madagascar or the ,cape1 in the insect-house at the ,zoo1 all the world1 ,i'm convinced1 would rush to look at it as a nine-days' wonder4 ,but since it's only the trap of the common ,english garden spider1 why1 we all pass it by without deigning even to glance at it4 ,at night my eight-legged friends slept always in their own homes or nests under shelter of the rose-leaves4 ,but during the day they alternated between the nest and the centre of the web1 which last seemed to serve them as a convenient station where they waited for their prey1 standing head downward with legs wide spread on the rays1 on the look-out for incidents4 ,whether at the centre or in the nest1 however1 they kept their feet constantly on the watch for any disturbance on the webs2 and the instant any unhappy little fly got entangled in their meshes1 the ever-watchful spider was out like a flash of lightning1 and down at once in full force upon that incautious intruder4 ,i was convinced after many observations that it is by touch alone the spider recognizes the presence of prey in its web1 and that it hardly derives any indications worth speaking of from its numerous little eyes1 at least as regards the arrival of booty4 ,if a very big insect has got into the web1 then a relatively large volume of disturbance is propagated along the telegraphic wire that runs from the snare to the house1 or from the circumference to the centre2 if a small one1 then a slight disturbance2 and the spider rushes out accordingly1 either with an air of caution or of ferocious triumph4 ,supposing the booty in hand was a tiny fly1 then ,lucy or ,eliza would jump upon it at once with that strange access of apparently personal animosity with seems in some mysterious way a characteristic of all hunting carnivorous animals4 ,she would then carelessly wind a thread or two about it1 in a perfunctory way1 bury her jaws in its body1 and in less than half a minute suck out its juices to the last drop1 leaving the empty shell unhurt1 like a dry skeleton or the slough of a dragon-fly larva4 ,but when wasps or other large and dangerous insects got entangled in the webs1 the hunters proceeded with far greater caution4 ,lucy1 indeed1 who was a decided coward1 would stand and look anxiously at the doubtful intruder for several seconds1 feeling the web with her claws1 and running up and down in the most undecided manner1 as if in doubt whether or not to tackle the uncertain customer4 ,but ,eliza1 whose spirits always rose like ,nelson's before the face of danger1 and whose motto seemed to be ',de l'audace1 de l'audace1 et toujours de l'audace1' would rush at the huge foe in a perfect transport of wild fury1 and go to work at once to enclose him in her toils of triple silken cables4 ,i always fancied1 indeed1 that ,eliza was in a thoroughly housewifely tantrum at seeing her nice new web so ruthlessly torn and tattered by the unwelcome visitor1 and that she said to herself in her own language3 ',oh well1 then1 if you will have it1 you shall have it2 so here goes for you4' ,and go for him she did1 with most unladylike ferocity4 ,indeed1 ,eliza's best friend1 ,i must fain admit1 could never have said of her that she was a perfect lady4 ,the chawing-up of that wasp was a sight to behold4 ,i have no great sympathy with wasps--they have done me so many bad turns in my time that ,i don't pretend to regard them as deserving of exceptional pity--but ,i must say ,eliza's way of going at them was unduly barbaric4 ,she treated them for all the world as if they were entirely devoid of a nervous system4 ,i wouldn't treat a ,saturday ,reviewer myself as that spider treated the wasps when once she was sure of them4 ,she went at them with a sort of angry1 half-contemptuous dash1 kept cautiously out of the way of the protruded sting1 began in most business-like fashion at the head1 and rolling the wasp round and round with her legs and feelers1 swathed him rapidly and effectually1 with incredible speed1 in a dense network of web poured forth from her spinnerets4 ,in less than half a minute the astonished wasp1 accustomed rather to act on the offensive than the defensive1 found himself helplessly enclosed in a perfect coil of tangled silk1 which confined him from head to sting without the possibility of movement in any direction4 ,the whole time this had been going on the victim1 struggling and writhing1 had been pushing out its sting and doing the very best it knew to deal the wily ,eliza a poisoned death-blow4 ,but ,eliza1 taught by ancestral experience1 kept carefully out of the way2 and the wasp felt itself finally twirled round and round in those powerful hands1 and tied about as to its wings by a thousand-fold cable4 ,sometimes1 after the wasp was secured1 ,eliza even took the trouble to saw off the wings so as to prevent further struggling and consequent damage to the precious web2 but more often she merely proceeded to eat it alive without further formality1 still avoiding its sting as long as the creature had a kick left in it1 but otherwise entirely ignoring its character as a sentient being in the most inhuman fashion4 ,and all the time1 till the last drop of his blood was sucked out1 the wasp would continue viciously to stick out his deadly sting1 which the spider would still avoid with hereditary cunning4 ,it was a horrid sight--a duel outrance between two equally hateful and poisonous opponents2 a living commentary on the appalling but o'er-true words of the poet1 that ',nature is one with rapine1 a harm no preacher can heal4' ,though these were the occasions when one sometimes felt as if the cup of ,eliza's iniquities was really full1 and one must pass sentence at last1 without respite or reprieve1 upon that life-long murderess4 ,one insect there was1 however1 before which even ,eliza herself1 hardened wretch as she seemed1 used to cower and shiver2 and that was the great black bumble-bee1 the largest and most powerful of the ,british bee-kind4 ,when one of these dangerous monsters1 a burly1 buzzing bourgeois1 got entangled in her web1 ,eliza1 shaking in her shoes 7,i allow her those shoes by poetical licence7 would retire in high dudgeon to her inmost bower1 and there would sit and sulk1 in visible bad temper1 till the clumsy big thing1 after many futile efforts1 had torn its way by main force out of the coils that surrounded it4 ,then1 the moment the telegraphic communication told her the lines in the web were once more free1 ,eliza would sally forth again with a smiling face--oh yes1 ,i assure you1 we could tell by her look when she was smiling--and would repair afresh with cheerful alacrity the damage done to her snare by the unwelcome visitor4 ,hummingbird hawk-moths1 on the other hand1 though so big and quick1 she would kill immediately4 ,as for ,lucy1 craven soul1 she had so little sense of proper pride and arachnid honour1 that she shrank even from the wasps which ,eliza so bravely and unhesitatingly tackled2 and more than once we caught her in the very act of cutting them out entire1 with the whole piece of web in which they were immeshed1 and letting them drop on to the ground beneath1 merely as a short way of getting rid of them from her premises4 ,i always rather despised ,lucy4 ,she hadn't even the one redeeming virtue of most carnivorous or predatory races--an insensate and almost automatic courage4 ,i need hardly say1 however1 that the spider does not kill her prey by a mere fair-and-square bite alone4 ,she has recourse to the art of the ,palmers and ,brinvilliers4 ,all spiders1 as far as known1 are provided with poison-fangs in the jaws1 which sometimes1 as in the tarantula and many other large tropical kinds1 well known to me in ,jamaica and elsewhere1 are sufficiently powerful to produce serious effects upon man himself2 while even much smaller spiders1 like ,eliza and ,lucy1 have poison enough in their falces1 as the jawlike organs are called1 to kill a good big insect1 such as a wasp or a bumble-bee4 ,these channelled poison-glands1 combined with their savage tigerlike claws1 make the spiders as a group extremely formidable and dominant creatures1 the analogues in their own smaller invertebrate world of the serpents and wolves in the vertebrate creation4 ,lucy and ,eliza's family relations1 ,i am sorry to say1 were not1 we found1 of a kind to endear them to a critical public already sufficiently scandalized by their general mode of behaviour to their inoffensive neighbours4 ,as mothers1 indeed1 gossip itself had not a word of blame to whisper against them2 but as wives1 their conduct was distinctly open to the severest animadversion4 ,the males of the garden spider1 as in many other instances1 are decidedly smaller than their big round mates2 so much so is this the case1 indeed1 in certain species that they seem almost like parasites of the immensely larger sack-bodied females4 ,now1 just as the worker bees kill off the drones as soon as the queen-bee has been duly fertilized1 regarding them as of no further importance or value to the hive1 so do the lady-spiders not only kill but eat their husbands as soon as they find they have no further use for them4 ,nay1 if a female spider doesn't care for the looks of a suitor who is pressing himself too much upon her fond attention1 her way of expressing her disapprobation of his appearance and manners is to make a murderous spring at him1 and1 if possible1 devour him4 ,under these painful circumstances the process of courtship is necessarily to some extent a difficult and delicate one1 fraught with no small danger to the adventurous swain who has the boldness to commend himself by personal approach to these very fickle and irascible fair ones4 ,it was most curious and exciting1 accordingly1 to watch the details of the strange courtship1 which we could only observe in the case of the cruel ,eliza1 the rather gentler ,lucy having been already mated1 apparently1 before she took up her quarters in our climbing white rose-bush4 ,one day1 however1 a timid-looking male spider1 with inquiry and doubt in every movement of his tarsi1 strolled tentatively up on the neat round web where ,eliza was hanging1 head downward as usual1 all her feet on the thread1 on the look-out for house-flies4 ,we knew he was a male at once by his longer and thinner body1 and by his natural modesty4 ,he walked gingerly on all eights1 like an arachnid ,agag1 in the direction of the object of his ardent affections1 with a most comic uncertainty in every step he took towards her4 ,his claws felt the threads as he moved with anxious care2 and it was clear he was ready at a moment's notice to jump away and flee for his life with headlong speed to his native obscurity if ,eliza showed the slightest disposition1 by gesture or movement1 to turn and rend him4 ,now and again1 as he approached1 ,eliza1 half coquettish1 moved her feet a short step1 and seemed to debate within her own mind in which spirit she should meet his flattering advances--whether to accept him or to eat him4 ,at each such hesitation1 the unhappy male1 fearing the worst1 and sore afraid1 would turn on his heel and fly for dear life as fast as eight trembling legs would carry him4 ,then1 after a minute or two1 he would evidently come to the conclusion that he had wronged his lady-love1 and that her movement was one of true1 true love rather than of carnivorous and cannibalistic appetite4 ,at last1 as ,i judged1 his constancy was rewarded1 though his ominous disappearance very shortly afterwards made me fear for the worst as to his final adventures4 ,in the end1 ,eliza laid a large number of eggs in a silken cocoon1 in shape a balloon1 and secreted1 like the web1 by her invaluable spinnerets4 ,indeed1 the real reason--,i won't say excuse--for the rapacity and ,gargantuan appetite of the spider lies1 no doubt1 in the immense amount of material she has to supply for her daily-renewed webs1 her home1 and her cocoon1 all which have actually to be spun out of the assimilated food-stuffs in her own body2 to say nothing of the additional necessity imposed upon her by nature for laying a trifle of six or seven hundred eggs in a single summer4 ,and1 to tell the truth1 ,lucy and ,eliza seemed to us to be always eating4 ,no matter at what hour one looked in upon them1 they were pretty constantly engaged in devouring some inoffensive fly1 or weaving hateful labyrinths of hasty cord round some fiercely-struggling wasp or some unhappy beetle4 ,we weren't fortunate enough1 ,i regret to say1 to see ,eliza's eggs hatch out from the cocoon2 but in other instances1 especially in ,southern ,europe1 ,i have noticed the little heap of well-covered ova1 glued together into a mass1 and attached to a branch or twig by stout silken cables4 ,if you open the cocoon when the young spiders are just hatched1 they begin to run about in the most lively fashion1 and look like a living and moving congeries of little balls or seedlets4 ,the common garden spider lays some seven hundred or more such eggs at a sitting1 and out of those seven hundred only two on an average reach maturity and once more propagate their kind4 ,for if only four lived and throve1 then clearly1 in the next generation1 there would be twice as many spiders as in this2 and in the generation after that again1 four times as many2 and then eight times2 and so on ad infinitum1 until the whole world was just one living and seething mass of common garden spiders4 ,what keeps them down1 then1 in the end to their average number8 ,what prevents the development of the whole seven hundred8 ,the simple answer is1 continuous starvation4 ,as usual1 nature works with cruel lavishness4 ,there are just as many spiders at any given minute as there are insects enough in the world or in their area to feed upon4 ,every spider lays hundreds of eggs1 so as to make up for the average infant mortality by starvation1 or by the attacks of ichneumon flies1 or by being eaten themselves in the young stage1 or by other casualties4 ,and so with all other species4 ,each produces as many young on the average as will allow for the ordinary infant mortality of their kind1 and leave enough over just to replace the parents in the next generation4 ,and that's one of the reasons why it's no use punishing ,lucy and ,eliza for their misdeeds in this world4 ,kill them off if you will1 and before next week a dozen more like them will dispute with one another the vacant place you have thus created in the balanced economy of that microcosm the garden4 ,our observations upon ,lucy and ,eliza1 however1 had the effect of making us take an increased interest thenceforth in spiders in general1 which till that time we had treated with scant courtesy1 and set us about learning something as to the extraordinary variety of life and habit to be found within the range of this single group of arthropods1 at first sight so extremely alike in their shapes1 their appearance1 their morals1 and their manners4 ,it's perfectly astonishing1 though1 when one comes to look into it in detail1 how exceedingly diverse spiders are in their mode of life1 their structure1 and the variety of uses to which they put their one extremely distinctive structural organ1 the spinnerets4 ,i will only say here that some spiders use these peculiar glands to form light webs by whose aid1 though wingless1 they float balloon-wise through the air2 that others employ them to line the sides of their underground tunnels1 and to make the basis of their marvellously ingenious earthen trap-doors2 that yet others have learnt how to adapt these same organs to a subaquatic existence1 and to fill cocoons with air1 like miniature diving bells2 while others1 again1 have taught themselves to construct webs thick enough to catch and hold even creatures so superior to themselves in the scale of being as humming-birds and sunbirds4 ,this extraordinary variety in the utilization of a single organ teaches once more the same lesson which is impressed upon us elsewhere by so many other forms of organic evolution3 whatever enables an animal or plant to gain an advantage over others in the struggle for life1 no matter in what way1 is sure to survive1 and to be turned in time to every conceivable use of which its structure is capable1 in the infinite whirligig of ever-varying nature4 ,,mud4 ,even a prejudiced observer will readily admit that the most valuable mineral on earth is mud4 ,diamonds and rubies are just nowhere by comparison4 ,i don't mean weight for weight1 of course--mud is 'cheap as dirt1' to buy in small quantities--but aggregate for aggregate4 ,quite literally1 and without hocus-pocus of any sort1 the money valuation of the mud in the world must outnumber many thousand times the money valuation of all the other minerals put together4 ,only we reckon it usually not by the ton1 but by the acre1 though the acre is worth most where the mud lies deepest4 ,nay1 more1 the world's wealth is wholly based on mud4 ,corn1 not gold1 is the true standard of value4 ,without mud there would be no human life1 no productions of any kind3 for food stuffs of every description are raised on mud2 and where no mud exists1 or can be made to exist1 there1 we say1 there is desert or sand-waste4 ,land1 without mud1 has no economic value4 ,to put it briefly1 the only parts of the world that count much for human habitation are the mud deposits of the great rivers1 and notably of the ,nile1 the ,euphrates1 the ,ganges1 the ,indus1 the ,irrawaddy1 the ,hoang ,ho1 the ,yang-tse-,kiang2 of the ,po1 the ,rhone1 the ,danube1 the ,rhine1 the ,volga1 the ,dnieper2 of the ,st4 ,lawrence1 the ,mississippi1 the ,missouri1 the ,orinoco1 the ,amazons1 the ,la ,plata4 ,a corn-field is just a big mass of mud2 and the deeper and purer and freer from stones or other impurities it is the better4 ,but ,england1 you say1 is not a great river-mud field2 yet it supports the densest population in the world4 ,true2 but ,england is an exceptional product of modern civilization4 ,she can't feed herself3 she is fed from ,odessa1 ,alexandria1 ,bombay1 ,new ,york1 ,montreal1 ,buenos ,ayres--in other words1 from the mud fields of the ,russian1 the ,egyptian1 the ,indian1 the ,american1 the ,canadian1 the ,argentine rivers4 ,orontes1 said ,juvenal1 has flowed into ,tiber2 ,nile1 we may say nowadays1 with equal truth1 has flowed into ,thames4 ,there is nothing to make one realize the importance of mud1 indeed1 like a journey up ,nile when the inundation is just over4 ,you lounge on the deck of your dahabieh1 and drink in geography almost without knowing it4 ,the voyage forms a perfect introduction to the study of mudology1 and suggests to the observant mind 7meaning you and me7 the real nature of mud as nothing else on earth that ,i know of can suggest it4 ,for in ,egypt you get your phenomenon isolated1 as it were1 from all disturbing elements4 ,you have no rainfall to bother you1 no local streams1 no complex denudation3 the ,nile does all1 and the ,nile does everything4 ,on either hand stretches away the bare desert1 rising up in grey rocky hills4 ,down the midst runs the one long line of alluvial soil--in other words1 ,nile mud--which alone allows cultivation and life in that rainless district4 ,the country bases itself absolutely on mud4 ,the crops are raised on it2 the houses and villages are built of it2 the land is manured with it2 the very air is full of it4 ,the crude brick buildings that dissolve in dust are ,nile mud solidified2 the red pottery of ,assiout is ,nile mud baked hard2 the village mosques and minarets are ,nile mud whitewashed4 ,i have even seen a ship's bulwarks neatly repaired with mud4 ,it pervades the whole land1 when wet1 as mud undisguised2 when dry1 as dust-storm4 ,egypt1 says ,herodotus1 is a gift of the ,nile4 ,a truer or more pregnant word was never spoken4 ,of course it is just equally true1 in a way1 that ,bengal is a gift of the ,ganges1 and that ,louisiana and ,arkansas are gifts of the ,mississippi2 but with this difference1 that in the case of the ,nile the dependence is far more obvious1 far freer from disturbing or distracting details4 ,for that reason1 and also because the ,nile is so much more familiar to most ,english-speaking folk than the ,american rivers1 ,i choose ,egypt first as my type of a regular mud-land4 ,but in order to understand it fully you mustn't stop all your time in ,cairo and the ,delta2 you mustn't view it only from the terrace of ,shepheard's ,hotel or the rocky platform of the ,great ,pyramid at ,ghizeh3 you must push up country early1 under ,mr4 ,cook's care1 to ,luxor and the ,first ,cataract4 ,it is up country that ,egypt unrolls itself visibly before your eyes in the very process of making3 it is there that the full importance of good1 rich black mud first forces itself upon you by undeniable evidence4 ,for remember that1 from a point above ,berber to the sea1 the dwindling ,nile never receives a single tributary1 a single drop of fresh water4 ,for more than fifteen hundred miles the ever-lessening river rolls on between bare desert hills and spreads fertility over the deep valley in their midst--just as far as its own mud sheet can cover the barren rocky bottom1 and no farther4 ,for the most part the line of demarcation between the grey bare desert and the cultivable plain is as clear and as well-defined as the margin of sea and land3 you can stand with one foot on the barren rock and one on the green soil of the tilled and irrigated mud-land4 ,for the water rises up to a certain level1 and to that level accordingly it distributes both mud and moisture3 above it comes the arid rock1 as destitute of life1 as dead and bare and lonely as the centre of ,sahara4 ,in and out1 in waving line1 up to the base of the hills1 cultivation and greenery follow1 with absolute accuracy1 the line of highest flood-level2 beyond it the hot rock stretches dreary and desolate4 ,here and there islands of sandstone stand out above the green sea of doura or cotton2 here and there a bay of fertility runs away up some lateral valley1 following the course of the mud2 but one inch above the inundation-mark vegetation and life stop short all at once with absolute abruptness4 ,in ,egypt1 then1 more than anywhere else1 one sees with one's own eyes that mud and moisture are the very conditions of mundane fertility4 ,beyond ,cairo1 as one descends seaward1 the mud begins to open out fan-wise and form a delta4 ,the narrow mountain ranges no longer hem it in4 ,it has room to expand and spread itself freely over the surrounding country1 won by degrees from the ,mediterranean4 ,at the mouths the mud pours out into the sea and forms fresh deposits constantly on the bottom1 which are gradually silting up still newer lands to seaward4 ,slow as is the progress of this land-forming action1 there can be no doubt that the ,nile has the intention of filling up by degrees the whole eastern ,mediterranean1 and that in process of time--say in no more than a few million years or so1 a mere bagatelle to the geologist--with the aid of the ,po and some other lesser streams1 it will transform the entire basin of the inland sea into a level and cultivable plain1 like ,bengal or ,mesopotamia1 themselves 7as we shall see7 the final result of just such silting action4 ,it is so very important1 for those who wish to see things as clear as mud1 to understand this prime principle of the formation of mud-lands1 that ,i shall make no apology for insisting on it further in some little detail2 for when one comes to look the matter plainly in the face1 one can see in a minute that almost all the big things in human history have been entirely dependent upon the mud of the great rivers4 ,thebes and ,memphis1 ,rameses and ,amenhotep1 based their civilisation absolutely upon the mud of ,nile4 ,the bricks of ,babylon were moulded of ,euphrates mud2 the greatness of ,nineveh reposed on the silt of the ,tigris4 ,upper ,india is the ,indus2 ,agra and ,delhi are ,ganges and ,jumna mud2 ,china is the ,hoang ,ho and the ,yang-tse-,kiang2 ,burmah is the paddy field of the ,irrawaddy delta4 ,and so many great plains in either hemisphere consist really of nothing else but mud-banks of almost incredible extent1 filling up prehistoric ,baltics and ,mediterraneans1 that a glance at the probable course of future evolution in this respect may help us to understand and to realize more fully the gigantic scale of some past accumulations4 ,as a preliminary canter ,i shall trot out first the valley of the ,po1 the existing mud flat best known by personal experience to the feet and eyes of the tweed-clad ,english tourist4 ,everybody who has looked down upon the wide ,lombard plain from the pinnacled roof of ,milan ,cathedral1 or who has passed by rail through that monotonous level of poplars and vines between ,verona and ,venice1 knows well what a mud flat due to inundation and gradual silting up of a valley looks like4 ,what ,i want to do now is to inquire into its origin1 and to follow up in fancy the same process1 still in action1 till it has filled the ,adriatic from end to end with one great cultivable lowland4 ,once upon a time 7,i like to be at least as precise as a fairy tale in the matter of dates7 there was no ,lombardy4 ,and that time was not1 geologically speaking1 so very remote2 for the whole valley of the ,po1 from ,turin to the sea1 consists entirely of alluvial deposits--or1 in other words1 of ,alpine mud--which has all accumulated where it now lies at a fairly recent period4 ,we know it is recent1 because no part of ,italy has ever been submerged since it began to gather there4 ,to put it more definitely1 the entire mass has almost certainly been laid down since the first appearance of man on our earth3 the earliest human beings who reached the ,alps or the ,apennines--black savages clad in skins of extinct wild beasts--must have looked down from their slopes1 with shaded eyes1 not on a level plain such as we see to-day1 but on a great arm of the sea which stretched like a gulf far up towards the base of the hills about ,turin and ,rivoli4 ,of this ancient sea the ,adriatic forms the still unsilted portion4 ,in other words1 the great gulf which now stops short at ,trieste and ,venice once washed the foot of the ,alps and the ,apennines to the ,superga at ,turin1 covering the sites of ,padua1 ,ferrara1 ,bologna1 ,ravenna1 ,mantua1 ,cremona1 ,modena1 ,parma1 ,piacenza1 ,pavia1 ,milan1 and ,novara4 ,the industrious reader who gets out his ,baedeker and looks up the shaded map of ,north ,italy which forms its frontispiece will be rewarded for his pains by a better comprehension of the district thus demarcated4 ,the idle must be content to take my word for what follows4 ,i pledge them my honour that ,i'll do my best not to deceive their trustful innocence4 ,it may sound at first hearing a strange thing to say so1 but the whole of that vast gulf1 from ,turin to ,venice1 has been entirely filled up within the human period by the mud sheet brought down by mountain torrents from the ,alps and the ,apennines4 ,a parallel elsewhere will make this easier of belief4 ,you have looked down1 no doubt1 from the garden of the hotel at ,glion upon the lake of ,geneva and the valley of the ,rhone about ,villeneuve and ,aigle4 ,if so1 you can understand from personal knowledge the first great stage in the mud-filling process2 for you must have observed for yourself from that commanding height that the lake once extended a great deal farther up country towards ,bex and ,st4 ,maurice than it does at present4 ,you can still trace at once on either side the old mountainous banks1 descending into the plain as abruptly and unmistakably as they still descend to the water's edge at ,montreux and ,vevey4 ,but the silt of the ,rhone1 brought down in great sheets of glacier mud 7about which more anon7 from the ,furca and the ,jungfrau and the ,monte ,rosa chain1 has completely filled in the upper nine miles of the old lake basin with a level mass of fertile alluvium4 ,there is no doubt about the fact3 you can see it for yourself with half an eye from that specular mount 7to give the ,devil his due1 ,i quote ,milton's ,satan73 the mud lies even from bank to bank1 raised only a few inches above the level of the lake1 and as lacustrine in effect as the veriest geologist on earth could wish it4 ,indeed1 the process of filling up still continues unabated at the present day where the mud-laden ,rhone enters the lake at ,bouveret1 to leave it again1 clear and blue and beautiful1 under the bridge at ,geneva4 ,the little delta which the river forms at its mouth shows the fresh mud in sheets gathering thick upon the bottom4 ,every day this new mud-bank pushes out farther and farther into the water1 so that in process of time the whole basin will be filled in1 and a level plain1 like that which now spreads from ,bex and ,aigle to ,villeneuve1 will occupy the entire bed from ,montreux to ,geneva4 ,turn mentally to the upper feeders of the ,po itself1 and you find the same causes equally in action4 ,you have stopped at ,pallanza--,garoni's is so comfortable4 ,well1 then1 you know how every ,alpine stream1 as it flows1 full-gorged1 into the ,italian lakes1 is busily engaged in filling them up as fast as ever it can with turbid mud from the uplands4 ,the basins of ,maggiore1 ,como1 ,lugano1 and ,garda are by origin deep hollows scooped out long since during the ,great ,ice ,age by the pressure of huge glaciers that then spread far down into what is now the poplar-clad plain of ,lombardy4 ,but ever since the ice cleared away1 and the torrents began to rush headlong down the deep gorges of the ,val ,leventina and the ,val ,maggia1 the mud has been hard at work1 doing its level best to fill those great ice-worn bowls up again4 ,near the mouth of each main stream it has already succeeded in spreading a fan-shaped delta4 ,i will not insult you by asking you at the present time of day whether you have been over the ,st4 ,gothard4 ,in this age of trains de luxe ,i know to my cost everybody has been everywhere4 ,no chance of pretending to superior knowledge about ,japan or ,honolulu2 the tourist knows them4 ,very well1 then2 you must remember as you go past ,bellinzona--revolutionary little ,bellinzona with its three castled crags--you look down upon a vast mud flat by the mouth of the ,ticino4 ,part of this mud flat is already solid land1 but part is mere marsh or shifting quicksand4 ,that is the first stage in the abolition of the lakes3 the mud is annihilating them4 ,maggiore1 indeed1 least fortunate of the three main sheets1 is being attacked by the insidious foe at three points simultaneously4 ,at the upper end1 the ,ticino1 that furious radical river1 has filled in a large arm1 which once spread far away up the valley towards ,bellinzona4 ,a little lower down1 the ,maggia near ,locarno carries in a fresh contribution of mud1 which forms another fan-shaped delta1 and stretches its ugly mass half across the lake1 compelling the steamers to make a considerable detour eastward4 ,this delta is rapidly extending into the open water1 and will in time fill in the whole remaining space from bank to bank1 cutting off the upper end of the lake about ,locarno from the main basin by a partition of lowland4 ,this upper end will then form a separate minor lake1 and the ,ticino will flow out of it across the intervening mud flat into the new and smaller ,maggiore of our great-great-grandchildren4 ,if you doubt it1 look what the torrent of the ,toce1 the third assailing battalion of the persistent mud force1 has already done in the neighbourhood of ,pallanza4 ,it has entirely cut off the upper end of the bay1 that turns westward towards the ,simplon1 by a partition of mud2 and this isolated upper bit forms now in our own day a separate lake1 the ,lago di ,mergozzo1 divided from the main sheet by an uninteresting mud bank4 ,in process of time1 no doubt1 the whole of ,maggiore will be similarly filled in by the advancing mud sheet1 and will become a level alluvial plain1 surrounded by mountains1 and greatly admired by the astute ,piedmontese cultivator4 ,what is going on in ,maggiore is going on equally in all the other sub-,alpine lakes of the ,po valley4 ,they are being gradually filled in1 every one of them1 by the aggressive mud sheet4 ,the upper end of ,lugano1 for example1 has already been cut off1 as the ,lago del ,piano1 from the main body2 and the piano itself1 from which the little isolated tarn takes its name1 is the alluvial mud fiat of a lateral torrent--the mud flat1 in fact1 which the railway from ,porlezza traverses for twenty minutes before it begins its steep and picturesque climb by successive zigzags over the mountains to ,menaggio4 ,similarly the influx of the ,adda at the upper end of ,como has cut off the ,lago di ,mezzola from the main lake1 and has formed the alluvial level that stretches so drearily all around ,colico4 ,slowly the mud fiend encroaches everywhere on the lakes2 and if you look for him when you go1 there you can see him actually at work every spring under your very eyes1 piling up fresh banks and deltas with alarming industry1 and preparing 7in a few hundred thousand years7 to ruin the tourist trade of ,cadenabbia and ,bellagio4 ,if we turn from the lakes themselves to the ,lombard plain at large1 which is an immensely older and larger basin1 we see traces of the same action on a vastly greater scale4 ,a glance at the map will show the intelligent and ever courteous reader that the 'wandering ,po'--,i drop into poetry after ,goldsmith--flows much nearer the foot of the ,apennines than of the ,alps in the course of its divagations1 and seems purposely to bend away from the greater range of mountains4 ,why is this1 since everything in nature must needs have a reason8 ,well1 it is because1 when the mud first began to accumulate in the old ,lombard bay of the ,adriatic1 there was no ,po at all1 whether wandering or otherwise3 the big river has slowly grown up in time by the union of the lateral torrents that pour down from either side1 as the growth of the mud flat brought them gradually together4 ,careful study of a good map will show how this has happened1 especially if it has the plains and mountains distinctively tinted after the excellent ,german fashion4 ,the ,ticino1 the ,adda1 the ,mincio1 if you look at them close1 reveal themselves as tributaries of the ,po1 which once flowed separately into the ,lombard bay2 the ,adige1 the ,piave1 the ,tagliamento farther along the coast1 reveal themselves equally as tributaries of the future ,po1 when once the great river shall have filled up with its mud the space between ,trieste and ,venice1 though for the moment they empty themselves and their store of detritus into the open ,adriatic4 ,fix your eyes for a moment on ,venetia proper1 and you will see how this has all happened and is still happening4 ,each mountain torrent that leaps from the ,tyrolese ,alps bring down in its lap a rich mass of mud1 which has gradually spread over a strip of sea some forty or fifty miles wide1 from the base of the mountains to the modern coast-line of the province4 ,near the sea--or1 in other words1 at the temporary outlet--it forms banks and lagoons1 of which those about ,venice are the best known to tourists1 though the least characteristic4 ,for miles and miles between ,venice and ,trieste the shifting north shore of the ,adriatic consists of nothing but such accumulating mud banks4 ,year after year they push farther seaward1 and year after year fresh islets and shoals grow out into the waves beyond the temporary deltas4 ,in time1 therefore1 the gathering mud banks of these ,alpine torrents must join the greater mud bank that runs rapidly seaward at the delta of the ,po4 ,as soon as they do so the rivers must rush together1 and what was once an independent stream1 emptying itself into the ,adriatic1 must become a tributary of the ,po1 helping to swell the waters of that great united river4 ,the ,adige has now just reached this state3 its delta is continuous with the delta of the ,po1 and their branches interosculate4 ,the ,mincio and the ,adda reached it ages since3 the ,piave and the ,livenia will not reach it for ages4 ,in ,roman days ,hatria was still on the sea3 it is now some fifteen miles inland4 ,from all this you can gather why the existing ,po flows far from the ,alps and nearer the base of the ,apennines4 ,the ,alpine streams in far distant days brought down relatively large floods of glacial mud2 formed relatively large deltas in the old ,lombard bay2 filled up with relative rapidity their larger half of the basin4 ,the ,apennines1 less lofty1 and free from glaciers1 sent down shorter and smaller torrents1 laden with far less mud1 and capable therefore of doing but little alluvial work for the filling in of the future ,lombardy4 ,so the river was pushed southward by the ,alpine deposits of the northern streams1 leaving the great plains of ,cisalpine ,gaul spread away to the north of it4 ,and this land-making action is ceaseless and continuous4 ,about ,venice1 ,chioggia1 ,maestra1 ,comacchio1 the delta of the ,po is still spreading seaward4 ,in the course of ages--if nothing unforeseen occurs meanwhile to prevent it--the ,alpine mud will have filled in the entire ,adriatic2 and the ,ionian ,isles will spring like isolated mountain ridges from the ,adriatic plain1 as the ,euganean hills--those 'mountains ,euganean' where ,shelley 'stood listening to the pan with which the legioned rocks did hail the sun's uprise majestical'--spring in our own time from the dead level of ,lombardy4 ,once they in turn were the ,euganean islands1 and even now to the trained eye of the historical observer they stand up island-like from the vast green plain that spreads flat around them4 ,perhaps it seems to you a rather large order to be asked to believe that ,lombardy and ,venetia are nothing more than an outspread sheet of deep ,alpine mud4 ,well1 there is nothing so good for incredulity1 don't you know1 as capping the climax4 ,if a man will not swallow an inch of fact1 the best remedy is to make him gulp down an ell of it4 ,and1 indeed1 the ,lombard plain is but an insignificant mud flat compared with the vast alluvial plains of ,asiatic and ,american rivers4 ,the alluvium of the ,euphrates1 of the ,mississippi1 of the ,hoang ,ho1 of the ,amazons would take in many ,lombardies and half-a-dozen ,venetias without noticing the addition4 ,but ,i will insist upon only one example--the rivers of ,india1 which have formed the gigantic deep mud flat of the ,ganges and the ,jumna1 one of the very biggest on earth1 and that because the ,himalayas are the highest and newest mountain chain exposed to denudation4 ,for1 as we saw foreshadowed in the case of the ,alps and ,apennines1 the bigger the mountains on which we can draw the greater the resulting mass of alluvium4 ,the ,rocky ,mountains give rise to the ,missouri 7which is the real ,mississippi72 the ,andes give rise to ,amazons and the ,la ,plata2 the ,himalayas give rise to the ,ganges and the ,indus4 ,great mountain1 great river1 great resulting mud sheet4 ,at a very remote period1 so long ago that we cannot reduce it to any common measure with our modern chronology1 the southern table-land of ,india--the ,deccan1 as we call it--formed a great island like ,australia1 separated from the continent of ,asia by a broad arm of the sea which occupied what is now the great plain of ,bengal1 the ,north-,west1 and the ,punjaub4 ,this ancient sea washed the foot of the ,himalayas1 and spread south thence for #fjj miles to the base of the ,vindhyas4 ,but the ,himalayas are high and clad with gigantic glaciers4 ,much ice grinds much mud on those snow-capped summits4 ,the rivers that flowed from the ,roof of the ,world carried down vast sheets of alluvium1 which formed fans at their mouths1 like the cones still deposited on a far smaller scale in the ,lake of ,geneva by little lateral torrents4 ,gradually the silt thus brought down accumulated on either side1 till the rivers ran together into two great systems--one westward--the ,indus1 with its four great tributaries1 ,jhelum1 ,chenab1 ,ravee1 ,sutlej2 one eastward1 the ,ganges1 reinforced lower down by the sister streams of the ,jumna and the ,brahmapootra4 ,the colossal accumulation of silt thus produced filled up at last all the great arm of the sea between the two mountain chains1 and joined the ,deccan by slow degrees to the continent of ,asia4 ,it is still engaged in filling up the ,bay of ,bengal on one side by the detritus of the ,ganges1 and the ,arabian ,sea on the other by the sand-banks of the ,indus4 ,in the same way1 no doubt1 the silt of the ,thames1 the ,humber1 the ,rhine1 and the ,meuse tend slowly 7bar accidents7 to fill up the ,north ,sea1 and anticipate ,sir ,edward ,watkin by throwing a land bridge across the ,english ,channel4 ,if ever that should happen1 then history will have repeated itself1 for it is just so that the ,deccan was joined to the mainland of ,asia4 ,one question more4 ,whence comes the mud8 ,the answer is1 ,mainly from the detritus of the mountains4 ,there it has two origins4 ,part of it is glacial1 part of it is leaf-mould4 ,in order to feel we have really got to the very bottom of the mud problem--and we are nothing if not thorough--we must examine in brief these two separate origins4 ,the glacier mud is of a very simple nature4 ,it is disintegrated rock1 worn small by the enormous millstone of ice that rolls slowly over the bed1 and deposited in part as 'terminal moraine' near the summer melting-point4 ,it is the quantity of mud thus produced1 and borne down by mountain torrents1 that makes the alluvial plains collect so quickly at their base4 ,the mud flats of the world are in large part the wear and tear of the eternal hills under the planing action of the eternal glaciers4 ,but let us be just to our friends4 ,a large part is also due to the industrious earth-worm1 whose place in nature ,darwin first taught us to estimate at its proper worth4 ,for there is much detritus and much first-rate soil even on hills not covered by glaciers4 ,some of this takes its origin1 it is true1 from disintegration by wind or rain1 but much more is caused by the earth-worm in person4 ,that friend of humanity1 so little recognized in his true light1 has a habit of drawing down leaves into his subterranean nest1 and there eating them up1 so as to convert their remains into vegetable mould in the form of worm-casts4 ,this mould1 the most precious of soils1 gets dissolved again by the rain1 and carried off in solution by the streams to the sea or the lowlands1 where it helps to form the future cultivable area4 ,at the same time the earthworms secrete an acid1 which acts upon the bare surface of rock beneath1 and helps to disintegrate it in preparation for plant life in unfavourable places4 ,it is probable that we owe almost more on the whole to these unknown but conscientious and industrious annelids than even to those 'mills of ,god' the glaciers1 of which the ,american poet justly observes that though they grind slowly1 yet they grind exceedingly small4 ,in the last resort1 then1 it is mainly on mud that the life of humanity in all countries bases itself4 ,every great plain is the alluvial deposit of a great river1 ultimately derived from a great mountain chain4 ,the substance consists as a rule of the dbris of torrents1 which is often infertile1 owing to its stoniness and its purely mineral character2 but wherever it has lain long enough to be covered by earth-worms with a deep black layer of vegetable mould1 there the resulting soil shows the surprising fruitfulness one gets 7for example7 in ,lombardy1 where twelve crops a year are sometimes taken from the meadows4 ,everywhere and always the amount and depth of the mud is the measure of possible fertility2 and even where1 as in the ,great ,american ,desert1 want of water converts alluvial plains into arid stretches of sand-waste1 the wilderness can be made to blossom like the rose in a very few years by artificial irrigation4 ,the diversion of the ,arkansas ,river has spread plenty over a vast sage scrub2 the finest crops in the world are now raised over a tract of country which was once the terror of the traveller across the wild west of ,america4 ,,the ,,greenwood ,,tree4 ,it is a common1 not to say a vulgar error1 to believe that trees and plants grow out of the ground4 ,and of course1 having thus begun by calling it bad names1 ,i will not for a moment insult the intelligence of my readers by supposing them to share so foolish a delusion4 ,i beg to state from the outset that ,i write this article entirely for the benefit of ,other ,people4 ,you and ,i1 ,o proverbially ,candid and ,intelligent ,one1 it need hardly be said1 are better informed4 ,but ,other ,people fall into such ridiculous blunders that it is just as well to put them on their guard beforehand against the insidious advance of false opinions4 ,i have known otherwise good and estimable men1 indeed1 who for lack of sound early teaching on this point went to their graves with a confirmed belief in the terrestrial origin of all earthly vegetation4 ,they were probably victims of what the ,church in its succinct way describes and denounces as ,invincible ,ignorance4 ,now1 the reason why these deluded creatures supposed trees to grow out of the ground1 instead of out of the air1 is probably only because they saw their roots there4 ,of course1 when people see a wallflower rooted in the clefts of some old church tower1 they don't jump at once to the inane conclusion that it is made of rock--that it derives its nourishment direct from the solid limestone2 nor when they observe a barnacle hanging by its sucker to a ship's hull1 do they imagine it to draw up its food incontinently from the copper bottom4 ,but when they see that familiar pride of our country1 a ,british oak1 with its great underground buttresses spreading abroad through the soil in every direction1 they infer at once that the buttresses are there1 not--as is really the case--to support it and uphold it1 but to drink in nutriment from the earth beneath1 which is just about as capable of producing oak-wood as the copper plate on the ship's hull is capable of producing the flesh of a barnacle4 ,sundry familiar facts about manuring and watering1 to which ,i will return later on1 give a certain colour of reasonableness1 it is true1 to this mistaken inference4 ,but how mistaken it really is for all that1 a single and very familiar little experiment will easily show one4 ,cut down that ,british oak with your ,gladstonian axe2 lop him of his branches2 divide him into logs2 pile him up into a pyramid2 put a match to his base2 in short1 make a bonfire of him2 and what becomes of robust majesty8 ,he is reduced to ashes1 you say4 ,ah1 yes1 but what proportion of him8 ,conduct your experiment carefully on a small scale2 dry your wood well1 and weigh it before burning2 weigh your ash afterwards1 and what will you find8 ,why1 that the solid matter which remains after the burning is a mere infinitesimal fraction of the total weight3 the greater part has gone off into the air1 from whence it came1 as carbonic acid4 ,dust to dust1 ashes to ashes2 but air to air1 too1 is the rule of nature4 ,it may sound startling--to ,other ,people1 ,i mean--but the simple truth remains1 that trees and plants grow out of the atmosphere1 not out of the ground4 ,they are1 in fact1 solidified air2 or to be more strictly correct1 solidified gas--carbonic acid4 ,take an ordinary soda-water syphon1 with or without a wine-glassful of brandy1 and empty it till only a few drops remain in the bottom4 ,then the bottle is full of gas2 and that gas1 which will rush out with a spurt when you press the knob1 is the stuff that plants eat--the raw material of life1 both animal and vegetable4 ,the tree grows and lives by taking in the carbonic acid from the air1 and solidifying its carbon2 the animal grows and lives by taking the solidified carbon from the plant1 and converting it once more into carbonic acid4 ,that1 in its ideally simple form1 is the ,iliad in a nutshell1 the core and kernel of biology4 ,the whole cycle of life is one eternal see-saw4 ,first the plant collects its carbon compounds from the air in the oxidized state2 it deoxidizes and rebuilds them3 and then the animal proceeds to burn them up by slow combustion within his own body1 and to turn them loose upon the air1 once more oxidized4 ,after which the plant starts again on the same round as before1 and the animal also recommences da capo4 ,and so on ad infinitum4 ,but the point which ,i want particularly to emphasize here is just this3 that trees and plants don't grow out of the ground at all1 as most people do vainly talk1 but directly out of the air2 and that when they die or get consumed1 they return once more to the atmosphere from which they were taken4 ,trees undeniably eat carbon4 ,of course1 therefore1 all the ordinary unscientific conceptions of how plants feed are absolutely erroneous4 ,vegetable physiology1 indeed1 got beyond these conceptions a good hundred years ago4 ,but it usually takes a hundred years for the world at large to make up its leeway4 ,trees don't suck up their nutriment by the roots1 they don't derive their food from the soil1 they don't need to be fed1 like babies through a tube1 with terrestrial solids4 ,the solitary instance of an orchid hung up by a string in a conservatory on a piece of bark1 ought to be sufficient at once to dispel for ever this strange illusion--if people ever thought2 but of course they don't think--,i mean ,other ,people4 ,the true mouths and stomachs of plants are not to be found in the roots1 but in the green leaves2 their true food is not sucked up from the soil1 but is inhaled through tiny channels from the air2 the mass of their material is carbon1 as we can all see visibly to the naked eye when a log of wood is reduced to charcoal3 and that carbon the leaves themselves drink in1 by a thousand small green mouths1 from the atmosphere around them4 ,but how about the juice1 the sap1 the qualities of the soil1 the manure required8 is the incredulous cry of ,other ,people4 ,what is the use of the roots1 and especially of the rootlets1 if they are not the mouths and supply-tubes of the plants8 ,well1 ,i plainly perceive ,i can get 'no forrarder1' like the farmer with his claret1 till ,i've answered that question1 provisionally at least2 so ,i will say here at once1 without further ado--the plant requires drink as well as food1 and the roots are the mouths that supply it with water4 ,they also suck up a few other things as well1 which are necessary indeed1 but far from forming the bulk of the nutriment4 ,many plants1 however1 don't need any roots at all1 while none can get on without leaves as mouths and stomachs4 ,that is to say1 no true plantlike plants1 for some parasitic plants are practically1 to all intents and purposes1 animals4 ,to put it briefly1 every plant has one set of aerial mouths to suck in carbon1 and many plants have another set of subterranean mouths as well1 to suck up water and mineral constituents4 ,have you ever grown mustard and cress in the window on a piece of flannel8 ,if so1 that's a capital practical example of the comparative unimportance of soil1 except as a means of supplying moisture4 ,you put your flannel in a soup-plate by the dining-room window2 you keep it well wet1 and you lay the seeds of the cress on top of it4 ,the young plants1 being supplied with water by their roots1 and with carbon by the air around1 have all the little they need below1 and grow and thrive in these conditions wonderfully4 ,but if you were to cover them up with an air-tight glass case1 so as to exclude fresh air1 they'd shrivel up at once for want of carbon1 which is their solid food1 as water is their liquid4 ,the way the plant really eats is little known to gardeners1 but very interesting4 ,all over the lower surface of the green leaf lie scattered dozens of tiny mouths or apertures1 each of them guarded by two small pursed-up lips which have a ridiculously human appearance when seen through a simple microscope4 ,when the conditions of air and moisture are favourable1 these lips open visible to admit gases2 and then the tiny mouths suck in carbonic acid in abundance from the air around then4 ,a series of pipes conveys the gaseous food thus supplied to the upper surface of the leaf1 where the sunlight falls full upon it4 ,now1 the cells of the leaf contain a peculiar green digestive material1 which ,i regret to say has no simpler or more cheerful name than chlorophyll2 and where the sunlight plays upon this mysterious chlorophyll1 it severs the oxygen from the carbon in the carbonic acid1 turns the free gas loose upon the atmosphere once more through the tiny mouths1 and retains the severed carbon intact in its own tissues4 ,that is the whole process of feeding in plants3 they eat carbonic acid1 digest it in their leaves1 get rid of the oxygen with which it was formerly combined1 and keep the carbon stored up for their own purposes4 ,life as a whole depends entirely upon this property of chlorophyll2 for every atom of organic matter in your body or mine was originally so manufactured by sunlight in the leaves of some plant from which1 directly or indirectly1 we derive it4 ,to be sure1 in order to make up the various substances which compose their tissues--to build up their wood1 their leaves1 their fruits1 their blossoms--plants require hydrogen1 nitrogen1 and even small quantities of oxygen as well2 but these various materials are sufficiently supplied in the water which is taken up by the roots1 and they really contribute very little indeed to the bulk of the tree1 which consists for the most part of almost pure carbon4 ,if you were to take a thoroughly dry piece of wood1 and then drive off from it by heat these extraneous matters1 you would find that the remainder1 the pure charcoal1 formed the bulk of the weight1 the rest being for the most part very light and gaseous4 ,briefly put1 plants are mostly carbon and water1 and the carbon which forms their solid part is extracted direct from the air around them4 ,how does it come about then that a careless world in general1 and more especially the happy-go-lucky race of gardeners and farmers in particular1 who have to deal so much with plants in their practical aspect1 always attach so great importance to root1 soil1 manure1 minerals1 and so little to the real gaseous food stuff of which their crops are1 in fact1 composed8 ,why does ,hodge1 who is so strong on grain and guano1 know absolutely nothing about carbonic acid8 ,that seems at first sight a difficult question to meet4 ,but ,i think we can meet it with a simple analogy4 ,oxygen is an absolute necessary of human life4 ,even food itself is hardly so important an element in our daily existence2 for ,succi1 ,dr4 ,tanner1 the prophet ,elijah1 and other adventurous souls too numerous to mention1 have abundantly shown us that a man can do without food altogether for forty days at a stretch1 while he can't do without oxygen for a single minute4 ,cut off his supply of that life-supporting gas1 choke him1 or suffocate him1 or place him in an atmosphere of pure carbonic acid1 or hold his head in a bucket of water1 and he dies at once4 ,yet1 except in mines or submarine tunnels1 nobody ever takes into account practically this most important factor in human and animal life4 ,we toil for bread1 but we ignore the supply of oxygen4 ,and why8 ,simply because oxygen is universally diffused everywhere4 ,it costs nothing4 ,only in the ,black ,hole of ,calcutta or in a broken tunnel shaft do men ever begin to find themselves practically short of that life-sustaining gas1 and then they know the want of it far sooner and far more sharply than they know the want of food on a shipwreck raft1 or the want of water in the thirsty desert4 ,yet antiquity never even heard of oxygen4 ,a prime necessary of life passed unnoticed for ages in human history1 only because there was abundance of it to be had everywhere4 ,now it isn't quite the same1 ,i admit1 with the carbonaceous food of plants4 ,carbonic acid isn't quite so universally distributed as oxygen1 nor can every plant always get as much as it wants of it4 ,i shall show by-and-by that a real struggle for food takes place between plants1 exactly as it takes place between animals2 and that certain plants1 like ,oliver ,twist in the workhouse1 never practically get enough to eat4 ,still1 carbonic acid is present in very large quantities in the air in most situations1 and is freely brought by the wind to all the open spaces which alone man uses for his crops and his gardening4 ,the most important element in the food of plants is thus in effect almost everywhere available1 especially from the point of view of the mere practical everyday human agriculturist4 ,the wind that bloweth where it listeth brings fresh supplies of carbon on its wings with every breeze to the mouths and throats of the greedy and eager plants that long to absorb it4 ,it is quite otherwise1 however1 with the soil and its constituents4 ,land1 we all know--or if we don't1 it isn't the fault of ,mr4 ,george and ,mr4 ,a4,r4 ,wallace--land is 'naturally limited in quantity4' ,every plant therefore struggles for a foothold in the soil far more fiercely and far more tenaciously than it struggles for its share in the free air of heaven4 ,your plant is a land-grabber of ,rob ,roy proclivities2 it believes in a fair fight and no favour4 ,a sufficient supply of food it almost takes for granted1 if only it can once gain a sufficient ground-space4 ,but other plants are competing with it1 tooth and nail 7if plants may be permitted by courtesy those metaphorical adjuncts71 for their share of the soil1 like crofters or socialists2 every spare inch of earth is permeated and pervaded with matted fibres2 and each is striving to withdraw from each the small modicum of moisture1 mineral matter1 and manure for which all alike are eagerly battling4 ,now1 what the plant wants from the soil is three things4 ,first and foremost it wants support2 like all the rest of us it must have its pou sto1 its pied--terre1 its locus standi4 ,it can't hang aloft1 like ,mahomet's coffin1 miraculously suspended on an aerial perch between earth and heaven4 ,secondly1 it wants water1 and this it can take in1 as a rule1 only or mainly by means of the rootlets1 though there are some peculiar plants which grow 7not parasitically7 on the branches of trees1 and absorb all the moisture they need by pores on their surface4 ,and thirdly1 it wants small quantities of nitrogenous matter--in the simpler language of everyday life called manure--as well as of mineral matter--in the simpler language of everyday life called ashes4 ,it is mainly the first of these three1 support1 that the farmer thinks of when he calculates crops and acreage2 for the second1 he depends upon rainfall or irrigation2 but the third1 manure1 he can supply artificially2 and as manure makes a great deal of incidental difference to some of his crops1 especially corn--which requires abundant phosphates--he is apt to over-estimate vastly its importance from a theoretical point of view4 ,besides1 look at it in another light4 ,over large areas together1 the conditions of air1 climate1 and rainfall are practically identical4 ,but soil differs greatly from place to place4 ,here it's black2 there it's yellow2 here it's rich loam2 there it's boggy mould or sandy gravel4 ,and some soils are better adapted to growing certain plants than others4 ,rich lowlands and oolites suit the cereals2 red marl produces wonderful grazing grass2 bare uplands are best for gorse and heather4 ,hence everything favours for the practical man the mistaken idea that plants and trees grow mainly out of the soil4 ,his own eyes tell him so2 he sees them growing1 he sees the visible result undeniable before his face2 while the real act of feeding off the carbon in the air is wholly unknown to him1 being realizable only by the aid of the microscope1 aided by the most delicate and difficult chemical analysis4 ,nevertheless ,french chemists have amply proved by actual experiment that plants can grow and produce excellent results without any aid from the soil at all4 ,you have only to suspend the seeds freely in the air by a string1 and supply the rootlets of the sprouting seedlings with a little water1 containing in solution small quantities of manure-stuffs1 and the plants will grow as well as on their native heath1 or even better4 ,indeed1 nature has tried the same experiment on a larger scale in many cases1 as with the cliff-side plants that root themselves in the naked clefts of granite rocks2 the tropical orchids that fasten lightly on the bark of huge forest trees2 and the mosses that spread even over the bare face of hard brick walls1 with scarcely a chink or cranny in which to fasten their minute rootlets4 ,the insect-eating plants are also interesting examples in their way of the curious means which nature takes for keeping up the manure supply under trying circumstances4 ,these uncanny things are all denizens of loose1 peaty soil1 where they can root themselves sufficiently for purposes of foothold and drink1 but where the water rapidly washes away all animal matter4 ,under such conditions the cunning sundews and the ruthless pitcher-plants set deceptive honey traps for unsuspecting insects1 which they catch and kill1 absorbing and using up the protoplasmic contents of their bodies1 by way of manure1 to supply their quota of nitrogenous material4 ,it is the literal fact1 then1 that plants really eat and live off carbon1 just as truly as sheep eat grass or lions eat antelopes2 and that the green leaves are the mouths and stomachs with which they eat and digest it4 ,from this it naturally results that the growth and spread of the leaves must largely depend upon the supply of carbon1 as the growth and fatness of sheep depends upon the supply of pasturage4 ,under most circumstances1 to be sure1 there is carbon enough and to spare lying about loose for every one of them2 but conditions do now and again occur where we can clearly see the importance of the carbon supply4 ,water1 for example1 contains practically much less carbonic acid than atmospheric air1 especially when the water is stagnant1 and therefore not supplied fresh to the plant from moment to moment4 ,as a consequence1 almost all water-plants have submerged leaves very narrow and waving1 while floating plants1 like the water-lilies1 have them large and round1 owing to the absence of competition from other kinds about1 which enables them to spread freely in every direction from the central stalk4 ,moreover1 these leaves1 lolling on the water as they do1 have their mouths on the upper instead of the under surface4 ,but the most remarkable fact of all is that many water plants have two entirely different types of leaves1 one submerged and hair-like1 the other floating and broad or circular4 ,our own ,english water-crowfoot1 for example1 has the leaves that spring from its stem1 below the surface1 divided into endless long waving filaments1 which look about in the water for the stray particles of carbon2 but the moment it reaches the top of its native pond the foliage expands at once into broad lily-like lobes1 that recline on the water like oriental beauties1 and absorb carbon from the air to their heart's content1 ,the one type may be likened to gills1 that similarly catch the dissolved oxygen diffused in water2 the other type may be likened to lungs1 that drink in the free and open air of heaven4 ,equally important to the plant1 however1 with the supply of carbonic acid1 is the supply of sunshine by whose aid to digest it4 ,the carbon alone is no good to the tree if it can't get something which will separate it from the oxygen1 locked in close embrace with it4 ,that thing is sunshine4 ,there is nothing1 therefore1 for which herbs1 trees1 and shrubs compete more eagerly than for their fair share of solar energy4 ,in their anxiety for this they jostle one another down most mercilessly1 in the native condition1 grasses struggling up with their hollow stems above the prone low herbs1 shrubs overtopping the grasses in turn1 and trees once more killing out the overshadowed undershrubs4 ,one must remember that wherever nature has free play1 instead of being controlled by the hand of man1 dense forest covers every acre of ground where the soil is deep enough2 gorse1 whins1 and heather1 or their equivalents grow wherever the forest fails2 and herbs can only hold their own in the rare intervals where these domineering lords of the vegetable creation can find no foothold4 ,meadows or prairies occur nowhere in nature1 except in places where the liability to destructive fires over wide areas together crushes out forest trees1 or else where goats1 bison1 deer1 and other large herbivores browse them ceaselessly down in the stage of seedlings4 ,competition for sunlight is thus even keener perhaps than competition for foodstuffs4 ,alike on trees1 shrubs1 and herbs1 accordingly the arrangement of the leaves is always exactly calculated so as to allow the largest possible horizontal surface1 and the greatest exposure of the blade to the open sunshine4 ,in trees this arrangement can often be very well observed1 all the leaves being placed at the extremities of the branches1 and forming a great dome-shaped or umbrella-shaped mass1 every part of which stands an even chance of catching its fair share of carbonic acid and solar energy4 ,the shapes of the leaves themselves are also largely due to the same cause1 every leaf being so designed in form and outline as to interfere as little as possible with the other leaves on the same stem1 as regards supply both of light and of carbonaceous foodstuffs4 ,it is only in rare cases1 like that of the water-lily1 that perfectly round leaves occur1 because the conditions are seldom equal all round1 and the incidence of light and the supply of carbon are seldom unlimited4 ,but wherever leaves rise free and solitary into the air1 without mutual interference1 they are always circular1 as may be well seen in the common nasturtium and the ,english pennywort4 ,on the other hand1 among dense hedgerows and thickets1 where the silent1 invisible struggle for life is fierce indeed1 and where sunlight and carbonic acid are intercepted by a thousand competing mouths and arms1 the prevailing types of leaf are extremely cut up and minutely subdivided into small lace-like fragments4 ,the plant in such cases can't afford material to fill up the interstices between the veins and ribs which determine its underlying architectural structure4 ,often indeed species which grow under these hard conditions produce leaves which are1 as it were1 but skeleton representatives of their large and well filled-out compeers in the open meadows4 ,it is only by bearing vividly in mind this ceaseless and noiseless struggle between plants for their gaseous food and the sunshine which enables them to digest it that we can ever fully understand the varying forms and habits of the vegetable kingdom4 ,to most people1 no doubt1 it sounds like pure metaphor to talk of an internecine struggle between rooted beings which cannot budge one inch from their places1 nor fight with horns1 hoofs1 or teeth1 nor devour one another bodily1 nor tread one another down with ruthless footsteps4 ,but that is only because we habitually forget that competition is just as really a struggle for life as open warfare4 ,the men who try against one another for a clerkship in the ,city1 or a post in a gang of builder's workmen1 are just as surely taking away bread and butter out of their fellows' mouths for their own advantage1 as if they fought for it openly with fists or six-shooters4 ,the white man who encloses the hunting grounds of the ,indian1 and plants them with corn1 is just as surely dooming that ,indian to death as if he scalped or tomahawked him4 ,and so too with the unconscious warfare of plants4 ,the daisy or the plantain that spreads its rosette of leaves flat against the ground is just as truly monopolizing a definite space of land as the noble owner of a ,highland deer forest4 ,no blade of grass can spring beneath the shadow of those tightly pressed little mats of foliage2 no fragment of carbon1 no ray of sunshine can ever penetrate below that close fence of living greenstuff4 ,plants1 in fact1 compete with one another all round for everything they stand in need of4 ,they compete for their food--carbonic acid4 ,they compete for their energy--their fair share of sunlight4 ,they compete for water1 and their foothold in the soil4 ,they compete for the favours of the insects that fertilize their flowers4 ,they compete for the good services of the birds or mammals that disseminate their seeds in proper spots for germination4 ,and how real this competition is we can see in a moment1 if we think of the difficulties of human cultivation4 ,there1 weeds are always battling manfully with our crops or our flowers for mastery over the field or garden4 ,we are obliged to root up with ceaseless toil these intrusive competitors1 if we wish to enjoy the kindly fruits of the earth in due season4 ,when we leave a garden to itself for a few short years1 we realize at once what effect the competition of hardy natives has upon our carefully tended and unstable exotics4 ,in a very brief time the dahlias and phloxes and lilies have all disappeared1 and in their place the coarse-growing docks and nettles and thistles have raised their heads aloft to monopolize air and space and sunshine4 ,exactly the same struggle is always taking place in the fields and woods and moors around us1 and especially in the spots made over to pure nature4 ,there1 the greenwood tree raises its huge umbrella of foliage to the skies1 and allows hardly a ray of sunlight to struggle through to the low woodland vegetation of orchid or wintergreen underneath4 ,where the soil is not deep enough for trees to root securely1 bushes and heathers overgrow the ground1 and compete with their bell-shaped blossoms for the coveted favour of bees and butterflies4 ,and in open glades1 where for some reason or other the forest fails1 tall grasses and other aspiring herbs run up apace towards the free air of heaven4 ,elsewhere1 creepers struggle up to the sun over the stems and branches of stronger bushes or trees1 which they often choke and starve by monopolizing at last all the available carbon and sunlight4 ,and so throughout2 the struggle for life goes on just as ceaselessly and truly among these unconscious combatants as among the lions and tigers of the tropical jungle1 or among the human serfs of the overstocked market4 ,an ounce of example1 they say1 is worth a pound of precept4 ,so a single concrete case of a fierce vegetable campaign now actually in progress over all ,northern ,europe may help to make my meaning a trifle clearer4 ,till very lately the forests of the north were largely composed in places of the light and airy silver birches4 ,but with the gradual amelioration of the climate of our continent1 which has been going on for several centuries1 the beech1 a more southern type of tree1 has begun to spread slowly though surely northward4 ,now1 beeches are greedy trees1 of very dense and compact foliage2 nothing else can grow beneath their thick shade1 where once they have gained a foothold2 and the seedlings of the silver birch stand no chance at all in the struggle for life against the serried leaves of their formidable rivals4 ,the beech literally eats them out of house and home2 and the consequence is that the thick and ruthless southern tree is at this very moment gradually superseding over vast tracts of country its more graceful and beautiful1 but far less voracious competitor4 ,,fish ,,as ,,fathers4 ,comparatively little is known as yet1 even in this age of publicity1 about the domestic arrangements and private life of fishes4 ,not that the creatures themselves shun the wiles of the interviewer1 or are at all shy and retiring1 as a matter of delicacy1 about their family affairs2 on the contrary1 they display a striking lack of reticence in their native element1 and are so far from pushing parental affection to a quixotic extreme that many of them1 like the common rabbit immortalised by ,mr4 ,squeers1 'frequently devour their own offspring4' ,but nature herself opposes certain obvious obstacles to the pursuit of knowledge in the great deep1 which render it difficult for the ardent naturalist1 however much he may be so disposed1 to carry on his observations with the same facility as in the case of birds and quadrupeds4 ,you can't drop in upon most fish1 casually1 in their own homes2 and when you confine them in aquariums1 where your opportunities of watching them through a sheet of plate-glass are considerably greater1 most of the captives get huffy under the narrow restrictions of their prison life1 and obstinately refuse to rear a brood of hereditary helots for the mere gratification of your scientific curiosity4 ,still1 by hook and by crook 7especially the former71 by observation here and experiment there1 naturalists in the end have managed to piece together a considerable mass of curious and interesting information of an out-of-the-way sort about the domestic habits and manners of sundry piscine races4 ,and1 indeed1 the morals of fish are far more varied and divergent than the uniform nature of the world they inhabit might lead an priori philosopher to imagine4 ,to the eye of the mere casual observer every fish would seem at first sight to be a mere fish1 and to differ but little in sentiments and ethical culture from all the rest of his remote cousins4 ,but when one comes to look closer at their character and antecedents1 it becomes evident at once that there is a deal of unsuspected originality and caprice about sharks and flat-fish4 ,instead of conforming throughout to a single plan1 as the young1 the gay1 the giddy1 and the thoughtless are too prone to conclude1 fish are in reality as various and variable in their mode of life as any other great group in the animal kingdom4 ,monogamy and polygamy1 socialism and individualism1 the patriarchal and matriarchal types of government1 the oviparous and viviparous methods of reproduction1 perhaps even the dissidence of dissent and esoteric ,buddhism1 all alike are well represented in one family or another of this extremely eclectic and philosophically unprejudiced class of animals4 ,if you want a perfect model of domestic virtue1 for example1 where can you find it in higher perfection than in that exemplary and devoted father1 the common great pipe-fish of the ,north ,atlantic and the ,british ,seas8 ,this high-principled lophobranch is so careful of its callow and helpless young that it carries about the unhatched eggs with him under his own tail1 in what scientific ichthyologists pleasantly describe as a subcaudal pouch or cutaneous receptacle4 ,there they hatch out in perfect security1 free from the dangers that beset the spawn and fry of so many other less tender-hearted kinds2 and as soon as the little pipe-fish are big enough to look after themselves the sac divides spontaneously down the middle1 and allows them to escape1 to shift for themselves in the broad ,atlantic4 ,even so1 however1 the juniors take care always to keep tolerably near that friendly shelter1 and creep back into it again on any threat of danger1 exactly as baby-kangaroos do into their mother's marsupium4 ,the father-fish1 in fact1 has gone to the trouble and expense of developing out of his own tissues a membranous bag1 on purpose to hold the eggs and young during the first stages of their embryonic evolution4 ,this bag is formed by two folds of the skin1 one of which grows out from each side of the body1 the free margins being firmly glued together in the middle by a natural exudation1 while the eggs are undergoing incubation1 but opening once more in the middle to let the little fish out as soon as the process of hatching is fairly finished4 ,so curious a provision for the safety of the young in the pipe-fish may be compared to some extent1 as ,i hinted above1 with the pouch in which kangaroos and other marsupial animals carry their cubs after birth1 till they have attained an age of complete independence4 ,but the strangest part of it all is the fact that while in the kangaroo it is the mother who owns the pouch and takes care of the young1 in the pipe-fish it is the father1 on the contrary1 who thus specially provides for the safety of his defenceless offspring4 ,and what is odder still1 this topsy-turvy arrangement 7as it seems to us7 is the common rule throughout the class of fishes4 ,for the most part it must be candidly admitted by their warmest admirer1 fish make very bad parents indeed4 ,they lay their eggs anywhere on a suitable spot1 and as soon as they have once deposited them1 like the ostrich in ,job1 they go on their way rejoicing1 and never bestow another passing thought upon their deserted progeny4 ,but if ever a fish does take any pains in the education and social upbringing of its young1 you're pretty sure to find on enquiry it's the father--not as one would naturally expect1 the mother--who devotes his time and attention to the congenial task of hatching or feeding them4 ,it is he who builds the nest1 and sits upon the eggs1 and nurses the young1 and imparts moral instruction 7with a snap of his jaw or a swish of his tail7 to the bold1 the truant1 the cheeky1 or the imprudent2 while his unnatural spouse1 well satisfied with her own part in having merely brought the helpless eggs into this world of sorrow1 goes off on her own account in the giddy whirl of society1 forgetful of the sacred claims of her wriggling offspring upon a mother's heart4 ,in the pipe-fish family1 too1 the ardent evolutionist can trace a whole series of instructive and illustrative gradations in the development of this instinct and the corresponding pouch-like structure among the male fish4 ,with the least highly-evolved types1 like the long-nosed pipe-fish of the ,english ,channel1 and many allied forms from ,european seas1 there is no pouch at all1 but the father of the family carries the eggs about with him1 glued firmly on to the service of his abdomen by a natural mucus4 ,in a somewhat more advanced tropical kind1 the ridges of the abdomen are slightly dilated1 so as to form an open groove1 which loosely holds the eggs1 though its edges do not meet in the middle as in the great pipe-fish4 ,then come yet other more progressive forms1 like the great pipe-fish himself1 where the folds meet so as to produce a complete sac1 which opens at maturity1 to let out its little inmates4 ,and finally1 in the common ,mediterranean sea-horses1 which you can pick up by dozens on the ,lido at ,venice1 and a specimen of which exists in the dried form in every domestic museum1 the pouch is permanently closed by coalescence of the edges1 leaving a narrow opening in front1 through which the small hippocampi creep out one by one as soon as they consider themselves capable of buffeting the waves of the ,adriatic4 ,fish that take much care of their offspring naturally don't need to produce eggs in the same reckless abundance as those dissipated kinds that leave their spawn exposed on the bare sandy bottom1 at the mercy of every comer who chooses to take a bite at it4 ,they can afford to lay a smaller number1 and to make each individual egg much larger and richer in proportion than their rivals4 ,this plan1 of course1 enables the young to begin life far better provided with muscles and fins than the tiny little fry which come out of the eggs of the improvident species4 ,for example1 the cod-fish lays nine million odd eggs2 but anybody who has ever eaten fried cod's-roe must needs have noticed that each individual ovum was so very small as to be almost indistinguishable to the naked eye4 ,thousands of these infinitesimal specks are devoured before they hatch out by predaceous fish2 thousands more of the young fry are swallowed alive during their helpless infancy by the enemies of their species4 ,imagine the very fractional amount of parental affection which each of the nine million must needs put up with6 ,on the other hand1 there is a paternally-minded group of cat-fish known as the genus ,arius1 of ,ceylon1 ,australia1 and other tropical parts1 the males of which carry about the ova loose in their mouths1 or rather in an enlargement of the pharynx1 somewhat resembling the pelican's pouch2 and the spouses of these very devoted sires lay accordingly only very few ova1 all told1 but each almost as big as a hedge-sparrow's egg--a wonderful contrast to the tiny mites of the cod-fish4 ,to put it briefly1 the greater the amount of protection afforded the eggs1 the smaller the number and the larger the size4 ,and conversely1 the larger the size of the egg to start with1 the better fitted to begin the battle of life is the young fish when first turned out on a cold world upon his own resources4 ,this is a general law1 indeed1 that runs through all nature1 from ,london slums to the deep sea4 ,wasteful species produce many young1 and take but little care of them when once produced4 ,economical species produce very few young1 but start each individual well-equipped for its place in life and look after them closely till they can take care of themselves in the struggle for existence4 ,and on the average1 however many or however few the offspring to start with1 just enough attain maturity in the long run to replace their parents in the next generation4 ,were it otherwise1 the sea would soon become one solid mass of herring1 cod1 and mackerel4 ,these cat-fish1 however1 are not the only good fathers that carry their young 7like woodcock7 in their own mouths4 ,a freshwater species of the ,sea of ,galilee1 ,chromis ,andre by name 7dedicated by science to the memory of that fisherman apostle1 ,st4 ,andrew1 who must often have netted them71 has the same habit of hatching out its young in its own gullet3 and here again it is the male fish upon whom this apparently maternal duty devolves1 just as it is the male cassowary that sits upon the eggs of his unnatural mate1 and the male emu that tends the nest1 while the hen bird looks on superciliously and contents herself with exercising a general friendly supervision of the nursery department4 ,i may add parenthetically that in most fish families the eggs are fertilised after they have been laid1 instead of before1 which no doubt accounts for the seeming anomaly4 ,still1 good mothers too may be found among fish1 though far from frequently4 ,one of the ,guiana catfishes1 known as ,aspredo1 very much resembles her countrywoman the ,surinam toad in her nursery arrangements4 ,of course you know the ,surinam toad--whom not to know argues yourself unknown--that curious creature that carries her eggs in little pits on her back1 where the young hatch out and pass through their tadpole stage in a slimy fluid1 emerging at last from the cells of this living honeycomb only when they have attained the full amphibian honours of four-legged maturity4 ,well1 ,aspredo among cat-fish manages her brood in much the same fashion2 only she carries her eggs beneath her body instead of on her back like her amphibious rival4 ,when spawning time approaches1 and ,aspredo's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love1 the lower side of her trunk begins to assume1 by anticipation1 a soft and spongy texture1 honeycombed with pits1 between which are arranged little spiky protuberances4 ,after laying her eggs1 the mother lies flat upon them on the river bottom1 and presses them into the spongy skin1 where they remain safely attached until they hatch out and begin to manage for themselves in life4 ,it is curious that the only two creatures on earth which have hit out independently this original mode of providing for their offspring should both be citizens of ,guiana1 where the rivers and marshes must probably harbour some special danger to be thus avoided1 not found in equal intensity in other fresh waters4 ,a prettily marked fish of the ,indian ,ocean1 allied1 though not very closely1 to the pipe fishes1 has also the distinction of handing over the young to the care of the mother instead of the father4 ,its name is ,solenostoma 7,i regret that no more popular title exists71 and it has a pouch1 formed in this case by a pair of long broad fins1 within which the eggs are attached by interlacing threads that push out from the body4 ,probably in this instance nutriment is actually provided through these threads for the use of the embryo1 in which case we must regard the mechanism as very closely analogous indeed to that which obtains among mammals4 ,some few fish1 indeed1 are truly viviparous2 among them certain blennies and carps1 in which the eggs hatch out entirely within the body of the mother4 ,one of the most interesting of these divergent types is the common ,californian and ,mexican silver-fish1 an inhabitant of the bays and inlets of sub-tropical ,america4 ,its chief peculiarity and title to fame lies in the extreme bigness of its young at birth4 ,the full-grown fish runs to about ten inches in length1 fisherman's scale1 while the fry measure as much as three inches apiece2 so that they lie1 as ,professor ,seeley somewhat forcibly expresses it1 'packed in the body of the parent as close as herrings in a barrel4' ,this strange habit of retaining the eggs till after they have hatched out is not peculiar to fish among egg-laying animals1 for the common little brown ,english lizard is similarly viviparous1 though most of its relatives elsewhere deposit their eggs to be hatched by the heat of the sun in earth or sandbanks4 ,mr4 ,hannibal ,chollop1 if ,i recollect aright1 once shot an imprudent stranger for remarking in print that the ancient ,athenians1 that inferior race1 had got ahead in their time of the modern ,loco-foco ticket4 ,but several kinds of fish have undoubtedly got ahead in this respect of the common reptilian ticket2 for instead of leaving about their eggs anywhere on the loose to take care of themselves1 they build a regular nest1 like birds1 and sit upon their eggs till the fry emerge from them4 ,all the sticklebacks1 for instance1 are confirmed nest-builders3 but here once more it is the male1 not the female1 who weaves the materials together and takes care of the eggs during their period of incubation4 ,the receptacle itself is made of fibres of water-weeds or stalks of grass1 and is open at both ends to let a current pass through4 ,as soon as the lordly little polygamist has built it1 he coaxes and allures his chosen mates into the entrance1 one by one1 to lay their eggs2 and then when the nest is full1 he mounts guard over them bravely1 fanning them with his fins1 and so keeping up a continual supply of oxygen which is necessary for the proper development of the embryo within4 ,it takes a month's sitting before the young hatch out1 and even after they appear1 this excellent father 7little ,turk though he be1 and savage warrior for the stocking of his harem7 goes out attended by all his brood whenever he sallies forth for a morning constitutional in search of caddis-worms1 which shows that there may be more good than we imagine1 after all1 in the domestic institutions even of people who don't agree with us4 ,the bullheads or miller's thumbs1 those quaint big-headed beasts which divide with the sticklebacks the polite attentions of ingenious ,british youth1 are also nest-builders1 and the male fish are said to anxiously watch and protect their offspring during their undisciplined nonage4 ,equally domestic are the habits of those queer shapeless creatures1 the marine lump-suckers1 which fasten themselves on to rocks1 like limpets1 by their strange sucking disks1 and defy all the efforts of enemy or fishermen to dislodge them by main force from their well-chosen position4 ,the pretty little tropical walking-fish of the filuroid tribe--those fish out of water--carry the nest-making instinct a point further1 for they go ashore boldly at the beginning of the rainy season in their native woods1 and scoop out a hole in the beach as a place of safety1 in which they make regular nests of leaves and other terrestrial materials to hold their eggs4 ,then father and mother take turns-about at looking after the hatching1 and defend the spawn with great zeal and courage against all intruders4 ,i regret to say1 however1 there are other unprincipled fish which display their affection and care for their young in far more questionable and unpleasant manners4 ,for instance1 there is that uncanny creature that inserts its parasitic fry as a tiny egg inside the unsuspecting shells of mussels and cockles4 ,our fishermen are only too well acquainted1 again1 with one unpleasant marine lamprey1 the hag or borer1 so called because it lives parasitically upon other fishes1 whose bodies it enters1 and then slowly eats them up from within outward1 till nothing at all is left of them but skin1 scales1 and skeleton4 ,they are repulsive eel-shaped creatures1 blind1 soft1 and slimy2 their mouth consists of a hideous rasping sucker2 and they pour out from the glands on their sides a copious mucus1 which makes them as disagreeable to handle as they are unsightly to look at4 ,mackerel and cod are the hag's principal victims2 but often the fisherman draws up a hag-eaten haddock on the end of his line1 of which not a wrack remains but the hollow shell or bare outer simulacrum4 ,as many as twenty of these disgusting parasites have sometimes been found within the body of a single cod-fish4 ,yet see how carefully nature provides nevertheless for the due reproduction of even her most loathsome and revolting creations4 ,the hag not only lays a small number of comparatively large and well-stored eggs1 but also arranges for their success in life by supplying each with a bundle of threads at either end1 every such thread terminating at last in a triple hook1 like those with which we are so familiar in the case of adhesive fruits and seeds1 like burrs or cleavers4 ,by means of these barbed processes1 the eggs attach themselves to living fishes2 and the young borer1 as soon as he emerges from his horny covering1 makes his way at once into the body of his unconscious host1 whom he proceeds by slow degrees to devour alive with relentless industry1 from the intestines outward4 ,this beautiful provision of nature enables the infant hag to start in life at once in very snug quarters upon a ready-made fish preserve4 ,i understand1 however1 that cod-fish philosophers1 actuated by purely personal and selfish conceptions of utility1 refuse to admit the beauty or beneficence of this most satisfactory arrangement for the borer species4 ,probably the best known of all fishes' eggs1 however 7with the solitary exception of the sturgeon's1 commonly observed between brown bread and butter1 under the name of caviare71 are the queer leathery purse-shaped ova of the sharks1 rays1 skates1 and dog-fishes4 ,everybody has picked them up on the seashore1 where children know them as devil's purses and devil's wheelbarrows4 ,most of these queer eggs are oblong and quadrangular1 with the four corners produced into a sort of handles or streamers1 often ending in long tendrils1 and useful for attaching them to corallines or seaweeds on the bed of the ocean4 ,but it is worth noticing that in colour the egg-cases closely resemble the common wrack to which they are oftenest fastened2 and as they wave up and down in the water with the dark mass around them1 they must be almost indistinguishable from the wrack itself by the keenest-sighted of their enemies4 ,this protective resemblance1 coupled with the toughness and slipperiness of their leathery envelope or egg-shell1 renders them almost perfectly secure from all evil-minded intruders4 ,as a consequence1 the dog-fish lay but very few eggs each season1 and those few1 large and well provided with nutriment for their spotted offspring4 ,it is these purses1 and those of the thornback and the edible skate1 that we oftenest pick up on the ,english coast4 ,the larger oceanic sharks are mostly viviparous4 ,in some few cases1 indeed1 among the shark and ray family1 the mechanism for protection goes a step or two further than in these simple kinds4 ,that well-known frequenter of ,australian harbours1 the ,port ,jackson shark1 lays a pear-shaped egg1 with a sort of spiral staircase of leathery ridges winding round it outside1 ,chinese pagoda wise1 so that even if you bite it 7,i speak in the person of a predaceous fish7 it eludes your teeth1 and goes dodging off screw-fashion into the water beyond4 ,there's no getting at this evasive body anywhere2 when you think you have it1 it wriggles away sideways1 and refuses to give any hold for jaws or palate4 ,in fact1 a more slippery or guileful egg was never yet devised by nature's unconscious ingenuity4 ,then1 again1 the ,antarctic chimra 7so called from its very unprepossessing personal appearance7 relies rather upon pure deception than upon mechanical means for the security of its eggs4 ,the shell or case in this instance is prolonged at the edge into a kind of broad wing on either side1 so that it exactly resembles one of the large flat leaves of the ,antarctic fucus in whose midst it lurks4 ,it forms the high-water mark1 ,i fancy1 of protective resemblance amongst eggs1 for not only is the margin leaf-like in shape1 but it is even gracefully waved and fringed with floating hairs1 as is the fashion with the expanded fronds of so many among the gigantic far-southern sea-weeds4 ,a most curious and interesting set of phenomena are those which often occur when a group of fishes1 once marine1 take by practice to inhabiting freshwater rivers2 or1 vice-vers1 when a freshwater kind1 moved by an aspiration for more expansive surroundings1 takes up its residence in the sea as a naturalised marine4 ,whenever such a change of address happens1 it usually follows that the young fry cannot stand the conditions of the new home to which their ancestors were unaccustomed--we all know the ingrained conservatism of children--and so the parents are obliged once a year to undertake a pilgrimage to their original dwelling-place for the breeding season4 ,extreme cases of terrestrial animals1 once aquatic in habits1 throw a flood of lurid light 7as the newspapers say7 upon the reason why this should be so4 ,for example1 frogs and toads develop from tadpoles1 which in all essentials are true gill-breathing fish4 ,it is1 therefore1 obvious that they cannot lay their eggs on dry land1 where the tadpoles would be unable to find anything to breathe2 so that even the driest and most tree-haunting toads must needs repair to the water once a year to deposit their spawn in its native surroundings4 ,once more1 crabs pass their earlier larval stages as free-swimming crustaceans1 somewhat shrimp-like in appearance1 and as agile as fleas3 it is only by gradual metamorphosis that they acquire their legs and claws and heavy pedestrian habits4 ,now there are certain kinds of crab1 like the ,west ,indian land-crabs 7those dainty morsels whose image every epicure who has visited the ,antilles still enshrines with regret in a warm corner of his heart71 which have taken in adult life to walking bodily on shore1 and visiting the summits of the highest mountains1 like the fish of ,deucalion's deluge in ,horace4 ,but once a year1 as the land-crabs bask in the sun on ,st4 ,catherine's ,peak or the ,fern ,walk1 a strange instinctive longing comes over them automatically to return for a while to their native element2 and1 obedient to that inner monitor of their race1 down they march in thousands1 velut agmine facto1 to lay their eggs at their leisure in ,port ,royal harbour4 ,on the way1 the negroes catch them1 all full of rich coral1 waiting to be spawned2 and ,chloe or ,dinah1 serves them up hot1 with breadcrumbs1 in their own red shells1 neatly nestling between the folds of a nice white napkin4 ,the rest run away1 and deposit their eggs in the sea1 where the young hatch out1 and pass their larval stage once more as free and active little swimming crustaceans4 ,well1 crabs1 ,i need hardly explain in this age of enlightenment1 are not fish2 but their actions help to throw a side-light on the migratory instinct in salmon1 eels1 and so many other true fish which have changed with time their aboriginal habits4 ,the salmon himself1 for instance1 is by descent a trout1 and in the parr stage he is even now almost indistinguishable from many kinds of river-trout that never migrate seaward at all4 ,but at some remote period1 the ancestors of the true salmon took to going down to the great deep in search of food1 and being large and active fish1 found much more to eat in the salt water than ever they had discovered in their native streams4 ,so they settled permanently in their new home1 as far as their own lives went at least2 though they found the tender young could not stand the brine that did no harm to the tougher constitutions of the elders4 ,no doubt the change was made gradually1 a bit at a time1 through the brackish water1 the species getting further and further seaward down bays and estuaries with successive generations1 but always returning to spawn in its native river1 as all well-behaved salmon do to the present moment4 ,at last1 the habit hardened into an organic instinct1 and nowadays the young salmon hatch out like their fathers as parr in fresh water1 then go to the sea in the grilse stage and grow enormously1 and finally return as full-grown salmon to spawn and breed in their particular birthplace4 ,exactly the opposite fate has happened to the eels4 ,the salmonoids as a family are freshwater fish1 and by far the greater number of kinds--trout1 char1 whitefish1 grayling1 pollan1 vendace1 gwyniad1 and so forth--are inhabitants of lakes1 steams1 ponds1 and rivers1 only a very small number having taken permanently or temporarily to a marine residence4 ,but the eels1 as a family1 are a saltwater group1 most of their allies1 like the congers and murnas1 being exclusively confined to the sea1 and only a very small number of aberrant types having ever taken to invading inland waters4 ,if the life-history of the salmon1 however1 has given rise to as much controversy as the ,mar peerage1 the life-history of the eel is a complete mystery4 ,to begin with1 nobody has ever so much as distinguished between male and female eels2 except microscopically1 eels have never been seen in the act of spawning1 nor observed anywhere with mature eggs4 ,the ova themselves are wholly unknown3 the mode of their production is a dead secret4 ,all we know is this3 that eels never reproduce in fresh water2 that a certain number of adults descend the rivers to the sea1 irregularly1 during the winter months2 and that some of these must presumably spawn with the utmost circumspection in brackish water or in the deep sea1 for in the course of the summer myriads of young eels1 commonly called grigs1 and proverbial for their merriment1 ascend the rivers in enormous bodies1 and enter every smaller or larger tributary4 ,if we know little about the paternity and maternity of eels1 we know a great deal about their childhood and youth1 or1 to speak more eelishly1 their grigginess and elverhood4 ,the young grigs1 when they do make their appearance1 leave us in no doubt at all about their presence or their reality4 ,they wriggle up weirs1 walls1 and floodgates2 they force there way bodily through chinks and apertures2 they find out every drain1 pipe1 or conduit in a given plane rectilinear figure2 and when all other spots have been fully occupied1 they take to dry land1 like veritable snakes1 and cut straight across country for the nearest lake1 pond1 or ornamental waters4 ,these swarms or migrations are known to farmers as eel-fairs2 but the word ought more properly to be written eel-fares1 as the eels then fare or travel up the streams to their permanent quarters4 ,a great many eels1 however1 never migrate seaward at all1 and never seem to attain to years of sexual maturity4 ,they merely bury themselves under stones in winter1 and live and die as celibates in their inland retreats4 ,so very terrestrial do they become1 indeed1 that eels have been taken with rats or field-mice undigested in their stomachs4 ,the sturgeon is another more or less migratory fish1 originally 7like the salmon7 of freshwater habits1 but now partially marine1 which ascends its parent stream for spawning during the summer season4 ,incredible quantities are caught for caviare in the great ,russian rivers4 ,at one point on the ,volga1 a hundred thousand people collect in spring for the fishery1 and work by relays1 day and night continuously1 as long as the sturgeons are going up stream4 ,on some of the tributaries1 when fishing is intermitted for a single day1 the sturgeons have been known to completely fill a river #cfj feet wide1 so that the backs of the uppermost fish were pushed out of the water4 7,i take this statement1 not from the ',arabian ,nights1' as the scoffer might imagine1 but from that most respectable authority1 ,professor ,seeley47 ,still1 in spite of the enormous quantity killed1 there is no danger of any falling off in the supply for the future1 for every fish lays from two to three million eggs1 each of which1 as caviare eaters well know1 is quite big enough to be distinctly seen with the naked eye in the finished product4 ,the best caviare is simply bottled exactly as found1 with the addition merely of a little salt4 ,no man of taste can pretend to like the nasty sun-dried sort1 in which the individual eggs are reduced to a kind of black pulp1 and pressed hard with the feet into doubtful barrels4 ,in conclusion1 let me add one word of warning as to certain popular errors about the young fry of sundry well-known species4 ,nothing is more common than to hear it asserted that sprats are only immature herring4 ,this is a complete mistake4 ,believe it not4 ,sprats are a very distinct species of the herring genus1 and they never grow much bigger than when they appear1 brochs1 at table4 ,the largest adult sprat measures only six inches1 while full-grown herring may attain as much as fifteen4 ,moreover1 herring have teeth on the palate1 always wanting in sprats1 by which means the species may be readily distinguished at all ages4 ,when in doubt1 therefore1 do not play trumps1 but examine the palate4 ,on the other hand1 whitebait1 long supposed to be a distinct species1 has now been proved by ,dr4 ,gnther1 the greatest of ichthyologists1 to consist chiefly of the fry or young of herring4 ,to complete our discomfiture1 the same eminent authority has also shown that the pilchard and the sardine1 which we thought so unlike1 are one and the same fish1 called by different names according as he is caught off the ,cornish coast or in ,breton1 ,portuguese1 or ,mediterranean waters4 ,such aliases are by no means uncommon among his class4 ,to say the plain truth1 fish are the most variable and ill-defined of animals2 they differ so much in different habitats1 so many hybrids occur between them1 and varieties merge so readily by imperceptible stages into one another1 that only an expert can decide in doubtful cases--and every expert carefully reverses the last man's opinion4 ,let us at least be thankful that whitebait by any other name would eat as nice2 that science has not a single whisper to breathe against their connection with lemon2 and that whether they are really the young of ,clupea harengus or not1 the supply at ,billingsgate shows no symptom of falling short of the demand4 ,,an ,,english ,,shire4 ,for the reasons which have determined the existence of ,sussex as a county of ,england1 and which have given it the exact boundaries that it now possesses1 we must go back to the remote geological history of the secondary ages4 ,its limits and its very existence as a separate shire were predetermined for it by the shape and consistence of the mud or sand which gathered at the bottom of the great ,wealden lake1 or filled up the hollows of the old inland cretaceous sea4 ,paradoxical as it sounds to say so1 the ,celtic kingdom of the ,regni1 the ,south ,saxon principality of lle the ,bretwalda1 the modern ,english county of ,sussex1 have all had their destinies moulded by the geological conformation of the rock upon which they repose4 ,where human annals see only the handicraft and interaction of human beings--,euskarian and ,aryan1 ,celt and ,roman1 ,englishman and ,norman--a closer scrutiny of history may perhaps see the working of still deeper elements--chalk and clay1 volcanic upheaval and glacial denudation1 barren upland and forest-clad plain4 ,the value and importance of these underlying facts in the comprehension of history has1 ,i believe1 been very generally overlooked2 and ,i propose accordingly here to take the single county of ,sussex in detail1 in order to show that when the geological and geographical factors of the problem are given1 all the rest follows as a matter of course4 ,by such detailed treatment alone can one hope to establish the truth of the general principle that human history is at bottom a result of geographical conditions1 acting upon the fundamentally identical constitution of man4 ,in a certain sense1 it is quite clear that human life depends mainly upon soil and conformation1 to an extent that nobody denies4 ,you cannot have a dense population in ,sahara2 and you can hardly fail to have one in the fruitful valley of the ,nile4 ,the growth of towns in one district rather than another must be governed largely by the existence of rivers or harbours1 of coal or metals1 of agricultural lowlands or defensible heights4 ,glasgow could not spring up in inland ,leicestershire1 nor ,manchester in coalless ,norfolk4 ,insular ,england must naturally be the greatest shipping country in ,europe2 while no large foreign trade is possible in any ,bohemia except ,shakespeare's4 ,so much everybody admits4 ,but it seems to me that these underlying causes have coloured the entire local history of every district to an extent which few people adequately recognise1 and that until such recognition becomes more general1 our views of history must necessarily be very narrow4 ,we must see not only that something depends upon geographical configuration1 not even merely that a great deal depends upon it1 but that everything depends upon it4 ,we must unlearn our purely human history1 and learn a history of interaction between nature and man instead4 ,from the great central boss of the chalk system in ,salisbury ,plain1 two long cretaceous horns or projections run out to eastward towards the ,channel and the ,german ,sea4 ,these two horns1 separated by the deep valley of the ,weald1 are known as the ,north and ,south ,downs respectively4 ,the first great spur or ridge passes through the heart of ,surrey1 and then forms the backbone of ,kent1 expanding into a fan at its eastward extremity1 where it topples over abruptly into the sea in the sheer bluffs which sweep round in a huge arc from the ,north ,foreland in the ,isle of ,thanet1 to ,shakespeare's ,cliff at ,dover4 ,the second or southernmost range1 that of the ,south ,downs1 parts company from the main boss in ,hampshire1 and runs eastward in a narrower but bolder line1 till the ,channel cuts short its progress in the water-worn precipice of ,beachy ,head4 ,between these two ranges of ,downs lies the low forest region of the ,weald1 and between the ,south ,downs and the sea stretches a long but very narrow strip of lowland1 beginning at ,chichester1 and ending where the chalk cliffs first meet the shore beside the new ,aquarium and ,chain ,pier at ,brighton4 ,thus the whole of ,sussex consists of three well-marked parallel belts3 the low coast-line on the south-west1 the high chalk ,downs in the centre1 and the ,weald district on the north and north-west4 ,as these three belts determine the whole history and very existence of ,sussex as an ,english shire1 ,i shall make no apology for treating their origin here in some rapid detail4 ,the oldest geological formation with which we have to deal in ,sussex 7to any considerable extent7 is the ,wealden3 so that our inquiry need not go any farther back in the history of the world than the later secondary ages4 ,before that time1 and for long ons afterward1 the portion of the earth's crust which now forms ,sussex had probably never emerged from the ocean4 ,britain was then wholly represented by the primary regions of ,wales1 ,scotland1 and ,cornwall1 forming a small archipelago or group of rocky islands separated at some distance by a wide passage from the nucleus of the young ,european continent4 ,but by the ,wealden period1 the ,english ,channel and the ,eastern half of ,england had been considerably elevated above the level of the sea4 ,great rivers and lakes existed in this new continental region1 much like those which now exist in ,sweden1 ,northern ,russia1 and ,canada2 and the deposits of sand or mud formed at their bottoms or in their estuaries compose the chief part of the ,wealden formation in ,england4 ,without going fully into this question 7somewhat complicated by frequent changes of level71 it will suffice for our present purpose to say that the ,wealden consists1 in the main1 of two great divisions1 which form1 so to speak1 the floor1 or lowest story1 of the ,sussex formations4 ,the first or bottom division is chiefly composed of a rather soft and friable sandstone1 which runs through the whole ,forest ,ridges1 and crops out in the grey cliffs of ,hastings and ,fairlight4 ,the second or upper division is chiefly composed of a thick greasy clay1 which forms the soil in the greater part of the ,weald1 and glides unobtrusively under the sea in the flat shore on either side of ,hastings1 giving rise to the lowlands of ,pevensey ,bay and the ,romney ,marshes4 ,why the sandstone1 which is really the bottom layer1 should appear higher than the clay in these places1 we shall see a little later4 ,after the deposition of the gritty or muddy ,wealden beds in the lake and embouchure of the old continental river1 there came a second period of considerable depression1 during which the whole of south-eastern ,england was once more covered by a shallow sea4 ,this sea ran1 like an early northern ,mediterranean1 right across the face of ,central ,europe2 and on its bottom was deposited the soft ooze of globigerina shells and siliceous sponge skeletons which has now hardened into chalk and flint4 ,a great cretaceous sheet thus overlay the ,wealden beds and the whole face of ,sussex to a depth of at least #fjj feet2 and if it had not been afterwards worn off in places1 as the nursery rhyme says of old ,pillicock1 it would be there still4 ,i need hardly say that the chalk is yet en vidence along the whole range of ,south ,downs1 and forms the tall white cliffs between ,brighton and ,beachy ,head4 ,finally1 during the ,tertiary period1 another layer of ,london clay and other soft deposits was spread over the top of the chalk1 certainly on the strip between the ,south ,downs and the sea1 and probably over the whole district between the ,channel and the ,thames valley3 though in this case1 later denudation has proceeded so far that very few traces of the ,tertiary formations are preserved anywhere except in the greater hollows4 ,such being the original disposition of the strata which compose ,sussex1 we have next to ask1 ,what are the causes which have produced its existing configuration8 ,if the whole mass had merely been uplifted straight out of the sea1 we ought now to find the whole country a flat and level table-land1 covered over its entire surface with a uniform coat of ,tertiary deposits4 ,on digging or boring below these1 we ought to come upon the chalk1 and below the chalk again1 with its cretaceous congeners the greensand or the gault1 we ought to meet the ,weald clay and the ,hastings sand4 ,wherever a seaward cliff exhibited a section for our observation1 we ought to find these same strata all exposed in regular order--the sandstone at the bottom1 the clay above it1 the broad belt of chalk halfway up1 and the ,tertiary muds and rubbles at the top4 ,but in the county as we actually find it1 we get a very different state of things4 ,here1 the surface at sea-level is composed of ,london clay2 there1 a great mound of chalk rises into a swelling down2 and yonder1 once more1 a steep escarpment leads us down into a broad lowland of the ,weald4 ,the causes which have led to this arrangement of surface and conformation must now be considered with necessary brevity4 ,the ,north and ,south ,downs1 with all the country between them1 form part of a great fold or outward bulge of the strata above enumerated1 having its centre about the middle line of the ,forest ,ridge4 ,imagine these strata bent or pushed upward by an internal upheaving force acting along that line1 and you will get a rough picture of the original circumstances which have led to the existing arrangement of the county4 ,you would then have1 instead of a flat table-land1 as supposed above1 a great curved mountain slope1 with its centre on top of the ,forest ,ridge4 ,this gentle slope would rise from the sea between ,chichester and a point south of ,beachy1 would swell slowly upward till it reached a height of two or three thousand feet at the ,surrey border1 and would fall again gradually towards the ,thames valley at ,london4 ,on the southern side of the ,downs this is pretty much what we now get1 the ,tertiary strata being preserved in the district near ,chichester2 though farther east1 around ,newhaven and ,beachy ,head1 the sea has encroached upon the chalk so as to cut out the great white cliffs which bound the view everywhere along the shore from ,brighton to ,eastbourne4 ,in the central portion of the boss1 however1 almost all the highest elevated part has been denuded by ice or water action4 ,between the ,north and ,south ,downs1 where we ought to find the mountain ridge1 we find instead the valley of the ,weald4 ,here the chalk has been quite worn away1 giving rise to the steep escarpment on the northern side of the ,south ,downs1 seen from the ,devil's ,dyke1 so that at the foot of the sudden descent we get the ,weald clay exposed2 while in the very centre of the upheaved tract the clay itself has been cut through1 and the ,hastings sand appears upon the surface4 ,moreover1 the sand1 being upraised by the central force1 stands higher than the clay on either side1 which forms the trough of the ,weald2 and thus the forest ridge1 which abuts upon the sea in the cliffs of ,hastings ,castle1 seems to lie above the clay1 under which1 however1 it really glides on either side4 ,i need hardly add that this rough diagrammatic description is only meant as a general indication of the facts1 and that it considerably simplifies the real geological changes probably involved in the sculpture of ,sussex4 ,nevertheless1 ,i believe it pretty accurately represents the main formative points in the ante-human history of the county4 ,so much by way of preface or introduction4 ,these facts of structure form the data for the reconstruction of the ,sussex annals during the human period4 ,upon them as framework all the subsequent development of the county hangs4 ,and first let us observe how1 before the advent of man upon the scene1 the shire was already strictly demarcated by its natural boundaries4 ,along the coast1 between ,chichester ,harbour and ,brighton1 stretched a long1 narrow1 level strip of clay and alluvium1 suitable for the dwelling-place of an agricultural people4 ,back of this coastwise belt lay the bare rounded range of the ,south ,downs--good grazing land for sheep1 but naturally incapable of cultivation4 ,two rivers1 however1 flowed in deep valleys through the ,downs1 and their basins1 with the outlying combes and glens1 were also the predestined seats of agricultural communities4 ,the one was the ,ouse1 passing through the fertile country around ,lewes1 and falling at last into the ,english ,channel at ,seaford1 not as now at ,newhaven2 the other was the ,cuckmere river1 which has cut itself a deep glen in the chalk hills just beneath the high cliffs of ,beachy ,head4 ,beyond the ,downs again1 to the north1 the country descended abruptly to the deep trough of the ,weald1 whose cold and sticky clays or porous sandstones are never of any use for purposes of tillage4 ,hence1 as its very name tells us1 the ,weald has always been a wild and wood-clad region4 ,the ,romans knew it as the ,silva ,anderida1 or forest of ,pevensey2 the early ,english as the ,andredesweald4 ,both names are derived from a ,celtic root signifying ',the ,uninhabited4' ,even in our own day1 a large part of this tract is covered by the woodlands of ,tolgate ,forest1 ,st4 ,leonard's ,forest1 and ,ashdown ,forest2 while the remainder is only very scantily laid down in pasture-land or hop-fields1 with a considerable sprinkling of copses1 woods1 commons1 and parks4 ,from its very nature1 indeed1 the ,weald can never be anything else1 in its greater portion1 than a wild1 uncultivated1 and wooded region4 ,let us note1 too1 how the really habitable strip of ,sussex1 from the point of view of an early people1 was quite naturally cut off from all other parts of ,england by obvious limits4 ,this habitable strip consists1 of course1 of the coastwise belt from ,brighton to the ,hampshire border 7which belt ,i shall henceforward take the liberty of designating as ,sussex ,proper71 together with the seaward valleys and combes of the ,south ,downs4 ,to the west1 the great tidal flats and swamps about ,hayling ,island cut off ,sussex from ,hampshire2 and before drainage and reclamation had done their work1 these marshy districts must have formed a most impassable frontier4 ,from this point1 the great woodland region of the ,weald1 thickly covered with primval forest1 and tenanted by wolves1 bears1 wild boars1 and red deer1 swept round in a long curve from the swamps at ,bosham and ,havant to the corresponding swamps of the opposite end at ,pevensey and ,hurstmonceux4 ,the belt of savage wooded country1 thick with the lairs of wild beasts1 which thus ringed round the greater part of the county1 shut off the coastwise strip at once from all possibility of communication with the rest of ,england4 ,so ,sussex ,proper and the combes of the ,downs were naturally predestined to form a single ,celtic kingdom1 a single ,saxon principality1 and a single ,english shire4 ,it will be observed that this description leaves wholly out of consideration the strip of country about ,hastings1 ,rye1 and ,winchelsea4 ,it does so intentionally4 ,that strip of country does not belong to ,sussex in the same intimate and strictly necessary manner as the rest of the county4 ,it probably once formed the seat of a small independent community by itself2 and though there were good and obvious reasons why it should become finally united to ,sussex rather than to ,kent1 it may be regarded as to some extent a debateable island between them4 ,for an island it practically was in early times4 ,at ,pevensey ,bay the ,weald ran down into the sea by a series of swamps and bogs still artificially drained by dykes and sluices4 ,on the other side1 the ,romney marshes formed a similar though wider stretch of tidal flats1 reclaimed and drained at a far later period1 partly through the agency of the long shingle bank thrown up round the low modern spit of ,dungeness4 ,between them1 the ,hastings cliffs rose high above marsh and sea4 ,in their rear1 the ,weald forest covered the ridge2 so that the ,hastings district 7still a separate rape or division of the county7 formed a sort of smaller ,sussex1 divided1 like the larger one1 from all the rest of ,england by a semicircular belt of marsh1 forest1 and marsh once more4 ,these are the main elements out of which the history of the county is made up4 ,how far such conditions may have acted upon the very earliest human inhabitants of ,sussex--the palolithic savages of the drift--before the last ,glacial epoch1 it is impossible to say1 because we know that many of them did not then exist1 and that the present configuration of the county is largely due to subsequent agencies4 ,britain was then united to the continent by a broad belt of land1 filling up the bed of the ,english ,channel1 and it possessed a climate wholly different from that of the present day2 while the position of the drift and the river gravels shows that the sculpture of the surface was then in many respects unlike the existing distribution of hill and valley4 ,we must confine ourselves1 therefore1 to the later or recent period 7subsequent to the last glaciation of ,britain71 during which man has employed implements of polished stone1 of bronze1 and of iron4 ,the ,euskarian neolithic population of ,britain--a dark white race1 like the modern ,basques--had settlements in ,sussex1 at least in the coast district between the ,downs and the sea4 ,here they could obtain in abundance the flints for the manufacture of their polished stone hatchets2 while on the alluvial lowlands of ,selsea and ,shoreham they could grow those cereals upon which they largely depended for their daily bread4 ,neolithic monuments1 indeed1 are common along the range of the ,south ,downs1 as they are also on the main mass of the chalk in ,salisbury ,plain2 and at ,cissbury ,hill1 near ,worthing1 we have remains of one of the largest neolithic camp refuges in ,britain4 ,the evidence of tumuli and weapons goes to show that the ,euskarian people of ,sussex occupied the coast belt and the combes of the ,downs from the ,chichester marshland to ,pevensey1 but that they did not spread at all into the ,weald4 ,in fact1 it is most probable that at this early period ,sussex was divided into several little tribes or chieftainships1 each of which had its own clearing in the lowland cut laboriously out of the forest by the aid of its stone axes2 while in the centre stood the compact village of wooden huts1 surrounded by a stockade1 and girt without by the small cultivated plots of the villagers4 ,on the ,downs above rose the camp or refuge of the tribe--an earthwork rudely constructed in accordance with the natural lines of the hills--to which the whole body of people1 with their women1 children1 and cattle1 retreated in case of hostile invasion from the villagers on either side4 ,it is not likely that any foreigners from beyond the great forest belt of the ,weald would ever come on the war-trail across that dangerous and trackless wilderness2 and it is probable1 therefore1 that the camps or refuges were constructed as places of retreat for the tribes against their immediate neighbours1 rather than against alien intruders from without4 ,hence we may reasonably conclude--as indeed is natural at such an early stage of civilisation--that the whole district was not yet consolidated under a single rule1 but that each village still remained independent1 and liable to be engaged in hostilities with all others4 ,even if extended chieftainships over several villages had already been set up1 as is perhaps implied by the great tumuli of chiefs and the size of the camps in some parts of ,britain1 we must suppose them to have been confined for the most part to a single river valley4 ,if so1 there may have been petty ,euskarian principalities1 rude supremacies or chieftainships like those of ,south ,africa1 in the ,chichester lowlands1 in the dale of ,arun1 in the valleys of the ,adur1 the ,ouse1 and the ,cuckmere ,river1 and perhaps1 too1 in the insulated ,hastings region1 between the ,pevensey levels and the ,romney marsh4 ,these principalities would then roughly coincide with the modern rapes of ,chichester1 ,arundel1 ,bramber1 ,lewes1 ,pevensey1 and ,hastings4 ,each would possess its own group of villages1 and tilled lowland1 its own boundary of forest1 and its own camp of refuge on the hill-tops4 ,cissbury almost undoubtedly formed such a camp for the fertile valley of the ,adur and the coast strip from ,worthing to ,brighton4 ,on its summit has been discovered an actual manufactory of stone implements from the copious material supplied by the flint veins in the chalk of which it is composed4 ,such a society1 left to itself in ,sussex1 could never have got much further than this4 ,it could not discover or use metals1 when it had no metal in its soil except the small quantity of iron to be found in the then inaccessible ,weald4 ,it had no copper and no tin1 and therefore it could not manufacture bronze4 ,but the geographical position of ,england generally1 within sight of the ,european continent1 made it certain that if ever anywhere else bronze should come to be used1 the bronze-weaponed people must ultimately cross over and subjugate the stone-weaponed aborigines of the island4 ,moreover1 bronze was certain to be first hit upon in those countries where tin and copper were most easily workable--that is to say1 in ,asia4 ,from ,asia1 the secret of its manufacture spread to the outlying peninsula of ,europe1 where it was quickly adopted by the ,aryan ,celts1 who had already invaded the outlying continent1 armed only with weapons of stone4 ,as soon as they had learnt the use of bronze1 certain great changes and improvements followed naturally--amongst others1 an immense advance in the art of boat-building4 ,the ,celts of the bronze age soon constructed vessels which enabled them to cross the narrow seas and invade ,britain4 ,their superior weapons gave them at once an enormous advantage over the ,euskarian natives1 armed only with their polished flint hatchets1 and before long they overran the whole island1 save only the recesses of ,wales and the north of ,scotland4 ,from that moment1 the bronze age of ,britain set in--say some #a1jjj or #a1ejj years before the ,christian era4 ,the ,celts1 however1 did not exterminate the whole ,euskarian people2 they were too few in number and too far advanced in civilisation for such a course4 ,they knew it was better to make them slaves than to destroy them3 for the ,celts had just reached1 but had not yet got beyond1 the slave-making stage of culture4 ,to this day1 people of mixed ,euskarian parentage1 and marked by the long skull1 dark complexion1 and black eyes of the ,euskarian type1 form a large proportion of the ,english peasantry2 and they are found even in ,sussex1 which subsequently suffered more than most other parts of ,britain from the destructive deluge of ,teutonic barbarism in the fifth century4 ,but though the ,celts did not exterminate the ,euskarians1 they completely ,celticised them1 just as the ,teuton is now ,teutonising the old population of ,scotland1 ,wales1 and ,ireland4 ,in ,south ,wales and elsewhere1 indeed1 the aborigines retained their own language and institutions1 as ,silures and so forth2 but in the conquered districts of southern and eastern ,britain they learned the tongue of their masters1 and came to be counted as ,celtic serfs4 ,thus1 at the time when ,britain comes forth into the full historic glare of ,roman civilisation1 we find the country inhabited by a ,celtic aristocracy of ,aryan type--round-headed1 fair-haired1 and blue-eyed2 together-with a plebs of ,celticised ,euskarian or half-caste serfs1 retaining1 as they still retain1 the long skulls and dark complexions of their aboriginal ancestors4 ,this was the ethnical composition of the ,sussex population at the date of the first ,roman invasions4 ,under the bronze-weaponed ,celts1 a very different type of civilisation became possible4 ,in the first place a more extended chieftainship resulted from the improved weapons and consequent military power2 and all ,britain 7at least1 towards the close of the ,celtic domination7 became amalgamated into considerable kingdoms1 some of which seem to have spread over several modern shires4 ,sussex1 however1 enclosed by its barrier of forest1 would naturally remain a single little principality of itself1 held1 at least in later times1 by a tribe known to the ,romans as ,regni4 ,traces of ,celtic occupation are mainly confined to the ,downs and the seaward slope of ,sussex ,proper2 in the broad expanse of the ,weald1 they are few and far between4 ,the ,celts occupied the fertile valleys and alluvial slopes1 cut down the woods by the river sides and on the plains1 and built their larger and more regular camps of refuge upon the ,downs1 for protection against the kindred ,cantii beyond the ,weald1 or the more distantly-related ,belg across the ,hayling tidal flats4 ,of these hill-forts1 ,hollingbury ,castle1 near ,brighton1 may be taken as a typical example4 ,bronze weapons and other implements of the bronze age are found in great numbers about ,lewes in particular 7where the isolated height1 now crowned by the ,norman ,castle1 must always have commanded the fertile river vale of the ,ouse71 as well as at ,chichester1 ,bognor1 and elsewhere4 ,but the great forest1 inhabited by savage beasts and still more terrible fiends1 proved a barrier to their northward extension4 ,even if they had cleared the land1 they could not have cultivated it with their existing methods2 and so it is only in a few spots near the upper river valleys that we find any traces of outlying ,celtic hamlets in the wilderness of the ,weald4 ,some kind of trade1 however1 must have existed between the ,regni and the other tribes of ,britain1 in order to supply them with the bronze1 whose component elements ,sussex does not possess4 ,woolsonbury1 ,westburton ,hill1 ,clayton ,hill1 ,wilmington1 ,hangleton ,down1 ,plumpton ,plain1 and many other places along the coast have yielded large numbers of bronze implements2 while the occurrence of the raw metal in lumps1 together with the finished weapons1 at ,worthing and ,beachy ,head1 as well the discovery of a mould for a socketed celt at ,wilmington1 shows that the actual foundry work was performed in ,sussex itself4 ,a beautiful torque from ,hollingbury ,castle attests the workmanship of the ,sussex founders4 ,no doubt the tin was imported from ,cornwall1 while the copper was probably brought over from the continent4 ,glass beads1 doubtless of ,southern 7perhaps ,egyptian7 manufacture1 have also been found in ,sussex1 with implements of the bronze age4 ,in the polished stone age1 the county had been self-supporting1 because of its possession of flint4 ,in the bronze age it was dependent upon other places1 through its non-possession of copper or tin4 ,during the former period it may have exported weapons from ,cissbury2 during the latter1 it must have imported the material of weapons from ,cornwall and ,gaul4 ,before the ,romans came1 the ,celts of ,britain had learned the use of iron4 ,whether they ever worked the iron of the ,weald1 however1 is uncertain4 ,but as the ores lie near the surface1 as wood 7to be made into charcoal7 for the smelting was abundant1 and as these two facts caused the ,weald iron to be extensively employed in later times1 it is probable that small clearings would be made in the most accessible spots1 and that rude ironworks would be established4 ,the same geographical causes which made ,britain part of the ,roman world naturally affected ,sussex1 as one of its component portions4 ,even under the ,empire1 however1 the county remained singularly separate4 ,the ,romans built two strong fortresses at ,anderida and ,regnum1 ,pevensey and ,chichester1 to guard the two ,gwents or lowland plains1 where the shore shelves slowly to seaward2 and they ran one of their great roads across the coastwise tract1 from ,dover to the ,portus ,magnus 7now ,porchester71 near ,portsmouth2 but they left ,sussex otherwise very much to its own devices4 ,we know that the ,regni were still permitted to keep their native chief1 who probably exercised over his tribesmen somewhat the same subordinate authority which a ,rjput raja now exercises under the ,british government4 ,here1 again1 we see the natural result of the isolation of ,sussex4 ,the ,romans ruled directly in the open plains of the ,yorkshire ,ouse and the ,thames1 as we ourselves rule in the ,bengal ,delta1 the ,dob1 and the ,punjb2 but they left a measure of independence to the native princes of south ,wales1 of ,sussex1 and of ,cornwall1 as we ourselves do to the native rulers in the deserts of ,rjputana1 the inaccessible mountains of ,nipal1 and the aboriginal hill districts of ,central ,india4 ,when the ,roman power began to decay1 the outlying possessions were the first to be given up4 ,the ,romans had enslaved and demoralised the provincial population2 and when they were gone1 the great farms tilled by slave labour under the direction of ,roman mortgagee-proprietors lay open to the attacks of fresh and warlike barbarians from beyond the sea4 ,how early the fertile east coasts of ,yorkshire1 ,lincolnshire1 and ,east ,anglia may have fallen a prey to the ,teutonic pirates we cannot say4 ,the wretched legends1 indeed1 retailed to us by ,gildas1 ,bda1 and the ,english ,chronicle1 would have us believe that they were colonised at a later period2 but as they lay directly in the path of the marauders from ,sleswick1 as they were certainly ,teutonised very thoroughly1 and as no real records survive1 we may well take it for granted that the long-boats of the ,english1 sailing down with the prevalent north-east winds from the wicks of ,denmark1 came first to shore on these fertile coasts4 ,after they had been conquered and colonised1 the ,saxon and ,jutish freebooters began to look for settlements1 on their part1 farther south4 ,one horde1 led1 as the legend veraciously assures us1 by ,hengest and ,horsa1 landed in ,thanet2 another1 composed entirely of ,saxons1 and under the command of a certain dubious lle1 came to shore on the spit of ,selsea4 ,it was from this last body that the county took its newer name of ,suth-,seaxe1 ,suth ,sexe1 or ,sussex4 ,let us first frankly narrate the legend1 and then see how far it may fairly be rationalised4 ,in #dgg1 says the ,english ,chronicle--written down1 it must be remembered1 from traditional sources1 four centuries later1 at the court of ,alfred the ,west ,saxon--in #dgg1 lle and his three sons1 ,cymen1 ,wlencing1 and ,cissa1 came to ,britain in three ships1 and landed at the stow that is cleped ,cymenes-ora4 ,there that ilk day they slew many ,welshmen1 and the rest they drave into the wood hight ,andredes-leah4 ,in #dhe1 lle1 fighting the ,welsh near ,mearcredes ,burn1 slew many1 and the rest he put to flight4 ,in #dia1 lle1 with his son ,cissa1 beset ,andredes-ceaster1 and slew all that therein were1 nor was there after one ,welshman left4 ,such is the whole story1 as told in the bald and simple entries of the ,west ,saxon annalist1 ,a more dubious tradition further states that lle was also ,bretwalda1 or overlord1 of all the ,teutonic tribes in ,britain4 ,and now let us see what we can make of this wholly unhistorical and legendary tale4 ,whether there ever was a ,south ,saxon king named lle we cannot say2 but that the earliest ,english pirate fleet on this coast should have landed near ,selsea is likely enough4 ,the marauders would not land near the ,romney marshes or the ,pevensey flats1 where the great fortresses of ,lymne and ,anderida would block their passage2 and they could not beach their keels easily anywhere along the cliff-girt coast between ,beachy ,head and ,brighton2 so they would naturally sail along past the marshland and the chalk cliffs till they reached the open champaign shore near ,chichester4 ,cymenes-ora1 where they are said to have landed1 is now ,keynor on the ,bill of ,selsea2 and ,selsea itself1 as its name 7correctly ,selsey7 clearly shows us1 was then an island in the tidal flats4 ,this was just the sort of place which the ,english pirates loved1 for all tradition represents their first settlements as effected on isolated spots like ,thanet1 ,hurst ,castle1 ,holderness1 and ,bamborough4 ,thence they would march upon ,regnum1 the square ,roman town at the harbour head1 and reduce it by storm1 garrisoned as it doubtless was by a handful of semi-,romanised ,welshmen or ,britons4 ,the town took the ,english name of ,cissanceaster1 or ,chichester4 ,moreover1 all around the ,chichester district1 we still find a group of ,english clan villages1 with the characteristic patronymic termination ing4 ,such are ,east and ,west ,wittering1 ,donnington1 ,funtington1 ,didling1 and others4 ,it is vraisemblable enough that the little strip of very low coast between ,hayling ,island and the ,arun may have been the first original ,south ,saxon colony4 ,nor is it by any means impossible that the names of ,keynor and ,chichester ,cymenes-ora and ,cissanceaster--may still enshrine the memory of two among the old ,south ,saxon freebooters4 ,the tradition of a battle at ,mearcredes ,burn1 when the ,welsh were again defeated1 may refer to an advance by which1 a few years later1 the ,south ,saxon pirates pushed eastward along the coast1 and occupied the strip of shore as far as ,brighton1 together with the fertile valley of the ,lewes ,ouse4 ,in the first-named district we find a large group of ,english ,clan villages1 including ,patching1 ,poling1 ,angmering1 ,goring1 ,worthing1 ,tarring1 ,washington1 ,lullington1 ,blatchingden1 ,ovingdean1 ,rottingdean1 and many others4 ,amongst them is one which has clearly given rise to the name of lle's third son1 and that is ,lancing4 ,unfortunately for the legend1 we must decide that this was really the settlement of an ,english clan of ,lancingas1 as ,washington was the tun or enclosure of the ,weasingas1 and ,beddingham was the ham or home of the ,beddingas4 ,around ,lewes1 in like manner1 we find ,tarring1 ,malling1 ,piddinghoe1 ,bletchington1 and others2 while in the valley just to the east we have ten or eleven such names as ,lullington1 ,wilmington1 ,folkington1 and ,littlington4 ,these districts1 ,i imagine1 represent the second advance of the ,english conquerors4 ,finally1 fourteen years after the first landing1 the ,south ,saxons crossed the ,downs and attacked ,anderida4 ,the ,roman walls of the great fortress were thick and strong1 as their remains1 built over by the ,norman ,castle1 still show2 but they were defended by half-trained ,welsh1 who could not withstand the ,english onset4 ,with the fall of ,anderida1 the native power was broken for ever1 'nor was there after one ,welshman left4' ,the ,english tribe of the ,hastingas settled at ,hastings2 and the ,south ,saxons were now supreme from marsh to marsh4 ,but did they really exterminate the native ,celt-,euskarian population8 ,i venture to say1 no4 ,some no doubt1 especially the men1 they slew2 but the women and children1 as even ,mr4 ,freeman admits1 were probably spared in large numbers4 ,even of the men1 many doubtless became slaves to the ,saxon lords2 while others maintained themselves in isolated bands in the ,weald4 ,to this day the ,euskarian type of humanity is not uncommon among the ,sussex peasantry1 and all the rivers still bear the ,celtic names of ,arun1 ,adur1 ,ouse1 and ,calder4 ,that there was 'no ,welshmen left' is only another way of saying that the armed ,welsh resistance ceased4 ,the ,romanised ,britons became ,english churls and serfs--nay1 the very name for a serf in ordinary conversation was ,weala or ,welshman4 ,the population received a new element--the ,english ,saxons--but it was not completely changed4 ,the ,weorthingas and ,goringas simply became masters of the lands formerly held by ,roman owners2 and the cabins of their ,british serfs still clustered around the wooden hall of the ,english lords4 ,nevertheless1 ,sussex is one of the most thoroughly ,teutonised counties in ,england4 ,the proportion of ,saxon blood is very marked3 light hair and blue eyes1 together with the broad and short ,english skull1 are common even among the peasantry4 ,the number of ,english ,clan names noticed by ,mr4 ,kemble in the towns and villages of ,sussex is #fh as against #fj in almost equally ,teutonic ,kent1 #dh in ,essex1 #ba in largely ,celtic ,dorset1 #f in ,cumberland1 #b in ,cornwall1 and none in ,monmouth4 ,the size and number of the hundreds into which the county is divided tells us much the same tale4 ,each hundred was originally a group of one hundred free ,english families1 settled on the soil1 and holding in check the native subject population of ,anglicised ,celt-,euskarian churls4 ,now1 in ,sussex we get #fa hundreds1 and in ,kent #fa1 as against #ac in ,surrey beyond the ,weald 7where the clan names also sink to #ah71 and #h in ,hertfordshire4 ,or1 to put it another way1 which ,i borrow from ,mr4 ,isaac ,taylor1 in ,sussex there is one hundred to every #bc square miles2 in ,kent to every #bd2 in ,dorset to every #cj2 in ,surrey to every #eh2 in ,herts to every #gi2 in ,gloucester to every #ig2 in ,derby to every #afb2 in ,warwick to every #agi2 and in ,lancashire to every #cjb4 ,in other words1 while in ,kent1 ,sussex1 and the east the free ,english inhabitants clustered thickly on the soil1 with a relatively small servile population1 in ,mercia and the west the ,english population was much more sparsely scattered1 with a relatively great servile population4 ,so1 as late as the time of ,domesday1 in ,kent and ,sussex the slaves mentioned in the great survey 7only a small part1 probably1 of the total7 numbered only #aj per cent4 of the population1 while in ,devon and ,cornwall they numbered #bj per cent41 and in ,gloucestershire #cc per cent4 ,these results are all inevitable4 ,it is obvious that the first attacks must necessarily be made upon the east and south coasts1 and that the inland districts and the west must only slowly be conquered afterward4 ,especially was it easy to found ,teutonic kingdoms in the four isolated regions of ,lincolnshire1 ,east ,anglia1 ,kent1 and ,sussex1 each of which was cut off from the rest of ,england in early times by impassable fens1 marshes1 forests1 or rivers4 ,it was easy here to kill off the ,welsh fighting population1 to drive the remnants into the ,fen ,country or the ,weald1 to enslave the captives1 the women1 and the children1 and to secure the ,teutonic colony by a mark or border of woodland1 swamp1 or hill4 ,on the other hand1 ,wessex1 ,northumbria1 and ,mercia1 with a vague and ill-defined internal border1 had harder work to fight their way in against a united ,welsh resistance2 and it was only very slowly that they pushed across the central watershed1 to dismember the unconquered remnant of the ,britons at last into the three isolated bodies of ,damnonia 7,cornwall and ,devon71 ,wales ,proper1 and ,strathclyde4 ,this is probably why the earliest settlements were made in these isolated coast regions1 and why the inward progress of the other colonies was so relatively slow4 ,the ,south ,saxons1 then1 at first occupied the three fertile bits of the county--the coast belt of ,sussex ,proper1 the ,valley of the ,ouse1 and the isolated ,hastings district--because these were the best adapted for their strictly agricultural life4 ,in spite of the legend of lle1 ,i do not suppose that they were all united from the first under a single principality4 ,it seems far more probable that each little clan settlement was at first wholly independent2 that afterwards three little chieftainships grew up in the three fertile strips--typified1 perhaps1 by the story of lle's three sons--and that the whole finally coalesced into a single kingdom of the ,south ,saxons1 which is the state in which we find the county in ,bda's time4 ,as ever1 its boundaries were marked out for it by nature1 for the ,weald remained as yet an almost unbroken forest2 and the names of ,selsea1 ,pevensey1 ,winchelsea1 ,romney1 and many others1 show by their common insular termination 7found in all isles round the ,british coast1 as in ,sheppey1 ,walney1 ,bardsea1 ,anglesea1 ,fursey1 ,wallasey1 and so forth7 that the marshland was still wholly undrained1 and that a few islands alone stood here and there as masses of dry land out of their desolate and watery expanse4 ,the ,hastings district1 too1 fell more naturally to ,sussex than to ,kent1 because the marshes dividing it from the former were far less formidable than those which severed it from the latter4 ,most probably the ,south ,saxons intentionally aided nature in cutting off their territory from all other parts of ,britain2 for every ,english kingdom loved to surround itself with a distinct mark or border of waste1 as a defence against invasion from outside4 ,the ,romans had brought ,sussex within the great network of their road system2 but the ,south ,saxons no doubt took special pains to cut off those parts of the roads which led across their own frontier4 ,at any rate1 it is quite clear that ,sussex did not largely participate in the general life of the new ,england1 and that intercourse with the rest of the world was extremely limited4 ,the ,south ,saxon kings probably lived for the most part at ,chichester1 though no doubt they had hams1 after the royal ,teutonic fashion generally1 in many other parts of their territory2 and they moved about from one to the other1 with their suite of thegns1 eating up in each what food was provided by their serfs for their use1 and then moving on to the next4 ,the isolation of ,sussex is strikingly shown by its long adherence to the primitive paganism4 ,missionaries from ,rome1 under the guidance of ,augustine1 converted ,kent as early as #eig4 ,for ,kent was the nearest kingdom to the continent2 it contained the chief port of entry for continental travellers1 ,richborough--the ,dover of those days--and its king1 accustomed to continental connections1 had married a ,christian ,frankish princess from ,paris4 ,hence ,kent was naturally the first ,teutonic principality to receive the faith4 ,next came ,northumbria1 ,lindsey1 ,east ,anglia1 ,wessex1 and even inland ,mercia4 ,but ,sussex still held out for ,thor and ,woden as late as #fgi1 three-quarters of a century after the conversion of ,kent1 and twenty years after ,mercia itself had given way to the new faith4 ,even when ,sussex was finally converted1 the manner in which the change took place was characteristic4 ,it was not by missionaries from beyond the ,weald in ,kent or ,surrey1 nor from beyond the marsh in ,wessex4 ,an ,irish monk1 ,bda tells us1 coming ashore on the open coast near ,chichester1 established a small monastery at ,bosham--even then1 no doubt1 a royal ham1 as we know it was under ,harold--'a place1' says the old historian significantly1 'girt round by sea and forest4' 7,it lies just on the mark between ,wessex and the ,south ,saxons47 thelwealh1 the king--a curious name1 for it means 'noble ,welshman' 7perhaps he was of mixed blood7--had already been baptized in ,mercia1 and his wife was the daughter of a ,christian ealdorman of the ,worcester-men2 but the rest of the principality was heathen4 ,the ,irish monk effected nothing2 but shortly after ,wilfrith1 the fiery ,bishop of ,york1 on one of his usual flying visits to ,rome1 got shipwrecked off ,selsea4 ,with his accustomed vigour1 he went ashore1 and began a crusade in the heathen land4 ,he was able at once to baptize the 'leaders and soldiers'--that is to say1 the free military ,english population2 while his attendant priests--,eappa1 ,padda1 ,burghelm1 and ,oiddi 7it is pleasant to preserve these little personal touches7--proceeded to baptize the 'plebs'--that is to say1 the servile ,anglicised ,celt-,euskarian substratum--up and down the country villages4 ,it was to ,wilfrith1 too1 that ,sussex owed her first cathedral4 thelwealh made him a present of ,selsea1 'a place surrounded by the sea on every side save one1 where an isthmus about as broad as a stone's-throw connects it with the mainland1' and there the ardent bishop founded a regular monastery1 in which he himself remained for five years4 ,on the soil were #bej serfs1 whom ,wilfrith at once set free4 ,after the death of ,aldhelm1 the ,west ,saxon bishop1 in #gji1 ,sussex was made a separate bishopric1 with its seat at ,selsea2 and it was not till after the ,norman ,conquest that the cathedral was removed to ,chichester4 ,it may be noted that all these arrangements were in strict accordance with early ,english custom4 ,the kings generally gave their bishops a seat near their own chief town1 as ,cuthbert had his see at ,lindisfarne1 close to the royal ,northumbrian capital of ,bamborough2 so that the proximity of ,selsea to ,chichester made it the most natural place for a bishopstool2 and1 again1 it was usual to make over spots in the fens or marshes to the monks1 who1 by draining and cultivating them1 performed a useful secular work4 ,no traces now remain of old ,selsea ,cathedral1 its site having long been swallowed up by incursions of the sea4 ,bda has the ordinary number of miracles to record in connection with the monastery4 ,as time went on1 however1 the isolation of ,sussex became less complete4 thelwealh had got himself into complications with ,wessex by accepting the sovereignty of the ,isle of ,wight and the ,meonwaras about ,southhampton from the hands of a ,mercian conqueror4 ,perhaps thelwealh then repaired the old ,roman roads which led from his own ham at ,chichester to ,portsmouth in ,wessex1 and broke down the mark1 so as to connect his old and his new dominions with one another4 ,at any rate1 shortly after1 ,cdwalla1 the ,west ,saxon1 an theling at large on the look-out for a kingdom1 attacked him suddenly with his host of thegns from this unexpected quarter1 killed the ,king himself1 and harried the ,south ,saxons from marsh to marsh4 ,two ,south ,saxons thegns expelled him for a time1 and made themselves masters of the country4 ,but afterwards1 ,cdwalla1 becoming ,king of the ,west ,saxons1 recovered ,sussex once more1 and handed it on to his successor1 ,ini4 ,hence the ,south ,saxons had no bishopric of their own during this period1 but were included in the see of the ,west ,saxons at ,winchester4 ,during the hundred years of the ,mercian ,supremacy1 coincident1 roughly speaking1 with the eighth century1 we hear little of ,sussex2 but it seems to have shaken off the yoke of ,wessex1 and to have been in subjection to the great ,mercian over-lords alone4 ,it had its own under-kings and its own bishops4 ,early in the ninth century1 however1 when ,ecgberht the ,west ,saxon succeeding in throwing off the ,mercian yoke1 the other ,saxon ,states of ,south ,britain willingly joined him against the ,anglian oppressors4 ',the men of ,kent and ,surrey1 ,sussex and ,essex1 gladly submitted to ,king ,ecgberht4' ,when the royal house of the ,south ,saxons died out1 ,sussex still retained a sort of separate existence within the ,west ,saxon ,state1 as ,wales does in the ,england of our own day4 thelwulf made his son under-king of ,kent1 ,essex1 ,surrey1 and ,sussex2 and so1 during the troublous times of the ,danish invasion1 when all southern ,england became one in its resistance to the heathen1 those old principalities gradually sank into the position of provinces or shires4 ,from the period of union with the general ,west ,saxon ,kingdom 7which grew slowly into the ,kingdom of ,england under ,eadgar and ,cnut71 the markland of the ,weald seems to have been gradually encroached upon from the south4 ,most of the names in that district are distinctly ',anglo-,saxon' in type2 by which ,i mean that they were imposed before the ,norman ,conquest1 and belong to the stage of the language then in use4 ,even during the ,roman period1 settlements for iron-mining existed in the ,weald1 and these clearings would of course be occupied by the ,english colonists at a comparatively early time4 ,just at the foot of the ,downs1 too1 on the north side1 we find a few clan settlements on the edge of the ,weald1 which must date from the first period of ,english colonisation4 ,such are ,poynings1 ,didling1 ,ditchling1 ,chillington1 and ,chiltington4 ,farther in1 however1 the clan names grow rarer2 and where we find them they are not hams or tuns1 regular communities of ,saxon settlers1 but they show1 by their forestine terminations of hurst1 ley1 den1 and field1 that they were mere outlying shelters of hunters or swineherds in the trackless forest4 ,such are ,billinghurst1 ,warminghurst1 ,itchingfield1 and ,ardingley4 ,on the ,cuckmere river1 the villages in the combes bear names like ,jevington and ,lullington2 but in the upper valley of the little stream1 where it flows through the ,weald1 we find instead ,chiddingley and ,hellingley4 ,most of the ,weald villages1 however1 bear still more woodland titles--,midhurst1 ,farnhurst1 ,nuthurst1 ,maplehurst1 and ,lamberhurst2 ,cuckfield1 ,mayfield1 ,rotherfield1 ,hartfield1 ,heathfield1 and ,wivelsfield2 ,crawley1 ,cowfold1 ,loxwood1 ,linchmere1 and ,marden4 ,hams and tuns1 the sure signs of early ,english colonisation1 are almost wholly lacking2 in their place we get abundance of such names as ,coneyhurst ,common1 ,water ,down ,forest1 ,hayward's ,heath1 ,milland ,marsh1 and ,bell's ,oak ,green4 ,to this day even1 the greater part of the ,weald is down in park1 copse1 heath1 forest1 common1 or marshland4 ,throughout the whole expanse of the woodland region in ,sussex1 with the outlying portions in ,kent1 ,surrey1 and ,hants1 ,mr4 ,isaac ,taylor has collected no fewer than #bii local names with the significant forest terminations in hurst1 den1 ley1 holt1 and field4 ,these facts show that1 during the later ',anglo-,saxon' period1 the ,weald was being slowly colonised in a few favourable spots4 ,its use as a mark was now gone1 and it might be safely employed for the peaceful purposes of the archer and the swineherd4 ,names referring to pasture and the wild beasts are therefore common4 ,to the same time must doubtless be assigned the exact delimitation of the ,sussex frontiers4 ,during the early periods1 the ,kentings1 the ,suthrige1 and the ,west ,saxons would all extend on their side as far as the ,weald1 which would be treated as a sort of neutral zone4 ,but when the ,woodland itself began to be occupied1 a demarcation would naturally be made between the neighbouring provinces4 ,the boundary follows the most obvious course4 ,it starts on the east from the old mouth of the ,rother 7now diverted to ,rye ,new ,harbour71 known as the ,kent ,ditch1 in what was then the central and most impassable part of the marshland4 ,it runs along the ,rother to its bifurcation1 and then makes for the heaven-water-parting or dividing back of the ,forest ,ridge1 beside two or three lesser streams4 ,then it passes along the crest of the ridge from ,tunbridge ,wells1 past ,east ,grinstead and ,crawley1 till it strikes the ,hampshire border4 ,there it follows the line between the two watersheds to the sea1 which it reaches at ,emsworth4 ,there is1 however1 one long insulated spur of ,hampshire running down from ,haslemere to ,graffham 7in apparent defiance of geographical features71 whose origin and meaning ,i do not understand4 ,with the ,norman ,conquest1 the history of ,sussex1 and of ,england generally1 for the most part ceases abruptly2 all the rest is mere personal gossip about ,prince ,edward and the battle of ,lewes1 or about ,george ,,iv4 and the ,brighton ,pavilion4 ,not1 of course1 that there is not real national history here as elsewhere2 but it is hard to disentangle from the puerile personalities of historians generally4 ,nevertheless1 some brief attempt to reconstruct the main facts in the subsequent history of ,sussex must still be undertaken4 ,the part which ,sussex bore passively in the actual ,conquest is itself typical of the new relations4 ,england was getting drawn into the general run of ,european civilisation1 and the old isolation of ,sussex was beginning to be broken down4 ,lying so near the ,continent1 ,sussex was naturally the landing-place for an army coming from ,normandy or ,ponthieu4 ,william's fleet came ashore on the low coast at ,pevensey4 ,naturally he turned towards ,hastings1 whence a road now led through the ,weald to ,london4 ,on the tall cliffs he threw up an earthwork1 and then marched towards the great town4 ,harold's army met him on the heights of ,senlac1 part of the solitary ridge between the marshes1 by which alone ,london could be reached4 ,harold fell on the spot now marked by the ruined high altar of ,battle ,abbey--a national monument at present in the keeping of an ,english duke4 ,once the native army was routed1 ,william marched on resistlessly to ,london1 and ,sussex and ,england were at his feet4 ,the new feudal organisation of the county is doubtless shadowed forth in the existing rapes4 ,of these there are six1 called respectively after ,chichester1 ,arundel1 ,bramber1 ,lewes1 ,pevensey1 and ,hastings4 ,it will be noticed at once that these were the seats of the new bishopric and of the five great early castles4 ,in one form or another1 more or less modernised1 ,arundel ,castle1 ,bramber ,castle1 ,lewes ,castle1 ,pevensey ,castle1 and ,hastings ,castle all survive to our own day4 ,in accordance with their ordinary policy of removing cathedrals from villages to chief towns1 and so concentrating the civil and ecclesiastical government1 the ,normans brought the bishopstool from ,selsea to ,chichester4 ,the six rapes are fairly coincident--,chichester with the marsh district2 ,arundel with the dale of ,arun2 ,bramber with the dale of ,adur2 ,lewes with the western dale of ,ouse2 ,pevensey with the eastern dale of ,ouse2 and ,hastings with the insulated region between the marshes4 ,in other words1 ,sussex seems to have been cut up into six natural divisions along the sea-shore2 while to each division was assigned all the ,weald back of its own shore strip as far as the border4 ,thus the rapes consist of six long longitudinal belts1 each with a short sea front and a long stretch back into the ,weald4 ,increased intercourse with the ,continent brought the ,cinque ,ports into importance2 and1 as premier ,cinque ,port1 ,hastings grew to be one of the chief towns in ,sussex4 ,the constant ,french wars made them prominent in medival history4 ,as trade grew up1 other commercial harbours gave rise to considerable mercantile towns4 ,rye and ,winchelsea1 at the mouth of the ,rother1 were great ports of entry from ,france as late as the days of ,elizabeth4 ,seaford1 at the mouth of the ,ouse1 was also an important harbour till #aegj1 when a terrible storm changed the course of the stream to the town called from that fact ,newhaven4 ,lewes was likewise a port1 as the estuary of the ,ouse was navigable from the mouth up to the town4 ,brighthelmstone was still a village2 but old ,shoreham on the ,adur was a considerable place4 ,arundel ,haven and ,chichester ,harbour recalls the old mercantile importance of their respective neighbourhoods4 ,the only other places of any note in medival ,sussex were ,steyning1 under the walls of ,bramber ,castle2 ,hurstmonceux1 which the ,conqueror bestowed upon the lord of ,eu2 ,battle1 where he planted his great expiatory abbey2 and ,hurst ,pierpont1 which also dates from ,william's own time4 ,the sole important part of the county was still the strip along the coast between the ,weald and the sea4 ,during the ,plantagenet period1 ,england became a wool-exporting country1 like ,australia at the present day2 and therefore the wool-growing parts of the island rose quickly into great importance4 ,sussex1 with its large expanse of chalk downs1 naturally formed one of the best wool-producing tracts2 and in the reign of ,edward ,,iii41 ,chichester was made one of the 'staples' to which the wool trade was confined by statute4 ,sussex ,proper and the ,lewes valley were now among the most thickly populated regions of ,england4 ,the ,weald1 too1 was beginning to have its turn4 ,english iron was getting to be in request for the cannon1 armour1 and arms required in the ,french wars2 and nowhere was iron more easily procured1 side by side with the fuel for smelting it1 than in the ,sussex ,weald4 ,from the days of the ,edwards to the early part of the eighteenth century1 the woods of the ,weald were cut down in quantities for the iron works4 ,during this time1 several small towns began to spring up in the old forest region1 of which the chief are ,midhurst1 ,petworth1 ,billinghurst1 ,horsham1 ,cuckfield1 and ,east ,grinstead4 ,many of the deserted smelting-places may still be seen1 with their invariable accompaniment of a pond or dam4 ,the wood supply began to fail as early as ,elizabeth's reign1 but iron was still smelted in #agfj4 ,from that time onward1 the competition of ,sheffield and ,birmingham--where iron was prepared by the 'new method' with coal--blew out the ,sussex furnaces1 and the ,weald relapsed once more into a wild heather-clad and wood-covered region1 now thickly interspersed with parks and country seats1 of which ,petworth1 ,cowdry1 and ,ashburnham are the best known4 ,modern times1 of course1 have brought their changes4 ,with the northward revolution caused by steam and coal1 ,sussex1 like the rest of southern ,england1 has fallen back to a purely agricultural life4 ,the sea has blocked up the harbours of ,rye1 ,winchelsea1 ,seaford1 and ,lewes4 ,man's hand has drained the marshes of the ,rother1 of ,pevensey1 and of ,selsea ,bill2 and railways have broken down the isolation of ,sussex from the remainder of the country4 ,still1 as of old1 the natural configuration continues to produce its necessary effects4 ,even now there are no towns of any size in the ,weald3 few1 save ,lewes1 ,arundel1 and ,chichester1 anywhere but on the coast4 ,the ,downs are given up to sheep-farming2 the ,weald to game and pleasure-grounds2 the shore to holiday-making4 ,the proximity to ,london is now the chief cause of ,sussex prosperity4 ,in the old coaching days1 ,brighton was a foregone conclusion4 ,sixty miles by road from town1 it was the nearest accessible spot by the seaside4 ,as soon as people began to think of annual holidays1 ,brighton must necessarily attract them4 ,hence ,george ,,iv4 and the ,pavilion4 ,the railroad has done more4 ,it has made ,brighton into a suburb1 and raised its population to over #ajj1jjj4 ,at the same time1 the ,south ,coast line has begotten watering-places at ,worthing1 ,bognor1 and ,littlehampton4 ,in the other direction1 it has created ,eastbourne4 ,those who do not love chalk 7as the ,georges did71 choose rather the more broken and wooded country round ,hastings and ,st4 ,leonards1 where the ,weald sandstone runs down to the sea4 ,the difference between the rounded ,downs and saucer-shaped combes of the chalk1 and the deep glens traversing the soft friable strata of the ,wealden1 is well seen in passing from ,beachy ,head to ,ecclesbourne and ,fairlight4 ,shoreham is kept half alive by the ,brighton coal trade3 ,newhaven struggles on as a port for ,dieppe4 ,but as a whole1 the county is now one vast seaside resort from end to end1 so that to-day the flat coasts at ,selsea1 ,pevensey1 and ,rye1 are alone left out in the cold4 ,the iron trade and the wool trade have long since gone north to the coal districts4 ,brighton and ,hastings sum up in themselves all that is vital in the ,sussex of #ahha4 ,,the ,,bronze ,,axe4 ,there is always a certain fascination in beginning a subject at the wrong end and working backward3 it has the charm which inevitably attaches to all evil practices2 you know you oughtn't1 and so you can't resist the temptation to outrage the proprieties and do it4 ,i can't myself resist the temptation of beginning this article where it ought to break off--with ,chinese money1 which is not the origin1 but the final outcome and sole remaining modern representative of that antique and almost prehistoric implement1 the ,bronze ,age hatchet4 ,improbable and grotesque as this affiliation sounds at first hearing1 it is1 nevertheless1 about as certain as any other fact in anthropological science--which isn't1 perhaps1 saying a great deal4 ,the familiar little brass cash1 with the square hole for stringing them together on a thread in the centre1 well known to the frequenter of minor provincial museums1 are1 strange to say1 the lineal descendants1 in unbroken order1 of the bronze axe of remote ,celestial ancestors4 ,from the regular hatchet to the modern coin one can trace a distinct1 if somewhat broken1 succession1 so that it is impossible to say where the one leaves off and the other begins--where the implement merges into the medium of exchange1 and settles down finally into the root of all evil4 ,here is how this curious pedigree first worked itself out4 ,in early times1 before coin was invented1 barter was usually conducted between producer and consumer with metal implements1 as it still is in ,central ,africa at the present day with ,venetian glass beads and rolls of red calico4 ,payments were all made in kind1 and bronze was the commonest form of specie4 ,a gentleman desirous of effecting purchases in foreign parts went about the world with a number of bronze axes in his pocket 7or its substitute71 which he exchanged for other goods with the native traffickers in the country where he did his primitive business4 ,at first1 the early ,chinese in that unsophisticated age were content to use real hatchets for this commercial purpose2 but1 after a time1 with the profound mercantile instinct of their race1 it occurred to some of them that when a man wanted half a hatchet's worth of goods he might as well pay for them with half a hatchet4 ,still1 as it would be a pity to spoil a good working implement by cutting it in two1 the worthy ,ah ,sin ingeniously compromised the matter by making thin hatchets1 of the usual size and shape1 but far too slender for practical usage4 ,by so doing he invented coin3 and1 what is more1 he invented it far earlier than the rival claimants to that proud distinction1 the ,lydians1 whose electrum staters were first struck in the seventh century1 ,b4,c4 ,but1 according to ,professor ,terrien de la ,couperie1 some of the fancy ,chinese hatchets which we still retain date back as far as the year #ajjj 7a good round number71 and are so thin that they could only have been intended to possess exchange value4 ,and when a distinguished ,sinologist gives us a date for anything ,chinese1 it behoves the rest of the unlearned world to open its mouth and shut its eyes1 and thankfully receive whatever the distinguished ,sinologist may send it4 ,in the seventh century1 then1 these mercantile axes1 made in the strictest sense to sell and not to use1 were stamped with an official stamp to mark their amount1 and became thereby converted into true coins--that was the root of the 'root of all evil4' ,thence the declension to the 'cash' is easy2 the form grew gradually more and more regular1 while the square hole in the centre1 once used for the handle1 was retained by conservatism and practical sense as a convenient means of stringing them together4 ,so this was the end of the old bronze hatchet1 perhaps the most wonderful civilizing agent ever invented by human ingenuity4 ,let us hark back now1 and from the opposite side see what was its first beginning4 ',but why1' you ask1 'the most wonderful civilizing agency8 ,what did the bronze axe ever do for humanity8' ,well1 nearly everything4 ,i believe ,i have really not said too much4 ,we are apt to talk big nowadays about the steam-engine1 and that marvellous electricity which is always going to do wonders for us all--to-morrow2 but ,i don't know whether either ever produced so great a revolution in human life1 or so completely metamorphosed human existence1 as that simple and commonplace bronze hatchet4 ,for1 consider that before the days of bronze man knew no weapon or implement of any sort save the stone axe1 or tomahawk1 and the flint-tipped arrow4 ,consider1 that the highest stage of human culture he had then reached was hardly higher than that of the scalp-hunting ,red ,indian or the seal-spearing ,esquimaux4 ,consider1 that in his ,stone ,age agriculture and grains were almost unknown--the forest uncleared1 the soil untilled1 and hunting and fishing the sole or principal human activities4 ,it was the bronze axe that first enabled man to make clearings in the woodland on the large scale1 and to sow on those clearings in good big fields the wheat and barley which determined the first great upward step in the drama of civilization4 ,all these things depend in ultimate analysis upon that pioneer of culture1 the bronze hatchet4 ,and how did the first ,watt or ,edison of metallurgy come to make that earliest bronze implement8 ,well1 it seems probable that between the ,stone ,age and the ,bronze ,age there intervened everywhere1 or nearly everywhere1 a very short and transient age of copper4 ,and the reason for thus thinking is threefold4 ,in the first place1 bronze is an alloy of tin and copper3 and it seems natural to suppose that men would use the simple metals in isolation to begin with1 before they discovered that they could harden and temper them by mixing the two together4 ,in the second place1 copper occurs in the pure or native state 7without the trouble of smelting7 in several countries1 and was therefore a very natural metal for early man to cast his inquiring glance upon4 ,and in the third place1 weapons of unmixed copper1 apparently of very antique types1 have been found in various parts of the world1 both in ,asia and ,america4 ,according to ,mr4 ,john ,evans1 the most learned historian of the ,bronze ,age1 the greatest copper 'find' of the eastern hemisphere was that at ,gungeria1 in ,central ,india2 and the copper implements there found consisted entirely of flat celts of a very early and almost primitive pattern4 ,the copper weapons of ,america1 however1 have greater illustrative and ethnological interest1 because the noble red man1 at the period when ,columbus first discovered him1 and when he first discovered ,columbus1 was still in the ,stone ,age of his very imperfect culture1 or1 to speak more correctly1 of extreme barbarism4 ,the fact is1 the ,indians of ,lake ,superior were only just beginning to employ copper1 and were on the eve of independently inaugurating a ,bronze ,age of their own1 when the intrusive white man came and spoiled the fun by the incontinent introduction of iron1 firearms1 missionaries1 whisky1 and all the other resources of civilization4 ,on the shores of ,lake ,superior native copper exists in abundance2 and the intelligent ,red ,indian1 finding this handsome red stone in the cliffs by his side1 was pretty sure to try his hand at chipping a tomahawk out of the rare material4 ,but1 as soon as he did so1 ,mr4 ,evans suggests1 he would find to his surprise that it yielded to his blows2 in short1 that he had got that singular phenomenon1 a malleable stone1 to deal with4 ,hammering away at his new invention1 he must shortly have hammered it into a shapely axe4 ,the new process took his practical fancy at once3 vistas of an untold wealth of scalps floated gaily before his fevered brain2 and he proceeded to hammer himself various weapons and implements without delay4 ,amongst others1 he produced for himself very neat spear-heads1 with sockets adapted for the reception of a shaft1 made by hammering out the base flat1 and then turning over the edges so as to enclose the wood between them1 like a modern hoe-handle4 ,in ,wisconsin alone more than a hundred of such copper axes1 spear-heads1 and knives have been unearthed by antiquaries and duly recorded4 ,all these weapons1 however1 are simply hammered1 not cast or melted4 ,the ,red ,indian hadn't yet reached the stage of making a mould when ,de ,champlain and his voyageurs came down upon ,canada and interrupted this interesting experiment in industrial development by springing the seventeenth century upon the unsophisticated red man at one fell blow1 with all its inherited wealth of ,european science4 ,nevertheless1 the ,indians must have known that fire melted copper2 for the heat of the altars was great enough1 say ,squier and ,davis1 to fuse the implements and ornaments laid upon them in sacrificial rites2 and so the fact of its fusibility could hardly have escaped them4 ,a people who had advanced so far on the road towards the invention of casting could hardly have been prevented from taking the final step1 save by the sudden intervention of some social cataclysm like the ,european invasion of ,eastern ,america4 ,and how awful a calamity that was for the ,indians themselves we at this day can hardly even realize4 ,in some similar way1 no doubt1 the ,asiatic people who first invented bronze must have learned the fact of the fusibility of metals1 and have applied it in time1 at first1 perhaps1 by accident1 to the manufacture of that hard alloy4 ,i say ,asiatic1 because there seems good reason to believe that ,asia was the original home of the nascent bronze industry4 ,for a ,bronze ,age almost necessarily implies a brief preceding age of copper2 and there is no proof of pure copper implements ever having been largely used in ,europe1 while there is ample proof of their having been used to a very considerable extent in ,asia4 ,hence we may reasonably infer that the art of bronze-making was developed in ,asia by a copper-using people1 and that when metallurgy was first introduced into ,europe the method of mixing the copper with tin had already been perfected4 ,the abundance of tin in the south-eastern islands of ,asia renders this view probable2 while in ,europe there are no tin mines worth mentioning1 except in the remotest part of a remote outlying island--to wit1 in ,cornwall4 ,be this as it may1 the earliest and simplest forms of bronze axe with which we are acquainted are profoundly interesting1 as casting a flood of light upon the general process of human evolution all the world over4 ,every new human invention is always at first directly modelled upon the other similar products which have preceded it4 ,there is no really new thing under the sun4 ,for example1 the earliest ,english railway carriages were built on the model of the old stage-coach1 only that three stage-coaches1 as it were1 were telescoped together1 side by side--the very first bore the significant motto1 ,tria juncta in uno--and it was this preconception of the ,english coachbuilder that has hampered us ever since with our hateful 'compartments1' instead of the commodious and comfortable open ,american saloon carriages4 ,so1 too1 the earliest firearms were modelled on the stock of the old cross-bow1 and the earliest earthenware pots and pans were shaped like the still more primitive gourds and calabashes4 ,it need not surprise us1 therefore1 to find that the earliest metal axes of which we have any knowledge were directly moulded on the original shape of the stone tomahawk4 ,such a copper hatchet1 cast in a mould formed by a polished neolithic stone celt1 was found in an early ,etruscan tomb1 and is still preserved in the ,museum at ,berlin4 ,see how natural this process would be4 ,for1 in the first place1 the primitive workman1 knowing already only one form of axe1 the stone tomahawk1 would naturally reproduce it in the new material1 without thinking what improvements in shape and design the malleability and fusibility of the metal would render possible or easy4 ,but1 more than that1 the idea of coating the polished stone axe with plastic clay1 and thereby making a mould for the molten metal1 would be so very simple that even the neolithic savage1 already accustomed to the manufacture of coarse pottery upon natural shapes1 could hardly fail to think of it4 ,as a matter of fact1 he did think of it3 for celts of bronze or copper1 cast in moulds made from stone hatchets1 have been found in ,cyprus by ,general di ,cesnola1 on the site of ,troy by ,dr4 ,schliemann1 and in many other assorted localities by less distinguished but equally trustworthy archologists4 ,to the neolithic hunter1 herdsman1 and villager this progress from the stone to the metal axe probably seemed at first a mere substitution of an easier for a more difficult material4 ,he little knew whither his discovery tended4 ,it was pure human laziness that urged the change4 ,how nice to save yourself all that long trouble of chipping and polishing1 with ceaseless toil1 in favour of a stone which you could melt at one go and pour while hot into a ready-made mould6 ,it must have looked1 by comparison1 like weapon-making by magic2 for properly to cut and polish a stone axe is the work of weeks and weeks of elbow-grease4 ,yet here1 in a moment1 a better hatchet could be turned out all finished6 ,but the implied effects lay deeper far than the neolithic hunter could ever have imagined4 ,the bronze axe was the beginning of civilization2 it brought the steam-engine1 the telephone1 woman's rights1 and the county councillor directly in its train4 ,with the eye of faith1 had he only possessed that useful optical organ1 the ,stone ,age artizan might doubtless have beheld ,pears' soap and the deceased wife's sister looming dimly in the remote future4 ,till that moment human life had been almost stationary3 thenceforth1 it proceeded by leaps and bounds1 like a kangaroo society1 on its upward path towards triumphant democracy and the penny post4 ,the nineteenth century and all its wiles hung by a thread upon the success of his melting pot4 ,indeed1 the whole history of human civilization has been one of a constantly accelerated progress4 ,the ,older ,stone ,age1 when men knew only how to chip flint implements1 but hadn't yet invented the art of grinding and polishing them1 was one of immense and incalculable duration1 to be reckoned perhaps by tens of thousands of years--some bold chronologists would even suggest by hundreds of thousands4 ,improvement there was1 to be sure1 during all that long epoch of slow development2 but it was improvement at a snail's pace4 ,the very rude chipped axes of the naked drift age give way after thousands and thousands of years to the shapelier chipped lances1 javelins1 and arrowheads of the skin-clad cavemen4 ,m4 ,gabriel de ,mortillet1 indeed1 most indefatigable of theorists1 has even pointed out four stages of culture1 marked by four different types of weapons1 into which he subdivides the ,older ,stone ,age4 ,yet vast epochs elapsed before some prehistoric ,stephenson or dusky ,morse first1 half by accident1 smote out the idea of grinding his tomahawk smooth to a sharp cutting edge1 instead of merely chipping it sharp1 and so initiated the ,neolithic ,period4 ,this ,neolithic ,period itself1 again1 was immensely long as compared with the ,bronze ,age which followed1 though short by comparison with the ,palolithic epoch which preceded it4 ,then the ,bronze ,age saw enormous changes come faster and faster1 till the use of iron still further accelerated the rate of progress4 ,for each new improvement becomes1 in turn1 the parent of yet newer triumphs1 so that at last1 as in the present day1 a single century sees vaster changes in the world of man than whole ages before it have done in far longer intervals4 ,but the invention of bronze1 or1 in other words1 the introduction of hard metal1 was really perhaps the very greatest epoch of all1 the most distinct turning-point in the whole history of humanity4 ,true1 some beginnings of civilisation were already found in the ,newer ,stone ,age4 ,man did not then live by slaughter alone4 ,hand-made pottery and rude tissues of flax are found in neolithic lake dwellings in ,switzerland4 ,agriculture was already practised in a feeble way on small open clearings1 cautiously cleaved with fire or hewn with the tomahawk in the native forests4 ,the cow1 the sheep1 and the goat were more or less domesticated1 though the horse was yet riderless2 and the pastoral had therefore1 to some extent1 superseded the pure hunting stage4 ,but what inroad could the stone hatchet make unaided upon the virgin forests of those remote days8 ,the neolithic clearing must have been a mere stray oasis in a desert of woodland1 like the villages of the ,new ,guinea savages at the present day1 lying few and far between among vast stretches of primval forest4 ,with the advent of bronze1 everything was different2 and the difference showed itself with extraordinary rapidity4 ,one may compare the revolution effected by bronze in the early world1 indeed1 with the revolution effected by railways in our own time2 only the neolithic world had been so very simple a one that the change was perhaps even more marvellous in its suddenness and its comprehensiveness4 ,metal itself implied metal-working2 and metal-working brought about1 not only the arts of smelting and casting1 but also endless incidental arts of design and decoration4 ,the bronze hatchets1 for example1 to take our typical implement1 begin by being mere copies of the stone originals2 but1 as time goes on1 they acquire rapidly innumerable improvements4 ,first1 metal is economized in the upper part which fits into the handle1 while the lower or cutting edge is widened out sideways1 so as to form an elegant and gracefully curved outline for the whole implement4 ,next come the flanged axes1 with projecting ledges on either side2 and then the palstaves with loops and ribs1 each marking some new improvement in the character of the weapon1 which the inventor would no doubt have patented but for the unfortunate fact that patents were as yet wholly unknown to ,bronze ,age humanity4 ,later still come the socketed hatchets of many patterns1 with endless ingenious little devices for securing some small advantage to the special manufacturer4 ,i can fancy the ,bronze ,age smith showing them off with pride to his interested customers3 ',these are our own patterns--the newest thing out in bronze axes2 observe the advantage you gain from the ribs and pellets1 and the peculiar character which the octagonal socket gives to the hafting6' ,indeed1 in this single department of bronze celts alone1 ,mr4 ,evans in his great monumental work figures over a hundred and eighty distinct specimens 7out of thousands known71 each one presenting some well-marked advance in type upon its predecessor4 ,there is almost a ,yankee ingenuity of design in many of the dodges thus registered for our inspection4 ,many of the celts1 ,i may add1 are most beautifully decorated with geometrical patterns1 some of which belong to a very high order of ornamental art4 ,this is still more the case with the daggers1 swords1 and defensive armour1 often intended for the use of great chieftains1 and executed with an amount of taste and feeling long since dead among the degenerate workmen of our iron age4 ,but the indirect effects of the introduction of metal working were far more interesting and important in their way than the direct effects4 ,with bronze began the great age of agriculture1 of commerce1 and of navigation4 ,of agriculture first1 because the bronze hatchet enabled men to make such openings in the forest as neolithic man had never ever dreamed of4 ,for the first time in the history of our race1 whole tracts of country at once began to be cleared and cultivated4 ,stone ,age tillage was the tillage of tiny plots in the forest's depths2 ,bronze ,age tillage was the tillage of fields and wide open spaces in the champaign country4 ,the ,stone ,age knew no specials implements of agriculture as such2 its tomahawk was indiscriminately applied to all purposes alike of war or gardening4 ,you scalped your enemy with it1 or you cut up your dinner1 or you dug your field1 or you planted your seed-corn1 according as taste or circumstances directed4 ,but while the ,bronze ,age men had axes to hew down the wood1 they had also sickles and reaping-hooks to cut their crops1 and a sort of hoe or scraper to till the soil with4 ,specialisation reached a very high pitch4 ,all the remains of the ,bronze ,age show us an agricultural people by no means idyllic in their habits to be sure1 and not all disposed to join the ,peace ,preservation ,society1 but cultivating large stretches of wheat or barley1 grinding their meal in regular mills1 and possessed of implements of considerable diversity1 some of which ,i shall proceed to notice later4 ,the evidences of commerce and of navigation are equally obvious4 ,bronze itself consists of tin and copper3 and there are only two parts of the world from which tin in any large quantities can be procured--namely1 ,cornwall and the ,malay ,archipelago4 ,the very existence of bronze1 therefore1 necessarily implies the existence of a sea-going trade in tin1 for which some corresponding benefits must of course have been offered by the early purchaser4 ,as a matter of fact1 we know with some probability that it was ,cornish tin which first tempted the ,phoenicians out of the inland sea1 past the ,pillars of ,hercules1 to brave the terrors of the open ,atlantic4 ,long before the days of such advanced navigation1 however1 the ,cornish tin was transported by land across the whole breadth of ,southern ,britain and shipped for the ,continent from the ,isle of ,thanet4 ,a very old trackway runs along the crest of the ,downs from the ,west ,country to ,kent1 known now as the ,pilgrim's ,way1 because it was followed in far later times by medival wayfarers from ,somerset and ,dorset to the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas ,becket at ,canterbury4 ,but ,mr4 ,charles ,elton has shown conclusively that the ,pilgrim's ,way is many centuries more ancient than the martyr of ,king ,henry's epoch1 and that it was used in the ,bronze ,age for the transport of tin from the mines in ,cornwall to the port of ,sandwich4 ,to this day antique ingots of the valuable metal are often dug up in hoards or finds along the line of the ancient track4 ,they were evidently buried there in fear and trembling1 long ages since1 in what ,indian voyageurs still call a cache1 by caravans hurriedly surprised by the enemy2 and owing to the unfortunate accident of the possessors all getting killed off in the ensuing fray1 the ingots have been left undisturbed for centuries for the benefit of antiquaries at the present time4 ',it's an ill wind that blows nobody good4' ,probably the inhabitants of ,herculaneum and ,pompeii had very little notion what valuable relics their bodies and houses would prove in the end for curious posterity4 ,the converse evidence of a return trade in other goods is no less striking4 ,not only are articles in amber found in ,bronze ,age tombs all over ,europe 7though the gum itself belongs to the ,baltic and the ,north ,sea alone71 but also gold objects of southern workmanship occur in ,british barrows2 while sometimes even ivory from ,africa is noticed in the inlaid handles of some ,welsh or ,brigantian chieftain's sword4 ,glass beads were likewise imported into ,britain1 as were also ornaments of ,egyptian porcelain4 ,in fact1 the ,bronze ,age clearly marks for us the period when trade routes extended in every direction from the ,mediterranean1 north and south1 and when the world began to be commercially solidified by a primitive theory of foreign exchange4 ,it is a little odd that the basis of all this traffic was tin1 and that we still use the name of that same metal as a brief equivalent for coin in general3 but persons of serious economical or philological intelligence are particularly requested not to enter into grave correspondence with the author of this paper on any possible levity which they may detect lurking in this innocent remark4 ,some small idea of the rapid advance in civilization which marked the ,bronze ,age may perhaps be formed from a brief enumeration of the principal classes of remains which have come down to us intact from that first epoch of metal4 ,besides all the various celts1 hatchets1 and adzes1 whose name is legion1 and whose patterns are manifold1 many other tools or implements occur abundantly in the barrows or caches4 ,chisels1 either plain1 tanged1 with lugs1 or socketed2 gouges1 hammers1 anvils1 and tongs2 punches1 awls1 drills1 and prickers2 tweezers1 needles1 fish-hooks1 and weights2 all these are found by dozens in endless variety of design4 ,knives are common1 and the vanity of ,bronze ,age man made him even put up without a murmur with the pangs of shaving with a bronze razor4 ,daggers and rapiers naturally abound1 many of them of rare and beautiful workmanship4 ,halberds turn up less frequently1 but swords are abundant1 and are sometimes tastefully decorated with gold or ivory4 ,even the scabbards sometimes survive1 while the shields1 adorned with concentric rings or with knobs and bosses1 would put to shame the rank and file of cheap modern metal work4 ,nay1 the very trumpets which sounded the onset often lie buried by the warrior's side1 and the bells which adorned his horse's neck bring back to us vividly the ,homeric pictures of ,bronze ,age warfare4 ,the private life of ,bronze ,age man and his correlative wife is illustrated for us by another great group of more strictly personal relics4 ,there are pins simple and pins of the infantile safety-pin order3 there are brooches which might be worn by modern ladies1 and ear-rings so huge that even modern ladies would in all probability object to wearing them1 unless1 indeed1 a princess or an actress made them the fashion4 ,the torques1 or necklets1 are among the best known male decorations1 and are still famous in ,ireland1 where ,malachi 7whoever he may have been7 wore the collar of gold which he tore from the proud invader4 ,many of the bracelets are extremely beautiful2 but1 strange to say1 as if on purpose to spite the common prejudice about the degeneracy of modern man1 they are all so small in girth as to betoken a race with arms and legs hardly any bigger than the ,finns or ,laplanders4 ,of the clasps1 buttons1 and buckles ,i will say nothing here4 ,i have enumerated enough to suggest to even the most casual observer the vastness of the revolution which the ,bronze ,age wrought in the mode of life and the civilisation of ancient man4 ,bronze found our early ancestor1 in fact1 a half-developed savage3 it left him a semi-civilized ,homeric ,greek4 ,it came in upon a world of skin-clad hunters and fishers3 it went out upon a world of ,phoenician navigators1 ,egyptian architects1 ,achan poets1 and ,roman soldiers4 ,and all this wide difference was wrought in a period of some eight or ten centuries at the outside1 almost entirely by the advent of the simple bronze axe4 ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,ruim4 ,perhaps you have never heard its name before2 yet in the earlier ages of this kingdom of ,britain1 ,ruim ,isle1 rising dim through the mist of prehistoric oceans1 was once in its own way famous and important4 ,off the old and obliterated south-eastern promontory of our island1 where the land of ,kent shelved almost imperceptibly into the ,wantsum ,strait1 ,ruim ,island--the ,holm of the ,headland--stood out with its white wall of broken cliffs into the ,german ,sea4 ,the greater part of it consisted of gorse-clad chalk down1 the last subsiding spur of that great upland range which1 starting from the central boss of ,salisbury ,plain1 runs right across the face of ,surrey and ,kent1 and1 bifurcating near ,canterbury1 falls sheer into the sea at the end of either fork by ,ramsgate or ,dover4 ,but in earlier days ,ruim ,isle was not joined as now by flats and marshes to the adjacent mainland2 the chalk dipped under the open ,wantsum ,strait1 much as the chalk of ,hampshire dips to-day under the ,solent ,sea1 and reappeared again on the other side in the ,thanet ,downs1 as it reappears in the ,isle of ,wight at the ridge of ,st4 ,boniface and the central hills about ,newport and ,carisbrooke4 ,for now the murder indeed is out1 and you have discovered already that ,ruim--his dim1 mysterious ,ruim--is only just the commonplace1 vulgarized ,isle of ,thanet4 ,still1 it is not without cause that ,i have ventured to call it by that strange and now almost forgotten old-world name4 ,there is reason1 we know1 in the roasting of eggs1 and1 if ,i have gone out of my way to introduce the ancient isle to you by its title of ,ruim1 it is in order that we might start clear of the odour of tea and shrimps1 the artificial niggers1 and cheap excursionists1 that the name of ,thanet brings up most prominently at the present day before the travelled mind of the modern ,londoner4 ,i want to carry you back to a time when ,ramsgate was still but a green gap in the long line of chalk cliff1 and ,margate but the chine of a little trickling streamlet that tumbled seaward over the undesecrated sands2 when a broad arm of the sea still cut off ,westgate from the ,reculver cliffs1 and when the tide swept unopposed four times a day over the submerged sands of ,minster ,level4 ,you must think of ,thanet as then greatly resembling ,wight in geographical features1 and the ,wantsum as the equivalent of the ,solent ,sea4 ,in the very earliest period of our history1 before ever the existing names had been given at all to the towns or villages--nay1 when the towns and villages themselves were not--,ruim was already a noteworthy island4 ,for there is now very little doubt indeed that ,thanet is the ,ictis or ',channel ,island' to which ,cornish tin was conveyed across ,britain for shipment to the continent4 ,the great harbour of ,britain was then the ,wantsum ,sea1 known afterwards as the ,rutupine ,port1 and later still as ,sandwich ,haven4 ,to that port came ,gaulish and ,phoenician vessels1 or possibly even at times some belated ,phocan galley from ,massilia4 ,but the trade in tin was one of immense antiquity1 long antedating these almost modern commercial nations3 for tin is a necessary component of bronze1 and the bronze age of ,europe was entirely dependent for its supply of that all-important metal upon the ,cornish mines4 ,from a very early date1 therefore1 we may be sure that ingots of tin were exported by this route to the continent1 and then transported overland by the ,rhone valley to the shores of the ,mediterranean4 ,the tin road1 to give it its more proper name1 followed the crest of the ,hog's ,back and the ,guildford downs1 crossing the various rivers at spots whose very names still attest the ancient passages--the ,wey at ,shalford1 the ,mole at ,burford1 the ,medway at ,aylesford1 and the ,wantsum ,strait at ,wade1 in which last ,i seem to hear the dim echo to this day of the ,roman ,vada4 ,ruim itself1 as less liable to attack than an inland place1 formed the dept for the tin trade1 and the ingots were no doubt shipped near the site of ,richborough4 ,we may regard it1 in fact1 as a sort of prehistoric ,hong-,kong or ,zanzibar1 a trading island1 where merchants might traffic at ease with the shy and suspicious islanders4 ,ruim at that time must have consisted almost entirely of open down1 sloping upward from the tidal ,wantsum1 and extending a little farther out to sea than at the present moment4 ,pegwell ,bay was then a wide sea-mouth2 ,sandwich flats did not yet exist2 and the ,stour itself fell into the ,wantsum ,strait at the place which still bears the historic name of ,stourmouth4 ,round the outer coast only a few houseless gaps marked the spots where 'long lines of cliff1 breaking1 had left a chasm'--the gaps that afterwards bore the familiar names of ,ramsgate1 that is to say ,ruim's ,gate1 or 'the ,door of ,thanet2' ,margate1 that is to say1 ,mere ,gate1 the gap of the mere 7,kentish for a brook71 ,broadstairs1 ,kingsgate1 ,newgate1 and ,westgate4 ,the present condition of ,dumpton ,gap 7minus the telegraph7 will give some idea of what these ,gates looked like in their earliest days2 only1 instead of seeing the cultivated down1 we must imagine it wildly clad with primval undergrowth of yew and juniper1 like the beautiful tangled district near ,guildford1 still known as ,fairyland4 ,thanet is now all sea-front--it turns its face1 freckled with summer resorts1 towards the open ,german ,ocean4 ,ruim had then no sea-front at all1 save the bare and inaccessible white cliffs2 it turned1 such as it was1 not toward the sea1 but toward the navigable ,wantsum4 ,even until late in the middle ages ,minster was the most important place in the whole island2 and after it ranked ,monkton1 ,st4 ,nicholas1 and ,birchington--villages1 all of them1 on the flat western slope4 ,the growth in importance of the seaward escarpment dates only from the days when ,thanet became practically a ,london suburb4 ,with the ,roman invasion ,ruim saw a new epoch begin4 ,a great organization took hold of ,britain4 ,roads were made and colonies established4 ,verulam and ,camulodun gave place in part as centres of life and trade to ,york and ,london4 ,even in the native days1 ,i believe1 the ,thames must always have been a great commercial focus1 and the ,pool by ,tower ,hill must always have been what ,bede called it many centuries later1 'a mart of many nations4' ,but under the ,romans ,london grew into a considerable city2 and as the regular sea highway to the ,thames lay through the ,wantsum1 in the rear of ,thanet1 that strip of estuary became of immense importance4 ,in those days of coasting navigation1 indeed1 the habit was to avoid headlands1 and take advantage everywhere of shallow short cuts4 ,ships from the continent1 therefore1 avoided the ,north ,foreland by running through the ,wantsum at the back of ,thanet2 as they avoided ,shellness and ,warden ,point by running through the ,swale1 at the back of ,sheppey4 ,to protect this main navigable channel1 accordingly1 the ,romans built the two great guardian fortresses of the coast1 ,rutupi1 or ,richborough1 at the southern entrance1 and ,regulbium1 or ,reculver1 at the northern exit4 ,under the walls of these powerful strongholds1 whose grim ruins still frown upon the dry channel at their feet1 ships were safe from piracy1 while ,ruim itself sheltered them from the heavy sea that now beats with north-east winds upon the ,foreland beyond4 ,in fact1 the ,wantsum was an early ,spithead3 it stood to ,rutupi as the ,solent stands to ,portsmouth and ,southampton4 ,but ,thanet ,isle hardly shared at all in this increased civilisation2 on the contrary1 ,rutupi 7the precursor of ,sandwich ,haven7 seems to have diverted all its early commerce4 ,for ,rutupi became clearly the naval capital of our island1 the seat of that vir spectabilis1 the ,count of ,saxon ,shore1 and the rendezvous of the fleets of those ,british 'usurpers' ,maximus and ,carausius4 ,it was also the ,dover of its own day1 the favourite landing place for continental travellers2 while its famous oysters1 the true natives1 now driven by the silting up of their ancient beds to ,whitstable1 were as much in repute with ,roman epicures as their descendants are to-day with the young ,luculluses of the ,gaiety and the ,criterion4 ,i have ventured by this time to speak of ,ruim as ,thanet2 and indeed that was already one of the names by which the island was known to its own inhabitants4 ,the ordinary history books1 to be sure1 will tell you in their glib way that ,thanet is ',saxon' for ,ruim2 but1 when they say so1 believe not the fond thing1 vainly imagined4 ,the name is every day as old as the ,roman occupation4 ,solinus1 writing in the third century1 calls it ,thanaton1 and in the torn ,british fragment of the ,peutinger ,tables--that curious old map of the later empire--it is marked as ,tenet4 ,indeed1 it is a matter of demonstration that every spot which had a known name in ,roman ,britain retained that name after the ,english conquest4 ,kent itself is a case in point1 and every one of its towns bears out the law1 from ,dover and ,lymne to ,reculver and ,richborough1 which last is spelt ',ratesburg' by ,leland1 ,henry the ,eighth's commissioner4 ,in some ways1 however1 ,thanet1 under the ,romans1 must have shared in the general advance of the country4 ,solinus says it was 'glad with corn-fields'--felix frumentariis campis--but this could only have been on the tertiary slope facing ,kent1 as agriculture had not yet attempted to scale the flanks of the chalk downs4 ,as lying so near ,rutupi1 too1 villas must certainly have occupied the soil in places1 as we know they did in the ,isle of ,wight2 while the immense number of ,roman coins picked up in the island appears to betoken a somewhat dense provincial population4 ,the advent of the ,english brings ,thanet itself1 as distinct from its ancient port1 the ,wantsum1 into the full glare of legendary history4 ,according to tradition1 it was at ,ebb's ,fleet1 a little side creek near ,minster1 that ,hengest and ,horsa first disembarked in ,britain4 ,as a matter of fact1 there is reason to suppose that at a very early time an ,english colony did really settle down in peace in ,thanet4 ,on ,osengal ,hill1 not far from ,ebb's ,fleet1 the cemetery of these earliest ,english pioneers in ,england was laid bare by the building of the ,south ,eastern ,railway4 ,the graves are dug very shallow in the chalk1 seldom as deep as four feet2 and in them lie the remains of the old heathen pirates1 buried with their arms and personal ornaments1 their amber beads and strings of glass1 and the coins that were to pay their way in the other world4 ,but1 what is oddest of all1 a few of the graves in this earliest ,english cemetery are ,roman in character1 and in them the interment is made in the ,roman fashion4 ,the inference is almost irresistible that the first settlement of ,thanet by the ,english was a purely friendly one1 and that ,roman and ,jute lived on side by side as neighbours and allies on the ,kentish island4 ,i don't doubt1 myself1 that the whole settlement of ,kent was equally friendly1 and that the population of the county contains throughout an almost balanced mixture of ,celtic and ,teutonic elements4 ,however1 the century and a half that succeeded the ,english colonization of south-eastern ,britain were1 no doubt1 a time of great retrogression towards barbarism1 as everywhere else in ,romanised ,europe4 ,the villas that must have covered the gentle slopes towards the ,wantsum fell into decay2 the fortresses were destroyed2 the roads ran wild2 and the sea and river began slowly to slit up the central part of the great navigable backwater4 ,a hundred and fifty years after ,hengest and ,horsa1 if those excellent gentlemen ever really existed1 another famous landing took place in ,thanet4 ,augustine and his companions disembarked at ,ebb's ,fleet1 and held close by 7on the hill behind ,prospect ,house7 their first interview with thelberht4 ,but though this epoch-making event happened to occur in ,thanet1 it has no special connection with the history of the island1 any further than as a component of ,england generally4 ,and indeed1 even through the garbled version of ,bede1 it is plain enough to see that ,british ,christendom was not yet wholly wiped out in eastern ,britain4 ,the conversion of ,kent was essentially a conversion of the king and nobles to the ,roman communion2 it brought back once more the part of ,britain most in connection with the continent into the broad fold of continental ,christendom4 ,it is quite clear1 in fact1 that ,rutupi and ,durovernum1 ,richborough and ,canterbury1 had never ceased to hold close intercourse with the opposite shore1 whose cliffs still shine so distinctly from the hills about ,ramsgate4 ,for thelberht himself was married to a ,christian ,frankish princess of the house of the ,merwings2 and coins of the ,frankish kings and of the ,byzantine emperors have been found on the surface or in contemporary ,jutish graves in ,kent4 ,it is interesting to observe1 too1 that of the monks whom ,gregory chose to accompany ,augustine on his easy mission1 one was ,lawrence1 who succeeded his leader as second ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and another was ,peter1 the first ,abbot of ,st4 ,augustine's monastery4 ,out of compliment to these pioneer missionaries1 or to their ,roman house of ,st4 ,andrew's1 almost every old church in that part of ,kent is dedicated accordingly1 either to ,st4 ,augustine1 ,st4 ,lawrence1 ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,gregory1 ,st4 ,andrew1 or ,st4 ,martin 7patron of ,bertha's first church at ,canterbury74 ,thus1 as we shall see hereafter1 ,st4 ,lawrence was the mother church of ,ramsgate1 and ,st4 ,peter's of ,broadstairs1 while the entire lathe bears the name of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,in ,thanet1 too1 the first evidence of the new order of things was the foundation in the island of that great civilizing agency of medival ,england1 a monastery4 ,the site chosen for its home was still1 however1 characteristic of the old point of view of ,thanet4 ,it was the place that yet bears the name of ,minster1 situated on a little creek of the ,wantsum sea1 where some slight remains of an ancient pier may even now be traced among the silt of the marshes4 ,the island still looked towards the narrow seas and the port of ,rutupi1 not1 as now1 towards the tall cliffs and the ,german ,ocean4 ,ecgberht1 fourth ,christian king of ,kent1 by the advice of ,theodore1 the monk of ,tarsus who became ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 made over to the lady whose name is conveniently ,latinised as ,dompneva1 first abbess1 some forty-eight plough-lands in the ,isle of ,thanet4 ,this cultivated district1 bounded by the ancient earthwork known 7from the name of the second abbess7 as ,st4 ,mildred's ,lynch1 lay almost entirely within the westward-sloping and mainly tertiary lands2 the higher chalk country was as yet apparently considered unfit for tillage4 ,the existing remains of ,minster ,abbey are1 of course1 of comparatively late ,plantagenet date2 but as parts of a great grange1 whose still larger granary was burnt down only in the last century1 they serve well to show the importance of the monastic system as a civilizing agency in the country districts of ,england4 ,already in ,bede's time the ,wantsum was beginning to get silted up1 mainly by the muddy deposits brought down by the ,stour4 ,it was then only three furlongs wide1 and could be forded at two points1 near ,sarr and at ,wade4 ,the seaward mouth was also beginning to be encumbered with sand1 and the first indication we get of this important impending change is the fact that we now hear less of ,richborough1 and more of ,sandwich1 the new port a little nearer the sea1 whose very name of the ,wick or haven on the ,sand1 in itself sufficiently tells the history of its origin4 ,as the older port got progressively silted up1 the newer one grew into ever greater importance1 exactly as ,norwich ousted ,caister1 or as ,portsmouth has taken the place of ,porchester4 ,nevertheless1 the central channel still remained navigable for the vessels of that age--they can only have drawn a very few feet of water--and this made the ,wantsum in time the great highway for the ,danish pirates on their way to ,london1 and exposed ,thanet exceptionally to their relentless incursions4 ,in fact1 the ,danes and ,northmen were just what they loved to call themselves1 vik-ings or wickings1 men of the viks1 wicks1 bays1 or estuaries4 ,what they loved was a fiord1 a strait1 a peninsula1 an island4 ,everywhere round the coast of ,britain they seized and fortified the projecting headlands4 ,but in the neighbourhood of the ,thames1 the high road to the great commercial port of ,london1 the mementoes of their presence are particularly frequent4 ,the whole nomenclature of the lower ,thames navigation1 as ,canon ,isaac ,taylor has pointed out1 is ,scandinavian to this day4 ,deptford 7the deep fiord71 ,greenwich 7the green reach71 and ,woolwich 7the hill reach7 all bear good ,norse names4 ,so do the ,foreness1 the ,whiteness1 ,shellness1 ,sheerness1 ,shoeburyness1 ,foulness1 ,wrabness1 and ,orfordness4 ,walton-on-the-,naze near ,harwich in like manner still recalls the time when a ,danish 'wall'--that is to say1 a vallum1 or earthwork--ran across the isthmus to defend the ,scandinavian peninsula from its ,english enemies4 ,at such a time ,sandwich1 with its shallow fiord1 was sure to afford good shelter to the northern long ships2 and isolated ,thanet1 overlooking the navigable strait1 was a predestined dept for the northern pirates1 as four centuries earlier it had been for the followers of those mythical personifications1 ,hengest and ,horsa4 ,long before the unification of ,england under a single ,west ,saxon overlordship the ,danes used to land in the island every year1 to plunder the crops1 and in #hea1 when thelwulf was lord of ,wessex at ,winchester1 'heathen men1' says the ,winchester ,chronicle1 with its usual charming conciseness1 'first sat over winter in ,tenet4' ,from that time forward the 'heathen men' continually returned to the island1 which they used apparently as a base of operations1 with their ships lying in ,sandwich ,haven2 in fact1 ,thanet must long have been a sort of irregular ,danish colony4 ,still1 ,st4 ,mildred's nuns appear to have lived on somehow at ,minster through the dark time1 for in #ihh the ,danes landed and burnt the abbey1 as they did again under ,swegen in #ajaa1 killing at the same time the abbess and all the inmates4 ,on the whole1 it is probable that life and property in ,thanet were far from secure any time in the ninth1 tenth1 and early eleventh centuries4 ,at least as late as the ,norman conquest the ,wantsum remained a navigable channel1 and the usual route to ,london by sea was in at ,sandwich and out at ,northmouth4 ,it was thus that ,king ,harold's fleet sailed on its plundering expedition round the coast of ,kent 7a small unexplained incident of the early ,english type1 only to be understood by the analogies of later ,scotch history71 and thus too1 that many other expeditions are described in the concise style of our unsophisticated early historians4 ,but from the eleventh century onward we hear little of the ,wantsum as a navigable channel2 it has dwindled down almost entirely to ,sandwich ,haven1 'the most famous of ,english ports1' says the writer of the life of ,emma of ,normandy1 about #ajej4 ,sandwich is indeed the oldest of the ,cinque ,ports1 succeeding in this matter to the honours of ,rutupi1 and all through the middle ages it remained the great harbour for continental traffic4 ,edward ,,iii4 sailed thence for ,france or ,flanders1 and as late as #addf it is still spoken of by a foreign ambassador as the resort of ships from all quarters of ,europe4 ,still1 the ,wantsum was all this while gradually silting up1 a grain at a time1 and the ,isle of ,ruim was slowly becoming joined to the opposite mainland4 ,when ,leland visited it1 in ,henry ,,viii4's reign1 the change was almost complete4 ',at ,northmouth1' says the royal commissioner1 in his quaint dry way1 'where the estery of the se was1 the salt water swelleth yet up at a ,creeke a myle or more toward a place called ,sarre1 which was the commune fery when ,thanet was fulle iled4' ,sandwich ,haven itself began to be difficult of access about #aejj 7,henry ,,vii4 being king71 and in #aeeh 7under ,mary7 a ,flemish engineer1 'a cunning and expert man in waterworks1' was engaged to remedy the blocking of the channel4 ,by a century later it was quite closed1 and the ,isle of ,thanet had ceased to exist1 except in name1 the ,stour now flowing seaward by a long bend through ,minster ,level1 while hardly a relic of the ,wantsum could be traced in the artificial ditches that intersect the flat and banked-up surface of the ,st4 ,nicholas marshes4 ,meanwhile1 ,thanet had been growing once more into an agricultural country4 ,minster1 untenable by its nuns1 had been made over after the ,danish invasions to the monks of ,st4 ,augustine at ,canterbury1 and it was they who built the great barn and manor house which were the outer symbol of its new agricultural importance4 ,monkton1 close by1 belonged to the rival house of ,christ ,church at ,canterbury 7the cathedral monastery71 as did also ,st4 ,nicholas at ,wade1 remarkable for its large and handsome ,early ,english church4 ,all these ecclesiastical lands were excellently tilled4 ,after the ,reformation1 however1 things changed greatly4 ,the silting up of the ,wantsum and the decay of ,sandwich ,haven left ,thanet quite out of the world1 remote from all the main highroads of the new ,england4 ,ships now went past the ,north ,foreland to ,london1 and knew it only as a dangerous point1 not without a sinister reputation for wrecking4 ,on the other hand1 on the land side1 the island lay off the great highways1 surrounded by marsh or half-reclaimed levels2 and it seems rapidly to have sunk into a state resembling that of the more distant parts of ,cornwall4 ,the inhabitants degenerated into good wreckers and bad tillers4 ,they say an ,orkney man is a farmer who owns a boat1 while a ,shetlander is a fisherman who owns a farm4 ,in much the same spirit1 ,camden speaks of the ,elizabethan ,thanet folks as 'a sort of amphibious creatures1 equally skilled in holding helm and plough'2 while ,lewis1 early in the last century1 tells us they made 'two voyages a year to the ,north ,seas1 and came home soon enough for the men to go to the wheat season4' ,with genial tolerance the ,georgian historian adds1 ',it's a thousand pities they are so apt to pilfer stranded ships4' ,piracy1 which ran in the ,thanet blood1 seemed to their good easy local annalist a regrettable peccadillo4 ,in all this1 however1 we begin to catch the first faintly-resounding note of modern ,thanet4 ,the intelligent reader will no doubt have observed1 with his usual acuteness1 that up to date we have heard practically nothing of ,ramsgate1 ,margate1 and ,broadstairs1 which now form the real centres of population in the nominal island4 ,its relations have all been with ,rutupi1 ,sandwich1 ,canterbury1 and the mainland4 ,but the silting up of the ,wantsum turned the new ,thanet seaward1 by the chalky cliffs2 and the gaps or gates in that natural sea-wall now began to be of comparative importance as fishing stations and small havens4 ,ebb's ,fleet was no longer the port of ,ruim4 ,the centre of gravity of the island shifts at this point1 accordingly1 from ,minster to ,ramsgate4 ,the change is well marked by certain interesting ecclesiastical facts4 ,neither ,ramsgate nor ,broadstairs had originally churches of their own4 ,the first formed part of the parish of ,st4 ,lawrence1 which was itself a mere chapelry of ,minster till late in the thirteenth century4 ,the old village lies half a mile inland1 and ,ramsgate itself was throughout the middle ages nothing more than a mere gap and cove where the fishermen of ,st4 ,lawrence kept their boats4 ,the first church in the town proper was not erected till #agia4 ,similarly1 ,broadstairs formed part of the parish of ,st4 ,peter's1 the village of which lies back at about the same distance from the sea as ,st4 ,lawrence2 and ,st ,peter's1 too1 was at first a chapelry of ,minster4 ,the cliffs were then nothing2 the inward slope was everything4 ,margate seems to have been the first place in the new ,thanet to attain the honour of a place in history4 ,as in two previous cases1 the ,mere ,gate was at first but a fisherman's station for the village of ,st4 ,john's1 which gathered about the old church at the south end of the existing town4 ,but as the ,northmouth closed up1 and ,sandwich ,haven decayed1 the ,mere ,gate naturally became the little local port for corn grown on the island and wool raised on the newly-reclaimed ,minster ,level4 ,a wooden pier existed at ,margate long before the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 when ,leland found it sore decayed1 and the village was in repute for fishery and coasting trade4 ,throughout the ,stuart period ,margate was the ordinary place of departure and arrival for ,flushing and the ,low ,countries4 ,william of ,orange frequently sailed hence1 and ,maryborough used it for almost all his expeditions4 ,it was about the middle of the last century1 however1 that the real prosperity of ,margate first began4 ,then it was that citizens of credit and renown in ,london first hit upon the glorious discovery of the seaside1 and that watering-places tentatively and timidly raised their unobtrusive heads along the nearer beaches4 ,the journey from ,london could be made far more easily by river than that to ,brighton by coach2 and so ,margate1 the nearest spot to town 7by water7 on the real sea with any accommodation for visitors1 became in point of fact the earliest ,london seaside resort4 ,it was1 if not the first place1 at least one of the first places in ,england to offer to its guests the perilous joy of bathing machines1 which were inaugurated here about #agij4 ,with the introduction of steamers ,margate's fortune was made4 ,floods of ,cockneydom were let loose upon the nascent lodging-houses4 ,then came the ,london1 ,chatham and ,dover1 and ,south ,eastern ,railways1 and with them an ever-increasing inundation of good-humoured cheap-trippers4 ,the ,hall-by-the-,sea and other modern improvements and attractions followed4 ,like the rest of ,thanet1 ,margate has now become a mere suburb of ,london1 and what it resembles at the present day a delicate regard for the feelings of the inhabitants forbids me to enlarge upon4 ,i will merely add that the recognized modern name of ,margate is an etymological blunder1 due to the idea immortalized in the borough motto1 ,porta maris1 ,portus salutis1 that it means ,door of the ,sea4 ,the true word is still universally preserved on the lips of the local fisher-folk1 who always religiously call it either ,meregate or ,mergate4 ,ramsgate1 a much more attractive and enjoyable centre1 rich in excursions to points of genuine interest1 dates somewhat later4 ,it first came into note about the beginning of the eighteenth century1 when it did a modest trade with the ,levant and the ,black ,sea1 or1 as contemporary ,english more prettily phrases it1 'with ,russia and the east country4' ,in #agej the first pier was built1 as a national work1 mainly to serve as a harbour of refuge for ships caught in gales off the ,downs4 ,the engineer was ,smeaton1 and he succeeded in creating an artificial harbour of great extent1 which has lasted substantially up to the present time4 ,this new port1 rendered safer by the enlargement in #aghh1 made ,ramsgate at once into an important seafaring town1 the capital of the ,kentish herring trade1 alive with smacks in the busy season4 ,the steamers did it less good at first than they did to ,margate2 but the completion of the two railways1 and the building of the handsome extensions on the east and west cliffs1 turned it at once into a frequented watering-place4 ,it is the fashion nowadays rather to laugh at ,ramsgate4 ,marine painters know better4 ,few harbours are livelier with red and brown sails2 few coasts more enjoyable than the cliff walk looking across towards the ,goodwins1 the low shore by ,sandwich1 the higher ground about ,deal and ,dover1 and the dim white line of ,cape ,blancnez in the distance4 ,broadstairs1 close by the lighthouse on the ,north ,foreland 7the ,cantium ,promontorium of ,roman geography71 is still newer as a place of public resort4 ,but as a fishing village it dates back to the middle ages1 when the little chapel of ,our ,lady of ,bradstow stood in the gap of the cliffs1 and was much addressed by anxious sailors rounding the dangerous point after the silting up of the ,wantsum4 ,ships as they passed lowered their top-sails to do it reverence4 ,under ,henry ,,viii4 a small wooden pier was thrown out to protect the fishing boats2 and about the same time1 as part of the general scheme of coast defence inaugurated by the king1 a gate and portcullis were erected to close the gap seaward1 in case of invasion4 ,the archway and portcullis groove remain to this day1 with an inscription recording their repair in #agie by ,sir ,john ,henniker4 ,the railway has turned ,broadstairs into a minor rival of ,ramsgate and ,margate and 'a favourite resort for gentry1' where 'those who require quietness1 either from ill health or a retiring disposition1' says a local guide-book1 may enjoy 'the united advantages of tranquillity and seclusion4' ,hundreds of retiring souls indeed may be observed on the beach any day during the season1 seeking tranquillity in a game of cards1 repairing their health with the stimulus of donkey exercise1 or soothing their souls in secret hour with music sweet as love1 discoursed to them by gentlemen in loose pink suits and artificially imitated thiopian countenances4 ,westgate is the very latest-born of these ,thanet gates1 a brand-new watering-place1 where every house proclaims the futility of the popular belief that ,queen ,anne is dead1 and where fashionable physicians send fashionable patients to cure imaginary diseases by a dose of fresh air4 ,it has no history1 for only a few years since it consisted entirely of a coastguard station and three or four cottages3 but it is interesting as casting light on the nature of the revolution which has turned ,thanet inside out and hind part before1 making the open sea take the place of the ,kentish mainland1 and the railway to ,london that of the silted ,wantsum4 ,at the present day ,thanet as a whole consists of two parts3 the live sea front1 which is one long succession of suburban watering-places2 and the agricultural interior1 including the reclaimed estuary1 which ranks among the best-farmed and most productive districts in all ,england1 ,yet till a very recent date the ,thanet farmers still retained the use of the old ,kentish plough1 the coulter of which is reversed at the end of every furrow2 and many other curious insular customs mark off the agriculture of the island even now from that which prevails over the rest of the country4 ,i don't know whether ,i'm wrong1 but it often seems to me the very best way to gain an idea of the real history of ,england is thus to take a single district piecemeal1 and trace out for one's self the main features of its gradual evolution4 ,by so doing we get away from mere dynastic or political considerations1 leave behind the bang of drums or the blare of trumpets1 and reach down to the living facts of common human activity themselves--the realities of the workaday world of toilers and spinners4 ,by narrowing our field of view1 in fact1 we gain a clearer picture on our smaller focus4 ,we see how the big historical revolutions actually affected the life of the people2 and we trace more readily the true nature of deep-reaching changes when we follow them out in detail over a particular area4 ,a ,,hill-,,top ,,stronghold4 ',why1 what did they want to build a city right up here for1 anyway8' the pretty ,american asked1 who had come with us to ,fiesole1 as we rested1 panting1 after our long steep climb1 on the cathedral platform4 ,now the question was a pertinent and in its way a truly philosophical one4 ,fiesole crests the ridge of a ,tuscan hill1 and in ,america they don't build cities on hill-tops4 ,you may search through the length and breadth of the ,united ,states1 from ,maine to ,california1 and ,i venture to bet a modest dollar you won't find a single town perched anywhere in a position at all resembling that of many a glowing ,etrurian fastness1 that ',like an eagle's nest ,hangs on the crest ,of purple ,apennine4' ,towns in ,america stand all on the level3 most of them are built by harbours of sea or inland lake2 or by navigable rivers2 or at the junction of railways2 or at a point where cataracts 7sadly debased7 supply ample water-power for saw-mills and factories2 or else in the immediate neighbourhood of coal1 iron1 oil wells1 or gold and silver mines4 ,in short1 the position of ,american towns bears always an immediate and obvious reference to the wants and necessities of our modern industrial and commercial system4 ,they are towns that have grown up in a state of profound peace1 and that imply advanced means of communication1 with a free interchange of agricultural and manufactured products4 ,hence in ,america it is always quite easy to see at a glance the raison d'tre of every town or village one comes across4 ,new ,york1 ,boston1 ,philadelphia1 ,baltimore--,new ,orleans1 ,montreal1 ,san ,francisco1 ,charleston--are all great ports for the exportation of corn1 pork1 'lumber1' cotton1 or tobacco1 and the importation of ,european manufactured goods4 ,chicago is the main collecting and distributing centre for the wide basin of the upper ,great ,lakes1 as ,cincinnati is for the ,ohio ,valley1 and ,st4 ,louis for the ,mississippi and ,missouri confluents4 ,pittsburg bases itself upon its coal and its iron2 ,buffalo exists as the point of transfer where elevators raise the corn of ,chicago from lake-going vessels into the long1 low barges of the ,erie ,canal4 ,in every case1 in that newest of worlds1 one can see for oneself at a glance exactly why so large a body of human beings has collected just at that precise spot1 and at no other4 ,but when you have toiled up1 hot and breathless1 through olive and pine1 from the ,viale at ,florence to the antique ,cyclopean walls of ,etruscan ,fsul1 you wonder to yourself1 like our ,american friend1 as you pant on the terrace of the ,romanesque cathedral1 what on earth they could ever have wanted to build a town up there for1 anyway4 ,if we look away from ,tuscany to our own ,england1 however1 we shall find on many a deserted down or lonely tor ample evidence of the causes which led the people of this ancient ,etruscan town to build their citadel at so great a height above the neighbouring valley4 ,fiesole1 says ,dante1 in a well-known verse1 was the mother of ,florence4 ,even so in ,england1 ,old ,sarum was indeed the mother of ,salisbury1 and ,caer ,badon or ,sulis was the mother of ,bath4 ,and when there was first a ,fsul on the hill here there could be no ,florence1 as when first there was an ,old ,sarum on the ,wiltshire downs there could be no ,salisbury1 and when first there was a ,caer ,badon on the heights of ,avon there could be no ,bath4 ,in very early times indeed1 in the ,european land area1 when men began first to gather together into towns or villages1 two necessities determined their choice of a place to dwell in3 first1 food-supply 7including water72 and second1 defence4 ,hence every early community stands1 to start with1 near its own cultivable territory1 usually a broad river-valley1 an alluvial plain1 a 'carse' or lowland1 for uplands as yet were incapable of tillage by the primitive agriculture of those early epochs4 ,but it does not stand actually in the carse2 it occupies as a rule the nearest convenient height or hill-top1 most often the one that juts out farthest into the subjacent plain1 by way of security against the attack of enemies4 ,this is the beginning of almost every great historical ,european town2 it is an arx or acropolis overhanging its own tilth or ager2 and though in many cases the town came down at last into the valley1 retaining still its old name1 yet the remains of the old earthworks or walls on the hill-top above often bear witness to our own day to the original site of the antique settlement upon the high places4 ,one can mark1 too1 various stages in this gradual process of secular descent from the wind-swept hills into the valleys below1 as freer communications and greater security made access to water1 roads1 and rivers of greater importance than mere defence or elevated position4 ,at ,bath1 for example1 it was the ,pax ,romana that brought down the town from the stockaded height of ,caer ,badon1 and the ,hill of ,solisbury to the ford and the hot springs in the valley of the ,avon4 ,at ,old ,sarum1 on the other hand1 the hill-top town remained much longer3 it lived from the ,celtic first into the ,roman and then into the ,west ,saxon world2 it had a cathedral of its own in ,norman times2 and even long after ,bishop ,roger ,poore founded the ,new ,sarum1 which we now call ,salisbury1 at the point where the great west road passed the river below1 the hill-top town continued to be inhabited1 and1 as everybody knows1 when all its population had finally dwindled away1 retained some vestige of its ancient importance by returning a member of its own for a single farmhouse to the unreformed ,parliament till '#cb4 ,as for ,fiesole1 though ,florence has long since superseded it as the capital of the ,arno ,valley1 the town itself still lives on to our own time in a dead-alive way1 and1 like ,norman4 ,old ,sarum1 retains even now its beautiful old cathedral1 its ,palazzo ,pretorio1 and its acknowledged claims to ancient boroughship4 ,in ,england1 ,i know by personal experience only one such hill-top town of the antique sort still surviving1 and that is ,shaftsbury2 but ,i am told that ,launceston1 with its strong castle overlooking the ,tamar1 is even a finer example4 ,this relatively early disappearance of the hill-top fortress from our own midst is in part due1 no doubt1 to the early growth of the industrial spirit in ,england1 and our long-continued freedom from domestic warfare4 ,but all over ,southern ,europe1 as everybody must have noticed1 the hill-top town1 perched1 like ,eza1 on the very summit of a pointed pinnacle1 still remains everywhere in evidence as a common object of the country in our own day4 ,i said above that ,fiesole was the mother of ,florence1 and1 in spite of formal objections to the contrary1 ,i venture to defend that now somewhat obsolete and heretical opinion4 ,for why does ,fiesole stand just where it does8 ,what made them build a city up there1 anyway8 ,well1 a town always exists just where it does exist for some good and amply sufficient reason4 ,even if1 like ,fiesole1 it is mainly a survival 7though at ,fiesole there are1 indeed1 olives in plenty and other live trades to keep a town going71 it yet exists there in virtue of facts which once upon a time were quite sufficient to bring the world to the spot1 and it goes on existing1 partly by mere conservative use and wont1 no doubt1 but partly also because there are houses1 churches1 mills1 and roads all ready built there4 ,now1 a town must always1 from a very early period1 have existed upon the exact site of ,fiesole4 ,and why8 ,to answer that question you have only to look at the view from the platform4 ,i do not mean to suggest that the ancient ,etruscans came there to enjoy the prospect as we go nowadays to the hotels on the ,rigi or to the summit of ,mount ,washington4 ,the ancient ,etruscan was a practical man1 and his views about views were probably rudimentary4 ,but gaze down for a moment from the cathedral platform upon the valley of the ,arno1 spread like a glowing picture at your feet1 and see how immediately it resolves the doubt4 ,not1 indeed1 the valley of the ,arno as it stands at present1 thick set with tower and spire and palace4 ,in order to arrive at the raison d'tre of ,fiesole you must blot out mentally ,arnolfo's vast pile1 and ,brunelleschi's dome1 and ,giotto's campanile1 and ,savonarola's monastery1 and the tall and slender tower of the ,palazzo ,vecchio1 rising like a shaft sheer into the air far1 far below--you must blot out1 in short1 all that makes the world now congregate at ,florence1 and all ,florence itself into the bargain4 ,nowhere on earth do ,i know a more peopled plain than that plain of ,arno in our own time1 seen on a sunny autumn day1 when the light glints clearly on each white villa and church and hamlet1 from this specular mount of antique ,fiesole4 ,but to understand why ,fiesole itself stands there at all you must neglect all this1 neglect all the wealth of art that makes each inch of that valley classic ground1 and look only1 if you can for a brief moment1 at the bare facts of primitive nature4 ,and what then do you see8 ,spread far below you1 and basking in the sunshine1 a comparatively flat and wide1 open valley2 olive and stone pine and mulberry on its slopes2 pasture land and flowery vale in its midst4 ,north and south1 in two long ridges1 the ,apennines stretch their hard1 blue outlines from ,carrara to ,siena against the afternoon sky--outlines of a sort that one never gets in northern lands1 but which remind one so exactly of the painted background to a fifteenth-century ,italian picture that nature seems here1 to our topsy-turvy fancy1 to be whimsically imitating an effect from art4 ,but in between those two tossed and tumbled guardian ridges1 the valley of the ,arno1 as it flows towards ,pisa1 with the minor basins of its tributary streams1 expands for a while about ,florence itself into a broad and comparatively level plain4 ,in a mountain country so broken and heaved about as ,peninsular ,italy1 every spare inch of cultivable plain like that has incalculable value4 ,true1 on the terraced slopes of the hillsides generation after generation of ingenious men have managed to build up1 tier by tier1 a wonderful expanse of artificial tilth4 ,but while oil and wine can be produced upon the terraces1 it is on the river valleys alone that the early inhabitants had to depend for their corn1 their cheese1 and their flesh-meat4 ,hence1 in primitive ,italy and in primitive ,england alike1 every such open alluvial plain1 fit for tilth or grazing1 had overhanging it a stockaded hill-fort1 which grew with time into a medival town or a walled city4 ,it is just so that ,caer ,badon at ,bath overhangs1 with its prehistoric earthworks1 the plain of ,avon on which ,beau ,nash's city now spreads its streets1 and it is just so that ,old ,sarum in turn overhangs1 with its regular ,roman fosses and gigantic glacis1 the dale of the namesake river in ,wilts1 near its point of confluence with the stream of the ,wily4 ,we find it hard1 no doubt1 to imagine nowadays that once upon a time ,england was almost as thickly covered with hill-top villages 7though on minor heights7 as ,italy is in the present century4 ,yet such was undoubtedly the case in prehistoric times4 ,i know no better instance of the way these stockaded villages were built than the magnificent group of antique earthworks in ,dorset and ,devon which rings round with a double row of fortresses the beautiful valley of the ,axminster ,axe4 ,there1 on one side1 a long line of strongholds built by the ,durotriges caps every jutting down and hill-top on the southern and eastern bank of the river1 while facing them1 on the opposite northern and western side1 rises a similar series of ,damnonian fortresses1 crowning the corresponding ,devonshire heights4 ,lambert's ,castle1 ,musberry ,castle1 ,hawksdown ,castle1 and so forth1 the local nomenclature still calls them1 but they are castles1 or castra1 only in the now obsolete ,roman sense2 prehistoric earthworks1 with dyke and trench1 once stockaded with wooden palings on top1 and enclosing the huts and homes of the inhabitants4 ,the river ran between the hostile territories2 each village held its own strip of land below its fortress-height1 and drove up its cattle1 its women1 and its children1 in times of foray1 to the safety of the kraal or hill-top encampment4 ,in such a condition of society1 of course1 every community was absolutely dependent upon its own territory for the means of subsistence4 ,and wherever the means of subsistence existed1 a village was sure to spring up in time upon the nearest hill-top4 ,that is how the oldest ,fiesole of all first came to be perched there4 ,it was a hill-top refuge for the tillers and grazers of the fertile ,arno vale at its feet4 ,but why did the people of the ,arno ,valley fix upon the particular site of ,fiesole8 ,surely on the southern side of the river1 about the ,viale dei ,colli1 the hills approach much nearer to the plain4 ,from ,san ,miniato and the ,bello ,sguardo one looks down far more directly upon the domes and palaces and campaniles of ,florence spread right at one's feet4 ,why didn't the primitive inhabitants of the valley fix rather on a spur of that nearer range--say the one where ,galileo's tower stands--for the site of their village8 ,if you know ,florence and have asked that question within yourself in all seriousness as you read1 ,i see you haven't yet begun to throw yourself into the position of affairs in prehistoric ,tuscany4 ,you can't shuffle off your own century4 ,for between the broad plain and the range of hills where the ,viale dei ,colli now winds serpentine on its beautiful way round the glens and ravines1 the ,arno runs1 a broad torrent flood in times of freshet3 the ,arno1 unbridged as yet 7in the days ,i speak of7 by the ,ponte ,vecchio1 an impassable frontier between the wide territory of prehistoric ,fiesole and the narrow fields of some minor village1 long since forgotten1 on the opposite bank4 ,the great alluvial plain lies north of the river2 the three streams whose silt contributes to form it flow into the main channel from ,pistoja and ,prato4 ,to live across the river on the south bank would have been absolutely impossible for the owners of the plain4 ,but ,fiesole occupies a central spur of the northern heights1 overlooking the valley to east and west1 and must therefore have been always the natural place from which to command the plain of ,arno4 ,a little above and a little below ,florence gorges once more hem the river in4 ,so that the plain of ,florence 7as we call it nowadays71 the plain of ,fiesole1 as it once was1 formed at the beginning a little natural principality by itself1 of which ,fiesole was the obvious capital and stronghold4 ,for in order to understand ,fiesole aright1 we must always manage in our own minds to get rid entirely of that beautiful mushroom growth1 ,florence1 and to think only of the most ancient epoch4 ,while we are in ,florence itself1 to be sure1 it seems to us always1 by comparison with our modern ,english towns1 that ,florence is a place of immemorial antiquity4 ,it was civilized when ,britain was a den of thieves4 ,while in feudal ,england ,edward ,i4 was summoning his barons to repress the rising of ,william ,wallace1 in ,florence1 already a great commercial town1 ,arnolfo di ,cambio had received the sublime orders of the ,signoria to construct for the ,duomo 'the most sumptuous edifice that human invention could desire or human labour execute1' and had carried out those orders with consummate skill4 ,while ,edward ,,iii4 was dreaming of his lawless filibustering expeditions into ,france1 ,ciotto was encrusting the face of his glorious belfry with that magnificent decoration of many-coloured marbles which makes northern churches look so cold and grey and barbaric by comparison4 ,while ,englishmen were burning ,joan of ,arc at ,rouen1 ,fra ,angelico was adorning the walls of ,san ,marco with those rapt saints and those spotless ,madonnas4 ,even the very back streets of ,florence recall at every step its medival magnificence4 ,but when from ,florence itself one turns to ,fiesole1 the city by the ,arno sinks at once by a sudden revulsion into a mere thing of yesterday by the side of the city on the ,etruscan hill-top4 ,fiesole was a town of immemorial antiquity while ,florence was still1 what perhaps its poetical name imports1 a field of flowers4 ,but why this particular height rather than any other of the dozen that jut out into the plain8 ,well1 there we get at another fundamental point in hill-top town history4 ,fiesole had water4 ,a spring at such a height is comparatively rare1 but it is a necessary accompaniment1 or rather a condition precedent1 of all high-place villages4 ,in the ,borgo ,unto you will still find this spring--a natural fountain1 the ,fonte ,sotterra--in an underground passage1 now approached 7so greatly did the ,fiesolans appreciate its importance7 by a ,gothic archway4 ,the water supplies the whole neighbourhood2 and that accounts for the position of the town on the low col just below the acropolis4 ,who first chose the site it would be impossible to say2 the earliest stockaded fort at ,fiesole 7enclosing the town and arx above7 must go back to the very dawn of neolithic history1 long before the ,etruscans had ever issued forth from their ,rhtian fastnesses to occupy the blue and silver-grey hills of modern ,tuscany4 ,nor do we know who built the great ,cyclopean walls1 whose huge rough blocks still overhang the modern carriage road that leads past ,boccaccio's ,valley of the ,ladies and ,fra ,angelico's earliest convent from the town in the ,valley4 ,they are attributed to the ,etruscans1 of course1 on much the same grounds as ,stonehenge is attributed to the ,druids--because in the minds of the people who made the attribution ,etruscans and ,druids were each in their own place the ne plus ultra of aboriginal antiquity4 ,but at any rate1 at some very early time1 the people who held the valley of the ,arno erected these vast megalithic walls round their city and citadel as a protection1 probably1 against the people who held the ,ligurian sea-board4 ,throughout the early historical period at least we know that ,fsul was an ,etruscan border-town against the ,ligurian freebooters1 and we can see that the arx or acropolis of ,fsul must have occupied the hill-top now occupied by the ,franciscan monastery on the height above the town1 while the houses must have spread1 as they still do within shrunken limits1 about the spring and over the col at its base4 ,fsul was not one of the great ,etrurian cities1 not one of the twelve cities of the ,etruscan ,league4 ,volterra occupies the site of the large ,tuscan town which lorded it over this part of the ,lower ,apennines4 ,but ,fsul must still have been a considerable place1 to judge by the magnitude and importance of its fortifications1 and it must have gathered into itself the entire population of all the little ,arno plain4 ,as long as fortis ,etruria crevit1 ,fsul must always have held its own as a frontier post against the ,ligurian foe4 ,but when fortis ,etruria began to decline1 and ,rome to become the summit of all things1 the glory of ,fsul received a severe shock4 ,not indeed by conquest--that counts for little--but the ,roman peace introduced into ,italy a new order of things1 fatal to the hill-tops4 ,sulla1 who humbled ,fsul1 did far worse than that3 he planted a ,roman colony in the valley at its foot--the colony of ,florentia--at the point where the road crossed the ,arno--the colony that was afterwards to become the most famous commercial and artistic town of the medival world as ,florence4 ,the position of the new town marks the change that had come over the conditions of life in ,upper ,italy4 ,florence was a ,fiesole descended to the plain4 ,and it descended for just the selfsame reason that made ,bishop ,poore thirteen centuries later bring down ,sarum from its lofty hill-top to the new white minster by the ford of ,avon4 ,roads1 communications1 internal trade were henceforth to exist and to count for much2 what was needed now was a post and trading town on the river to guard the passage from north to south against possible aggression4 ,fiesole had been but a mountain stronghold2 ,florence was marked from the very beginning by its mere position as a great commercial and manufacturing town4 ,nevertheless1 just as in medival ,england the upper town on the hill1 the castled town of the barons1 often existed for many years side by side with the lower town on the river1 the high-road town of the merchant guilds--just as ,old ,sarum1 for example1 continued to exist side by side with ,salisbury--so ,fsul continued to exist side by side with ,florentia4 ,as a military post1 commanding the plain1 it was needful to retain it2 and so1 though ,sulla destroyed in part its population1 he reinstated it before long as one of his own ,roman colonies4 ,and for a long time1 during the ages of doubtful peace that succeeded the first glorious flush of the military empire1 ,fsul must have kept up its importance unchanged4 ,the remains of the ,roman theatre on the slope behind the cathedral--great stone semicircles carved on a scale to seat a large audience--betoken a considerable ,roman town4 ,and from a very early period it seems to have possessed a ,christian church1 whose first bishop1 according to a tradition as good as most1 was a convert of ,st4 ,peter's1 and was martyred1 says his legend1 in the ,neronian persecution4 ,the existing cathedral1 its later representative1 is still an early and very simple ,tuscan basilica1 with picturesque crypt and raised choir1 of a very plain ,romanesque type4 ,it looks like a fitting church for the mother-town of ,florence2 it seems to recall in its own cold and austere fabric the more ancient claims of the sombre ,etruscan hill-top city4 ,it was the middle ages1 however1 that finally brought down ,fiesole in earnest to the plain4 ,pisa had been the earliest ,tuscan town to attain importance and maritime supremacy after the dark days of barbarian incursion2 but as soon as land-transit once more assumed general importance1 ,florence1 seated on the great route from the north to ,rome by ,siena1 and commanding the passage of the ,arno and the gate of the ,apennines1 naturally began to surpass in time its distanced rival4 ,as early as the ,roman days a bridge is said to have spanned the ,arno on the site of the existing ,ponte ,vecchio4 ,the medival walls enclosed the southern tte du pont within their picturesque circuit1 thus securing the passage of the river and giving ,florence its little ,janiculus1 the ,oltrarno1 with its southern exit by the ,porta ,romana4 ,the real 'makers of ,florence' were the humble workmen who thus extended the firm hold of the growing republic to the southern bank4 ,by so doing1 they gave their city undoubted command of the imperial route from ,germany ,romeward1 and brought in their train ,dante and ,giotto1 ,brunelleschi and ,donatello1 ,fra ,angelico and ,savonarola1 the ,medici and the ,pitti1 ,michael ,angelo and ,raffaele1 and all the glories of the ,renaissance epoch4 ,for as at ,athens1 so in ,florence1 art and literature followed plainly in the wake of commerce4 ,but the rise of ,florence was the fall of ,fiesole4 ,already in the eleventh century the undutiful daughter had conquered and annexed her venerable mother2 and in proportion as the mercantile importance of the city in the plain waxed greater and greater1 that of the city on the hill-top must slowly have waned to less and less4 ,at the present day ,fiesole has degenerated into a mere suburb of ,florence1 which1 indeed1 it had almost become when ,lorenzo the ,magnificent held his country court at the ,villa ,mozzi1 or even earlier1 when ,boccaccio's lively narrators fled from the plague to the gardens of the ,palmieri1 though it still retains the dignity of its ancient cathedral1 its municipal palace1 its gigantic seminary1 and its great overgrown ,franciscan monastery1 that replaces the citadel on the height above the town4 ,nay1 more1 with its local museum1 its bishop's palace1 and its quaint churches1 it keeps up1 to some extent1 all the airs and graces of a real living town4 ,but in reality these few big buildings1 and the graceful campanile which makes so fair a show in all the neighbouring views1 are the best of the little city4 ,fiesole looks biggest seen from afar4 ,all that is vital in it is the ecclesiastical establishment1 which still clings1 with true ecclesiastical conservatism1 to the hill-top city1 and the trade of the straw plaiters1 who make ,leghorn straw goods and pester the visitor with their flimsy wares1 taking no answer to all their importunities save one in solid coin of good ,king ,umberto4 ,one last question4 ,how does it come that in these southern climates the hill-top town has survived so much more generally to our own day than in ,northern ,europe8 ,the obvious answer seems at first sight to be that in the warmer climates life can be carried on comfortably1 and agriculture can yield good results1 at a greater height than in a cold climate4 ,olives1 vines1 chestnuts1 maize will grow far up on ,italian hill sides1 and that1 no doubt1 counts for something2 but ,i do not believe it covers all the ground4 ,two other points seem to me at least equally important1 especially when we remember that the hill-top town was once as common in the north as in the south1 and that what we have really to account for in ,italy is not its existence merely1 but rather its late survival into newer epochs4 ,one point is that in ,southern ,europe the state of perpetual internal warfare lasted much longer than in the feudal north4 ,the other point is that each little patch of country in the south is still far more self-supporting1 has had its economic conditions far less disturbed by modern rearrangements and commercial necessities1 than in ,northern ,europe4 ,in ,england every town and village stands upon some high road2 the larger stand almost invariably upon some railway or some navigable river4 ,in ,italy it is still quite possible1 where agricultural conditions are favourable1 to have a comparatively flourishing town perched upon some out-of-the-way mountain height4 ,even a carriage road is scarcely a necessity2 a mule path will do well enough for wine and oil and the other simple commodities of southern life4 ,the hill-top town1 in short1 belongs to an earlier type of civilisation than ours2 it survives1 unaltered1 on its own pinnacle wherever that type of civilisation is still possible4 ,and ,i sincerely hope our pretty ,american friend will pardon me for having thus publicly answered1 at so great length1 her natural question4 ,a ,,persistent ,,nationality4 ,standing to-day before the dim outline of ,orcagna's ,hell in the ,church of ,santa ,maria ,novella1 at ,florence1 and mentally comparing those medival demons and monsters and torturers on the frescoed wall in front of me with the more antique ,etruscan devils and tormentors pictured centuries earlier on the ancient tombs of ,etrurian princes1 the thought1 which had often occurred to me before1 how essentially similar were the ,tuscan intellect and ,tuscan art in all ages1 forced itself upon me once more at a flash with an irresistible burst of internal conviction4 ,the identity of old and new seemed to stand confessed4 ,etruria throughout has been one and the same2 and it is almost impossible for any one to over-estimate the influence of the powerful1 but gloomy1 ,etruscan character upon the whole tone1 not only of popular ,christianity1 but of that modern civilisation which is its offspring and outcome4 ,i suppose it is hardly necessary1 in this age of enlightenment 7as people used to say in the last century71 to insist any longer upon the obvious fact that conquest and absorption do not in any way mean extermination4 ,most people still vaguely fancy to themselves1 to be sure1 that1 when ,rome conquered and absorbed ,etruria1 the ancient ,etruscan ceased at once to exist--was swallowed1 as it were1 and became forthwith1 in some mysterious way1 first a ,roman1 and then a modern ,italian4 ,and1 in a certain sense1 this is1 no doubt1 more or less true2 but that sense is decidedly not the genealogical one4 ,manners change1 but blood persists4 ,the ,tuscan people went on living and marrying under consul and emperor just as they had done under lar and lucumo2 ,latin and ,gaul1 ,lombard and ,goth1 mingled with them in time1 but did not efface them2 and ,i do not doubt that the vast mass of the population of ,tuscany at the present day is still of preponderatingly ,etruscan blood1 though qualified1 of course 7and perhaps improved71 by many ,italic1 ,celtic1 and ,teutonic elements4 ,again1 when we remember that ,florence1 ,pisa1 ,siena1 ,perugia are all practically in ,tuscany1 and that ,florence alone has really given to the world ,dante and ,boccaccio1 ,galileo and ,savonarola1 ,cimabue and ,giotto1 ,botticelli and ,fra ,angelico1 ,donatello and ,ghiberti1 ,michael ,angelo and ,raffael1 ,leonardo da ,vinci and ,macchiavelli and ,alfieri1 and a host of other almost equally great names1 it will be obvious to every one that the problem of the origin of this ,tuscan nationality must be one that profoundly interests the whole world4 ,nay1 more1 we must remember1 too1 that ,etruria had other and earlier claims than these2 that it spread up to the very walls of ,rome2 that the ,etruscan element in ,rome itself was immensely strong2 that the ,roman religion owed1 confessedly1 much to ,tuscan ideas2 that ,latin ,christianity1 the ,christianity of all the ,western world1 took its shape in semi-,tuscan ,rome2 that the ,roman ,empire was largely modelled by the ,etruscan ,mcenas2 that the ,italian renaissance was largely influenced by the ,florentine ,medici2 that ,leo the ,tenth was himself a member of that great house2 and that the artists whom he summoned to the metropolis to erect ,st4 ,peter's and to beautify the ,vatican were1 almost all of them1 ,florentines by birth1 training1 or domicile4 ,i think1 when we have run over mentally these and ten thousand other like facts1 we will readily admit to ourselves the magnitude of the world's debt to ,tuscany--social1 artistic1 intellectual1 religious--both in ancient1 medival1 and modern times4 ,and what1 now1 was this strong ,tuscan nationality1 which persists so thoroughly through all external historical changes1 and which has contributed so large and so marvellous a part to the world's thought and the world's culture8 ,it is a curious consideration for those who talk so glibly1 about the enormous natural superiority of the ,aryan race1 that the ancient ,etruscans were the one people of the antique ,european world1 who1 by common consent1 did not belong to the ,aryan family4 ,they were strangers in the land1 or1 rather1 perhaps they were its oldest possessors4 ,their language1 their physique1 their creed1 their art1 all point to a wholly different origin from the ,aryans4 ,i am not going1 in a brief essay like this1 to settle dogmatically1 off-hand1 the vexed question of the origin and affinities of the ,etruscan type2 more nonsense1 ,i suppose1 has been talked and written upon that occult subject by learned men than even learned men have ever poured forth upon any other sublunary topic2 but one thing at least1 ,i take it1 is absolutely certain amid the conflicting theories of ingenious theorists about the ,etruscan race1 and that one thing is that the ,rasenn stand in ,europe absolutely alone1 the sole representatives of some ancient and elsewhere exterminated stock1 surviving only in ,tuscany itself1 and in the ,rhtian ,alps of the ,canton ,grisons4 ,at the moment when the ,etruscans first appear in history1 however1 they appear as a race capable of acquiring and assimilating culture with great ease1 rapidity1 and certainty4 ,no sooner do they come into contact with the ,greek world than they absorb and reproduce all that was best and truest in ,greek civilization4 ',merely receptive--,european ,chinese1' says1 in effect1 ,mommsen1 the great ,roman historian3 to me1 that judgment1 though true in some small degree1 seems harsh indeed on a wider view1 when applied to a people who begot at last the ',divina ,commedia1' the campanile of ,florence1 the dome of ,st4 ,peter's1 and the glories of the ,uffizi and the ,pitti ,palace4 ,it is quite true that the ,etruscans themselves1 like the ,japanese in our own time1 did at first accept most imitatively the ,hellenic culture2 but they gradually remoulded it by their own effort into something new1 growing and changing from age to age1 until at last1 in the ,italian renaissance1 they burst out with a wonderful and novel message to all the rest of dormant ,europe4 ,one of the most persistent key-notes of this underlying ,etruscan character is the solemn1 weird1 and gloomy nature of so much of the true ,etruscan workmanship4 ,from the very beginning they are strong1 but sullen4 ,solidity and power1 rather than beauty and grace1 are what they aim at2 and in this1 ,michael ,angelo was a true ,tuscan4 ,if we look at the massive old ,etruscan buildings1 the ,cyclopean walls of ,fsul and ,volterr1 with their gigantic unhewn blocks1 or the gloomy tombs of ,clusium1 with their heavy portals1 and then at the frowning faade of the ,strozzi or the ,pitti ,palace1 we shall see in these1 their earliest and latest terms1 the special marks of ,tuscan architecture4 ',piled by the hands of giants for mighty kings of old1' says ,macaulay1 well1 of the ,cyclopean walls4 ',it somewhat resembles a prison or castle1 and is remarkable for its bold simplicity of style1 the unadorned huge blocks of stone being hewn smooth at the joints only1' says a modern writer1 of ,brunelleschi's palatial masterpiece4 ,every visitor to ,florence must have noticed on every side the marks of this sullen and rugged ,etruscan character4 ,compare for a moment the dark bosses of the ,palazzo ,strozzi1 the 'pre nergie' of the ,palazzo ,vecchio1 the 'beaut sombre et svre' of the medival ,bargello1 with the open1 airy brightness of the ,doge's ,palace1 or the glorious ,byzantine gold-and-blue of ,st4 ,mark's at ,venice1 and you get at once an admirable measure of this persistent trait in the ,etruscan idiosyncrasy4 ,tuscan architecture is massive and morose where ,venetian architecture is sunny and smiling4 ,now1 ,tuscan religion has in all times been specially influenced by the peculiarly gloomy tinge of the ,tuscan character4 ,it has always been a religion of fear rather than of love2 a religion that strove harder to terrorize than to attract2 a religion full of devils1 flames1 tortures1 and horrors2 in short1 a sort of horrible ,chinese religion of dragons and monstrosities1 and flames and goblins4 ,in the painted tombs of ancient ,etruria you may see the familiar devil with his three-pronged fork thrusting souls back into the seething flood of a heathen hell1 as ,orcagna's here thrust them back similarly into that of its more modern ,christian successor4 ,all ,etruscan art is full throughout of such horrors4 ,you find their traces abundantly in the antique ,etruscan museum at ,florence2 you find them on the medival ,campo ,santo at ,pisa2 you find them with greater skill1 but equal repulsiveness1 in the work of the great ,renaissance artists4 ,the 'ghastly glories of saints' the ,tuscan revels in4 ,the most famous portion of the most famous ,tuscan poem is the ',inferno'--the part that gloats with minute and truly ,tuscan realism over the torments of the damned in every department of the medival hell4 ,and1 as if still further to mark the continuity of thought1 here in ,orcagna's frescoes at ,santa ,maria ,novella you have every horror of the heathen religion incongruously mingled with every horror of the ,christian--gorgons and harpies and chimras dire are tormenting the wicked under the eyes of the ,madonna2 centaurs are shooting and prodding them before the ,god of ,love from the torrid banks of fiery lakes2 furies with snaky heads are directing their punishments2 ,minos and acus are superintending their tasks2 and1 in the centre of all1 a huge ,moloch demon is devouring them bodily in his fiery jaws1 with hideous tusks as of a ,japanese monster4 ,it would be a curious question to inquire how far these old and ingrained ,etruscan ideas may have helped to modify and colour the gentler conceptions of primitive ,christianity4 ,certainly1 one must never for a moment forget that ,rome was at bottom nearly one-half ,etruscan in character2 that during the imperial period it became1 in fact1 the capital of ,etruria2 that myriads of ,etruscans flocked to ,rome2 and that many of them1 like ,sejanus1 had much to do with moulding and building up the imperial system4 ,i do not doubt1 myself1 that ,etruscan notions large interwove themselves1 from the very outset1 with ,roman ,christianity2 and whenever in the churches or galleries of ,italy ,i see ,st4 ,lawrence frying on his gridiron1 or ,st4 ,sebastian pierced through with many arrows1 or the ,innocents being massacred in unpleasant detail1 or hell being represented with ,dantesque minuteness and particularity of delineation1 ,i say to myself1 with an internal smile1 ',etruscan influence4' ,how interesting it is1 too1 to observe the constant outcrop1 under all forms and faiths1 of this strange1 underlying1 non-,aryan type6 ,the ,etruscans are and always were remarkable for their intellect1 their ingenuity1 their artistic faculty2 and even to this day1 after so many vicissitudes1 they stand out as a wholly superior people to the rough ,genoese and the indolent ,neapolitans4 ,they have had many crosses of blood meanwhile1 of course2 and it seems probable that the crosses have done them good3 for in ancient times it was ,rome1 the ,etrurianised border city of the ,latins1 that rose to greatness1 not ,etruria itself2 and at a later date1 it was after the ,germans had mingled their race with ,italy that ,florence almost took the place of ,rome4 ,nay1 it is known as a fact that under ,otto the ,great a large ,teutonic colony settled in ,florence1 thus adding to the native ,etrurian race 7especially to the nobility7 that other element which the ,tuscan seems to need in order that he may be spurred to the realisation of his best characteristics4 ,but allow as we may for foreign admixture1 two points are abundantly clear to the impartial observer of ,tuscan history3 one1 that this non-,aryan race has always been one of the finest and strongest in ,italy2 and the other1 that from the very dawn of history its main characteristics1 for good or for evil1 have persisted most uninterruptedly till the present day4 ,,casters ,,and ,,chesters4 ,everybody knows1 of course1 that up and down over the face of ,england a whole crop of places may be found with such terminations as ,lancaster1 ,doncaster1 ,manchester1 ,leicester1 ,gloucester1 or ,exeter2 and everybody also knows that these words are various corruptions or alterations of the ,latin castra1 or perhaps we ought rather to say of the singular form1 castrum4 ,so much we have all been told from our childhood upward2 and for the most part we have been quite ready to acquiesce in the statement without any further troublesome inquiry on our own account4 ,but in reality the explanation thus vouchsafed us does not help us much towards explaining the real origin and nature of these ancient names4 ,it is true enough as far as it goes1 but it does not go nearly far enough4 ,it reminds one a little of ,charles ,kingsley's accomplished pupil-teacher1 with his glib derivation of amphibious1 'from two ,greek words1 amphi1 the land1 and bios1 the water4' ,a detailed history of the root ',chester' in its various ,british usages may serve to show how far such a rough-and-ready solution as the pupil-teacher's falls short of complete accuracy and comprehensiveness4 ,in the first place1 without troubling ourselves for the time being with the diverse forms of the word as now existing1 a difficulty meets us at the very outset as to how it ever got into the ,english language at all4 ',it was left behind by the ,romans1' says the pupil teacher unhesitatingly4 ,no doubt2 but if so1 the only language in which it could be left would be ,welsh2 for when the ,romans quitted ,britain there were probably as yet no ,english settlements on any part of the eastern coast4 ,now the ,welsh form of the word1 even as given us in the very ancient ,latin ,welsh tract ascribed to ,nennius1 is ',caer' or ',kair2' and there is every reason to believe that the ,celtic cathir or the ,latin castrum had been already worn down into this corrupt form at least as early as the days of the first ,english colonisation of ,britain4 ,indeed ,i shall show ground hereafter for believing that that form survives even now in one or two parts of ,teutonic ,england4 ,but if this be so1 it is quite clear that the earliest ,english conquerors could not have acquired the use of the word from the vanquished ,welsh whom they spared as slaves or tributaries4 ,the newcomers could not have learned to speak of a ,ceaster or ,chester from ,welshmen who called it a ,caer2 nor could they have adopted the names of ,leicester or ,gloucester from ,welshmen who knew those towns only as ,kair ,legion or ,kair ,gloui4 ,it is clear that this easy off-hand theory shirks all the real difficulties of the question1 and that we must look a little closer into the matter in order to understand the true history of these interesting philological fossils4 ,already we have got one clear and distinct principle to begin with1 which is too often overlooked by amateur philologists4 ,the ,latin language1 as spoken by ,romans in ,britain during their occupation of the island1 has left and can have left absolutely no directs marks upon our ,english tongue1 for the simple reason that ,english 7or ,anglo-,saxon as we call it in its earlier stages7 did not begin to be spoken in any part of ,britain for twenty or thirty years after the ,romans retired4 ,whatever ,latin words have come down to us in unbroken succession from the ,roman times--and they are but a few--must have come down from ,welsh sources4 ,the ,britons may have learnt them from their ,italian masters1 and may then have imparted them1 after the brief period of precarious independence1 to their ,teutonic masters2 but of direct intercourse between ,roman and ,englishman there was probably little or none4 ,three ways out of this difficulty might possibly be suggested by any humble imitator of ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,first1 the early ,english pirates may have learnt the word castrum 7they always used it as a singular7 years before they ever came to ,britain as settlers at all4 ,for during the long decay of the empire1 the corsairs of the flat banks and islets of ,sleswick and ,friesland made many a light-hearted plundering expedition upon the unlucky coasts of the maritime ,roman provinces2 and it was to repel their dreaded attacks that the ,count of the ,saxon ,shore was appointed to the charge of the long exposed tract from the fenland of the ,wash to the estuary of the ,rother in ,sussex4 ,on one occasion they even sacked ,london itself1 already the chief trading town of the whole island4 ,during some such excursions1 the pirates would be certain to pick up a few ,latin words1 especially such as related to new objects1 unseen in the rude society of their own native heather-clad wastes2 and amongst these we may be sure that the great ,roman fortresses would rank first and highest in their barbaric eyes4 ,indeed1 modern comparative philologists have shown beyond doubt that a few southern forms of speech had already penetrated to the primitive ,english marshland by the shores of the ,baltic and the mouth of the ,elbe before the great exodus of the fifth century2 and we know that ,roman or ,byzantine coins1 and other objects belonging to the ,mediterranean civilisation1 are found abundantly in barrows of the first ,christian centuries in ,sleswick--the primitive ,england of the colonists who conquered ,britain4 ,but if the word castrum did not get into early ,english by some such means1 then we must fall back either upon our second alternative explanation1 that the townspeople of the south-eastern plains in ,england had become thoroughly ,latinised in speech during the ,roman occupation2 or upon our third1 that they spoke a ,celtic dialect more akin to ,gaulish than the modern ,welsh of ,wales1 which may be descended from the ruder and older tongue of the western aborigines4 ,this last opinion would fit in very well with the views of ,mr4 ,rhys1 the ,celtic professor at ,oxford1 who thinks that all south-eastern ,britain was conquered and colonised by the ,gauls before the ,roman invasion4 ,if so1 it maybe only the western ,welsh who said ,caer2 the eastern may have said castrum1 as the ,romans did4 ,in either of the latter two cases1 we must suppose that the early ,english learnt the word from the conquered ,britons of the districts they overran4 ,but ,i myself have very little doubt that they had borrowed it long before their settlement in our island at all4 ,however this may be--and ,i confess ,i have been a little puritanically minute upon the subject--the ,english settlers learned to use the word from the first moment they landed in ,britain4 ,in its earliest ,english dress it appears as ,ceaster1 pronounced like ,keaster1 for the soft sound of the initial in modern ,english is due to later ,norman influences4 ,the new comers--,anglo-,saxons1 if you choose to call them so--applied the word to every ,roman town or ruin they found in ,britain4 ,indeed1 all the ,latin words of the first crop in ,english--those used during the heathen age1 before ,augustine and his monks introduced the ,roman civilisation--belong to such material relics of the older provincial culture as the ,sleswick pirates had never before known3 way from via1 wall from vallum1 street from strata1 and port from portus4 ,in this first crop of foreign words ,ceaster also must be reckoned1 and it was originally employed in ,english as a common rather than as a proper name4 ,thus we read in the brief ,chronicle of the ,west ,saxon kings1 under the year #egg1 ',cuthwine and ,ceawlin fought against the ,welsh1 and offslew three kings1 ,conmail and ,condidan and ,farinmail1 and took three ceasters1 ,gleawan ceaster and ,ciren ceaster and ,bathan ceaster4' ,we might modernise a little1 so as to show the real sense1 by saying ',glevum city and ,corinium city and ,bath city4' ,here it is noticeable that in two of the cases--,gloucester and ,cirencester--the descriptive termination has become at last part of the name2 but in the third case--that of ,bath--it has never succeeded in doing so4 ,ages after1 in the reign of ,king ,alfred1 we still find the word used as a common noun2 for the ,chronicle mentions that a body of ,danish freebooters 'fared to a waste ceaster in ,wirral2 it is hight ,lega ceaster2' that is to say1 ,legionis castra1 now ,chester4 ,the grand old ,english epic of ,beowulf1 which is perhaps older than the colonisation of ,britain1 speaks of townsfolk as 'the dwellers in ceasters4' ,as a rule1 each particular ,roman town retained its full name1 in a more or less clipped form1 for official uses2 but in the ordinary colloquial language of the neighbourhood they all seem to have been described as 'the ,ceaster' simply1 just as we ourselves habitually speak of 'town1' meaning the particular town near which we live1 or1 in a more general sense1 ,london4 ,thus1 in the north1 ,ceaster usually means ,york1 the ,roman capital of the province2 as when the ,chronicle tells us that ',john succeeded to the bishopric of ,ceaster'2 that ',wilfrith was hallowed as bishop at ,ceaster'2 or that 'thelberht the archbishop died at ,ceaster4' ,in the south it is employed to mean ,winchester1 the capital of the ,west ,saxon kings and overlords of all ,britain2 as when the ,chronicle says that ',king ,edgar drove out the priests at ,ceaster from the ,old ,minster and the ,new ,minster1 and set them with monks4' ,so1 as late as the days of ,charles ,,ii41 'to go to town' meant in ,shropshire to go to ,shrewsbury1 and in ,norfolk to go to ,norwich4 ,in only one instance has this colloquial usage survived down to our own days in a large town1 and that is at ,chester1 where the short form has quite ousted the full name of ,lega ceaster4 ,but in the case of small towns or unimportant ,roman stations1 which would seldom need to be mentioned outside their own immediate neighbourhood1 the simple form is quite common1 as at ,caistor in ,norfolk1 ,castor in ,hunts1 and elsewhere4 ,at times1 too1 we get an added ,english termination1 as at ,casterton1 ,chesterton1 and ,chesterholme2 or a slight distinguishing mark1 as at ,great ,chesters1 ,little ,chester1 ,bridge ,casterton1 and ,chester-le-,street4 ,all these have now quite lost their old distinctive names1 though they have acquired new ones to distinguish them from the ,chester1 or from one another4 ,for example1 ,chester-le-,street was ,conderco in ,roman times1 and ,cunega ceaster in the early ,english period4 ,both names are derived from the little river ,cone1 which flows through the village4 ,before we pass on to the consideration of those castra which1 like ,manchester and ,lancaster1 have preserved to the present day their original ,roman or ,celtic prefixes in more or less altered shapes1 we must glance briefly at a general principle running through the modernised forms now in use4 ,the reader1 with his usual acuteness1 will have noticed that the word ,ceaster reappears under many separate disguises in the names of different modern towns4 ,sometimes it is caster1 sometimes chester1 sometimes cester1 and sometimes even it gets worn down to a mere fugitive relic1 as ceter or eter4 ,but these different corruptions do not occur irregularly up and down the country1 one here and one there2 they follow a distinct law and are due to certain definite underlying facts of race or language4 ,each set of names lies in a regular stratum2 and the different strata succeed one another like waves over the face of ,england1 from north-east to south-westward4 ,in the extreme north and east1 where the ,english or ,anglian blood is purest1 or is mixed only with ,danes and ,northmen to any large extent1 such forms as ,lancaster1 ,doncaster1 ,caistor1 and ,casterton abound4 ,in the mixed midlands and the ,saxon south1 the sound softens into ,chesterfield1 ,chester1 ,winchester1 and ,dorchester4 ,in the inner midlands and the ,severn vale1 where the proportion of ,celtic blood becomes much stronger1 the termination grows still softer in ,leicester1 ,bicester1 ,cirencester1 ,gloucester1 and ,worcester1 while at the same time a marked tendency towards elision occurs2 for these words are really pronounced as if written ,lester1 ,bister1 ,cisseter1 ,gloster1 and ,wooster4 ,finally1 on the very borders of ,wales1 and of that ,damnonian country which was once known to our fathers as ,west ,wales1 we get the very abbreviated forms ,wroxeter1 ,uttoxeter1 and ,exeter1 of which the second is colloquially still further shortened into ,uxeter4 ,sometimes these tracts approach very closely to one another1 as on the banks of the ,nene1 where the two halves of the ,roman ,durobriv have become castor on one side of the river1 and ,chesterton on the other2 but the line can be marked distinctly on the map1 with a slight outward bulge1 with as great regularity as the geological strata4 ,it will be most convenient here1 therefore1 to begin with the casters1 which have undergone the least amount of rubbing down1 and from them to pass on regularly to the successively weaker forms in chester1 cester1 ceter1 and eter4 ,nothing1 indeed1 can be more deceptive than the common fashion1 of quoting a ,roman name from the often blundering lists of the ,itineraries1 and then passing on at once to the modern ,english form1 without any hint of the intermediate stages4 ,to say that ,glevum is now ,gloucester is to tell only half the truth2 until we know that the two were linked together by the gradual steps of ,glevum castrum1 ,gleawan ceaster1 ,gleawe cester1 ,gloucester1 and ,gloster1 we have not really explained the words at all4 ,by beginning with the least corrupt forms we shall best be able to see the slow nature of the change1 and we shall also find at the same time that a good deal of incidental light is shed upon the importance and extent of the ,english settlement4 ,doncaster is an excellent example of the simplest form of modernisation4 ,it appears in the ,antonine ,itinerary and in the ,notitia ,imperii as ,danum4 ,this1 with the ordinary termination affixed1 becomes at once ,dona ceaster or ,doncaster4 ,the name is of course originally derived in either form from the river ,don1 which flows beside it2 and the ,northumbrian invaders must have learnt the names of both river and station from their ,brigantian ,british serfs4 ,it shows the fluctuating nature of the early local nomenclature1 however1 when we find that ,bda 7'the ,venerable ,bede'7 describes the place in his ,latinised vocabulary as ,campodonum--that is to say1 the ,field of ,don1 or1 more idiomatically1 ,donfield1 a name exactly analogous to those of ,chesterfield ,macclesfield1 ,mansfield1 ,sheffield1 and ,huddersfield in the neighbouring region4 ,the comparison of ,doncaster and ,chesterfield is thus most interesting3 for here we have two ,roman ,stations1 each of which must once have had two alternative names2 but in the one case the old ,roman name has ultimately prevailed1 and in the other case the modern ,english one4 ,the second best example of a ,caster1 perhaps1 is ,lancaster4 ,in all probability this is the station which appears in the ,notitia ,imperii as ,longovico1 an oblique case which it might be hazardous to put in the nominative1 seeing that it seems rather to mean the town on the ,lune or ,loan than the ,long ,village4 ,here1 as in many other cases1 the formative element1 vicus1 is exchanged for ,ceaster1 and we get something like ,lon-ceaster or finally ,lancaster4 ,other remarkable ,casters are ,brancaster in ,norfolk1 once ,branadunum 7where the ,british termination dun has been similarly dropped72 ,ancaster in ,lincolnshire1 whose ,roman name is not certainly known2 and ,caistor1 near ,norwich1 once ,venta ,icenorum1 a case which may best be considered under the head of ,winchester4 ,on the other hand1 ,tadcaster gives us an instance where the ,roman prefix has apparently been entirely altered1 for it appears in the ,antonine ,itinerary 7according to the best identification7 as ,calcaria1 so that we might reasonably expect it to be modernised as ,calcaster4 ,even here1 however1 we might well suspect an earlier alternative title1 of which we shall get plenty when we come to examine the ,chesters2 and in fact1 in ,bda1 it still bears its old name in a slightly disguised form as ,kaelca ceaster4 ,first among the softer forms1 let us examine the interesting group to which ,chester itself belongs4 ,its ,roman name was1 beyond doubt1 ,diva1 the station on the ,dee--as ,doncaster is the station on the ,don1 and ,lancaster the station on the ,lune4 ,its proper modern form ought1 therefore1 to be ,deechester4 ,but it would seem that in certain places the neighbouring rustics knew the great ,roman town of their district1 not by its official title1 but as the legion's ,camp--,castra ,legionis4 ,at least three such cases undoubtedly occur--one at ,deva or ,chester2 one at ,rat or ,leicester2 and one at ,isca ,silurum or ,caerleon-upon-,usk4 ,in each case the modernisation has taken a very different form4 ,diva was captured by the heathen ,english king1 thelfrith of ,northumbria1 in a battle rendered famous by ,bda1 who calls the place ',the ,city of ,legions4' ,the ,latin compilation by some ,welsh writer1 ascribed to ,nennius1 calls it ,cair ,legion1 which is also its name in the ,irish annals4 ,in the ,english ,chronicle it appears as ,lege ceaster1 ,lge ceaster1 and ,leg ceaster2 but after the ,norman ,conquest it becomes ,ceaster alone4 ,on midland lips the sound soon grew into the familiar ,chester4 ,about the second case1 that of ,leicester1 there is a slight difficulty1 for it assumes in the ,chronicle the form of ,lgra ceaster1 with an apparently intrusive letter2 and the later ,welsh writers seized upon the form to fit in with their own ancient legend of ,king ,lear4 ,nennius calls it ,cair ,lerion2 and that unblushing romancer1 ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 makes it at once into ,cair ,leir1 the city of ,leir4 ,more probably the name is a mixture of ,legionis and ,rat1 ,leg-rat ceaster1 the camp of the ,legion at ,rat4 ,this1 again1 grew into ,legra ceaster1 ,leg ceaster1 and ,lei ceaster1 while the word1 though written ,leicester1 is now shortened by south midland voices to ,lester4 ,the third ,legionis ,castra remained always ,welsh1 and so hardened on ,cymric lips into ,kair ,leon or ,caerleon4 ,nennius applies the very similar name of ,cair ,legeion to ,exeter1 still in his time a ,damnonian or ,west ,welsh fortress4 ,equally interesting have been the fortunes of the three towns of which ,winchester is the type4 ,in the old ,welsh tongue1 ,gwent means a champaign country1 or level alluvial plain4 ,the ,romans borrowed the word as ,venta1 and applied it to the three local centres of ,venta ,icenorum in ,norfolk1 ,venta ,belgarum in ,hampshire1 and ,venta ,silurum in ,monmouth4 ,when the first ,west ,saxon pirates1 under their real or mythical leader1 ,cerdic1 swarmed up ,southampton ,water and occupied the ,gwent of the ,belg1 they called their new conquest ,wintan ceaster1 though the still closer form ,wntan once occurs4 ,thence to ,winte ceaster and ,winchester is no far cry4 ,gwent of the ,iceni had a different history4 ,no doubt it also was known at first as ,wintan ceaster2 but1 as at ,winchester1 the shorter form ,ceaster would naturally be employed in local colloquial usage2 and when the chief centre of ,east ,anglian population was removed a few miles north to ,norwich1 the north wick--then a port on the navigable estuary of the ,yare--the older station sank into insignificance1 and was only locally remembered as ,caistor4 ,lastly1 ,gwent of the ,silurians has left its name alone to ,caer-,went in ,monmouthshire1 where hardly any relics now remain of the ,roman occupation4 ,manchester belongs to exactly the same class as ,winchester4 ,its ,roman name was ,mancunium1 which would easily glide into ,mancunceaster4 ,in the ,english ,chronicle it is only once mentioned1 and then as ,mameceaster--a form explained by the alternative ,mamucium in the ,itinerary1 which would naturally become ,mamue ceaster4 ,colchester of course represents ,colonia1 corrupted first into ,coln ceaster1 and so through ,col ceaster into its present form4 ,porchester in ,hants is ,portus ,magnus2 ,dorchester is ,durnovaria1 and then ,dorn ceaster4 ,grantchester1 ,godmanchester1 ,chesterfield1 ,woodchester1 and many others help us to trace the line across the map of ,england1 to the most western limit of all at ,ilchester1 anciently ,ischalis1 though the intermediate form of ,givel ceaster is certainly an odd one4 ,besides these ,chesters of the regular order1 there are several curious outlying instances in ,durham and ,northumberland1 and along the ,roman ,wall1 islanded1 as it were1 beyond the intermediate belt of ,casters4 ,such are ,lanchester in ,durham1 which maybe compared with the more familiar ,lancaster2 ,great ,chesters in ,northumberland1 ,ebchester on the northern ,watling ,street1 and a dozen more4 ,how to account for these is rather a puzzle4 ,perhaps the ,casters may be mainly due to ,danish influence 7which is the common explanation71 and it is known that the ,danes spread but sparingly to the north of the ,tees4 ,however1 this rough solution of the problem proves too much3 for how then can we have a still softer form in ,danish ,leicester itself8 ,probably we shall be nearer the truth if we say that these are late names2 for ,northumberland was a desert long after the great harrying by ,william the ,conqueror2 and by the time it was repeopled1 ,chester had become the recognised ,english form1 so that it would naturally be employed by the new occupants of the districts about the ,wall4 ,no name in ,britain1 however1 is more interesting than that of ,rochester1 which admirably shows us how so many other ,roman names have acquired a delusively ,english form1 or have been mistaken for memorials of the ,english conquest4 ,the ,roman town was known as ,durobriv1 which does not in the least resemble ,rochester2 and what is more1 ,bda distinctly tells us that ,justus1 the first bishop of the ,west ,kentish see1 was consecrated 'in the city of ,dorubrevi1 which the ,english call ,hrofs ceaster1 from one of its former masters1 by name ,hrof4' ,if this were all we knew about it1 we should be told that ,bda clearly described the town as being called ,hrof's ,chester1 from an ,english conqueror ,hrof1 and that to contradict this clear statement of an early writer was presumptuous or absurd4 ,fortunately1 however1 we have the clearest possible proof that ,hrof never existed1 and that he was a pure creation of ,bda's own simple etymological guesswork4 ,king ,alfred clearly knew better1 for he omitted this wild derivation from his ,english translation4 ,the valuable fragment of a map of ,roman ,britain preserved for us in the medival transcript known as the ,peutinger ,tables1 sets down ,rochester as ,rotibis4 ,hence it is pretty certain that it must have had two alternative names1 of which the other was ,durobriv4 ,rotibis would easily pass 7on the regular analogies7 into ,rotifi ceaster1 and that again into ,hrofi ceaster and ,rochester2 just as ,rhutupi or ,ritup passed into ,rituf burh1 and so finally into ,richborough4 ,moreover1 in a charter of ,king ,ethelberht of ,kent1 older a good deal than ,bda's time1 we find the town described under the mixed form of ,hrofi-brevi4 ,after such a certain instance of philological blundering as this1 ,i for one am not inclined to place great faith in such statements as that made by the ,english ,chronicle about ,chichester1 which it attributes to the mythical ,south ,saxon king ,cissa4 ,whatever ,cissanceaster may mean1 it seems to me much more likely that it represents another case of double naming2 for though the ,roman town was commonly known as ,regnum1 that is clearly a mere administrative form1 derived from the tribal name of the ,regni4 ,considering that the same veracious ,chronicle derives ,portsmouth1 the ,roman ,portus1 from an imaginary ,teutonic invader1 ,port1 and commits itself to other wild statements of the same sort1 ,i don't think we need greatly hesitate about rejecting its authority in these earlier and conjectural portions4 ,silchester is another much disputed name4 ,as a rule1 the site has been identified with that of ,calleva ,atrebatum2 but the proofs are scanty1 and the identification must be regarded as a doubtful one4 ,i have already ventured to suggest that the word may contain the root ,silva1 as the town is situated close upon the ancient borders of ,pamber ,forest4 ,the absence of early forms1 however1 makes this somewhat of a random shot4 ,indeed1 it is difficult to arrive at any definite conclusions in these cases1 except by patiently following up the name from first to last1 through all its variations1 corruptions1 and mis-spellings4 ,the ,cesters are even more degraded 7philologically speaking7 than the ,chesters1 but are not less interesting and illustrative in their way4 ,their farthest northeasterly extension1 ,i believe1 is to be found at ,leicester and ,towcester4 ,the former we have already considered3 the latter appears in the ,chronicle as ,tofe ceaster1 and derives its name from the little river ,towe1 on which it is situated4 ,anciently1 no doubt1 the river was called ,tofe or ,tofi1 like the ,tavy in ,devonshire2 for all these river-words recur over and over again1 both in ,england and on the ,continent4 ,in this case1 there seems no immediate connection with the ,roman name1 if the site be rightly identified with that of ,lactodorum2 but at any rate the river name is ,celtic1 so that ,towcester cannot be claimed as a ,teutonic settlement4 ,cirencester1 the meeting-place of all the great ,roman roads1 is the ,latin ,corinium1 sometimes given as ,durocornovium1 which well illustrates the fluctuating state of ,roman nomenclature in ,britain4 ,as this great strategical centre--the key of the west--had formerly been the capital of the ,dobuni1 whose name it sometimes bears1 it might easily have come down to us as ,durchester1 or ,dobchester1 instead of under its existing guise4 ,the city was captured by the ,west ,saxons in #egg1 and is then called ,ciren ceaster in the brief record of the conquerors4 ,a few years later1 the ,chronicle gives it as ,cirn ceaster2 and since the river is called ,chirn1 this is the form it might fairly have been expected to retain1 as in the case of ,cerney close by4 ,but the city was too far west not to have its name largely rubbed down in use2 so it softened both its initials into ,cirencester1 while ,cissan ceaster only got 7through ,cisse ceaster7 as far as ,chichester4 ,at that point the spelling of the western town has stopped short1 but the tongues of the natives have run on till nothing now remains but ,cisseter4 ,if we had only that written form on the one hand1 and ,durocornovium on the other1 even the boldest etymologist would hardly venture to suggest that they had any connection with one another4 ,of course the common prefix ,duro1 is only the ,welsh ,dwr1 water1 and its occurrence in a name merely implies a ford or river4 ,the alternative forms may be ,anglicised as ,churn1 and ,churnwater1 just like ,grasmere1 and ,grasmere ,lake4 ,i wish ,i could avoid saying anything about ,worcester1 for it is an obscure and difficult subject2 but ,i fear the attempt to shirk it would be useless in the long run4 ,i know from sad experience that if ,i omit it every inhabitant of ,worcestershire who reads this article will hunt me out somehow1 and run me to earth at last1 with a letter demanding a full and explicit explanation of this silent insult to his native county4 ,so ,i must try to put the best possible face upon a troublesome matter4 ,the earliest existing form of the name1 after the ,english ,conquest1 seems to be that given in a ,latin ,charter of the eighth century as ,weogorna civitas4 7,here it is difficult to disentangle the ,english from its ,latin dress47 ,a little later it appears in a vernacular shape 7also in a charter7 as ,wigran ceaster4 ,in the later part of the ,english ,chronicle it becomes ,wigera ceaster1 and ,wigra ceaster2 but by the twelfth century it has grown into ,wigor ceaster1 from which the change to ,wire ceaster and ,worcester 7fully pronounced7 is not violent4 ,this is all plain sailing enough4 ,but what is the meaning of ,wigorna ceaster or ,wigran ceaster8 ,and what ,roman or ,english name does it represent8 ,the old ,english settlers of the neighbourhood formed a little independent principality of ,hwiccas 7afterwards subdued by the ,mercians71 and some have accordingly suggested that the original word may have been ,hwiccwara ceaster1 the ,chester of the ,hwicca men1 which would be analogous to ,cant-wara burh 7,canterbury71 the ,bury of the ,kent men1 or to ,wiht-gara burh 7,carisbrooke71 the ,bury of the ,wight men4 ,others1 again1 connect it with the ,braunogenium of the ,ravenna geographer1 and the ,cair ,guoranegon or ,guiragon of ,nennius1 which latter is probably itself a corrupted version of the ,english name4 ,altogether1 it must be allowed that ,worcester presents a genuine difficulty1 and that the facts about its early forms are themselves decidedly confused1 if not contradictory4 ,the only other notable ,ceasters1 are ,alcester1 once ,alneceaster1 in ,worcestershire1 the ,roman ,alauna2 ,gloucester or ,glevum1 already sufficiently explained2 and ,mancester in ,staffordshire1 supposed to occupy the site of ,manduessedum4 ,among the most corrupted forms of all1 ,exeter may rank first4 ,its ,latin equivalent was ,isca ,damnoniorum1 ,usk of the ,devonians2 ,isca being the ,latinised form of that prevalent ,celtic river name which crops up again in the ,usk1 ,esk1 ,exe1 and ,axe1 besides forming the first element of ,uxbridge and ,oxford2 while the tribal qualification was added to distinguish it from its namesake1 ,isca ,silurum1 ,usk of the ,silurians1 now ,caerleon-upon-,usk4 ,in the west country1 to this day1 ask always becomes ax1 or rather remains so1 for that provincial form was the ,king's ,english at the court of ,alfred2 and so ,isca became on ,devonian lips ,exan ceaster1 after the ,west ,saxon conquest4 ,thence it passed rapidly through the stages of ,exe ceaster and ,exe cester till it finally settled down into ,exeter4 ,at the same time1 the river itself became the ,exe2 and the ,exan-mutha of the ,chronicle dropped into ,exmouth4 ,we must never forget1 however1 that ,exeter1 was a ,welsh town up to the reign of ,athelstan1 and that ,cornish ,welsh was still spoken in parts of ,devonshire till the days of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,wroxeter is another immensely interesting fossil word4 ,it lies just at the foot of the ,wrekin1 and the hill which takes that name in ,english must have been pronounced by the old ,celtic inhabitants much like ,uricon3 for of course the awkward initial letter has only become silent in these later lazy centuries4 ,the ,romans turned it into ,uriconium2 but after their departure1 it was captured and burnt to the ground by a party of raiding ,west ,saxons1 and its fall is graphically described in the wild old ,welsh elegy of ,llywarch the ,aged4 ,the ruins are still charred and blackened by the ,west ,saxon fires4 ,the ,english colonists of the neighbourhood called themselves the ,wroken-stas1 or ,settlers by the ,wrekin--a word analogous to that of ,wilstas1 or ,settlers by the ,wyly2 ,dorstas1 or ,settlers among the ,durotriges2 and ,sumorstas1 or ,settlers among the ,sumor-folk1--which survive in the modern counties of ,wilts1 ,dorset1 and ,somerset4 ,similar forms elsewhere are the ,pecstas of the ,derbyshire ,peak1 the ,elmedstas in the ,forest of ,elmet1 and the ,cilternstas in the ,chiltern ,hills4 ,no doubt the ,wroken-stas called the ruined ,roman fort by the analogous name of ,wroken ceaster2 and this would slowly become ,wrok ceaster1 ,wrok-cester1 and ,wroxeter1 by the ordinary abbreviating tendency of the ,welsh borderlands4 ,wrexham doubtless preserves the same original root4 ,having thus carried the ,castra to the very confines of ,wales1 it would be unkind to a generous and amiable people not to carry them across the border and on to the ,western sea4 ,the ,welsh corruption1 whether of the ,latin word or of a native equivalent cathir1 assumes the guise of ,caer4 ,thus the old ,roman station of ,segontium1 near the ,menai ,straits1 is now called ,caer ,seiont2 but the neighbouring modern town which has gathered around ,edward's new castle on the actual shore1 the later metropolis of the land of ,arfon1 became known to ,welshmen as ,caer-yn-,arfon1 now corrupted into ,caernarvon or even into ,carnarvon4 ,gray's familiar line about the murdered bards--',on ,arvon's dreary shore they lie'--keeps up in some dim fashion the memory of the true etymology4 ,caermarthen is in like manner the ,roman ,muridunum or ,moridunum--the fort by the sea--though a duplicate ,moridunum in ,south ,devon has been simply translated into ,english as ,seaton4 ,innumerable other ,caers1 mostly representing ,roman sites1 may be found scattered up and down over the face of ,wales1 such as ,caersws1 ,caerleon1 ,caergwrle1 ,caerhun1 and ,caerwys1 all of which still contain traces of ,roman occupation4 ,on the other hand1 ,cardigan1 which looks delusively like a shortened ,caer1 has really nothing to do with this group of ancient names1 being a mere corruption of ,ceredigion4 ,but outside ,wales itself1 in the more ,celtic parts of ,england proper1 a good many relics of the old ,welsh ,caers still bespeak the incompleteness of the early ,teutonic conquest4 ,if we might trust the mendacious ,nennius1 indeed1 all our ,casters and ,chesters were once good ,cymric ,caers2 for he gives a doubtful list of the chief towns in ,britain1 where ,gloucester appears as ,cair ,gloui1 ,colchester as ,cair ,colun1 and ,york as ,cair ,ebrauc4 ,these1 if true1 would be invaluable forms2 but unfortunately there is every reason to believe that ,nennius invented them himself1 by a simple transposition of the ,english names4 ,henry of ,huntingdon is nearly as bad1 if not worse2 for when he calls ,dorchester ',kair ,dauri1' and ,chichester ',kair ,kei1' he was almost certainly evolving what he supposed to be appropriate old ,british names from the depths of his own consciousness4 ,his guesswork was on a par with that of the schoolboys who introduce ',stirlingia' or ',liverpolia' into their ,ovidian elegiacs4 ,that abandoned story-teller1 ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 goes a step further1 and concocts a ,caer ,lud for ,london and a ,caer ,osc for ,exeter1 whenever the fancy seizes him4 ,the only examples amongst these pretended old ,welsh forms which seem to me to have any real historical value are an unknown ,kair ,eden1 mentioned by ,gildas1 and a ,cair ,wise1 mentioned by ,simeon of ,durham1 undoubtedly the true native name of ,exeter4 ,still we have a few indubitable ,caers in ,england itself surviving to our own day4 ,most of them are not far from the ,welsh border1 as in the case of the two ,caer ,caradocs1 in ,shropshire1 crowned by ancient ,british fortifications4 ,others1 however1 lie further within the true ,english pale1 though always in districts which long preserved the ,welsh speech1 at least among the lower classes of the population4 ,the earthwork overhanging ,bath bears to this day its ancient ,british title of ,caer ,badon4 ,an old history written in the monastery of ,malmesbury describes that town as ,caer ,bladon1 and speaks of a ,caer ,dur in the immediate neighbourhood4 ,there still remains a ,caer ,riden on the line of the ,roman wall in the ,lothians4 ,near ,aspatria1 in ,cumberland1 stands a mouldering ,roman camp known even now as ,caer ,moto4 ,in ,carvoran1 ,northumberland1 the first syllable has undergone a slight contraction1 but may still be readily recognised4 ,the ,carr-dyke in ,norfolk seems to me to be referable to a similar origin4 ,most curious of all the ,english ,caers1 however1 is ,carlisle4 ,the ,antonine ,itinerary gives the town as ,luguvallium4 ,bda1 in his barbarised ,latin fashion calls it ,lugubalia4 ',the ,saxons1' says ,murray's ,guide1 with charming navet1 'abbreviated the name into ,luel1 and afterwards called it ,caer ,luel4' ,this astounding hotchpotch forms an admirable example of the way in which local etymology is still generally treated in highly respectable publications4 ,so far as we know1 there never was at any time a single ,saxon in ,cumberland2 and why the ,saxons1 or any other tribe of ,englishmen1 should have called a town by a purely ,welsh name1 it would be difficult to decide4 ,if they had given it any name at all1 that name would probably have been ,lul ceaster1 which might have been modernised into ,lulcaster or ,lulchester4 ,the real facts are these4 ,cumberland1 as its name imports1 was long a land of the ,cymry--a northern ,welsh principality1 dependent upon the great kingdom of ,strathclyde1 which held out for ages against the ,northumbrian ,english invaders among the braes and fells of ,ayrshire and the ,lake ,district4 ,these ,cumbrian ,welshmen called their chief town ,caer ,luel1 or something of the sort2 and there is some reason for believing that it was the capital of the historical ,arthur1 if any ,arthur ever existed1 though later ages transferred the legend of the ,british hero to ,caerleon-upon-,usk1 after men had begun to forget that the region between the ,clyde and the ,mersey had once been true ,welsh soil4 ,the ,english overran ,cumberland very slowly2 and when they did finally conquer it1 they probably left the original inhabitants in possession of the country1 and only imposed their own overlordship upon the conquered race4 ,the story is too long a one to repeat in full here3 it must suffice to say that1 though the ,northumbrian kings had made the ',strathclyde ,welsh' their tributaries1 the district was never thoroughly subdued till the days of ,edmund the ,west ,saxon1 who harried the land1 and handed it over to the ,king of ,scots4 ,thus it happens that ,carlisle1 alone among large ,english towns1 still keeps unchanged its ,cymric name1 instead of having sunk into an ,anglicised ,chester4 ,the present spelling is a mere etymological blunder1 exactly similar to that which has turned the old ,english word igland into island1 through the false analogy of isle1 which of course comes from the old ,french isle1 derived through some form akin to the ,italian isola1 from the original ,latin insula4 ,kair ,leil is the spelling in ,geoffrey2 ,cardeol 7by a clerical error for ,carleol1 ,i suspect7 that in the ,english ,chronicle1 which only once mentions the town2 and ,carleol that of the ordinary medival historians4 ,the surnames ,carlyle and ,carlile still preserve the better orthography4 ,to complete the subject1 it will be well to say a few words about those towns which were once ,ceasters1 but which have never become ,casters or ,chesters4 ,numerous as are the places now so called1 a number more may be reckoned in the illimitable chapter of the might-have-beens2 and it is interesting to speculate on the forms which they would have taken1 'si qua fata aspera rupissent4' ,among these still-born ,chesters1 ,newcastle-upon-,tyne may fairly rank first4 ,it stands on the ,roman site1 called1 from its bridge across the ,tyne1 ,pons ,aelii1 and known later on1 from its position on the great wall1 as ,ad ,murum4 ,under the early ,english1 after their conversion to ,christianity1 the monks became the accepted inheritors of ,roman ruins2 and the small monastery which was established here procured it the ,english name of ,muneca-ceaster1 or1 as we should now say1 ,monk-chester1 though no doubt the local modernisation would have taken the form of ,muncaster4 ,william of ,normandy utterly destroyed the town during his great harrying of ,northumberland2 and when his son1 ,robert ,curthose1 built a fortress on the site1 the place came to be called ,newcastle--a word whose very form shows its comparatively modern origin4 ,castra and ,ceasters were now out of date1 and castles had taken their place4 ,still1 we stick even here to the old root3 for of course castle is only the diminutive castellum--a scion of the same ,roman stock1 which1 like so many other members of aristocratic families1 'came over with ,william the ,conqueror4' ,the word castel is never used1 ,i believe1 in any ,english document before the ,conquest2 but in the very year of ,william's invasion1 the ,chronicle tells us1 ',willelm earl came from ,normandy into ,pevensey1 and wrought a castel at ,hastings port4' ,so1 while in ,france itself the word has declined through chastel into chteau1 we in ,england have kept it in comparative purity as castle4 ,york is another town which had a narrow escape of becoming ,yorchester4 ,its ,roman name was ,eburacum1 which the ,english queerly rendered as ,eoforwic1 by a very interesting piece of folks-etymology4 ,eofor is old ,english for a boar1 and wic for a town2 so our rude ancestors metamorphosed the ,latinised ,celtic name into this familiar and significant form1 much as our own sailors turn the ,bellerophon into the ,billy ,ruffun1 and the ,anse des ,cousins into the ,nancy ,cozens4 ,in the same way1 ,i have known an illiterate ,englishman speak of ,aix-la-,chapelle as ,hexley ,chapel4 ,to the name1 thus distorted1 our forefathers of course added the generic word for a ,roman town1 and so made the cumbrous title of ,eoforwic-ceaster1 which is the almost universal form in the earlier parts of the ,english ,chronicle4 ,this was too much of a mouthful even for the hardy ,anglo-,saxon1 so we soon find a disposition to shorten it into ,ceaster on the one hand1 or ,eoforwic on the other4 ,should the final name be ,chester or ,york8--that was the question4 ,usage declared in favour of the more distinctive title4 ,the town became ,eoforwic alone1 and thence gradually declined through ,evorwic1 ,euorwic1 ,eurewic1 and ,yorick into the modern ,york4 ,it is curious to note that some of these intermediate forms very closely approach the original ,eburac1 which must have been the root of the ,roman name4 ,was the change partly due to the preservation of the older sound on the lips of ,celtic serfs8 ,it is not impossible1 for marks of ,british blood are strong in ,yorkshire2 and ,nennius confirms the idea by calling the town ,kair ,ebrauc4 ,among the other ,ceasters which have never developed into full-blown ,chesters1 ,i may mention ,bath1 given as ,akemannes ceaster and ,bathan ceaster in our old documents1 so that it might have become ,achemanchester or ,bathceter in the course of ordinary changes4 ,canterbury1 again1 the ,roman ,durovernum1 dropped through ,dorobernia into ,dorwit ceaster1 which would no doubt have turned into a third ,dorchester1 to puzzle our heads by its likeness to ,dorne ceaster in ,dorsetshire1 and to ,dorce ceaster near ,oxford2 while ,chesterton in ,huntingdonshire1 which was once ,dorme ceaster1 narrowly escaped burdening a distracted world with a fourth4 ,happily1 the colloquial form ,cantwara burh1 or ,kentmen's bury1 gained the day1 and so every trace of ,durovernum is now quite lost in ,canterbury4 ,north ,shields was once ,scythles-ceaster1 but here the ,chester has simply dropped out4 ,verulam1 or ,st4 ,albans1 is another curious case4 ,its ,romano-,british name was ,verulamium1 and ,bda calls it ,verlama ceaster4 ,but the early ,english in ,sleswick believed in a race of mythical giants1 the ,wtlingas or ,watlings1 from whom they called the ,milky ,way ',watling ,street4' ,when the rude pirates from those trackless marshes came over to ,britain and first beheld the great ,roman paved causeway which ran across the face of the country from ,london to ,caernarvon1 they seemed to have imagined that such a mighty work could not have been the handicraft of men2 and just as the ,arabs ascribe the rock-hewn houses of ,petra to the architectural fancy of the ,devil1 so our old ,english ancestors ascribed the ,roman road to the ,titanic ,watlings4 ,even in our own day1 it is known along its whole course as ,watling ,street4 ,verulam stands right in its track1 and long contained some of the greatest ,roman remains in ,england2 so the town1 too1 came to be considered as another example of the work of the ,watlings4 ,bda1 in his ,latinised ,northumbrian1 calls it ,vtlinga ceaster1 as an alternative title with ,verlama ceaster2 so that it might nowadays have been familiar to us all either as ,watlingchester or ,verlamchester4 ,this is one of the numerous cases where a ,roman and ,english name lived on during the dark period side by side4 ,in some of ,mr4 ,kemble's charters it appears as ,walinga ceaster4 ,but when ,offa of ,mercia founded his great abbey on the very spot where the ,welsh martyr ,alban had suffered during the persecution of ,diocletian1 ,roman and ,english names were alike forgotten1 and the place was remembered only after the ,british ,christian as ,st4 ,albans4 ,there are other instances where the very memory of a ,roman city seems now to have failed altogether4 ,for example1 ,bda mentions a certain town called ,tiowulfinga ceaster--that is to say1 the ,chester of the ,tiowulfings1 or sons of ,tiowulf4 ,here an ,english clan would seem to have taken up its abode in a ruined ,roman station1 and to have called the place by the clan-name--a rare or almost unparalleled case4 ,but its precise site is now unknown4 ,however1 ,bda's description clearly points to some town in ,nottinghamshire1 situated on the ,trent2 for ,st4 ,paulinus of ,york baptized large numbers of converts in that river at ,tiowulfinga ceaster2 and the site may therefore be confidently identified with ,southwell1 where ,st4 ,mary's ,minster has always traditionally claimed ,paulinus as its founder4 ,bda also mentions a place called ,tunna ceaster1 so named from an abbot ,tunna1 who exists merely for the sake of a legend1 and is clearly as unhistorical as his piratical compeer ,hrof--a wild guess of the eponymic sort with which we are all so familiar in ,greek literature4 ,simeon of ,durham speaks of an equally unknown ,delvercester4 ,syddena ceaster or ,sidna cester--the earliest see of the ,lincolnshire diocese--has likewise dropped out of human memory2 though ,mr4 ,pearson suggests that it may be identical with ,ancaster--a notion which appears to me extremely unlikely4 ,wude cester is no doubt ,outchester1 and other doubtful instances might easily be recognised by local antiquaries1 though they may readily escape the general archologist4 ,in one case at least--that of ,othon in ,essex--town1 site1 and name have all disappeared together4 ,bda calls it ,ythan ceaster1 and in his time it was the seat of a monastery founded by ,st4 ,cedd2 but the whole place has long since been swept away by an inundation of the ,blackwater4 ,anderida1 which is called ,andredes-ceaster in the ,chronicle1 becomes ,pefenesea1 or ,pevensey1 before the date of the ,norman ,conquest4 ,it must not be supposed that the list given here is by any means exhaustive of all the ,casters and ,chesters1 past and present1 throughout the whole length and breadth of ,britain4 ,on the contrary1 many more might easily be added1 such as ,ribbel ceaster1 now ,ribchester2 ,berne ceaster1 now ,bicester2 and ,bldbyrig ceaster1 now simply ,bladbury4 ,in ,northumberland alone there are a large number of instances which ,i might have quoted1 such as ,rutchester1 ,halton ,chesters1 and ,little ,chesters on the ,roman ,wall1 together with ,hetchester1 ,holy ,chesters1 and ,rochester elsewhere--the county containing no less than four places of the last name4 ,indeed1 one can track the ,roman roads across ,england by the ,chesters which accompany their route4 ,but enough instances have probably been adduced to exemplify fully the general principles at issue4 ,i think it will be clear that the ,english conquerors did not usually change the names of ,roman or ,welsh towns1 but simply mispronounced them about as much as we habitually mispronounce ,llangollen or ,llandudno4 ,sometimes they called the place by its ,romanised title alone1 with the addition of ,ceaster2 sometimes they employed the servile ,british form2 sometimes they even invented an ,english alternative2 but in no case can it be shown that they at once disused the original name1 and introduced a totally new one of their own manufacture4 ,in this1 as in all other matters1 the continuity between ,romano-,british and ,english times is far greater than it is generally represented to be4 ,the ,english invasion was a cruel and a desolating one1 no doubt2 but it could not and it did not sweep away wholly the old order of things1 or blot out all the past annals of ,britain1 so as to prepare a tabula rasa on which ,mr4 ,green might begin his ,history of the ,english ,people with the landing of ,hengest and ,horsa in the ,isle of ,thanet4 ,the ,english people of to-day is far more deeply rooted in the soil than that3 our ancestors have lived here1 not for a thousand years alone1 but for ten thousand or a hundred thousand1 in certain lines at least4 ,and the very names of our towns1 our rivers1 and our hills1 go back in many cases1 not merely to the ,roman corruptions1 but to the aboriginal ,celtic1 and the still more aboriginal ,euskarian tongue4 ,,the ,,end4 ,,henderson ,,spalding1 ,,ltd41 #c #e1 ,,marylebone ,,lane1 ,w4